Tori wasn’t so sure he bought that excuse, but if it got him some time alone with Baldewin, he wasn’t complaining.
It didn’t hurt that he was pretty sure he got the better partner when it came to the competition. The moment they separated, Baldewin directed them to a café for coffee and a chance to study the map so they could come up with a strong plan of attack to see as much of the city as possible while locating the most dwarf statues. Baldewin was a born strategist, making it clear why he was the head of the king’s guard.
Unfortunately, Tori wasn’t the biggest help because he wanted to see it all. Vacations growing up had been short trips to lakes and hunting cabins. His escape to Helsinki had been the farthest he’d ever been away from home. But now he was sightseeing in a foreign country with a sexy, intelligent man who was excited to explore this town as well.
And how could he not want to walk every inch of Wroclaw. Located on the Odra River, the city was comprised of twelve islands and over a hundred parks. It wasn’t surprising that Wroclaw was often referred to as the Venice of the north. Art and murals filled the rich town, and Tori was dying to soak it all in.
Over the course of the day, they wandered over to the University of Wroclaw to see the famous mathematical tower and the museum with its rich, baroque details. They found the hidden garden and a gaggle of cute dwarves. Tori found himself laughing frequently as he and Baldewin took turns posing with the dwarves as they took photographic evidence that they’d found them.
They wandered through Nadodrze, which was Wroclaw’s Old Town, to see more murals, parks, and beautiful cobblestone streets. They paused there for lunch and to check in with the other team. The day was half over, and there had been no sign of the Jaeggi. Tori wasn’t ready to breathe a sigh of relief, but he was starting to feel hopeful that they might actually be able to board the train without the Jaeggi on their heels.
Not that it was easy to remember that they were supposed to be watching their backs for the rogue mages when Tori was out with Baldewin. The dragon had such an easy, friendly way about him that Tori found himself relaxing more and more around him. He couldn’t remember laughing so much in his life.
It didn’t hurt that they didn’t talk about mages and dragons and the rush to get back to Burkhard Castle. They were just two friends walking through a beautiful city, enjoying a perfect summer day.
At least, the topic of dragons and mages didn’t come up until they were on Cathedral Island and wandered onto the lock bridge. Tori found his steps slowing as they strolled across, and he paused at the railing where hundreds of metal locks were attached to the fencing. Names and hearts were drawn on each of the locks, symbolizing couples who had vowed that their love was locked and would endure forever. It was a romantic sight as long as Tori kept his mind away from the fact that all that added weight was damaging the bridge.
“What are you thinking?” Baldewin inquired as he came to stand beside Tori.
His face scrunched up a little as he looked along the bridge at all the locks representing promises of forever and happiness. He gave a little shrug. “I guess I was wondering how many of these couples are actually still together.”
Baldewin frowned at the locks for a moment. “It’s hard to say. Humans are…fickle. It’s one of the things I struggle to understand about them.”
Tori grunted and started to lead the way across the bridge. “I don’t think mages are too different from humans.”
“Why do you say that?”
Tori shrugged as they crossed into a heavily tree-shaded area. There was a nice breeze blowing off the river, keeping the worst of the day’s heat at bay. “In my clan, I sort of get the impression that my people convinced themselves that when they married, it was fated. That they could be just as happy, if not happier, without the dragons. There was no divorce. But there were a lot of very unhappy people, and the number of people in our clan has been steadily shrinking for years.”
“What do you mean? Are they ill?”
Tori shook his head, his stomach sinking more as he thought about it. “Female mages were the most highly valued in our clan followed distantly by male mages. Those born without the ability to use magic were barely acknowledged as humans. They were actually allowed to leave the clan permanently, but it was with the understanding that they could never return. Few took up the offer. The clan was all we knew.” Tori sighed and shoved a hand through his sweaty hair. “Anyway, if a couple gave birth to a child who wasn’t a mage, they were looked down on by the rest of the clan for failing in their duty. The male mages with some magical skills were pressured into mating with the strongest female mages. People even tended to look the other way if he cheated, so long as he cheated with another magically strong female.”
“And your leaders actually believed that if a couple didn’t have a mage child first, they had no possible chance of their second or third child being a mage? That they had some kind of control over whether their child was born a mage?” Baldewin asked, horror trembling in his tone.
“Yeah.”
“That’s terrible. How could they treat families like that? They had no way of knowing which of their children would be mages or humans. And there is absolutely nothing wrong with a child being born human.” Baldewin snorted, and Tori swore he saw a little wisp of smoke curl out of his nose.
Baldewin continued forward with a little bit of stomp to his step. “When a mage and dragon have a baby, most are born dragons, but there is always a chance that a baby could be born a mage. If a couple has a mage, it is not loved any less than if they’d had a dragon. It is a baby, LIFE, and it deserves all the love and support we can possibly give it.”
Biting his bottom lip to hold in his smile, Tori reached across and placed his hand on Baldewin’s arm. “I didn’t mean to upset you.”
The dragon quickly shook his head. “You haven’t. It’s your clan. More and more reasons are being uncovered for me to not like them. A part of me wishes to not tell Alric about your clan and let them stay forgotten at the top of Finland, but my silence might steal possible mates and happiness from my own clanmates. I couldn’t do that to them.”
“Some people were…” Tori hesitated, searching for a word, his nose scrunching up as he thought, “not…completely terrible.” He couldn’t ever describe them as ‘okay.’ “Maybe my bad experiences are just coloring my impressions. Maybe there are some nicer people among the younger generation that I’m not remembering. Maybe they’ll be better when they learn the truth about the war and mates.”
“Maybe,” Baldewin grumbled, not sounding convinced.
Tori frowned, searching his memory. He didn’t want his companion in a sour mood. Not after the amazing day they’d had. “But we were talking about the locks,” he started again, infusing his voice with new enthusiasm. “What if dragons put the locks on the bridge? How many of the couples do you think would still be together?”
Baldewin’s smile returned slowly, and it was like watching the sun peek over the horizon. “All of them,” he replied easily.
Tori couldn’t stop his laugh. “Really? All of them? You’re that sure?”
“Absolutely.” Baldewin’s smile never wavered as he looked down at Tori. “A dragon would only declare his love and devotion to his mate. Your mate…that’s forever. Some people say that a mate is cut from the same cloth or part of our soul.” He shook his head. “Your mate is your heart, is your soul. When a dragon finds their mate, it’s like they’ve finally become whole. Your entire existence is dedicated to that person’s happiness and well-being. Their happiness is your happiness. In no time in our entire history have two mates willingly separated. Once you’re bonded, there’s no living without that other person, and you wouldn’t want to. How could you go back to living a half-life after feeling such completion?”