“I didn’t know what else to do,” Alric admitted softly.
Ravi’s eyes widened as he looked at Alric. For the first time in his life, Alric seemed to shrink just a little bit. He stopped being the unstoppable force who always had the answer to every problem, and he became a young man suddenly faced with the daunting task of keeping his clan alive when they had nearly no mages and no hope of finding more.
He opened his mouth, intending to tell Alric that he was an amazing king, that they’d all survived and even thrived because of him. He wanted to tell Alric that all his people loved him and appreciated every sacrifice he made.
But Chalo was already moving. He stood in front of Alric, lightly gripping both shoulders. His expression was somber but sincere, eyes warm.
“Listen to me, Alric. I knew your father, called him friend and ally in a time of war. Griswold was a stubborn bastard with a brilliant mind and an enormous heart. You’ve been fighting under some near impossible conditions, and your clan has survived, grown even, since you’ve managed to find more mages after all this time. Your clan is alive because of you. And if your Ravi, there, is a fair example of your clan, then you’ve done an amazing job. I know your father would be so damn proud of you.”
Alric nodded and swallowed hard twice before he managed a soft, “Thank you” in a low, rough voice.
Even Ravi had to swallow hard against the sudden knot in his throat. He was proud of his clan and king. They had survived against the odds and built something amazing. He wanted the world to know how remarkable Alric was.
Fingers brushed his, and Ravi smiled as Sora twined their fingers together. He squeezed the mage’s hand, a deeper sense of peace and happiness starting to sink into him. There was no explaining it. Touching Sora gave him a feeling of calm, a feeling that everything was going to work out.
“Your father would also be damn angry at us for cutting off all communication. It was wrong. We wronged both of you,” Roca said, pausing to look over at Rodrigo, who had been watching Alric with a worried expression. “We are sorry. We acted to protect our people, but we turned our back on the Fire and Ice Clans. We all suffered in that war, and we should have stuck together.”
Rodrigo smirked at him. “And what are you planning to do to make up for this poor decision?”
Roca snorted, and Alric rolled his eyes. Chalo gave Alric’s shoulder one last pat before dropping back onto the sofa. He met Rodrigo’s lazy gaze with a steely one, but a hint of a smile played on his lips.
“We’re sending mages to the Burkhard and Valerii Clans to help increase your security and protection over your clans,” Chalo stated.
“We’re also sending dragons to help beef up your security and to help take the fight directly to the Jaeggi,” Roca added.
Yuki slid to the edge of her seat and tipped her chin up proudly. She looked the part of a leader in her soft grey suit, her black hair pulled severely back in a low ponytail. Her expression was determined, her thin mouth almost flat with it.
“We’re also going through our spell and history records across all the mage clans of the Sodalicium. We will complete a full knowledge transfer between all of our clans. I want to make sure none of our magic has been lost thanks to this stupid war.”
Ravi didn’t even realize his legs were giving out on him until he felt Sora’s strong arm wrapped around him. Sora helped him onto the loveseat. His gaze darted from Alric to Cameron to Rodrigo. They all wore the same speechless, stunned expression. Ravi could swear unshed tears were sparkling in Rodrigo’s pale blue eyes.
Alric dropped down onto the arm of the chair Cameron was sitting in and kissed his mate’s hand while blinking back his own tears.
This was it. This…this was everything.
If the Sodalicium was even half as big as Sora had indicated, then they would finally have the resources they needed to wipe out the Jaeggi. They would be able to grow and thrive as a clan. The Sodalicium might even have new and better ways to find mages. All of the Burkhard Dragons would have a chance at finding mates, at finding love and happiness.
It was amazing. It was…
“Holy shit,” Alric breathed, finally breaking the silence that had stretched long.
The visiting leaders laughed, and Alric shook his head. Ravi laughed because he’d never seen Alric looking so utterly flabbergasted—though Cameron’s attempts to fluster Alric had come close over the past year.
“Sorry. I—holy shit,” he repeated breathlessly.
Rodrigo laughed and gave Alric a teary, crooked smile.
“Welp, we’re definitely going to kick some Jaeggi ass now,” Ravi announced.
He looked up at Sora to find the mage smiling warmly at him. If they could take care of the Jaeggi mess, maybe that meant he could figure out what the future held for him and this handsome, wonderful man who’d brought them the world.
Ravi had a plan.
Yes, it scared him, too. Mostly because he’d made it while unsupervised, and the whole clan could tell you what a bad idea that was.
But he was determined to romance Sora properly. Ravi’s emotions were all over the map right now. It was part of the reason why he hadn’t talked properly with Sora yet—he couldn’t pin his own emotions down long enough to explain them. He was really, really afraid of saying the wrong thing at the right moment—Ravi did that a lot—and this was one thing he absolutely didn’t want to screw up. Ravi had never dated anyone, not really, not with the future in mind. So, there were lots of potential pitfalls all lined up, waiting to trip him.
It might not have been so nerve-wracking if Sora weren’t so awesome. Everything Sora had done for him so far had been amazing. He was always so incredibly supportive and fun. Being around him made Ravi’s dragon want to roll over and present for belly rubs. And the sweet things that fell from the man’s lips melted Ravi.
Seriously. Melted. Him.
Sora deserved to melt, too. Ravi could be romantic. Well, he’d never honestly tried to be romantic, but he’d seen some movies with romance in them. And he’d watched other dragons being romantic. With the influx of new mages, it was beginning to look like a competition of who could be the most romantic.
But he could do this. He had a plan, and dammit, it was a good plan. Probably. He’d cleaned out one of the top rooms in a turret no one bothered to use. He had a comfy nest of blankets, pillows, and a picnic dinner with candlelight all set up. The goal was to stargaze, eat delicious food, drink good wine, and hopefully get his game on.
He had to act quickly. With all the new dragons and mages in Burkhard Castle, it was becoming more and more difficult for them to have a moment alone together. Alric had kept him busy running errands and entertaining the dragons over the past twenty-four hours. Naturally, Sora was busy catching up with his parents and meeting with the mage queens to discuss the needs of the Burkhard and Valerii mages.
Ravi needed to get his hands on his mage!
Buying himself some time off from duty, he placed three poor dragons in Alric’s path as his replacements, and he started lurking outside the mage workshops.
The moment Sora stepped outside by himself, Ravi grabbed his hand and made a run for it. Sora’s laughter echoed down the hall, but he didn’t question it. He ran with Ravi, their fingers laced together. It had to be a sign that Sora was eager for this stolen time together as well.