“You definitely belong at Burkhard, and you are never, ever leaving.”
North tilted his head up and sweetly kissed his mate. Sora looked away to give them a private moment and found Ravi smiling at him.
“You know, Burkhard would be a great fit for you, as well,” Ravi said, nudging Sora with his elbow.
Smiling, Sora inched a little closer to Ravi. He wrapped his arms around the wind dragon and laid his head on his shoulder. “Do you think so?”
“Oh, definitely. Think of all the things you’ve already done here. All the adventures you’ve had. You have been able to help and share so much healing knowledge, but there’s still lots you can teach the other mages.”
Sora made a noise of agreement in his throat. “That’s true.”
“Plus, if you stay, you’ll get to take part in more Ravi pranks,” North tossed out.
“You know you don’t want to miss out on any of that,” Ravi agreed with a wicked grin. “You have not lived until you’ve seen Cameron react to being pranked. He makes these hilarious noises and chases me around the castle, threatening to turn me into a chicken.”
Ravi shook his head and chuckled as if reliving the memory of his last joke on the consort.
“It’s a lot of fun.”
“Sounds amazing,” Sora hedged, his heart squeezing. It really was a temptation. He could easily imagine the years stretching out in front of him, filled with laughter and insanity because of a certain wind dragon.
But more than the fun, he could see himself so easily fitting in among the mages and dragons that filled the halls of Burkhard Castle. He worked so easily alongside the other mages, and they were eager to learn everything he had to share about healing and other everyday spells that had filled his life almost since birth. No one looked at him as an interloper or an unwanted know-it-all. They soaked up the knowledge and demanded more. They understood that every new thing they learned only helped the clan.
Sora was also learning new and interesting things. The mages of Burkhard had been forced to craft new spells and learn alternative ways of doing things when the knowledge had been lost during the war. So many of their spells and techniques were better, smarter than the old ways. He was eager to spend his days in their workshops, learning and understanding all they’d done in the past five hundred years.
But beyond the spells and the tight-knit family he’d found at Burkhard, there was Ravi. The dragon’s smile lit his day with a glorious light. Leaving Ravi would be like giving up the sun.
Ravi could so easily come to the Sodalicium and find brotherhood among the dragons there, but would his light dim without his family? Would Sora be enough for him?
Never had he thought his path in life would lead him away from his family. He’d traveled plenty over the years, but always returned to his base, his clan, his parents. When he found his mate, he’d assumed that they would be joining his clan.
But that thinking now felt like a thorn stuck in the side of his brain, and he wasn’t sure what to do about it. Could he really leave his family and remain at Burkhard Castle?
With a grunt, Warin shoved himself to his feet and started to fold up his towel. “We should head back. I’m sure someone has noticed that we’re missing by now. I’ll need to explain to Alric why I took two mages outside the castle without the proper complement of dragon escorts.”
“Do you want me to smooth it over with him?” Ravi asked, not moving from where he was snuggled in Sora’s arms.
Warin shook his head. “No, it’s fine. I figured I would blame it on Sora.”
“Hey!” Sora said, his head popping up while North and Warin laughed.
“Ignore him,” North said with a playful sigh. “Warin just needs to tell Alric when Cameron is there and mention the secret lake.”
“Ahhh…” Ravi commented, slowly climbing out of Sora’s arms.
Sora accepted Ravi’s hand and let himself get pulled back to his feet. “What’s that mean?”
“It means Cameron will get that wistful look in his eye because he and Alric have gotten Baldewin to sneak them off to this spot plenty of times for a quiet afternoon picnic.”
“Cameron will then pull Alric away to their bedroom where they can act like newlyweds, making Alric forget all about being angry,” North explained.
“And Alric knows that we’ve got a web of spells all around the lake to warn us if the Jaeggi get close to it,” Warin added as he prepared the harness for North.
Sora lifted an eyebrow. “The same spells around the castle that warned us about the Jaeggi bomber?”
Ravi snorted.
“We had to take those down when reporters and people claiming to be mages started showing up. All that noise was interfering with the spells.” He leaned up and brushed a kiss to Sora’s chin. “We’re safe here.”
Sora turned his face and kissed Ravi back, sinking into his warm reassurance. It wasn’t so much that he was worried about his safety as he was worried about Ravi’s. The dragon had already been hurt once. He wouldn’t be able to take it if Ravi was injured trying to protect him.
With more reluctance than he expected, Sora climbed back into the harness and secured himself before Ravi pushed off the ground, carrying them back to the castle. The sky was turning a deep midnight blue, twinkling diamonds surrounding them. He hadn’t realized how much he needed this stolen moment with Ravi.
While Burkhard Castle was huge and there were significantly fewer clan members than at the Sodalicium, there always seemed to be someone around. It was too hard to have those secret moments where it was just the two of them. Even with Warin and North there, they’d felt alone. He’d heard stories about everyday life and silly mishaps. While lazily floating in the lake, Ravi had told him about life with Alric, Baldewin, Warin, and Gunter. He felt like he’d learned more about his gefreogen in the past two hours than he had in the past several days.
And it left him all the more unsure of whether he should remain in Burkhard or take Ravi back to the Sodalicium.
Sora was still vibrating from the flight back when they made it to Ravi’s rooms. He absolutely loved to fly, and flying on the back of a wind dragon was an entirely different experience. His heart was still thumping. Sora didn’t think of himself as much of an adrenaline junkie, but he was very willing to ride that high again.
Sometimes, being with Ravi overrode Sora’s logical side. It tapped into pure emotion, and this was one of those times when he felt overwhelmed by Ravi. He couldn’t contain the emotions, and he wanted—no, needed—an outlet.
Ravi spoke as he shut the door. “I’m a little chilled, how about a shower? To warm us back up.”
Sora could think of another method to warm them back up. And it had nothing to do with water. He spun on his toes, backing Ravi sharply against the door, taking his mouth without hesitation or apology.
Ravi jolted, not expecting the kiss, then melted into it, his hands coming up to thread themselves in Sora’s hair. Sora loved having his hair played with in general, but he especially enjoyed the way Ravi’s fingers sunk into it, the light pull that made his scalp tingle. Sora grasped one of Ravi’s legs, pulling it around his waist and grinding into him. Ah, yes, that was better. That was some of the friction he needed. Too many damn clothes in the way, though.