to be helpful. He thought he was saving a life.”
Alric sighed, and his footsteps approached Ravi. Ravi lifted his head just enough that he could peek at Alric around his hands.
“I am so very sorry, Hoheit. I never meant to expose our clan or to put any dragon in danger,” Ravi said, abjectly remorseful.
A little part of his heart was breaking to think that he’d hurt his clan, or worse, disappointed Alric. He was more than just his king; Alric had been an older brother to him for as long as he could remember. Ravi’s parents had died shortly after his birth during the Dragon War and all he’d ever known was the Burkhard Clan. This was his home and his family. He never wanted to do anything to hurt his family.
“I know, Ravi,” Alric whispered.
Ravi lifted his head completely, relieved that the dungeon punishment didn’t seem to be forthcoming.
“You were trying to save a life, and for that I am proud of you. You’re always the first to jump in when it comes to helping or protecting another,” Alric said and then frowned. “I cannot blame your instincts to leap into the fray to protect others. I do wish you weren’t so quick to jump to conclusions, however.”
“I will try harder, Hoheit, I promise. I will make you proud and learn to think things through,” Ravi vowed, and he meant every word of it.
He would be less impulsive. He made progress on that character trait every decade, after all.
“I know you will,” Alric agreed. A small smile passed across his lips, but the king looked worried and more than a little weary. The Jaeggi were taking their toll on Alric.
It had been five months since they’d brought a new mage into their clan, not that that was strange. Prior to Cameron’s arrival last June, it had been roughly five hundred years since they’d seen a new mage. Now they had Cameron, his twin sister Cassie, their grandmother Ha Na, Tori from the Taavi mage clan, and now North from the Aldridge mage clan.
Rodrigo had also acquired a couple new mages from Taavi Clan, and the dragons were still talking to the reclusive mage clan a bit, though it was a tense thing.
But the past five months had been too quiet. The Jaeggi had hounded their every step when they found a new mage, desperate to steal the mage’s power. What was happening that they couldn’t see? Had the Jaeggi uncovered other mages they didn’t know about? Where were the Jaeggi hiding now? What were they plotting?
There was no doubt in Ravi’s mind that these were the thoughts keeping Alric awake at night.
Of course, it hadn’t all been bad. The new mages had settled in quickly, adding to the wealth of knowledge and strength of the Burkhard Clan. Baldewin and Tori were happily mated now. North and Warin wouldn’t be far behind, though they seemed happy in their blissful bubble of dating and wooing.
They were even seeing more of King Rodrigo now. He made plenty of excuses about wanting to talk to the Taavi in Finland and wanting to discuss plans with Alric in person, but Ravi had started to suspect that a certain purple-haired mage had caught the dragon’s attention.
The ice dragon loudly patted the open seat next to him on the sofa. “Come sit with me, Zephyr. We must figure out what our next step is going to be, and considering the world now knows about your dragon, I believe you should be a part of it.”
Ravi glanced up at Alric in time to see his king roll his eyes, but his smile grew wider.
“That is true.”
Feeling lighter for the first time since this whole debacle had started, Ravi hurried over to the sofa and sat down next to the long-legged dragon, excited to be a part of this next step in their future with the rest of the world.
“At least the humans didn’t run in terror from the sight of a dragon,” Cameron offered.
“You and Cassie have both shown me the stupidity and danger that humans will face in order to capture something for the internet,” Alric grumbled.
Cameron wrapped his arms around Alric’s waist and snuggled in close. “That’s why we all need dragons to keep us safe.”
Alric carefully wrapped his left arm around Cameron’s waist and pressed a kiss to his cheek. “It is a full-time job keeping an eye on my mate. I do not want the task of protecting all humans and mages.”
“As for