him, he probably doesn’t remember you,” Diya pointed out as she threaded her arm through his.
“No, I remember King Chalo of the Earth Dragons,” Alric quickly replied, regaining his power of speech. He turned toward the king and bowed his head. “I remember you fought bravely alongside my father.”
The earth dragon’s expression darkened, and he lowered his own head. “But I couldn’t reach him fast enough when he fell to that damn spell. Blasted Jaeggi. He was a great dragon. And your sweet mother, wonderful mage. It wasn’t right to lose them when the world needed them so much.”
“The world lost many great dragons and mages to the Jaeggi war,” Rodrigo added solemnly.
“And, somehow, the return of the Jaeggi has done the impossible,” Roca stated. “Mended fences between the fire and ice dragons.”
The old dragon smirked as his gaze darted from Alric to Rodrigo.
“I can’t think of two dragons who butted heads more back at the end of the war. Constantly arguing. Fire and ice.”
Rodrigo rubbed his chin, his narrowed eyes slipping over to Alric. Ravi recognized the playful mischief there. “Yes, well, Alric has become less of a stick in the mud now that he’s a bit older and mated.”
Alric snorted. “And you’ve become something less of a pain in my ass the older you get.”
“Actually,” Cameron said sharply, stepping in front of his mate and extending his hand to Chalo, “they were brought together because of me. Or, rather, the discovery of new mages. Hi, I’m Cameron Burkhard, mage and mate to Alric.”
Chalo chuckled and eagerly shook Cameron’s hand. “Yes, that makes much more sense.”
Introductions were made all around, and then they were ushered inside. Lisette took the mages off to her quiet sanctum for mage refreshments that she claimed would soothe the mind and replenish the soul, which Ravi took to mean a couple of bottles of wine from Alric’s private reserve. The bodyguards split up to check out Lisette’s rooms, as well as Alric’s study, before they were shown to their own chambers.
Ravi was a little surprised that Sora’s father, Ryu, went with Lisette while Yuki remained with the kings. Sora didn’t seem surprised as he walked with his mother to Alric’s private study.
As everyone entered, Ravi hesitated just inside the door, not sure if he should stay or leave. The castle was well guarded, and Alric wouldn’t need him on hand for protection at the moment. Ravi wasn’t technically present for most of Alric’s meetings until Alric specifically requested he be there.
“Hoheit…” Ravi started, drawing Alric’s gaze to him.
Alric waved him in with his right hand. “Ravi, please stay. I think your insight will be invaluable. You’ve been present for many of the Jaeggi attacks, and you are close with our newest mages. Plus, you and Cameron know what Cassie can do with her hacking and her Google-fu,” he said, finishing with a small wrinkle of his nose.
Grinning, Ravi quickly crossed the room and stood behind Cameron’s chair, which also put him close to where Sora was sitting with his mother on a leather loveseat. Across from him, Roca sank heavily into the cushions of the sofa while the king of the Earth Dragons wandered over to Alric’s desk. His fingertips trailed across the top of the shiny surface for a moment. Deep sadness bowed the old king’s shoulders, and everyone remained silent as they allowed him to get lost in memories that likely included Alric’s father.
Ravi had no memories of the old Burkhard king. His earliest memories were of Alric and Baldewin. Both dragons had watched over him, played with him, raised him within these castle walls. They were his family.
He couldn’t imagine what it was like for Chalo and Roca, returning to Burkhard for the first time in five hundred years. How many ghosts of old memories traveled down these halls? Were they both being forced to relive a bloody war that never should have happened in the first place?
After less than a minute, Chalo turned away from the desk. He flashed Alric a weak smile and patted him on the right shoulder before moving to join Roca on the sofa.
“To begin,” Alric said, shoving his left hand into the pocket of his slacks, “I wish to apologize for the attack you suffered upon arriving in Munich. We underestimated the Jaeggi, not even considering that they would move so quickly. I—”
“No. No apologies are necessary.”
“It was not your fault,” the two kings said in near unison.
“Besides, it gave us a chance to see