them wearing similar dresses to myself, despite carrying swords at their waists or arrows on their back. How did they fight in such heavy dresses? I didn’t fight, so maybe it was possible, but somehow I felt like it would get in the way, right?
“We need to understand what is going on better before we arrive at the castle,” Henry insisted, his eyes flashing with legitimate concern.
“Maybe I saw a picture of the realm when Croy was going over everything? Or he described it to some extent? Or I heard one of you talking about it?” I offered several options but then shook my head. “It just feels extremely familiar.”
“It could be connected to her phoenix somehow,” Marco pointed out as Henry’s hand intertwined with mine, his lips brushing over the top of it.
“We will figure it out,” Henry confirmed, and I had absolutely no doubt he meant that. When my mates wanted something accomplished, they almost always were successful. They were just amazing like that.
As we began traveling throughout the city, I found myself more curious about the realm. Not only that it was a legitimate grouping of regions that floated but how large it was, something you couldn’t tell because of the cloud cover.
“The main island,” Henry explained, “is the Fire Lands. Once you leave the military academies, you come back here, normally.”
“Where are the academies?” I arched a brow, wondering if I could see them. I wanted to know where my mates had spent so long.
“Water Lands, a bit of a distance from here,” Marco explained. “There are several, and each serve a different ‘class’ within Dreki society.”
“Class?”
“Certain families,” Henry scowled, “are considered more ‘well bred’ than others. All of our families come from a direct dragon line and contain a phoenix in our genetic pool, from at least within three generations. So we are considered more powerful and dominant than someone who has ‘mixed’ heritage. It’s absolute bullshit, but it’s why we have so much influence in Dreki and why we serve the royal family.”
“So what if you aren’t from a family line like yours?” I asked softly, already finding myself frustrated with this concept.
“Just depends on how much magic you possess and what type of dragon you are,” Marco admitted. “The lowest class is considered half-breeds, which are a direct mix of a dragon or half-breed dragon with a completely different species.”
“Specifically women that are in that position.” Henry shook his head. It was very obvious that my mates found this system as upsetting as myself, and I found my chest fluttering at the idea of making anyone feel bad about their heritage, let alone something as beautiful as bringing together different types of supernatural species. There were so many unique people out there, why would that ever be considered a bad thing?
“That’s bullshit.” I frowned, really hating it the longer I thought about it.
Henry barked out a laugh at my words. Marco nodded his head and ran a hand over his face. “This entire realm is archaic. Ridiculous. And it doesn’t help that the crown has been around for a few hundred years. I know they attempt to keep with the times, but the political power and ties of society are embedded deep, so even the strides they have made haven’t changed much.”
“Like what?”
“The queen, around ten years ago, allowed female half-breeds, the group we were referring to before,” Henry began, squeezing my hand as a frustrated sound came from my throat, “to join whichever academy they felt fit them best and that they could pass the test to get into. Obviously, most of them ended up going with the one that contained other half-breed males because community is a larger influence than attempted social gain… but there have been a few that have gotten into the larger academies.”
“I actually heard that there has been a larger amount the past few years than normal,” Marco admitted. “Specifically to the Eldur Academy.”
“Really?” Henry mused. “That must piss off the headmaster.”
“Is he a jerk?”
“Bastard. Complete sexist piece of shit.” Marco shook his head.
Inhaling, I shook my head, the energy of this place making a bit more sense. The rigid rules and harsh formal attitudes.
The lull of the carriage had me going quiet for a bit as Marco and Henry talked about everything they had to do when they first got to the castle. Something I probably should have paid attention to, but I found myself zoning out, my chest feeling odd still despite having expressed the