Kastali Dun

Reyr made one final sweep of Kastali Dun's perimeter. He allowed the air currents to catch his wings and propel him forward. With the day's drills finished, he breathed a sigh of relief. His work was nearly done.

As he extended his wings, stretching them to their fullest, he growled with pleasure. Nothing matched the feeling of riding the wind, except perhaps mating, but that was a pleasure long given up. He had made his peace with it.

He turned his massive head towards the horizon. The sun was fast approaching its daily destination, blanketing the land below in its golden rays. In little more than an hour, its disappearance would cast the world into darkness.

Only one thing remained before the evening meal. He had promised to meet with Claire.

He called to her, waiting patiently, but he received no answer. After waiting a few moments, he called again, "Claire?"

He shut his eyes and extended his consciousness to hers, something only the Drengr were capable of. When he felt her mind, it did not appear that she was blocking him; he could still sense her. No, she was sleeping. "Claire?" he called once more, hoping to wake her.

"Reyr?"

"Have you been sleeping?" He failed to hide his teasing tone.

"I was so tired. I needed a nap."

"I have finished with today's drills."

"Oh. Okay. See you soon..."

His contact with her ended. He was left smiling, which was simply a matter of baring his teeth, since dragon smiles were quite different from their human counterparts. If a human had seen him smirking, said human would have thought he was snarling viciously.

Hearing Claire's voice was thrilling. It was akin to what he had felt when Gemma had lived. Before Claire, Gemma had been the only woman capable of invading his consciousness, as it was for all mated pairs. With the exception of a mate, no Rider was capable of speaking to another Drengr, yet Claire could address whichever Drengr she wished. She heard all of them, even when their conversations were meant to be private. It was an incredible ability—one he never believed possible until meeting her.

Thinking about her secret left him guilt ridden. Hiding her ability from the king did not sit well with him. It was dishonorable; it went against his oath. He needed to remind Claire of this again so that she might reveal the truth before he was forced to.

Several of his trainees hailed him from the sky. They offered their thanks and goodbyes before gliding down to Fort Kastali. The fort sat north of Kastali Dun, a half-league away. Due to its close proximity, the king's Shields often assisted with drills. Today in particular, he had played the role of a wild dragon. The drills were a necessary part of their training and preparation for war, but Drengr on dragon combat would only get them so far. Few were discussing the real problem at hand, and until they had a solution, there was no effective way to defeat the dragons. If it were some other creature they battled, then there would be no dilemma. The only true weapon his kind possessed was their fiery breath. Unfortunately, wild dragons were impervious to fire, just as the Drengr and their Riders were.

He descended to a lower courtyard in the Great Keep. His form melted away revealing the human side of him as his feet touched the ground. The shift was effortless. The momentum he landed with carried him forward so that his pace from the courtyard into the keep was quick.

When he reached Claire's door, he gave a quick knock and opened it before she could answer. She hated it when he did that—when he barged in on her. For some reason the elicited annoyance drove him to do so as often as possible.

"What's the point of knocking if you're just going to storm in?" she cried. The pout on her face was feigned; he had seen it before. "What if I had been dressing?" she added.

"My lady," he bowed deeply to greet her. "Had you been dressing, I would have been graced with a glorious sight, even the gods could not deny it." A smile tugged at the corners of his mouth, but he did his best to hide it.

She sighed and crossed her arms. He saw beyond the fake scowl. "You are lucky I don't lock the door on you," she said.

"Oh yes, because a locked door would be an impassable barrier for me."

She rolled her eyes and threw herself into a nearby chair. "Whatever. Enough of that. You won't believe who I had to deal with today. We have a lot to discuss, you and I."

"Hm..." He paused to think before asking, "Who did you have to deal with today? Wait, let me guess." He tapped his chin. "Does this nuisance have raven black hair, perfect features, gaudy attire, an evil nature, and a disgusting attitude? It couldn't have been Lady Caterina, could it have been?" He sat down opposite her.

"Ugh. Yes. She's an evil witch, if you ask me." Claire scowled. The mere thought of Caterina seemed to worsen her mood. "You want to know something funny? I've decided to nickname her Miss Witch."

Claire's words struck Reyr for a moment, then he laughed without reserve. "A fitting nickname. I take it this evil witch interfered with your day?"

"She was horrid! Although, my day was not entirely bad. My morning was quite nice. I absolutely love Marcel." She sighed after saying this. "I wish I could say the same for Mage Targa. He is unpleasant to look at, and his attitude is as bad as Caterina's."

"Is that so?" For a moment, Reyr was thoughtful. He had spoken to Mage Targa on occasion, but he never found anything distasteful about him; sure, the man wasn't handsome, but neither was he hideous.

"The worst part of it all came after our lesson with Mage Targa. Caterina had the audacity to corner me outside the library. Not only did she deliver a death threat—"

"Wait—what?"

"She also told me to stay away from King Talon. As if I'm interested in King Talon! Tch!" Claire rolled her eyes.

"Just a moment," he said. "Caterina threatened you? You're sure?" His brow furrowed.

"She told me to stay away from her, or she would kill me. She even said that she had killed someone before."

A feeling of unease crept over him. Surely it was impossible; yes, it had to be. He sighed. "Caterina may be reckless, but I highly doubt she has the means to kill anyone, including you. I imagine she said it to frighten you."

Claire studied him before shrugging. "Maybe you're right. At least I was the better person. I'm trying not to let it get under my skin. I just don't know how I'm supposed to attend lessons every day with that horrid man breathing down my neck while Caterina secretly envisions ways to kill me."

Claire's news disappointed Reyr. He did not want her to feel uncomfortable whilst she trained; learning was of the utmost importance. "Perhaps I will speak with Marcel," he said at last.

"No!"

He arched an eyebrow at her.

"I—I'll try to handle it myself. I don't want to look like a complainer. If circumstances change, Caterina might think she's won. I don't want her to think she has any power over me."

"But it seems that she does," he said. "If she makes you uneasy—"

"I can deal with it," Claire assured him. "I'm stronger than you think. But...why did she tell me to back off King Talon?"

He chuckled. Here was a sore spot for King Talon, if ever there was one. Lady Caterina had tried to woo him many times before. Reyr wasn't sure if this was something he ought to relay to Claire.

"Does Caterina have some sort of interest in King Talon? I thought that she was more interested in Mage Targa."

"For several years—ever since Caterina came of age—she has tried to woo the king. There was even talk that the king ought to take a wife, and that wife should be her."

"What?" Claire made a choking sound. "You're joking right? Caterina—Dragonwall's queen?"

He shook his head. "I wish I were. But rest assured, King Talon would never have her as a wife. A Drengr can only bear children with his true mate, and only one mate exists for each Drengr. Caterina would have done nothing for the kingdom."

"So, it's true then? King Talon never found his mate?"

"He never did, unfortunately."

"But it's not too late for him to keep trying, right?"

He grunted. "I think he sees it as too late. He stopped trying a long time ago. He is convinced that even if he found her now, no woman could bear his scars."

"I don't think his scars are the problem, Reyr. It's his attitude."

"Well, yes, there is the matter of his temper."

"And what about you? I remember Jovari and Koldis mentioning something about a woman named Gemma. Was she your mate?" There was a measure of hesitance in Claire's voice.

Despite the innocence of her question, his heart constricted. "Yes, she was, but I would rather not talk about it."

Claire chewed on the skin of her bottom lip, as if tempted to forge on in spite of his disinclination. Instead she said, "I—I'm sorry, Reyr. I didn't mean to upset you." After this followed a long, awkward pause, then Claire said, "On a different note, I've got something else to discuss with you. How about a subject change?"

"Yes, please." He hated that the mere mention of Gemma's name brought back his old hurts. He wanted so badly to share that part of his life with Claire, to tell her about his better days, but he simply could not bring himself to it, not yet.

"I need you to help me with my dreams."

"Your—your dreams?" It wasn't the subject change that he had anticipated.

"Yes, I keep having these strange dreams. At first, I wasn't able to remember what I was seeing, but now I know. I think I'm seeing inside of someone else's head."

"Are you implying that you are having visions?" His scowl deepened.

Claire shook her head. "Not visions, per se. I'm actually seeing inside another person's mind."

He leaned back against the sofa and considered what she said. "I think it would make sense if you were purposefully attempting to break into someone's mind. Cyrus was a Mind Bender. With his soul and his magic, you ought to possess the same abilities."

"But I'm not trying—I'm not standing in front of someone trying to read their thoughts. He did it to me, once. It gave me a whopping headache. Besides, this person in particular does not seem to know that I'm there. I can't understand it."

"Whose mind are you seeing?" He placed one arm on the back of the sofa and propped his head on his hand as he studied her.

"It's Kane." Her eyes fell to her skirt as her fingers picked at the embroidery. "It's Kane's mind that I'm seeing." She did not look at him.

"You are sure?" His voice was quiet.

"I'm positive." Her face was pale. "The worst part is, when I'm in his mind, it's like I'm him. I feel evil. I feel horrid! And I don't mind feeling that way. When I'm there in his mind, I want the same things he wants—to possess all the Dragon Stones and destroy everyone of dragon blood."

"Claire, this is disturbing." Reyr shook his head. If she was correct—if it was Kane's mind she was seeing—then he had better tell Talon.

"You don't think I'm...I'm not an evil person for wanting those things, am I? I don't want to want them. I can't help it. It's like I become him. But...but how is that possible? Even the thought of it makes me sick."

He sighed. "You are definitely not an evil person. But what you are experiencing is disturbing."

"You're not going to tell him, are you?"

"Him? Who? The king?"

Claire nodded. "I don't like him knowing stuff about me."

"You are going to have to get past that if we are to work together. Like it or not, he is your king now."

She groaned. "It's not like I need him to thank me for all the sacrifices I've made. But maybe if he would apologize, things would be easier. He tried to kill me and never even bothered saying he was sorry. Now I'm just supposed to forget it ever happened? He needs to get over his stupid pride."

"Yes, he ought to apologize. I will speak to him about th—"

"No! Don't tell him. It doesn't count if the apology doesn't come from his heart."

Claire asked too much of him; far too often he found himself caving in. His lips pressed together in a slight grimace. Damn her for affecting him so! "Very well, I will stay silent for now and consider what you have told me." He grew thoughtful and fell quiet. If anything, it seemed that there was some kind of connection between Claire and Kane, perhaps it had something to do with her ability, but he was not certain of anything yet. At last, he told her so.

They talked for a while until he glanced out the window and realized that it was nearly dark. It would not do to miss dinner when the king hoped to speak with him. "We had better get down to the dining hall," he said. "Shall we go down together?"

His words had the exact effect he was hoping for. Her serious expression dissolved into a smile that left him feeling warm all over. She nodded and jumped to her feet, eagerly taking the arm he offered. Together, the two of them left her chambers for the dining hall. 

⭐🌟 DON'T FORGET TO VOTE!!🌟⭐