Valentine only smiled wider. "Save me some breakfast," he said and tried not to run into his rooms. He could hear them cackling like a bunch of gossiping hens.
Only Charlotte didn't look surprised or interested in his state of undress. She tended to stay out of the drama, and that was one of the things Valentine liked about her.
Valentine changed his clothes and tried to get some of his usual composure back. He looked at himself in the mirror and the few delicious marks left by Yelena. He grinned at them, and it was wild and happy. His eyes were still red, but the dragon seemed to be content to slumber.
Thank the gods because Valentine didn't need any extra commentary in his head to make his anxiety worse. They would all ask him about what was going on with Yelena, and he had no clue how to answer. He had no idea either.
Thankfully, Yelena had joined the others at breakfast by the time Valentine made it out. She was dressed in shades of gray, and even though it suited her coloring, it annoyed Valentine that she had muted herself down. He knew it was her defense, but he hated that she felt compelled to resort to it.
"Come and eat, Valentine. Here, next to me," Taranis said, pushing out a chair on his left side. "I want to talk to you about the hand you made for Yelena."
Valentine took the hint and didn't argue. He poured himself a coffee. "What do you want to know?"
"Everything. It's a beautiful bit of craftsmanship," Taranis replied.
Valentine was half expecting some threatening whispers about Yelena, but Taranis seemed more interested in the hand.
"You know, I'm sure Mananan still has old Nuada's hand in his vault. It wasn't as fine as yours, though. I can't pretend to understand the magic you both used to get it connected, but it seems to be working beautifully," Taranis said, once Valentine was done.
Valentine looked down the table where Yelena was chatting with Charlotte. "We are going to leave the city today to run some magical tests on it all the same."
"You're going to shift? Can I watch?" Reeve asked, interruptingthem. "I can hear my dragon, but maybe if I see how you do it, I will be able to understand the process better."
"There's no process. I don't know how many times I have to tell you, " Taranis said with a sigh. "You human magicians want to overthink everything. I thought you were the laid-back one, Reeve."
"I have to know what the rules are before I break them," Reeve argued.
"Valentine is going to undo the sigil binding his dragon," Yelena said sweetly. Valentine glared at her, but she only batted her eyelashes.
"What do you mean by binding it? Val hasn't bound his dragon. He..." Reeve stopped talking, his surprise turning to anger. "You have got to be fucking kidding me. Really, Val? Since fucking when?"
Valentine suddenly felt very old and tired. "Does it matter? It's almost unravelled anyway."
"For fuck’s sake! Yes! It matters!" Reeve shouted.
"Now, Reeve, let's use our inside voices. Valentine has a good reason for it, I am sure," Charlotte said, putting a hand on his shoulder. "We should all go and watch him shift."
"Can you not?" Valentine grumbled.
"No. I'm definitely coming. I'm the queen here, and I get to watch," Quinn said stubbornly. "Also, Owain won't shut up about how big and ugly you are as a dragon, and I'm not missing that."
Taranis gave Valentine an apologetic smile. "Sorry, lad. I want to see it too. You can use my launching space so there's no one else around, but if you are undoing binding magic, I should be there."
"Fine," Valentine muttered and finished eating. He didn't look at Yelena. He wanted to keep the binding thing to himself because Cosimo would lose his shit, and his brothers would berate him. He was tired of the argument before it even began.
Maybe it is time for them to know the truth, his mother's voice whispered to him.Haven't you hidden long enough?
To that, he had no answer.
Valentine let the others' enthusiasm carry him through the rest of the meal. He wasn't sure how exactly, but by the time they made it through the palace to Taranis's private launching space, Emyr, Owain, Vidar, and Avallach were waiting.
"Really, Vidar? You too?" Valentine asked.
Vidar shrugged. "I need to see if there is any truth to the nonsense these three talk."
"Oh, come on, Val, don't be shy," Quinn said, putting an arm around him and squeezing. "We just want to support you. It's not like you to let your brothers get ahead of you at anything, and Bas and Apollo have already shifted!"
"Maybe because he bound his fucking dragon," Reeve growled behind him.
