“You remember that old, grumpy, gray dragon I told you about?” Draven asks from next to me.
He is standing behind me and a little to the right, so that he can also gaze out at the beautiful view. He rests both of his hands on the balcony railing, keeping me between his arms.
I removed my jacket earlier, so now I’m only wearing the leather pants and the thin white shirt that I wear underneath the fighting leathers. Since Draven has access to his wardrobe here, he has changed out of his dragon scale armor and is now only wearing a pair of pants and a black, short-sleeved shirt. With noarmor to act as a barrier, the heat from his body warms my back, and his intoxicating scent of night mist and embers envelops me and fills my lungs with every breath.
“The one who trained you and taught you how to use your storm powers?” I reply, still watching the way the colorful sky is reflected in the vast water.
“Yes.” He lifts one of his hands from the railing and points straight into the sunset. “She came from that direction. And she left in that direction too.”
My heart flutters with excitement. “Maybe one day, we can try to find her homeland.”
Leaning down, he brushes a kiss against the side of my neck. “One day, we will see it all.”
I smile.
For a few minutes, we just stand there in comfortable silence and watch the last rays of the colorful sunset fade from the sky. Below us, candles and torches are lit all across the beautiful city. They spread out like a glittering sea in all directions before the city meets the actual sea beyond. Since Draven is the clan leader, he lives in that grand half-castle, half-mansion building in the middle of the city. But apparently, he has a private house on another island as well.
“We have an hour or so before the celebration kicks off in the gathering hall,” Draven says, and nods towards that large one-story building that looks relatively flat compared to all the two-story buildings around the massive open square. “Is there anything else you want to see before then?”
After he and the others finished handling those initial clan matters, he showed me around his city before ending here at his grand mansion. I sweep my gaze over the area, trying to think if there is anything else I’m curious about. But we’ve seen most places that I wanted to see already. The only thing we haven’t really explored is this almost castle-like house. He brought us in through a private side door rather than the front, and he hasmostly just shown me the residential parts of the building. If this is the clan leader’s house, there must be some kind of official receiving hall or something.
“If other clan leaders come to see you, where do you receive them?” I ask, turning in his arms to look up at him.
A devilish smile spreads across his lips. “You mean, where do I lord my power over them?”
I laugh. “Yes. That.”
His wings rustle as he spreads them out wide across the balcony. Then he scoops me into his arms and launches into the air. My stomach lurches at the sudden start, and I tighten my arms around his neck. A satisfied chuckle rumbles from his chest.
We land on the ground outside the grand doors to Draven’s half-castle. After kissing my forehead, he gently sets me down and tucks his wings in tighter again. I straighten my clothes while he unlocks the door and then pulls one of them open.
“Welcome to my seat of power,” he says, a wicked glint in his eyes as he motions for me to enter.
It feels like I’m about to walk into some kind of trap, but with Draven, I don’t actually mind that, so I just saunter in through the door. Torches flare to life all along the walls the moment I step inside. Surprised, I turn back to Draven. But before I can ask about it, I find him closing and locking the door behind us.
“Locking me in, huh?” I flash him a smirk. “You know how that usually works out for you.”
Shaking his head, he lets out a short chuckle. “Yes, you do seem to have an uncanny ability to get out of locked rooms.”
I wink and then turn to face the room again.
A sense of awe fills me as I take in the high-ceilinged hall before me. The floor is made of black stone, and it gleams when the torchlight is reflected against it. Those torches line the walls of the rectangular room, running all the way down to the other short side. Almost all the remaining space on the walls is takenup by incredibly detailed works of art that look to have been painted straight onto them.
Starting forward across the floor, I stare in wonder at those breathtaking paintings as I walk. They all depict epic battle scenes over a stormy sea, making it feel like I’m walking through the echoes of a great war.
“Wow,” I breathe, still gazing at the stunning art as I move towards the other end of the room.
“Yeah,” Draven replies with a soft laugh where he is walking along next to me. “The clan leader who designed this sure knew how to set the tone for negotiations.”
He’s right. Walking through this place, I can practically feel the power thrumming inside the walls. It sends a very clear message. You do not want the Black Dragon Clan as your enemy.
“It’s very…” I begin, but then I trail off as I reach the room’s other short side.
My eyes widen as I take in the grand piece of furniture there.
An imposing black throne is situated atop a small dais. The shining black floor rises into steps leading up to the impressive seat of power, which takes up practically the entirety of that small platform. It has a spacious seating area, and flat and sturdy armrests that end in fierce decorations that look like snarling dragon heads. I raise my eyebrows as I take in the dangerous-looking black spikes that crown the back of the chair.
“You have a throne,” I state, rather superfluously.
