Moira gave another of her indulgent smiles. “True.”
At least he’d distracted her from her worries about him going out among humans, and possibly other dragons, in his pursuit of a normal Terran life.
“I still don’t understand why you feel the need for more specialized schooling.” Ah, so she wasn’t about to let the topic drop after all.
“You taught me the basics. Now I’m learning more, hoping for a career someday.”
Moira set her fork down on her plate a bit more noisily than necessary. “You don’t need a career. I’ve told you, one day your brother will send for you, and we’ll all return to Adrakus. You’llhave no need of human skills. In the meantime, your parents’ hoard keeps us nicely provided for.”
This again. Adrakus, Adrakus. A place Jules didn’t remember and might never see again. “Moira, we’ve been here over twenty years. I’ve known nothing but this house and our occasional visits to the mountains. To me, my mysterious brother could be a fledgling tale.” Donovan, alpha leader of Sandy Shoals Court, was a legend rather than a real person as far as Jules could prove, while speculation about the parents he’d never know brought fresh sorrow.
Moira’s tone grew stern. “Don’t disrespect your brother. He sent you here to protect you when the wars started. One day he’ll bring you home.”
Jules snorted. “As a sacrifice to another alpha.” He’d heard the stories often enough, how a pure-as-the-driven snow omega became an alpha’s plaything for the greater good. They couldn’t possibly be happy with such an arrangement. What about what they wanted?
Screw the greater good.
“Jules!” Moira’s face turned red.
Jules took a bite of steak, preferring food to the coming tirade. Moira and Radomir had abandoned their lives to come here and care for him. Again, based on what they said. He’d no one else to ask.
“It’s common practice among our people to enter arranged matings for the good of the court, Jules.” Moira lifted her fork and kept her voice even, as she’d spoken to a younger version of him. “Your mating with the alpha of another court will ensure allies to strengthen us.”
“Mating,” sounded so dirty, impersonal. Why couldn’t they just say “marriage” as humans did? “Yes, I’m being raised as a sheep for the slaughter. Does what I want matter to anyone?” He spoke bitterly, but without anger.
Radomir broke in before the fight escalated. “Of course it does. You may not know your brother, but I do. Even though we left Adrakus before he became king, I know he’s a good ruler who wouldn’t force you into a relationship with an abusive alpha.”
“That’s not setting the bar very high, is it, when all that’s required is a mate who won’t slap me around? I don’t even know if I’m being sold off to a male or female.”
“Jules!” Moira sprang to her feet, horror on her face. “You’re not being sold!”
“Aren’t I?” Oh no. Jules might have just gone too far. He backed down, as he always did. “I’m sorry, Moira. I’m just tired of waiting for this life that someone else has planned for me. What’s taking so long? Didn’t my brother say he’d be back for me in a few years? It’s been more than a few.”
Moira smoothed her hands over her robe and returned to her chair. “I’m sure he’ll send for you whenever he can.”
“Do you know if he’s even alive?”
“If it weren’t necessary to hide from enemies, Moira could lift the spell,” Radomir said. “Dragons can sense their close kin. You’d be able to feel him even though he’s not around.”
Why had they never mentioned this before? “Then why don’t you lift the spell, Moira, and let me check?”
“It’s too dangerous,” Moira and Radomir blurted as one.
Moira added, “There are dragons in the human world. None from our own court that I’m aware of, but many from courts we can’t trust who have reasons to prevent your brother from making alliances.”
“If I can’t feel him, he can’t feel me either, can he?” Maybe Donovan thought Jules was dead, or maybe he’d forgotten having a brother since they couldn’t feel each other.
“That’s correct. He can’t. But Sakaris knows where we are. He won’t leave us here.”
Sakaris, the mysterious dragon mage, was as much a legend to Jules as Donovan himself. Jules stared down at his half-eaten steak, appetite gone. But Moira had made his favorite tonight. She always did what she could to make him happy, even relented and let him attend the local university. A small taste of freedom before being tied to a stranger.
Jules ate the rest of his meal in silence and retired to his room.
Nestled in his lonely bed, he dreamed of flying, as he often did, riding the winds far above the city. He laughed, a sound most humans might fear, interpreting it as a roar, banking to the left to ride a thermal draft. Down below, another shadow joined his.What?He’d never dreamed of flying with another dragon before.
The new dragon didn’t challenge him, merely matching its movements to Jules’s. Jules and his dragon both relaxed, reveling in the company on their flight.
His light-gold coloring made a stark contrast to the mottled brown dragon’s as they spiraled higher together into the moonlit sky. Another dragon.
