Page 20

The castle corridors felt different at night. During the day, sunlight streamed through the tall arched windows, making the white stone walls glow with warmth. Now, with darkness pressing against the glass and torches flickering in their iron sconces, the passages felt older somehow. More mysterious. Shadows stretched long across the floor, and I could hear the distant sound of wind whistling through the towers above us.

My footsteps echoed alongside Kavan's heavier tread, and I was hyperaware of him walking beside me. He'd been quiet since Rhucard left, his jaw still tight with whatever emotion had gripped him during dinner. I'd watched his entire demeanor shift when Rhucard arrived, the way his golden eyes tracked every movement, every word, every smile directed my way.

The possessiveness I'd sensed had been unmistakable. And confusing as hell.

Binwee walked a few paces ahead of us, her small form casting an even smaller shadow. She hadn't said much since we left the dining hall, but I'd caught her glancing back at us more than once with that knowing expression that suggested she was reading subtext I was still trying to parse.

"So," I said, breaking the silence because I couldn't stand it anymore. "Lord Rhucard seems... intense."

Kavan's mouth twitched, though I couldn't tell if it was amusement or irritation. "That's one word for him."

"What's his official title?" I asked, keeping my tone casual even though my mind was working through the political implications of everything I'd witnessed. "I want to make sure I address him properly if we meet again."

"Chieftain of the Northern Wastes," Kavan said. His voice was carefully neutral, but I heard the edge beneath it. "He oversees the mountain clans and the territories beyond the Frostpeak Range."

I filed the information away, noting the geographical distance. "That's a long way from Argia. He must have been very interested in tonight's discussion to travel all this way."

"Rhucard is always interested when it comes to matters of... acquisition." The way Kavan said the word made it clear he wasn't just talking about resources or territory.

We turned a corner, climbing a spiral staircase that wound upward through one of the castle's towers. The stone walls closed in around us, more intimate here, and I caught that scent that seemed to cling to Kavan, leather and pine and something wild that made my pulse quicken despite my better judgment.

"There's history there," I said, not quite making it a question.

Kavan was quiet for a moment, and I wondered if he'd deflect. But then he sighed, and some of the tension drained from his shoulders. "Centuries before the hibernation, there was a schism between the dragon clans. Those in the north grew tired of Alliance restrictions. They believed that since Drakhoni are the strongest warrior species in the universe, we should be able to take what we wanted without answering to anyone."

I thought about the way Rhucard had challenged the Earth protectorate status, the barely veiled aggression beneath his charm. "And you disagreed."

"I believed, and still believe, that strength without restraint leads to chaos." His voice carried the weight of conviction. "The Alliance helped me maintain order, helped me keep their more violent tendencies in check. But it wasn't easy, and it wasn't popular."

I heard the exhaustion beneath his words, the burden of leadership that had spanned centuries. "Do you think there could be an uprising? Now that you're awake again?"

The question came out more bluntly than I'd intended. This was the kind of intelligence the Prime would want, political instability and potential threats to Alliance interests.

Kavan glanced at me, and I saw something flicker in his golden eyes. Respect, maybe, for asking the hard question. "The warriors in the north still respect me as king. They grumble, especially Rhucard, but they won't openly challenge my authority." He paused, his expression growing more serious. "But the mate shortage is a real concern. For all my people, not just the northern clans. If they believe I can't provide a solution..."

He trailed off, and I watched his jaw tighten, watched his hand flex at his side like he was fighting the urge to reach for something, a weapon maybe, or just something solid to hold onto.

"It's more complicated than simple scarcity," he continued, and now there was an edge of frustration in his voice that I hadn't heard before. "As you no doubt surmised from Lord Verrater, Drakhone is split on the question of human mates. The northern clans, Rhucard's people, are desperate for them. They see humans as the solution to our survival. But there's a significant faction, mostly in the southern territories and among the older noble houses, who actively oppose human bonding. They view humans as inferior." The words came out flat, matter-of-fact, but I could hear the anger simmering beneath them. "Because your species hasn't mastered interstellar travel on your own and are, compared to other species, weak and fragile, they see you as lesser beings. Beneath Drakhoni status. They believe taking human mates dilutes our bloodlines and weakens our warrior culture."

The prejudice in those words stung, even though I knew he was reporting others' views rather than his own.

"But that doesn't make sense," I said, working through the logic. "You said there are already Drakhoni mated to humans, hundreds of pairings over the centuries."

"Exactly." Kavan's voice carried a bitter satisfaction, like I'd just identified the same contradiction that had been driving him mad. "Hundreds of Drakhoni have human mates. Children from those pairings who are loved, cherished, valued members of our society. Some of our finest warriors have human mothers. But the anti-human faction either ignores that reality or dismisses it as exceptions."

We'd reached the top of the stairs and emerged into the corridor where our guest quarters were located. The hallway was wider here, with plush carpets muffling our footsteps and tapestries of dragons in flight hanging on the walls. But I barely noticed the surroundings. I was too focused on what Kavan was revealing and what it meant.

"So you're caught between two factions," I said slowly, my mind already cataloging the political implications. "The northern clans who want unrestricted access to human mates, and the southern houses who don't want humans here at all."

"And both sides are watching to see what I'll do." He stopped walking, turning to face me fully. The torchlight cast shadows across his face, making him look older. "If I push too hard for human integration, I risk alienating the traditionalists. If I don't provide a solution to the mate shortage, the northern clans will grow restless and our people will suffer. Rhucard isn't the only one who believes we should take what we need by force."

The weight of it settled over me like a physical thing. This wasn't just about romance or biology or even cultural exchange. This was about the stability of an entire planet, about preventing the kind of violence that had led to the hibernation in the first place.

"That's why the Prime's restrictions on Earth travel are such a problem," I said, understanding clicking into place. "You can't afford to look weak, but you also can't afford to defy the Alliance."

"I'm trapped between what my people need and what the Alliance will allow." His voice was low, almost raw. "And every day that passes without a solution, the pressure builds."

I should have been thinking about how to report this to Chloe, about the intelligence value of understanding these internal divisions. Part of me was, the operative part that had been trained to gather information and assess threats.