by Godiva Glenn
Fianni crossed her arms and looked at the hall Liam had disappeared down. “This is that brash side you mentioned. More like volatile. But maybe he knows what he’s doing. Shouldn’t we have faith in him?”
“In leadership, the right thing is rarely a decision you make in a split-second while knee-deep in anger. They’ve been poking and prodding for months now, and they’ve finally managed to awaken the worst of him.”
“I don’t know. Maybe he needs to do this. If nothing else works, maybe it’s just a matter of trying something new.”
Arron glanced at her with a curious expression. “I used to look at things that way.”
“Back before you decided that if it wasn’t your way it was the wrong way?”
He smirked. “That hurt a little.” He sighed and began to walk, motioning for her to follow. “Let’s go then and hear what sort of logic is hiding behind his seemingly rage-fueled threat.”
Fianni leaned against a wall and scanned the mostly empty room which was the men’s official meeting area. Devoid of decorations, there was only a large circular table and three chairs. In the center of the table were three copper goblets, empty currently but Arron was out grabbing a pitcher of water.
Before he’d slipped out, he’d explained the sparse arrangement. The seating was so that he and Liam were less likely to pace, which generally irritated Rask.
The blank walls and rug-less floor were because Rask had occasionally started fires. The lack of other decor was also on Rask because he had in the past thrown things.
The water was the only comfort because they didn’t leave meetings until everything was as resolved as possible.
They had been using the meeting room less and less.
Fianni didn’t know where to begin with all the issues Arron had so simply laid out as fact, but she hoped that she wouldn’t see the worst of each of them when confined in this tiny space.
She also wondered where she would sit.
Arron returned to the room and slid the large pitcher into the center of the table and produced a glass.
“For you,” he said motioning to it.
“And where—”
“You could give me a hint as to what this is about,” Rask’s voice growled from outside the door.
Liam entered rolling his eyes and took one of the chairs.
Once inside, Rask looked to Fianni. A single dark brow arched as he took her in from head to toe. “Is it about you, then?”
“No,” she insisted. “It’s not about… that.”
He frowned and sat, then Arron too took a seat. She approached the table and danced her fingertips nervously along the edge.
“You can sit on my lap,” Rask offered.
Liam shook his head. “I knew I was forgetting something.”
“I can stand. I won’t pace,” she joked. “Think of me as a living hourglass.”
“We should get started, in that case.” Arron leaned forward. “To cut it short, we’re here because our king threatened to take the Western ridge from the Blue Mountain clan.”
Rask exhaled through pursed lips. “Why? What did they do?”
“Great question,” Arron murmured.
They all looked at Liam. Liam looked at the table, but after a moment he shrugged.
“Solomon has an interesting theory to our communications issue. He believes that we are behind it.”
Arron scoffed. “That’s garbage. If anything, it’s making us look like incapable fools.”
“Which is something, but by his reasoning, it keeps anyone on Solara from reaching out. He believes we’ve intentionally shut out any outsiders from what is going on so that we can do whatever we want.”
“And what does he think we want?” Rask asked.
“A bevy of accusations to wade through,” Liam groaned. “How about this one… culling insurrection in a way that they can’t request aid?”
“We’d never stoop that low—and the bears made no attempt to quiet that they’d seek help from their Aurora brethren to settle our disputes, but the gates and channels remained open after that,” Arron reasoned.
Liam nodded. “I pointed that out, but it was ignored. Solomon thinks we’re desperate. If they can’t contact friends and family from elsewhere, it’s us silencing them—so he says. By his account, we are shutting them out.”
Rask snorted and sat back in his chair, arms crossed. “We have more allies than the bears.”
“No,” Arron corrected. His voice was laced with concern. “Many are losing faith in us. Outwardly they may support us, but inside they are facing the same problems as us, and that makes them more likely to act out. Choose another side if it means survival.”
“What threat is so large that it’s worth breaking trust?” Fianni asked. “I feel like I’m missing something.”
Liam’s golden eyes met hers. “There is a threat. One that makes no sense, as far as I can see.” He reached out and pulled a goblet to him but didn’t fill it. He cupped it in his hands and turned it, his focus leaving her. “It’s no secret that we’ve all been considering searching outside of Solara for mates. We don’t have a population crisis, but couples aren’t finding each other.”
“Then come stories that shifters have been doing well with humans,” Rask added.
“Yes. We all just want to thrive. As we said before, we’ve heard of the matchmaker. It was a general consensus that we’d avoid such means, but that was before,” Liam said.
“Word of our idea to find a single queen got out. It became a promise somehow, though it wasn’t meant to be. The bears, in particular, held on to it as some concordance. We’d find a queen, find our balance, or we’d step down from rule,” Arron said tersely.
“What?” Fianni stared at Liam. “But why would you agree to that?”
“I didn’t. We didn’t. It was a case of rumors and gossip becoming solid reality. But it’s not completely about us. It’s a matter of superstition—”
“That if the ruling dragons can’t find mates, we doom the rest of the world,” Rask intoned.
Arron clasped his hands and leaned on them. “But there’s no precedent there. No proof. When the masses grab hold of something like this, it doesn’t matter how silly it is, it becomes law. It’s stuck in their teeth now.”
Fianni straightened and ran her hands through her hair, gathering her thoughts. “Okay. So, you’re saying that everyone thinks that because the dragons are having trouble finding mates, everyone is cursed as a result? And furthermore, you have to find a mate, or you’re no longer fit to rule?”
“Yes,” they all agreed.
Liam added, “Of course, having a single mate was just a notion, by reason that finding a single woman would be easier than three. However, I think everyone would be satisfied either way. One, two, three—the shifters just want to see more than none.”
“But why would you block all means of going off-world to find a mate or mates, then?”
“Because we’d already arranged for you to be sent,” Liam said.
They all turned to look at him.
“That’s the accusation. Solomon wanted to know how Fianni had come if everything was down. He sees it as proof that we’re lying, that we control who comes and goes and everything else.”
Rask pounded a fist again the table. “Wh—”
Liam held up a hand and interrupted Rask. He continued, “By his beliefs, we were close to being forced out, so we shut off anyone’s chance to leave or speak of what was happening. Then we found a woman to come and mate with all of us—someone from another planet who wouldn’t know what was going on.”
“Did you tell him the truth?” Fianni asked.
“Of course not,” Liam said.
“Why not? You didn’t send for me, and I came through a means that no one else could, of my own decision.”
“It doesn’t matter what we say,” Arron said. “It would be twisted. And besides, they have no reason to know about your undine friend.”
“They w
ould research and exploit that knowledge,” Liam agreed.
“Because undine are spies,” Rask said firmly.
Fianni bit her lip. Do they know I watched them? Perhaps. Or they had simply read up on the lore surrounding Iona and her family. They were right. If the bears and other shifters were as suspicious as they seemed, news of a magical fae spy loose in the water wouldn’t help the dragons at all.
“I didn’t mean to make things worse,” she apologized.
“It’s not on you,” Rask insisted. “We were in trouble from the start. And I’m thinking perhaps we need more than an idle threat.”
“Now wait,” Arron said.
“I don’t take it back,” Liam said firmly.
“You shouldn’t,” Rask agreed. “They’ve brought Fianni into it. To hell with them.”
“They didn’t threaten her,” Arron said. “Did they?”
Liam shook his head. “Not a direct threat, but I don’t want them asking about her. I don’t like it.”
“Meeting settled then.” Rask stood. “If the bears want to retaliate, I’m ready.”
Arron rubbed his temple. “You’re both being stubborn.”
“Majority is satisfied, brother. I did what needed to be done. Until we get to the bottom of things, I don’t want our enemies crawling over our home.” Liam stood and pushed his chair under.
Arron rose but stayed quiet. It was obvious he had more to say, but Fianni had to admit she agreed with Liam on this one. Something was off, and they needed to control it. It wasn’t as if the bears absolutely needed to be snooping around the castle for their own sakes.
She watched the men leave, then headed out, feeling oddly neglected. Rask was waiting outside the door, however, and took her hand as she exited.
“I like this dress,” he commented.
She smiled and ran a hand over the soft fabric. “Do I have you to thank for it?”
He tilted his head and shook his head slightly. “No. I’d have you in something tighter. Shorter. Darker.”
“Oh.”
“You cover too much. But maybe this is okay for the public to see.” He sighed and straightened. “I didn’t say this in there, but Liam has given us more to juggle now. I can predict it. We’ll be quelling fires left and right. It’ll be a race.”
“A race?”
“To see if we can figure out our systems before war is declared.”
She frowned and watched him lace his fingers with hers. “Is that really where this leads?”
“It feels surreal. There is no such thing as perfection, as paradise, but I thought we had it here. We’ve tried so hard to keep the peace. Liam is as fair as any ruler before him, so even though Arron and I complain, it isn’t his fault. But a greater force wants to see us fall,” Rask said softly.
Fianni fought a smile. On the one hand, what he described was terrible, and she’d seen it before. She didn’t want to be trapped on Solara if war broke out. She didn’t want to see anyone hurt.
But she wanted to smile because Rask had clearly accepted her. He welcomed the calm she offered, took it without hesitation. His thumb traced the back of her hand. They both knew exactly what he was doing. Accepting her magic.
It seemed like even if she had repeatedly insisted to herself that she didn’t love him, he already loved her.
“You know, don’t you?” he asked.
She caught his eyes and wasn’t sure what he meant.
“I contacted Gerri. I asked for someone for all of us, and here you are. It’s obvious, but I don’t think Liam or Arron would ever accuse me.”
She took in the endless pools of his gaze. Black stretched to infinity with no stars in sight, and most would look at him and see his usual walled-off persona, yet she could tell that for this moment he’d lowered his defenses completely.
“I had no idea,” she admitted. “I never even considered.”
He stroked her cheek with his free hand. “I already witnessed a brother die. Alone. Terrified. Angry. Dragons don’t go peacefully when they have no mate. I couldn’t watch my remaining brothers face that.”
“Why keep it a secret?”
“Because fear is weakness. And because there is a sliver of selfishness there. I didn’t want to be alone either.”
She leaned into him and tears welled in her eyes as his strong arms circled her. Her own selfish thoughts plagued her. How did I think I could just leave him? Leave any of them?
The castle was almost always quiet inside, but now that silence seemed to carry more weight. It pressed at Fianni from all sides, oppressive and ominous. In light of everything else, she was searching for Arron. She’d promised to help him, but she didn’t know how. Still, it seemed the best way would be to find him first.
Rapping her knuckles on the door of his office, she leaned forward and listened for a response. None came, but when she turned to leave, the door swung open.
Arron greeted her with a weak smile and gestured for her to enter. He returned to his desk and sat, staring out the window. She sat across from him and glanced in the direction his eyes were trained, but there was nothing particular going on outside. Just sun and mountains. Another beautiful day.
“I came by to see how I could help.”
He rubbed at the stubble on his chin, still staring off. “You’ve already begun.”
“Pardon me?”
He cleared his throat and turned forward. Within a few blinks, he’d straightened and the pensive expression he’d held had vanished, replaced with one more familiar and serious.
“How is Rask faring?”
An odd question. “He’s fine, I suppose. I know he seemed stubborn in the meeting, but he expressed his concern for everything. He’s determined to do his best to support Liam.”
Arron’s silver eyes softened somewhat, and he rested his arm on the desk, seeming oddly tense. “It’s been ten years to the day,” he said in a low tone.
Since Khai passed.”
Fianni searched her memory. The name was familiar. “His brother,” she whispered.
“I assumed he’d told you. Or someone would have. Each year this day is harder for him. When I say you’ve already begun to help, that’s what I mean.”
“I’d heard of what happened but not that today was that certain day.” Rask hadn’t mentioned it directly, but she’d seen the pain in him. “I didn’t do anything.”
“Then apparently we’ve all got something to look forward to when you begin trying,” he said with a hint of a comforting smile. He traced a finger over a notepad on his desk. “Your arrival has been a fall downhill in many directions.”
She crossed her legs and tried to imagine what he meant. Hot and cold seemed to be a way of life for him. “I thought you were okay with my presence.” More than okay, actually. “Have you changed your mind?”
“I simply meant that even though it’s a coincidence—your arrival and the current scheme against us—you complicate things. And yet, I can already see that you leave an impression on everyone you meet. One, by the way, which I am not complaining about.”
“Harmony isn’t always sunshine and flowers and group sing-a-longs. I often think that the translation of my spirit isn’t easily understood. I can bring agreement, but I also tend to leave a trail of balance. Compromise, if you will.”
“So, you aren’t a harbinger of peace and goodwill.”
“Sometimes. But the sway of balance goes both ways. Sometimes in order to fix something, to bring the consensus in one direction, things have to first swing in the other. It’s not a straight path.”
He steepled his fingers and peered over them at her. “I enjoy speaking with you. The way you think is fascinating. To hear your reasoning.”
“For a non-dragon, you mean.”
“No,” he said with a sigh. “I’m sorry for that comment. Truly. I didn’t mean to be offensive, but I realize there’s no way it wouldn’t have been taken that way. Sometimes I speak without enough consideration.”
She
smiled and relaxed in her seat. “I accept your apology. I enjoy speaking with you too.”
He sat back and pulled a drawer open behind his desk. Something clinked and he revealed a short glass bottle with a cork stopper. Reaching down again he retrieved two plain copper cups.
“Of all the things I thought you’d have in your desk, liquor was not one of them,” she admitted.
Pouring the amber-colored liquid into the cups, his mouth quirked in a sly grin. “Consider this a libation.”
“An offering to me?” she asked in surprise.
“You said, and I quote, ‘my footsteps encouraged the flow of the rivers that birthed life,’ did you not?” he asked, brow arched and watching her.
“I suppose I recall something to that effect,” she murmured. Much of her ranting had happened so quickly. But it sounded like something she’d say.
“I don’t know what an aspect is. Seems to me you’re akin to a goddess.”
“Not quite.”
Sliding one of the cups across the dark wood of his table, his eyes met hers. “Would you tell me about it?”
“Being an aspect?”
He took his own cup in hand. It looked tiny in his grasp. Arron was taller than Rask, more muscular than Liam, but he seemed to have a way of deflating his physical stature. Hiding behind his mind, if that were even possible. “Everything you’d wish to share. Your life. Your planet.”
Fianni laughed and glanced at the offered drink. “I don’t know if there’s time for everything, or that you’d actually care to hear it. I can go on and on. Being old will do that.”
“When I’m trying to solve a problem, sometimes it helps to step back and think about anything but what I’m stuck on,” he said swirling his cup carefully. “I know that what I’m looking at isn’t a virus in our system. There’s no foreign code. No glitches. No back-doors to exploit. What we’re dealing with is external, and I feel like the answer is right in front of me, but I’m trying too hard to see it.”
“In that case, you want me to distract you with boring details of my life in order to reboot and refresh your thought process?” she joked.
