“This is the part where I remind you I’m several hundred years younger than you,” Drystan said.
“Ah, but I have retained the joie de vivre of a man half my age,” Damian retorted.
“While my brother basks in his complete inability to deal with reality, I’d like to get to the point of this little gathering,” Chrysander said.
“What’s going on?” Drystan asked.
“You and your handsome mate are a hot topic of conversation, not only here among the Council but in Australia as well,” Chrysander revealed.
With a frown, Drystan asked, “You’ve heard from the Beradraconises again?”
“I assume your mate has been brought up to speed on the fine king and queen from the land down under?” Chrysander asked.
“I have,” Conley replied.
“Good,” Chrysander said. “Care to guess what they had to say?”
“The only thing that has changed since the last time we discussed this is that I’ve met Conley. So if I had to guess I would have to say they informed you Conley is the spitting image of the former emperor,” Drystan remarked.
“Got it in one,” Chrysander affirmed. “You think it’s a coincidence?”
“Look, I don’t want to disparage these dragons, but they couldn’t very well say he wasn’t if they wanted to continue to pursue their desire to get their hands on my DNA,” Drystan said.
“You think now they are solely focused on obtaining your DNA?” Damian asked.
“I don’t know. I also don’t know how many different times I need to say I’m not willing to play along,” Drystan said.
“They were very persistent this time around. They even brought up Conley’s last name,” Zane added.
“My last name?” Conley asked.
“Gylde. It’s another word for gold. Emperor Conley was a golden dragon,” Zane replied.
“All that proves is Chand has a sick fucking sense of humor,” Drystan stated.
“They suggested if you weren’t willing to get tested, perhaps I could approach your son to have his DNA tested,” Chrysander said.
Drystan nearly saw red. “Leave my damn kid out of this. You raised Zane from the time he was seven years old; would you be willing to give his DNA to some random people who don’t even belong to the Council?”
“We’ve always thought of Zane as more of our brother than a son,” Chrysander said as his twin nodded. “But you’re right, I would not be willing to have him used as a guinea pig to solve what many feel is nothing more than a conspiracy theory.”
“Then why the hell did you bring Trystan into this?” Drystan asked.
Chrysander offered him a bland look. “You don’t need to get so pissed off. I’m only relaying our discussion. I’m not asking you to speak with Trystan over this.”
“If I might interject, I would like to think someone would get my input before deciding for me,” Zane commented.
“If someone approached me, I would flat out say hell no the same as our Reverent Knight here,” Damian retorted. Zane frowned but didn’t reply.
“Conley, I would be interested in your input regarding Queen and King Beradraconis and their theory about your so-called previous lives,” Chrysander said.
“I feel the entire thing is irrelevant,” Conley remarked.
“Irrelevant?”
“Yes, whoever or whatever we were before; we aren’t them now. Our memories began the day the Arch Lich resurrected us. Even if we truly were the former emperors, and I’m hardly convinced we were, we don’t remember it. We have no relationship with King and Queen Beradraconis, and I can’t imagine how we would begin to find common ground. We aren’t dragons; we’re resurrected soldiers. They have never lived amongst the Council while we are sworn to protect it,” Conley began. “I haven’t been rezzed for long, but Drystan has. I can scarcely believe he would be even a shadow of who he was before. In one sense, wouldn’t it be more difficult to know we are those dragons when we have no recall of the people and places that once forged our existence?”
“Smart and sexy,” Damian commented. “Fate has been too good to you, Drystan.”
“I know,” Drystan replied with a smile.
“The other important question is, if I was Emperor Conley, where the hell have I been for the last six centuries?” Conley asked.
“You have a good point, Conley,” Chrysander remarked. “I will let the Beradraconises know about both of your feelings on the subject.”
“Thank you, I doubt we’ve heard the end of it but I don’t know how else we can say no,” Drystan declared.
“On to more pleasant matters,” Chrysander said. “The Council is going to expect a formal ball to introduce Conley. Do you want to schedule one now or combine it with a celebration after your mating ceremony?”
Drystan didn’t say a word; he was going to let the other fallen knight make the decision. He knew Conley didn’t like it when he barged in and answered for him. Conley gave him a look and Drystan shrugged his shoulders.
“We haven’t known each other long,” Conley began. “But I would have to say I don’t see our mating ceremony as being something far in the future. My preference would be to combine the events.”
“Wonderful, so we’ll discuss dates when you’ve had more time to get to know one another,” Chrysander said.
“We better get invited to the mating ceremony,” Damian threw in.
“If you’re going to cry about it, we’ll be sure and invite you first,” Drystan promised before returning his attention to their current emperor. “Anything else?”
“Nope, that’s it. Welcome again to the Council of Sorcery and Shifters, Conley. We’ll see a lot of each other,” Chrysander said as he stood and walked them to the door of his office.
“Thank you, I look forward to it,” Conley replied.
As they left the lush surroundings of the Office of the Emperor, Conley commented, “The Beradraconises have been persistent.”
“Yes, they have.”
“It’s nice of Chrysander to take the time to deal with them personally.”
“I don’t think there are very many dragons on this planet he wouldn’t speak to,” Drystan replied. “And I am sure every one of those conversations with the Beradraconises is an invitation to relocate and join the Council. The fact that there are a few dragon courts out there without his protection and resources drives him crazy.”
“Sounds like the mindset of a great leader.”
“Speaking of great leaders, Reverent Knight,” Drystan began, “we have a motley crew of dead guys under our command waiting for us to get back to the office.”
“My oh-so-humble mate, should I walk faster?” Conley asked. “I could run if you like.”
“Do it in front of me.”
“Why?”
“Because it has not escaped my attention that you have the world’s most perfect ass,” Drystan said.
Conley laughed and then jogged ahead. Drystan joined in his merriment and enjoyed the view as their boots ate up the distance toward their headquarters.
* * *
The next day, Drystan was not enjoying his time with Conley.
“Fuck,” Drystan muttered as he reached forward and dug his fingernails into the dash of the SUV.
Conley glanced away from the windshield and grinned at him. “Problem?”
“You know, if there wasn’t a giant Reverent Knight coat of arms on the side of this vehicle, we probably would have been pulled over about thirty times by now,” Drystan said.
With a chuckle, Conley flipped on the turn signal. Drystan swore he took the left into the courtyard of the druid leaders home on only two wheels. The brakes gave a small squeak as Conley parked in front of the mansion.
“I’m driving back,” Drystan blurted out.
Conley smirked at him and then got out of the truck. Drystan managed to unglue his fingers and, at a more sedate speed, exited.
“Roman was right; you drive like a crazy person.”
<
br /> “Shut up, you loved it,” Conley replied as they walked toward the door of the house.
“No, no. I did not,” Drystan stated and hit the button for the bell.
“Reverent Knights, thank you both for coming,” Clara the Dwyer said as soon as she opened the door. “Aloisa and I are so grateful.”
“It’s our pleasure,” Drystan responded. She let them in and led them through the foyer and into the living room. Her mate, Aloisa the Dwyer, was pacing in front of the white stone fireplace.
“Finally,” Aloisa said with a frown when she saw them. He’d never known her to be a patient woman. But he had little compassion for her predicament; if she wouldn’t have demanded that only the Reverent Knights could handle the crime committed in her home, she likely would already have the lost possession back.
“Aloisa, when did the theft occur?” Drystan asked.
“I have no idea,” Aloisa said. “The housekeeper called the office this afternoon. She went into my brother’s room and discovered it was gone.”
“I wasn’t aware Killian lived with you,” Drystan replied.
“Well, of course he doesn’t,” she retorted. “He’s never lived here but he visits, doesn’t he?”
“We had a room decorated for him so he’d be comfortable when he stays here,” Clara added.
“I don’t know why, he’s never appreciated it,” Aloisa griped.
“It’s been awhile since his last visit?” Conley asked.
“Look, you’re new. I get that,” Aloisa remarked. “But certainly, you’ve heard by now my brother is a complete recluse.”
“Do you remember when he wore the crown last?” Drystan asked, not at all impressed with the way she had spoken with his man.
“He’s shirked his duties for centuries,” Aloisa said. “It’s supposed to be our entire family sharing the leadership of the druids. But Killian is more interested in his plants than his responsibilities.”
Drystan knew she was overstating the case. He’d spoken to Killian centuries before when he’d announced he was stepping aside as leader. Aloisa had begged for the opportunity to rule and Killian had known with his popularity, none of the druids would have looked toward her for decisions. If the situation had changed since then, Drystan couldn’t say but the Killian he’d known was not a man who evaded duty.
“Who has access to the house besides you two, the housekeeper, and Killian the Dwyer?” Conley asked.
“Who knows?” Aloisa said, throwing her hands up into the air. “We’re magickind and we’ve had no shortage of people here for events. Any one of them could have teleported in here and taken Killian’s crown.”
“How many of them would have known where to find your brother’s crown?” Drystan asked.
“The room isn’t closed up; anyone could peek in there and see it,” Clara said. “It was on his dresser in a glass case.”
“Can you describe it?” Conley asked.
“Are you blind? It’s just a man-sized version of ours,” Aloisa snapped, pointing to the gold ring of intertwined leaves and flowers on her head.
“Aloisa, be nice,” Clara admonished.
“Are you going to go find it?” Aloisa demanded.
“We’ll need to see Killian’s room and the glass case,” Drystan said.
“That’s absurd,” Aloisa replied. “You know what it looks like, and the case is gone too.”
Drystan narrowed his eyes. “Is there some reason we shouldn’t see Killian’s room?” Aloisa knew fallen knights could lift the memories of events in a crime scene and track down perpetrators; it didn’t make sense she was insisting they run out to find the crown without completing their investigation.
“Don’t be ridiculous,” Aloisa countered. Drystan was sure he heard a tremor of nervousness in her voice.
Conley started walking out of the room. “Killian down this hall?” he asked. Drystan followed in his wake as did the druid leaders. Aloisa was sputtering behind him.
“His room is on the right,” Clara supplied.
Sauntering through Killian’s door, Conley said, “Aloisa, you should call your brother and tell him where you put his crown.”
Drystan strode over to where Conley stood and allowed his senses to see who had last been in the room and clearly saw Aloisa pilfering Killian’s property from his room. He had no idea what the woman had been thinking, but it was time to leave.
Aloisa gasped. “You have some nerve.”
Turning to Drystan, Conley asked, “You still want to drive back?”
“Are you out of your mind? Of course I do.”
“It was nice meeting both of you,” Conley said when they made their way back to the front door.
“I’m sorry,” Clara offered. Aloisa hadn’t joined them in the foyer. “I don’t know why she would have done this.”
“She is damn lucky she’s a Council leader or she would be in cuffs,” Conley said.
“If anything like this happens again, I’m going straight to the Emperor,” Drystan added.
“Oh, please don’t tell him, I’ll talk with her,” Clara assured them. “She’s been under a great deal of stress.”
“Then you should talk to Killian. He’s a druid leader as well and could help shoulder the responsibility,” Drystan said.
“I’ll talk to her about it. I promise,” Clara replied and they gratefully left her behind and climbed back into the SUV.
“I guess not all Council leaders are created equal,” Conley remarked.
“Unfortunately not.”
“I guess that means you got damn lucky I’m a good one,” Conley said.
“I guess I did,” Drystan agreed.
Chapter 34
Friday night, Conley was sitting across a linen covered table from Drystan. They’d put in their drink orders and were both sipping out of tall pilsner glasses.
“I like you in that color,” Conley said after setting down his drink. Drystan had paired a cornflower shirt with a black suit. “Makes your eyes look bluer.”
“I’m glad you are enjoying the view,” Drystan replied with a smile. “I know I am.”
Conley glanced down at his own dark suit and smoky shirt. “What can I say? Fallen knight colors are my thing.”
“Speaking of fallen knights, what did you think of your first week as Reverent Knight?”
“I could have done without the field trip to the druidic homestead but other than that, I think it went well.”
“Let’s hope Clara can straighten Aloisa out.”
“Is that what you’d do if I called in a fake crime?” Conley asked. “Straighten me out?”
“If you called in a fake crime, I’d probably move and give no forwarding address,” Drystan said with a smile.
“Is that right?”
“We are supposed to solve crime, not contribute to it.”
“Oh damn, is that how it’s supposed to work?” Conley asked with a hand to his chest. “I had no idea.”
“I’m starting to think it’s more than just your driving that’s crazy.”
Conley laughed. “Yeah, you’re probably on to something there.”
“What’s crazy is the press is still following us around.”
“Who doesn’t love a conspiracy theory?”
“Me,” Drystan replied. “Especially not ones involving me and you.”
“Not to mention your son,” Conley added. He knew Drystan had been more than pissed on Monday afternoon in the Emperor’s office. As for Conley, the most shocking part of the conversation for him was to find Trystan was the biological son of a man who shouldn’t have been able to father children. And why didn’t Conley recognize Trystan as being half fallen knight? The part which wasn’t necromancer was indecipherable. Since he didn’t want to annoy Drystan, he didn’t demand answers. At least not yet.
“Exactly, I don’t want this shit anywhere near Trystan,” Drystan said. “Speaking of him, we’ve been invited to spend next weekend at Court D’Vaire. Interested?”
“Great, I hope you like it. I was kind of hoping we could have our mating ceremony there someday.”
“That works for me, it’s not like I have any alternative ideas.”
“You don’t have to make the decision now,” Drystan remarked. “We’ve only known each other for nearly a week.”
“It’s been a pretty good one,” Conley observed. They’d been together at work all day and each evening they grabbed dinner.
“It has, but we have forever.”
“We do, but if we get along, why exactly are we putting off the mating ceremony discussion?”
“We can talk about whatever you want,” Drystan said.
“Fine, I want to schedule our mating ceremony. It doesn’t need to be right away, but I don’t see any reason to push it off for months and months either.”
Drystan lifted his glass and drank with a thoughtful look. He set it down and said, “It’s probably not a good idea to wait that long since I was hoping you would be willing to wait to be intimate until after the ceremony.”
Conley was surprised Drystan wanted to put off the physical aspect of their relationship. Unlike Conley, he probably had a couple of centuries of experience and was missing it. “I can live with that.”
“How does four weeks sound?” Drystan asked. “I can check with Aleksander and make sure the date works for the D’Vaires.”
“That’s doable,” Conley replied. “Then I guess I’ll move in with you.”
“You guess? You don’t actually think I’m going to move into that tiny apartment of yours, do you?”
“You picked it out, so if it’s too small, you only have yourself to blame.”
“I didn’t want you to get so comfortable there that you would be willing to put off moving in with me,” Drystan said.
“A clever strategy, but you should have known being with you would be a bigger incentive than living space anyway.”
“You’ve been resurrected for nine weeks, how are you so good at flirting?”
“Who knows? You should just bask in the glow of my compliments.”
“Oh, I do. Trust me.”
Resurrection Of The Fallen Page 23
