“It was,” Chander confirmed. “I wasn’t going to leave without Conley’s box. I got it and then he sat in my living room for ten months while I waited for the annual fallen knight resurrections.”
“Well, that worked out neat for you, didn’t it? But I still spent six and a half centuries without him,” Drystan snapped.
“Drys, the man resurrected us both. He gave us a second chance at life. Without him, we would be dead. He didn’t ask our permission to make us the Reverent Knights, but I would have willingly agreed. Clearly, I don’t agree with the idea of us being separated, but the important thing is we’re together now,” Conley said.
“I know that,” Drystan retorted before turning to Chander. “Why me and not him?”
“Why did I put Conley in stasis and make you Reverent Knight?” Chander asked. “We knew enough about dragons that it was the darker of the two that’s the strongest.”
“You got it wrong,” Drystan bit out.
“What do you mean?” Chander asked.
“It was me,” Conley said quietly. “I was made emperor first.”
“We were dukes together and then became kings at the same time,” Drystan explained. “But it was Conley whose eyes changed first when it came to being emperors. I should have been Emperor-mate but Conley wouldn’t have it.”
“Of course not. You were my partner and I don’t care if you agree or not, my equal,” Conley replied.
Drystan’s laugh lacked all humor. “I never wanted to rule as emperor. I was the one who kept telling you to blindfold me so we could fly to some island and let someone else handle that shit. Your ring was barely visible.”
“You were really that golden?” Chrysander asked. “I always figured the description was overblown and you were either yellow or orange.”
“No, he was golden. The most beautiful dragon you ever saw,” Drystan said before turning to Chander. “How could you do this to me? How could you put Con in a fucking box and leave me alone for all this time? You lied to my face so many times I couldn’t begin to count all the bullshit you fed me. And you called me your friend. Anytime over all these fucking centuries, you could have told me the truth. At least now I know why you have been avoiding me for the last few months.”
“Drys, it wasn’t supposed to be for so long.”
“I know,” Drystan snapped never taking his eyes off Chander who still had his head bowed. “But it’s illegal to separate mates. How the fuck could you decide to do that in the first place?”
“I was wrong,” Chander said softly. “I’m sorry.”
“You’re fucking right you were wrong. Do you honestly think saying, ‘I’m sorry’ is enough to fix what you’ve done? Who the fuck do you think you are? You decided it was better for us to be apart because one asshole chose to go on a rampage. Why the hell should I pay for that?”
“He was seventeen fucking years old,” Benton shouted. “And he didn’t make the decision alone. There were three other sorcerers in the room and not one of them voiced an objection.”
“Ben, don’t make excuses for me,” Chander insisted.
“I’m not going to stand here and let him tear you apart. You did the best you could, and it may have taken a lot longer than anyone could have imagined, but they’re together now,” Benton retorted.
“I was seventeen fucking years old the day I met Conley. I bet no one told you that. I was a fucking kid. He was nineteen. We spent our entire lives together. I don’t want to listen to a bunch of excuses.”
“I’m sorry. I didn’t know,” Chander said as he rose to his feet. “I should go.” He walked over to where Drystan was cuddling Conley and opened his hand. In the center of it were two silver rings given to them a century before when they had exchanged blood for the first time.
“Thank you,” Conley replied, his voice thick with tears as he lifted them from Chander’s palm.
“I have the rings you wore as emperors as well as your swords,” Chander confessed. “I’ll see you get them.”
“I appreciate it, and thank you for giving us a second chance,” Conley responded.
Chander nodded and walked over to Aleksander. Drystan couldn’t hear their conversation but whatever they said, it was brief. A minute later, Chander shimmered out of the room. Benton glared at Drystan before he too teleported out.
“Drys.”
“No, I know what you are going to say,” Drystan said. “I’ll forgive him but not now. Not today. I can’t.”
The truth was, he wasn’t sure how long it would take him to forget all Chander had done. Right now, he was still choking on anger and pain. There was no way to know when his fury would lessen, and he was in no hurry to find out.
Chapter 43
Conley knew Drystan was furious, and he wasn’t thrilled Chander had decided to leave. Lifting his hand to Drystan’s face, he kissed his cheek. “Don’t let a mistake mean more than the gifts he has brought to your life.”
“Con, I won’t. I just need time.”
“Fair enough.”
Aleksander walked over to them and handed them a sheathed knife. Conley recognized it as one of the blades Chander imbued to allow fallen knights to bleed. “Chander asked me to give this to you in case you want to use it to give each other mating marks.”
“Thank you. If Dra’Kaedan can give us the words to use, we would love to wear mating marks,” Drystan said.
With a flick of his wrist, Dra’Kaedan produced a sheet of paper, and Aleksander walked over to take it from him. “The words are on it so you can do it whenever you want,” the blond warlock explained.
“Thanks,” Conley replied. Like Drystan, he wanted to wear a mark that proclaimed to the world who he belonged to.
“Do you need anything else?” Aleksander asked.
“Just one thing, but I’ll let you get comfortable first,” Conley said.
Aleksander walked across the room and returned to his chair. “You have questions for me?”
“Why would they have questions for you?” Dra’Kaedan asked.
“Because I met them when they were dragons,” Aleksander revealed.
“What?” Dra’Kaedan asked before turning to Brogan. “Did you meet them and not tell me?”
“No, it was only Aleksander. We were all invited to dine with the emperors after they met with him but that place was creepy as fuck, so we ate fast and went back to our rooms. The emperors hadn’t even arrived yet for dinner when we left.”
“You had to have recognized me,” Drystan insisted.
“It was like seeing a ghost,” Aleksander agreed. “But I only met you once and didn’t feel I could trust my judgment. Without Conley, I didn’t know if it was you for sure. When Trystan arrived and swore you weren’t Emperor Drystan, I didn’t really know what to think. I wasn’t one hundred percent sure until you showed up here three weeks ago with Conley.”
“But you never said anything to anyone?” Drystan asked, irritation ripe in his voice.
“What could I say? You were convinced you weren’t the Emperor. You refused to even consider a DNA test. What hope did I have in convincing you to do otherwise? I had no idea if you’d ever have your memory back,” Aleksander reasoned, his dark eyes troubled. “What good would it have done to tell you about the past?”
“Drys, how many times did Chrysander try to convince you? If he had no hope of convincing you, what do you think Aleksander could have done?” Conley asked. Drystan gave him an annoyed look but didn’t offer any further comment on the matter.
“Well, aren’t you full of secrets?” Dra’Kaedan said.
Aleksander smiled strangely. “I suppose I am.”
Conley had more questions for Aleksander, but he knew it was better to ask him in private. The man did have secrets and he was entitled to keep them if that was his wish.
“Zane, I remember you as a boy,” Conley said.
Zane nodded. “I grew up in the castle, right?”
“You used to follow your father around.”<
br />
“My father the traitor,” Zane said.
“I hope you don’t mind me saying so, but the guy was a complete asshole,” Conley said.
“Anyone who would arrange for the murder of two emperors is definitely an asshole,” Zane said.
“I wish we had been worldlier,” Conley said. “We were kings of a tiny court. We were in way over our heads at Castle Draconis. We thought with time the dukes would trust us, but they never did.”
“They cared for nothing but their own power,” Chrysander said. “Did you know after you lowered taxes, they continued to collect the original amount and pocketed the difference?”
“We sure as fuck didn’t,” Drystan said.
“When we arrived and began asking questions, Bernal immediately began deflecting the blame onto the shoulders of his cronies,” Chrysander said. “When it got back to them, they attacked him. He was murdered in his bed, and Zane barely survived the incident.”
“I hate to say he deserved it,” Conley said.
“But he did,” Chrysander said.
“It wasn’t only him though,” Damian said. “It took us an entire century to get to the bottom of all the plots and strategies.”
“Many innocent people were caught in the middle and lost their lives,” Chrysander said. “Damian insisted on sleeping in my room because he didn’t trust I would make it through the night. We kept Zane with us as well.”
“You’ve been an incredible leader,” Drystan said.
“As have you, twice over now.”
“It’s so sad to think of that kind of corruption among dragonkind,” Dra’Kaedan said. “But it happens in every race I suppose.”
“Except sentinels and fallen knights,” Trystan said. “They lack the capacity.”
“I agree with you, Trystan,” Chrysander said. “And it’s a good thing because we’d all be doomed if they could become power hungry.”
“Now I feel even more guilty for asking you to wait for your mating ceremony,” Trystan said.
“Don’t,” Conley said. “First, we didn’t listen and second, you couldn’t have known who we used to be.”
“Well, I guess that’s because Dad refused to get a DNA test,” Trystan said.
Conley heard Drystan gasp before he smacked his hand into his forehead. “Oh fuck,” he said. “My mom is going to kill me.”
A little bubble of happiness burst in Conley’s chest. He had loved King Aeron and Queen Helen like they were his own parents. “Yeah, she is.”
“I guess I should contact King and Queen Beradraconis?” Chrysander asked with a laugh.
“It’s probably best if you ask them to come and meet with us face-to-face,” Conley said.
“Where should we have the meeting?” Chrysander asked.
“You’re welcome to invite them here,” Aleksander said. “We can’t provide teleportation since Australia is not protected by the Council but if they’re willing to travel, they may stay here as long as they like.”
“Perfect,” Chrysander said.
“You can step into my office if you’d like to call them,” Aleksander said Chrysander promptly stood and headed down the hall for some privacy.
“No one knew you guys were teenagers when you met,” Trystan said.
“Your father was an unbelievably naïve one too,” Conley said while Drystan chuckled. “Wait until I tell you all the stories about how crazy he was.”
“If you guys are dragons turned fallen knights, then what exactly am I?” Trystan asked.
“I don’t know, we’ll have to do a DNA test I suppose,” Drystan said.
“You are half necromancer and I can’t figure out your other half,” Conley said.
“I have never been able to decipher his other half either,” Gavrael added.
“Great, I’m a bigger freak than I thought,” Trystan said. “Is there a chance I could have a dragon?”
“I don’t think so,” Drystan said. “And quite frankly, I hope to hell not since no hybrid has ever survived their first shift.”
“How didn’t you know I was some weird mix?” Trystan asked his father.
“You’re my kid, I can’t detect you at all,” Drystan said.
“My guess is you will turn out to be a unique mix of dragon and fallen knight,” Conley said.
“I’m my very own race,” Trystan said with a roll of his blue eyes.
“At least now we know why I was able to have a kid. Chand had my body when he resurrected me,” Drystan said.
“Shit, I guess that means no kids for Roman and me,” Vann said.
“Like you were ever going to have one anyway,” Drystan said.
“The kid would wind up raising him,” Roman said.
Chrysander came back into the living room wearing a bright smile. “They plan to leave right away. I didn’t spill the beans about your recovered memory, I left it up to you two. I told them if they flew to Council territory, we could teleport them here. You should have your mother and father here to yell at you by tomorrow afternoon.”
“I can’t wait to see Dad get chewed out by someone he can’t yell at,” Trystan said.
“You’re going to love your grandparents,” Conley said.
“Still kind of freaking out I even have grandparents.”
“Try having two lives in your head,” Drystan said. Conley nodded in agreement; his head was a mess.
“Are you guys planning on finishing your mating ceremony?” Dra’Kaedan asked.
“Afraid you won’t get any cake?” Conley asked.
“Yes.”
“I think we’ll finish it alone if that’s all right with everyone,” Drystan said. “If you guys want to change back into regular clothes, we could do dinner so Dra’Kaedan can have his cake.”
“Perfect,” Dra’Kaedan said with a clap of his hands before he yanked off his gold crown and ran down the hallway.
* * *
Once alone in their bedroom at the D’Vaire mansion, Conley was pulled into Drystan’s embrace. Wrapping his arms around his neck, Conley hung on tightly. They were content to simply hold each other for several minutes.
“I’m glad you wanted to finish our ceremony alone,” Conley said near Drystan’s ear.
“I want to put our rings on now.”
Reluctantly, Conley let go of Drystan and fished the rings out of the pocket of his cloak. Drystan grabbed the smaller of the two and said, “Chosen by Fate and accepted by my heart as true, I accept you as my mate.” Then he slid on the silver ring Queen Helen had given them a millennium before.
“Chosen by Fate and accepted by my heart as true, I accept you as my mate,” Conley repeated before reuniting Drystan’s finger with his own band.
They leaned toward each other and kissed. It was both tender and brief.
“I’m curious about our mating marks,” Drystan said.
“Me too,” Conley said as he pulled the magical dagger and Dra’Kaedan’s paper out of his pocket.
They lifted their palms and took turns cutting each other. Then Drystan said, “Fallen knight to fallen knight. Reverent Knight to Reverent Knight. Our blood has spilled, and our spirits have bonded. We ask Fate to grant us a mark from left shoulder to elbow so that the world may see we belong to only each other.”
A searing pain ripped down Conley’s arm as soon as the words were spoken. He knew from Drystan’s grimace, he was feeling the same. It didn’t last long, and Conley tore off his cloak and shirt so he could see the mark. A giant faded black dragon was in the background of the image and in the forefront was the fallen knight coat of arms which was specific to the two of them. Below it all was Drystan’s name emblazoned in block letters. Grinning, Conley looked over at Drystan’s arm and it was much the same—only the name and the dragon differed.
“Beautiful,” Conley said.
“Yes, you are,” Drystan replied.
“I believe the word you are looking for is handsome,” Conley said.
Drystan settled his hands on Conle
y’s hips and pulled him close to kiss him. “I can’t wait to get you alone later,” he said when their mouths separated.
“I missed your chest.”
“I can’t believe I wasted the last five weeks with celibacy,” Drystan said.
“What the hell were you thinking?” Conley asked with a grin.
“That’s what happens when you’re a scared virgin who thinks your mate is going to laugh at you,” Drystan said.
Conley lifted his hands to the furry pecs he loved and shoved his man away. “You were a virgin the first time we met, but not this time and I don’t want to talk about this.”
“What the fuck are you talking about?”
“Look, I know I was in a fucking box for six or so centuries. I get that it’s ridiculous to have expected you to remain untouched the whole time. I just don’t want to hear about it,” Conley said as he turned away. This was his Drystan, the man who had lost his virginity to him. The absolute last thing he wanted to hear about—let alone think about—was him fucking someone else.
“I was a virgin, Con.”
Conley whipped around to face him. “You have a fucking kid. I know you always wanted children and I don’t blame you for having him, but he wasn’t hatched.”
“No, he was born through a surrogate who unfortunately didn’t survive his birth.”
“He was?”
“Con, Chand resurrected us together. We may have been asleep when it happened, but we had to be in the same room before you were entombed and carted off to Egidius’s castle. Our bodies would have recognized us as mates,” Drystan said. “I spent all that time wondering what the fuck was wrong with me because I had hardly any sex drive and no interest in anyone. I think I jerked off a handful of times before you came back into my life and one of those was into a cup so I could have a child.”
“Sorry,” Conley offered sheepishly as he stepped forward and wrapped his arms like snakes around Drystan.
“Which raises an interesting question.”
“What’s that?”
“Vann is just like me. No interest in sex and no real sexuality to speak of.”
“If I were him, I’d want some answers.”
“He’ll demand them now.” Drystan kissed his head. “We need to get changed and return to the festivities.”
Resurrection Of The Fallen Page 30
