Page 68 of Scales ’N’ Spells: Volume Two

“Yes, the Jaeggi,” Chalo agreed. “And more to the point, I need to apologize to you⁠—”

“We need to apologize,” Roca corrected. “We never should have left you out in the cold the way we did.”

Rodrigo shook his head. “It was understandable at the time. The major mage clans had been decimated. We lost thousands of mages in the war. And with them, we lost thousands of mated dragons. We lost more to the fighting. The wind dragons were nearly wiped out. Fire and ice were massively reduced. You left to protect the few of us who survived. I took my clan to Brazil to protect what was left of the ice dragons. Only Burkhard remained standing in its original home.”

“I didn’t know what else to do,” Alric admitted softly.

Ravi’s eyes widened as he looked at Alric. For the first time in his life, Alric seemed to shrink just a little bit. He stopped being the unstoppable force who always had the answer to every problem, and he became a young man suddenly faced with the daunting task of keeping his clan alive when they had nearly no mages and no hope of finding more.

He opened his mouth, intending to tell Alric that he was an amazing king, that they’d all survived and even thrived because of him. He wanted to tell Alric that all his people loved him and appreciated every sacrifice he made.

But Chalo was already moving. He stood in front of Alric, lightly gripping both shoulders. His expression was somber but sincere, eyes warm.

“Listen to me, Alric. I knew your father, called him friend and ally in a time of war. Griswold was a stubborn bastard with a brilliant mind and an enormous heart. You’ve been fighting under some near impossible conditions, and your clan has survived, grown even, since you’ve managed to find more mages after all this time. Your clan is alive because of you. And if your Ravi, there, is a fair example of your clan, then you’ve done an amazing job. I know your father would be so damn proud of you.”

Alric nodded and swallowed hard twice before he managed a soft, “Thank you” in a low, rough voice.

Even Ravi had to swallow hard against the sudden knot in his throat. He was proud of his clan and king. They had survived against the odds and built something amazing. He wanted the world to know how remarkable Alric was.

Fingers brushed his, and Ravi smiled as Sora twined their fingers together. He squeezed the mage’s hand, a deeper sense of peace and happiness starting to sink into him. There was no explaining it. Touching Sora gave him a feeling of calm, a feeling that everything was going to work out.

“Your father would also be damn angry at us for cutting off all communication. It was wrong. We wronged both of you,” Roca said, pausing to look over at Rodrigo, who had been watching Alric with a worried expression. “We are sorry. We acted to protect our people, but we turned our back on the Fire and Ice Clans. We all suffered in that war, and we should have stuck together.”

Rodrigo smirked at him. “And what are you planning to do to make up for this poor decision?”

Roca snorted, and Alric rolled his eyes. Chalo gave Alric’s shoulder one last pat before dropping back onto the sofa. He met Rodrigo’s lazy gaze with a steely one, but a hint of a smile played on his lips.

“We’re sending mages to the Burkhard and Valerii Clans to help increase your security and protection over your clans,” Chalo stated.

“We’re also sending dragons to help beef up your security and to help take the fight directly to the Jaeggi,” Roca added.

Yuki slid to the edge of her seat and tipped her chin up proudly. She looked the part of a leader in her soft grey suit, her black hair pulled severely back in a low ponytail. Her expression was determined, her thin mouth almost flat with it.

“We’re also going through our spell and history records across all the mage clans of the Sodalicium. We will complete a full knowledge transfer between all of our clans. I want to make sure none of our magic has been lost thanks to this stupid war.”

Ravi didn’t even realize his legs were giving out on him until he felt Sora’s strong arm wrapped around him. Sora helped him onto the loveseat. His gaze darted from Alric to Cameron to Rodrigo. They all wore the same speechless, stunned expression. Ravi could swear unshed tears were sparkling in Rodrigo’s pale blue eyes.

Alric dropped down onto the arm of the chair Cameron was sitting in and kissed his mate’s hand while blinking back his own tears.

This was it. This…this was everything.

If the Sodalicium was even half as big as Sora had indicated, then they would finally have the resources they needed to wipe out the Jaeggi. They would be able to grow and thrive as a clan. The Sodalicium might even have new and better ways to find mages. All of the Burkhard Dragons would have a chance at finding mates, at finding love and happiness.

It was amazing. It was…

“Holy shit,” Alric breathed, finally breaking the silence that had stretched long.

The visiting leaders laughed, and Alric shook his head. Ravi laughed because he’d never seen Alric looking so utterly flabbergasted—though Cameron’s attempts to fluster Alric had come close over the past year.

“Sorry. I—holy shit,” he repeated breathlessly.

Rodrigo laughed and gave Alric a teary, crooked smile.

“Welp, we’re definitely going to kick some Jaeggi ass now,” Ravi announced.

He looked up at Sora to find the mage smiling warmly at him. If they could take care of the Jaeggi mess, maybe that meant he could figure out what the future held for him and this handsome, wonderful man who’d brought them the world.

Ravi had a plan.