Oshali was numb.
Her father believed she was a dragorai simply based on the repeated visits of a dragon, which had to have been this one—Tyomar’s dragon. Her father had never known Ryn had a rider… and what would have he thought if he had? Would he have been thrilled that she was, instead, the mate of the dragorai-male? It seemed as though he would have been. He and her mother were supportive of the dragorai, a fact that warmed her insides. She wondered if he was still alive. The disgust the queen had for the Mheyu could mean she might have left them and him alone—or she could have obliterated them.
This was what the guardians had been trying to make sure she read, and she hadn’t examined it thoroughly enough to know any of this before the queen captured her, before the queen had ultimately lied to her about her parents. Her father seemed to think that the queen poisoned her mother, but that didn’t make sense. Especially when her mother could have had another child, and the queen could have induced another heat.
Oshali read the letter again and shook her head in disgust. So much made sense now. It was unlikely that the queen would ever stop coming after Oshali now that she knew she existed. The type of person she was, it seemed as though she would prefer Oshali dead rather than living.
She took a breath and exhaled slowly as her thoughts returned to the dragorai.
Both Guardian Vy and Tyomar said she was his mate, and her father even assumed she would be a female dragorai. She struggled to believe how that could be true. After everything she’d read and studied, it didn’t seem possible. But maybe she was being blinded by her disappointment with Tyomar’s behavior. Maybe she should be thinking whether she really wanted to be with Tyomar, not disputing whether or not she was his mate. His dragon had certainly taken to her.
Oshali eyed him as he flew over the range, tilting and swooping. Her father had said that the dragon was playful… She thought back to how he acting as though he was playing catch with her earlier. Maybe he was.
Oshali patted his satin scales and stood up, replacing the scroll back in her bag. Turning around, she began to cast, lifted off the dragon’s back, and shot in the other direction.
A rumbling roar sounded behind her, and when she glanced back, the dragon was looping around, twisting and spiraling before shooting after her.
Oshali laughed and pushing herself faster, but it was only a few moments before the dragon caught up with her again, flying underneath her and inching higher and higher until she was once again on his back.
Oshali couldn’t help but grin.
She spent the rest of the day with the dragon in contemplation. She reread the scroll, re-examining her father’s words and thinking about what both Tyomar and the guardians had said.
The dragon flew to an area of the range that had a beautiful roaring waterfall, and Oshali barely had time to notice before he flew under it. Yelling in surprise, she jumped from his back. Turning to look at him, she saw him dive again under the waterfall, flicking his wings and tail and sending water everywhere. She laughed and silently bid him farewell before heading back to the border. The dragon seemed too consumed by his bath to notice, and she was sure she would escape the range this time.
Oshali wasn’t sure how she felt about Tyomar anymore. She still loved him, of course, but love wasn’t everything, was it? She couldn’t help but notice that his dragon had put in a lot of effort to keep her alive and away from the south… and hadn’t that been exactly what Tyomar had done too? She rubbed her forehead, becoming confused about what she was supposed to think.
She hadn’t sat in on the interview with the omega who mated Tyomar’s brother. She was the only other person who might have been through something like this, but she’d never meet her now.
Oshali landed in the valley by the border, and this time she headed north. The North Dominion wasn’t any better than the South Dominion—it was just different—but she had to stay as far from the queen as possible.
Continuing along, a familiar screech thundered overhead, and she glanced up to see Tyomar’s dragon circling in the air. He landed near her, causing the ground to shake, and he let out a gust of smoky air. Oshali came to a stop. She couldn’t travel the realm if he was going to follow her. It wouldn’t be safe for either of them.
“You can’t come with me,” she called to him. “You will draw too much attention.”
The dragon huffed out another puff of smoke.
Oshali smiled. “You may not care, but I do.”
Suddenly, another screech came from overhead. Oshali jumped in surprise and looked up to see another dragon circling. Ryn let out a rumbling roar before launching upward to meet it.
Oshali’s heart sank. That had to be one of Tyomar’s brothers’ dragons, which meant that Tyomar was either here, or she would be brought back to him.
A large male figure descended from the new dragon, his robes whipping in the air as he headed toward her. As he lowered, his face came into view.
Tyomar.
Her heart quickened again at the sight of him; she didn’t think it ever wouldn’t. Both dragons landed nearby, and Oshali tried not to fall over on the jolting ground.
Oshali!” Tyomar barked as he landed, his heavy boots clunking on the ground as he headed toward her. He grabbed her neck, a dark fury in his eyes, and he stepped close until he was towering over her. “Where are you going?”
Oshali shrugged. It didn’t matter where she went if the dragon kept following her. Confusion overwhelmed her.
Ryn clawed the ground and let out a rumbled noise with another puff of smoke.
“Don’t worry,” Tyomar shot at him. “I’m angry with you too!”
Ryn released a roar as Tyomar turned back to Oshali, breathing heavily. “You cannot go anywhere without one of us, me or him.”
Oshali eyes filled with tears. “I know.”
“Then you must know that he has decided? He decided long ago.”
Oshali nodded, the tears streaking down her face.
“And you know what that means, when a dragon decides?”
She nodded again, and Tyomar drew her into his arms, lifting her off the ground. “So you know you belong with me.”
“I know I’m supposed to,” she said, brushing the tears from her face. “It doesn’t mean I have to.”
“Oshali,” Tyomar ground out.
“You cannot deny anything I said before, Tyomar,” Oshali responded, somewhat exasperated. “I don’t want to be unhappy.” Just because they were mates did not mean they would be happy if certain problems persisted in their relationship. She’d read enough accounts of relationships to know that the ones most fated were not always the ones that lasted the longest.
Tyomar growled. “You won’t be, Oshali. I accept that I left, and I told you that you need to trust me, just like I trusted you not to get killed or hurt while I was away.”
“I did nearly get hurt,” she pointed out.
“And you were already getting yourself out of that situation when I found you, like I trusted you would.”
“I guess I will never know if I really could have,” she mumbled. “If I’m really capable.”
Tyomar released a low growl. “I wouldn’t be interested in you if you were not an impressive female, Oshali. That doesn’t mean I won’t be concerned for your safety.” He looked at her. “Surely you do not think I wanted to leave you?”
“I think you choose when you want to be concerned about me.”
Tyomar exhaled, his arms tightening around her. “You are my mate, Oshali. There is nothing more important than you. You are bound to feel that way about my approach to some things, because sometimes you will want something different to what I want, but I have treated you no less than I would treat a dragorai female who I respect and am deeply in love with.”
At that, Oshali started, her eyes widening as he continued.
“I would protect her at all costs, regardless of what she said. I would keep her sheltered. I would question her choices, and I would ensure that above all she is my priority. Not because she is incapable, but because she is so important I cannot risk any possibility of a life without her. That is you.” He leaned in. “I knew you could travel across the realm and complete that mission, but I didn’t want you to. Just because it was dangerous didn’t mean you wouldn’t succeed, but I wanted you safe.”
Oshali frowned, thinking carefully about what he was saying.
“When I left, it was about trust. It was about me trusting that you would complete your mission and stay safe—I wouldn’t have left if I didn’t think you were capable of doing that. And you had to trust I had not abandoned you.”
Oshali shook her head “I couldn’t do that. Not completely.”
Tyomar drew her close. “Can you now?”
Oshali lifted her gaze to his and searched his dark eyes, and what she saw there was worry, desperation, and pure adoration. She threaded her arms around his neck, and nodded. He pulled her forward and captured her lips with his, pressing a hot, deep kiss on her mouth. Immediately Oshali relaxed and her thoughts ordered, his taste and scent calming her.
As he pulled away, Tyomar turned, carrying her toward the dragons, but Oshali kept her nose at his neck, breathing in his scent.
“Is she all right?” a deep voice asked.
“She is safe,” Tyomar said. “Thank you for allowing me to ride with you to find her, brother.”
Oshali lifted her head to see which brother had come with him. Zendyor.
“You are very welcome, Ty,” Zendyor said, looking between them both. “I am encouraged by you finding your mate so soon after Nyro has found his.”
“I’m sure you will too,” Tyomar said. “I’m still interested to know who is capturing all your attention in your lair.”
Zendyor shot him a look before nodding his head at Oshali. “Welcome to the clan, Oshali.”
Oshali smiled and watched as Zendyor drifted up to his dragon’s back, and they both took to the skies.
Tyomar muttered, casting to lift them gently and to drift over to his dragon, where they landed on his back. He sat down and settled Oshali on his lap. “We have to talk, Oshali. There is much you don’t know.”
Oshali nodded. “And you too. What’s your dragon’s name?”
“Ryndross”
Oshali repeated it. It suited him—it felt familiar to her.
Ryndross took to the air, floating gently back to Tyomar’s mountain range.
Oshali took a deep breath. “I’m sorry for leaving your lair like that,” she said. “I know that would have been worrying for you, but I truly was not intending on coming back, and I knew you would stop me.”
Tyomar scowled. “It is an unacceptable way to behave, Oshali.”
“Not if you would prevent me from leaving,” Oshali said.
“I wouldn’t,” Tyomar said. “You can go anywhere on this mountain range you wish.” He glanced at her. “Anywhere. There are no boundaries to that. If you want to go to my brothers’ territories, that would be more difficult. Did you go to any of them?”
Oshali shook her head.
“Good.”
“So are you saying that you accept that you are my mate now?” he asked.
Oshali opened her mouth, but hesitated. “Your dragon has been invested in me for a long time,” she said finally. “I cannot ignore that.”
Tyomar nodded. “But you can ignore the rest?”
“Why didn’t you tell me about what happened when I was a baby?” Oshali asked. “You never mentioned it in all the years we have been talking, even when I asked you when we were in the realm. What were you trying to hide?”
Tyomar was silent for a long moment, looking over his mountain range as they drifted over it. “Twenty-five years ago Ryn started behaved strangely over the course of a few months. He would suddenly disappear from my territory for long periods of time, and I wouldn’t know where he was. I assumed he’d been hunting farther afield than normal, and didn’t think much of it. Then one day he was acting strangely, he didn’t want to land anywhere, and he was flying around in a very agitated state. After a few hours, he settled down but he was favoring one foot. When I looked closer, I saw that he had something in it.” He glanced at Oshali. “And it was you. I was shocked. Obviously I got you out of his foot as fast as possible and I was at a loss as to how he got you and what he wanted with you. I didn’t mention it to anyone, not even my brothers, because of the rumors being circulated about dragons eating babies and children. I didn’t want Ryndross’ actions to tarnish the rest of the clan or for them to think differently of him. If you had been hurt, I would have told them, but you were sleeping peacefully for most of the time.
“The Mheyu were on my range already, and they accepted children. I trusted them to raise you well. I knew you’d be with other children and that nothing that Ryn did would have any long-lasting effect. I thought, no one had to know.”
Oshali smiled at him. “You did the right thing,” she said. “But you should have told me.”
“No,” Tyomar insisted. “You would have been afraid of Ryn if I told you what happened. And I didn’t want you to be, even before I knew you were my mate. It was the only time he’d acted strangely, and now I understand it. When I left you, I went back to settle Ryn—I had kept him away with an incantation but he was fighting it. He almost came after us. I told my brothers everything that had happened. They agreed you must be my mate.” He glanced at her. “Ryn is a very levelheaded dragon. He has never otherwise disappeared or ever done anything like that before.”
Oshali nodded. “So is that how you realized?”
“It contributed,” Tyomar admitted. “There are other things.”
“Like what?”
“There were similarities with my brother’s mate. Your ability to speak and understand Thrakondarian, your ability to cast…”
“The Mheyu said the same thing,” Oshali said. “They said I had an affinity for it and that I had to have been touched by the Goddesses.”
“I think that is accurate.”
“Is I’mya the same? Your brother’s mate?”
“No,” Tyomar said. “You were raised with the opportunity to study, surrounded by stories of Thrakondarian origin. It was a gradual thing for you to be able to learn about the culture and see it as it used to be, in all its glory and madness and authenticity. I’mya grew up in the north trying to navigate the war.”
Oshali shook her head. “That’s terrible.”
“It is, which is why any proficiency she has is also astonishing. But she could have reached the levels that you did if she’d had the same opportunities.” Tyomar leaned forward. “You are lucky to have had all of that available to you.”
Oshali nodded. “Yes, I’m grateful for it,” she said to him. “If you hadn’t put me with the Mheyu, I would have been in a terrible situation in the south.”
“What do you mean?”
Oshali sighed, and then began to tell Tyomar everything that happened with the queen, what she knew about her; then she finished up with her father’s letter.
Tyomar listened, his face becoming graver and stonier the longer she spoke. When she finished, he roared out a cursed long and loud. “You didn’t tell me all of this before! The queen needs to be stopped!”
“She does,” Oshali agreed. “But the main thing right now is that I got away and you and Ryndross were not hurt. I’m not sure anything else is important.”
“It’s very important,” Tyomar said. “The rest of the clan has said that the queen is planning an attack on us in retaliation for taking you. We need you to share your experiences so we can make a plan.”
“So I need to speak to Sethorn?”
Tyomar growled viciously, and she jumped. “What is it?” she asked.
“I do not want him near you,” Tyomar said. “I did not appreciate his behavior in the interviews.”
Oshali laughed. “He didn’t mean anything by it,” she said. “I think it was more that he was very curious about how I looked.”
“He has no right to be curious,” Tyomar barked. “I have been meeting you for seven years without daring to ask you to remove your veil, and he spends a few moments in a room with you and thinks he has the right.”
Oshali grinned at him. “But you know I have no interest in him, don’t you? He is not who I want.”
“No,” Tyomar said. “I am who you want. But I still do not want you in the same room as him.”
Oshali smiled, shaking her head at his possessiveness. “I am not what he wants, either. He was just curious. And if we want to stop the queen, we’re going to have to speak to him. He’s the best strategist we have.”
Tyomar growled. “I don’t want to talk about him anymore.” He lowered his head to her neck as he stripped her of her tunic and squeezed her breasts. Within his beautiful scent, the urge to claim and possess her was heavy in his arousal, and Oshali needed it as desperately as he did.