Oshali’s chest trembled with anticipation as she and Tyomar landed at the Vattoro clan temple. Of course, she’d heard about this temple many times before, but she’d never expected to even know what it looked like yet alone be there in person. She beamed at Tyomar, who was grinning at her as they stepped inside.
Inside was gorgeous. Decorated in the six jeweled colors of the Vattoro clan that complemented the brothers. In the center was a rectangular stone table with chairs around it, with one raised chair at the head for the leader of the clan.
All the brothers were already there, including I’mya, and they all smiled at her as she came in.
“This is amazing,” Oshali breathed. She took a step towards one of the walls. Many of the items on display were part of their history and heritage. “Look!” She pointed to a series of gold swords and shields. “This is from the Pachetti clan when they offered to trade land with you, is that right?”
Zendyor peered at her. “Yes.”
“And this one,” she said, pointing to the diamond robes of Ishra. “This is when the Ishra women traded their diamond robes in return for the protection of their fleet.”
Sethorn chuckled. “Yes, that was very interesting.”
Oshali shot him a wry look and laughed.
“Do you have any information on Sorthel,” Khyros asked.
The atmosphere in the room quietened and Oshali tempered her enthusiasm. Obviously it was a sensitive subject when a dragorai is without his dragon. Any dragorai who was not able to bond with their dragon for whatever reason was usually ridiculed and mocked. There was a derogatory term for it, called a hollow, and they were considered useless to their clan. The fact that Khyros was the head of his clan and didn’t have his dragon must be difficult for him to deal with, not to mention always having to rely on his brothers to go anywhere.
“Yes,” she said. “All records indicate that he is alive and somewhere in the Twin Realms.”
“How do you know,” Khyros asked, his attention fierce on her.
“There are hints throughout some of the text at the Mheyu sanctum,” Oshali explained. “It is not explicit that it is him, I am just piecing together different mentions from different texts over different periods of time.” She looked at all of them. “Your dragons are quite distinctive. They are all variations of black, and all have that gold sheen that shimmers in the light. There were very few clans that had that kind of shimmery coloring.” She turned back to Khyros. “There were times a dragon with that description was mentioned in the records, but I couldn’t figure out whose dragon it was. So if there was evidence that your brothers were doing something else, I made the connection that it was your dragon.” She raised her palms. “But this is just my casual guesses. It is not a formal opinion, the Mheyu are not allowed to make such opinions about texts or draw conclusions like that. So I may be completely wrong.”
“That is why you are so valuable to us,” Nyro said. “You have all of that knowledge and you can put into context. We were never able to get that from the Mheyu before.”
Oshali’s eyebrows raised. “I suppose so. I was always telling Tyomar I couldn’t make assumptions and give an opinion, even though he coaxed it out of me, eventually.”
“She is extremely intelligent,” Tyomar told the rest of the table.
Oshali’s face heated, and she glared at Tyomar while also she wishing she could hide her face in his chest. But this was supposed to be a formal meeting.
“You most certainly are a valuable addition to our clan,” Khyros said thoughtfully.
“She is valuable anyway,” Tyomar said.
“Of course,” Khyros said. “But her knowledge of the Mheyu records, coupled with her impressive memory will significantly help us.”
Tyomar nodded. He couldn’t disagree with that.
“I would appreciate your insights about Sorthel,” Khyros said.
Oshali nodded, as did Tyomar.
“Shall we begin?” Zendyor asked.
They all found seats at the table—hers was next to Tyomar.
“Is there anything for us to discuss before we start?” Sethorn asked.
“Yes,” Tyomar said. Oshali’s heart jumped into her mouth, but she kept her eyes on him. “As you all know, Oshali went through her transition recently.”
“Let’s see the scales,” I’mya whispered.
Oshali raised one of her arms and folded back the sleeve. She twirled it for everyone to see. Along her arm, over her shoulder and up one side of her neck, where the claiming bite was, were skin-colored scales that also shone with the distinctive sheen. A beam of pride shone through her bond with Tyomar, and she sat back down, grinning at him.
“Gorgeous,” I’mya beamed.
“What you may not know,” Tyomar continued, “is that her recovery time was extremely quick, a matter of days.”
The brothers all looked at them both in bewilderment and I’mya muttered something about it not being fair.
“How it could that be?” Sethorn asked.
“That was our indication that she is with child,” Tyomar said, smiling.
All the brothers’ faces dropped in shock, and I’mya ran round and enveloped Oshali in a hug. “I’m so excited for you,” I’mya grinned. “And I’m so relieved!”
Oshali laughed. “I’m a bit nervous too. As much as I have been reading about this kind of thing for a long time, I never once expected to even be close to going through it.”
I’mya nodded. “I hadn’t even been reading about it,” she admitted. “It was a complete surprise to me. I have a really good steward who helps me, so maybe she can help you too.”
Oshali nodded gratefully. “I would really like any support I could have on this.”
All the brothers congratulated them both, and at the end, Khyros rose from his seat. “We have been blessed with two new members of our clan, I’mya and Oshali. I never would have thought we would even be welcoming anyone new into the clan, let alone be expecting young from two of our brothers’ mates. This is the moment to rejoice for all of us and I hope it is an encouraging sign of things to come.”
“Thank you,” Oshali said. “You should all know. The Mheyu think that you will be finding your mates soon.”
The brothers all had different reactions to what she said. Sethorn simply scowled, Zendyor pursed his lips thoughtfully, and Nyro chuckled. Khyros was the only one she couldn’t read. He probably wasn’t that hopeful considering his dragon would not be around to confirm who his mate is like Ryn did for her and Tyomar. She made a note to try to remember every single mention of Sorthel in all the events in the records. If she could help him find his dragon, she would.
“The first point we must talk about today,” Khyros said, once everyone had settled, “is the queen of the south. She is making threats to attack us. I’m not sure how she’ll do it yet, but we should prepare ourselves. Is there anything that you can tell us about her?” he asked Oshali.
“Yes.” Oshali took a breath and explained her whole experience with the queen.
“She seems that she is determined,” Nyro said gravely.
“We will be more determined,” Zendyor said. “We need a plan.” He glanced at Sethorn.
“It stands to reason that she will most likely attack the Mheyu sanctum based on your range Tyomar,” Sethorn said, “since she knows that Oshali is attached to both the Mheyu and the dragorai.”
Oshali tensed at that assumption, and a flare of anger shot through the bond from Tyomar. She hadn’t thought of that. “Another thing,” she said. “One of the queen’s elite warriors helped me to escape. Called a Warden.”
“We know,” Sethorn growled.
“She is familiar with the queen and her attacks and methods. I got the feeling she’d been with her for a long time. She may have insight that no one else has had before.”
“She said that you promised to save her friend.”
“Yes,” Oshali said, a pang of guilt echoing through her. “I did say that. But there was no time to try to locate them before we left. My heat was coming on and both of our concern was about immediately escaping before I could no longer cast.”
“She wants us to save her friend before she gives us any information,” Sethorn said
Oshali sighed. “We agreed we’d only get her friend if we had time. We didn’t have time.”
“Yes,” Sethorn said irritably. “But that agreement is over. If we want more information about the queen, then those are her terms.”
Oshali shook her head and laughed. “I’m not surprised.” She shrugged. “But is up to you. I do not have anything to risk going in there. It is your lives and your dragon’s lives that must be used to save her friend. Is the information that she could provide worth it?”
The table was silent for a moment. “I think it is,” Khyros said. “She was a Warden not just any old servant or guard in the palace.”
“And she’s very talented,” Oshali commented. “I saw her fight two other wardens, and they were overcome in moments. It was thrilling to watch. She is fast and effective. She also said that she had some kind of method where she could tell the queen when the king was about to attack.”
“How?”
“I don’t know, she said it’s one of the reasons why the queen wanted her as a warden.”
Khyros nodded. “Then she is valuable. We’ll have to decide when we can collect her friend.”
The meeting continued, turning to other topics that Oshali didn’t even know interested the dragorai, but she listened quietly and offered advice when necessary. As she looked around at all the alpha brothers and I’mya, she couldn’t believe how lucky she was to be sitting among them as though she was an equal… except, she was now. Her scales and her pregnancy were the indication that she had become one of them.
After the meeting, she and Tyomar returned to their lair, where she was slowly making it her own at Tyomar’s insistence. He cuddled her into his arms and carried her to their bed and the bond vibrated harmoniously, light with her love for him and heavy with his love for her. He wanted her to feel like the lair was her space too, that she belonged there. But the main thing that helped her believe that was him. She belonged in his arms, and there was no more doubt in her mind that she had found her home.