His eyes move to Magnus and held there without flinching. “You are one of the elders of your flock,” Magnus says, leaning back inhis chair with a smile I can only describe as slimy. “How would it look if you abandoned the birthplace of your people?”
“Why do you wish to become a citizen of my empire?” Klauth asks, keeping that impassive mask firmly in place on his face.
“I sense my potential mate here,” Finlay says, and the sincerity in his voice is undeniable. “I wish to stay and court her properly. She has a large family, and it wouldn’t be prudent to remove her from her home and support system.” The way Finlay speaks of this unnamed female—the longing and need in his voice—makes something in my chest tighten with sympathy. I understand that desperate search for connection.
“I believe he deserves a chance to find his mate,” I say, reaching up to rest my hand visibly on the mate mark Corvus left on my neck. I smile at my silver dragon with genuine affection. “Finding your mate is the most incredible thing in this existence.” I turn my gaze from Corvus over to Finlay, meeting his eyes briefly before looking to Klauth.
“Mates are a myth,” Magnus scoffs, waving his hand dismissively. “A romantic notion used to justify poor political choices.”
Klauth reaches up and deliberately unbuttons his shirt, revealing Mom’s scale embedded and living over his heart. The green and silver scales pulse faintly with her life force. “Mates are real, and I found mine.”
I stare at the scale on Klauth’s chest—I’ve never seen it this close before. “It’s Mom’s scale,” I breathe, my hand shaking slightly as I reach out to touch it. The scale is warm beneath my fingertips, carrying an echo of her presence.
Magnus nods, looking at the scale with clinical interest. “That doesn’t proveyoufound your mate, little female,” he says to me, arching a brow in challenge.
‘Formally claim our mate,’my dragoness urges, and the idea crystallizes immediately. I nod, looking at Corvus with intention.
He approaches slowly, understanding what I’m asking without words, and starts unbuttoning his shirt. He exposes his chest, revealing the scars from our battles and training scattered across his skin. I shift my left hand, letting my obsidian scales rise in a ripple of black iridescence and my long silver talons extend with soft clicks. Carefully, I pluck one of my own scales—the pain sharp and immediate—and stand before Corvus, holding the precious piece of myself. “Will you wear my scale?”
“Yes...” Corvus’s voice is thick with emotion, his silver eyes burning into mine.
I sink my talon into his chest over his heart, creating a pocket in his flesh. As soon as I pull the talon out, I press the meat side of my scale into the wound. We both watch with held breath as his skin knits around it like living thread, incorporating my scale into his very body. The bond between us flares so bright he nearly gets knocked on his ass from the sheer power of it.
Corvus shifts his hand, his own silver scales emerging, and plucks one of his scales with a sharp intake of breath. He offers it to me with trembling fingers. “Will you wear my scale, my eternal treasure?”
I nod as tears roll down my cheeks, not caring that I’m crying in front of Magnus. Corvus sinks his sharp talon into my chest over my heart, and I feel the shift in power immediately—like a circuit completing. His scale settles into place, and suddenlyI feel Corvus like he’s a part of me, like an extension of myself. His emotions, his presence, his very life force is now intimately connected to mine.
The exchanged scales live on us, pulsing gently with shared heartbeats. We turn together to face Magnus, presenting a united front. “The scales live, and mates are real,” I say, tilting my head in that way I’ve seen my father and Klauth do countless times—the gesture that saysI dare you to challenge me.
Magnus rolls his eyes with theatrical disdain and then looks at Finlay, who’s been watching this entire display with carefully concealed longing. “If you can find and claim this mysterious mate of yours, you may stay.”
He raises his wrist and looks at his expensive watch with deliberate slowness. “I will give you until the Winter Solstice to find and claim her. Otherwise...” His gaze turns back to me with predatory intent. “I will send ten suitable males of appropriate bloodlines from whom the princess must choose one as her husband.”
An almost manic laugh escapes my lips before I can stop it—the sound echoing in the formal chamber. “You can send a hundred males, for all I care. I will kill them all.” My dragoness rises to the surface, and her presence fills the space like smoke made solid. “I am not a breeder, nor will I ever be forced to take a male that is not my mate.” I press my presence down on Magnus with deliberate force, watching with satisfaction as he contorts in his chair and struggles to breathe under the weight of my power.
“Princess Raven...” Finlay’s voice breaks through the red haze of rage, calm and steady. I turn a single eye toward him for a moment, sapphire meeting honey-gold.
“He is not worth starting a war over,” Finlay says quietly. “He’s a green dragon—smaller than anyone of your bloodline, with softer scales and weaker breath weapons. Beneath your notice.”
Corvus moves directly into my line of sight, deliberately breaking my hold on Magnus. “My love. My eternal treasure. No one will ever harm you as long as any of us draw breath.” His hand caresses my cheek with infinite gentleness, and I instantly calm, my dragoness settling back down.
“I believe the meeting is officially over,” Klauth announces, and I hear his chair scrape against the floor as he stands. “Finlay is welcome to remain here for however long he needs. I will not impose a time limit on him to find his mate.”
Klauth moves to stand beside me, his presence solid and supportive. “As my heir stated, if you wish to send males to be deemed worthy, they will run both gauntlets at full difficulty and then spar my heir in single combat.” He rests a reassuring hand on my shoulder and smiles down at me with paternal pride. “I suspect none will survive the attempt.”
I give Klauth a grateful nod and smile up at him, mouthingthanks, Dadwhere only he can see.
Over Corvus’s shoulder, I watch Magnus leave the chamber with barely concealed fury radiating from his stiff posture. This will not be the last we hear of him—that much is certain.
Turning to Finlay as Corvus takes me in his arms protectively, I offer the professor a genuine smile. “Welcome to the Marzana Empire. I hope you find your mate soon.” The words are sincere—I wouldn’t wish the loneliness of searching on anyone. He bows deeply to me with perfect form before leaving the chamber.
“He’s hiding something,” Klauth observes once we’re alone, though whether he means Magnus or Finlay, I’m not entirely sure.
I kiss Corvus gently, sipping at his bottom lip and tasting the coppery hint of blood from where he bit it during our scale exchange. We just exchanged scales in front of one of my fathers and a foreign king to prove mates are real—a gesture far more intimate and permanent than any wedding ceremony.
If this is how the school year is going to start, I’m almost afraid to see how the rest of the year is going to unfold. But with my mates beside me and my power growing stronger every day, I think we can handle whatever comes next.
