Elder Thane inclined his head, scales pale with age. “He bears no sigil I know. No house, no creed. The armor looks southern, but not any kingdom I remember before the war.”
“Southern …” I mumbled, thinking hard.
“There are no other drakens. We were it,” Benedict stubbornly insisted, staring down at the body like it was personally responsible.
“Then how do you explain him?” Ronan asked quietly. “Those wings weren’t made for short flight. He came from somewhere.”
Silence.
I glanced at everyone.
“Have you never considered drakens may have survived the eruption or maybe a wayward soldier got captured centuries ago? Even separated, they could have been subjected to the Overlord’s curse all the same, just like us.”
Kieran jerked, making it obvious that no, he’d never entertained such a notion.
“As king I would know—” Benedict began.
I cut him off. “If the king at the time—your father—was trying to survive the devastation of feeling almost his entire people killed at once, don’t you think it’s possible he might have missed a few here and there? Or perhaps once other drakens are far away you can’t sense them any longer?”
Being queen, like Benedict, I had a bond with the draken people that kept them constantly on the edge of our consciousnesses.
Kind, but heavy, Elder Thane’s gaze lingered on me . “If others survived …”
“Then there are other drakens out there,” Benedict said.
Kieran crossed his arms. Ronan’s brow furrowed into deep lines over his eyes, considering this possibility.
I glanced between them, confused. “Why are you all upset? This is good news, is it not?”
They eyed me like I was nuts.
“What if they try to invade us?” Benedict bit out. “Or challenge me to rule?”
“Or come after you?” Kieran cut across him.
“It would be interesting, at least,” Ronan muttered.
I rolled my eyes and sighed.
Males.
“I think you’re missing a crucial detail,” I said slowly.
They blinked at me.
“If there are drakens alive out there,” I continued, “then there could be otherfemalesout there.”
Everyone stilled, the weight of my statement crashing on all of them at once.
“Oh. Fuck.”
“Fuck, indeed,” I grumbled, pressing my palm to my belly. The child inside shifted, a subtle reminder that whatever came next wasn’t just about the past, it was about the future. “If there are others, we must find them and meet them, and at least offer them a home here.”
“Offer? They belong here. I am their king,” Benedict insisted.
“Here we go,” Ronan huffed.
Kieran shot Benedict a glare. “I’m sure we can negotiate, all things considered, especially if we can all help each other.”
