Chapter 194: We Need To Go Back To The Palace

How much time passed, Morgana could not have said.

It felt like minutes and hours simultaneously. But eventually, a sound broke through the quiet of the mountain.

Another dragon.

It emerged from the darkness of the sky, smaller than GLACIUS but still enormous, its scales a darker gray. As it landed, it began to transform, shifting into human form.

The dragon soldier was tall, broad-shouldered, with the bearing of a warrior. His face was scarred, his eyes dark, his expression grim.

He bowed slightly to Kaelen.

"My King," he said, his voice carrying urgency. "Isolde’s father, Lord Carrick Greythorne, has arrived at the palace. Your brothers are waiting. They’ve asked that you return immediately. The situation is... tense."

Morgana felt Kaelen’s entire body go rigid.

For a moment, he simply stared at the soldier, and she could feel the war happening inside him....the desire to stay here, on the mountain, away from the world, battling against the duty that pulled him back to the palace, to his responsibilities.

Finally, he nodded slowly.

"Tell them I’m coming," he said. "Tell them I will be at the palace within the hour."

The soldier bowed and transformed back into his dragon form, rising into the sky and disappearing into the darkness.

***

Kaelen pulled Morgana close, wrapping the cloak more tightly around her.

"He’s going to make demands," Kaelen said quietly. "Carrick is dangerous, and he’s going to try to use his position to leverage something from us. I don’t know what. But I need to be there."

"I understand," Morgana said.

Kaelen kissed her, deep and possessive, his hands pulling her close.

"This isn’t finished," he said against her lips. "Not even close. Everything that starts tonight continues. You understand that?"

"Yes," Morgana whispered.

He pulled back and looked at her for a long moment.

"We need to go back to the palace," he said finally.

He stood and helped her to her feet, keeping the cloak wrapped around her. Then he began to transform again, shifting into GLACIUS once more.

Morgana climbed onto his back, holding tight as he spread his wings.

And then they were rising into the night sky, soaring back toward the palace.

***

*KING DRAEVEN’S OFFICE*

Draeven was reviewing reports when the door to his office burst open.

Thorne did not knock. Thorne did not ask permission. Thorne simply appeared in the doorway, his dark eyes burning with an intensity that suggested something significant had happened.

"Kaelen took her," Thorne said without preamble.

Draeven looked up from the documents spread across his desk, his golden eyes assessing his brother with the calm of someone who understood that panic was rarely the most useful response to crisis.

"Took whom?" Draeven asked, though he already knew the answer.

"Morgana," Thorne said, moving into the office and closing the door behind him. "Out of the palace. Just now. He shifted and before I could even reach out to him, our stupid brother had taken her somewhere. Only the gods know where."

Draeven set down his pen and leaned back in his chair, his expression thoughtful.

"And you want me to be concerned about this," he said quietly.

"Should we not be?" Thorne demanded, moving to the window where he could look out at the palace grounds. "She’s unprotected. She’s with GLACIUS, who has been barely contained for weeks. She’s away from the palace, away from guards, away from anything that could defend her if...."

"If what?" Draeven interrupted, his voice carrying a note of certainty that cut through Thorne’s spiraling concern. "If he hurts her? He will not."

Thorne turned sharply to face his oldest brother.

"How can you be certain?" Thorne asked, his dark eyes fixed on Draeven. "GLACIUS is barely controlled at the best of times. Kaelen is barely controlled. You’ve seen how he’s been since the Selection ended. He’s been drinking, brooding, on the edge of something dangerous."

"Yes," Draeven agreed, his golden eyes showing complete understanding of everything Thorne had just described. "He’s been on the edge of claiming what is his. And now he’s doing exactly that. Not to hurt her, Thorne. To show her what she means. To show her what he is without the constraints of palace propriety."

He stood and moved to stand beside his brother at the window.

"You worry like a strategist," Draeven said quietly. "You calculate danger and prepare for it. But sometimes, brother, you forget to trust. Kaelen loves her. Not the careful love we’ve been maintaining. Not the strategic love that respects her autonomy. But the raw, real love that GLACIUS has been screaming for since she arrived in this palace. Let him have this. Let him show her who he is, what he is, what she means to him."

Thorne was about to respond when the door opened again.

A servant entered, bowing immediately at the sight of both kings.

"Your Majesties," the servant said, his voice carrying clear urgency, "Lord Carrick Greythorne has arrived at the palace. He’s requesting an audience with you. He’s waiting in the....."

"He can wait," Thorne interrupted, his dark eyes still fixed on Draeven.

But Draeven was shaking his head slowly.

"No," the First King said. "If Carrick has made the journey to the palace in the evening, at this hour, then this is significant. We will attend to him."

The servant bowed and began to exit, but before he had taken three steps, another figure appeared in the doorway.

Captain Rhen, head of the kings’ personal guard, entered with the bearing of someone bringing news that could not wait.

The guard captain’s scarred face was grim, his eyes intense.

He bowed, but the gesture was brief, perfunctory, a formality observed but not elaborated.

"Your Majesties," Rhen said, his voice carrying the weight of command, "I think you need to come to the throne room. Right now."

Draeven and Thorne exchanged a look.

In that silent communication, they understood each other completely. Something was wrong. Something had happened.

Whatever had made Rhen insist on their immediate presence, it was significant enough to interrupt any other business.

Draeven nodded once to his brother.

"Then we go," the First King said simply.