“Mine was always supposed to be there.” Bjorn holds his hand up next to mine, so we see both our rings.
Right where they should be if we were married.
He nuzzles my cheek, then takes my hand, threading our fingers together. As the rings touch, I feel a deep synergy flow through us, sealing our fate. It feels so very right, though, as I cuddle back into him, then turn my head, kissing his lips.
“Do you ever want to get married, Bjorn?” I ask suddenly, curious.
“Maybe someday,” he says as he nuzzles my nose. “After all this shit is done… it might be nice to celebrate our life-mate bond in front of witnesses. Family and friends.”
“Then let’s do it.” I am decisive, as something inside me feels tremendously bright, burning with love for Bjorn. “Once all this is over, we’ll have a ceremony, a party… the whole shebang.”
“I love you, Rikyava.” Bjorn is serious now, as he turns me in the water so I sit sideways on his lap. He stares into my eyes, his bright golden ones intense as he regards me. “I don’t need some magic rings or a ceremony to make it real, even though they’re nice touches. All I need is this: what I feel for you, deep inside. This bond we share, and you in my arms. That’s all I’ve ever needed. I hope you know that.”
“I know,” I say as I nuzzle his nose, then kiss him. “I love you too, Bjorn. Always.” We rest with our foreheads together a moment, before I pull back again, searching his eyes. “Are you… alright? After everything that happened yesterday?”
“You mean with Baldur?” Bjorn’s eyebrows lift now.
Even a subtle blush taking his cheeks—adorable.
“I never dreamed I’d ever have such an experience,” he says quietly now, as if even admitting it to himself out-loud is new. As he heaves a deepbreath, Bjorn makes intense eye contact, sober. “Some part of me has always wanted to try something with a drake; some part of me was always curious. But being raised where I was… bisexuality is not looked upon well in Magnussen lands. My clan has always placed a high importance upon relationships only to create offspring, since we lived in such a cruel place, where younglings often died. I just… never even allowed myself to consider it.”
“What do you think about it now?” I ask him, enjoying sharing this with Bjorn in such a calm heart-space.
“Well, I still love drakainas. One drakaina, in particular.” Bjorn chuckles as his strong hands grip my waist. “But I think… I’m not as vehemently opposed to touching another drake now, when we’re all together. Not Ström or Mikkel. Ström is too familiar to me, and Mikkel just pisses me off. But Baldur…”
“He’s special, isn’t he?” I understand what Bjorn’s saying.
“Our magics resonate. I can’t really explain it.” Bjorn frowns, then tries again. “When we’re around each other, our inner dragons rush and roar through each other, far more than with any of your other drakes. It’s almost like what my dragon does with yours, Rikyava. Not quite, but almost. And though a part of me is still territorial over you, even around him… I’m realizing it’s only because I thought I’d be left out in the cold, if you wanted to be with another one of your drakes, rather than me. But Baldur’s presence in our group makes me feel… loved, important. I know you love me, and Ström will always be like a brother to me, even though we fight. Perhaps Mikkel and I will never get along beyond what we do for you. Baldur heals others, though. And something about him… is healing for me.”
I nod soberly now as Bjorn bares his heart. Because it’s far more depth than I think I’ve ever gotten out of him; I always knew this kind of emotional depth was in him, but it’s like it’s able to surface now, thanks to our bond.
Our bond with Baldur has been additionally good for that. But as Bjorn thinks about it, he frowns now.
His golden gaze flashing as it pins me.
“We need to get Baldur some help. Quickly.” Bjorn growls now as he sits with me in the water. “With his unresolved issues about his magical addiction, he won’t be able to work on this Soulstone thing without addressing it. He needs decades of therapy in days, Rikyava.”
“He’ll fight for this, I know it,” I tell Bjorn with certainty, even though something darkens inside me now, knowing my First Drake is right. “Baldur has spent his entire life waiting for this—to be here, with me and with us. He’ll dive into his darkness and take a good look at it. I know he will.”
“Maybe if we both try to get through to him,” Bjorn sighs harshly now.
“Maybe these rings will help us.” I smooth back one of Bjorn’s long, wet braids, nodding at the other three rings by the side of the pool. “These silver rings have some ability to bond us all closer than we’ve ever been. King Örn Magnussen was certain of it.”
“King Örn Magnussen?” Bjorn blinks now, his golden gaze sharpening on me, hard. “Now that’s a name I haven’t heard in a god’s age. He was a legend in our clan. Details of his ancient past were lost, but his name lives on, in infamy.”
“With good reason.” I nod.
Briefly, I launch into everything that ancient King and First Bloodmate of Aesa’s told me, in the silver mirrors. Bjorn listens as I explain it all; the history between Hedda, Aesa, and her drakes, plus the War and how the silver and black rings figure into it all.
Bjorn stews more as I talk. His energy is churning as I finish, flickers of red-gold Bloodwind surging around us in the hot pool, before I fall to silence.
Bjorn pauses, frowning hard, before he speaks.
“If King Örn Magnussen is right, then we don’t have a lot of time to linger here.” I feel Bjorn’s commander’s mind working a thousand miles a minute now, thinking through what we need to do to be ready for this fight. “We’re all back to full power now that Baldur’s curses are gone. If there’s a secret location here where Hedda created her Usurper, then we need to find it and figure out if it could help us. Especially if the dragon-wights of the Five might be called back here, to re-imbue themselves into the Black Dragon, should Aesa’s protection around this city fail. We could find ourselves in a serious shitstorm. Promptly.”
“Plus, we still need to investigate this etheric fire we’re all making now, whenever we experience intense emotions,” I add, thinking it through with him. “Because it’s helped us a few times, to get out of sticky situations. It was because of that fire that I was led to the mirrors to even find the silver rings at all. The way it burnished the runes on the walls… and led me right to King Örn Magnussen.”
“It can banish the Black Dragon’s curses.” Bjorn eyeballs me now, alert. “That’s no small feat, Rikyava. I agree with you. We need to find out what our auric fire can really do. Because it’s clear that Aesa and King Örn Magnussen set up their hiding spot for the silver rings and all this knowledge, so you wouldn’t find it until youcouldmake that fire—until we all could. Now, we apparently are strong enough to merit the gifts they gave you. Which means we’ve come a lot further than we thought, in our ability to potentially take on the Black Dragon.”
