“Huh.” Gerard took another sip of the wine. “That’s when we first shift too.”

  Elias smiled. “And have you ever met a dragon shifter who could use any form of elemental magic? I mean, there have been cases of dragon shifters having children with nature mages, lightning sorcerers, and so forth.”

  Gerard considered that. “I’ve never heard of a dragon shifter with any elemental magic ability.”

  “Well, then you might be interested to know that there have been reports that children with mixed heritage sometimes show potential to do elemental magic,” Elias said. “But then after they first shift into their dragon form, it just all shuts down. Any ability they showed for elemental magic just disappears and is no more.”

  “So it could be the same magic source?” Gerard had never heard of such a thing.

  “Most scholars think not. But many think there is some sort of connection between them, which means you can’t be a dragon shifter and an elemental caster.” Elias gave him a look. “By the way, you may be careful who you discuss these theories with.”

  “Why?”

  Elias smiled. “Earth elementals and nature mages despise these ideas. They think it’s complete nonsense, and they will probably end up yelling at you if you mention them.”

  “Oh. And lightning and wind sorcerers are different?”

  “Well, they are the ones coming up with and debating these ideas. They love magic theory and trying to understand the powers we wield.” Elias laughed. “Earth elementals and nature mages think we are ruining the mystery of their magic by trying to dissect it and explain it. To them their magic can never be explained. It is magic, and it is mysterious, and that is all there is to it.”

  Elias grinned. “As far as they are concerned, we Voltarians and Zephyrians are just annoying shits who don’t understand the beauty and majesty of magic. We lack the respect for its power.”

  “What about necromancers? What do their scholars think about their magic? Is it connected too?”

  Elias scrunched up his nose. “No one knows anything about necromancy! Or no one who isn’t a necromancer, anyway. I’ve read all the books I can get my hands on. But there just isn’t much available to us non-necromancers on how they train, learn, or how their magic works! It’s very frustrating.”

  Elias pouted. He looked quite adorable pouting.

  “My father would be interested in your theories,” Gerard said. “He wants dragon descendants. If he heard you talking, he would ensure that all those who carried his bloodline only received training regarding shifting into dragon forms. He’d send any tutors for any elemental form of magic far, far away.”

  Elias smiled. For several moments, Gerard just watched him playing.

  “You are a lot more intelligent than you let on.” Gerard hesitated. “Do you … encourage people to underestimate you?”

  He’d been thinking on it for days. He’d realised that was why so many thought Elias a fool, because Elias seemed to want them to think that. But why would he want that?

  Elias’s fingers stilled. For several moments he didn’t speak. He licked his lips, staring at the now silent lyre. “In my experience, sometimes it’s better for people to underestimate you.”

  “What do you mean?” Gerard studied Elias’s face but could get no clues from his blank expression.

  Elias’s fingers stroked the wooden frame of the lyre. “Sometimes keeping people distant, not opening up, hiding parts of yourself, it’s a way to protect yourself from others,” he said, voice only just above a whisper. He didn’t meet Gerard’s gaze.

  “From what?”

  Elias licked his lips. “From hurting you.”

  Gerard waited for him to continue, to elaborate. But after several moments, Elias started to play again.

  Gerard wanted to push. He wanted to ask more questions. He wanted to demand to know who had hurt Elias. He wanted to know why Elias felt like he needed to keep others away to protect himself.

  Elias hummed. Then sang. But his sweet voice trembled ever so slightly.

  Gerard couldn’t speak. He wasn’t used to seeing Elias anything other than completely composed. So he just let his questions go, hoping Elias knew he did not need to protect himself from Gerard.

  Chapter

  Forty-Two

  “Iknow you have strong feelings for Lord Wolf, but make sure you don’t go baring your secrets to him. They are not just your secrets, Colette, but Voltaria’s. Remember that,” Elias said. “And you’ve only just met him, so be careful and don’t trust him too quickly.”

  They stood in Colette’s room in the quarters provided for the royal family of Draconia. They’d just finished a training session, and sweat beaded on her brow. Soon, she’d leave to meet up with Lord Wolf.

  “Of course, Cousin! I understand completely.” She smiled.

  “Good. Then have a good evening.” Elias left her. He closed the door and headed towards Gerard’s room.

  I really should take my own advice.

  Unsurprisingly, Gerard was not present when he arrived. He was in a meeting discussing guards and whatever else they thought was necessary for the protection of the royals, nobles, dignitaries, and so forth of Draconia here at the White Monastery. And for Elias and Colette too. Gerard now saw their safety as his responsibility.

  Elias walked to the bed and picked up a long object wrapped in black fabric that had been lying on it. He fingered the dark cloth. He placed it down, then poured himself a glass of water, picked up a book, and sat, waiting for Gerard.

  But he couldn’t focus on the words in front of him. An uneasiness gnawed at him. He sighed. That uneasiness had started during his and Gerard’s courtship period. And it had grown into their marriage.

  Elias had never had an issue lying before. Lies had always flown from his lips like rain falling from clouds. But at night, when he lay naked in Gerard’s bed, the two of them entangled together, he felt like he betrayed Gerard with every caress and brush of lips.

  It had been one thing to lie to people he didn’t give a shit about. But Gerard had gotten under his skin. And when everyone around him was so untrustworthy and unreliable, it had been easy to play them all for fools. But Gerard … well, Gerard was different.

  Elias sighed and looked out the window. Clouds drifted over the sandstone walls of the monastery.

  Problem was, with every day that passed, he grew closer to Gerard. And he found himself wanting to reveal more and more of himself. He wanted Gerard to know him. The real him. Not some illusion he’d spent years crafting.

  Of course, he’d already revealed so much of himself to Gerard. Much more than he had with anyone, except for a couple of lightning archmages. But those had not been close relationships.

  Elias no longer hid his intelligence from Gerard. He didn’t pretend to be a fool or like he didn’t know basic facts about history or war or politics. He didn’t go on and on about his appearance or frivolous topics at the expense of everything else.

  Elias stared down at the open book in his lap. He thumbed the pages.

  Part of Elias had expected Gerard to fail him. To let him down in some way. He kept waiting for Gerard to be just like Elias’s father in that regard. He wasn’t sure how he thought Gerard would let him down exactly. Maybe by disregarding Elias. Maybe by being dismissive or mean when Elias revealed something of himself.

  But Gerard hadn’t. Not once had he failed Elias.

  Not yet, at least.

  Elias swallowed. It was true they’d only been married for such a short period of time. Just a week. But still, he wanted to trust Gerard. He wanted to open up. He wanted to be closer to him in a way he’d not felt before.

  Still, a voice in his head knew how foolish he was being. He really hadn’t known Gerard that long. In fact, he’d known Gerard only a little longer than Colette had known Lord Wolf. And if Colette told Elias she just felt she could trust the young dragon lord, Elias would have harsh words for him. He’d also think her naive.

  So just because Elias felt like he could trust Gerard didn’t mean he could. He was just getting caught up in his feelings.

  And there was no point thinking like this! He wasn’t allowed to tell Gerard that he was an archmage. That would go against his vow!

  Yet Elias chewed on the inside of his cheek. The problem was, he knew how the scars impacted Gerard. It ate at Elias. He felt like a complete arsehole for not confessing that he’d been the one to cause them. It felt wrong, like a betrayal, to comfort Gerard about them whilst not telling him that Elias was the one who’d inflicted them.

  Still, there was no other way. He could not break his vow and betray Voltaria.

  But there was more he was keeping from Gerard. Things about his past. Of his childhood. He could share those …

  Yet the idea of sharing that scared him. He’d never talked about any of that with anyone. How did one even start?

  The door opened. Gerard’s face broke into a smile at the mere sight of Elias. “Good evening.”

  “Good evening.” The tension in Elias’s chest unwound. “I have a surprise for you.” He stood up and put down his book. He walked to the bed and picked up the wrapped object.

  “What is it?” Gerard asked as he closed the door and entered his room.

  “It’s a gift.” Elias held it out.

  “For me?” His brows raised.

  Elias walked towards him. “I know I normally just present you with my naked body and an invitation to do what you will with me when you get home. But I thought I’d mix it up a little.”

  Gerard stared at the long object. He reached, almost tentatively, and took it. He rubbed the black linen between his fingers.

  “Well? Aren’t you going to open it?”

  Gerard tugged at the fabric straps tied around the linen. He pulled the fabric away. “It’s a sword.” He gripped the ornate hilt and tilted it from side to side.

  “It is. It belonged to Prince Giles Rosewood of Botanial, a non-nature mage. One of the few known cases of a Rosewood without any magical ability. But despite that, he was well loved and led the Botanial armies into many battles. The sword was forged in dragonfire.”

  Elias had spent the last little while searching for a weapon that could be added to Gerard’s hoard. The search had been made more difficult, since he was on an island where peace was upheld above all else and Elias could not easily leave said island to search for weapons.

  If he could have told Gerard about his search, it would have made his task easier, since Gerard could fly around and take him places. But Elias wanted it to be a surprise. “I hope it’s special enough to be added to your hoard.”

  “Right.” Gerard cleared his throat. “My hoard.” He said the words slowly. He pressed his lips together into a flat line.

  Elias frowned. “Is it not suitable? Do the weapons have to have special qualities or⁠—”

  Gerard gave a brisk shake of his head. “That’s not it. It’s just …” He exhaled heavily. “I lied.”

  Every muscle in Elias’s body clenched.

  Because so far, he’d believed Gerard to be completely honest with him. And now it seemed he’d lied to Elias.

  Of course he did! What did you expect? Everyone lies. Everyone betrays. That’s what people do! Why would Gerard be different?

  But could he blame Gerard? After all, how many times had Elias lied to him?

  Still, he felt his heart sink in his chest all the way into his feet.

  “It’s silly.” Gerard let out a shaky laugh. “But …” Then he met Elias’s gaze. “I want to show you something.” He held out his hand. “Will you come with me?”

  After hesitating a second, Elias placed his hand in Gerard’s.

  Unfortunately, what Gerard wanted to show Elias required Elias to fly on Gerard’s back to a valley in Draconia. And it was not a quick flight.

  He held on tight, trying to calm himself and force himself to keep breathing so he wouldn’t pass out. He’d heard Onyx marvel at how wonderful it was to fly on a dragon’s back. Elias did not agree.

  Thankfully, the flight finally ended.

  “What is the place?” Elias glanced around at the sparse valley. They’d flown over lush green forests only moments before they’d landed. But this valley had barely any greenery at all. Actually, it was pretty barren. Just piles of boulders and rocks amongst the sand that ran along the otherwise empty valley.

  He followed behind Gerard, booted feet sinking and sliding in the soft sand.

  “This place is called the Valley of the Dead,” Gerard said. “We’re actually not that far from Voltaria.”

  “The name sounds familiar.” But although Elias racked his brain, he couldn’t quite place it. Had he read it somewhere?

  Gerard stopped walking and faced him. “Years ago, a battle was fought between Voltaria and Draconia in this valley. After the attack on Tarbas in Voltaria, which was sung about at our betrothal ball, groups of lightning sorcerers journeyed into Draconia with the plan to exact bloody revenge.”

  Elias nodded. Now he knew why the name of the valley was familiar. In Voltaria they called this valley the Octavias Valley, which was what its name had originally been in Draconia before the battle.

  “The whereabouts of a small cell of lightning sorcerers was pinpointed to here. So a battalion of dragons flew out to attack.”

  Gerard gazed up at the sky, as if imagining dragons in the air, ready to fight. “But they had greatly underestimated the number of sorcerers that were present. And when they flew in, the many, many lightning sorcerers attacked and killed them.”

  Elias tensed. Did Gerard know his secret? Did Gerard know that he was a powerful lightning sorcerer? Was this some strange way to reveal that he knew they’d fought each other on the battlefield? Like their forbearers had?

  He forced himself to remain still.

  “Except one of the dragons managed to survive,” Gerard said. “They escaped and reported back on what had occurred.”

  Gerard started walking again. “Anyway, soon after my first shift, I was getting used to my wings and flying regularly around Draconia. For some reason, I decided to fly over this valley. I landed and walked around. And then I found something interesting.”

  Elias followed Gerard, still no idea what the fuck was going on. But he no longer felt that Gerard was about to reveal that he did in fact know Elias’s secret. Still, Elias did not relax.

  Gerard walked towards a large pile of rocks and boulders. He sprang up onto one. He turned to Elias and reached a hand down towards him. Elias took it. For the next few minutes, they jumped, climbed, and scrambled over rocks. They squeezed and wove between them.

  “Where are we going?” Elias asked.

  “You’ll see,” Gerard said.

  Then, between two large boulders, lay a slender gap in the earth. Gerard pulled two torches from his pack that he carried. He lit them both and handed one to Elias. “It’s just in here.” He ducked into the tight entrance.

  “What is?”

  Gerard glanced back; the firelight from the torch danced on his face. “My hoard.”

  Chapter

  Forty-Three

  Elias’s chest squeezed. He is showing me his hoard.

  He didn’t know much about hoards, but he knew that generally their location was kept secret.

  The air cooled as they entered the earth. Orange light from the torches flickered on the dark stone. Then, all of a sudden, the cave opened up and out.

  Elias looked around, trying to comprehend what it was he was seeing. “What are …” He paused. “What am I looking at?”

  Light flickered on strange white rock sculptures of varying shapes and sizes placed around the cave. Elias walked towards several of them. Some stood sort of straight. Some arched. Some spiralled and twisted. He’d never seen anything like them.

  He leaned closer to one that was probably the length of his arm and just as wide. The white exterior looked rough and hard. It had a gentle curve to it. Knobs appeared along the length. The end appeared to have broken off.

  Elias leaned closer and peered inside. He held his torch so he could see the interior. It looked almost hollow. And like it was lined with something shiny and smooth.

  “You don’t know what they are?” Gerard chuckled. “Really?” He put the torch in a sconce on a wall.

  Elias shook his head. He saw several sconces along the walls. He placed his torch into one of them as well. The large cave had very little other obvious adaptations that Elias could see. Just these strange sculptures everywhere and sconces on the walls for torches.

  But what was Gerard hoarding? Elias had no idea.

  “Well, you probably should know what they are, since it was lightning sorcerers who created them,” Gerard said.

  “What? How?” He scanned the objects once again. But still he did not recognise them.

  “Apparently, this is what happens when lightning hits sand.” Gerard gestured to the figures. “The lightning causes the grains to fuse together and melts the core into glass. That’s what you see here.”

  Elias looked around with new eyes. “Huh.”

  “I found one that first time I visited. I showed it to an alchemist. He told me they are called fulgurites. Or fossilised lightning.” Gerard picked up the one Elias had been looking at. “They are quite rare. Apparently, they need the correct conditions to form. And they are fragile.”

  He held it out to Elias. He took it and touched the rough, sandy texture. He stuck his finger inside. He laughed to feel the hollow tube surrounded by smooth glass.

  “Incredible.” Elias carefully put it back on the rocky ground. “So you hoard this fossilised lightning?”

  Gerard nodded and sat on a boulder. He looked out over his hoard, eyes glinting. “The moment I found them, I was obsessed. They were so strange and at the same time so beautiful.”

  He smiled, and something in his expression made him look so much younger. For a second, Elias could see the teenage dragon who’d come across this valley and found these unusual objects years ago.