“Whenever I had a break from my training, I’d fly here and search for more. I’d walk up and down the valley, scouring the sand. It was not easy work.” Gerard hummed as he once again gazed at his hoard. “But every time I found one”—he smiled—“it was glorious.

  “I found this cave by chance one day. At the time, I’d been coming here for months and had never seen the entrance. It seemed the perfect place to hide my hoard. It felt destined for me.”

  Elias tilted his head. “But why did you tell me you hoarded weapons?”

  Gerard exhaled. His body sagged, and the joy disappeared from his face. Elias wished he could take the question back.

  “When I first came across the fulgurites, I had no idea what this place was. Only once I became obsessed did I find out the location name and its history. After that, I figured out what probably happened. During the battle, lightning sorcerers missed the dragons with their strikes and hit the sand instead, creating fossilised lightning. That’s why there are so many fulgurites in the Valley of Death.”

  He grimaced. “It did not seem appropriate for the dragon warrior prince to have a hoard that had been caused by a battle where so many dragons died. Especially since our countries were currently at war when I started hoarding fulgurites.”

  Elias nodded. “That makes sense.”

  “Only Senta knows what I hoard, and she has never been here,” Gerard said.

  Elias sat on the boulder beside Gerard. “Thank you for showing me this. It’s beautiful. Strange and beautiful.” He placed his hand on top of Gerard’s.

  Then Elias laughed. “But now I don’t know what to do with that sword.” He’d spent a lot of time finding it. And it had cost a small fortune too.

  “Sorry about that.”

  Elias squeezed his hand. “It’s fine.”

  He looked around at the otherworldly fossilised lightning. His stomach twisted. Gerard had shown him so much, had trusted him with so much.

  Elias wanted to do the same.

  Chapter

  Forty-Four

  Elias took a deep breath. “I’m not good at opening up to others. Or being honest. Or vulnerable.”

  Gerard turned towards him.

  But Elias kept staring ahead. It felt easier to speak when he wasn’t looking at Gerard. “My mother died when I was young. Twenty years ago. A tragic accident. She fell down some stairs. My father …”

  Elias exhaled. “My father grieved. He wept and bellowed. He tore at his hair and threw furniture. He was so consumed with the pain of losing his beloved wife.” His lips twitched. “For about a week.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Well, then he was betrothed to Empress Emmeline of Zephyrias. It seemed all his anguish and agony just, poof, disappeared overnight.” Elias flicked his fingers in the air. “It was a political marriage, of course. It was needed to combine our kingdoms so we could fight against Draconia.”

  Elias laughed. It echoed hollowly around the cave. “But he was besotted. Completely and absolutely enamoured. He never understood why I was not. He thought she could be a new mother to me. That I could simply replace the one I’d lost. Like he could so easily replace his wife who’d died.” He grimaced.

  Gerard turned his hand over, lacing their fingers together.

  “I did not want a new mother. And I grieved and cried for much longer than a week.” Elias shook his head. “But I did not reject my stepmother. Honestly, I would have welcomed someone who gave a kind word or comforting embrace, since my father hadn’t bothered to offer me either.

  “But she too didn’t offer me those.” Elias dropped his gaze to the dust and rocks on the cave floor. “I don’t know why she despised a nine-year-old boy. Perhaps because I reminded everyone so much of my mother. From the start, she always seemed jealous of her. Of how beautiful she was and how adored.”

  Elias didn’t speak for several moments. Speaking felt like he was pulling his skin back and revealing the flesh beneath. “As soon as my father and stepmother married, she turned my every weakness against me. If I cried, it was because I hated her. If I did not want to leave my room, it was because I could not stand my stepbrother. If I showed any signs of grief, it was because I did not want my father to be happy.”

  “What did your father say?”

  Elias shrugged. “He believed her. Every word. He would scold me for not accepting her and Matteo. He would lecture me for not showing my new mother and brother love and proper respect. He was disappointed in me. And all because I missed my dead mother.” His eyes stung.

  Gerard released his grip on Elias’s hand and wrapped his arm around Elias’s shoulder, pulling him tight against him.

  “And when I protested, when I tried to explain to my father, I’d get upset. My voice would rise. Tears would stream down my cheeks. I’d yell, trying to make him understand!” Elias wiped at his nose.

  “And my stepmother would just stand behind him. She’d touch my father’s arm. Her lip would tremble. She’d take my words and my tears and turn them into a weapon she’d stab me with.”

  Elias could still hear her voice. “‘See how he tantrums. It’s because he doesn’t want us here!’ ‘See how he yells! It’s because he hates me!’ ‘He cries because he doesn’t love me. All I want is to be a good mother to him.’”

  Elias swallowed. “And all the while, my father would just stand there, letting her weave those falsehoods, swallowing them down, and staring at me like I’d let him down.”

  Elias wiped angrily at his eyes. Empress Emmeline had caused Elias to cry more than enough tears for one lifetime. She did not deserve any more. He was stronger now. Tougher. He would not allow her to keep hurting him.

  “So I pulled back. I built walls,” Elias said. “I stopped showing any emotion or weakness that my stepmother could use as a weapon against me. I stopped believing and trusting that my father would ever be there for me. Or that he would protect me. I learnt to protect myself.

  “I started lying. I started keeping secrets and acted like nothing she or my father did mattered to me. I lied to protect myself. To keep my distance from them. I lied because then when I disappointed my father, I could tell myself it wasn’t me he was disappointed in, it was the lie that he found lacking.”

  His breathing came quicker. “I got very good at lying.” Then Elias had been told to hide his abilities, and that had just become part of all his lies.

  “Over time, lying became so easy.” His lips pulled into a mimic of a smile. “Now I feel like all I am is a lie. Everything everyone sees in me is all false.”

  Then, finally, Elias forced himself to meet Gerard’s gaze. “I’d planned to lie to you throughout our entire marriage. To keep myself apart from you. After all, I had no reason to trust you. But—” Elias took a deep breath. “But since I’ve met you, I’ve felt myself wanting to be honest. I’ve wanted you to see me. The real me. Not the illusion I’ve crafted.”

  He swallowed and dropped his gaze to Gerard’s lap. He gripped Gerard’s knee. “But it’s not easy. It feels like I am going against all my own instincts.”

  Still, he wanted Gerard to know him. So when Gerard cared for him, he cared for the real Elias, not some illusion.

  Gerard placed a finger under Elias’s chin. Elias lifted his gaze.

  “Thank you for sharing that with me,” Gerard said. “I hope you know you can trust me. I want you to trust me. I’d never do anything to hurt you. I hope I can keep showing that to you. And you can feel like you can keep opening up to me.”

  Elias took Gerard’s hands. He held them tight. “I’d expected a purely political marriage. No feelings or emotions. But I like you, Gerard. I’m shocked at how much I like you. And I’d like this marriage to be something more. Something … real. Something true.”

  Gerard lifted his hands and kissed Elias’s knuckles. “I want that too. Something true.”

  Elias exhaled. He leaned forward and rested his forehead against Gerard’s shoulder. After opening himself up, he felt wrung out and like he was about to fall apart. Thankfully, Gerard wrapped his arms around Elias, holding him together.

  And in that moment, Elias wished he could tell Gerard everything. When it was just the two of them, in Gerard’s cave surrounded by his hoard of fossilised lightning, Elias almost felt like he could spill all his sacred secrets.

  But he could not. They were Voltaria’s secrets, and they were not his to share.

  However, the war was over now. He was practically retired from being an archmage. So maybe it did not matter if he kept that one secret. He’d just be honest about everything else.

  Elias hoped that would be enough.

  Chapter

  Forty-Five

  Blinking his eyes open, Gerard stared up at the dark canopy above his bed. A soft breeze rustled the curtains. But otherwise, he could hear no sound.

  So what woke me? There was … something … wasn’t there?

  He glanced around the room. Nothing seemed out of place. But it was hard to detect anything in such darkness. Elias lay tucked beside him, body close. One of his hands lay splayed on Gerard’s chest. Elias seemed to be asleep.

  So it doesn’t seem like he woke me.

  Gerard’s own hand rested on the upper curve of Elias’s pert arse. But Gerard’s attention remained on the room and its shadows.

  Something woke me.

  He took a breath, preparing to leave the warm embrace of Elias’s body to search for what that something was. He’d check with the guards on duty outside the room.

  Then Elias shifted. His hips pressed forward. He groaned, and a very hard cock rubbed against Gerard’s bare thigh. Gerard stilled.

  Oh. So was it Elias who woke me?

  He looked down into Elias’s face. But he could only make out a vague outline in the darkness.

  Is he asleep?

  Elias’s breath came fast, brushing against Gerard’s nipple, which tightened into a peak. Elias squirmed as his hard cock ground against Gerard. He whimpered.

  Gerard’s own cock began to fill. He squeezed Elias’s arse with his hand. The man groaned and began to rock faster against Gerard, prick rubbing insistently. His fingers on Gerard’s chest stretched wide and then gripped.

  Elias whimpered. Damp pre-cum spilled onto Gerard’s thigh. His nails dug into the skin and muscle of Gerard’s chest. Gerard’s cock reached full hardness.

  He must be asleep.

  He could not imagine Elias behaving quite like this if he were awake. He was all need and want right now.

  And he must be having an amazing dream.

  Gerard was not quite certain what to do. He’d never woken with a man frotting against his thigh. Based on his own cock’s reaction, he definitely liked it. Should he wake Elias?

  But then this might end. And he didn’t want this to end.

  He reached down to his own cock and began to stroke the thick length. His other hand smoothed over Elias’s plump arse cheek.

  Elias’s warm breath came in gasps, mixing with soft broken sounds of pleasure. Elias’s hips thrust faster now as he rubbed insistently against Gerard’s thigh. More pre-cum dampened Gerard’s skin.

  Gerard squeezed his own cock, stroking in time with Elias thrusting against him. His own breath came heavy.

  “Gerard!” Elias moaned.

  Gerard stilled.

  It had not crossed his mind to wonder who Elias might have been dreaming of. Because despite how close they’d gotten and all they’d done, he still could not believe that Elias would desire him above others. Not enough to dream of him.

  But now here Elias was, moaning Gerard’s name in his sleep.

  “Gerard!” Elias cried out again.

  Gerard closed his eyes, drawing deep breaths into his lung. He swallowed. “Elias,” he whispered.

  This time, Elias was the one stilled. Gerard turned his head to look at him, but it was still too dark to make out his features.

  “Gerard?” Elias’s voice sounded different now. Breathy, but definitely awake.

  “Yes?”

  “Was I … was I rubbing my cock against you in my sleep?”

  “Yes.”

  “Oh.” Elias paused. “Sorry.”

  “You don’t need to be sorry.” Gerard cleared his throat. “I was rather enjoying it.”

  “Were you?” He could hear the smile in Elias’s tone. His hand on Gerard’s chest slid down and over his abdomen. He touched Gerard’s erect cock, which Gerard still held in his hand.

  “I see. You really were enjoying it.” Now he could hear the laughter in Elias’s voice. “Well, we should probably continue, then.”

  Gerard smiled. “If you don’t mind.”

  Elias rolled on top of him. He knocked Gerard’s hand out of the way and took Gerard’s prick in his tight grip. Gerard reached for Elias’s dick and squeezed.

  “Yes!” Elias rocked on Gerard’s thighs, thrusting into Gerard’s fist.

  Gerard’s hand moved on Elias’s slender, long cock. It throbbed in his hand. Elias jerked Gerard’s dick in a smooth, sure rhythm. Gerard grunted.

  With his free hand, Gerard reached behind Elias and squeezed his arse cheek. Then he reached for the crease. Elias’s hand on Gerard’s cock quickened.

  Gerard slid his fingers between the firm mounds and found the tight ring of muscle. He toyed with Elias’s rim, feeling it clench against him.

  Elias’s thighs squeezed tight around him.

  “I’m close,” Elias said.

  “Me too.” Gerard quickened his strokes as he continued to run his finger round and round Elias’s entrance.

  More and more pre-cum spilled from the tip of his dick, covering Elias’s hand. Gerard’s balls tingled. He squeezed his eyes shut as his gut tightened and the pleasure built bit by bit inside him.

  He pressed his fingertip into Elias’s hole, wiggling it in, feeling the tight muscles gripping it.

  Elias cried out, body going rigid. His inner muscles squeezed Gerard’s fingertip. His cock jerked in Gerard’s hand. Cum splattered over Gerard’s fist and on his cock and torso too.

  Elias tightened his grip and stroked Gerard faster.

  Gerard shouted, throwing his head back. He spilled, shooting pulse after pulse of thick cum as his orgasm burned through his veins.

  Both of them sated, Elias lay on top of him.

  “Well, that was a nice way to wake up,” Elias said eventually.

  “It was.” Gerard pressed a kiss to Elias’s forehead.

  Elias sighed. “Is it time to rise?”

  “Not yet. Rest a little more.”

  Almost immediately, Elias dropped off into sleep, despite the sticky mess between them. His body slackened, and his breathing deepened.

  But Gerard didn’t sleep. He stared at the canopy above. He wrapped his arms around Elias.

  Elias had dreamed of him.

  He squeezed Elias tight. Elias murmured something unintelligible. Gerard smiled. He’d not thought the two of them would ever have something like this. He’d never thought there would be desire or feelings or easy comfort.

  Gerard exhaled. It all felt too good to be true. He hoped it wasn’t.

  Chapter

  Forty-Six

  “We appreciate the increased protection that you are offering our people, Grand Shield,” Gerard said. “But that does not change the fact that we still wish to have our own guards for protection.”

  Grand Shield Dahlia smiled, thin and tight. “And whilst that is understandable, the number of guards you are requesting is just not feasible.” She rested her tightly clasped hands on the desk. “Especially since we have already allowed so many of your guards within the White Monastery.”

  Her voice was calm, but lurking beneath, Gerard could hear the desire to snap at him as if he were one of her warrior doves.

  The grand shield sat opposite him and Senta in a small meeting room. She dressed as usual in her armour with a beige surcoat hanging over it. On the surcoat, a white dove had been sewn.

  Gerard completely understood the grand shield’s position. And if he trusted the ability of the warrior doves to protect and defend the Draconians, he might acquiesce.

  But warrior doves were part of a monastic order committed to peace. They were used for escorting monks out in the world and stopping common bandits. They were not prepared for serious threats. Gerard would not put his people’s safety in their hands.

  Nothing had preceded Senta and Gerard’s decision to increase security. But since the identity of the co-conspirator still had not been discovered and there appeared to be no solid leads, the two had grown steadily uneasier. And in Gerard’s experience, having your own people with swords tended to make that unease decrease.

  Unsurprisingly, the grand shield took issue with them wanting more Draconian guards in the monastery.

  She’d been displeased with the number he’d brought in immediately after the attack on Onyx and Luther. But she’d not protested then. After all, their brother had almost been killed. Now it seemed she’d reached the limit of her tolerance.

  Gerard would no doubt do the same in her position. He’d not want someone else’s guards wandering the Castle of the Dragons. He’d definitely put up a fight over such a suggestion.

  But Gerard needed to protect his family and all Draconians. And also Elias. And if that meant pissing off the grand shield and insulting her monks with swords, so be it.

  At present, he felt his father was well protected. That was the most important thing. The rooms provided for the royal family, nobles, dignitaries, and ambassadors were also adequately protected. But now he and Senta wanted guards protecting specific individuals, such as himself and his siblings.

  “I understand that we are putting you in a difficult position, Grand Shield. But this is something that is very important to us. And whilst I know you are doing everything to determine who is working against the peace treaty, the reality is that you have failed to uncover them.”

  Her face did not change, but she drew herself up.