Wes
God, I forgot how much I hated the Order of St George and all this mess!
Garret was somewhat subdued and there was no one to put the other Commander in his place.
Then Mist and Nettle decided to disappear with his daughter and for agonizing ten minutes or so, I seriously regretted being there. Commander Knight threatened me, Garret and Kain with 'serious consequences' while his eyes spoke about murder. I was so relieved when the girls came back.
Garret received reports from Lieutenant Ward and ordered the exhausted soldiers to get down.
Food helped, soldiers sat and lay down around the blanket and relaxed slightly.
Kain stayed shifted shielding the entire group from sight. Mist and Nettle got the girl, Madison to sit down on the blanket and eat. Nettle was naturally caring, but the basilisk was either a good learner or wanted something, the way she gently rubbed girl's arm and talked to her.
But where in bloody hell was Riley?! Dragonels were in their new safe house only with Molly, who was a smart girl but only fifteen. Besides I itched to get away from the soldiers of St George. I've never really warmed up to the Order, Garret was the only soldier I truly trusted not to start shooting us. Which, considering his earlier change of sides and Ember's recent betrayal, might not have been a trust very well invested.
I strolled over to Kain. He was a sweet kid, kind to my sister and all, but if there was something that triggered the worst in him, it was the Order of St George and if I were to be completely honest, I couldn't blame him.
Kain stood with his wings spread, maintaining an aura around our group. He watched the soldiers with slightly narrowed bottomless black eyes and didn't react when I approached him.
"Easy or you blow fire next time you sneeze." I teased him.
"Dragons don't sneeze." He answered stiffly, gone was the charming youth, replaced by a tense tinderbox ready to explode at a slightest provocation.
Swish!
Before I managed to answer, Riley landed on the grass beside the group of soldiers. Garret immediately stood up and waited for Riley to speak. Riley shifted and stretched before he spoke clearly annoyed.
"Your friend has lost his mind; you might just as well consider him lost. First, I couldn't find him. Then he crawled out from under Stealth's belly and up onto her back. They fled, I followed but so did vessels, so I decided to head back for a while. Have you left any food for me?" He said sending a longing look over Garret's shoulder at the pile of paper bags on the blanket, that Molly brought here for dragonels.
Something twisted in my gut at that familiar look and characteristic attention shift. The longing hit me straight in the gut. I missed Riley terribly, when I thought I would never see him again, but this was somehow time worse. My cover was compromised with Molly, Kain, Mist and Nettle knowing about my feelings for Riley. But I knew Riley, if he could avoid acknowledging feelings, he would do this until one of us died, probably me. And what was that I wanted with him anyway? I was quite content during our thirteen years together, at least until he has met Ember... But we were never going back to this life. And I was glad. I had a family now, parents, a sister whom I loved. I was in many ways happier than ever before and wise enough to know that I was happy.
I froze when Riley came over holding a sandwich and squeezed my shoulder with his free hand.
"Good to see you Wes." He said between bites. "Where are the others?"
"Dragonels went home with..."
"Shush your mouth." Kain interrupted me. "The Order of St George has no interest in knowing that." He said eying Garret who followed Riley over.
Riley's eyes narrowed.
"Shut up Kain." Riley dismissed him.
"No, you shut up. At least about dragonels whereabouts for now." Kain retorted and I saw dangerous gleam in Riley's eye.
"Oh, so you rather have an enemy in the Order too?" he asked hotly.
"No! Riley for fuck's sake. I just want girls safe. Let's call it even and each go our own way and get our bearings before we mix our affairs even more together!" Kain pleaded.
"As far as I remember we went into fire to get those girls to safety. Twice." Garret said slowly.
"And we are grateful." Kain spat making it clear how little gratitude he himself felt and continued talking to Garret but looking at Riley.
"But we also know that you might have acted outside of your jurisdiction on that and that you are about to join the remaining core of the Order here in London. Should you get dethroned, and the next order was to kill us all, I'd rather they don't know where we are and who we hang out with." Kain said the last words looking at me with emphasis and I understood. I didn't want Molly implicated with the Order either...
"You don't decide Kain." Riley answered with his no-nonsense end-of-discussion tone.
"Oh, then who does? You? You have no idea where they are, maybe it should stay that way, if feelings of your soldier friend are more important to you than their safety!" Kain sent Garret a nasty look when he said "friend" and now stared Riley down, and I could see that Riley was about to shift and put him in his place, which would be a disaster. Mist and Nettle noticed what was going on and rose to join us looking from Kain to Riley and back, clearly worried.
"And how are you going to house them and feed them without me? Huh Kain? Have you been having so much fun here on my expense, that you have forgotten about, who is paying for all this?!" Riley said instead.
"Oh, so now you'll blackmail me. I either stand down or you cut me off?" Kain hissed.
"I know where they are Riley, you don't have to talk to him. But I agree that there's no need to exchange addresses just yet. Can we go home mate?" I interrupted tired of their bullshit.
"No, I'll just cut you off, no blackmail. I don't need your attitude right now and you clearly don't need me anymore." Riley said calmly to Kain ignoring me altogether.
"Riley stop." Mist said and he cut her off with a gesture.
"If you're with Kain, you can go on and support him with your own means. I'm closing his credit card."
"Then close mine too. I didn't know we were your property for you to decide everything for us, just like when we were on the run from Talon and the Order. Times have changed. Or maybe it was never the right thing to do. We need to find ourselves and build our lives, or else we could just as well let Talon kill us now." Nettle said placing her slim hand protectively on Kain's scaly shoulder.
"We are still on the run from Talon miss woke. And you still need my protection." Riley said somewhat milder, he's always had a weakness for the black hatchling.
"Then protect us." Kain spat. "Not your little pet soldier's feelings."
"Mate, everyone is tired, and this discussion is pointless." I cut in before Riley said something he would regret. "Let's get out of sight, maybe rest a bit before we start another war."
"I agree." Kain said and stretched his neck looking to where the Order's nurse pulled a shirt over the wounded soldier's bandaged shoulder.
"All presentable?" He asked and shifted not waiting for a reply.
Then he hooked his arm around Nettle's neck and Mist's shoulder and led the girls away.
Mist looked back at Riley, but seeing him fuming, she remained silent as she let Kain lead her towards nearest underground station.
"Little shit has grown insufferable." Riley said and something in me stirred at that.
"Oh, is it him? Heis traumatized and you require of him to instantly love the very enemy, that has traumatized him." I said, feeling sudden need to defend my sister's... dragon.
"That's okay, no offence taken." Garret said, seeming tired and eager to change the topic.
"We will be on our way."
"What about Tristan?" Riley asked.
"If what you've said is true, we won't risk anything to retrieve him before he contacts us. He has my number. If we haven't heard from him tomorrow, I might ask you to look for him again.
"Where will you go?" Riley asked.
"Headquarters of the Order of St George."
"You've got it from here?" Riley asked.
"Yes, no. You cannot come with me Riley. I need to establish myself as the leader of the Order of St George and I must do this without a dragon backing me."
"This wasn't a problem, when it was Ember." Riley said.
"You cannot go Riley." I cut in. "There's a magical object in there, that repels dragon magic. You'll shift into your true form and probably get nerfed too if you get too close. Come with us. Hatchlings need you more." I pleaded feeling a bit of Kain must have felt. Riley got new friends and suddenly Garret and Ember were more important than all of us, who have followed him through thick and thin in over a decade.
In the end soldiers stood up formed a perfectly casual bunch and followed Garret, while I was left behind with annoyed and tired Riley.
He watched them go for so long, that I felt like slapping him.
"They're gone mate, I can step away for a sec if you need to shed a tear or two." I said instead.
"Fuck you Wes!" Riley said and a shadow of his usual crooked smile passed his handsome face.
"So where did you put them?" He asked finally.
Being alone with Riley used to be the most natural thing in the world once. Now it felt awkward, Riley was in a strange mood and didn't say much. And I fought an urge to stare at him. He was so stunning, this easy rugged beauty that he wore with complete irreverence and used skilfully anytime he wanted to sway some human to do something for him.
"So, what have my hatchlings been up to? And how come, that you're back together after you wanted nothing to do with dragons ever again?" Riley asked after we've walked for a short while.
"Starting from the end, they've bumped into me one fine day and bloody Kain have been grafting with my sister ever since." I said.
"Kain have been what? Wait! You have a sister?"
"Yes, I have a little sister Molly, sweet girl only fifteen and your blighter has been messing with her head and she probably has a huge crush on him."
"Apart from that I'm not privy to all they've been up to, I know most of it from Molly. They've been talking to some adult dragon, who apparently is older than Elder Wyrm and knows plenty about dragon magic. There's a lot to unwrap there mate. Anyways the bottom line is, we've been inseparable. Yay, I'm up to my elbows in dragons again, must be a Tuesday."
I wasn't angry at Kain anymore. He really cared about Molly, he helped in all her projects no matter how whacky, he volunteered to help in all her dance school shows, he walked her to and from her activities. Mom and dad trusted him so much, considering their history with having their child abducted. Last couple of months we've all been so happy. And now with not only Riley and the breeders, but also bloody Order of St George being here... Well happiness would soon end replaced by a series of unfortunate, stressful and probably tragic events, if the past was anything to judge from.
Suddenly Molly was in danger, Kain and Nettle and even this stuck up bitch Mist. And me and Riley. Nothing new. So why was I so unhappy about it. I guess somewhere between homemade meals, more or less random romps, attending dance shows and taking pictures of Molly dressed as fae princess straddling Kain's quicksilver back... I started believing in this life. I let my guard down and started to enjoy things, caring about people, planning a future...
Riley... would Riley understand any of this?
Being basilisk first and then a hunted leader of rogues, he'd never experienced peace. This probably felt like coming home to him. Hiding, dodging Talon, fucking around with the Order. It was all he'd known.
Riley said nothing for a long time. We walked in silence to the underground and then from Shepherd's Bush Station to the small ugly house I've rented for the dragonels.