Page 69 of Consort of the Dragon King

Her grin was lethal. “I will do anything to make sure Nasume gets the hell he deserves. Maseo will have more than earned the right to do the Living Realm the ultimate favor.”

Why did the implications scare Kitsuki so much?

Chapter 31

Auslin

Two days away from Kitsuki had been torture. Their time apart served as further evidence they were supposed to be together. Even if Kitsuki was a different person than the Kitaro he had known in the past, it didn’t matter to Auslin. He didn’t want to spend one more day without Kitsuki in his life. He longed to return to his side as his mate.

It was by chance Auslin came across Bancho in the stone garden. The older mage seemed to be lost in meditative thought, so Auslin hesitated to interrupt him.

However, Bancho greeted him first, patting the bench beside him. “Welcome, young Auslin. At last, we can finally talk.”

“I have a lot of questions,” Auslin admitted as he sat next to the man who had raised him. “Why did you never tell me Imeyu was my father?”

Unlike Kizoshi, Bancho gave Auslin direct answers. “I respected Imeyu’s wishes to keep you protected here under my watch. It was not yet time for you to know who your father was.”

“But why tell Kitsuki and not me?” It had bothered Auslin since it happened.

Bancho tilted his head in silent apology. “Forgive me for doing as I was once instructed so very long ago. I never wished to deceive you.”

“I’m not upset,” Auslin reassured him. “I was more confused than anything else.”

“Is it truly confusing when you consider your immense powers?” Bancho asked.

“It’s not exactly the logical conclusion,” Auslin dryly replied. “Are you really the same Roltan I knew in the past?”

Bancho chuckled. “Little did I know then that you would come under my care so far into the future.”

“But I’ve never felt any shifter energy from you at all.” Even knowing, Auslin still couldn’t feel any.

“I am so low-level, only the extended lifespan has been of any benefit to me.”

Auslin sighed. “I would give anything to extend Sephen’s life.” The thought of his brother dying made it hard for him to breathe.

The elder mage leaned forward on his cane. “Age is nothing more than time’s wounds. Defeating it is nothing for a Divine healer of your abilities.”

“Really?” Auslin made an impressed noise. “I guess I never considered it before.”

“There is an easier way, but it is something Sephen will have to find for himself.”

Auslin couldn’t figure out what the older mage meant. “I don’t understand.”

“The things which give your brother so much meaning in his life will eventually give him life itself,” Bancho said.

It was the kind of thing Kizoshi would normally say to baffle him. “Are you talking about Reskin?”

“I am indeed,” Bancho confirmed with humor coloring his tone. “It is not a coincidence your brother lives for Reskin’s words.”

“What makes you say that?”

“Have you met anyone who makes Sephen’s heart sing as much as Reskin?” Bancho asked.

The answer had grown more complicated now that Kisano was in the picture. “Besides Liros, there is one other person I can think of who excites Sephen the same way.”

“And there’s your answer.” Bancho nodded sagely, as if his response somehow explained everything.

“It’s an answer I don’t understand,” Auslin confessed with a sheepish laugh.

---