Page 7 of The Silent Mountain
“I lost my mate,” Ludwig tells me. “And Barbara hasn’t found hers yet.”
“Oh.” I am instantly hit with the reality of the dragon shifters once again. “I am so sorry this happened to you, Ludwig.”
“A lot of us lost our families and mates,” Ludwig says. “And we almost lost our lives too. But King Favian and Prince Elio never stopped fighting for us, so we will keep fighting too. For him and for our kingdom.”
“You are so brave,” I say. “All dragon shifters are. To imagine how much you lost and how hard you are working now. I’m so honored to be allowed here in your kingdom.”
For a few minutes, we keep up the polite talk until I have had enough. “Okay, that’s it,” I chuckle. “Now that we have praised each other, maybe we can relax a bit.”
Barbara seems to be on board. “What do you plan on doing tomorrow, Pri… Alana?”
“I would like to attend to the horses,” I say.
“I can help,” Ludwig offers.
“It seems Elio wants to help too, so I would like to make sure his schedule allows it,” I say. “Then I would like to take a trip down to the beach, and I want to get some training done.”
“If the king allows it, you can train with one of us,” Barbara offers.
That would actually be my favorite solution. Barbara was the one who kept the warriors underground and kept fighting. She must be pretty good. And Ludwig was responsible for helping as many of their fellow dragon shifters flee and hide.
We discuss my schedule for another half an hour and decide on Ludwig joining me for horse training, and Barbara for my actual training, with Ludwig taking over to give me some variety in learning how the dragon shifters fight. Both of them will accompany me to the seashore and show me a few safe paths leading down there. Favian is right. It’s definitely coming in handy to have someone show me around who knows the lands.
Once we are done, they bid their goodbyes, and it doesn’t take long for Favian to reappear. He offers me his arm to lead me to dinner.
“You didn’t need to leave us,” I tell him. “I don’t mind, in case you think I would.”
Favian tilts his head. “I thought they would be more relaxed and open without me there,” he admits. “It’s still a very new concept to them that I invited commoners to join the royal guards. For centuries, dragon shifters were very keen on keeping the hierarchy in their clans.”
“You are saying clans,” I say. “Were there more than one?”
“Well, there was the royal clan and then several smaller ones, very much like in the werewolf kingdom. Our clans separated into the elements of the dragon shifters. We had a fire clan, a water clan, etcetera. But after so many died, I decided to unite them all in the royal clan. It’s a challenge, because we have all kinds of dragon shifters living together now.”
“Elio’s element is water, right?”
“Yes.”
“And yours?” I ask.
“I am not bound by one element,” he tells me.
I tilt my head, eyeing his profile. Once again, I can’t help but notice how handsome he is. Both he and Favia are incredibly beautiful. “They look up to you,” I say.
“Hm?”
“Barbara and Ludwig, but also the others. They look up to you because you never stopped fighting for them. They admire you. I think they will go along with all the changes you have planned because it’syouwho is doing them.”
He doesn’t say anything but reaches out his hand, squeezing my arm. I can feel tingles where he touched me, and my wolf, Ros, stirs in my mind. Ever since we almost fell in battle, she has been quieter and more distant. I feel my heart skip a beat in joy when I notice that she is slowly showing interest in her surroundings again.
three
Distrust
*FAVIAN*
Myadvisor,Stefan,hasspread a few maps over the huge table in my office, covering it completely. For the last couple of months, he has been working on plans on how to rehabilitate the kingdom and how to rebuild the homes.
“Medical aid?” I ask.
