Page 26 of Realm of Flames (Reborn 3)
Maya
“You thinkyou’ve been here before?” Marco clarified, his brow dipping as I tried to figure out a better way to express the weird surge of faint familiarness I felt for this place. It wasn’t memories, specifically. It wasn’t even that I recognized anything. It was an internal, almost instinctual gut feeling that told me this place was familiar. It had been the same way when I first met my mates. Despite not recognizing them—as in I’d never met them before—they felt like home.
This place didn’t feel like home, not exactly… but it felt familiar.
Trying to explain something like that to Marco was difficult, though, because I barely understood it myself. As the carriages began moving, I nibbled my lip and tried to figure out the best way to express myself to him.
“Maybe,” I hedged. “Or maybe it’s not that I’ve been here before, but it feels familiar. Maybe I have been somewhere similar? I don’t know how else to describe it.”
The feeling was only solidified as we began traveling down the main street, shifters stopping to watch us, the majority of men dressed similar to my mates. I saw their eyes widen at seeing me, which made me feel a bit awkward, so I turned my attention to the large sandstone and marble buildings that we passed, gold gilded decor and large open windows and doors only adding to the opulence.
It wasn’t that I even liked this place. There wasn’t a sense of comfort associated with the familiarity. Maybe a bit of wonder… but mainly just that I recognized it. Although the hard-set expressions of everyone we passed and the formal air to the space was dominant enough that I found myself straightening in my seat, wondering how such a contradictory place existed. It looked like somewhere that should have been filled with softness and beauty, but there was an underlying current that felt very sharp and formal. My head spun as I tried to sort through the emotions this place was causing.
The few women that we did pass weren’t dragons fully, their scents and energy radiating a different type of magic. They were beautiful though. Tall and lean with hair that seemed to fall to their waists, almost all of them wearing similar dresses to myself, despite carrying swords at their waists or arrows on their back. How did they fight in such heavy dresses? I didn’t fight, so maybe it was possible, but somehow I felt like it would get in the way, right?
“We need to understand what is going on better before we arrive at the castle,” Henry insisted, his eyes flashing with legitimate concern.
“Maybe I saw a picture of the realm when Croy was going over everything? Or he described it to some extent? Or I heard one of you talking about it?” I offered several options but then shook my head. “It just feels extremely familiar.”
“It could be connected to her phoenix somehow,” Marco pointed out as Henry’s hand intertwined with mine, his lips brushing over the top of it.
“We will figure it out,” Henry confirmed, and I had absolutely no doubt he meant that. When my mates wanted something accomplished, they almost always were successful. They were just amazing like that.
As we began traveling throughout the city, I found myself more curious about the realm. Not only that it was a legitimate grouping of regions that floated but how large it was, something you couldn’t tell because of the cloud cover.
“The main island,” Henry explained, “is the Fire Lands. Once you leave the military academies, you come back here, normally.”
“Where are the academies?” I arched a brow, wondering if I could see them. I wanted to know where my mates had spent so long.
“Water Lands, a bit of a distance from here,” Marco explained. “There are several, and each serve a different ‘class’ within Dreki society.”
“Class?”
“Certain families,” Henry scowled, “are considered more ‘well bred’ than others. All of our families come from a direct dragon line and contain a phoenix in our genetic pool, from at least within three generations. So we are considered more powerful and dominant than someone who has ‘mixed’ heritage. It’s absolute bullshit, but it’s why we have so much influence in Dreki and why we serve the royal family.”
“So what if you aren’t from a family line like yours?” I asked softly, already finding myself frustrated with this concept.
“Just depends on how much magic you possess and what type of dragon you are,” Marco admitted. “The lowest class is considered half-breeds, which are a direct mix of a dragon or half-breed dragon with a completely different species.”
“Specifically women that are in that position.” Henry shook his head. It was very obvious that my mates found this system as upsetting as myself, and I found my chest fluttering at the idea of making anyone feel bad about their heritage, let alone something as beautiful as bringing together different types of supernatural species. There were so many unique people out there, why would that ever be considered a bad thing?
“That’s bullshit.” I frowned, really hating it the longer I thought about it.
Henry barked out a laugh at my words. Marco nodded his head and ran a hand over his face. “This entire realm is archaic. Ridiculous. And it doesn’t help that the crown has been around for a few hundred years. I know they attempt to keep with the times, but the political power and ties of society are embedded deep, so even the strides they have made haven’t changed much.”
“Like what?”
“The queen, around ten years ago, allowed female half-breeds, the group we were referring to before,” Henry began, squeezing my hand as a frustrated sound came from my throat, “to join whichever academy they felt fit them best and that they could pass the test to get into. Obviously, most of them ended up going with the one that contained other half-breed males because community is a larger influence than attempted social gain… but there have been a few that have gotten into the larger academies.”
“I actually heard that there has been a larger amount the past few years than normal,” Marco admitted. “Specifically to the Eldur Academy.”
“Really?” Henry mused. “That must piss off the headmaster.”
“Is he a jerk?”
“Bastard. Complete sexist piece of shit.” Marco shook his head.
Inhaling, I shook my head, the energy of this place making a bit more sense. The rigid rules and harsh formal attitudes.
