Kastali Dun

Claire settled deeper against the warmth at her back. Her limbs felt heavy, muscles tight. She was thoroughly sated, well used, satisfied beyond her wildest imaginings, in a way she'd never felt before. A low, drowsy grumble vibrated against her ribcage making her blink. Her gaze blurred then came into focus while events of last night came rushing back, accompanied by a deep sense of satisfaction that...wasn't hers? Well, yes, she was satisfied. But this? This was pure male satisfaction—male pride. It was entirely Talon's.

A small grin spread across her lips. She could tell exactly how he felt. Nothing made her more smug.

"You're smirking," the male in question rasped against her ear, nuzzling the sensitive flesh behind her lobe.

"So what if I am?" she managed, a breathless whisper.

Talon's arm tightened around her waist, his mind flooding hers with intention. All sorts of lurid thoughts of what he wanted to do to her, exactly how he wanted to do it, left her speechless. Her belly heated, liquifying into molten lava. Talon wasn't merely a skilled lover, he was an exceptional one. She once worried that his experience with women, though long ago, would bother her. She hadn't exactly come to him a virgin, either. But instead, she realized that it was all to her benefit. And gods, despite being selfish, knowing that he was capable of pleasing her beyond her wildest dreams was utterly reassuring.

He'd proven it, over and over the night before.

"And I'll be happy to prove it again," he growled low, placing openmouthed kisses along her shoulder, up the back of her spine. Goosebumps spread across her skin. An ache formed between her legs.

He knew exactly what she was thinking, and vice versa; their minds were melded. It had happened the moment their bond had sealed. Her entire body had shattered apart in a single breath, and when she'd pieced herself back together, it was to find his presence there. She'd been glowing, her Spriten markings casting a brilliant light around them—a physical response to what she'd felt reacting with her Spriten blood.

Talon had like that very much. He had made a game of it the rest of the night, getting her markings to flare every time he made love to her. Smugly satisfied when they did. Hence, his male pride.

"I'll show you male pride," he rasped, pressing himself against her backside, letting her know exactly how ready he was.

His hand splayed over her bare stomach before caressing her naked skin, sinking lower, going in the direction she wanted him. A shiver raced over her in anticipation. Yes—she wanted him again, so badly she ached. His breath was hot against her ear as he said, "Waking up next to you is my new favorite thing—"

"Forgive me, Your Grace."

She yelped. Talon cursed. For a moment, she just blinked with surprise, then realization dawned.

She had intentionally kept her mind closed, but here, with Talon's mind linked to hers, there was no avoiding when someone chose to speak with him. This time, that someone was Reyr. And right now, she was all but ready to skewer him for the interruption.

"I really didn't want to interrupt your morning—pleasant as I am sure it must be." There was a sense of smugness to Reyr's words that made her roll her eyes.

"I am enjoying my mate, Reyr, as you very well know. Whatever it is can wait."

"Actually, Your Grace, it cannot—"

A barrage of images and emotions flooded Talon's mind. She gasped, as if caught in a whirlpool, spinning and spinning, with nothing to grasp on to. Her heart began to race. Only seconds passed, but in those seconds, she and Talon fully understood why Reyr had interrupted them.

A sense of dread settled into the pit of her stomach, destroying any arousal she had felt. With that dread, came all the other things she hated. Fear, worry, and the sense that what was happening was more than she could handle. More than she was ready to handle.

"We refused to disturb you last night," Reyr said, unaware of the growing turmoil within her mind, even if Talon wasn't. "But, this cannot wait any longer."

"No, it cannot," Talon said, finding and holding her gaze, an apology written deep in his eyes. Last night had been perfect, and she'd never wanted it to end, but end it must. Sooner than she would have liked. Duty was duty, and she had better get used to it. That didn't mean she had to like it.

"Godsdamn it," she hissed, staring at Talon for a single long moment that stretched on and on. Then, they simultaneously scrambled into action, emerging from their bed. Later, she'd register the state of it, ripped sheets, pillows flung all over the floor, the comforter hanging off the foot. For now, she raced into Talon's bathing chamber, hot on his heels, and submerged herself in his bath—they both needed it after last night.

They efficiently set about their morning ablutions. Talon's mind was chaotic, frenzied even, as Reyr continued to batter him with details. She followed along, but stayed quiet, absorbing everything until her stomach ached with anxiety. When she emerged from the bathing chamber, she found a discarded sheet, still whole enough to cover herself, took in the mess, kissed Talon on the cheek, then padded from their bed chamber to her queen's quarters.

Like soldiers at the ready, her handmaidens were waiting for her.

In the back of her mind, she was aware of Talon as he doled out telepathic orders. He wanted everyone to meet in his war room as soon as possible. It was strange, so very strange, to be in his head, listening to him give commands. She hardly spared a shred of awareness for Selphie and Meira as they dressed her. Desaree had spent the night with Verath and would be along shortly.

They each felt the impending danger and remained quiet. She was too worried to be angry, even knowing it wasn't supposed to be this way. She should have been still wrapped up in Talon's sheets, or getting peppered with with questions from Selphie and Miera about last night. Gossiping. Blushing. Whispering. Instead, they were stuck in their own heads, going through the motions.

Completely numb with shock.

It was a testament to their years and years of experience, that her Spriten handmaidens knew exactly what to dress her in. This gown was a deep midnight blue and free of adornments. An impending battle created an atmosphere of seriousness and they'd dressed her to look serious.

"Come, we must gather in the war room," she said when they'd finished. Her voice was low, as if speaking too loud would hasten the army sooner to their doorstep. They looked surprised, but didn't question her.

When they climbed the stairs and crossed the main tower room, there was already a bustle of activity. Everyone had been permitted to reenter the tower after having been kept away. She caught a glimpse through the doors to their bed chamber. Her cheeks flushed. Servants scurried around within, tidying the space, stripping the mattress, placing fresh linens. No doubt there would be plenty of gossip, despite the circumstances, about what had transpired on their bonding ceremony night. But certainly no questions about consummation.

The war room was already crowded with everyone she cared about. They greeted her with subdued smiles that made her feel cheated. This was supposed to be a happy time—a time they all celebrated. Instead, it was stolen away from them.

The next several hours passed in a numb blur only interrupted when servants brought food and refreshment. Very little was eaten—no one had the stomach for it. Discussions over numbers, army allocation, city guards, the bats—of which they knew very little about—and the safety of the city's inhabitants circled around and around. They weren't certain about a siege, but prepared for one nonetheless, just in case.

After hours stuffed within the same space, the room felt hot and stuffy. Their inner circle made the space feel small. Add in everyone else, and there was barely room to breathe. Even Taylynn was in attendance.

By the end of it, a plan of preparation was in place. Saffra was off to the library with Desaree and Jocelyn, to research as much as possible about the bats. She'd already begun the process days ago, but now there was even more reason to make haste. The Shields split up, some going to the fort to oversee preparations, others to meet with the city watch or king's army. Her own guard also took on responsibilities, setting out to assess the city walls; they would be in charge of keeping Kastali Dun's people safe.

Claire soon found herself alone with Talon. It should have been a relief. It felt nothing of the sort.

He eyed her, so much flashing between them in a single look; her anxiety was mirrored in his expression. There was indecision too, deep indecision radiating from him. Enough to make her say, "I know what you're about to suggest, Talon, and you already know it would be a waste of breath."

"We're not ready to fly together like this."

There. The words were out. Knowing they would come didn't make hearing them any easier.

"Claire...It is not my duty as your king to hide the truth, nor to soften it. Most truths are hard, as you well know."

Despite his careful wording, she read between the lines. As her king, he was a hard male who didn't soften his blows. As her mate, he wanted to soften everything. It was a fine line to walk, that of ruler and mate, putting them in such a precarious position.

She blew out a breath.

"Even if we spend the next few days rushing through the training curriculum, it wouldn't be enough to prepare you for aerial battle, mih cralla. Meeting an enemy in the sky is far different than meeting them on the ground."

His thoughts betrayed him. For a brief moment, she caught glimpses of the battle he'd taken part in centuries ago. Caught sight of the harrowing Ice Giants pitted against the Drengr. The anguish of his loss. The fear still surrounding it.

She clenched her jaw, pulling her shoulders back. "Well, then. We will do the best we can, in the time we have. I know you want to spend every waking moment micromanaging preparations, but you need to trust your Shields to manage them for you, so that you and I may prepare as best we can."

Usually when a bond was sealed, a Drengr-Rider pair began training together, a curriculum that took months to learn. Pairs learned to fly under harsh circumstances, training with flight maneuvers, in various battle formations, and beyond. It started with trust falls and progressed once those were mastered. She hadn't known much about this until today, until her mind was joined with Talon's. It was his knowledge, and now hers, too.

That knowledge sat heavy in her belly, creating even more doubt than already plagued her.

He feared putting her in dangerous situations—always had. It was the same shortcoming he'd grappled with time and again, to put her in harm's way, even knowing she always managed to take care of herself...usually.

"We are mated," she said at last. "Talon, I made a promise, as did you, to protect each other. We exchanged more than vows. I will fly with you when our enemy strikes. You know this. You see it in my mind—that my mind is made up on the matter. The only option left before us is to prepare as best we can."

"Stubborn, headstrong woman," he breathed, closing the distance between them, taking her in his arms. They stared at each other, the will of a king matched against the will of a Spriten hybrid queen. Equals. At last, he dipped and kissed her, then said, "As if I could ever deny you a single thing."

***

The sun was already sinking across the sky by the time she found herself with Talon, later that afternoon, soaring over the city. She was nearly trembling with nerves. The worst part? She felt stupid for it. Stupid for letting something so small scare her. She'd faced danger, she'd even faced Kane, and here she was, fearing the idea of falling.

"Mih cralla," Talon's gentle murmur in her mind made her chest turn warm. "There is nothing to feel stupid about. Nerves are perfectly normal."

She scoffed at his words, at his reassurance. Nerves were for people who were not queens. She had a kingdom to rule.

Speaking of kingdom...

Far below, a bustle of people swarmed like ants down city streets as siege preparations were made. They had, perhaps, four days until the fleet from Oshea was upon them, according to the word of a merchant captain named Bennett, who had taken on the mission to travel across the Dragonfire Sea.

For a brief moment, everything fell away as a single thought blossomed around her. This world was vast, so much vaster than the kingdom of Dragonwall. There were other countries, and so much of it was uncharted. She'd never taken the time to revel over how wondrous it was. Had the people in her world felt like this, before the entire globe had been mapped out?

"Mih cralla..." Talon's voice forced her to focus. She loved that he'd plucked the endearment from her knowledge of the Spriten language when they'd mated last night, when their minds had melded. "The most important thing to learn before flying into battle is how to recover after a fall. It's the first requirement of all newly mated pairs."

She saw the requirement clearly enough in his mind, and recalled Tamara telling her something similar, about her own experience when she'd first begun flying with Byron. Once more, she glanced down, trying to calm the butterflies in her stomach.

"So, just to be clear, I just let myself fall and you'll catch me?"

"I will always catch you."

Something about the way he said it...he was talking about more than just today, more than just this exercise. Gods, she loved him so much it hurt.

"And I love you. Now, will you please, for the love of the gods, focus?" She stifled a giggle, hands covering her mouth. "There are a number of ways to accomplish this exercise, and we will practice all of them. I can catch you and toss you back onto my back, or sweep up beneath you. Or, if you're feeling particularly brave, you could catch yourself by grabbing onto me, my tail perhaps, and climbing up."

That sounded awfully terrifying.

"I want to be well prepared."

"Isn't the whole point of a harness to keep me from falling in the first place?"

A patient snort sent plumes of smoke into the sky around his face.

"Harnesses are not a guarantee. If the straps break, if you get ripped from my back, I need to be able to get you."

She swallowed. How bad could it be, anyway? It would be like skydiving...but without a parachute. Her stomach lifted into her throat. Oh, gods, who was she kidding—nothing about this put her nerves at ease.

"I'll be your parachute," Talon rumbled. Because, of course, he knew what one of those was now. He would catch her, she knew it deep in her heart. But catching her now, when the sky was calm was different than catching her in the midst of battle. When they met the looming threat in the skies over Kastali Dun, it would be utter chaos.

"And that is why we must practice until it is second nature."

"Okay," she muttered aloud. "I can do this. I have faced plenty worse than voluntarily jumping off the back of a dragon."

Talon's mental chuckle reverberated through her body. He wasn't laughing at her, necessarily. He merely thought her lack of confidence was charming, because he had enough confidence in her for the both of them. He had zero doubt that this could or would go wrong.

Yes, she really was being silly.

She unbuckled the clasps of the harness, slipping her legs free. They had circled out over the water now, the sea sparkling far below them. That would do little to break her fall if she smacked into it from this height. She forced the thought of her body going splat on the surface of the glassy ocean far from her mind.

"It is called a trust fall for a reason," Talon reminded her. His wings were stretched wide, allowing him to glide through the sky, drifting on the sea breeze. She swallowed down the nerves bunching in her throat, then glanced down, between the open space that gave her a clear view of their elevation.

"Okay, do it now, before I lose my nerve."

"Are you sure?"

"I'm sure—damn it." Talon hesitated a beat, then tucked his wings and rolled. She was tossed from his back, the way she might be tossed in battle.

Her stomach lifted into her throat as a moment of weightlessness overcame her. Then she was plummeting. The wind roared up, whistling past her ears. At first, all she felt was abject panic, but then the panic abated and she did as Talon had coached her, letting her arms and legs spread to slow her fall. A flash of black was followed by a rumble of approval. Talon dove past her, then aligned himself wings flaring to come up beneath her. She braced for impact, making sure to keep her face from smashing into his body.

She slammed against him then scrambled with her hands to find purchase. "Oof," she moaned, wincing against the jarring impact of his body. There'd be bruises afterward. They would heal quickly, even if it hurt now.

"Well done," he said, amusement dancing in his voice. "It was sloppy, but I didn't have to snatch you from the sky."

She huffed, trying to calm her raging adrenaline. "What can I say, I learn quickly."

"Ready to go again?"

She exhaled. It really hadn't been half as bad as she'd made it out to be. "I'm ready," she said.

They repeated the exercise, again and again, with variations. The first few times she thought she might throw up, but with each passing success, she got more comfortable. Soon, Talon was tossing her off when she least expected it, to simulate what a real surprise it would be.

"How long must we keep this up?" she managed, when he'd decided to catch her in his clutches and toss her behind him. She was breathless with exhilaration.

"Until it no longer frightens you."

"I'm not afraid anymore," she demanded. But he knew better; he was in her mind, after all.

So they spent the entire afternoon on the exercise until she truly no longer feared it. What had started as terrifying had become fun and satisfying. She hadn't realized how badly she needed this little success, or how much better it would make her feel about herself.

When Talon touched down at the fort, instead of the keep, she hand't thought to look inside his mind and see why. It was only when he transformed and led her into the fort's dining hall, only when a roar of cheers split the air open, that she realized what was happening.

"Every trust fall exercise is celebrated between a newly mated pair," he told her. And she realized in his mind that it was true. That passing trust fall exercises were a jumping point, a milestone for new mates. She caught the sight of Talon's Shields, grinning smugly. Somehow Talon had snuck this past her. She'd been so caught up all afternoon, that he'd managed to organize it in the depths of his mind without her noticing.

She'd been worried, admittedly, that sharing minds would take all the surprise out of life. How wrong she was. Only a day in and he'd already caught her off guard more than once.

She grinned until her cheeks hurt, as Drengr and Riders, many of whom she now recognized, came up and clapped them on the back, offering congratulations and asking questions about how it had gone. "We will dine here tonight," Talon told her, even though he didn't have to. She already knew that from his thoughts alone, but, she appreciated that they didn't completely change their behaviors just because they shared minds now.

It was to this small victory that they sat down around those who were like them—most of whom had also completed the same exercise at some point in their lives—to bask in the accomplishment. Talon's coming here was two-fold. To celebrate, yes, but also to plan. He intended to spend the time after dinner working with the fort's wing leaders and wing seconds. So she made the most of these simple moments, and then they got to work. 

⭐🌟 DON'T FORGET TO VOTE!!🌟⭐

Hello Bookdragons!

I've realized that tackling Claire + Talon chapters will look different from now on. Because they share minds, I no longer need to worry so much about individual POVs. For example, being in Claire's POV, I don't need to worry about her knowing things about Talon that she wouldn't normally. Like, knowing exactly how he feels, or exactly what he's thinking (for the most part) because they are joined. I'm excited to explore this more between them. It definitely changes the dynamic of their chapters a little. 

Next week I have two smaller chapters planned. Since they're not full length, I'll likely post both of them so that you're still getting about the same word count as usual. 

See you then! 

-Mel