Unedited.

Chapter 23: Bitter Wine.

The grey heavy clouds hid us for the hours we tracked Desmund. It was cold and dreary work for me, but Seren didn't seem to mind the cold, freezing air. I was bothered by it. By my gloves freezing on the hand-holds, with the wetness sinking in through my coat that was already splattered with blood.

The inky advance of night hid us, but I couldn't help the worry that clutched at me when I thought of Desmund expecting us, knowing that Seren was somewhere in the skies above him. Thunder boomed and clashed around us, a symphony of a storm ringing over our heads. It was then that we decided to head back to Leishe.

Only the flicker of light from The Flamin Lizard provided any glimpse of light. The town of Leishe was locked tight, holding its breath because of what had happened here this evening. Seren settled on a wide street, a few over from the house where I knew everyone would be waiting for us. I doubted the King's soldiers, Aden especially, would sleep until I returned.

As I secured Seren's stirrups, smoothing a hand down her side, her might head swung around to me. Warm breath washed over me, and I shuddered at the feel of it. "Everything is going to change now, isn't it Lilia?"

Reaching for her, I held both sides of her jaw, fingers slotting between the sharp curves of bone. Settling a kiss between her horned brow, I whispered, "I'm not going to let anything happen to you, Seren."

Snorting, she jerked her head back. "I'm more worried about you, Lilia. You're the one covered in flesh." Dropping her head, she nudged me roughly in the sides. "Not even claws to defend yourself, or scales as armour. Pitiful."

"I raised you – be a little nicer to me." I laughed, but that died as I turned my attention to the path ahead, realising that I would have to give answers and decide what Seren and I did now. The secret was out – no longer would Anene be ignorant to the dragon and Rider that sailed in their skies.

"We will be fine." She murmured. "Another challenge is another adventure!"

"Now you sound like me." I drew my hood, shivering in the icy rain as I left Seren's side. "Go seek shelter in the caves. But be safe."

"Like a mothering hen." Wind buffered me as she took off, wheeling into the skies. The darkness helped shield her, night like a cloak around those dark blue scales.

I tipped my face up to the skies, refusing to acknowledge the presence of an intruder on Seren and I's private moment.

"You weren't surprised that I was the Rider."

"No," Ailbrich's voice was smoke. He was noiseless as he detached himself from the shadows, dark eyes watching me intently. "There was a wildness to you that I would not expect from a woman who was once a lady."

We fell into step beside each other. I doubted that he'd need to help getting back to the house. A man like Ailbrich didn't just get lost.

"Aden sent you to find me?"

"Yes."

"Why didn't he come himself?"

Ailbrich paused. "He didn't think you would want to see him."

"Is that because he nearly tore open my throat? Or forced a bond that I never agreed to?" I asked with a light tone. "Because if so, he's right. And finally thinking for himself."

We fell into silence. The streets were empty and I imagined the people were hiding in their homes, by order of the guard. The guard were in our pockets of course, but the sight of a uniform and sigil helped to calm the people. Leishe was by no means prosperous and illustrious, but it was the home of the Rainer thieves and though they didn't know they were under our protection, the people thrived because of it.

Though the winds were calmer on the ground, I was beginning to tremble in the frigid wind. Hands jammed underneath my armpits and picked up my pace. As we approached the Flamin' Lizard, the quietness began to bother me. I hadn't wanted to think about what would happen now that Seren was no longer a secret. Warm torchlight melted out through the open doors, a rickety chair propping open the doors. On the signpost that hung outside the door, a familiar bird settled there with dark eyes watching us.

"Shea?"

"Yes," Ailbrich hummed. "She kept an eye out for us to see when you would return."

Ailbrich opened the door, turning with a cocked brow.

Don't let them see your fear. Lacing myself tight, I reminded myself that I was the dragon Rider. I was Bluetail – a lady turned thief. Built to overcome trials with a grin and a flair for dramatics.

I stepped into the warmth first, shucking off my coat and keeping my gaze level as I took note of the people in the tavern. No bar-tender. Just the thieves and Aden's people. Beryl and Sage were absent.

Red was helping himself to the ale, releasing a welcoming belch upon my arrival.

A chair scraped back as Aden rose, hands smoothing down the sides of his pants at the sight of me. I let him flounder, ignoring him as I managed bold smiles for my brothers.

Tossing my coat onto the table, I loosed a hefty sigh and approached the bar.

"Is there any wine?" I planted my elbows on the grainy wood.

Red leaned down and grabbed a bottle, setting it down in front of me. As he reached for a cup, I shook my head. "I won't need that."

"Blue..." Grey began.

Spinning on heel, I leaned against the counter and popped the cork on the bottle. I took a swig, wincing at the bitter taste and loosed another sigh that screamed 'I do not want to be here.'

"What dramatics unfold now?" I asked.

The Lycan still hadn't sat down. Cyan eyes flickered over me, his throat bobbing as he swallowed harshly. I liked to imagine that he was admiring how striking I was, even with rainwater trickling from my hair line and blood-soaked clothes. I would change later. Now I wanted them to remember what and who I was.

"Where is the dragon?" Dara asked hesitatingly.

"The dragon is named Seren." I told her, biting down the barb. Despite everything, I liked Dara. I even admired her because that spirit of hers was one that would be hard to break. Maybe it had been broken before like mine, but what could I say – I was a woman drawn to kindred spirits. "And she is mine, and I am hers."

The Lycan rasped a breath, as if wounded. My attention flickered back to him. "I should say that again so there is no confusion, Lycan. You may consider me to your mate, given by the moon but Seren is mine and I am hers. First. No moon-bond will break what was forged between us."

I waited for that rasping snarl, or a fervent denial but the Lycan only shook his head. "I wouldn't expect it to Lilia."

Lilia. Ah – I had forgotten how warm my name could sound falling from his lips. As if it was some treasured secret, spoken of only with affection and adoration. Despite the coldness that lingered from my flight, warmth pooled inside of me. A prickle along my skin, an involuntary catch of breath.

He had only said my name.

"You are in trouble, Lilia." Seren sang.

"Go to sleep you overbearing lizard."

A snarl thundered through the bond, but she fell silent all the same. Realising that I had fallen silent, I took another swig of wine and tried to pretend that it was on purpose. A smirk flickered across Ash's face and I imagined that he enjoyed their lack of comfort.

"How – how did you find her?" Luca asked, his voice a quiet rasp.

Between the four of the, Luca looked to be taking this the hardest. How could anyone take finding out that their sister was a dragon Rider badly was beyond me but I had always been the bolder of the twins.

"When I ran from my fiancé," Memories flickered; of cold, wet nights. A snarling stomach and the fear the hounded me when darkness fell and the predators of the forest came out. "I found her alone in the woods, the lone survivor of a clutch."

The Lycan took a step forward, anger darkening his face. "Your fiancé?"

"I was married. Betrothed to a man once." I waved a hand, swallowing down the bitter swell of fear. I tried not to be afraid, but like Desmund, Bashkar was a demon in my past. Every scar, small or otherwise that rooted itself on my skin was a marker that forever, in his eyes, I belonged to him.

But I didn't. I belonged to Seren, and she belonged to me.

Like stone grating against the stone, the growl of the Lycan was furious. Not at me, I could tell, but his broad hands curled and extended as those cyan eyes turned cold, like glinting coins as the beast underneath his skin fought him.

"Don't you dare bite me again, Aden." I warned. "And I don't know why you're growling at all anyway. I'm not engaged now, am I?"

I waggled my fingers for good measure, tossing a glance to my brothers. "If I ever see you three acting like such pompous fools around the woman ye wish to ...court....I will make it my goal in life to embarrass you."

"That I don't doubt." Red laughed.

Another swig of wine. Was it good to make life-changing decisions when chugging wine? Probably not – but that wasn't going to stop me. Setting down the bottle meant I had to focus on them. On the Lycan, whose attention didn't flicker from me for a second.

"I'll ask again. What happens now?"

"Well, ehm..." Luca glanced uncertainly at Aden.

"You have until I finish this bottle of wine," I waggled it at them. "If I finish it, I won't be in any state to agree to anything."

"I thought you would want your mind sharp for something like this?" Ailbrich questioned, lips tight.

"That would be wise, but here we are." I did not want to deal with this.

Already, regret was sinking deep into my bones. I had revealed Seren in a dramatic and dangerous fashions. The first dragon since they had fled after the Nalron's butchering. Putting myself at risk never bothered me, but Seren...if anything happened to her, I would be lost. Scattered in the winds, and I knew that I would have no desire to put myself back together again.

"We have been searching for the Dragon Rider because we need their help," Aden held my gaze, and his voice held everyone under a spell. "We need your help, Lilia."

"Why?" Mouth drying under the intensity of his gaze, I took another swig.

"Because of Desmund. A man who hunts you just as viciously as he terrorizes the inhabitants of Anene, seeking to take control of our Kingdom."

Dara's face was flush with anger. "He is a man who has capturing my kin and experimenting on them for years. Turning them into mindless, blood-thirsty....demons that are bred off as soon as they can."

Luca settled a hand on her back as she looked away, lips pinched tight. My brother looked to me. "He's the man who killed our mother, isn't he?"

"Yes." Absently, I touched the scars on my neck. Scars to a wound that should have killed me: wounds that I had wished for a long time, had killed me. I had wanted to die in the dirt beside my mother and believed fate a cruel and twisted thing to deny me that.

But then, who would have saved Seren? There would have been no chance to meet my brothers, to become Bluetail. Mariyl might still be chained, singing for a man who bought her for a pitiful price.

The Lycan took a step towards me. Behind the bar, Red's hand dropped to his waist as he tensed. Ash shifted minutely, crossing thick arms. Grey just looked amused.

"We want your help Lilia to stop Desmund. Come with us to Whitecliff where the King is waiting. You have a chance for revenge. Joining this war will give it to you." Aden pressed, his voice soft. "People will come for Seren. That is not a threat, but the truth. Joining the King will give you and your brothers protection."

"I will not pledge myself to any man. King or not."

"I doubt the King would force you to," Ailbrich interjected, dark eyes flickering between my brothers and I. "The King is a just man. He is good at reading people."

"That I doubt. Any man in a position of power wishes to exert it on people lower than him." I scoffed. "I do not trust your King...but I would consider meeting with him."

"Do you have an issue with all men in a position of power?" Aden questioned.

"Yes – and women too. Just because they're women, doesn't mean that they can't be just as cruel when given a taste of control over others."

Meredith - Crueller than any man or woman that I knew. Desmund was a tyrant – indiscriminate in his killing. She was a woman who sought to tear down a girl who had lost her mother, to strip her of any beauty her body might have held. She hadn't been threatened by me – it was just amusing for her to do it.

Straightening, Ailbrich motioned to the door. "Shea says that someone is coming."

No sooner had he said that, then the door eased open and a head of dark curls peeked in. Mariyl eyed the occupants of the room with red cheeks before her gaze found Ash – who had straightened quickly, smoothing down the front of his tunic with a fervent panic.

"The Sage told me to come and check that Blue wasn't drowning herself in..." Her attention cut to me, and she smiled. "He knows you to well."

Amused now as I watched Ash puff and grumble at the fact that Mariyl was entering the tavern choked with tension and a drunk Blue, I waved her towards me enthusiastically. They wouldn't hurt her – they wouldn't dare.

"I have the unique honour of knowing Blue," I laced tight as the Sage stepped through the doorway. Gone were his clothes from earlier, but he looked unearthly in his favourite greens and golds, high cheekbones, tanned skin and hair slicked back. There was no sickness holding him down - not that he would let them see it.

Clever eyes rose, meeting mine. A smirk curled at the corner of his mouth, a hand trailing the hilt of a jewelled dagger.

He looked every bit the image of ruthless criminal underworld ruler.

Worry pulsed through me and I shifted, my attention flickering across the room as the Sage entered the tavern. His gaze was heavy , condemning almost as he eyed Luca, then Dara and an eyebrow hitched as he viewed the Lycan. Ailbrich was almost invisible, broad shoulders pulled tight as he made himself at home in the darkness of the corner.

The Sage spotted him, anyway, squinting as he moved further into the tavern. "Hiding in the corner will do you no good, my friend."

Ailbrich didn't move. Didn't speak.

Frowning, Aden glanced to him while the Sage's polite smile began to flicker, his lips pinching at the corner. "I abhor rudeness. Especially from people who are staying in my town."

I winced – the sharp coldness to Sage's voice always signalled bad things.

A rough breath left Ailbrich and he stepped forward into the light. It slanted over sharp features, dark eyes that scanned the Sage with frightening familiarity. His breathing was ragged, his hands fisted tight at his side but for the first time, I saw...pain in his expression.

"Emilio...?"

My attention cut to Sage, the mouth of the bottle resting on my bottom lip.

He was frozen, his expression caught in one of annoyance. Slowly that filtered away, his lips parting as if he wanted to say something. Moving closer to him in his confusion, I flashed a concerned look to my brothers. Never had the Sage been surprised or lost for words during anything.

"You're alive." His breath caught and he looked over Ailbrich as if the sharp-eared, sharp-tongued abandoned Fae was a ghost. "Ailbrich..."

"You know," Red waved a meaty finger. "I think these two know each other."

"Shut up." Ash growled.

Ailbrich stepped further into the light, a head cocking. "You died Emilio."

"I thought you had died." The Sage's voice was hoarse, those exotic eyes alight with tears. "You never came to our meeting point."

"I wished I had died." Raw was Ailbrich's voice. "I got caught before I even got there and they told me in those dank cells that you had been tortured and killed. I didn't want to live after that."

"That was most likely their aim." The Sage inched another step forward. "To make you docile. To break your spirit."

Ailbrich's smile was sad. "To take away anything worth fighting for."

The Sage flinched, and just like that I saw him gather himself back together. Shoulders relaxing, any expression that signalled vulnerability wiped from his expression. He looked away from Ailbrich, his gaze cutting to me for a second and in that brief moment of time, my confusion vanished.

Another swig of wine.

Ailbrich - ashen faced, silent footed Ailbrich was the man that inspired the Sage to take in and help people like me. The Fae who broke the Sage out of the life of a male courtesan. One who Sage mourned for years in secret.

...Ailbrich.

I just couldn't get my mind around that.

More wine.

Awful bitter stuff it was.

The tension in the room was suffocating. The damn Lycan was still staring at me, and every time I caught his eye my cheeks darkened. Ailbrich was watching Sage who was putting on a great show of pretending that he didn't notice the male's attention.

"I think we need more wine." Red said in a whisper that failed completely to be a whisper.

"You know," I wagged a finger at him. "I always knew you were my favourite brother."

"I resent that statement." Ash protested.

"I resent it to." Luca reached for the mug that Red handed him. "As her only true-blooded brother."

Then the Lycan - in the wisest words I had ever heard come from his mouth - said,  "Forget the wine. I think we need whiskey."