“He does?”
Baldewin snorted. “Ravi has a reckless, adventurous side that calls to Cameron’s. He’s gotten our consort into trouble on more than one occasion.” He continued to flip through the pictures, stopping briefly on a blond man with glasses and a glare who looked up from what appeared to be mountains of old books. “This is Gunter, the royal researcher and librarian. He is the keeper of all old spell knowledge and history of the clan. He tends to be grumpy when we make him leave his library. He gets even grumpier when we send Ravi into the library to fetch him.”
“If Ravi is a creature of chaos like you make him sound, I don’t blame Gunter.”
Baldewin grunted his agreement and flipped through the pictures until he stopped on a handsome older couple. “This is Dieter, the king’s advisor, and his mate, Lisette. She is the head mage. If something magical is happening in our castle, she knows about it.”
Tori straightened, moving toward Baldewin a little bit. She looked warm and friendly enough, but he couldn’t imagine she was all fluff and sunshine if she’d managed to attain the position of head mage in what appeared to be a large clan. “She would be the one deciding whether I’m allowed to do magic.”
The dragon’s brow furrowed again with more confusion. “I don’t think it’s about allowing you. She’d be in charge of figuring out how best to expand your natural talent and uncovering where you could use some more training. Remember, Cameron, Cassie, and Ha Na came to our clan unable to do any magic. Cameron refused to even believe he was a mage, and he’s learned quite a bit in the past month or so. You froze two full-grown dragons. Lisette is ecstatic to meet you.”
He was content to let that comment pass. There was no doubt Baldewin was exaggerating Lisette’s enthusiasm. It was nice that he at least had a small advantage over the consort when he’d entered the clan, but still…his own clan thought he was useless and hopeless when it came to magic. He’d been rejected and kept away from one of the things he wanted most in the world, a thing he’d regarded as his fucking birthright. He was in no hurry to be hit with more rejection that would undoubtedly cut deep into his soul just like all the others.
“You were looking for the bonding ceremony,” Tori prodded.
“Yes, of course.” Baldewin resumed his scrolling until he hit pictures of a mountaintop against a bright blue sky. There were a mix of dragons and humans spread about the lush, green grass. “I didn’t take these. I was in my dragon form for a good part of the ceremony. A few of the mages took the pictures, and they were kind enough to send them over to me,” Baldewin explained as he handed the phone back to Tori.
Slowly, he swiped through each one, soaking in as many details as he could. Cameron and Alric stood facing each other with that same look of love. He could guess they were saying vows to each other and their clan. Then a regal crown was placed on Alric’s head before a slender, elegant circlet was placed on Cameron’s brow.
But more than what he saw in Alric and Cameron, it was the reaction of the people in the background of the pictures that drew his eyes. They were all watching the ceremony with open expressions of happiness and wonder. Baldewin was right. The Burkhard Clan truly did accept the fact that their king was with another man.
Unshed tears burned in Tori’s eyes, and he clenched his teeth against the swell of hope, joy, and old pain that he didn’t want Baldewin to see, but there was no hiding it from the dragon. He seemed to know when Tori was hungry and when he might feel even the slightest chill. It seemed only natural at this point that he would see other things.
“Tori?”
“I…I’ve heard my entire life that male mages are only good for marrying female mages, and that homosexuality is evil. It’s been beaten into my head until I couldn’t even stand to look at myself in the mirror some days. I had…I had to get out of my clan, or I was going to die. And I’m sitting here with you now, holding photographic proof that so much of what I was told was fucking wrong. It’s like my brain can’t even process it all.”
From the corner of his eye, he saw Baldewin very slowly reach out and place his hand on Tori’s shoulder, as if he was expecting Tori to jerk away. It wouldn’t be the first time he’d flinched at Baldewin’s touch, and even now, his entire body was tensing up as if preparing for a blow, but his heart didn’t care. It welcomed the touch, even wanted more. What would it feel like to have Baldewin hug him? To pull him in tight and close? To hold him in the safety of those massive arms? A small part of him was convinced it would feel heavenly, and he was stunned by how badly he wanted a hug from Baldewin.