Chapter 133: A dragon’s broken promise
Cass decided that worrying about something that didn’t actually bother him in the long run, didn’t matter. He knew that dragons as mythical creatures lived for a very long time. How else would someone like Draken be remembered as a founder of this Kingdom when Cass knew it hundreds of years old?
If he just raised his head up, and didn’t squint too hard, he could not worry about this at all. It was none of his business that a dragon had been ’stuck’ as a fledgling for a few decades before he came to serve him. Nor that there was a high chance he would have stayed as a fledgling unless Cass had noticed him, not freaked out, and then Draken started paying attention to Lord Blackburn after that.
He shouldn’t think about how that complex situation got them here. It was fine. He was fine.
What he was curious about was how long of a lifespan fairies had. Were they the same as humans, or were they longer, like dragons?
Draken and Byron were chatting to each other as Cass pondered, but it was Draken’s laughter that pulled Cass out of his thoughts.
"My advice? You’re a shadow dragon. Use it to your advantage." Draken was telling the other man, his hand slapping him on the shoulder. He was still in his shifted form, and Cass wondered how he had even been able to get so distracted that he forgot about that. Damn the man and his attractive body.
"You keep saying that, but I’m the only shadow dragon I know. My parents abandoned me." Byron said. The way he said it, so matter of factly, had Cass’ heart squeezing in sympathy. Yeah, he could relate to that.
Apparently his parents, together, had dropped off him and his sister, saying they were going to come back, but never did. Cass had been too young to remember, but his sister hadn’t. She’d never forgotten.
Draken’s expression froze, and both Byron and Cass did as well. It was strange to see Draken frozen. Swinging from one emotion to the next? Not unusual, but frozen? What was it that had caused him to freeze like that? Byron only spoke the truth.
"I...I don’t think that they abandoned you." Draken told him gruffly, his voice suddenly tight. "You were probably born about 50-60 years before that. Your parents would have tucked you somewhere safe, especially as shadow dragons. Do you know what happened around that same time?" Draken asked quietly and a knowing, a shiver, ran down Cass’ spine.
The throbbing headache told him that Lord Blackburn had handed over more memories, but Cass could use context clues.
"The dragon wars." Cass muttered, and Byron jerked his head towards his Master, before he turned back to the dragon who had helped him grow up in his parents’ place. His eyes shot wide, still dark pits in his face. His mouth hung open, and it was clear that Byron had never connected the dots. Why would he?
He had been raised away from his culture. From what he should have known. He had no idea it would have had such an impact on him.
Oh damn. That was horribly sad. Draken’s expression was tight now, filled with several emotions. His exhale held a small line of smoke, and his grip looked tight on Byron’s shoulder. Byron didn’t seem to mind. Or he wasn’t aware of it.
"Oh." Byron finally said, swallowing. Cass swore he could see that his eyes were watering. "So...I wasn’t abandoned?" Ah fuck.
Cass got to his feet. He was an asshole, not heartless, and although he rarely did so, he knew that now was the appropriate time to offer comfort. He got to his feet, wobbled, before he made his way over to the tall creatures before him. Both were not doing well. He didn’t need to be able to read their emotions to know that.
He sighed, before he opened his arms.
"Come here." He ordered, and both Byron and Draken took a shoulder. Cass sighed, his bandaged hands rubbing their backs as both men held him tightly. Byron’s hold was significantly different from Draken’s. More like a child, seeking comfort in a trusted adult. Draken’s? He was holding onto Cass tightly, his face buried in his shoulder, his breath hot against his clothes. He was struggling with his emotions, and was using Cass as his connection to this world. His feelings.
Cass let them. Cass had always hoped that he would have been in Byron’s position. Finding out the fact that he wasn’t actually abandoned, they were dead. They couldn’t come back to him and his sister. It wasn’t because they didn’t want him.
Cass’ grip on them tightened, and he sighed. He kept stroking their backs, wishing he had his hands as they normally were, but some things just weren’t meant to go the way he wanted. He had to deal with what he had.
It was a few long, long moments before Byron pulled back, sniffed. Cass said nothing about how damp his shoulder was, nor the slightly red and puffy look to his eyes.
"I-I’m going to just take a few moments to myself. If you need me, i’ll be in the forest. Just...give a shout." Cass nodded, letting him know he was okay. It was only after Byron had left that Draken raised his head, his eyes filled with complicated feelings.
"Are you okay?" Cass asked, unable to to help himself. Draken exhaled slowly.
"I think...I think I knew his parents." Draken admitted softly, quiet enough that Byron wouldn’t be able to hear. Cass wasn’t emotionless. It was clear that Draken was grieving, and it had another layer to it now. Draken’s face crumbled, and he pressed his face against Cass’ shoulder. "Fuck. I had forgotten until now that they wanted to have babies. I thought that they would have waited until after the war finished. I didn’t think that they had started. Dragons usually lay a clutch. Byron could have siblings." Draken’s breathing was ragged, harsh. "I didn’t even think to check that they had babies. Fuck. I feel like the worst friend. I knew what it was like to be abandoned. I owe those fairies the same way that Byron does. They raised my friend’s kid into fledgling. Some dragons can’t even do that." Draken’s laugh was painful, harsh, and Cass wasn’t sure what to do.
There was never someone like this for him. He’d never had someone who wanted to look out for him. Cass did feel a little bad that he might not have even met Byron without his help, or not recognise that Byron was the spawn of his two fallen friends.
Cass let the man lean against his shoulder, his hand awkwardly on his back, giving him a pat.
"I’m sorry. I don’t really...know what to say. You found him, and you were able to help him become an adult. I feel like his childhood will probably be a blip in his past, so you can just make it up to them now, can’t you?" Cass suggested and he sighed.
"I could have, if he hadn’t chosen you as a Master to follow. Through bribery, I am understanding, but he still selected you." Cass didn’t know how that was relevant. When he remained silent, Draken chuckled. "If I was actually making it up to my friends, I would be the first person he’d come to. He wouldn’t have gone to you for comfort just now, he would have gone to me." Cass didn’t know what to say.
He hadn’t really done anything. He’d pretty much blackmailed the man with his own feelings, and then gotten him someone who could help him evolve, he guessed? By accident, of all things, and then got him a tutor.
Wait. Had he been illiterate for decades?
"I didn’t really do anything of note." Cass said. He was pushing that concerning thought to the side. Maybe he would read other words. Fairy words. Just not human ones. That was what he was hoping for. Draken chuckled.
"That’s probably why he chose you. You’re using him, but not because he’s a dragon. Just because he seems fit to be used. It’s...hard to explain. That honesty is attractive to dragons." Honesty? Manipulating him for his own purposes was honest?
Cass wanted to ask about it, but felt like he was going to get a headache if he did.
"Should we stop this? If you aren’t feeling up to the lesson, we should go back. You seem like you need some time." Cass said instead, and Draken panicked. He bolted away from Cass’ shoulder, grabbing onto his shoulders tightly as he stared at Cass’ face.
"No! I’m fine! I don’t want to end this! I can keep going!" Draken was practically shouting into his face, and when he realised that, his face flushed. It was an odd thing to see, since he was still partially shifted and the colour blended into his scales. It was...oddly flattering.
"Are you sure? You seem...quite shaken, and admittedly, I’m not the best at comforting others. I’ve never had to." Cass told him honestly, seeing no point in lying. Lord Blackburn didn’t strike him as the kind of guy who would have comforted others, and Cass couldn’t comfort Draken the same way he comforted his sister.
Draken was not his sister.
Draken was shaking. It was a little strange, a little funny to see a man who was so coded to be big and strong and full of himself to be trembling over Cass ending this magic lesson.
"No! I just...I just need a moment, and you were doing a great job comforting me." Draken’s voice held such desperation in those deep tones that Cass found that he couldn’t be insistent. Damn it.
Draken was never allowed to know what kind of power he had over Cass. If he did, there was a chance Cass could find himself bound to this dragon in ways he did not get consent from Lord Blackburn for. He needed to give this body back in the condition he found it in.
Marked and bred by a dragon seemed like something that wasn’t covered under warranty.