Total pages in book: 138
Estimated words: 129584 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 648(@200wpm)___ 518(@250wpm)___ 432(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 129584 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 648(@200wpm)___ 518(@250wpm)___ 432(@300wpm)
And it didn’t even touch the other things Sora had done since his arrival, the way he’d readily pitched in when things had gone to shit.
Although, it did explain why he was so knowledgeable about healing. Abe. The Abe family was famous—so famous, in fact, there were still legends about Abe no Seimei in Japan. He featured often in films and stories, even today.
The Abe family was the authority on all things medical. Losing them had hurt the Burkhard Clan in a way that would take volumes to explain. If they’d had access to the Abe family when Alric went down, odds were, their dragon king would still be able to fly. That was how impressive their skills were.
For his clan’s sake, Ravi was thrilled Sora was here and apparently adamant that his clan come out of hiding. The knowledge they could regain would make a world of difference.
On a personal level, Ravi really wanted to know what Sora had been doing here for the past week. He’d come to see the clan; he’d been honest enough about that. But to what aim? He’d never said what his goal was.
Since his arrival, Sora had been very friendly with him—flirtatious—and they were borderline dating. If he’d done that just to get Ravi to drop his guard…even as the doubt flickered through his mind, Ravi dismissed it.
Sora might have lied about his last name, but he’d been honest about basically everything else. In fact, he’d told Ravi whenever he couldn’t discuss something rather than lying.
Ravi had to believe that everything Sora had said to him, everything he’d done, had been sincere.
He just had a lot of questions. A lot, a lot. Ravi was cornering the market on questions.
As soon as Alric made noise about taking a small break, Ravi grabbed Sora by the arm and whisked him out of the office. The nearest private spot was an outdoor balcony at the end of the hallway, and he aimed for that.
Sora, surprisingly, didn’t offer one peep of protest or ask a single question about where they were going. He went along amiably.
Once they were on the balcony, he shut the glass doors behind them, his entire attention on Sora.
Sora glanced at the mountains all around them. It was a breathtaking view, no doubt about that. Ravi had always found it picturesque. And the wind was sharp and clear today, a delight to breathe in.
“This reminds me of home, but it’s so different at the same time,” Sora observed.
“Yes,” Ravi purred, “do tell me more about your home.”
Sora turned those keen, dark eyes on him, evaluating. As if he could see right through to the back of Ravi’s skull.
“Do you want me to wax poetic about the mountains there, with their snow-touched peaks? I think you really want to know why I came here. Why I didn’t say something sooner.”
Ravi nodded fervently. “That. Tell me all of that.”
Sora braced his back against the stone balustrade, hands on either side of his hips, and spoke calmly. Without embarrassment or hurry, he laid it out, each word like a stone laying down a path.
“The Sodalicium is…insulated. We are rich in magic, our very environment hums with it, and we all have our tasks, our duties. I grew up only knowing my home and what I could see of the outside world through pictures. I had everything I wanted, in a sense. A perfect environment to thrive in as a mage. And I was bored to tears.”
He joined Sora at the railing, leaning his body weight against it as standing was a bit taxing. He wasn’t about to complain to Sora, though. Ravi was riveted by the man’s every word.
“So much was already accounted for. Already prepared for, or accomplished, and there wasn’t any reason to hone my skills, except for my personal satisfaction. I wanted a challenge. I wanted to breathe air that didn’t smell of magic. I wanted to see something of the world I lived in, to take it in with my own senses.”
Sora looked levelly at him, a half-smile quirking the corner of his mouth.
“I traveled outside of my clan’s borders often, for that reason. To see more of the world. But what I found was a human world. It was tame compared to what I was used to, and I couldn’t show my true nature when I was out there. It hampered me in a different way. It didn’t include dragons and mages.
“Traveling only took the edge off my frustration. I needed some kind of purpose. Something that I could contribute to in a meaningful way. And I struggled to find it within my clan or in the human world.
“And then I saw a certain interview with a dragon king and his consort.” Sora’s smile broadened at the memory. “I watched them and thought—this was my sign. It was finally the right time for my clan to join the rest of the world again. I hoped that it meant something for me personally, too.