Chapter 35

"You've got to be kidding me," Gaven stated, leveling a stare at Corliss as soon as she stepped foot into the foyer of the Eld stronghold.

"Hi, Gav," she told her brother, stretching up on her toes to kiss his cheek. "Aren't you going to ask how I've been doing since you left Ayveri?"

"No."

"Why not."

"Because I don't want to know. Especially when you've showed up with him."

Both Corliss and Gaven were staring at Meron then, who had come in behind her as he dropped both of their bags at the doorway. He heaved a sigh, then his mouth stretched into a grin when he noticed Gaven.

"Good to see you again, Gaven."

"Can't say the same for you, especially when you're with my sister."

"Gaven," Corliss groaned. "Would you stop? We're not together."

Gaven crossed his arms, turning that glare to her then. "Then why the hell did he come home with you, huh?"

Before she could speak, her mother Sienna and father Geir rounded the corner of the main hallway, both of their faces lighting up with smiles.

Her mother was the first to pull her in for a hug. "Corliss, sweetheart, we weren't expecting you for a few more days."

"Not that we're complaining," her father said, wrapping his arms around them both. "With you off in Ayveri, it's too quiet around here."

Hugging her parents tightly, she laughed and kissed both of their cheeks. "We surprisingly made good time. And that quietness might be shattered in the next minute or two once you realize who I've brought with me."

This wasn't exactly the way she wanted to tell her parents and brother about Odanth and Ollyn, but she didn't have any other way. But first, there was the matter of Meron and how they would perceive their coming to Eld together...and her mother completely misinterpreted, just like she thought.

"Commander Brandt!" Sienna beamed, rushing over to hug him. Very informal, even though she called him by his formal title. "What are you doing here? And why are you here with my daughter, hm? Anything you two want to tell us."

"It's good to see you again, too, Lady Sienna," Meron laughed, hugging her back. "Lis invited me along. These last few weeks with her coming from Ayveri have been quite fun."

"Oh, really?" Sienna sighed happily, almost like she was planning out their future wedding in her head. Just hearing him call her Lis sent her into a tizzy. "I can't wait to hear all about it."

He turned his attention to Corliss, who'd narrowed her eyes at him, and had the nerve to wink. "Well, there's some things I don't think would be best to tell you."

"As long as it results in future grandbabies."

Corliss practically choked at her mother's allusion.

Would he interpret her I'm going to kill you glare she was shooting at him then? Yes, he definitely did...and then he winked again.

Not only was Gaven well aware of the innuendo, so was her father Geir. Both males stood shoulder to shoulder, arms crossed, sizing up Meron as he let go of Sienna. Sienna, who finally noticed not only her mate and son's glares at the male, but her daughter's, too.

"What?" Sienna asked, aiming the question to Corliss. "What's going on?"

"Nothing's going on and I'm going to leave it at that. Meron's here with me for a reason, Mother, but that reason is not future grandbabies."

Meron raised a blond brow. "Do granddragons count, though?"

And right on cue, Odanth and Ollyn landed outside in the courtyard, already snapping and growling at each other since one hit the other in the head with his tail. Both Corliss and Meron started for the door, aiming to stop the twins from doing any damage to both themselves and what was around them, but they immediately straightened up when they noticed the three new people they got to meet. Recognizing the familial bond between them and Corliss, they were immediately excited and all but bound toward the front steps just as Gaven, Sienna, and Geir descended.

"So, the egg hatched, huh?" Geir smiled at Meron, completely forgetting about the previous conversation and animosity toward the male.

"And twin dragons came out," Meron nodded, then pointed toward his own. "Mine's Ollyn, and then that's Odanth..."

"Who is mine," Corliss finished with a smile as her dragon nuzzled against her mother, who scratched along the underside of his jaw.

"Oh, they're beautiful," Sienna smiled, especially when they both surrounded her then. "Are they why you're home?"

Corliss nodded, glancing over at Meron. "They're grown enough to start official training. Of course, they've flown the whole way here, which was why it took us a few weeks since they tired early in the afternoon, but they've grown stronger."

"And she's hated that I've added weighted bags to them, even though that's how you riders train your own beasts," Meron grinned at Gaven. "You think she would know that, but she was still being an overprotective bloodrite bond and worrying about them both."

Gaven wasn't going to be baited by the jab, even if she knew he was dying to pester his littlest sister. "I'd rather you be on the back of one, especially when you have the chance of falling off."

"Gaven, would you stop?" Corliss sighed. "Guess what? I can't exactly get rid of him anymore, not when we want to keep the dragons together."

"And the boys want to keep us together, too," Meron chimed in, his grin turning into a lazy smile. "I'm definitely not opposed."

Gaven's hands curled into fists. Fists he wanted to hit Meron in the face with.

Corliss, however, didn't stop herself from punching him in the stomach, knocking the air from his lungs.

And somehow, Meron just ended up laughing. "You're definitely Bridget's sister. She does the same thing to me all the time."

"You'd think you would have learned by now then, huh?"

Hours later after they were settled in, Corliss, Meron, and Gaven saddled up their horses and headed through the city and back down the winding mountain road that lead to the dragon caves. Odanth and Ollyn were flying up above, excitedly roaring when they spotted their destination ahead before the three of them did.

With Gaven riding beside her and Meron just a little way in front of them, Corliss turned her attention to her brother, only to find him smiling at the dragons. The first smile she'd seen from him since they'd gotten there.

"I remember when Cordova was their age," he told her. "And I thought she was a handful. With you having two..."

"Odanth is mine and Ollyn is Meron's. I don't have two."

"Unfortunately, those two think they belong to you both."

"Why do you say unfortunately? Because both of them are sweethearts. Can't say the same for Meron, though..."

"And that's why I said unfortunately," Gaven grimaced. He nodded toward the male in question, who was shouting up at the dragons as if they could hear him. "Because he'll be around a lot more than I'd like him to be."

Corliss fought the urge to roll her eyes and failed. "You know nothing is going on between us, right?"

"Yet."

"No, not yet. Never is more like it."

"Mm."

Oh, so that was how he was going to work? Two could play that game.

"How's Ruvyn, huh?"

Gaven's eyes narrowed at her, his lips pressed in a hard line. "He's fine. They're training today."

"Still no progress with that handsome mate of yours?"

"Other than us avoiding each other as much as possible and being unsuccessful, no."

"Then it looks like I've got yet another job to do in these few weeks I'm home, right?"

Her brother didn't say a word as he urged his horse into a trot, leaving her behind as he caught up with Meron. They said something to each other, which had Meron glancing back at her and raising a brow, but all she did was wave a hand dismissively and roll her eyes. A look that had him even more confused, yet curious.

Closer and closer they got to the dragon caves. It wasn't just the elevation of the mountains it was built into, but also the roars of dragons, the clashing of metal, and hammering of steel at the forges. She'd always loved going with her brother and sister whenever she was little, dreaming one day of having a dragon of her own so she could train just as they had with theirs.

Now, Corliss was staring up at Odanth and Ollyn, her stomach twisting in excitement. Finally, she was able to do what she'd longed for...just not in a way she quite imagined. She was going to take it in stride, though, and hope for the best.

The three of them rode all the way to the stables, leaving their horses in the capable hands of two boys who immediately ran up. They weren't the only ones to greet them, not when another certain someone they'd been talking about strode in.

Having not seen him in so long, Corliss squealed in excitement as Ruvyn strode in. He was still the same – dark curly hair that was cut just a bit shorter, dark copper skin, and wide shoulders cut perfectly by his leather riding gear. It was the first time she'd seen his bright smile, especially after what went down between him and Gaven. Corliss didn't care, though, running toward him and jumping into his arms. He picked her up, spinning her around, before setting her back down on her feet.

"It's good to see you again, kid," Ruvyn greeted, ruffling her hair before she swatted him away.

"It's good to see you, too...and would you stop that? Gods, I hate it when you call me kid. And especially when you mess with my hair!"

"You know I'll never stop, don't you?"

"I know, which makes it even worse, especially when you and Gav..."

His eyes lifted to the aforementioned male behind her, who's eyes never left him anytime they were within close proximity. Corliss tried to hold in her sigh, wishing to all the gods and the Mother that her brother and his mate would just get over their past and be together. She wanted nothing more than to see them both happy and in love.

After several moments of Ruvyn and Gaven staring at each other, the former finally realized there was a fourth person with them. Immediately, he raised one brow as he glanced at Corliss.

"Never would I thought I'd see the day when you'd come striding in with the future Lady of Eld, Commander." Ruvyn looked back and forth between the two of them, his brows raising with every pass. "Unless there's something going on between the two of you..."

"No, definitely not," Corliss answered a little too quickly. But at the sound of the twin dragons just a short distance away and their roars of annoyance with each other, her grimace gave away more than she intended.

Ruvyn's eyes widened as he continued to look between them. "You can't tell me you're here because you both have dragons now."

Meron nodded, reaching up to run his fingers through his hair as he looked behind them. "You know how I've been toting around my egg for what seemed like forever. Well, a few weeks ago it finally hatched, but..."

"But there were two inside," Corliss finished for him. "One bonded with him and one with me, so it seems like we're stuck together. We named them Odanth and Ollyn, after..."

"After the dragons in that children's book Gaven and your mother used to read to you when you were little," Ruvyn finished for her, then looked back at Gaven. "Did you know about this and didn't think to mention it?"

"I just found out when they got here a few hours ago," he grumbled. "And even if I did know, when would I have been able to mention it to you?"

But he wasn't listening anymore...or at least, not making it seem like he was. "And you've come here..."

"We've come here to train not only them, but ourselves as well," Corliss nodded. "Even though both of us have been around dragons all our lives, it's different when they're your own. With them being twins, too, we know that's another piece of uncharted territory since there have only been a handful of times it's happened in recorded history."

Ruvyn crossed his arms, back straightening, and immediately went into lead dragon rider mode. He didn't care that Corliss was the future Lady of Eld or that Meron was the current Commander of the Eld army. To him, they were novice dragon riders with their weeks' old beasts who were currently causing a ruckus outside the stables.

"You're right. This is uncharted territory with twin dragons. And since that's the case, you two have to be prepared to not only train yourselves and your dragons, but with each other as well. I wouldn't advise in separating them so young, though since you're both here, I'd wager you wouldn't want to do that either."

Corliss and Meron locked eyes.

"We don't," they said together.

Then, of course, had to grimace at each other when they did.

"Good," he nodded. "Because I'm not going to go easy on you just because you're my future Lady and the Eld Commander. Here, you're novice dragon riders who will train with not only each other, but with the newly bonded ones as well. You'll live, eat, and breath training until I say you're through. Curse me all you want since everyone does, but that's how I make the best riders out of everyone. Just as Gaven since he had to go through training with me when he finally had Cordova."

Beside her, Gaven snorted out a laugh as a light appeared in his eyes as he stared at Ruvyn. "Those were the days. I still curse him now and again because of it."

Ruvyn raised a brow, eyes sparking with mischief as he eyed the male. "And it made you one of the best dragon riders in the territory, though, didn't it?"