The Ocean's Heart (The Dragons of Flareia Book 2)

Chapter 16 - Kylan

Illustris, Umbrassé

26th Year of the Ocean

Fifth Moon

I'm with you.

The words swam around Kylan's mind as the members of the Stellustris began to file out of the bar. Every now and then, one of them would come up and clap him on the shoulder or ask to shake his hand, and he'd do it, pretending he hadn't just had one of the worst days of his life. He should have been cheering with them, should have been hopeful for the future he'd promised his country, but all he could think about was how he'd stumbled over Olivier's name and title – the title she'd gained because of him, whether she or Ten or anyone thought so or not.

When he spotted Nemi bustling through the crowd, he hurried over to her, his head spinning.

"Get me out of here," he begged. "This is... this is too much."

He knew that him agreeing to help them lifted a weight off the shoulders of the Stellustris, but that weight had only been placed upon his own, and he was already beginning to feel the strain. It felt almost like reaching for Tenebrille's power when there was nothing left for him to use, a tension in his stomach that wouldn't go away no matter what he did. As he'd stood before them and spoke, he'd been glad Shai hadn't served him alcohol back at The Black Hole, but now he wished she had. At least that would have given him a false sense of confidence, not this sinking feeling of knowing he would disappoint not only Nemi and Tenebrille, but Umbrassé as a whole.

Nemi raised her eyebrows. "But you did so well!" She bumped his hip with hers. "And you landed some pretty solid hits on Fehey. I've been trying to do that myself ever since the Trial, but it's harder than you'd think."

If he was less worried, Kylan would have commented that it would be hard for her to land solid hits on anyone who stood over Nemi's five-foot three height, but his heart wasn't in it. Instead, he said, "I think I need a drink. A real drink."

But Nemi's eyes were trained on something behind him, and he noticed her give a slight nod.

"I'll get you a drink of the highest quality The Black Hole can offer," she said when she turned back to him. "But first, there's someone I think you should meet, considering he's been looking for you for weeks."

Kylan scoffed. "Hasn't the whole country?"

"Yeah, well," said a voice at his shoulder, "I guess you could say I don't fit into that category."

Kylan turned to see a boy with broad shoulders not much shorter than himself, but this boy looked much stronger, much healthier, and his skin lacked the deepness of Umbrassi colouring. He was nowhere near as pale as Flae and significantly darker than Olivier, but to anyone paying enough attention, he clearly wasn't a native Umbrassi. If his skin tone wasn't a dead giveaway, then his amber eyes definitely were. But there was something else about him – the dulled black of his corkscrew curls, the dirt in the folds of his eyelids where he couldn't see it to wipe it away, the sandy dust coating his cheaply made clothes. It was all too familiar. After all, was this not how Kylan had looked, himself, the first time he looked into a mirror in the Palace of Stars after escaping the Umbrassi Crypts?

"Kylan," Nemi said, flicking her braids over her shoulder, "I'd like you to meet Cor of Gaiamere. Or, as he's known in his own country, Lord Dragonheir."

Kylan blinked. "Dragonheir?"

"Well," the Gaian said, "technically Dragonheir-in-Waiting, but the sentiment's the same."