Draconia Offline vol. 1

71.1. The Protector - Part 1

"Aefener, are you with us?" Liana calls me because she notices I'm not paying attention. We're in the middle of practising a new spell during our regular training session. Liana decided it's not wise to skip even one day and our new ministers and their families needed to go accommodate anyway.

"Sorry, I was a bit lost in thoughts," I apologise. An unfocused caster might be dangerous because spells can easily get out of control, even though they usually just dissolve.

The thing is that I just can't stop thinking about Erik. It's been bugging me ever since I fully admitted to myself that I'll live for hundreds of years whereas Erik has only sixty years at most left. I do not doubt my love won't change even when he gets old and wrinkly, but he will inevitably die of old age and there's nothing I can do about it. If we're lucky, Earthborn doctors might prolong his lifespan by a decade or so, but human bodies have their natural limit.

The spell I'm currently working on deforms, reacting to my inner turmoil. I force myself to channel my mana more evenly and the transfiguration symbol becomes more solid. I give it a bit more energy, strengthen a mental image of the spell and finally conjure up a small electric surge.

"You did it!" Liana celebrates.

I nod and smile. A small victory. It doesn't seem like much, but manipulating pure energy such as electricity is in the category of advanced spells.

"Careful, Your Majesty!" Vermiel warns me. "We're not immune towards our own spells."

"Give me rubber gloves then," I say jokingly on purpose. I don't want to worry them that I'm not up to it today. "What's next?"

"Actually," Liana bites her lip. "I'm dying to try dual casting with you."

"Hey, that's intimate!" Gotrid gets jealous all of a sudden. "It should be something the Emperor does only with his partners."

"A partner, singular, Erik can't do magic," Liana corrects him. "It would be beneficial if Aefener was able to do it also with me in case you're not present or incapable of casting."

"Gotrid," I dissolve the spell and get to my partner because I feel Liana's idea offended him. He wants dual casting to be something only he can do with me. "Liana is right. There might be times when you won't be present or unable to fight."

Gotrid frowns and his feathers puff. He's not happy about it at all.

"Liana might be the only other person besides you I could be able to dual cast with," I say softly and caress his feathers. "You're my husband, but Liana is my Viceroy. I love her as well."

"Okay then," he sighs resignedly.

I turn to Liana and find her all red. My casual confession took her unprepared. I'm sure she knows I love her, but she's one of those people not good at putting her feelings into words.

"Let's try it," I come to her and hold her hands. "Gosh, you're freezing! Li, I told you to cast the transfiguration symbols for ice spells as far away from you as possible."

"I know, but it feels easier when it's closer to my palms," she admits and quickly heats the air around our hands to warm us up. "So, what do we do?"

"Let me connect to you first," I say and try to ignore the stares of literally everyone in the room.

I close my eyes and connect our minds. Everyone has certain parts that they don't want others to see and I always respect that, but it's different with my partners and Liana. They are fully open to me. They trust me completely and I trust them.

I'd go for a kiss with Gotrid and Erik because intimacy helps me connect more deeply, but, for obvious reasons, I can't do such a thing with Liana. I touch her forehead with mine instead and interlace our fingers. There's nothing erotic about it whatsoever and everyone knows that. Not even Gotrid gets jealous, not even Erik would.

They know Liana has a very special place in my heart as the Viceroy should. Unlike ministers, it's not a position to be appointed reasonably based on one's resumé and work experience. It has to be someone the Emperor considers to be his extension.

Let's try something simple like levitation but try to lift something heavy, I say telepathically.

What about those weights in the corner the Dragonkin use? she suggests. They must be over two hundred kilos.

Perfect, do you feel up to it?

Sure! she sends me her resolve.

I harmonise our minds and gently nudge her in the right direction whenever our spells start to clash. As I hoped, just like with Gotrid, we're in perfect synchronisation, so our two transfigurations lock into each other, combining the spells into one and strengthening the effect. The weights fly from the ground like feathers.

"It works!" Celestials witnessing our cooperation celebrate while Liana is happy to become Gotrid's backup.

I catch Gotrid sulking a little bit that dual casting isn't something just for the two of us, so I hurry to comfort him as soon as we carefully put the weights down again.

"Liana is not your competition, silly," I tickle him under his feathers.

"I know," he admits and feels much better after a kiss.