Remy

  My new home was furnished.

  Now all that was missing was... What exactly? Being alone felt strange. Now, what does alone mean? Basil and Renan sat in the sitting area in the main room, drinking tea while arguing devotedly. I hadn't yet understood what it was all about.

  "Such nonsense!", I heard Basil excim.

  I stood in the doorway, waiting for my brother and his wife. Newlyweds. I had missed their wedding. That didn't bother me much, but he didn't feel that way. Therefore, he had been announced by a messenger. As if he were a king and not just my brother, who is five years younger.

  Annoying.

  Bob with his Sofia-Loreen. A mortal. 21 years old. Inconspicuous. Boring. A girl in whom I had never been able to detect any form of character of her own. If she had a character of her own, she hid it well and ran after my brother like a puppet. Terrible! She had been targeting him since she was a child. With success.

  Aiden's wife Mirjan, on the other hand, had more personality than was good for my nerves. She was confident and knew how to get what she wanted. That in itself wasn't a bad thing. But we didn't get along well. According to Aiden, it was because I was just as stubborn as she was. And, yes. She was stubborn. Stubborn and maniputive. Just like their child. Stubborn and maniputive.

  But I have often been accused of the same thing. My retives are a nightmare. However, I already missed them. I missed the daily drama. The hustle and bustle. All of it.

  "Remy!" Bob came down the street. He didn't wave. His expression was not that of a twenty-year-old who had just married happily. No. He looked like an elderly man who was inwardly preparing to scold the naughty neighbor boys. A white turban protected his almost bald head from the gring sun. Next to him walked Sofia-Loreen. In short: Sofi.

  She had a normal, round face and long bck hair. She looked at me with a pinched, slightly absent expression. Even her clothes were inconspicuous, and meaningless, while my brother was dressed all in white and bck.

  "Hi, Bob. Sofi", I greeted them. "Why don't you come in?"

  Bob wrinkled his nose and looked dismissively at my small, fine mansion. "So this is where you live now?"

  "Yes." I held the door open for the two of them and refrained from making a rude remark. I wasn't even worthy of a hello to him?

  Sofi nodded to me and followed my brother into the house. The two looked around skeptically as I led them into the main room. There, Basil and Renan were still arguing. But when they noticed the uninvited guests, they quickly got up.

  "We're making tea!", Basil murmured, dragging Renan with him into the small kitchen.

  "Thank you!" I watched the two dragons, who immediately continued arguing as soon as they had left the room. "So, you two? How does it feel? Finally, married? Sit down." Or go! "Mom must have cried with happiness. You look adorable today, Sofi."

  Sofi smiled briefly, then the two sat down. "You weren't at our wedding!", snorted Bob. "Save the compliments."

  "Excuse me. I was busy", I lied and sat down as well. Well, it wasn't a complete lie. I'd been busy protecting Lou. "I hope the celebration was as you imagined it?"

  "It was as pompous as we wanted. It's going to be talked about for a long time." Bob smiled mildly. "Our vil is a delightful, stately property. I'm surprised you picked out such a tiny vil? Where is she?"

  I blinked. "Who? What she? The vil? We're sitting in her!"

  "The young dy?" Bob raised his eyebrows. Sofi giggled softly behind her hand and lowered her eyes.

  "What young dy?", I asked.

  Bob shook his head. "The young man?"

  "What kind of man?" Did he really think I had secretly eloped? No, presumably this was just a pretext. He wanted to know if I was hiding Lou here. Or was I just paranoid? Lou was presumed dead. Pull yourself together, Remy! The voices of my dragons, which had just come from the kitchen, fell silent.

  "Remy?" Bob grabbed Sofi's right hand and kissed it casually. He grinned smugly. "Why else are you moving out? Who won your heart? And why couldn't you wait until after we got married? Instead, you first bring this boy to our parents' house and..."

  "Bob? First, I'm into WOMEN. Second, if you want to know if Lou is here, ask about it. Please don't say I got married secretly", I grumbled annoyed. "The boy is dead. You know that!"

  "Yes, I know!", snorted Bob. "But I trust you to do anything! Also faking someone's death. Wouldn't be surprised. As OBSESSED as you have always been with this child. You preferred him over your family!"

  "You're talking nonsense. I'm certainly not obsessed with anyone!" I sighed. "And I am beholden to the dragons. Not my family. Nor a deceased boy."

  "Is he?", Sofi spoke up quietly. "Dead? You can tell us. We’re your family. Is the boy here? The poor child. Alone, with a single man. That would be grossly inappropriate." She blinked with her dark eyes. "You'd better leave him in the care of the wise. Don't you think so?"

  "He's not here", I growled. I had often defended Lou to the neighbors and my family. Especially as a teenager. Of course, they thought, quite rightly, that I had helped him.

  "Good." Bob nodded. "Remy! What are you thinking? Moving out without being married. You were the talk of the town at our wedding. You and the cursed one!"

  Oh. Did we steal your show? How gratifying! "I've wanted to move out for a long time. I’m not interested in the opinions of others. Was that all? It was nice to see you. Lou isn’t here. He's gone, dead, as you two know. Congrats to your wedding!"

  Enraged, Bob stood up. "Thank you. Remy? I'm warning you! Don't do anything that you'll regret ter!"

  "I won't!", I promised with a smile.

  "Good. We see each other." Bob stood up, looked skeptically at the room we were in, and then said goodbye. Sofia-Loreen followed him quietly. I, on the other hand, went to the kitchen where my two dragons wanted to make tea. But no fire flickered. No cauldron hung over beautiful fmes. Instead, they stood there and remained silent. Presumably, they had been listening.

  "No tea?", I asked, grinning.

  "That was just an excuse!", growled Renan. Annoyed, he ran his hand through his light hair. "What does your brother imagine? How rude! You have no obligation to show up at his wedding. You’re committed to us dragons! If you had time for the wedding, Bob would have had to kneel before you in gratitude!"

  Basil nodded. "Remy? Your pn? This house has nothing to do with it, does it? What are you up to?" He looked at me thoughtfully.

  "Yes. This house is just a stopover." I shook my head.

  "You want to go to the Bck Dragons!" growled Renan. "You've been brooding since the big attack."

  I nodded. "I want to seek out the bck dragons and conquer the city with their help."

  Basil snorted. "It's not going to be easy."

  "I have postponed the pn for the time being. Lou needs me here. And we can't possibly take him with us." I crossed my arms. "My family could become a problem. I have to solve that somehow, too."

  Renan ruffled through my hair, grinning. "Oh? And I thought you really wanted to rule. And that you don't care about the price?"

  "As long as the prize isn't called Lou?" For him, I would postpone my pn. "If I could, I'd take him with me. But that doesn't work. Impossible. It's too dangerous. Lou doesn't have any magic to defend himself with. And he trusts in the judgment of the wise. No. First, he has to be safe, then we'll leave."

  "Sure? Where?", asked Basil. "Here?"

  Now it was me who nodded. "Here. He can't stay in the caves of the dragons. It's too dangerous for him there."

  "Fool!" Basil snorted. "Who's going to take care of him?"

  "Louise", I replied defiantly. "She could be a good ally."

  "She can't stand you!" And Basil found that hirious. Grinning broadly, he now began to actually make tea. "Leave him with the dragons. We'll leave, conquer the city, and then you can take him to your pace. Don't be a fool. If you bring Lou here, you'll tie yourself to this house."

  "Then so be it. I don't risk him tumbling down the cliffs or becoming a snack. I'll get him here as soon as I can. I don't want to risk his life any longer", I objected angrily.

  "And then? Do you want to lock him up here?" Renan fetched three cups from one of the many old shelves. "Think again, Remy. You're too hasty."

  "If you say so." For Lou, I would abandon my pn (for now) if it meant he was safe. I didn't want to lock him up. That's why I chose a house with a private courtyard. Part of it was roofed. No one would be able to see Lou from the air.