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They skipped breakfast the next morning, after all. Once Zaryen woke up, sore and happy, and settled in a way that transcended everything he”d ever known, all he wanted was to fill his senses with his companion. He simply couldn”t get enough.

He hadn”t believed it when people had told them that the bonding ceremony changed things, but now, he understood. The ceremony wasn”t to create the bond, nor did it offer any kind of validation for either of them. Sealing the bond offered a touch point, though—a way to anchor it, and them, to something bigger.

It also deepened their understanding of the bond, which now went beyond the theoretical knowledge and the instinctual recognition from before.

Impatient to discover all the new ways they could work on their connection and become even more attuned to each other, Zaryen rushed them out of the building altogether when they finally dragged themselves out of bed. His desire to see his companion”s dragon form was even stronger and more insistent than yesterday.

He needed to get to know Meveris in all the ways.

As they walked quickly towards the open field, their arms brushing together as they moved, he felt a little tingling between his shoulder blades—a subtle reminder of a physical touch point, the outward symbol of who they were to each other.

The mark that was going to be a part of his body forever.

Meveris obviously loved it, and he”d proved it again and again last night and this morning, constantly touching it, kissing it, running his fingers over it… But Zaryen would argue he loved it just as much. He hoped it would end up settling somewhere he would be able to reach it, too.

As they came onto the field, he pushed everything else aside as he pulled his companion into a short, hard kiss, then quickly stepped back several steps.

”Show me,” he asked in a low voice, already overwhelmed by the mere prospect of it. ”Please.”

Meveris shifted before either of them could even blink, and suddenly there was this gorgeous, breathtaking being right in front of Zaryen.

And it was his bonded companion. His love until the end of days.

Zaryen stepped closer and brushed his fingers over Meveris”s snout. His scales were mostly purple there, with the colors shifting further down his body, purples and blues blending into each other in a way Zaryen promised himself to map out one day.

Now, he started by pressing his nose against Meveris”s much bigger one.

”It”s unfair you”re so beautiful in every possible way,” he told him as he petted his neck.

Grumbling deeply, Meveris leaned into the touch as Zaryen added nails to the caress.

”Oh, you like that, don”t you?” Zaryen grinned. ”Good to know.”

That tease earned him a gentle nudge, and he laughed as he took a step back.

”Fine, fine. What do you want to do? I”m happy to just hang out here, but if you want to fly—” He huffed at Meveris”s glare. ”Not with me. I know we can”t do that yet. But if you want to stretch your wings or something, I don”t mind watching you.”

It was Meveris”s turn to huff. Then he lowered himself with his legs underneath him and his wings tucked together, and he looked at Zaryen expectantly. He even lifted his scaly, hairless eyebrows.

Zaryen loved him so much he couldn”t breathe for a moment there.

After plonking himself down right next to Meveris, Zaryen leaned back against him. They couldn”t exactly cuddle like this, but he was still able to feel his companion”s warmth, and he could focus on the connection between them, vibrant and there, almost as if he could reach out and touch it.

He closed his eyes and relaxed, inhaling deeply.

Everything was alright in his world.

* * *

By the time they finally got to the dining hall, even the lunch crowd was already gone. Zaryen had expected to be teased, but it looked like the winds might favor him today, because only Feraan was still lingering at their table, furiously scribbling something while holding a half-eaten sandwich in his other hand. The rest of their usual crowd wasn”t there.

Small mercies.

Feraan barely returned their greetings, too absorbed in whatever he was working on, so they were free to focus on the food, which was great, because Zaryen was starving.

They”d skipped breakfast for all the right reasons, but now, he downed an entire second helping of the soup before his hunger was even remotely satisfied. He was considering a second sandwich to seal the deal, when the sound of the door opening pulled his attention.

It was Carizen, one of the dragons who handled the distribution of the incoming mail.

Zaryen drank his herbal tea slowly as he watched him hand the envelopes to a few people on the other side of the room, but then almost choked at the last sip, when Carizen walked up to him.

”Here you go.” He dropped the envelope at the table in front of Zaryen. ”This came for you.”

Zaryen hoped he offered his thanks or acknowledged Carizen in any way, but he couldn”t be sure because there was a weird noise in his head now, and he couldn”t see anything but that letter, sealed with the unmistakable lavender wax stamp of his family house.

Then Meveris was there, putting his arm around him and kissing the side of his head.

”I”m here,” he whispered with his lips right above Zaryen”s ear. ”And you”re here with me, too. Nothing”s going to change that.”

Taking a deep breath, Zaryen nodded. Meveris was right. No matter what the letter held, Zaryen”s family couldn”t threaten or offer him anything that was more important than what he had here.

His parents and siblings still mattered, of course—they probably always would. Their absence at the dinner last night had been a weight on his shoulders that was impossible to fully shake off. But the way Meveris”s family welcomed Zaryen with such wholehearted, complete acceptance made a huge difference.

It was yet another piece of proof that he wasn”t alone anymore. He had his companion, and people who were becoming his friends, and Meveris”s entire family who already treated him like one of their own.

And even with all of that, the letter in front of him still made his hands tremble.

”You want to go back to our rooms?” Meveris suggested softly. ”You can read it there.”

Zaryen untangled himself from his companion before standing up and grabbing the envelope.

”Yeah, let”s go.”

He didn”t look around, didn”t check if anyone was watching him, he simply walked out, with Meveris at his side.

Once they were in the safety of their bedroom, Zaryen broke off the seal and pulled out the letter.

His knees threatened to give up under him when he saw the first sentence in his youngest sister”s handwriting, and he needed to sit down quickly.

Dear Zaryen,

First of all, congratulations! I”m extremely happy for you and I hope your time at the Academy will be all that you wish for!

I”m not sure when you”ll receive this letter, but I hope it won”t take too long, because I”d hate for you to think that I share our parents” unfortunate beliefs. I do not. I realize now that I didn”t make my stance clear when we were both still at home. I was so focused on the preparations for my departure that I clearly didn”t pay enough attention to what was going on around me. I believed Goryen when he said that the topic of you going to the Academy was closed and that while you were disappointed, you accepted it and changed your plans to something else easily. I”m sorry I didn”t check in with you. Although we didn”t see much of each other at that point, did we? I guess I see now that you might have been avoiding us all, but I didn”t realize it at the time.

Truth be told, I doubt that I would have been any help in changing our parents” stance, but at least you would have known you”re not alone in thinking that it wasn”t right. Because it wasn”t—and neither is all they”re trying to do now! I”m so angry that I can”t even properly express how disappointed I am in them and in Goryen. I”m furious, actually! I can”t believe I had to find out about everything from the newspapers, too!

I”m not blaming you, of course. I understand why you didn”t share your plans with me. You probably didn”t think you could risk it. After all, I didn”t do a very good job of proving myself to be a trustworthy and accepting person, did I? I keep thinking about all those times when the topic of the marriage rights came up and I stayed silent at the family table. My only thought was to keep the peace, which was a mistake on my part.

However, I want to assure you that I support your decision to go to the Academy—and the actions you had to take to get there, although I”m sorry that you had to go as far as to emancipate yourself. Just like I was able to go to my dream school to learn how to be a healer, you should have been able to go wherever you wanted, too.

I have to admit, I”ve always found the rumors of the bond one may find at the Academy incredibly alluring, and if they”re true, I wish such happiness upon you with all my heart, whether your bond is romantic or platonic. To have a person destined to be yours, in whatever way that may happen, is a gift many of us would gladly receive and cherish. So please, cherish it as best as you can!

I”m enclosing the address of my dormitory, in hopes that we can stay in contact through correspondence, now that we”re both out of the family house and free of their interference. Please, send at least one letter in response, so I know that you received this one. If you”re angry at me for not doing more when I had a chance, I understand, but I still hope we can stay in touch.

With love,

Veryena

Putting the letter to the side, Zaryen sat there staring at the floor without really seeing anything.

Veryena didn”t hate him. She actually wanted to stay in touch. She wanted to have a relationship with him and to support him.

”Come here.” Meveris gathered him in his arms, pulling him into his lap. ”Get it out, it”s okay.”

Zaryen hadn”t even realized he was crying, but once he was in his companion”s embrace, he started to shake from it all. It was too much, too overwhelming, too—

No, it wasn”t too late. Sure, he wished she”d said something sooner, he wished he had her support when it had counted the most, but it still… It still counted now.

She was his sister, and he loved her. And she still loved him and wanted him in her life.

He circled his arms around Meveris”s neck, and held on tightly as his body shook.

”I love you,” Meveris repeated over and over again. ”I love you so much.”

Swallowing against the tightness in his throat, Zaryen tried to blink away the tears that were still threatening to fall.

”I love you, too,” he managed to whisper. ”I love you more than I ever thought I could love another person, and you make it so easy.”

Meveris kissed the side of his head. ”The easiest thing I”ve ever done.”

Zaryen nodded. After all the planning, and fear, and leaving his family house to put everything on this one wish, this one hope… On the other side of it all was the easiest thing in the world.

And it was worth everything.

”Yours,” Zaryen said, louder this time, and Meveris tightened his hold even more.

”Mine.”

And so he would be, forever.

He was home.