There were certain days when it seemed as if Jinki was very much a gift from the beyond. Taekwoon couldn’t help but think it again as he almost frantically tried to get his other half caught up on what he was thinking and feeling. It had been a challenge to start, made slower by Jinki forcing him to eat something first, but once the words began, they became a river he was disinclined to stop. And Jinki listened without interruption, wearing the expression that screamed Aerie Master. To his immense credit, he didn’t react strongly to any of it, though it was obvious he heard and was making notes in his head and drawing connections mutely.

            When Taekwoon was finally done, feeling as if he’d emptied himself at last, Jinki laughed once and shook his head. “It’s a lot indeed. And to think we once thought about your encounter with the strange man in your second Trial as possibly being Bahamut. What if he actually was?” he asked with a shrug, eyes wide.

            “I still never saw the dragon but it’s possible. The circle might have been a rune itself or many runes. I didn’t know then what I know now so I couldn’t say,” Taekwoon admitted with a small grimace. He was still perturbed that such details escaped him, especially now when he needed them the most.

            “I can also see what you mean about Chaerin. She does have eyes that favor the High Priest’s,” Jinki nodded in acknowledgment.

            “Remember, Jonghyun and Jongup think she might be his daughter too,” the rider added quickly, feeling a pleased sensation brush against his awareness briefly.

            “I’m not denying it. Just cautioning since priests do not commonly partner with anyone. Not always, but the higher the position, the more likely it is that they don’t,” Jinki shrugged, his tone not particularly convincing.

            “Yeah. I get it,” Taekwoon nodded, reaching out to take Jinki’s hand in his lightly. “I just think it’s important that we leave all options on the table.” To his relief, Jinki seemed to nod in agreement and he felt a bit of the tension he was carrying unwind. “So what are we going to start doing about it though? I mean, someone here has to know something about what’s going on.”

            “About that…” Jinki trailed off, biting his lip nervously and shifting in place. It was a mildly worrisome response. “I wasn’t being entirely forthcoming in the library either,” he admitted with a heavy sigh. As much as Taekwoon wanted to ask directly, the way that his other half refused to meet his eyes made him think it probably had to do with Aerie business. When Jinki spoke next, he confirmed it. “I really shouldn’t be saying anything, but it… maybe everything is connected. History seems to be repeating itself,” he frowned, tightening his fingers around Taekwoon’s hand.

            “All of our history possibly being a lie isn’t enough?” Taekwoon cringed preemptively.

            “The history possibly being a lie is baffling and more than a little irritating. What’s happening beyond the Aerie is… more than a little worrisome,” he explained, looking up to meet the rider’s gaze evenly, searching for something in the depths. Jinki swallowed hard once before he spoke, adding gravity to the situation. “Satoru thinks Tiamat’s Aerie is amassing a large force of dragons. If what he’s heard is true, their numbers are growing.”

            Taekwoon jerked back as if struck. “Growing?”

            “Yes. It may be because the Tiamat High Dragon Priest is controlling wild dragons to bring clutches so that riders can be created without the Trials,” he explained bleakly.

            “Then why isn’t Kevin doing the same here?” the dragonrider asked immediately, his face darkening with a frown.

            “Satoru didn’t know,” Jinki admitted with a shake of his head. “The numbers alone aren’t the worst part though.” Taekwoon’s face hardened further. “There may be riders infiltrating Fantor. What’s more, Fantor and Talongrace are at odds with Kokoshir. Not only are we potentially facing combat from the Dawnstar Battalion, but it’s entirely possible the King will try to summon us to help with fighting in our own lands. Against our countrymen…” he trailed off, shaking his head with another audible swallow.

            “Why hasn’t he told us this?” Taekwoon demanded, feeling betrayed and angry. “We are the ones that will have to fight if this is true,” he stated, balking only at the lack of information. He was not eager for a fight, but he would join one quickly enough. That was doubly true in order to protect and defend those he cared about. Through their bond, Jonghyun mirrored that sentiment.

            Jinki didn’t answer immediately. His gaze dropped but he continued holding Taekwoon’s hand, gripping hard as he thought. “I imagine he wishes to confirm the situation before he brings it up. In the cold moons, there’s not much chance of a force moving against us or even making headway in our lands. He has time to try and verify, but…” he hissed softly, breath whistling through his teeth. “I think too he doesn’t want to cause a panic. If he tells what he knows now, the situation looks grim. If his sources are correct, chances are good we can’t win against the forces against us. At least not if we spread ourselves thin.”

            Taekwoon swallowed his immediate anger and let that settle for a moment. If the situation was as Jinki explained, then he was right. Sending smaller wings and details to help everyone on the island would serve no purpose other than to spread them thin, wear them out, and leave them open to attacks. “He had been careful about who he sent out before the cold moons really set in,” he nodded in open contemplation. “But why hasn’t he told the riders at least?” he wondered aloud, raising his other hand to his chin.

            “I’m not sure,” Jinki admitted with a quick shake of his head. “It makes sense to keep it from the rest of the aerie, more or less,” he shrugged helplessly. There wasn’t much most of the civilians could do anyway. “But… there has to be a reason.”

            “Could you ask him?” Taekwoon urged, turning to his other half more directly. “You are his second in Yongguk’s absence.”

            Jinki grimaced at the reminder. “Maybe. I mean, I could, but… I don’t know,” he murmured, chewing on the inside of his lip. “He was acting a little different when I spoke to him today. I mean, he has more than enough reason to be worried. But… the way he looked at me,” he frowned, shaking his head.

            Taekwoon’s hackles rose at the vague wording. “Looked at you?”

            Oblivious to any other meanings, Jinki nodded and went on, “It was like I was missing something. Like there was something I should have been able to see, but couldn’t,” he admitted, glancing up and blinking in brief confusion at the look on Taekwoon’s face.

            Comforted at the clarification, the rider waved off his initial concern and nodded in understanding. “Did he give you any hints or clues?” he wondered with a shrug, reaching for something.

            Jinki paused to think, looking down again as he played the conversation over in his head. “Actually… there was something. I mean, he asked about my thoughts on certain things, which was something he never does,” he rambled slightly, free hand waving in front of his face. “But one of the last things he said was to talk to Gain. There was something I should see her about.”

            That caught Taekwoon’s attention. “Gain?”

            “Mm,” Jinki nodded in confirmation, looking up to meet his eyes. “I don’t know why, but I’m sure he said there was something I might be able to… get to the heart of?” he ended hesitantly.

            “That’s interesting,” the rider hummed thoughtfully. Have you heard anything from Gain? he asked his dragon.

            His answer was fast. Nothing she doesn’t want me to hear.

            Fair enough, Taekwoon couldn’t help but smile, the expression catching Jinki’s attention.

            “What?” he wondered, a similar expression pulling at his mouth.

            “Jonghyun,” he replied easily, squeezing Jinki’s hand as he did so.

            “I envy your ability to talk to him like that,” his other half admitted softly, one brow rising as if to shrug.

            Taekwoon was about to answer but he paused, a crease marring his forehead. “I enjoy it,” he explained slowly, picking at the thoughts troubling him. “But… I have to wonder why we are able to speak with our dragons and Chaerin and her group cannot.”

            “Taekwoon,” the other man sighed softly, reaching up to cup his cheek with a chilly palm. “I may be wrong, but you’re worrying about the Bahamut’s Blood aren’t you?” he pressed, easily seeing to the heart of the matter. After all, that was the crux of the issue – how riders became riders.

            “I mean, the High Priest blesses the vials. What if… he is the one that, I don’t know…” he trailed off, feeling as if the thought itself was so preposterous as to be impossible.

            “That creates the binding?” Jinki offered, hand staying where it was. Taekwoon nodded silently, holding his other half’s gaze. “It is a troubling thought,” he admitted, scooting closer to wrap his arms around Taekwoon’s waist, embracing him tightly.

            “There’s just so much we don’t know,” Taekwoon admitted, folding his arms around Jinki as he pressed his lips to the side of the other man’s head. “And I don’t trust him.”

            “I know, love. I don’t really either anymore,” his other half whispered softly, hunching just a bit closer. They were silent for a moment before he took a small breath and pressed, “There’s nothing we can do about it right now. So… what are we going to do on the morrow?” he asked, not moving as he waited for his answer.

            Taekwoon swallowed once and took a breath, not entirely sure himself. With everything they didn’t know and the dangerous possibilities of what they did, it was hard to decide where to start. “I guess the best thing would be to start asking around to find out what the others know.”

            “Riders and residents alike?” Jinki asked for clarification.

            “No,” the rider shook his head. “I think Satoru was right about the residents. The less they have to worry about, the better. But we could certainly ask the riders and even the Masters,” he added, chewing on the inside of his lip.

            “I could ask Satoru more directly,” Jinki offered with a muted shrug.

            “I might hold off for now,” Taekwoon urged, something telling him it may not be the best idea. “He hasn’t told you some things and what he has told you feels a bit… off. I don’t know what it is, but something feels… not quite right. Tread lightly there,” he urged hesitantly.

            “Do you not trust Satoru?” Jinki asked, pulling back just enough to look at the rider with a slight turn of his head.

            Taekwoon wanted to say no. And for the most part, he did trust Satoru. But he had a gut feeling, with no good reasoning, and he was reluctant to disregard it entirely. “I do, but… remember in the journal?” he offered, fishing for something a little stronger. “Landris said that he was meeting with the High Priest, assuming that is the right translation. But after that… there was nothing. Satoru goes with our High Priest every time he comes. Yet he won’t give you information about it. And on the chance that he does actually know about Bahamut… I think it’s just safer, to be cautious right now,” he explained as best he could.

            He heard a quiet grumble from Jinki in response, but there was no immediate denial. “I don’t like it, but… you might be right,” he sighed heavily after a brief pause. “I will ask him about the mural though,” he added just as quickly, nodding once.

            That made Taekwoon laugh once. “I think that’s a good idea.”

            “Good,” Jinki smiled, looking up to nod once. “So on the morrow, I will ask Satoru and see if we can look behind it. I will also go see Gain, and then start checking in with the Masters about what they know.”

            “And I’ll speak with Insoo about reaching out to the rest of the Battalion. What about Chaerin?” he had to ask, biting on his lip uncertainly. They hadn’t left on the best of terms and it was obvious they were at an impasse in terms of trust, but… they were also part of the riders and keeping them out of the loop would be difficult, if not impossible.

            “Go with what you feel is best, love,” Jinki encouraged, squeezing a bit harder around the waist. “She hasn’t done anything to really… hurt us or anything like that. And we don’t know how connected she is or is not to the High Priest. So… tread carefully, but maybe don’t close the door if you don’t have to,” he shrugged, laughing when Taekwoon groaned at his advice.

            “You’re right, but that’s not helpful right now,” the rider muttered, leaning closer to gently his head against Jinki’s, keeping them close together after he made contact.

            “Hey,” Jinki laughed and shifted, sitting upright so he was more level with the other man. Taekwoon didn’t give him a chance to say much more. Instead, he leaned in and kissed his other half quickly, pulling him close as he did so. He got a surprised chuckle in response and the beginnings of a sentence, “But what about-”

            “We’ll worry about it tomorrow,” he promised instead, deciding very much that he was done with the worries of the day and what was to come. Right now, they didn’t matter and there was nothing either of them could do immediately to change anything. So he kissed Jinki again instead, and smiled when the other man leaned into the contact, clearly of a similar mind. Though the day had been fraught with too many questions and discoveries, they had a good night all the same.

            Of course, talking about doing things and actually implementing their plans were two entirely different things. For one, Taekwoon didn’t even know how to approach the subject without potentially sounding crazy immediately. Second of all, it wasn’t easy trying to talk to anyone privately in the normal course of events. Morning meals were crowded and training was distracting, for good reason. Afternoon meals were equally crowded and there was little downtime to be had until later in the day. Last, Chaerin apparently wasn’t done with him and he had no desire to speak freely around her. Especially since she wasn’t willing to speak freely around him either. But her schedule was similar to his and so he had to spend the evening avoiding or warding her off.

            All in all, it was safe to say the day was not productive for anything he had intended to do. In all fairness, Jinki didn’t have much luck either.

            When he spoke to the Aerie Master, Satoru was quite focused on their potentially worsening Aerie problems. He wasn’t very open to having a discussion about theoretical problems or concerns. His problems were very real and he didn’t have any of the answers he wanted. Eventually, when Jinki kept pressing to at least try and get a question in, Satoru waved him off, “Jinki. If you think it is that important, then I would say that I trust your judgement on this. As one of my seconds, you do not need me to oversee everything,” he explained without looking up, everything about the exchange odd.

            “Yes, sir,” Jinki blinked with a confused frown. There was nothing about his tone or even his body language that said he was angry with Jinki, but why else would he be acting so terse?

            “Did you do what I suggested yesterday?” he asked quickly, following up his statement as he continued his focused observation of the scrolls in front of him.

            “Not yet,” Jinki answered hesitantly. “Something else came up,” he admitted with a slightly guilty wince.

            “Hmm,” Satoru sighed, but didn’t say anything else. “Very well. You may go,” he waved, once more not looking up.

            “Yes, sir,” Jinki murmured softly, bowing as he stepped out of the office. The mural across from him stared back, mutely taunting him. “He trusts my judgement?” he wondered aloud, biting on the corner of his bottom lip. “Well… it is a sort of permission,” he reasoned with a shrug, the whole conversation still not settling well. “And even if it isn’t what he meant, I suppose it would be easier to ask forgiveness than official permission,” he went on, trying to convince himself. “So… I will take it for a yes for now,” he nodded once, glaring at the mural before he stepped away and headed out to grab a bite to eat and then make his way to Gain.

            The afternoon meal was no time to share what he’d learned but he did let Taekwoon know he had some information. It was easy enough to see his other half wasn’t having as much luck, unfortunately. Then again, he’d never been much of a talker. If he could get him started, it would be okay, but that first step was often the hardest. Nor did he really have time to give him a pep talk. Instead, he had to go seek out Gain.

            Once more, he hit a stumbling block. Her schedule was full for the day – as it often was this time of the year – and when he spoke to Sanghyuk, the errand runner who was playing desk duty that shift, surprisingly enough, he had to make an appointment to try again later. “Hyosung has well and good become an official Paramour at this point,” Sanghyuk explained when Jinki commented on the full schedule, as indicated by the list of names and times hidden behind the desk. He didn’t try to pry but he caught a glimpse enough to notice there weren’t many empty spots.

            ‘I wonder if we should look into finding another,” he offered with a tilt of his head.

            “Eh,” the younger man shrugged. “From what they’ve told me, the cold months are the hardest and thus the busiest,” he explained with a flippant wave of his bare hand. “It’s a good way to warm up but it’s more than that. The cold just makes people unhappy. It makes their hearts and their heads sick, so they come here.”

            “That’s a very astute observation for you, Sanghyuk,” Jinki teased gently, pleased by the information and its source.

            “Hey! I may not have gotten top marks in my classes, but I wasn’t that bad,” the younger but taller man scowled playfully.

            Jinki chuckled and nodded in agreement. “I know. Good job, Hyuk. If you wouldn’t mind, please let Gain know that I’d like to speak with her tomorrow if possible.”

            “Will do!” Sanghyuk saluted energetically before he reached down to scribble a note so he wouldn’t forget. As Jinki turned to leave, he heard, “Do I need to keep this under the table? You know, jealous partners and all,” he asked in a completely conspiratorial tone.

            “You-” Jinki scowled as he turned around to see Sanghyuk actually wink at him. “Brat!” he laughed, shaking his head and then shaking his finger at the young man.

            Sanghyuk just shrugged it off and grinned. “You’re so easy, Jinki,” he teased, large smile in place as he gently waved the other man off.

            “You’re lucky I like you,” Jinki commented as he waved and stepped back out into the cold. The open doorway had been covered with dual layers of heavy cloth to keep the worst of the cold out. They couldn’t really have official doors since Gain and other dragons needed to be able to get in and out, but it worked well enough for the time being.

            And since he didn’t have any plans after that, he decided now was as good a time as any to touch base with as many Masters as he could. It would probably be best to start with Kibum and Jolin, since they were the History and Scribe Masters respectively. If anyone had any immediate information to corroborate their current findings, they most likely would.

            Taekwoon was cold by the time he finally returned to his room, seething on the inside and just irritated and worn out. The door was a blissful barrier to the outside world and everyone in it, a particular person included. Thanks for the help, he sent out to Jonghyun gratefully, careful to keep the underlying emotions from bleeding through.

            Our pleasure, he practically grinned back, though he too had swirling emotions carefully banked away from the forefront.

            He wasn’t surprised that Ryeowook had made no attempt to reach out to him, being quite absorbed in the tomes in the library. But he was perturbed that Chaerin had insisted upon hounding him like a dog with a bone this evening. When he’d heard that Jinki was making the rounds of the Masters, he figured it would be a good chance for him to focus on finding any other runes that might have been overlooked. He’d started in the sleeping halls and, as expected, he’d found various other infertility runes. But he hadn’t been able to look much further when Chaerin came calling.

            Her intentions might have been good, but he had no desire to speak with her in private. “Can we talk?” she’d asked.

            “Not unless you’re going to tell me everything,” he’d answered, though the look on her face was more than obvious enough to show she wasn’t.

            So he’d promptly headed outside. She had followed anyway. “Taekwoon…”

            “We let you in. We’ve been training you as part of the bargain, Chaerin. Those were our signs of trust,” he explained, walking briskly away from her.

            “It’s not that simple!” she snapped, following.

            “Just because you’re on good behavior doesn’t mean you’re entitled to everything,” he added without looking back.

            “You’re not saying everything,” she countered, clearly annoyed.

            “In my home, I don’t owe you everything.” He slowed enough to turn a dangerous, narrow eyed look at her. She stopped and flinched, realizing she may have overstepped.

            Trouble? his dragon asked, catching on to the exchange.

            Not trouble so much as one who shouldn’t be following me, he sighed, quite annoyed himself as he started walking again.

            Want help?

            You’re not busy?

            No. And mate would like to play anyway.

            Feel free, Taekwoon encouraged, setting his path and taking long steps that forced Chaerin to hurry to keep up.

            “Taekwoon. Seriously…” she groaned before she yelped in surprise as a blue dragon came bounding past, chasing an imaginary something. “Hey!” she half-shouted, confused and mildly alarmed. “Yah!” she added as a copper dragon followed immediately after, sending her backpedaling in surprise. “That’s no fair, Taekwoon!” she shouted at his retreating back.

            “I’m not doing anything,” he explained as he turned to shrug at her and then spun back around to continue walking. It was petty, he knew, but he really was glad that she wasn’t following him around anymore. And when she did get close again, having finally gotten around his dragons, they were able to give him a heads up. Fortunately, he was given enough time to find a couple more runes in expected places. The Healing Hall had quite a few – all positive as far as he could tell. Healing, fortitude, warding at the very front, peace, and certainly health. All things meant to help people recover faster or to remain in good health.

            He did had to give Master Mimi and Healers Henry and Himchan an excuse as to why he was inspecting the Healing Hall though. Thinking on his feet in these settings was never his strong point, but when he mumbled something about looking for structural irregularities and pointed out one of the runes, it seemed to work. “We noticed a few of them the other day and Jinki wanted to make sure they weren’t anything we needed to really worry about,” he half lied.

            Mimi at least accepted it. Strangely enough. “Just give us a little warning next time. It wouldn’t do to worry any of the patients we might have now would it?” he chastised gently before waving the younger man off. Henry and Himchan just looked at him strangely but shrugged and waved as he left. If Mimi wasn’t worried, then they weren’t either. Except maybe about him. But that was also par for the course.

            Back in the Aerie courtyard, he couldn’t really see those that might be chiseled on the ground for the thin layer of snow that had stuck, but there were a couple near the stalls and at the front entrance. Good fortune, honesty, something he understood to equal expertise for both the leatherworker and blacksmith stalls. And on the front gates, there were runes of warding mostly. Staring at them longer, he got a sense that they were different wards. They looked very similar, even to his dragon sight, but the longer he stared, the more obvious the differences became. Wards against disease, death, famine, bad luck, bad fortune, danger, and such. All good and positive.

            Those were all well and good but there was a pattern that was starting to emerge. In the room, he took the time to scour it for any signs of runes within and was relieved, at least for the moment, that he didn’t see any immediately. Nor did he feel any when he let his dragon senses take over. But that didn’t alleviate the concern of the pattern. For the general day to day affairs of the Aerie, most runes were beneficial and protective. But… when it came to places like the library and the shrine, and probably a few more places like the Aerie Masters’ offices, or even the Masters’ offices, there were additional runes of belief or command or obedience or… the infertility runes. It was like the whole thing was setup to keep the Aerie going but with certain checks or changes in place. Truly, it was hard to make sense of.

            When Jinki returned, he agreed for the most part, with Taekwoon’s assessment. “The better question would be when these changes started happening. Do you think they were put in originally or was this something that has been adjusted over time?”

            “I don’t know,” Taekwoon admitted with a frown. “The books make me think that they might have been here from the beginning. Landris mentioned no new life in his last entry.”

            “Well, not ‘no’ new life, just not a lot. Not like there should be,” Jinki reminded him.

            “But Ryeowook also said the runes take time for their power to be felt,” Taekwoon recalled, actively pacing in the small space of their room. “It’s possible that the runes were there in the beginning and only took time to really solidify.”

            Jinki nodded and chewed on his bottom lip. “And let’s not forget about the five hundreds years since then.”

            “Huh?” his other half blinked, tilting his head in mild confusion.

            “Well, the history books we have now give us one accounting, but… there are no first hand books like the ones we found recently,” he reminded him. “The books did say there was a power shift after the dragon gods were bound. Before, the Kings were the highest powers, but after… the High Priests took precedence. More or less,” he amended with a grimace. The High Priests didn’t have any ruling power such as the Kings did, but they had a powerful grip on the masses in terms of belief.

            “Do you think it’s possible they changed the histories?” Taekwoon asked, stopping in his tracks to stare at his other half.

            “Given what we’ve seen, if we believe the books, I think it might be likely,” he admitted uncertainly, the weight of his words heavy and depressing.

            “But why?” the rider asked, even though he had a pretty sickening idea of the answer. He just needed to hear it from someone else.

            Jinki grimaced at the question. “Because if there is some deep dark secret the High Priests are hiding… if it became known, they might not have the power they do now. I mean, Master Kibum is always reminding us that those in power write what they want to be remembered for. We’ve seen it with various Kings in Kinshire’s history,” he added, raising one brow at Taekwoon when the dragonrider seemed a bit lost. “Did you honestly forget about that or were you just not paying attention?” he asked with an aggrieved sigh.

            “Maybe both?” Taekwoon admitted with an apologetic shrug.

            “Hopeless,” Jinki snorted, rolling his eyes.

            “Yes, but let’s say you’re right,” he encouraged, moving close to sit down beside Jinki with his hands moving animatedly in front of him. “The first High Priests laid the groundwork for the new Aeries. Runes, histories, and whatever else they were trying to do. I’m not saying I liked what they did or the changes that may or may not have been made, but it worked. It had to have or it wouldn’t have lasted these past five hundred years. So what changed? What made things shift now?” he asked, very much confused.

            “That is a good question, love,” Jinki admitted, lightly clasping his fingers together. “I mean, since the Dragon Wars ended, there have always been High Priests, Aerie Masters, Dragon Commanders, and Kings. They’re the quintessential leaders of a country, so to speak.”

            “According to our history books, they haven’t really changed either, have they?” Taekwoon asked, trying to recall but giving up nearly immediately.

            “I don’t think so,” Jinki admitted, laughing at Taekwoon’s willful academic weakness. “But I’m not positive. I haven’t reviewed that topic in a while and it might be a good idea to speak with Kibum again about it specifically.”

            “Again?” the dragonrider asked.

            “Mm. I spoke with him today to see if he knew about runes or an alternate history line for Bahamut but he didn’t have anything for me. Nor did Jolin for that matter. But I think he’d have more answers about this line of questioning,” he smiled with some relief. “It is, after all, within the realm of what we are traditionally taught.”

            “True,” Taekwoon agreed with a small nod. “Any luck with Satoru?”

            Jinki frowned and shook his head, though he answered in the affirmative. “He was acting strange again… but, he did say he trusted my judgement. I’m taking it as tentative permission regardless,” he assured the other man, nodding once as if to convince himself further.

            “And Gain?”

            “No such luck. The Paramours are quite busy right now,” he sighed, his face morphing quickly as if he had remembered something.

            Taekwoon laughed at it but hummed to himself. “Strange. I usually have little trouble getting in to see her.”

            Jinki made a face at him this time. “Maybe you just have good timing. Or perhaps she makes exceptions for you. After all, you did need special training for quite a while,” he teased gently, flinching when Taekwoon reached out to shove his shoulder. “Ack!” he cried out, falling on the bed. “You have wounded me!”

            Taekwoon scoffed at his theatrics. “Hardly,” he said, slapping his other half’s nearest thigh. He winced when it was harder and louder than he intended. “Sorry…” he cringed, rubbing the spot gently as Jinki gave him a mild glare.

            “But in all seriousness,” Jinki sighed, sitting up and taking Taekwoon’s hand in his. “I don’t have much new information but I will be speaking with Gain tomorrow. And I will be starting on tearing down the mural to see what’s behind. How did you do?”

            The dragonrider’s grimace was answer enough. “More runes everywhere and Chaerin was hounding me for a large part of the evening. Jonghyun and Jongup helped with keeping her… distracted,” he explained, laughing at Jinki’s suspicious look. “They didn’t hurt her. I don’t think,” he amended quickly.

            We did not, came the immediate clarification.

            Relief was quick and welcome. “They didn’t,” he relayed to Jinki confidently. “But I also did not find any information. Not sure where to start really… We don’t have a lot of down time and it’s hard to get privacy when you want to speak one on one. Sometimes anyway,” he added. It wasn’t so bad in the warmer moons when they had more time in a day. The cold moons were just shorter and harder to get stuff done.

            “Well, see what you can do. The more we can find out and prepare now, the less we have to worry about later. Bahamut knows we’ll have plenty if what we think is going to happen comes true,” he grimaced, tightening his grip on Taekwoon’s hand.

            “I know, my heart,” Taekwoon sighed, nodding to himself. “I’ll figure something out. I promise.”

            “I know you will, love,” Jinki smiled, patting the back of his other half’s hand before reaching up to thread a stray strand of hair out of his face. “Of that I have no doubt.”