Sun Bound

A Tense Audience

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Chapter Two

A Tense Audience

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Lune had very mixed feelings about the Sun King. His first impression had been one of terror. The Sun King seemed to radiate ancient magic. His aura was like an inferno, leaking from him in almost overwhelming waves. Humans and beasts alike seemed to fear and revere him. His crown was made from ivory, dragon bone and gold, the item pointed and vicious looking. As the months had passed, Lune had seen a few different facets of the man. At times he seemed wise and calm, other times he had appeared unhinged and wrathful. Lune knew that the king had once married, and he also had a son. The woman had since died and the son disappeared. The long story behind these events had never been shared with Lune.

The little Kagame would have been quite happy to never have contact with the Sun King ever again, but he knew this was a foolhardy hope. The Sun King also had a strange and intimate relationship with Jason that Lune neither fully understood nor liked. Damon had managed to tell him a few stories of just how much the king favoured Jason. Jason had been the underdog, the wild child of a respected knight. Whilst squires were selected from all over the kingdom, those children of knights were usually raised in high society.

Jason should have been the perfect little dragon noble, eloquent, and deadly. Whilst he was deadly with a weapon, Jason had very little patience for courtly etiquette and Damon had plenty of tales about the canings Jason would receive when he was found sneaking out of his room at night or stealing pastries from the kitchens instead of studying with his classmates.

Lune wanted to hear more about Damon's first year with Jason. Jason had found Damon as an egg and smuggled him away. Dragons aged different to humans. In that first year, a dragon could grow from the size of a large house cat to the size of a carthorse. Their brains developed in a similar manner, rapidly growing in size and absorbing information. Jason found him when he was about fourteen summers old. He hatched the dragon on his own, overseen by his father and Gabe.

By the time Daman was three summers old, he had the mentality and intelligence of a sixteen-year-old human adolescent. At three summers, the dragon was big enough to ride and he and his bonded rider apparently spent the next decade locked in combat with each other. Lune thought this might be a bit of an exaggeration. Likely they had bickered constantly, of that Lune had little doubt, but he felt the love Damon had for Jason just as he felt the strong love Jason had for the Yoru in return.

Jason's wild streak had garnered him a lot of attention and that included the gaze of the Sun King himself. The story time cut off rather abruptly after that. Lune had asked for more details, but Damon had uncomfortably said that if Lune wanted to know more, he needed to ask Jason directly. Sadly, he hadn't had the chance. He was wondering now if he should have tried a little harder. He sat on the bed, bewildered and slightly concerned as Jason changed from his usual leathers into a robe of patterned silk. It was such a bizarre contrast. Jason looked good in his leathers; every muscle defined by the hard lines. This softer material made him look... exotic?

'Careful, don't drool now,' Damon sniggered. Lune shoved at him. Both he and Damon were also wearing robes, but Lune had seen these before. He watched as Jason changed from his boots to sandals.

'Don't tease him,' Jason said quietly. He didn't even sound like himself as he checked his reflection carefully in the mirror of polished bronze.

'Be honest with me, are we going to be in danger tonight?' Lune asked. His stomach twisted nervously as Damon and Jason shared a look. 'What?' Lune asked.

'I will be honest with you. When I first captured you, the king wanted me to bring you to him,' Jason said.

'What for?' Lune asked, though he had a horrible feeling he already knew.