Tariel remembers when the Soul Marked child came into the Sanctuary. He was crying and screaming, yelling about his sister and demanding to be taken home. Tariel swooped up the child and told the guards to get someone to prepare warm milk with honey. He took the child to his room, and sat the child upon his bed. He gave the child some blankets to hide in, and sat in a chair opposite from the crying boy.Â
Tariel was furious. How much had changed since he was taken to the sanctuary? Had the boy not been told what was happening by anyone? Had he just been taken? From his demeanor, it sure seemed like it.
The milk came, and Tariel took it. He went to the child, who was curled up in the blankets.
“My name is Tariel.” He had started. “I know this must be very scary for you, but I have something for you that might help you feel more calm.”
The child peeked out from the blankets, dark eyes still red and shiny from tears, and cautiously held out his hands for the glass. He drained the glass in less than a minute, and partially retreated back into his cove of warmth.
Tariel kneeled before the bed, watching the child carefully. “May I ask your name, young one?”
The child pulled the blankets close around him. “Mathieu.” He whispered, his voice trembling. “I want my sister.”
“And what is your sister’s name?” Tariel asked.
“Marie.” Mathieu looked down. “She’s my best friend. I was gonna dance with her when she turned twelve.”
Tariel looked away. He wasn’t going to lie to Mathieu, tell him that maybe he could. The Sanctuary would not let him leave until he turned 19. However . . .
“Maybe you could still dance when she turns twelve. Not with her, the Sanctuary won’t let you leave, but for her.” Tariel offered gently.
Mathieu tears up. “It’s not the same.” He whispered.
Tariel nodded. “I know.”
Mathieu was quiet. Tariel waited, he knew that the child was thinking.Â
“I’d like to do it for Marie.” He said eventually. “I don’t wanna forget her.”
Tariel nodded, rising and sitting next to Mathieu. “I promise that you won’t.”
Tariel looked after Mathieu like a son after that. The child was on edge all the time after being so horrifically taken away, he needed someone he could trust. Tariel would protect Mathieu from further harm, at least for now. He knew that he couldn’t keep Mathieu from growing up, but he could keep him from breaking into pieces for the first few years.
Mikhal made it difficult at first. He had been gone for the first month that Mathieu had been at the Sanctuary, due to his own duties as the Death Marked.
The first thing he told Mathieu was how, where, and when he was going to die. Tariel had gotten upset and confronted Mikhal alone. Mikhal made it obvious that he wasn’t going to sugar-coat anything, it wasn’t something he could do. He had been so desensitized to death and the fear surrounding it over the years, he saw no reason to lie.Â
They agreed to have him not speak when Mathieu was around, at least, until Mathieu was old enough to understand why Mikhal was how he was.
Mathieu asked Mikhal about the day he saw his lover die when he was eight.
The day Mathieu came home with a baby Black Dragon, Tariel cried. He had never bonded with a Dragon, he never wanted to, but he knew how badly Mathieu did. The small wyrmling was barely the size of Tariel’s arm, but still deadly.Â
The Black Wyrmling looked like any Black Dragon, more serpent-like with pure black eyes, and no wings. It didn’t take long for the Wyrmling, Enurrag, to bring Tariel into the circle. Mathieu had explained that Black Dragons building a bond only let those close to their Bonded into their circle.Â
Later that night, when Mathieu had fallen asleep, Tariel thanked Enurrag for choosing his boy.Â
Tariel watched as Mathieu evaded the warriors attacking him, eyes flashing between brown and black as he used Enurrag’s sight to see the attacks. Occasionally he would gently touch a warrior, who would drop their weapon in a daze.
He got to the center of the arena, touching the crown. He finally beat the final trial of Soul. He was free.
“Are you sure you want to do this?” Tariel asks Mathieu, who’s standing beside a much larger Enurrag. The dragon has many bags attached to them, Mathieu holding his own. “I’m afraid that Adruil might have disappeared over 12 years, I don’t want you to be disheartened.” It hurts to confess, but it’s true. Mathieu’s sister might not even be there.
Mathieu nods, though. “Even if she’s not there, at least I know she went to better places.” He looks up at the blue sky. “I want to be able to dance on her birthday.”
Tariel smiles at Mathieu. “I’ll miss you.”
Mathieu turns to Tariel, looking a little confused. “You say that as if I’ll never see you again. I may be going to find my sister, but that doesn’t mean you are pushed out of the circle. You’re my father, the only good one I’ve ever had. I’ll be damned if I give that up.”
The young man hugs the older one, who returns the embrace with a bittersweet smile.
“Dance with her, Mathieu.” He whispers. “Find her and dance with her.”
Mathieu nods into Tariel’s shoulder. “I will.”
