Wolf Princess Sold to the Dragon King

”That water is going up,” Ryker announced, in case Maddox had missed it.

”I see that,” Maddox grunted.

”Our water goes down.”

”I’m aware of the direction our water travels.”

”We are a down-water civilization, Maddox, and we have been living like that for centuries without questioning it.”

That observation deserved a response. It didn’t get one. Maddox opened his mouth to respond to that, but he never got the chance because what happened next was arguably the rarest event ever documented in the natural world. Rarer than a solar eclipse. Rarer than Kael admitting fault. Rarer than Griffin reading a room correctly.

CLAP. CLAP. CLAP.

Sterling’s hands were connecting and making a noise.

Every man in the group froze in sequence like dominoes falling in reverse. Maddox first. Ryker second. Kael third, turning on his heel. Nicholas, who had not stopped walking for anything including drug carriages and gravity-defying water, stopped last.

”Now that,” Sterling declared, ”is an engineering marvel. Dual-stream counter-rotation with gravitational inversion sustained at, what, twelve feet of vertical rise without visible mechanical input or containment infrastructure? I mean wow.” He glanced over at Brennan. ”Is there magic in that?”

Brennan beamed at him then shook his head fast. ”THANK YOU. Thank you for asking. There is NO magic in that fountain, Sterling. None. ZERO magical signature. No enchantment. No sustained field. That is mechanical engineering and fluid dynamics. I cannot explain how they’re doing it and I want to take it apart. I know I’m not allowed to take it apart but I want you to know that I want to.”

”Oh. I will figure out how this works. We are getting one in Drakencrest,” Sterling announced.

Sterling looked at Brennan. Brennan looked at Sterling. The glance was a handshake between two brains that had been circling each other all night and had just discovered they were the same species. The two nerds had found each other. Immediate kinship. Mutual understanding. The unspoken acknowledgment that they were the same kind of person who loved to take shit apart and figure out how it worked. They also shared the same psychopath ex who had faked her own death for one of them and put a penis tattoo on the other’s face.

”Respect,” Sterling said, and meant it, and the word hit Brennan’s chest like a medal pinned on by a general who had previously pretended he didn’t exist.

Brennan’s eyes went glassy again. The same glassiness from the war room when Jaxon had called him indispensable. He fought it. He won. Barely. The win cost him a hard swallow and a jaw clench that redirected the emotion from his tear ducts to his molars and the molars accepted the transfer without complaint.

Ryker squinted at Sterling from three feet away. The squint was diagnostic, concerned, and carried the specific suspicion of a man who had known Sterling Emberfell for years and had never once heard him clap at anything that wasn’t a strategic outcome.

”You alright there, buddy?” he asked. ”You just clapped. Voluntarily. With your hands. In public. At water.”

”I clapped at physics, Ryker. Physics deserves applause. Your flask deserves a refill. We all have our priorities.”

”Physics deserves applause,” Ryker repeated, testing the sentence and deciding he hated it in real time. ”No. The fountain gets the applause because it looks cool. Don’t ruin it.”

Kael was still standing where he’d stopped, mid-turn, boots planted on glowing stone, staring at Sterling with an expression that was cycling through the same stages Maddox’s dragon had been cycling through all evening. He had just watched Sterling and Brennan discover each other and felt something shift in the group dynamic that he couldn’t name and didn’t like.

”No,” he breathed.

Nobody heard him because nobody was listening. Sterling and Brennan were discussing counter-rotation and vertical rise.

”No,” Kael repeated, louder. ”The clapping is a contagion. He caught the clap.”

Ryker pointed finger guns at Kael. ”Phrasing.”

Nicholas resumed walking. He had seen everything he needed to see and was done watching Sterling and Brennan stand side by side staring at the fountain like an altar.

”Do us all a favor and never say those words again,” he called over his shoulder.

”The clapping is a problem. Don’t say I didn’t warn you,” Kael called after him. ”And your mage and my Third just fell in love at a goddamn fountain.”

”It’s an alliance, Ashenvale. Try it sometime.”

”It’s a BROMANCE, Shadowfell. It started with clapping and it’s going to end with them finishing each other’s sentences and I am not prepared for that.”

Nicholas continued forward unbothered.

Kael turned to Maddox. Maddox looked back at him.

”We lost your Third,” Kael said.

”He’s fine.”

”He said ’wow,’ Maddox. Who the fuck says that? He does.”

Maddox considered that. ”Yeah, that was weird.”

Behind them, Brennan laughed and clapped once at something Sterling had said that zero people outside of those two thought was funny.

Ryker watched the solo clap happen and shook his head slowly, unable to look away from what he was seeing.

Maddox turned and followed Nicholas, leaving Ryker, the nerds, and his brother in his wake.

”Walk faster, that’ll show the fountains who’s boss,” Kael called after Maddox’s back, ”I also think the glowing is cool. I’m just emotionally mature enough to say it out loud. Growth, Maddox. Look into it.”

The grunt that came back communicated exactly how much he appreciated the advice.

”Unbelievable,” Kael muttered, falling into step. ”I survive prison. I survive a musical staircase. I survive stopping fornication in its tracks. And what takes me out? A fountain. A fountain and my Third clapping at it. I could have stayed in my cell.”

The city continued to glow. It did not care that boys’ night out consisted of varying degrees of emotional damage.

Ryker caught up and walked beside Kael in silence for three steps.

”Alright, roll call,” he said, counting heads. ”Up front, two kings who haven’t spoken to each other in four blocks but are walking in perfect sync, that keeps getting faster because one can’t let the other walk in front of him, which is either coordination or codependence. Behind us, two nerds who just became inseparable over plumbing. To my left, a man who went to prison and won’t let anyone forget it.” He pointed finger guns at himself. ”And this guy right here. The only one who hasn’t clapped, cried, lectured, or grunted at something tonight.”