It also wasn’t easy to protect a king who refused to let himself be protected. King Caelan was very hands-on with everything he did. He wasn’t the type to sit back and allow anyone to do for him when he was sure he could just as easily do it himself. That meant Adrian was constantly racing to get in front of the king or trying to anticipate his actions before Caelan could even think of them.
The man was fucking exhausting.
Adrian was starting to long for one of those old-fashioned kings who sat on a throne or worked from an office all day. Maybe had a short walk around a garden after a particularly heavy lunch. Couldn’t Caelan sit and read a book for an hour or two?
No, he didn’t mean that. Maybe Caelan was more difficult to guard than he’d expected, but he’d rather be out exploring the Isle of Stone than stuck in boring meetings with a king who hardly moved.
Besides, he was on the Isle of Stone. A place no other person from Erya had ever traveled as far as he knew. He was surrounded by dragons.
Sure, he’d not seen a single scale or wing yet. No one was belching up fire. No one was flying about, roaring at the clouds. All of which was a damn good thing. He had no illusions about taking on a dragon and surviving.
“Lady Mio, may I ask you a potentially stupid question?” Adrian inquired as they stepped out of a bakery.
She smiled up at him as she placed a bag with several loaves of bread in his right hand. “Only one stupid question? I’m sure you’ve got far more than that.”
“I assure you that I have many stupid questions to ask you, but the last thing that Rayne ordered as I walked out the door this morning was to not create an international incident with the dragons. As such, I’m trying to limit my stupidity.”
Mio laughed lightly and turned down another street. He’d been trying to keep track of where they were, but they’d stopped in so many shops over the past couple of hours that Adrian wasn’t entirely sure any longer.
They’d left behind the busy city center they’d stumbled into when they first entered the Chasm and were now in a quieter, quainter neighborhood with mostly one- or two-story buildings, old trees, and homes painted soft colors. It reminded him of a section of Stonehaven in Stormbreak near the edge of Uni Gardens. Not quite the large, opulent homes of the University professors and ministry workers who couldn’t afford King’s Square, but still very nice.
“Go ahead and ask your questions. I won’t declare war against you and your king,” she teased.
“And you won’t get mad?”
She held up a finger and sent him a warning look over her shoulder. “Now I can’t promise that. You say something offensive, I can’t help getting angry.”
“I shall try very hard not to be offensive, sweet lady. If I am, please understand it comes from a place of ignorance and I am at your mercy to educate me.”
Yes, he was laying it on thick, but what he said was the truth. They were all working at a massive disadvantage while they were here. Not one person from Erya knew anything about the dragons. They didn’t know or understand their culture or history. There had been not one whisper of a sighting of a dragon in centuries.
Well, there had been talk of seeing dragon wings during the queen’s fight with the Empire over the Godstone earlier in the year, but no one believed that. It had to be a trick of the smoke and light.
“What’s your question?”
Adrian opted to begin with a simple question that he was sure couldn’t possibly be offensive. “How many clans are there?”
Mio stopped and narrowed her dark eyes at him over her shoulder. There was a smirk on her pale pink lips as though she knew exactly what he was doing. “There are twelve major clans,” she replied and started walking again. “There are another fourteen smaller ones.”
“That’s far more than I was expecting.”
Mio shrugged. “The small clans are very small. Some have no more than five or six members. Takahashi is the largest with a couple hundred members.”
“With that many, are they all related?”
Mio shook her head. “No, not usually. With the small ones, it’s more likely, but with the largest clans, such as Takahashi and Omari, there are people who were born into the clan and others who join from other clans through alliances or training.”
Adrian readjusted the bags in his hands. He was carrying most things to his left so he could more easily grab a weapon with his right should the need arise. It didn’t seem likely as the area was peaceful and no one appeared to give them more than a passing glance. Anyone who stared appeared to be more curious about him than showing any desire to harass Mio.