Brad

Created by the Arcanist himself, Brad had always known he had a destiny by Tamora’s side. He had been created literally for her, to protect her and to guide her on her way, helping her to fulfill her own destiny of becoming the Queen of the greatest clan to ever live. It was a worthy destiny, a great charge, and any guardian would have been honored to hold such a position.

Only, it wasn’t a destiny, charge, or position that Brad wanted.

It was just a job to him, he realized, after those first few days- the first few days of clawing out the beginnings of the lair, of gathering enough food to fill their stomachs, of starting the preparations for the clan to become great. There was nothing keeping him there, keeping him working, other than a simple sense of obligation. He had been created to be by Tamora’s side, and so by her side he would stay.

But she was not his charge, and even as he stood by her, even as he loved her the best that he could, giving her the support and heirs that she so required, he couldn’t bring himself to believe it was true. It was a love and support created because he was there and she needed someone to perform those actions for her, and he could, so he did. He did, and though it was not what he so desired, it was not a distasteful duty, being the Queen’s Consort, so he continued to do so.

It was nice, being in a position of power, helping the clan grow stronger and stronger, expanding throughout the realm as the Arcanist granted them more power, more land, more dragons to be their own. To whisper in her ear and see what he had said done. It was nice, and though he only cared about Tamora as a friend, Brad was not overly concerned about changing the order of their lives.

Until he saw her.

She was mostly insane, Cybug, when the hunters dragged her in, hissing and spitting and trying to bite off the nearest tail. She couldn’t speak, not in any dialect they understood- even Eponin and Solari couldn’t make out a coherent word, and they were half mad themselves. When brought before Tamora, she had had every intention of sending Cybug out to be trained and sent to the Arcanist, or, if untrainable, to be sent to the market and sold to whatever fool would take her. But then Brad had stepped up, had put himself between Cybug and the others, had sliced through her bindings and begun to endure the painful attack that had immediately started, and claimed her as his charge.

Tamora had fought him, momentarily- not about him leaving her, no; Tamora had always understood the nature of their arrangement, had always known that Brad would leave her one day, but over the fact that he was leaving her for Cybug, of all dragons. She was barely better than the Beastclans their warriors fought against on a daily basis, and to allow her into the clan, into their home?

Brad had just shrugged and offered to take her and leave. And Tamora had folded, had just shaken her head and swore that, if Cybug set a single claw out of line, it would be cut off.

It was easy to learn how to control her, eventually- she was a great warrior when pointed towards the opponent and let loose, and while she still attacked him (attacks he warded off with the thick leather clothes Tamora bought for him), Cybug also seemed to hold some measure of trust towards Brad. She let him lead her out into the wild, let him point her towards what she was allowed to kill, and she did the rest. Fought and killed and half devoured her destroyed prey before moving on to the next, eventually wearing herself out so badly that she couldn’t move. Couldn’t protest as Brad lifted and carried her back to the lair, couldn’t do anything more than sleep and gain her strength for the battled the next day.

Brad just stood by her side and watched, making sure to collect what was salvageable from the beasts when the battle was complete. He had to bring back something to make her worth it to the clans.

The other half were the medications Howl and Yuko and Sophie mixed for him, potions that calmed the madness wracking her mind, that helped to calm the anger and rage that always seemed present within her. It didn’t change her, not much, just made her that much more manageable for him when they were within the clan. She stopped trying to bite off tails and wings and everything else she could reach, and instead actually slept. Slept and eat real food and saved her savagery for the coliseum.

She was a mess, but she was his charge, and he loved her all the same. And maybe she loved him too, in some strange way he would never be able to understand. But he loved her, cared for her more than anyone else, and so he stayed by her side, taught her how to fight, and kept her drinking her morning potion so they could stay within the clan they both called home.

There hadn’t been any deaths because of her, not yet, and it all gave him hope it would stay that way.