Thank you so very much! I'm really glad that you didn't think is felt forced. I know what you mean, and I was really trying to "keep it real", so I'm thrilled to hear that it worked.

As for Toledo ... well, as I was writing this, I took off on a wild tangent about the city until the last part threatened to be more about that than the theme. I cut all that out, but I'm keeping the notes, and the image of Draco in that ancient city is so vivid that I just know it'll appear again very soon. It does seem like a place for him.

Thanks for reading and commenting!!