Valentine's magic burned under his skin. "And now this king, who has the power to take control of other creatures, has Yelena and Avallach. Two dragons."
"Powerful dragons that are too strong for Midir to manipulate.Dragons don't like people fucking about in their heads. That kind of magic doesn't work on them," Taranis argued. "It's why I sent a mixed group of warriors with Yelena and Avallach watching over them."
"We also don't know if Midir has them at all, Val," Quinn said gently.
Valentine forced his jaw to unclench. "We don't know that he hasn't. Sounds to me like he’d love nothing more than to get some dragons under his thumb. I can't believe you sent Yelena up there."
Taranis's brows rose. "You know next to nothing about what she can handle."
"The lad makes a valid point, though. Yelena is the last person that Midir should have the chance to control," Oberon said gruffly.
"Why is that?" Valentine demanded. His magic was scratching at him to get out.
Not now, not now, not now.
Mananan swirled the scotch in his glass. "Yelena is special."
"She wouldn't want us to tell him..." Taranis began.
"For fuck's sake, Uncle Taran, spit it out. If you didn't trust us, you should have left us at the fucking pub," Apollo exclaimed.
"Fine, but if she's pissed, she can take her anger out on you lot." Taranis groaned and rubbed a hand through his thick hair. "Yelena was a foundling, and I mean that in the way that I quite literally found her. I was visiting the lands where most of the wild dragons live. The ones who can't shift at all. From what I could understand, she was born wrong. At least, wrong to one of the wild ones. She was left to die as a hatchling, except she didn't. She wandered near a settlement, saw humanoid fae creatures, and shifted to try to blend in. It should be impossible for one born of the wild ones. She was a dragon in girl shape and couldn't talk, couldn't communicate. She ran away from the villagers before they could try tocatch her. They were the ones who sent a message to me, and I went to find her."
Taranis drained his drink. "She was absolutely feral and had been surviving by using her magic to freeze herself during the winter months so she didn't starve. She had so much power, and it was as wild as she was. I had to change a few times from this shape to a dragon to prove I was like her. She came with me but had no idea there were others like us. It took her a long time to talk and to learn how to do simple things like dress herself properly. But the magic? The magic was loud, abundant, and uncontrollable. It's why she's so sensitive to it."
Oberon said, "And her power is still as wild as ever, too. I can feel the feral in her, buried deep down, but it's still there. It's why Taranis's court is still afraid of her. They know she is not like them."
Valentine winced.Not like them.Hadn't he heard that same bullshit from other magicians and sorcerers since he was born?
Bas got up and topped up Valentine's glass but remained standing with him by the fire. His mind gently nudged Valentine's.Okay, big brother?
Not really. Sounds a bit familiar, doesn't it? Wild, uncontrollable magic that no one understands.
You got along with her for a reason. Like tends to call to like.Bas broke off the mind link, so they didn't miss too much of the conversation.
"How would Midir have known where Yelena and Avallach were?" Bayn asked. He had a thin dagger in his hand and was idly flipping it.
"They were on the borders and could have been seen and taken," Kian suggested.
"Or Taran's got a spy and a traitor in his court," Killian said, darkness curling about his fingertips. "I was a spy for a long time,so it seems obvious that Midir has eyes somewhere. You can't trust anyone from Mag Argatnél except your knights, Uncle. At least, not until this is over with."
Taranis nodded and glanced at Valentine. "There wasn't anything in your letters that mentioned she could be in trouble?"
"No. She never said what she was doing, which is why I thought she was someone in the court," Valentine replied. His dream of her frozen in a cage came back to him, and his stomach soured. He put down his drink. He couldn't tell them about it because he didn't know if it was a real vision or just his imagination.
"You have her letters, though? I thought there might be a way to track her last location using them," Taranis pressed. They all turned to look at Valentine, and he tried not to squirm. His neck was getting hot.
He turned back to look at the fire. "Yes, I still have them. Let me think about how I could use them to find her."
"What about getting Ella to touch them and see if her psychometry can pick anything up?" Bayn asked.
Mananan, ever overprotective of his mate, shook his head. "I don't want her anywhere near Midir and his mind. Besides, her gift would only indicate that Yelena had sent it. Fire messaging is a magical transference. It's not like she handled the paper herself. Valentine has a magical connection to her in order to send the messages. He has more of a chance of finding her."
"Whatever magical assistance you might need, Valentine, let me know," Kian said and cleared his throat. "I…I have a pressing need to find Yelena as well. She has been making an elixir for Elise, and I don't know what was in it."
Apollo perked up. "Oh? What kind of elixir exactly? Do you have any left? I might be able to figure out what ingredients were used."
They looked at Kian expectantly, and he tried to look away.
