“Why not? You have to know that for me to come here, it’s urgent. I really must insist on speaking to him.”
“My husband is getting up in age and since my daughter left, he hasn’t been the same. I don’t think either one of us have honestly, but Richard took it the worst. It was his idea after all, the marriage, and he never was the same. After they stripped him of his titles, well, he really isn’t himself most days.”
Broch didn’t know what to say to all of that, but he knew that he needed to talk to him. He was sure that he would get all the answers that he needed. Broch was starting to really believe that the two of them had nothing to do with the attacks on his people.
“It is really important, and I will do my best to keep it short.”
“Try not to upset him. He is easily triggered.”
Broch wanted to ask more about their daughter, but he still wanted to know the truth and he didn’t think he was going to get it, unless he kept his hand close to his chest. That’s what he told himself anyway. That was what he needed to tell himself, to make it all okay.
He followed the older woman to a room in the back. She called out to her husband, telling him that he had a visitor. The man told her he was busy, and Broch told her that he would take it from there.
“Just be careful with him. He is all I have left.”
Her words struck him and again, Broch wanted to talk to her more about Christin, but first, he had to deal with the clan business.
***
Broch moved into the room cautiously, not sure what he was supposed to expect. He thought he was going to find a man that was withering away in old age, but that wasn’t the case at all. The man was robust, and he had life in his eyes.
“I told my wife that I wasn’t fit for company.”
“It will just be a minute. I thought that it would be best to come here and see for myself, get answers, before something worse could be added to the chaos.”
“What are you going on about?”
Broch didn’t know what to say, but he was gritting his teeth in aggravation. It was all he could do to keep his cool. If what Leonard said was true, this man killed all but one of the elders in his clan. It was enough to start a war between not just the two clans, but wolves and dragons in general. It was a war that he didn’t want to start or be a part of, but Broch was afraid that he didn’t have a choice. He had to bring answers back with him, ones that would keep his people happy. If not, they would be calling for their heads in no time at all.
Violent war king though? Broch just didn’t see it.
“Tell me King Richard, why you are attacking and killing my people?”
Broch had thought of a million ways to talk to him, but direct always seemed to be his way of choice. He didn’t know what was going on and since meeting him and his wife, nothing that he heard about them was jiving. This couldn’t be right.
“Attacking and killing your people? Tell me, boy, who are your people and why would you think that I was the one killing them?”
Broch sighed and tried his best to hold himself together. He knew that losing his cool wasn’t going to help anything. It was only going to make things worse. He was still seeing all the charred bodies in his mind and the smell of their burnt flesh. He was never going to be able to get those images out of his head, ever.
“Your banner was flying during the attack. Five of your dragons were there, spotted, and I could tell you what they look like.”
“My war flags?”
Broch agreed and the old man finally showed the age and the delicacy that his wife had alluded to. The man looked tired, and Broch could feel that in his soul. He had seen that look before and he wondered what had made such a great man look that way.
“My war flag hasn’t been flown in my honor in almost ten years. I used to take such pride in my dragon warriors, but most of them are dead and gone now, fighting in wars that they had no business in. I don’t know who your people are, but I assure you that I am not behind anything that happens under that war flag. My dragon warriors are gone, and I am no longer their king.”
He said it with such sadness and finality, that Broch felt compassion more than anger for the old man.
“Who is their king then, because they have killed all of my elders. It is an atrocity that won’t be left to stand. I won’t be able to hold them off for long. It took all of my power as their Alpha to come here alone as it is. My people want blood and I need to know who to get it out of.”
Richard’s face changed and he was getting red.
“That damn son-in-law of mine. He has done all of this. It has to be Phillip. If your people were attacked, it had to be Phillip who did it. Though I have to ask, who are your people?”
“I run the Allegan pack. We are wolf-shifters.”
“Ah, yes. I know who you are. I knew your father. I am sorry for your loss. Phillip did the same thing to our elders, though he found a reason for each one, making the people kill their own elders. It got to be so hard to watch, that we moved here. I couldn’t do it anymore and when our daughter stopped talking to us, I knew there was no reason for me to stay.”
