“If you believe you have willing dragons, why aren’t we meeting them? Why aren’t we talking with them?”
Rayv’s lips pressed thin, but he’d obviously decided to tell me whatever it was they were hiding. “Our herd grows, but it grows through feral dragons joining ours. And that causes problems. We have to let the dragons work it out between them, our men can’t safely stop the conflicts.”
Kgosi rumbled in my head, but didn’t interrupt. I wondered if this man knew my dragon could hear my thoughts.
“We need Kgosi’s bloodline, a strong Primarch of our own, or I fear we’ll lose our herd entirely within a couple generations,” Rayv said quietly. “Our dragons are big and strong, though poorly led. They will be an asset to Kgosi. Please. I know it looks bad. But, don’t give up and leave.”
I frowned. “Why do you assume I’d leave?”
“Your assessors? The moment they reviewed our stables and learned that the herd was scattered, they told me this wouldn’t work, and they’d advise you to look for a different solution. I begged them. I can’t tell you what a relief it was to hear that you were coming anyway—”
“Wait. Hold. The assessors… weren’t they here for several days? Didn’t they just leave a week ago?”
Ravy’s head snapped back. “No, Sir. They arrived, then left to return home within a day—perhaps two? I don’t believe we housed them twice.”
I looked at Bren, who was chewing her lip.
‘Kgosi?’
‘Something doesn’t add up.’
“We only got the word that the assessors had left—and that all was well—five or six days before we arrived.”
Rayv’s brows rose, then snapped to a frown. “No, that can’t be right. It was almost two weeks between their leaving and your arrival—I thought you’d reconsidered.”
The man looked stunned—and very nervous.
I didn’t know what had happened here, but I knew I needed to soothe him so he wouldn’t raise alarms.
“Ah well, a simple timing issue,” I said, waving it off as if it wasn’t important. “What’s important is that you believe we have bloodlines that will work, and dragons you’d introduce us to. However it’s come about, we have the same goal for my time here. So, let’s peruse the herd that you do have, and if the Primarch doesn’t return, perhaps before we leave, Kgosi can mingle among them. Who knows what we’ll find? We all want the same thing, and that’s more dragons, right?”
Rayv looked relieved. “Yes, Sir. Yes. That’s right.”
“You go to your meeting—and give the king my assurance that we’re moving forward. Tomorrow, let’s start negotiations—I have a boy. Very unthreatening. He’ll speak to any dragon you believe might be willing. And he won’t press.”
“That sounds like a good plan,” Rayv said with a nod. “Tomorrow after lunch? We can meet at the stable.”
“Perfect. That means we have time to take Kgosi and Akhane out for a flight today, which will be a relief for them. Thank you, Rayv. We’ll speak tomorrow and we can begin solving this.”
I clasped hands with him, then steered Bren aside before we reached the door, turning her so we headed back the way we’d come.
‘What the hell was that?’she asked, incredulous.
‘I don’t know.’
‘We’ve got a Furymaster with no dragons, but a Lord of the Court who says he can get me one of my own?’
I took a deep breath and shook my head.‘I can’t see my way through any of it. But it’s clear that this mission just got more complicated.’And the only way through it was to put her right at the center.
God. Why?
‘Donavyn?’
I knew I had to say it—and mean it. If I gave myself any reason to focus on a different path, I’d avoid putting her in it and… we couldn’t do that. I couldn’t do it to her, and we couldn’t do it to the kingdom.
‘Donavyn, talk to me.’
‘Tonight, if Hanson shows, you need to pursue that dragon offer—carefully. We don’t want to raise the alarm while we figure it out.’
