“Ja, my queen.” Commander Hoffmann bound the prisoner in chains and secured him in a rolling cage. “But first, a word of warning. My father intends to ambush you and push for our marriage.” He heaved a sigh. “I cannot apologize enough.”
I patted his shoulder. “Marriage requests and murder plots before breakfast. It must be Tuesday.”
Relief softened his expression. He nodded in response, then hauled the unconscious shifter away.
I remained in place for a moment, pensive. How had our enemy snuck through the stones? My army guarded every entry point both inside and outside of Ashmorra twenty-four seven.
Did Taron have a hand in this, too?
I breathed deep. More and more, Lorik—and Taron himself—were becoming sharper thorns in my paw.
When I returned to the palace, Adelaide greeted me at the front door with a new cup of tea infused with extra,extragelu root. I braced for whatever she had to say. “Just tell me.”
She winced. “So…. I’ve discovered a tidbit about the Yrnblade.”
I drained the cup. “And?”
“And I think it’s some type of conduit. The one who is cut begins to behave as though struck by Cupid’s arrow. The wielder experiences a similar transformation, only far more intense. Beyond that, the details remain unclear.”
So Cedric hadn’t lied. I thought back to his whirlwind affair with Nyla. His frenzy to always have her within sight. Her constant jealousy and eagerness to harm anyone who so much as looked at him had been even worse.Doomed…
Had Taron experienced unexpected symptoms since the stabbing?
Urgency whipped at my back. I must know.
But there was only one way to find out.
I shot off like a bullet.
“Where are you going in such a hurry?” my sister called with amusement as I ascended a flight of stairs. She suspected my intention to confront the mortal.
“To clean up,” I muttered without slowing. It was the truth, though not all of it.
An-n-nd Councilman Roland waited for me at my bedroom door. Great. The promised marriage push. “How may I help you, councilman?” I asked as I approached.
“I’d like to meet with your father and?—”
“Nein,” I interjected, surprised by the request. Cedricspecialized in using his gaze and words to spread poison. I didn’t need more trouble added to my list. “Only my sisters and I share his blood, making us immune to his tricks.” Mostly. “Only we may speak with him. That isn’t up for negotiation.”
A muscle jumped in Roland’s jaw. “I can get answers from him. Answers we need.”
“You think to negotiate with our betrayer? That he’ll be truthful?”
The councilman jutted his chin. “I failed to stop him once before. I won’t fail again.”
Determination, guilt and half a dozen other emotions lay behind his words. For this first time, I could understand his motivation. Not power but atonement.
“My father is simply too dangerous. My answer is and will remain nein,” I reiterated, slipping past him.
“My son?—”
“Isn’t up for discussion either.” I entered my bedroom and shut the door behind me, wiping the councilman from my mind.
After a quick, hot shower, I changed into my most human clothing: jeans and a T-shirt that read “Royal Pain in the Ash,” a gift from my sister Bronwyn. Combat boots and weapons followed. Within seconds, I was sprinting for the balcony, diving into the air and unfurling my smokewings.
Wind pulled locks of my hair from the braids. The dragon army guarding the traveling stones formed an unbroken wall of scale and smoke, raining a jagged shadow on the verdant green field below. How had Lorik’s men gotten past such a fierce fighting force? Did I have a traitor in my midst?
Parting, the warriors allowed me through. A wide circlebordered by massive boulders came into view. Those boulders were stacked two by two, creating doorways. One doorway in particular drew my attention today, as if it were a magnet. Since each pair of rocks led to a different location, and this specific set led to Georgia in the United States, the home of the Lockes…
