Lucyan nodded. “The oracle is a tricky one,” he said, his gaze turning pensive. “He is a favorite of the people, so if we kill or imprison him, that may make our political position even worse than it alreadyis.”
“We cannot allow him to run amok and continue to make mischief,” Drystan protested. “He has murdered at least one man that we know of, and possibly more. And who knows how many state secrets he has fed thewarlocks?”
“He’s probably managed to worm a great deal of information out of Father, in the guise of being his confidante,” Lucyan said darkly. “We will have to kidnap him under the cover of darkness, without alerting anyone that we have him or that he is in ourdungeons.”
“Right. We’ll have to ensure only the most trusted guards watch him,” Drystan said. “We don’t have anyone else in the dungeons right now—that will make it easier. As far as the public is concerned, he will simply have disappeared in the middle of thenight.”
“I’ll assign the task to Taldren and Catriona,” Lucyan decided. “Those two are well-trained and stealthy enough to make it happen. As for Dareena…” He trailed off, mulling over what few options they had. “I’ll go and break them outmyself.”
“Are you mad?” Drystan said with a scowl. “You can’t go to Elvenhame. That anti-dragon spell the warlocks gave them will weaken you as soon as you go over theborder.”
“Ahh, warlocks.” Lucyan gave him a crafty smile. “The nice thing about them is they often have the cure as well as the poison. I purchased a protective amulet from a warlock a few years ago that wards against hostile magic—it should work to shield me from thespell.”
Drystan chuckled. “Of course you did.” His brother was ever resourceful—Drystan often wondered just how many tricks he had in that proverbial bag of his, and if they would ever run out. “I suppose you ought to go—after all, Tariana likely doesn’t have any such protection herself, and she went running off to rescue Ryolas thismorning.”
Lucyan rolled his eyes. “Naturally,” he said. “Love makes fools of us all, doesn’t it? I imagine that if you weren’t anchored down by your sense of duty and honor, you might be the one rushing off to Elvenhame instead ofme.”
Drystan smiled. “Very likely,” he said, “but you are the better man for that job,Lucyan.”
Lucyan got to his feet. “I’ll go make the preparations now,” he said. “Shadley has a cache of charms that his agents use to disguise their looks—I’ll go borrow one and then pack for thejourney.”
“Good.” Drystan stood and clasped his brother in a hard hug. “Bring them back safely, Lucyan,” he said roughly, a rare swell of emotion tightening his throat. He’d already sent one brother to the enemy. He couldn’t bear it if he lostboth.
16
Alistair and Dareenawere sound asleep when footsteps marching up the hall woke him. The hairs on his arms stood on end, and he quickly sat up, buttoning his tunic shirt and pulling his trousers onagain.
“What is it?” Dareena asked sleepily, curling her fingers around his arm. “Where are yougoing?”
“It’s Arolas,” Alistair growled, getting to his feet. He could smell the bastard a mile away. “He’s coming forme.”
The door banged open, and Arolas marched into the room with a pair of guards. “As I thought,” the elven prince sneered, raking his cold blue stare over Dareena’s barely covered form. “The moment my guards turn their back, the two of you are at it like rabbitsagain.”
“Don’t touch me,” Alistair snarled as the guards marched forward. He tried to fight them off, but they were in close quarters, and he was worried about accidentally hurting Dareena. Gritting his teeth, he struggled against them as they bound his arms behind his back, clamping shackles around his wrists tight enough to make themsmart.
“Since you don’t know how to keep your cock in your pants,” Arolas said with a cruel smirk, “I’m carting it, and you, off to the dungeons to help preserve what’s left of the lady’s honor. Take him away,” he said to the guards with a snap of hisfingers.
“You can’t do this!” Dareena cried as Alistair was dragged away. He met her frantic gaze, and his heart clenched with guilt and anger as he continued to struggle. He could already feel his strength waning. In a few hours, he would not have enough energy to lift a finger, never mind brawl with a bunch ofelves.
“You promised not to mistreat us,” Dareena said fiercely to Arolas. “If you take him away from me, he will grow sickagain.”
“Perhaps you should have thought of that when you allowed him to spread your legs like a common whore,” Arolassaid.
Alistair saw red, and he lunged for the prince despite his hands being tied. The guards yanked him back and dragged him through the door, but not before he saw the prince’s gaze drift over Dareena’s body, lingering on the outline of her bosom through the sheets. “But then again, perhaps King Drystan already knows of your proclivities and has made his peace with them. I wonder if he would mind if I took a turn withyou?”
“You insolent pig!” Dareena’s hand cracked against Arolas’s cheek as the guards shoved Alistair down thehall.
Pride surged through him, along with a healthy dose of fear at the thought of her alone with Arolas. Would the elven prince really take advantage of her? From what Alistair knew, dragons disgusted the man, but Dareena wasn’t a dragon. And if she truly had elvenblood…
Grief and rage burned at Alistair’s throat as the guards hauled him off to the dungeon—an oubliette, he discovered as they lifted a trapdoor and threw him into the darkness below. He hit the ground hard, his shoulder smarting, and the scents of piss and sweat and dung immediately assailed his nose. The waiting jailer hauled him to his feet, and Alistair stumbled through the dimly lit hall, his eyes adjusting. The hall was lined with small, cramped cells, and from the moans and whimpers he heard, several wereoccupied.
“Enjoy your stay,” the jailer sneered. He untied Alistair’s hands, then shoved him into a cell at the end of the hall. The door clanged shut behind him, and Alistair sank onto the hard, wooden bench, his stomach sinking with dread. A fever was already coming over him—far too quickly, considering he’d only been separated from Dareena mere momentsago.
Was it from the Change, or was the anti-dragon spell stronger down here?he wondered, passing a hand over his burning forehead. Gods, he was so tired of feeling sick and helpless, like a weak dragonling instead of the strong, magnificent prince he was born and bred tobe.
Either way, Alistair felt like death was seeping into his bones, filling him with pain and weakness, robbing him of his will to live. He drifted into a dark, shadowy dream where he followed the sound of Dareena’s voice crying out to him to help her. In the dream, he could hear Arolas laughing, and the sounds of her screams, and he ran faster, trying to get to his mate before the elven prince could rape her, orworse.
But as far as he ran, he couldn’t catch up, and the screams went on and on. He was stuck down here, Alistair realized dimly, and he sank to the ground in his dream, tears running down his face as he tore at his hair in agony and despair. Stuck, with no way to help his beloved no matter how hard hetried.
