“No,” Catriona said sorrowfully. “But perhaps there might be some bit of magic that canhelp.”
“The elves specialize in healing,” Dareena said thoughtfully. “I didn’t think to look and see if there were any books on treating dragons, though, and when Alistair grew ill, the elves didn’t seem to know what to do. I can ask Basilla about it when shearrives.”
“The warlocks have the largest library of the three kingdoms,” Lucyan pointed out. “If we can conquer them, we might be able to find answersthere.”
Drystan laughed harshly. “That is no mean feat,” he said. “The warlocks are the strongest kingdom right now—they have not suffered casualties from the war like we have, or theelves.”
“Perhaps the elves will be willing to band together with us,” Dareena suggested. “Basilla seems to think the warlock envoy—who is lying unconscious outside Dragomir’s lair, by the way—was using some kind of spell to addle the elven king and make him more susceptible to suggestion. Now that he is free, and his children have made their position clear, he may be open to considering analliance.”
“Either way, we must do something about those bastards,” Lucyan growled, “including finding a way to shield ourselves from their magicalspying.”
Drystan and Lucyan shifted back into dragon form and took Dareena back up the mountain while Catriona stayed behind to guard their father. As promised, the warlock still lay there, unconscious, surrounded by several bags of treasure. The brothers shifted back to human form, and the three of them entered the cave to take stock of their recoveredwealth.
“By the gods,” Lucyan said, his eyes shining with awe as they beheld the mountains of gold and valuables. “This is far more than we anticipated. We could have easily paid the elves their ransom and had five years’ worth of taxes leftover.”
“I have a feeling this hoard has been around a lot longer than Father,” Drystan said as he hefted a giant ruby in the palm of his hand. “Our predecessors must have been hiding gold here for years, and Father decided to bring the rest over here.” He shook his head. “With these funds, we could hire a mercenary army from across the sea to wipe out ourenemies.”
“If the people find out about all this gold, they will be furious about the tax increases,” Dareena pointedout.
Lucyan snorted. “We are not going to tell them about this,” he said. “Hell, they don’t even know that the treasure has gone missing in the first place. If they had, Drystan might have lost his head, dragon or not. There would have been anuprising.”
“It’s going to be very difficult to hide the truth about this now,” Dareena countered. “People are bound to notice when they see a group of soldiers carting back sacks full of gold, and the soldiers won’t keep silent. I think we ought to give something back to the people of Dragonfell, especially since thereisstill so much unrest,” Dareena said. “I think a two-year tax holiday should do thetrick.”
Drystan winced. “The council will have an apoplexy if I suggest it,” he said. “They nearly mutinied against me when I gave a tax break to thesoldiers.”
Dareena shrugged. “If we truly have as much gold as you say we do, you should be able to give them a token of your appreciation to mollifythem.”
Lucyan nodded. “She’s right. A sack or two of gold for each council member will barely put a dent in ourcoffers.”
“Itisa good idea,” Drystan said. Hooves approached in the distance, and he knew the squadron of soldiers he’d sent out were not far off. “Let’s get this treasure back to the Keep,” he said, picking up one of the empty sacks the warlocks had left behind. “The sooner we finish up here, the sooner we can getback.”
“And celebrate,” Dareena said, winking at him. She bent to pick up a sack of her own, giving Drystan a fantastic view of her luscious rear. Drystan’s blood heated, and he and Alistair turned to one of the piles of gold and began shoveling it into the bags. Ifthatwasn’t a good enough motivator for them to get this done as fast as possible, he didn’t knowwhatwas.
34
In the end,Catriona came up with a solution to handle Dragomir. While Taldren returned to Dragon’s Keep with the soldiers, the warlock prisoner, and the treasure, Dareena and the other dragons flew to Blackmore Manor, a small estate in the countryside the royal family sometimes used as aretreat.
Dareena and Lucyan flew ahead, while the others stayed well back, away from the warlock bracelets. Lucyan’s amulet allowed him to keep his dragon form as he carried Dragomir in his claws and Dareena on hisback.
She leaned over and stared at the former king as he lay limp in Lucyan’s grip. She’d used a spell she’d found in the primer to keep him unconscious while she and Alistair had waited, and now for this journey. If he had been awake, he would be screaming in agony rightnow.
Even though the sight of Dragomir still gave Dareena the shivers, she couldn’t help but pity him. Once, he had been a great dragon king, ruler of a vast kingdom that was powerful despite the curse that had crippled its royal line. Now, he seemed a frail, broken man, a slave to his avarices, his will no longer hisown.
Unless they somehow found a cure for him, Dragomir would never see his sons sit on the throne. He would never meet the babe growing in Dareena’s belly, or see the return of the dragons once the curse was broken. Smiling, Dareena placed a hand on her belly. Her pregnancy was just starting to show, though no one who did not know her intimately would be able to tell. She couldn’t wait to see her mates’ reaction when she showed themtonight.
The servants were surprised when they arrived, but once the four of them introduced themselves, they were delighted. Apparently, none of the royals had visited since the war had started. They were especially pleased to finally meet the Dragon’s Gift and assured Dareena they had never believed the nasty rumors abouther.
The housekeeper immediately readied a bed for Dragomir, and Dareena took the bracelets away for an hour to give him a chance to heal a bit. They’d found two additional sets amongst the dead warlocks and had spread them about the manor, putting one in the bedroom drawer, one in the dining area, one in the kitchen, and so on. As long as Dragomir was within a hundred yards of any of the bracelets, he would not be able to shift or use his abilities. Even with the hour reprieve they’d given him, it would take many months for Dragomir to heal from his extensive injuries—Tariana promised she would bring a healer to see him and also check on him weekly to make sure he remained undercontrol.
By the time the five of them finally returned to Dragon’s Keep, it was well past sunset. “I’m starving,” Alistair complained as they walked up the steps. “I don’t think we’ve eaten since this morning,Lucyan.”
“I admit to feeling a bit faint,” Dareena said, passing a hand over her forehead. “I’m not used to going without food for so longanymore.”
“Damn,” Drystan swore, putting his arm around Dareena’s waist. He searched her face, his gaze round with concern. “Of course, you need to be eating more—the babe needsnourishment!”
The brothers all gathered around Dareena like mother hens, practically carrying her to the dining room despite her protests that she was fine, just hungry and tired. Catriona ordered dinner brought up to them, and soon enough, they sat around the table, stuffing themselves with roasted duck, spiced rice, and vegetables. Dareena’s strength quickly returned, and though she was a bit envious that the others were enjoying their wine, overall she was just happy they were all togetheragain.
Halfway through their meal, the door opened, and the steward brought Tariana in, along with the elvensiblings.
