Page 12 of The Forgotten Throne

“No need for wagons when you have dragons,” Zan announced. “There are a hundred dragons waiting in the area to take supplies and people back to Sheca. Cassarah also arranged for another wave of them to come if we need them.”

Becka’s jaw dropped open. “How can that be?”

“Welcome to what we’ve been telling ourselves since we arrived there,” Abbott muttered, running his hands through his hair. “I’m gonna go find Ballard and Cole and fill them in on the change.”

“Zan, you should stay with Cassarah and Becka. I’ll go help Dayson and May,” Izel suggested.

“I’ll make sure no one gets any crazy ideas and tries to attack our queen,” Zan said with a salute and a grin.

Since Zan arrived, I haven’t really had time with him alone. None of the guys felt comfortable with him to do that yet. So, the fact that Izel was giving him this opportunity was somewhat of a big deal.

“So what can the three of us do?” I inquired, turning to my two companions.

“I would say let’s go check in with the stables, but those are at the base of the mountain and it’s a long way there just to come all the way back,” Becka mused as she looked over a sheet of paper with notes written on it. “To be honest, things are going really smoothly. It’s just the act of getting everyone out of here that will be the trick.”

“Did we get a head count of how many people would benefit from being flown out of here?” I asked. “It might be a good idea to start separating out who will be leaving from up here, so we don’t send them all the way out that entrance.”

Becka snapped her fingers together and grinned at me. “This is why you’re the queen. Brain like a fox you have, Cassarah. Okay, so new plan. We’ll go through who is in the staging area that May set up for those they have checked so far. We can direct them to the stables or the ledge for their exit. Are you thinking of just elderly and those who can’t make the journey, or kids too?”

“You two would offer a better suggestion on that. I haven’t spent much time with children, but I imagine they would be easier to have ride double on dragons if we needed,” I pointed out.

“That is a good thought,” Zan agreed. “Let’s start with those we know won’t be able to make it on foot or horseback and go from there. We have plenty of dragons at our disposal. It’s more about the best situation for the ground travelers.”

“Perfect, I like this plan,” Becka cheered as we headed off to start the process.

May had set up a staging area for those going to Sheca to ensure they were bringing along things that wouldn’t slow them down. Once they passed through, then they would get supplied with food rations for the day and sent to the third section to wait and eat a bowl of hot porridge. The third section was where we headed and decided it was best to mark people’s hands with a S for stable or D for dragon. As more people were added to the mix, we wouldn’t get lost in who we talked to. Time flew by and when we were finished, the sun was already halfway up the mountains, but it was all worth it. According to the numbers that Becka had, we were only going to be short about two hundred horses versus the three hundred before the dragons.

“This is going to make things so much easier. If we can keep the kids on the horses and have the adults walk, it will save us time,” Zan said as we looked over the work we’d done.

“I had no idea we had so many elders and children in the clans. When I read about how our civilization was dying, I didn’t think of it in actual humans, just numbers on a page,” I mused, watching the kids running around the space oblivious to what was really going on.

Zan stepped closer, bumping his shoulder against mine. “Just think how many more will start arriving once everyone gets settled in Sheca. Those who haven’t found marriage partners might and some who have been holding off because of other fears might no longer be an issue. This move will be good for both factions. They just don’t know it yet.”

“By the way you’re talking, you sound like a hopeless romantic,” I teased, nudging him back.

“That’s because I am. Even though I have Ezzu and can function like a normal person, people always see me as broken or needing to be taken care of because I’m blind. If not for that, I could have been a higher rank in our military, but they didn’t want to take the risk that I’d miss something important. Although now that I see the big picture, I should be thankful they didn’t. Otherwise, I never would have been on patrol and found you.”

This caused me to give him my full attention. Even though he refused to look at me, Ezzu’s golden eyes were peering at me, letting me know he could see me. “Zan, I might not know a lot about you yet, but one thing I do know, is that you are far from broken and no one needs to coddle you. From what I’ve seen, you have the heart of a warrior, and you are deeply loyal to your heritage, willing to protect it with your life. It seems that whatever you give that loyalty to, you protect with everything you have. The man who attacked me, trying to save Vasin is not someone who thinks of himself as defective or disabled in any way, so why should I treat him any different?”

Zan shifted to face me, and I got the feeling he was searching for something in my expression before he reached out and took my hand. “You, Cassarah, are one of the few people I truly believe sees me as a whole person who can be useful. I see your honest heart in everything you do, putting others before yourself. These people have no idea how lucky they are to have you as their queen, but they will soon. I’ll make sure of it.”

“So does that mean I am one of the lucky few who have earned your loyalty?” I asked, giving him a soft smile as a blush heated my cheeks.

“I have a feeling you will have much more than that the more time I get to spend around you,” he whispered, giving my hand a gentle squeeze before he let go. “I think it’s time we get these people moving, don’t you?”

With a nod, we headed out to find where they were working on supplies so we could get those loaded up first.

Chapter Eight

So the Journey Starts

When we entered the strategy room, we found a huge argument going on with the Clan Leaders as well as King Edward and Queen Mary with Gavin trying to defuse the situation.

“Surely there has to be a mistake. Why would I allow another to ride with me on my dragon?” King Edward demanded. “What if they try to harm me? I’ve seen the looks they have been giving us. We aren’t welcome here.”

“Father, it makes sense to allow those who can’t make the journey to go first,” Gavin argued, standing up to his father.

“As Clan Leaders, we need to arrive first so we can be there to greet our people and make sure they are being taken care of. There is no way the queen meant for us to take the long route. We know nothing about this place and to send our children off without their parents is ludicrous,” Xio stated.