Page 45 of The Forgotten Throne

“Errit,” Jade and Paxton said together.

“You two seem pretty certain about that—why?” Izel inquired.

“If you ever want to keep something a secret, you lose it in the wastelands of Errit,” Paxton explained. “There is nothing out there and you have to have the right set of skills to survive.”

“There are many plateaus, ravens, and caves that you could hide things in. It’d be best place to put smuggled goods. No one’s ever found my hideaway, and that’s where I made it,” Jade said. “Tahir and I hid our there for a few months after Acton framed me for killing my parents. I was sent on a job to kill an official and his wife who were going to leak the location of one of the clans to the king and queen. I was the only one who could get in close enough to get the guy since he was already in the Royal City. What Acton didn’t tell me was that my father was the man who was going to sell us out. The room was dark and I don’t make a habit out of looking my targets in the eye. It wasn’t until I’d already done the deed and heard my name on my mother’s dying breath. Of course I returned to the clan confronting Acton about it but he claimed he had no idea what I was talking about. He’d always hated our father, he beat on Acton when he didn’t come out as the best for his training year. Then our father married my mother once he found out she was pregnant and had me who he doted on. Acton’s first move as Clan Leader was to call a meeting of the Clan Leaders and put me on trial. Somehow Acton framed things to look like I’d known what I was getting into and took the job so I could have the leader’s position and would kill him too if given the chance. I was banished from the clan lands for a year as punishment and I was just on my way back when I rescued Cassarah.”

Jade rubbed the back of his neck as we all just stared at him in shock. “All that to say is I hid out in Errit for most of that time working as an assassin since people there will pay a pretty penny to make their problems go away. After a year exploring the place and hunting down my targets in the canyons, I still didn’t find everything there was to see. It would be perfect to lose a dragon there.”

“I have to agree with the man, it’s where people go to lose things,” Paxton added.

“Fine, so we have a place to start looking but as Jade made clear, it might be impossible to find if you don’t know where to look,” Abbott pointed out.

“Then we give them a reason to use his dragon,” I determined. “If you were the Lost King, what would you want to stop from happening at all costs?” I could feel their eyes on me as I moved to the window that looked out over the village. “Send an invitation to the King and Queen of Creisal to my coronation.”

Chapter Twenty-Nine

Great Risks Great Rewards

“Are you out of your damn mind!” Cole snapped.

“You realize by doing that you are broadcasting that we exist to the whole world right?” May added, folding her arms over her chest telling me that she was very upset with me.

“How exactly do you think that’s going to go over when she finds out that we are holding her sister captive and killed the king?” Paxton questioned.

Gavin lifted his fingers to his lips and let out a shrill whistle shutting everyone up. “Now that I have your attention, I think that Cassarah is making the right move. If I go and extend the invitation let her know that I am consort to the Dragon Queen and she is invited to the coronation she can’t refuse. It’s like saying she won’t come to my wedding and that would reflect poorly on her which she will never allow. Since Mother sent out a message to her already for them to talk regarding the Lost King and telling her about our alliance, she won’t be any the wiser about what has transpired here. Mother is under careful watch and hasn’t been allowed any visitors but my brother and I. If the Lost King thinks that we are building an alliance with Creisal before he can make a move it will give us the numbers to stand a fighting chance on the chance we can’t find his dragon and destroy it.”

“And the Prince thinks his brother has all the brains,” Becka teased, clapping him on the back. “Okay so we send this letter, the king and queen accept, then what? Are they going to stay in the castle with us? Do we have the staff to handle whoever they might bring, because if I know noble people they don’t go anywhere without people to attend them.”

Moving to the desk I pulled out a sheet of paper, quill, ink, and blotter before taking my seat. “We will be on the fourth floor allowing these rooms to be used for the Creisal royalty and their attendance. We just have to move everything out of the rooms and put it in storage until we can go through it in detail later. The staff is already preparing to host the whole village I think at this point adding more people won’t be an issue.”

“Yeah says the woman who clearly has no idea how much work that really will be,” Becka mutters, running her hands through her hair. I gave her a disapproving look which made her groan. “Fine! I’ll see what we can do to get this dealt with as soon as possible, but what do you plan to do with things here?”

“This study while connected to the king’s bedroom can be locked and spelled to keep them out. It still allows them the sitting room, dressing room, and bedroom, plenty of space to have them stay for a few days,” I answered as I transcribed the one and only invitation that would be going out. “Gavin, would you be able to leave right away to deliver this?”

“Absolutely but only if Pax comes with me. I’ve never flown on my own that far and he knows the lay of the land having been there far more recently than I have,” Gavin said, turning to the man in question.

Paxton made a big show of being put out but relented like we all knew he would. “What the hell better to be doing this than dusting the furniture for visiting royalty.”

Rummaging through the desk I found what I needed for a wax seal and press that had the Sheca royal symbol on it. Finished I stood and walked over to Gavin tucking the letter into his tunic where I knew it would be safe before pulling him into a kiss. I let my fingers comb through his hair as his lips moved against mine and his fingers dug into my hips trying to hold himself back from taking this further. Breaking the kiss I looked up into his eyes. “Be safe my prince, have Ninnat or Gatir reach out to Vasin if there is any trouble.”

“Don’t worry love, we’ll be just fine,” Gavin answered, pressing a kiss to my forehead.

Pulling out of his hold I went to Paxton who watched me with uncertainty. We’ve become much better friends since we first met but I think he’ll always be one who can get a rise out of me no matter what. I liked that about him though, it brought out the fiery side of me that I didn’t know I possessed. “Make sure you come back to me in one piece. That’s a direct order from your queen.”

He grinned at my sassy words and reached out to snatch me close before dipping me back and kissing the hell out of me. It wasn’t long before I could feel the heat of it searing through my body as it made my toes curl. Righting me, he winked. “As the queen commands, I, her humble servant shall do.”

“Don’t make me do this without you watching my back,” I whispered as I clutched his shirt, letting him see how much he was starting to mean to me.

“I promise on my life that I will return and together we will make that bastard king wish he’d never come for us,” Paxton vowed in the most serious tone I’d ever heard him use. Cupping my cheek he kissed me again, this one full of promise and feeling before he let me go and headed for the stairs to the tower.

Watching them both leave I started to move forward but strong arms wrapped around me trapping me against his chest. “Tell me they’ll be alright, Day.”

“There is one thing I can promise you, Cassy-bear, and that is those men will do whatever it takes to get back here to you. That’s what men in love do, they defy all the odds against them to make it back to the woman who holds their heart and soul,” Dayson murmured as he rested his head on mine.

The shadow of their dragons taking flight passed over the windows alerting us to their departure. It shouldn’t take them more than half a day to get there and it was the middle of the afternoon. Chances were his aunt would want them to stay the night and leave in the morning making their return late morning. What could go wrong?

The rest of that day was spent cleaning out the king’s room starting with the closet since it held all the chests of clothing. I asked that it be sent to Talia so if she could use anything in them to repurpose and make clothes for others to do so. I’m sure after four hundred years they were a little out of style but the material was still good. By the time we were done and with removing everything and cleaning the basics I wanted nothing more than a hot bath and someone to rub my shoulders. Becka, bless her, made us a simple dinner with Abbott’s help since I was useless in the kitchen.