“David!” Her voice sounded distant. “Stop! David!”

  It wasn’t until Lucille grabbed my arm that my mind seemed to start working again. From the moment that woman had flown off with my mother, I had seemingly lost myself. I walked down the pathway, leaving behind my sister who was still injured from being tossed around. She had managed with some effort and the help of the dragon to catch up, hobbling along while holding to his side.

  I turned to her, a face filled with anger and rage. “What is it?

  She let go, taking a step back. I immediately schooled my face and suppressed my anger. Looking around, we were already halfway off the pteau. It looked like I had made some distance. We still weren’t out of wyvern territory, but after the arming magic mother cast, I had a feeling even the drakes would avoid the area for some time.

  “Wh-what now?” It sounded like she was going to ask something else but quickly changed it.

  “I am going to get her back,” I responded.

  “She’s probably…” Lucille wilted under my severe look. “It won’t be possible. Mother always gets what she wants.”

  I tried again to soften my appearance. “There is nothing else I can do but try. She now has two women that I love.”

  “I see…” she responded quietly. “I can’t convince you to run the other way?”

  “That way?” I asked, pointing back across the wyrm-filled pteau that had nearly been our deaths countless times.

  She cringed slightly. “No, I mean, we could take the long way-”

  “It’s them…” I was still looking around, and from my pce halfway down the pteau, I could see the exit to Hedgemon’s Pass in the distance.

  There was a crowd of people camped at the mouth of said canyon. A group that rge could be none other than Duheart and his men. After considering things carefully for a bit, I started walking down toward them. I’d likely be seen from our higher vantage point eventually if I wasn’t seen already. They had somehow reacquired horses, and they could ride us down. By the fact their numbers had been replenished, it was clear there had been a group waiting on this side of the canyon for their return. They were healed, resupplied, and restocked for the final leg of the journey.

  The pce they were camped at would be the same exit the rest of the party would take. That meant that the rest of the party’s capture was as certain as our own. Duheart’s goal was to take me to the queen. I had only broken away from him to rescue my mother. Now that my mother and queen were in the same location, our goals once again aligned. I had never had any pn of following Lucille’s desires and fleeing, but this meant that that pn was impossible. Lucille let out a long sigh, seeming to understand the situation as well. She began to follow after me again, leaning against Aster for support.

  We had only made it to the bottom of the canyon by the time we were noticed and they sent men toward us. Rather than continuing forward, I decided to wait for them to arrive.

  “Brace yourselves,” I warned Lucille.

  “They won’t attack us.” Lucille frowned.

  “Us, no… Aster, possibly.”

  “Aster?”

  “Ah… that’s his name.” I had forgotten earlier to tell them about my decision.

  “Aster…” She repeated, looking over and stroking the dragon. “You’re name is Aster.”

  Aster preened under the head rub, acting much more like a pet than a furious beast. The Lucille that had originally been terrified of the dragon was nowhere inside. Perhaps Mother had rubbed off on her, and now she seemed to coddle the beast. Well, she needed him to stand, so I’m sure it wasn’t all intentional.

  As the horsemen drew near, Aster’s affectionate expression changed to one of distress. He lowered his ears and bared his teeth at the men. Lucille made sure to pnt herself directly in front of the dragon before they could react.

  “Woah!” The men shouted as they started to surround us while drawing weapons.

  “It’s a drake!” One of them cried out, pointing his sword.

  “It’s not!” Lucille responded. “This animal is under my protection!”

  “Raaaawr!” Aster roared, but it was pathetic compared to the likes of even a drake.

  Anyone who had ever seen a drake would know that he wasn’t even close to that size. That said, these men had a clean look, and probably weren’t part of the men who had made it through the canyon alive. Then again, I wasn’t sure how many if any of the men had seen the drakes when they snatched us.

  “We need to kill him!” Another soldier stated.

  “He won’t harm anyone,” I spoke up this time. “However, if you dare hurt him, we won’t come peacefully.”

  The one in charge lifted his gauntleted hand, calming the soldiers behind him as he looked at me. “Is that a threat, devil? You should know that we’ve acquired you… companions. If you dare act up, don’t bme us if we no longer act politely.”

  His words instantly caused me to feel angry, but before I could say anything, Lucille suddenly erupted with magical power. The hair of my arms rose as the air became filled with static. The only one besides myself who didn’t seem armed by this was Aster.

  “And you should know that this creature is worth a thousand of your lives.” She snapped. “If you touch him, I will extract the price before you bring me down!”

  “Are you mad?” He shouted. “Using magic this close the pteau… you’re asking for death!”

  “Who’s death will she bring, I wonder?” I asked, unperturbed.

  Realizing by our expressions that we weren’t swayed by his threats, and feeling the imminent danger of her half-formed spell, he stiffened before turning his steed away.

  “I will take you to Lord Duheart to speak!”

  The spell disappeared, and once the men got their horses under control, they made an arc leading us. Lucille did her best not to show it, but I had watched her carefully. That had all been for show. She was already exhausted, and that had only succeeded in exhausting her further. The only reason she didn’t colpse to the ground that moment was that she had a grip on Aster’s side.

  As we moved to follow the soldiers, I made sure I ended up next to her. I wrapped an arm around her waist, appearing like I was showing her affection. In reality, I was helping her walk. She gave me an appreciative walk, but it quickly turned to blush as she looked away. Between my grip and Aster’s support, we were able to move forward and keep up with the guards. Aster walked with his head lowered, gring suspiciously at the soldiers.

  “I’ll be fine.” Lucille decred after about ten minutes of walking.

  “Is this a problem?” I asked, giving her a side look.

  “Y-you’re my brother… the soldiers already look at us strangely. I don’t want them to-” She stopped, not seeming to be able to find the words to finish whatever she was going to say.

  “I don’t care,” I responded. “They can look all they want.”

  She missed a step, but I managed to keep her from falling. She shot me a look, her face growing even brighter.

  “It’s not that… it’s just… if you hold me much longer,” her voice came out like a whisper.

  That made things a bit awkward. I still wasn’t sure exactly how I felt about Lucille. I had only just found out that she was in love with me, and that her standoffish behavior had been more of a coping mechanism than anything. It was more than being in love with me. She had been driven mad with lust, only to finally give in to it and become ensved. Her infatuation had then been denied for years, with a woman who taught her to hate instead of love.

  At the very least, she was already ensved, so I did not need to seduce her or increase the intimacy between us. Thus, such as in this situation where proximity was starting to bug her, I dropped my arm and gave her space. The rest of the walk took another hour at our pace. The sun was just starting to set when we finally moving into the camp. As we entered, I heard a voice cry out.

  “David! You’re okay.” It was Saria who cried out with emotion, trying to run to us, but stopping just short of the guards around us.

  I smiled at her. “I’ve survived, as always.”

  Looking at my smile, she immediately crossed her arms and sniffed. “Well, that’s expected. Since I wasn’t able to kill you, why would I think a drake could finish the job?”

  I chuckled. “I worried about you as well…”

  “There was a sudden… something… with the mana, and then Baba said it was okay to leave. We were snatched by these bastards coming out of the cavern.” She quickly gave her account, before looking around. “Your… is she…”

  She didn’t finish the words, but I nodded. “She made it. For reasons, she wasn’t able to join me.”

  She frowned thoughtfully before nodding behind me at the dragon. “Is that one of the reasons?”

  “Yes… and no.”

  “What does that mean? Well, if she’s not around to harass me anymore, I say good riddance!”

  “Move along!” One of the men growled, but then he gave a weary look Lucille’s way.

  She was too tired to notice, but I decided to move on anyway. Saria tried to act tough, but she was perhaps the most emotional woman in the group. I could tell with just a look in her eyes how much concern she had not just for me, but my mother as well. She was the kind of woman who never would admit her true emotions but gave them away with every action and every look.

  As we were ushered on, I only got a single gnce of the other girls. I’d like to say they were teary-eyed over my disappearance, but they looked mostly cold and emotionless. The st they would have seen me, I was picked up and carried away by a drake. Any rational person would consider that certain death. For the st few days, they would have had to contend with the fear that I was dead. Of course, I had left them in a bad situation too, but it wasn’t nearly as dire as my own. I would have to spend a certain amount of effort apologizing to the girls, especially Aeryn. She could be extremely prickly.

  “That baby drake will need to stay out here.” The guard in front of the tent decred as we stopped in front of it.

  I had wondered what the men were thinking with the dragon walking through camp. The men leading us back had sent a runner ahead of us, so they were warned ahead of time. Still, if they realized the importance of this little creature, I had no clue if they’d want to protect it or destroy it. They might very well hold the same attitude as the drakes. A future dragon was a future threat. It might be better to kill him now than risk the consequences.

  It turned out they had decided we had stumbled across and tamed a baby drake. Perhaps that was an easier pill to swallow compared to the idea that a legendary creature that was all but extinct had a baby, and that baby was now traveling with us.

  Lucille looked over at Aster worriedly. It was clear she was reluctant to leave him. It was a bit surprising just how much she had changed in such a short trip. She had originally put all of her faith in the faery and depended on them completely. Now, she didn’t even trust them for a moment. Seeing her uncertain look, the guard’s face twitched.

  “We won’t touch it without direct orders.” The man reassured her. “From the queen herself.”

  She only rexed after hearing that second part. She gave a nod, and slowly let go of the dragon. Two of the men tried to walk over to the dragon, and then it let out a hiss at them. Lucille touched Aster gently, and then gesture for it to wait over by the stables. The dragon gave out a huff of breath and then moved to the location she had stated, causing everyone to sigh relief. The soldier held open the tent and the two of us entered to see a shirtless Duheart. He had a servant with him who was nursing several wounds on his body, pulling off old wrappings, and applying clean ones. His eyes narrowed when he saw us.

  “So, you’ve managed to survive somehow.”

  I shrugged. “It was no thanks to you or your men, I assure you.”

  He grimaced. “I lost 90% of the men I took through. You’ve besmirched my record.”

  “Me?” I gave an innocent look. “How could I be responsible? We were attacked, and I only did what was necessary to survive.”

  “Then you were snatched away by a drake, spent an entire night in the pteau without shelter, and yet somehow came back alive?”

  “I found shelter.” I shrugged. “I was quite lucky.”

  “And what of that sudden wave of mana? Did that have nothing to do with you?”

  I blinked. “Should it? It was very lucky that it came through. It seemed to scare the drakes and wyvern into submission. I don’t think we’d have managed our escape without.”

  He frowned slightly, staring at me as if looking for something. After a moment, he grunted as the woman pressed too hard on one of his dressings.

  “Apologies, Master.” She bowed her head.

  He ignored her, turning back to me. “Yes, that mana wave was illusive. We were pnning to take advantage of it when your group stumbled out of the cavern. We made sure the question them thoroughly, but they all said that you and your sister were dragged away. I’d be very interested in hearing the story of how you escaped.”

  “It’s hardly so grand.” I waved my hand. “The drake dropped us into its treasure pile. It didn’t feel like dealing with us at the time. It ate and took a nap, and we found ourselves trapped the night with it blocking our entrance out of the cave. We didn’t dare try to sneak past it. Thankfully, in the morning, just before it was going to feast on me and do who knows what with Lucille, that mana struck. Its eyes went wide and it suddenly fled the cave. Of course, we knew an opportunity when we saw one. I even managed to loot a fair amount before we fled.”

  “What of the pilr of light that came about an hour before you appeared?” He asked.

  “Do you truly wonder what that is?” I inquired, cocking my head. “That was the queen.”

  He jerked, causing the servant to let out a cry as her bandage ripped away. However, if he felt any pain, he was ignoring it.

  “What did you say?”

  I had decided that I would cover up everything regarding the dragon, his death, and the baby. Perhaps, some people already knew what the mana surge meant. I didn’t know if Duheart was merely acting dumb or if he genuinely didn’t know. That’s why I dissociated myself from the event as much as possible. However, when it came to the queen’s appearance, I saw no reason to live. Rather, I was very interested in his reaction. The entire reason he had dragged me here was that the queen wanted it to happen, and he was trying to win her favor.

  “The faery queen appeared,” I responded simply. “She killed a drake with a powerful magic spell, and then she left.”

  “You can’t imagine I’m foolish enough to believe that!” He snapped, his usually controlled demeanor lost.

  “Do you know anyone else powerful enough to unch a spell like that?” I asked flippantly.

  I did know someone that powerful. At least, she was supposed to be. Baba was supposed to be a powerful magician that every kingdom feared. Yet, I had never seen her use a tenth of the magic that the Faery Queen had used to kill that dragon. I had felt more terror and power emanating from that woman in that short meeting than I had ever felt from Baba, even at her best. That didn’t mean I underestimated her. If anything, it told me that she was good at hiding her true ability. I just hoped her act had fooled everyone else.

  The man slowly willed himself to calm down, his shoulders slouching. “I see… so, she’s already come to make sure I’m doing my job properly. Furthermore, she caught me failing. If she had to defeat a drake, then your death should have occurred. It's no wonder you were able to make it through alive with her protection.”

  His words sound oddly depressed like he had heard something very unfortunate. It seemed like he had wanted to show that woman she could bring me back without her involvement. This left me a bit curious. Just what was the retionship this man had with the faery queen?

  “I’m a bit surprised that she was willing to save me in the first pce,” I responded. “Keeping me alive in the first pce is one thing, but to go out of her way to save me again is another.”

  “She likely already knows. That’s why she summoned you,” he responded, gring at me. “I only just heard upon our return.

  “What? Why did she summon me?” I asked.

  “It’s about the human king.” He malicious grin formed on his face.

  “Father?” Lucille asked. “What about him?”

  “He’s dead.” He decred. “The succession has already begun.”

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