by L J Andrews
“Was she…kind to you?”
I heard the pain in Gaia’s voice. I smiled and nodded. “She was the best. You couldn’t have asked a kinder woman to raise me.”
She smiled, wiping away a tear and faced Thane. “We must get her,” she whispered. “Bron will destroy anyone to manipulate Teagan once he learns I’ve escaped. You know how he is.”
Thane nodded, meeting my eye again. “She’ll be brought to us—she will have to face the truth.”
“Bron will kill Aunt Liz?”
Gaia nodded. “Without a doubt.”
“I will go and fetch her,” Raffi offered. “We placed Haitian as her protection after Bron attacked the first time. I will send word we’re coming.”
“I will go with you,” said Leoch.
“What about the royals?” I asked, thinking of Sapphire and Eisha.
Tao and two more warriors stepped forward. “We will go and bring them to us,” he muttered.
Thane agreed with a nod at the warriors. “As soon as it’s light,” he said.
Gaia drifted around the fire toward me, Mitch moved so she could sit next to me. Taking my hand she smiled softly. “I know you probably have a lot of questions, but I also know you found the warriors to help free the queen from King Nag.”
I nodded. “Jade went with them to protect me. I’m not going to let her sacrifice everything, and none of us should.”
The warriors nodded, those still in full form puffed steam from their snouts.
“She won’t,” Thane said. “We won’t let it happen.”
Gaia clutched my hand, her eyes soft and inviting. I probably could have spent the entire night sitting close with her. “I will answer any questions you have. You, and your father are what matter the most to me. There is a power when strong families are united. Because of you we are together again. I made a vow long ago to defend the jade bloodline. My bond may be severed, but I promise you tonight I will never stop until she is free.”
I saw from beneath her sheer black top, Gaia had a large seal on her back. I recognized the beautiful design of the wyvern warrior—the green dragon head with jaws open and flames spilling toward her neck in beautiful gilded ribbons. I smiled, feeling a deeper connection to her, and to Thane. They understood how deep my bond went with Jade, having experienced it themselves. Everyone around the fire agreed to stop at nothing until King Nag was destroyed.
I knew a dark battle was coming. I knew I would face Bron again—now I had much more to lose. Yet, Gaia was right. Sitting with Thane, Gaia, and all the people who had been a part of my life, there was a burning, subtle power building in strength and energy. In the distance I heard the soft whispers of the trees. Dark power was rising. It was dangerous, but like the rise of the sun there was also a burning truth that the power of the mage and elemental wyverns would be there to face the darkness head on.
Part Four
The Queen
Chapter 23
The room was comfortable, though it was still a prison. A large canopied bed, lined in a black satin duvet was supposed to bring me rest, but I wouldn’t rest. Not when my soul was tormented. Perhaps it was all in my mind, but I had sensed all day that something had happened to Teagan. I feared the worst, but still maintained hope that all would be well when the seal on my arm burned against my skin.
I had yet to see King Nag. The elusive lindworm king remained hidden away in his expansive manor. We’d flown for a full day, far from Wyvern Willows. As I’d flown, I felt each heart breaking amongst my people as the knowledge that their queen had joined with the lindworms swept across the elemental race. I wiped away a tear, praying to the stars that they might one day forgive me. That Teagan would forgive me.
I’d seen the desperation in his eyes when he was powerless to stop me. Each crack in his heart weighed heavy on my shoulders as I sat in the still of the night across the lindworms’ borders. The only breath of relief I’d enjoyed was Prince Ced had yet to unite with me. The prince had said little while we’d traveled to his father’s home, and after we’d arrived Aldwin had whisked me away. I hadn’t seen Ced since, partly because I refused to leave the bed chamber I’d been provided. Perhaps the lindworm prince wasn’t as anxious to have me as his mate as his father.
I startled when a soft knock came to my door. Heat flashed through my neck when I peered toward the large wooden door.
“My queen,” a soft voice whispered.
I nearly crumbled to the threaded rug when I saw her face. “Amber?”
Amber was years older than me, but she didn’t look much older when we were both in our human forms. Her blonde hair trailed well below her waistline and her golden eyes glowed in the dark when she shoved into the room. Amber wrapped her strong arms around my neck—she was a head taller than me, and thicker boned. But Amber had a genuine beauty about her soul. I knew I’d been young when our families were divided, but my heart swelled as though my child’s memory could recall every beautiful thing about the amber bloodline.
“I knew you’d arrived, I sensed your presence immediately. How did they take you? Do they have your stone?”
I shook my head and sat beside the expansive bay window at the back of the manor. “No, they don’t have the stone. I don’t know who has my stone to be honest. Amber, I…came willingly.”
Amber gaped. “Why would you do that?” Her voice wasn’t angry, simply surprised.
I stared at the black sky again and sighed. “They had the ability to slaughter everyone I held dear. Onyx, Ruby, and Sapphire were with me. You and I would have been the only royals left. And…my mage.”
“Your mage? I knew the other bloodlines remained intact. Even my mage burst from the shadows when the lindworms came. I’m just grateful she escaped with her life. I didn’t realize there was still a mage bond with the jade bloodline.”
I nodded and without invitation, I dove into the entire tale of how Teagan Ward had become a part of my life. Amber listened intently, clutching tight to my hand when I revealed the mage seal in my arm.
“Jade,” she whispered. “I think…I think I’ve heard Nag speaking with the dark High Priest about this mage. Nag is intrigued by him—I would imagine he will be left alive until the lindworms have a fair shot at corrupting him.”
My body slumped forward, and I had the crushing desire to be close to Teagan. I didn’t know what had become of anyone. I believed if Bron had returned and killed them everyone would lie to me anyway.
“Even if I despise their reasons, it gives me hope he is still alive.”
“The dark High Priest is angry tonight, though I didn’t hear what had happened,” Amber whispered.
“The High Priestess broke free from her prison.”
Both Amber and I whipped our faces toward the open doorway. I swallowed a jagged ball of hatred from the back of my throat, and protectively took my place in front of Amber when Prince Ced stepped out from the shadows.
“Leave us in peace,” I snarled.
Ced smirked and sat on the edge of the bed. “Aren’t you a little curious about what I just told you?”
Amber cleared her throat and glanced at me before stepping forward. “What do you mean the High Priestess escaped?”
Ced smiled playfully. “Just what I said. The dark High Priest had her trapped in a prison. Well, tonight it was made clear by a bloodied, lindworm warrior who escaped the battle, that the High Priestess was broken free. Of course that soldier died shortly after when Bron started raging. What a waste of a life,” Ced replied, leaning back on his elbow along the mattress.
I studied the prince—he was known as the Prince of Night, but his eyes were surprisingly bright when I imagined they wouldn’t be. Ced had wavy ebony hair that hung around his face, and his mouth always seemed to be smirking like he knew something no one else did. I guess he could be considered handsome—except that he was a lindworm.
I crossed my arms over my chest and stepped forward, sneering down my nose at the prince. “How did she escape?”
I hoped Ced couldn’t hear the tremble in my voice.
Ced smiled at me, and I suspected he was playing with my emotions a bit. “This is the part I thought you’d be most interested in. Curious things happened today—according to the dead warrior. The morning began as usual—boring, endless protections of the invisible prison. In my opinion a complete waste of forces. No one has come close to the area in nearly twenty years. But Bron insisted on guards at all times.”
“Are you going to tell us what happened or give us a history lesson on Bron’s prison?” I snapped.
Ced rose to his feet, and smirked as he brushed his shoulder against mine and stared out the window. “I’m just creating the setting, Queen Jade. As I said, the morning started as usual. Then, everything changed. The report came that an army of elemental warriors, complete with mage, attacked the prison.”
I drew in a painful breath. “Our warriors broke her free?” I shot a glance at Amber, daring to hope.
“Oh, yes. They fought valiantly—the entire protection of the prison was slaughtered.” Ced wasn’t smiling now. “Pointless bloodshed,” he muttered under his breath. “But the interesting part—a piece of the story Bron didn’t hear because the lindworm warrior returned to true form when he saw the anger surging from the dark High Priest. But I heard.”
“Heard what?” I shrieked when Ced stared at me for a deafening pause.
Ced chuckled. “He spoke of an unusual mage. A mage that had the blades of Bron.”
I stumbled backward. “That’s Teagan,” I gasped toward Amber. “He found her.”
“Yes,” Ced replied with a grin.
I narrowed my gaze at the prince. “Why do you seem so pleased. Aren’t you angry that he’s alive? That he’s found his mother? Because I promise you prince, they’ll be coming for you.”
“Oh, I hope they do, Queen Jade.”
Amber shoved in front of me. “You can’t force her to unite with you!” she shouted. “I will die before I allow you to take my queen.”
Ced studied Amber’s face for several heartbeats before he stood once more and paused only a few paces away. “I wouldn’t want to see you harmed in any way, Amber,” he said sincerely before his eyes drifted toward me. “I don’t wish to be mated with you, Jade.”
The silence enveloped the room, and the only sound I heard was the rapid pounding of my heart. “What? I don’t understand.”
Ced smiled, and folded his hands behind his back. “Don’t mistake me, you are a very enticing wyvern. But, I agreed to this arrangement so that I might get you to come here.” Ced stepped closer so his face was mere inches away. “I want my father’s plans to be destroyed. I do not want the power of the stones, but I do want to unite the wyvern race. The energy of the night is valuable, but unlike my father, I want all the energies of the earth to remain. All I desire is the lindworms and elemental wyverns be joined again as one people. I value the human race, the mage people. I wanted you here, so we might end this war once and for all and bring peace to the wyverns.”
I couldn’t speak while the truth of Ced’s words overwhelmed my body. My skin prickled as I considered everything he was saying. Finally, I glanced at the prince. “You’re not loyal to your father?”
Ced scoffed. “My father hardly knows I’m alive. I’m his youngest son, and he clearly sees I don’t have the same bloodlust as him or my brothers. I haven’t been loyal to the lindworm way of thought since my first breath. I know how powerful the elemental royals are, Jade. I know how strong your bonds are with the mage. I hope you’ll help me see this through.”
“What if we chose not to trust you?” Amber snapped.
Ced sighed and looked at the threads in the carpet. “Then I will find a way to free you both. But,” he said inching closer, his voice deepening. “I hope you will stay a little longer and help me plan a way to end this war.”
No one spoke. I sensed Amber’s eyes on me, but I only looked at Ced. He never faltered. He only waited for a response.
“You will have to betray your family; you will be forced to conceal any inkling of your plan from Bron,” I offered.
Ced nodded. “Things I have been doing for years.”
“How will we put off the union?” I questioned.
Ced tugged on the ends of his hair and cocked his head. “That might be difficult, but we can find reasons to postpone. I see the seal on your arm, Jade. If this mage is strong enough to free the High Priestess, mating with you is the last thing I want to do.”
I dared smile. Even Amber scoffed though she tried to hide it. Straightening my shoulders I lifted my chin and held out my hand between me and Ced. Cautiously the prince took hold, a shock of energy passing between us. “Agreed. Consider me an ally, Prince Ced. I look forward to destroying the war of ages with you.”
Ced kissed the top of my hand and laughed. Amber nodded her approval toward the prince and for the first time since arriving to the king’s manor I believed King Nag would soon come to regret taking the jade bloodline into his grasp.
