Aidan bowed his head. Ruari had thought of everything and given him no choice. If Aidan wanted to save himself, Phoebe, Bailey, and the children, he had to agree to his brother’s plans.
“Fine, I will forfeit candidacy, but I beg you not to ask that of Phoebe.” He glanced at his sister. “She is only here because of me.”
“Sorry, brother.” Ruari shook his head. “My terms are non-negotiable.”
“It’s alright,” Phoebe said, lifting her chin. “I will do as he asks as long as he keeps his end of the deal.”
“Oh, I will. Having a tamed dragon slayer on our side could prove useful in the future.” Ruari turned his gaze to Bailey. “Especially with a little more training.”
Aidan jerked the slayer behind him. “You will stay away from her!”
“Ah, so protective.” Ruari smiled. “I thought I sensed something more going on between you two. This relationship has been going on a lot longer than you wish me to think.”
And Aidan had just played right into his brother’s hands.
“Can I kill him?” Conrad asked, aiming a crossbow at Ruari’s head. While they’d been talking to each other, the young man had been taking action by sneaking around the truck to grab his weapon. Aidan decided Conrad might have his uses after all.
“Another slayer?” Ruari asked, his expression appalled.
“Nope,” Conrad answered. “But I got no problem getting my hands a little singed watching the slayer’s back.”
That much, no one could doubt, including Ruari who took a step back.
Aidan glared at his brother. “Perhaps you should get out of here before we decide the reward for killing you is greater than the risk of drawing the Shadowan to us.”
Ruari worked his jaw, knowing he was outmatched. “Very well, see you at home then.”
***
Aidan and Phoebe found their brother waiting for them outside the pendragon’s office. He leaned against the wall with his arms crossed. Torchlight flickered across his self-satisfied expression and highlighted his shaved head. Of course, Ruari was pleased with himself, considering he had just knocked two of his siblings out of the running, and there was a possibility the pendragon would not choose Zoran either after what they’d learned from Ember. They still didn’t know the full outcome of that, other than Throm, who had not been seen around the fortress since hearing whatever the sorcerer told him.
“Ready?” Ruari asked.
Aidan glanced at his sister, who gave a curt nod. “We are.”
“I will tell him about the Shadowan den we found first before you two put him in a bad mood,” Ruari said, then pushed the door open.
Throm sat at his desk, appearing as healthy as the day before. His bouts of illness came and went more frequently since they’d arrived on Earth, but Aidan found hope that this healthy period had lasted for almost two weeks now. No matter who became pendragon next—and he prayed it wasn’t Ruari—it would take time for them to grow into the position. The toriq couldn’t afford inexperienced leadership at a time like this.
“Three of my children at once?” Throm lifted a brow. “To what do I owe this visit?”
Ruari moved in front of the desk, standing tall and proud before their father. “With Aidan and Phoebe’s assistance, I have managed to locate the Shadowan den in the nearby human town. From what I could gather, it has at least eighty dragons nesting there.”
Aidan was rather surprised to hear his brother admitting he had help, though there was no rule against it. Falcon and Donar had helped him, and he had worked with Phoebe on her murder case. It was just that Ruari usually tried to take all the credit for anything he did that might please the pendragon.
Throm frowned. “That is a large den to be this close to their jakhal.”
Aidan had thought the same thing. Their jakhal was just to the north in what the humans called downtown Oklahoma City where there were many tall buildings for dragons to build their nests up higher. It was a prized area for them, and they’d fought the Thamaran heavily for it. In fact, the battle had been so great the tallest building was destroyed in the process.
“Perhaps it is because we are on their southeastern border, and they wish to remind us of their presence,” Aidan suggested.
Throm nodded. “You may be right.”
“Father, if I may,” Phoebe said, drawing the pendragon’s attention.
“Yes?”
“We have been hearing reports of human children in town being stolen by green dragons. Upon following up on this, we discovered Matrika to be the one taking them. Once we…” she paused to gesture at Aidan and Ruari, “looked at their den this morning we witnessed at least six children being led around outside.”
Throm drew his brows together. “What made you look into the missing children?”
“Why would I not? If we are to rule this territory and live with the humans peacefully, we must have their trust and cooperation. Locating and returning their children would be a good first step to showing them we are not like the pure dragons.” She took a deep breath. “Otherwise, they will have no reason to believe we are any different, and we will be forced to fight them as well.”
The pendragon studied Phoebe. “You grow wiser with each passing year, Daughter.”
Ruari cleared his throat. “I believe if we wish to save these human children before any more harm comes to them then we must attack soon.”
Of course, he was attempting to take credit for the idea along with Phoebe. Aidan was sorely tempted to point out that Ruari had only just learned about the children, and it was unlikely he cared at all, but it would not serve any purpose. Their most important objective was to gain the pendragon’s assent for the battle.
“It will take several days to plan and launch a proper offense. In the meantime, we have the Bitkal to conduct.” Throm stood. “The elders and I have come to a decision on which candidates we will nominate.”
“About that, father…” Aidan began.
“Come. The announcement will be made in the great hall. First meal is about to begin, and I would have as many witnesses as possible for it,” he said, sweeping out of the office without a backward glance.
Ruari shot Aidan and Phoebe a warning look. In their heads, he sent them a private message—Do not forget our deal!
They rushed to catch up with Throm, who walked at a surprisingly brisk pace for a man with little time left to live. Aidan couldn’t help thinking his father looked forward to this moment. He wanted to announce his chosen candidates for succession and discover who the elders had selected. Such an occasion only came around once every few centuries. In this case, it had been more than five hundred years. Not many in the toriq could recall the last one.
They entered the great hall, and the pendragon moved in front of the main fireplace. It was so massive that five men could stand inside and only need to crouch a little to fit—the mantle was even with Throm’s forehead. The pendragon beckoned the elders to stand beside him while Aidan and his siblings moved closer to the tables.
This was the moment they had been waiting for, and yet Aidan dreaded hearing the announcement. If his father didn’t select him, he would feel like he failed. If Throm did choose him, he would have to let his father down by declining. Phoebe stood stiffly next to him, likely thinking the same thing. As the pendragon began to speak, Aidan pulled himself from his thoughts to listen with both fear and anticipation of who he would choose.
“It is time to announce the participants for the Bitkal,” Throm said, his voice booming through the great hall. “I will not delay your meal long by making a lengthy speech—we all know the significance of this moment. I will announce my three choices first, and after I have finished the elders will name theirs.”
The room went silent. Everyone waited to hear who might be the next pendragon, knowing their future would soon be in the hands of one of those choices. Zoran stood in the corner of the room, his expression dark and stormy. Had the pendragon spoken to him already and what had he said? Aidan wishe
d he could have been there.
“My first two choices are…” Throm paused, ratcheting up the tension. “My son, Aidan, and my daughter, Phoebe. Both have proven to me they are loyal and that they have the best interests of the toriq at heart. Either of them would make a fine pendragon.”
Aidan felt fingers wrap around the back of his arm. Phoebe didn’t look at him, but she clutched him like he was the only thing keeping her standing. He understood her anxiety. Ruari stared at them both with an expression that said if they did not decline their nominations, he would do it for them. Already, he inched his way closer to their father in a threatening manner.
“And my final selection…” the pendragon began.
Ruari paused and puffed out his chest, ready to hear his name.
“…is Nanoq,” Throm finished. Then he gestured toward a man wearing a dark robe who entered from the far corridor. The male shifter moved to stand next to the pendragon and lowered his hood, revealing the face of the supposedly dead Captain of the Guard.
Shocked gasps filled the room and Aidan’s jaw dropped. Nanoq was alive? He glanced at Phoebe, who appeared just as surprised. She’d solved a murder case for a man who wasn’t really dead, but his attacker wouldn’t be long for this world.
“I don’t believe it,” she muttered.
A trace of a smile crossed Nanoq’s lips. “I do not die as easily as some might think.”
“I realize you have many questions,” Throm said, putting his hands up to gesture for silence. “When Nanoq was attacked, his wounds were grave. Enough that I chose to let our people think him dead so that we could investigate the crime with the would-be murderer believing they had succeeded. It reduced the chance they might flee before we caught them. I had hoped Nanoq would be able to name his attacker once he awoke from the healing process, but it took days for him to recover, and he had no memory of what occurred.”
The pendragon gestured at Phoebe. “Then my daughter found the one who assaulted him—Ember—and we received the confession we needed. But we also learned more. Guards, bring my eldest son forward!”
Zoran looked around him, saw the guards coming, and began to run for the main doors. Falcon stood in his path. The shape-shifter thrust an arm out, catching Zoran around the neck as he went by him. Aidan’s brother went heels up into the air and landed heavily on his back. The guards caught up to Zoran. Three piled on top of him to keep him down while the fourth produced a set of shackles to wrap around his wrists. After he was fully restrained, they hauled him to his feet.
Spitting mad and stumbling with each step, he was brought before the pendragon. “Father, I have done nothing wrong!”
Throm must not have told his son the details of Ember’s arrest and subsequent questioning, though their father must have said something to put Zoran on guard.
“First, I find out you did not kill Blayze as you led us all to believe,” the pendragon began, tone furious. “You took credit for it after a man—a male dragon slayer who you should have reported being in the area—had already killed Blayze and left his body and detached head for you to find!”
A male dragon slayer? Aidan glanced at Phoebe and found a guilty expression on her face. She leaned into him and whispered. “I’m sorry I didn’t say anything, but father forbade me from telling anyone. Apparently, there was a strange male dragon slayer in town for a short while. He has since disappeared, but not before he killed the Shadowan pendragon’s son. It was actually Ember who witnessed the battle and reported it back to Zoran so he could collect the head. Our brother never got near Blayze while he was alive.”
Aidan was so shocked he didn’t know what to say. It was difficult enough wrapping his head around the idea that Zoran had cheated to such a degree on his task, but why hadn’t Bailey mentioned another dragon slayer being in the area. Did she not see him? It was possible, but he would still ask her about it the next time he saw her.
“…but I also find out you have been plotting with the female who sought to kill the Captain of the Guard, and you did nothing to dissuade her plans,” the furious pendragon continued. “I am ashamed to call you my son and from this day forward you will have no relation to me and mine. I sentence you to one year in the dungeon to be followed by banishment!”
Dear Zorya, Aidan could not believe what he was hearing. He had known Throm would be furious that his eldest son had been working with Ember, but it appeared Zoran claiming credit for Blayze’s head had sealed his fate. The punishment was even more extreme than expected. Aidan could only think that because one of the pendragon’s own children had acted in such an abhorrent manner, he felt he must make an example out of him.
“Father, please don’t do this,” Zoran said, falling to his knees. “I will do anything you want to make up for my actions, but I beg you not to banish me. This is my home and my life.”
Throm did not look at him. “Guards, take him from my sight and see that he is placed in the darkest and dankest cell we have.”
For the first time that Aidan could recall, Zoran cried. Tears streamed down his face as he begged and pleaded for their father to have mercy. For a brief moment, Aidan almost felt sorry for him, but then he remembered how his eldest brother used to lock him down in the dungeons for hours or even days at a time, simply for his own amusement. Zoran had never been a good person, and that would not change. Aidan turned away, not even caring to watch his brother dragged from the great hall.
Ruari caught his gaze. You will decline when they call you forward.
I will, Aidan said, resigned to do what he must.
He certainly did not want to join Zoran down in the dungeons and be stuck with his oldest brother down there for the next year—assuming Throm didn’t order Aidan executed for consorting with a dragon slayer. With his father’s current mood, that was a possibility.
In light of what has happened with Zoran and my not being chosen, I would not seek to break father’s heart further by requiring Phoebe to decline her nomination as well. One of us must participate in the Bitkal and if it cannot be me, then I will allow it to be her.
Aidan worked his jaw. That is very gracious of you.
Ruari’s gaze turned to Phoebe, and she stiffened. Aidan could only assume their brother was telling her the news. When she relaxed a fraction next to him, he was sure of it.
“We will now announce the other four candidates,” an elder announced loudly, breaking through the rumble of discussions taking place after so many shocking revelations. Zoran’s yelling from down the corridor had finally faded away.
The elder who spoke didn’t appear to be old by human standards—perhaps fifty—but he was actually closer to eight hundred. He had shoulder-length black hair and a sturdy build. Aidan had studied under him when he was a child taking his lessons, and he remembered the old shifter as a stern taskmaster.
The elder began to call out the names, “We have chosen Sabryn, Elgar, Gvaram, and Donar.”
Aidan wasn’t surprised to hear Donar’s name among the candidates. Though his cousin could be grouchy at times, he was also kind and helpful to everyone in the toriq. He had also begun to develop a reputation as a strong fighter, particularly after the most recent battles they’d fought since returning to Earth. Donar and Aidan may have done their best to hide their fighting skills before, but with the danger that surrounded them over the past few months some of their prowess had shown through despite their holding back.
The elders naming Sabryn didn’t come as a shock, either. She was one of the strongest female warriors in the toriq and she fought in every battle. Sabryn was his cousin through Throm’s sister, who’d passed long before Aidan was born. He wasn’t particularly close to her since she ran in a different circle of friends, and she was three times older than him, but she had never given him a reason to dislike her. Aidan simply didn’t know enough to say whether she would make a good leader. Outside of her battle prowess and her defeating Phoebe in a duel once, she had never made much of an impression on him.
As for Gvaram, he was the grandson of the last pendragon—before Throm—through his mother’s side. When his family lost the seat and the power that came with it, they moved outside the fortress. Gvaram fought in all the battles and brought fresh meat he had hunted to the fortress once a fortnight as payment for taxes, but otherwise, he was not seen around often.
Elgar came from another high-born family who was in charge of mining the zaphiriam in the nearby mountains. He and Zoran had been best friends since childhood, and they shared a similar temperament. Both could fight well, but they did not get along with anyone except each other. It was one of the most likely reasons he had not been targeted. Aidan had no doubt Elgar would have purposely lost in the Bitkal rather than defeat Zoran—if it had come to that.
Throm beckoned all of the candidates forward. Aidan walked with his sister, lining up next to the others in front of the pendragon. One by one, they were asked to accept or decline their nominations. All of them accepted until it was Aidan’s turn.
His throat swelled as he forced his mouth to open. He had to say the words no matter how much they pained him—for himself, Phoebe, and Bailey. Aidan had to give up what would likely be the only opportunity in his lifetime to become pendragon. That wasn’t what bothered him, though, considering he had never sought power and did not really want it. What made him hesitate was the proud look in his father’s eyes as he waited for his son to accept. It was almost too much to bear to take that from the pendragon after what had already occurred that day.
“I must respectfully decline,” Aidan said, managing to make the words come out clear.
Throm’s gaze turned furious, but he moved on and asked Phoebe next.
She stood tall and proud. “I accept.”
The pendragon nodded, some of his anger diminishing. Aidan could only imagine what his father was thinking in that moment, but he must have known something prompted his son’s response. He would never know the truth, though. Much like no one knew exactly how Throm came to be in power despite having three brothers and two sisters who had just as great a chance as him. By the time the last Bitkal came, most of his siblings were dead or disgraced.
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