by LJ Andrews
Raffi rolled his eyes.
“You’re the only dragon mage we know of, so we learn your power at the same pace you do,” Gaia told me. “You can’t remember, but from what we saw when you were young, you have incredible elemental power. Not only manipulating the elements like a mage, but like the wyvern race, you rule over them.”
“You did drain a river once,” Raffi said.
I stared at Thane and Gaia. There would be time to learn about my power. I had a few pressing questions first. “So, when you said I lost my father when she was locked away—”
Thane cleared his throat. “You did, in a way. I was lost and desperate. I knew I couldn’t find Gaia on my own, and when I thought you were dead, I started to believe it wouldn’t ever be possible to reunite. I was never the same.”
“The connection I felt today,” I said. “You told me families have a power.”
Thane smiled. “Yes, I knew if we found the prison, the connection between us might be strong enough to break it down. There was a reason your energy was concealed from us by our enemies. I knew Gaia wouldn’t be just sitting in there, either.” Thane beamed at her. “I called to her, so her power would find us. That was my hope, at least.”
“It worked,” Leoch joined in.
I rubbed the bridge of my nose and closed my eyes. “So, Bron—he knew I wasn’t his son—he was just messing with me?”
“Bron?” Gaia said, darkly. “You’ve met Bron?”
Thane placed a reassuring hand on her knee and she visibly relaxed.
“We’ve met twice,” I said. “Both times, I’d rather he would have died. He told me I was his son and tried to get me to join with him.”
Whatever had calmed her before faded and Gaia burst to her feet, pacing. A bitter swell of emotion left her and burrowed in me. The connection between us grew stronger with each passing hour.
“I’m going to destroy him,” she raged. “He wanted to take you from me. Imagine it. If he would’ve manipulated our son rather than killing you.” She made an angry sound at the sky. “He’d always have you, then. He’d use you to destroy us, to break us. Bron will never stop until he breaks me.”
“Well, Teagan defeated him,” Raffi said. “The dark High Priest is nothing but a coward.”
Gaia nodded and returned to her place next to Thane.
“You say you raised me,” I began. “For how long?”
Thane looked up to the sky as though counting in his mind. “We were together as allies alone for five years after the divide. Then, our seals came and we joined as mates,” he said, glancing at Gaia. “You were born about thirty years after our union. We lived with you in peace for over a century. Of course, the way mage and wyvern age, you were still a boy.”
“A century!” I ran a hand through my hair. “How old am I!”
Gaia smiled. “We’ve been parted for eighteen years, but you’ve been alive for one hundred seventy-one. Still a young man in our eyes. Very young.”
“One hundred . . .” I covered my face with my hands.
Raffi snickered. “Wait until Sapphire hears that. He was convinced even as a mage you were only eighteen. We had wagers on this, Teagan. I’m pleased so say, I’ll get paid.”
My insides felt young. But I was . . . ancient. I blinked my stare back to Gaia. “So, what broke us apart?”
Thane cleared his throat and spoke low. “You remember what I told you before, about how the wyvern elders discovered you existed?”
“They were afraid of you,” Gaia said with a bite. “Stubborn ancient minds, unwilling to accept there was nothing dangerous about you.”
I shook my head, trying to wrap my mind around everything. “Aldwin came and acted like he had no idea who I was.”
“He lied,” Thane said. “Raffi told me he was with the queen when she was taken, so he is obviously a traitor. The entire council knew you existed. As I told you, we planned to hide from them. They were ancient and wouldn’t venture out of their cave too far.”
“We all vowed to protect you,” Leoch added.
“But we didn’t anticipate Bron,” said Thane. “Now, after learning of Aldwin’s betrayal, I assume the elder was the one who told Bron that Gaia had a son.”
“Bron was coming. I knew it deeper than anything I’d ever felt before,” Gaia said. “Out of anyone, he could’ve defeated me and he could’ve killed you.”
Leoch pointed at his leader. “He nearly killed Thane.”
Thane glanced at his scar and found my curious gaze. “Bron had trapped Gaia and came against me. He tried to take my heart—in his twisted mind, he was going to bring it to Gaia so she might always have it.”
Gaia shuddered and tightened her hold on Thane’s hand. “But he wasn’t strong enough to defeat you.” She kissed his cheek before turning to me again. “Mages have weak magic until they are around one hundred and sixty, so when rumors reached us that Bron might come, we decided to hide you.
“We planned to conceal your memories, so your energy would dull. After that, we prayed you’d be returned to us. I watched the woman for weeks before deciding she would be the one. She was close to the willow I’d left for the royals—I hoped eventually we would return together to free them and stand against the lindworms. But fate is cruel at times. She never returned you, did she?”
I shook my head. Gaia sighed, but I sensed she was relieved, not angry. “I’m actually grateful she didn’t. I never imagined I would be forced behind Bron’s prison. You would have been lost to the world, and I’m certain Bron would have found you without me or Thane knowing you were out there.”
I considered everything for a short moment before meeting her eye. “I saw the note you left, and the quilt.”
“I made that when you were born! Creating a new seal for a dragon mage was such an honor,” a squeaky voice broke through the night, and a wrinkled mage with long silver hair stuck her face through the crowd.
Gaia smiled. “This is Rose. You were close.”
“You loved that quilt,” Rose crooned, stepping over to clutch my chin in her knobby fingers. “Look how you’ve grown now.”
Athika smiled for the first time, and Mitch fluttered his eyelashes just to irk me. I didn’t care, I wanted to know everything. “When I met Jade and all this happened, Aunt Liz told me everything she knew.”
“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. 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 stepped forward. “We will go and bring them to us.” He gestured at two more warriors.
“As soon as it’s light,” Thane said.
Gaia drifted around the fire toward me, and Mitch moved so she could sit next to me. Taking my hand, she smiled softly. “I know you probably have a lot more questions, but I also know you found the warriors to help free the queen from King Nag.”
“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 you
r 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 26
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 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.
The desperation in his eyes when he was powerless to stop me haunted my nights, my days, my waking thoughts. 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 was Prince Ced had yet to unite with me.
The prince 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, but perhaps the lindworm prince wasn’t anxious to have me for his mate either.
I startled when a soft knock came to my door. Heat flashed through my neck. It was inevitable. I’d be forced to meet with Ced, perhaps Nag. My stomach lurched—maybe even Bron. I was queen. I needed to be brave and—
Another knock, followed by a soft voice. “My queen.”
I nearly crumbled to the threaded rug when she peeked inside. “Amber?”
Amber was years older than me, but no one would know by looking at us when we were both in our human forms. Her blonde hair trailed below her waistline, and her golden eyes glowed in the dark. 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’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,” Amber said. “How did they take you? Do they have your stone?”
I shook my head and sat beside the 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.”
“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 hold 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. She barely 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 part of my life. Amber listened intently, clutching tight to my hand when I revealed the mage seal on 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 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. No doubt, 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, but I didn’t hear what 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 and protectively took my place in front of Amber when Prince Ced stepped from the shadows.
“Leave us in peace,” I snarled.
Ced ignored me 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 leaned back on his elbow.
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 he was a lindworm.
I crossed my arms over my chest. “How did she escape?”
I hoped Ced couldn’t hear the tremble in my voice. He smiled, 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, brushed his shoulder against mine, and stared out the window. “I’m 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. 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.
“He spoke of an unusual mage. A mage that had the blades of Bron.”
I stumbled backward. “That’s Teagan. 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! 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 to 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. “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 I might get you to come here.” Ced stepped closer, his face 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, all magis, even 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 blinked my stun to his gaze. “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 choose 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 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.
