Benedictus blinked in surprise. “Well, no, but wouldn’t?-“
“And,” Kaskawan continued, “even if the Laurents can’t take full control without our assistance, they could still leech off precious magic. Is that what you want… Er, what was your name again?”
Benedictus’s face went scarlet. He bowed his head and held his hands out in surrender. “My apologies. I didn’t mean to offend.”
“No troubles,” Kaskawan said, then turned back to the king. “As I said, our people will be here soon. I trust we will be treated as guests and equals?”
“Without a doubt,” Cassius said. “I’ll have several older areas of the castle reopened to your people. You will be accepted with open arms. You have no idea how much your partnership means to us.”
“True,” Sahalie said. “Most other magical beings hate dragon shifters. This really is a situation you can’t take for granted.”
An uncomfortable silence fell across the room. Sahalie was a bit like Vincent, stating the obvious even when it might be best not to. She was right though. I’d learned from Aurelius and Cassius that when dragons first arrived here in the new world, some rash and ill-advised decisions had soiled the dragons’ reputation, and it had continued through the centuries. The different fae tribes around the country had less animosity toward the dragons, but reputation was still reputation. It really showed how one bad choice could trickle through time, especially when the beings could live for hundreds of years.
“There’s something else you should know,” Sahalie said, her voice going distant and taking on an ethereal tone as she stared up toward the ceiling with glazed eyes.
Everyone was quiet for a few moments, waiting to hear what she had to say, but she simply stood there silent, unmoving, a statue.
“Uh,” Cassius said, frowning in confusion. “Yes?”
Achakos smiled apologetically. “Sahalie is on the leadership council at a young age due to her gift of foresight. She’s seeing something.”
“She can see the future?” A male member of the court asked, shock bleeding through his voice. “Can’t she tell us how this all turns out? Look ahead, and let us know if we’re successful?”
Achakos shook her head once as if in disgust. “It is not a gift you control, but one that controls you. It comes and goes as it wills. She may?-“
“The wolves are angry,” Sahalie whispered. “I see rage. A man, young and powerful, he…” She frowned. “He’s cursing his brother. He calls for death.”
“Shit,” Freddy muttered. I hadn’t even noticed him ease up next to me.
I reached over and took his hand. “We knew Bastien would be pissed. You’re safe here.”
He nodded, but I could see he didn’t quite believe it. His eyes were haunted, and I wondered exactly how far off the deep end Bastien had gone. Between torturing Aurelius, trying to kill me, and his desire for war and domination, it made me think he’d gone absolutely batshit crazy.
Sahalie blinked and shook her head, like she was waking up from a dream. Around the room, the attendees sat in stunned silence. I wasn’t sure if it was the fact that they’d witnessed exactly what a fae could do or her morbid pronouncement.
“So, there’s no chance for negotiation?” a female member of the court asked, her voice high with anxiety.
Sahalie looked distraught. “None.”
Chaos erupted. Men and women arguing across from each other, everyone with a different opinion about how things should be handled. Some said all the dragons in the world should be called home to fight, others-mostly Benedictus and his contingent-argued that we should be the first to attack, using the element of surprise to our advantage. A small but vocal group even said it might be best to retreat to the old world or perhaps deep into Central or South America and wait for the dragon numbers to increase before returning in a century or two to retake their homeplace.
The fae only spoke out a few times with suggestions and promised they would assist in whatever the dragons decided. Apparently, my dream walk in the wellspring had been enough to garner their unwavering allegiance. That source of magic had thrown its support behind me, and as its stewards, they had as well.
“Enough,” Cassius called out after nearly an hour of debate. “We all need some time to think. Aurelius, I want you to work with Octavius and the rest of our security forces to ensure our grounds are well protected. I want no surprise incursions. Titus, send word to the nearby dragon households, let them know that we won’t be able to extend ourselves to protect them if they are attacked or targeted. If they want true protection, they need to come here. I’ll send word to the house staff to prepare for the arrival of the Hikshil.
“I want a meeting with my war council in three hours. That will be all. Everyone go and…” He shrugged wearily. “Try and get some rest. We have a lot to plan for.”
With some reluctance, the members of the royal court left, although several tried to make their way forward to give personal welcoming words to the Hikshil envoy.
Freddy nudged my arm and leaned in close. “I’m going to head back to my room.”
I squeezed his hand. “Okay. I’ll see you later?”
“Yeah. Sure.”
He left along with Benedictus and Vince, though Vince never actually made it out the door. Rasp yanked him back by the scruff of his neck. Aurelius had moved over to talk to his father, and I stood off to the side, watching the interaction.
Rasp escorted Vincent over to the envoy group, but bypassed the older members and made a beeline for Sahalie. Doing my best to remain inconspicuous, I moved over, curious as to how this might go.
“Sahalie?” Rasp said, tugging what looked like a horrified and scared Vincent over. “This is the friend I was telling you about at the gala.”
Sahalie smiled at Vince. “Yes. I remember.” She stretched her hand out to shake. “I’ve seen you a couple times, but we’ve never been properly introduced. As your friend Raspion said, my name is Sahalie.”
Vincent bobbed his head up and down and held his hand out. When Sahalie took it, a wide grin stretched over his face. “Uh…umm…nice to meet you.”
Sahalie tilted her head to the side. “I’ve heard about the dragon king’s libraries. Is it true he has five
?”
Vince blinked as if coming back to his senses. “Well, yeah- oh, no, that’s not right. There’s actually six.”
You would have thought Vince had told Sahalie that Santa was real and in the next room over.
“Could you show me?” she said, her eyes bright with excitement. “I’d love to see that. I’ve heard some of the books are nearly a thousand years old.”
Vince shrugged and shook his head. “Not really. I mean there are some that date that far back, but they’re reprints and copies. Paper doesn’t have a very long shelf life. Have you ever heard of booklice? They’re little bugs that actually eat the pages. They leave these long tunnels in the books like termites do to wood.”
Vince took her arm and walked toward the door.
Sahalie grinned up at him. “Ilove bugs. Tell me more.”
“Holy fucking shit,” Rasp said as he walked over to me. He bumped my shoulder playfully with his fist. “Did you see that? I knew those two would get along.”
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