Page 45 of The Dragon King’s Claw (The Dragons of Serai #17)

The King, Gilhu, and Heicren returned without Vasren.

I wasn't surprised. The knight had to discover for himself that his lover was beyond reach.

So, Tor'rien and I sat in silence as we rode to the Halls of Talons.

He wasn't done with inserting himself into our investigations, but he promised only to ensure that a case was opened against Juva and Rulli.

Then, I would be left to collect the evidence alone.

But when we entered the Hall of Talons, we were waylaid by Talon Fren. He rushed up to me with a sheath of papers in his hands.

“Claw Shinkai! I found someone.” He paused and bowed to the King. “Sorry, Your Majesty. This is important.”

“By all means.” The King waved at me.

“You found someone?” I asked.

“That dead human,” Talon Fren said. “You remember? You wanted us to find his relatives. Well, I found one.”

“One?”

“Yes.” Fren grimaced. “A young man. It's kind of terrible. Almost as if the family were cursed or something. First, the eldest brother left home and became a farmer.”

“That doesn't sound tragic.”

“No, he was the lucky one. It was those who remained that didn't fare so well. After the eldest son moved away, the parents and the youngest brother died in a mining accident. Then Kun-lo—the middle son—disappears. Actually, he should have died too. He worked with his family. But he was sick the day of the accident. You know how humans are. Always falling ill. Turned out, it saved his life.”

“He wasn't ill, only feigning so he could go swimming with his friends.” I shook my head. “And it didn't save him. He just died another way. Death was determined to take him.” I blinked. “Dear Gods. That's why Greishen targeted him.” I looked at the King.

“They closed up the mine and then heard about the boy who hadn't shown up for work that day.” The King grimaced. “They probably paid Greishen to kill him.”

Fren's eyes went wide.

“So, you found the eldest brother?” I asked him.

“No, uh, I found the eldest brother's . . . son's youngest son.” His stare shifted up for a second. “Yes, that's it. So he's Kun-lo's grandnephew, right?”

“I believe so. Kun-lo would be his grand-uncle,” I murmured. “And he's here in Kochan?”

“Yes. Moved here about three years ago.” He frowned down at the paper. “He works . . . this is odd. He works at—”

“Pruleng.”

“Yes. That's the place where you found the General's son, isn't it, sir?”

“Yes. This man. Kun-lo's nephew.” I glanced at the King, who was staring back at me steadily. “Is his name Katai Gral?”

“Holy fuckballs, Claw Shinkai! How did you do that? First where he worked and then you guessed his name? You're amazing!”

I sighed. “Thank you, Talon Fren. The case is now closed.”

“Are you going to notify Mr. Gral?”

“He already knows. And please let everyone know that the Hallaxgral case is closed as well. I'm going to speak to the Chief about it now.”

“Really? Wow! You're amazing.” Fren glanced at the King and blushed. “Uh, yeah, I'll tell everyone. Thank you, sir.”

“His uncle,” I whispered. “Two uncles and his grandparents. He never got to meet them.”

“I'll tell Vasren,” Tor'rien said. “I think it might help him understand.”

“I'm going to get these motherfuckers, Tor'rien.” I lifted my chin. “I'm going to give Katai justice. Real justice, not this vigilante shit.”

The Dragon King nodded. “I will ensure it, my Claw.”