Page 76 of The Forsaken Heir

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T he insistent knocking at his chamber doors tore me and Aurelius from sleep. We sat up as the bang-bang-bang echoed through the bedroom. The knocking was so powerful it almost felt like the bed was shaking.

“Your Highness,” Titus called through the door. “My lord, are you awake?”

“Fuck,” Aurelius moaned. “Hang on a second!”

We stumbled out of bed, still half asleep, and dragged on our clothes.

“What the hell is it?” Aurelius asked as he swung the door open.

Titus flinched back. His eyes flicked over to me, then went wide with realization.

“Prince Aurelius, I’m very sorry. I didn’t mean to wake you,” Titus said.

“Well, you have,” Aurelius said. His tone softened as he went on. “What’s so important it couldn’t wait?”

“It’s the Hikshil,” Titus explained. “Their envoy group has arrived.”

“Only an envoy?” I asked. “Not the whole tribe?”

Titus shook his head. “Not yet. They’ve come in advance. You should really hurry. They’ve already been shown to the throne room. Our staff is getting them refreshments.”

“Give us five minutes. Thank you, Titus,” Aurelius said.

As fast as we could, we freshened up, and exited the room, rushing through the corridors to the throne room.

Benedictus stood at the door with Vincent. Rasp was there as well, along with the rest of the court. Cassius arrived a few seconds later, glancing around at everyone.

“What’s going on? Why are the doors closed?” Cassius asked.

Benedictus bowed his head. “We were waiting for you, Your Majesty. To be introduced and shown in.”

Cassius sighed in disgust. “Ben, pomp and circumstance can be put aside for now, don’t you think?”

Benedictus looked nonplussed at the rebuke. “Your Majesty, it’s only proper to?—”

Cassius pushed past the man and strode into the throne room. Aurelius and I followed close behind.

The group in the throne room was the same collection of people who’d greeted me when I arrived in their territory. Achakos, Kaskawan, Sahalie, and a few others.

“Good morning, King Decimus,” Kaskawan said.

“Good morning. Please forgive the delay.” He glanced back at the court members in irritation. “Sometimes, we dragon shifters can be too consumed with tradition.”

“That’s fine,” Achakos said, brushing a strand of her graying black hair from her face. “I trust we are prepared to discuss the Laurent issue.”

“Of course,” Cassius said, crossing the room to his chair. “You already know a few of the people in attendance.”

“Indeed,” Kaskawan said, nodding to me.

Titus stepped forward and made introductions of the other members of the court as well as our newly arrived guests, Freddy and Julian.

Cassius, despite what he’d said, still proceeded along with the pleasantries and introductions.

Several of the other members of court postured as they were introduced, informing the visiting leaders of any important things they’d done over the years.

It looked like they were doing their best to impress the fae.

Aurelius stirred anxiously beside me, ready to end the pleasantries and get down to business.

Rasp’s father, Aurelius’s uncle, was in the middle of discussing some grand battle he’d been a part of two centuries prior when Achakos held a hand up, silencing him.

“Perhaps we could dispense with all this? We’ll be here all day otherwise.”

There was a slight, embarrassed stirring among the crowd.

“I agree,” Aurelius said, stepping forward.

Cassius nodded and waved his son and me forward. “Yes. Let’s discuss the issues at hand. Everyone can get to know each other better later.”

“Thank you,” Kaskawan said. “Our people are moving this way. As Lady Brielle pointed out yesterday, when the Laurents discover we’ve fully allied with you, there is a chance they will attack our town.

We’ve moved most of our people from there.

A small force of our best magic users have remained to guard the wellspring. ”

“Shouldn’t your best magicians be here?” Benedictus asked.

Kaskawan gave the man a look that could have curdled milk. “Sir, would you wish for the greatest supply of magic the world knows to be left unguarded?”

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.”