Page 15 of The Sapphire Dragon Prince (Omega Fairy Tales #4)

Chapter

Eight

Azurus

S leeping under the stars with Misha in my arms should have been a wonderful beautiful thing.

It was, really. Nothing made me feel stronger and prouder than the feeling of my mate in my arms, his breathing calm and steady, all through the night.

I knew Misha had been suffering from nightmares beyond the one he’d woken from that morning—it felt like days ago, but our journey so far had only been one day—so it was bliss to feel him sleeping soundly with me.

If only that peace and coziness we felt together had not come at the expense of my magic.

I’d tried to light the logs in the firepit with magic when we’d first found the camp and nothing had happened.

Not so much as a spark. It didn’t matter how much I’d concentrated and willed my magic into being, the logs had remained cold.

I’d tried to hide the truth from Misha, but I didn’t need to be bonded to him to know he was suspicious and concerned.

A dragon who couldn’t even summon fire was in serious trouble.

That trouble had continued when I couldn’t pitch the tent we’d brought with us magically.

That should have been child’s play as well.

Any of my brother’s eggs probably had enough magic to pitch a tent.

I was so reduced that I didn’t even want to try to use magic for anything else. I didn’t want to know how bad it was.

And at the same time, I couldn’t remember being happier than I was with Misha tucked in my arms, snoring softly in the deepest sleep. It seemed utterly wrong that I could be so happy and so worried at the same time.

I wondered if Misha felt the same way.

“I don’t think there was a chicken farm so close to us last night,” Misha said as we scurried around the camp, packing up the food and tools we’d taken out of our packs the night before. “Is this Queen Gaia at work again?”

I laughed as I secured the top of my pack, then went to help Misha roll up the unused tent. “I’m certain of it,” I said. “Mother wants us to succeed. She wants everyone to be happy and whole. I’ve no doubt that she’s making this quest much easier than it could have been.”

Which, of course, begged the question of how easy it would be for us to find The Black Mirror when the time came.

The Black Mirror. Thoughts of that final obstacle froze me in my tracks as I crouched to help Misha with the tent.

Without magic, Misha would be in incredible danger when we finally reached that evil artifact.

I’d been uncertain about whether I could meet that challenge with my magic working perfectly.

Now, I wondered if completing the quest was really a good idea.

“Are you certain you’re alright?” Misha asked me in the sweetest, most caring voice, resting a hand on my arm as I reached for the tent.

I drew in a breath. Misha was my mate. He deserved the truth.

Once we were bonded I wouldn’t be able to hide something like this from him anyhow.

But if he knew I was vulnerable, if he suspected I couldn’t actually protect him the way he needed protecting, it could make him worse just when he was starting to feel stronger.

I opted for giving him a cautious smile and placing my hand over his. “I will admit that I’m feeling a little out of sorts,” I said. “I don’t want to worry you, though.”

“Are you ill?” he asked, exactly the sort of alarm in his eyes that I didn’t want to see. “I did bring that first aid kit. Or should we call off the quest and go back to your mother? If you need to rest and get better, you shouldn’t be running around on a quest with me.”

“I’ll be fine,” I said, touched by how someone with so many cares could put someone else first. “I would rather be here with you than anywhere else.”

Misha looked like he would protest, but before he could do more than open his mouth, one of the roosters cried out again, as if reminding us we had a task ahead of us.

I stood with a smile and glanced in the direction of the sound. True to Mother’s form, I could now see what looked like a vast poultry farm off in the distance.

“Let’s leave the tent,” I said, offering Misha a hand to help him to stand. “If we need to, I’d rather sleep under the stars with you again tonight.”

“That was wonderful,” Misha said with a bashful, alluring smile as he took my hand and stood. “I can’t remember the last time I slept so well, even though we weren’t in a bed.” He blushed beautifully and lowered his eyes slightly at the mention of a bed.

My mate was so adorable that it might just kill me, especially if he didn’t go into heat soon. The prospect of finally bringing on Misha’s heat was all the motivation I needed to keep going.

We finished packing our things then set out in the crisp, clear, morning sunshine in the direction of the poultry farm.

It was completely incongruous to see such a gigantic farm out in the middle of nowhere, but then again, the situation had Mother’s magic written all over it.

Wherever the poultry farm and the cherry orchard were naturally, she had brought them to us so that we could accomplish our quest as swiftly as possible.

As we made our final approach to the farm, I couldn’t help but laugh at the sheer volume of clucking and noise the massive yards filled with chickens made.

It was still early and I guessed that at least half the chickens were still lodged in the long, tall rows of coops that ran the entire length of the farm, but a good many of them were outside as well.

The chickens weren’t the only ones outside. As with the cherry orchard, a large number of workers were gathered around one of the outbuildings. Someone was handing baskets to them from the outbuilding’s doorway.

“Excuse me,” I asked, striding forward with Misha to join the group. “Hello.”

We were greeted with smiles and friendliness by the workers, and one particularly matronly woman stepped forward with her arms filled with empty baskets.

“Can I help you?” she asked us.

I glanced to Misha, who nodded at me, then answered her with, “We’ve been sent on a quest by my mother, Queen Gaia, to find a purple chicken feather.” I didn’t see any point in beating around the bush with this task.

The woman’s eyes went wide, and she bobbed a quick curtsy, sending the baskets she carried rattling.

“My lord dragon,” she said reverently. “It is an honor to have you here at our farm.” She glanced up, her expression changing from deference to curiosity.

“You say you’re looking for a purple chicken feather? ”

“Yes,” Misha answered. “It’s one of three elements we need for a spell to make me…er, that Queen Gaia will perform. Do you have any purple chickens?”

The woman blinked at Misha. “To the best of my knowledge, chickens aren’t purple,” she said.

We all turned to look out into the yards that were filling with chickens as some of the workers scattered feed for them. Sure enough, as far as we could see, all of the chickens were either white or various shades of brown.

Misha’s shoulders dropped. “How are we supposed to find a purple chicken feather if there are no purple chickens?” he asked, mostly to himself.

“Perhaps one of them is a brownish purple?” I suggested, though I had the feeling that if my mother said a purple chicken feather, she meant really purple.

“The only way to find out is to look,” the woman said. She shuffled the baskets on her arms and took two off, handing one each to me and Misha. “And the best way to do that is to help with the morning’s egg harvest.”

I took my basket and stared at it, an amused grin spreading across my face. “You want me and my mate to collect eggs from the chickens?”

The woman looked apologetic. “Those are the rules here,” she said. “People are allowed to take all the eggs, or feathers, I suppose, that they need, but they need to help out in order to do so.”

“It seems only fair,” Misha said, glancing up at me. There was a spark in his eyes that said he was up for the challenge of collecting eggs. It had to be easier than planting a hundred cherry trees.

I turned to the woman with a grateful smile. “We’ll help in any way you need us to,” I said. “Just show us what we need to do.”

“Collecting eggs isn’t that difficult,” the woman said, turning to gesture to the long rows of henhouses.

“Just go inside and take them from the nests. Some of the hens might not want to give them up, but a little encouragement and a quick shove should send them on their way so you can find what you need.” She turned back to the two of us.

“And who knows? You might find a purple feather waiting for you in one of the nests.”

It seemed entirely likely. I smiled at Misha, back to thinking that this particular task would be easy.

“Let’s get started,” Misha said, hooking the basket on his arm.

The woman was right. Collecting chicken eggs wasn’t that difficult.

Misha and I made our way into the first henhouse in the third row from the entrance to the farm and found rows and rows of nests three tiers high.

There was nothing particularly challenging in taking eggs from those nests and gently placing them in the baskets we carried.

At least, when the nests had been abandoned.

When we came to nests where the hens were still happily sitting on their eggs the task took on a whole new challenge.

“Come along, ma’am,” I playfully told the first nesting hen I came across, sending Misha a teasing look as he took eggs from another nest. “I need what you’re hiding.”

Instead of getting up and moving, the hen clucked indignantly.

I huffed and sent her a stern look. “I know you’re possessive of your eggs, but I can assure you, unless you’ve been at it with one of the roosters, you won’t be parting with anything too precious.”

The hen clucked at me with even more offense, if that was possible.

Across the way, Misha giggled. “Are you arguing with a chicken?” he asked, a bright smile on his face.