Page 23

Chapter

Twelve

Obi

T he smoke my father created as he disappeared had me choked and gagging. It seemed only right that something so vile would conceal my father’s escape.

Only after I stopped retching and was able to breathe again did the full impact of what happened hit me.

“My father has magic,” I said, my voice hoarse with more than just disgust.

Argus shook his head as he raised a hand to create a doorway into the magical world.

“Your father has help from someone with magic,” he said.

He stepped over to pick up the heavy chain that had been around his neck.

“Only someone from the magical world with great skill at the darkest sort of magic can create an object like this, or whatever token or amulet your father used to leave the room.”

“Do you think he used a magic object to escape?” I asked.

Argus nodded and took my hand. As soon as I gave it to him, he tugged me through the doorway he’d created and into what appeared to be one of the gardens attached to Argus’s house.

“He reached for something in his tunic before he disappeared,” he said.

“My guess is that he’s had something to help him escape in times of danger all along. ”

I agreed, but all thoughts of my father shifted to the back of my brain for a moment as I breathed in the clean, crisp sea air that surrounded Argus’s lair.

It was such a relief to fill my lungs with something fresh and good after the stifling air of my father’s castle and his noxious smoke that for a moment I just closed my eyes and stood there, breathing it in.

A moment after that, though, my eyes popped open and I turned to the house, searching for the nearest door inside. I could feel my egg, awake and calling for me.

“I need my baby,” I said, charging for the house.

Even though I’d barely had time to explore Argus’s house before, my sense of my egg pulled me through the numerous hallways and beautifully decorated rooms straight to the sunny nursery where the violet-skinned nursemaid Veronica had found to care for it stood by the window with my egg in her arms, looking out at the sea.

She turned as soon as Argus and I entered the room and in a musical voice said, “Look who it is. It’s your papa and daddy.”

“Baby!” I called out, arms outstretched as I ran across the room to take my shining, silver egg from her. “Thank you,” I managed to express my gratitude before giving all of my attention to my egg.

It was such a relief to have my baby in my arms again, to cuddle my egg close and lift it so I could rest my cheek against its warm surface, that I nearly burst into tears.

It was so strange to think that just a few days before, an egg wasn’t even on my mind and now I felt as though my heart and soul depended on the safety of such a small thing.

Stranger still, though I hadn’t necessarily chosen to have an egg so soon, I didn’t have the same grumbling frustration about the hand fate had dealt me that I had when I confronted Argus in the pavilion.

Maybe the script of my life hadn’t been written precisely the way I thought it should be, but in that moment, with my egg in my arms, Argus coming up behind me to wrap his arms around me and rest a hand on our egg, with the curtains of the open nursery window billowing in the breeze, I felt as though my life couldn’t possibly get any better.

I wasn’t certain how long the three of us stood there, basking in the peace of our family, together in a safe and beautiful place, before Emmerich’s deep voice said from the doorway, “so you made it out alive, did you?”

Argus and I both turned to find Emmerich smiling at us, though there was a deep streak of gravity in the way he addressed us.

“Freslik escaped,” Argus said, giving me one last squeeze before stepping away from me and our egg. “He escaped magically.”

“So it is as I feared,” Emmerich said with a sigh. “Someone from our world is helping him.”

“I cannot imagine who,” Argus said. I could feel the confusion and frustration rolling off him through our bond. “I’ve been close to him for years now and I never detected so much as a hint of someone else’s magic.”

“It could be a recent ally,” Emmerich said with a shrug, though there was something suspicious about the gesture, like he knew more than he was letting on. “Freslik could have gotten desperate enough that he would accept help from someone he hasn’t vetted if they offered him power.”

“It could be,” Argus said.

I sensed he wanted to say more, but Emmerich raised a hand and cut him off with, “The rest of us are all here, enjoying your lovely veranda. Why don’t the two of you join us and we’ll discuss the situation.”

“My brothers are here?” I asked, starting straight for the doorway.

“We’ve only just arrived,” Emmerich said as Argus and I joined him in the hall. “Your housekeeper sent word to us as soon as you returned and we came at once.”

I laughed. Veronica must have been quick indeed. Argus and I had barely been home more than a handful of minutes.

It was heartening to see all five of my brothers and their mates sitting in the various furniture that decorated the sea-facing veranda, enjoying snacks being served by Argus’s servants.

From the look of things, anyone would have thought the family reunion had been planned for weeks instead of being spur of the moment.

I always felt infinitely better when my brothers and I were together.

“You made it out of the castle alive,” Leo said, leaping up from his seat and striding over to give me a hug.

“We were all worried about you,” Tovey said, joining us.

“It was harrowing,” I said soberly, not wanting to lie to my brothers. “When Father put that magic chain around Argus’s neck and our bond vanished I thought I was done for.”

“Magical chain?” Selle asked, coming forward as well, his egg in a sling around his torso. “Father has a magical chain?”

“ Had a magical chain,” Argus told them. He turned to Gildur and said, “It’s upstairs. You should probably take it to Mother and let her know someone is creating dark objects.”

Gildur nodded. “I’ll do that.” He marched straight into the house, evidently to complete his task immediately.

“How does Father have magic?” Leo asked, deep concern creasing his face.

“I don’t know,” I said, “but he seemed surprisingly confident about it.”

“Just because Father is confident about something doesn’t mean he has reason to be,” Rumi reminded us.

I wanted to believe him and to believe that our father was incompetent at heart, but years of living under his strict rule had taught me to be more cautious and to give him credit for being shrewd, even if he was evil.

“Do you know if he has other magical objects?” Leo asked. “Does he have enough magic on his side to give Cousin Osric a hard time?”

“Or to defeat him entirely,” Misha said, quietly joining our group.

“I don’t know what he has, but he has something,” I said, reaching for Misha’s hand to try to comfort him. Azurus stepped up behind him and wrapped his arms around Misha, which was more of a comfort than I’d ever be able to give.

“Freslik has to have help from someone,” Argus said, glancing to his brothers as they gathered around. “He used some sort of dark magic object to transport himself away from the castle as soon as my magic returned and I might have attacked him.”

“I wasn’t aware Freslik had any contact with the magical world,” Rufus said. “Apart from you.” He nodded to Argus.

Argus grunted and rubbed a hand over his face. “Something has changed. It may have happened recently. Whatever the case, Freslik has some sort of powerful ally from our world now.”

“That could be a problem,” Azurus said, hugging Misha tighter.

“There’s more of a problem than that,” I said, cradling my egg closely as if the force of my will alone could protect it. I glanced around at my brothers and said, “Father claimed that there is some sort of spy or traitor in Osric’s inner circle.”

That came as news that surprised more than just my brothers.

“It cannot be,” Diamant said with a frown. He glanced to Leo and went on with, “We’ve been working closely with Osric and his men these last few weeks. If any one of the men and women surrounding Osric was a traitor of any sort, we would know.”

“Unless that traitor is using dark magic,” Leo said, standing close to Diamant and staring at him as if the two of them were communicating more completely through their bond.

“Cousin Osric is careful,” Selle said, pushing his glasses farther up his nose, even though his gaze remained unfocused in thought. “He would be aware of anyone within his own ranks working against him.”

“But would he?” Misha asked. “Especially if whoever it is uses black magic.”

We were all silent for a moment as that sunk in. Unfortunately, it was entirely likely that someone using the darkest of magic might go undetected by people with good hearts.

“What do we do, then?” Rumi asked, glancing to Emmerich. “We’ve worked so hard for so long to overthrow my father and put a good man on the throne in his place. How do we stop whoever this traitor is from ruining all our efforts and plunging the kingdom into darkness forever?”

We all looked to Emmerich for the answer, even our dragon mates. Emmerich always had been the leader of his brothers, and I had a feeling the battle ahead would come down to his skill and leadership.

Emmerich stood straighter, as if humbly accepting the challenge.

“We all must do our part both to support Osric and to root out evil wherever we find it,” he said.

“Diamant, you and Leo need to go back to Osric’s camp and support him as much as you can.

Rufus, I know your and Tovey’s eggs are about to hatch any day now, but we might need you to work with the farmers and merchants of Freslik’s kingdom to make certain we can all stand together.

The rest of you can provide support wherever we decide it’s needed. ”