Page 70 of Valor’s Flight (The New Protectorate #5)

A murmur of agreement went around the room.

Taevas swept his gaze over everyone assembled, meeting their eyes for a beat before moving on to the next person.

“Some, if not all of you, already know this, but to make everything clear — I was kidnapped by a man named Sergei, one of Isand Jaak Fersen’s sons.

I was held somewhere unknown for weeks. When they tried to move me, I was able to escape.

That led me to Birchdale, where I was sheltered and nursed until Sergei found me again. ”

Ignoring the strong reactions that went around the room, he continued, “Now, most importantly… The reason I’m standing in front of you right now is because of the woman who took me in.

Her name is Alashiya Ardz. She didn’t know who I was and didn’t expect a reward.

She’s a nymph who, at great risk to herself, put a roof over my head, fed me, tended my wounds, and saved my life. ”

He paused, letting that sink in. There could be no more confusion going forward. Alashiya would not, could not, be treated with anything less than the respect she’d earned. He didn’t want that to hinge on the fact that he’d Chosen her, either.

He needed them to see her as she was — a remarkable woman deserving admiration all on her own.

Sucking in a deep, fortifying breath, he prepared to say the thing he never thought he would. Pride and no small amount of fear burned in his chest. “I’ve Chosen her. She’s now a member of clan A?daja and, as of today, your Emand. Unless otherwise specified by her, you will address her as such.”

Half the room already knew who she was to him, but shock still washed over them all. The faces of his Wing were studiously blank, his assistants both looked ready to explode with questions, and his family shared a series of looks that ranged from disbelief to glee.

Feeling the questions about to bubble out of the group, Taevas cleared his throat. “Alashiya has lived a very, very sheltered life, and she’s been through a lot in the past few days. She doesn’t know much about dragons, so I ask you to be gentle with her while she gets used to things.”

He turned to find the hulking dragon hovering by the glass-walled exit to the perch.

“Radek, I’m assigning you as her personal guard until we can assemble her own Wing.

Hele, your job is to help her acclimate.

” Turning to his head assistant, he ordered, “Katya, whatever you wrote for the statement announcing I’d been found, I want you to add that I was rescued by Alashiya. ”

Katya, a keen, normally unflappable dragon with dark blue skin and a willowy frame, gave him a wide-eyed look. “Ah… Should…” She cleared her throat and tried again. “Should I include that you’ve Chosen her, sir? Or would you prefer to wait—”

Taevas waved a hand. “I’ve waited for her my whole life. I’m not waiting a moment longer. Put it in.”

Katya let out a slow breath. Her eyes were wide and her brows raised, but she nodded. “Yes, sir.”

“Andrejs, while I catch up on everything I’ve missed, I need you to make a dossier on the state of nymphs in the UTA. I want population statistics, voting habits, territories, clan names — everything. When you’re done, you’ll deliver it directly to my Chosen.”

His other assistant, Andrejs, was already making notes on his tablet, his claws flying over the screen. Without looking up, he asked, “Would you like me to contact their congressional representative, sir?”

Taevas rubbed the base of his horns. He knew that would have to happen if Alashiya wanted to take any sort of active role in her people’s future, but he wasn’t about to spring that on her. Not now, anyway, when there was already so much to adjust to.

“Wait on that. She’ll be overwhelmed as it is.” Finally, he turned to Vael, who visibly braced himself. “What’s the status on the hunt for Sergei?”

“An all-territory alert has gone out and a collaborative search between the Shifter Alliance and the ’Riik is happening as we speak. If he’s injured and still dealing with the effects of the suppressant you gave him, then we’re optimistic he’ll be found.”

“And what about the others? Did you sweep Shiya’s land?”

Vael’s lips quirked with an impressed smile. “We checked it as soon as we apprehended her — after we managed to get through her wards to see the place properly. Two men were found unconscious and injured in the woods not far from her home, and there’s evidence of another who left the scene.”

Taevas suppressed a growl. “That’ll be Monty. I’m sorry to hear he might still be alive. He’s the hunter Sergei hired to search the woods for me. I don’t know who the others were. Are they in custody?”

It unsettled him, the way nearly everyone in the room shared long, knowing glances.

“What?” he asked, patience wearing thin. “What aren’t you telling me?”

Constantin spoke up. “The other men who were working with Sergei… they’re not speaking. They can’t. That’s actually how we know who they work for.”

“What are you talking about?”

“According to the information the leaders have been able to put together since the attacks, it appears that whoever is behind this new version of the Ardeo has assembled a force built on mind control.”

Constantin looked a little queasy as he said it.

Even his rich skin tone, dark with its nighttime coloring, became chalky as he continued, “Whatever magic is responsible, it goes deep, making questioning them almost impossible. And there’s failsafes.

When others have tried to break through it, an aneurysm is triggered, killing them instantly.

That’s part of why we couldn’t use them to confirm or deny what the Emand told us.

The men can’t answer questions one way or another. ”

A lot of the strange behavior of Sergei’s men suddenly made sense.

There hadn’t been a lot of psychic control during the war, but it happened.

Usually only when someone was desperate and needed canon fodder, though, because it was hideously impractical from a tactical perspective.

A brainwashed soldier was little better than a toy to be used and discarded at will.

They couldn’t think for themselves, couldn’t make the snap decisions necessary to win a war. They acted on orders and that was it.

Wind, release, dispose.

Of course, the benefits were that they never questioned their superiors or hesitated, no matter the danger. It was a steep trade, but if you were going for maximum impact with no regard for longevity, then it could be effective.

Repugnant in the extreme, but effective.

Taevas’s lips thinned. “I want a full report on what the fuck has been going on by tomorrow afternoon.”

Constantin nodded. “Consider it done.”

After making his rounds amongst his people, Radek caught him on his way back to his nest.

Figuring the man had a question about his new duties, Taevas braced himself for a delay in getting back to his mate. What he didn’t expect was for a large plastic evidence bag to be shoved into his hands.

“This was found in the car with you. It looked important,” Radek gruffly explained. “Everything else I should be able to get by tomorrow, but this felt… different, so I grabbed it.”

Taevas looked down at the opaque plastic bag. The weight of it was familiar, but he couldn’t be entirely sure what it was until he pulled the seal apart with the tips of his claws.

Neatly folded inside was a robe of unsurpassed beauty. It was made of burgundy velvet, embroidered with golden thread, and stained with unmistakable dark splotches of blood.

His throat burned as he delicately extracted the sash his mate had so lovingly embroidered for him. Everything in him went still as he held it draped over his palm.

The golden thread gleamed in the light — as pristine and beautiful as it was when he watched her work from the comfort of her floor nest. It appeared shockingly untainted by the blood that crusted the velvet all around it, as if the thread had sucked up whatever drops had fallen on it.

Something that sounded suspiciously like his Alashiya’s voice whispered in the back of his mind as he thanked Radek and walked away, bloody sash in hand.