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"Absolutely not!" the tall man with the long nose from earlier shouted. "If we do that, they will immediately outnumber us. Our dragon rider bloodline would be at risk. Can you imagine — body mage pups running through dragon caves?!" He grimaced and shook his head. "It's disgraceful to even consider. No. We've survived this long without help. We should continue on as we have, and our ancestors did before us. No Berserkers or wolves."
"You speak of our ancestors, but they never fought alone!" the woman called back, voice cutting through the noise. "The Golden Age was achieved because the dragon rider clan allied with Bondsmiths to unite the factions. It was the dragon rider clan with the Druids who held back the Mad Queen long enough to defeat her and end her reign of terror. It was the dragon rider clan who was saved by the monks and other mind mages during our darkest night." Her expression softened. "What happened to that dragon rider clan? We race headfirst toward extinction, and our only hope is to go back to our roots. We must return to being the strong, open, caring stewards of legends." She rubbed her belly. "Besides, how bad would it be for the body mage pups to run with the dragonlings and our young? We could all benefit from some fresh energy around here."
People began speaking over each other, and I shook my head as the room once more descended into chaos. This whole situation was a mess.
A loud pounding broke through the noise, and everyone went silent as Liam stepped forward. "I — I hear your words, Samryla, Jelin, Tornak. I do." He paused and looked at everyone. "But as I reminded you before, this is my decision, and mine alone. And I have decided to go through with the betrothal."
The room erupted again.
"It is not up for discussion. The acceptance letter has already been sent by revyn."
More shouts exploded in the council room.
"I expect we'll have support within four weeks time," he continued. "At which time I'll leave to join Lady Valtru in her stronghold."
Everyone was yelling so loud I couldn't hear what Liam said next. But he turned and strode away from the podium without a backward glance.
I turned to Mirrim and Jaiel, eyes wide. "Is this as bad as it looks?"
Jaiel nodded. "From what I know about that group, it might be worse."
Mirrim grabbed my arms and looked up, familiar green eyes desperate. "Kaiya, please! He refuses to listen to anyone. But maybe he'll listen to you."
I stared at her for a moment, confusion preventing me from understanding her words. Then my jaw dropped.
"Me?! You want me to convince Eli — Gods!" I winced. "— Liam not to marry that woman?"
Chapter 28
Tye
Thank the gods that damn Fae prince was so memorable. I slipped the picture of him into my jacket and walked toward the shop district. It had taken two days of hard riding and checking each port along the coast, but I'd finally found a lead.
It turned out Kaiya and Jaiel had left the Capital on a Fae trader ship, and when the vessel had arrived at port here yesterday, they were no longer aboard.
Luckily, one dockhand drunkenly claimed a "cursed Fae prince" and his lover were thrown overboard. Not likely true, but it was better than nothing.
A salty waitress at breakfast had added to the picture, saying she'd heard the prince had fallen in love with some princess, but the woman was betrothed to another. So, the two had left the ship via dingy, sailing for Bieysbane.
Once I knew what to ask, the rumors were plentiful — so long as sufficient coin was offered, of course.
But all that truly mattered were three consistent details. Jaiel and the witch had not arrived at port this morning with the ship. The trade ship was missing one of its dinghies when it arrived. And the ship's course had taken them very close to the Forsaken Isle.
My skin hummed with excitement.
I knew she'd eventually return to her people! I could almost feel the proof coalescing there, waiting for me to take it back to King Torsten.
It was said a legendary guardian creature killed anyone attempting to sneak in. But over the years, I'd met a handful of agents whose missions had taken them there. While they didn't mention specifics, they strongly implied the Guardian rumors were exaggerated, and that there were ways past it.
It took some time, but when I'd started guessing at the witch's origins, I'd tracked down a rumor regarding a potion that could get you past the creature safely.
It was expensive, had terrible side-effects, and wasn't even intended for that purpose … but it worked.
And what could be worse than whatever that Witch had done to me? I constantly felt like I was crawling out of my skin, and I was sick of it.
Gritting my teeth, I stepped up to a streetlamp and pulled a torn napkin from my pocket, checking the words the waitress had scrawled on it against the street signs.
This was the intersection, but where was the alchemist?
