The Prime Minister tapped his fingers on the table. “What can this King’s Bond actually do? The old stories were rather ridiculous, if you ask me. Hills marching across the landscape and giant waves drowning the land, indeed!”
“I can only report what I have been told. He has mentioned causing landslides, swamping the shore, and throwing up fortifications in minutes. If the Bond is strong, it could cause earthquakes or tear holes in the earth under enemy soldiers. In peacetime, it can be used to make the land more fertile and to prevent floods. When England is about to fall to Napoleon, it may be very close to our last hope.”
Lord Liverpool asked, “What does he want of us, then, this dragon companion with the King’s Bond? Riches, jewels, land? We might as well give them to him as have that French bastard steal them. Pardon my language, Lady Frederica.”
“Sadly, he has no interest in money. I can tell you what he wants, and also what I think I can get him to settle for, but you will not like it.”
“Is it worse than losing to Napoleon?” the king asked heavily.
“It depends on how you look at it.” Frederica took a deep breath. “What he wants is Wales to be free, an independent country again.” Actually, Roderick had asked for far less, but he had no understanding of how to hold a negotiation. Not that this would have been possible at any other time in history. The government would never give up an acre of this island unless England’s very survival was at stake.
“Never!” cried Lord Liverpool. “We will not break up Great Britain!”
“Better to let Boney do it for us,” her father said acerbically, and received a glare from the Prime Minister for his trouble.
“As I said, I think he might accept less. His bond is to a particular mountainous region in Wales, and he is a descendent of the old princes there. If we offered him an independent state, and perhaps some minor concessions for the rest of Wales, that might do it. And part of unlocking the King’s Bond means taking on a deep magical alliance for life, which could be an advantage to us. Especially since there are several Nests of dragons in Wales.”
“I do not like it,” Lord Liverpool pronounced. “The British Empire cannot allow it. The mere precedent of giving up our own land, here on this sceptered isle – it cannot be.” The fatal flaw of truth-casting – he could not lie to her, but there was nothing to stop him from spouting utter nonsense as long as he believed it.
“This sceptered isle is about to become part of the French Empire,” Lord Matlock snapped. “This nephew of mine, this royal bastard, offers us the only weapon that Napoleon cannot counter. Give up some impoverished, God-forsaken Welsh mountains for a chance to save England? That is a bargain.”
Frederica offered, “Napoleon would likely give him all of Wales simply for staying out of the war. Boney has no illusions about the sceptered isle.”
Lord Liverpool stiffened, as if he had never realized there might be a counteroffer. “Does he know about this?”
Her father sniffed. “I would hope not, but his spies are everywhere. And this Welshman may realize which side his bread is buttered on – especially if my daughter is correct that he hates England.”
Well, it was true that Roderick would not mind seeing England fall to France, but he did have feelings about the mad dragon. No need to point that out, though.
“How can we be sure he will not turn his dragons against us if we give him his freedom?”
Frederica only just kept herself from rolling her eyes, but her father stepped in first. “Give him a reason not to. Make part of the price be that he must take an English bride. Let the next Prince of Gwynedd be half-English.”
The king nodded slowly. “It is what we have always done to make alliances.”
“Would he be willing to do that?” Lord Liverpool asked Frederica.
“I do not know,” she said honestly. “I could ask him. It might depend upon the woman.”
Lord Matlock snorted. “Give him Freddie here. It would serve her right.”
“Father!” she cried in protest. “How dare you!” It was a good thing truth-casters could tell lies with the best of them. Especially since she and her father had planned this out.
“Why not? You must marry a mage, and you keep refusing Mortimer Percy. This Welsh fellow may be far beneath you, but he is still a mage and a dragon companion. And it would get you out of my hair at last.”
She shuddered, which was easy enough to do when thinking of her usual suitor. “He is better than Mortimer Percy, I will grant you that much,” she said disdainfully.
The king leaned forward. “Are you willing to serve your country that far, Lady Frederica? To marry a Welshman?” He said it as if it were a synonym for country bumpkin.
She drew herself up straight. “I have always served my country.”
“I have no idea how we will manage the legalities of this,” Lord Liverpool grumbled. “It may take some time.”
“Time is the one thing we do not have,” King George said solemnly.
Frederica glanced at the half-circle of empty chairs sitting across from them in the massive castle courtyard. She said quietly to Roderick, “Now remember, whatever they offer you, you must look displeased and ask for more. They will have no respect for you if you do not, and they will try to give you less than promised.”
“Iamdispleased,” Roderick whispered. “I cannot believe I am considering making an alliance with the English. Or even telling them of my existence. You are a bad influence on me.”
