Page 5 of King of Fire and Scales

Pyralis spoke in a gentle, chiding voice, as though he was imparting a history lesson to a bunch of rowdy, young shifters.

“Well,” Brigg moved away from the wall, “we better bloody find her then! We can't let Lucien get his hands on her.”

Everyone in the room nodded their agreement. Drake was relieved and pleased by this. They may not have all understood magic, but they could understand why letting Lucien get his hands on this sorceress was a bad idea.

“How do we find her?” Drake asked of Pyralis.

“Well…” Pyralis hesitated. “She did not attend any of the academies, so she went undiscovered. The oracles have given us a general location. But in truth, only Your Majesty has the ability to sense her power.”

“You've got to be kidding!” Brigg exclaimed as they all understood Pyralis's meaning.

“It's no problem, Brigg.” Drake stood, rising to his full height.

“You are the king! You can't wander about town. Not when Lucien may attack at any moment.”

“Would you want Lucien to find her before I did?” Drake retorted.

The room fell silent. Every one of them knew what Drake needed to do.

THREE

THALIA

The day had been warm, and Thalia was tired. Usually, by mid-afternoon, she still had the energy to make dinner and work in the gardens. But right then, as she stared at the pot that hung over the fireplace, she felt deflated and exhausted.

“It's just dinner,” she murmured to herself. “It's just dinner. You don't even need to work in the garden tonight. You did enough last night. Just finish up this food so Father can eat and get him to bed. Then you can sleep.”

Thalia forced herself to stand up from the wooden rocking chair that her mother had once rocked her to sleep in when she had been an infant and walked to the large pot.

Tender meat, which she had marinated the night before, simmered slowly in the pot with onions, wild garlic, celery, and carrots.

After stirring the browning meat, she moved to the table where she washed and peeled several large potatoes. On a whim, Thalia grabbed some more vegetables and a few sprigs of rosemary from the basket next to the back door.

She might have been tired, but she wanted that evening's meal to be as comforting and delicious as possible. It was the only way she'd fall asleep.

When the stew was halfway done, she added several dashes of mulled wine from the stock that her father had made a few months before he became as ill. It was still good and went excellently with the warm, creamy, fragrant food that Thalia was making.

As Thalia was replacing the bottle of wine, she heard her father's uneven footsteps, accompanied by the loud thud of his cane which was the only way he managed to walk these days.

“Father,” Thalia couldn't help being slightly annoyed, “you shouldn't have gotten up before I came to help you.”

She hurried out of the kitchen just as her father came into the hallway from the front of the house.

The day was a good one for him. He had moved around a lot, and Thalia had spent her day hovering around him, worried he would fall.

That's probably why I'm so exhausted, Thalia thought to herself, as she looked down at her father's excited face. When had he become so short? But then, noticing that her father was speaking agitatedly, she forced herself to focus on his words.

“...men are coming up to the house as we speak!”

Thalia inhaled slowly and closed her eyes as another wave of annoyance washed over her.

“You should have waited for me to come help you up.” She couldn't help snapping. But Evanth simply waved her concerns away.

“You aren't listening, girl! The Dragon King and his men are outside the house. They are waiting.”

At first, Thalia thought her father had well and truly lost it.

It must be all that time in the sun today, Thalia thought to herself. But her father, seeing her doubtful expression, continued speaking insistently. He only fell silent when there came a knock on the door, powerful and somehow commanding.

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