Page 27 of Dragon Blood

She dropped it. “You were meant to be a guest—are a guest. As you can appreciate, circumstances have changed.”

“No shit,” he spat.

Shame wriggled its way into Kai’s chest. His instinctive need to escape any cage stirred his temper. Halting his stride, he rubbed the back of his neck, drawing a deep breath. As he blew it out, he turned his gaze to his patiently waiting mother.

This stranger.

He flexed his dragon magic, summoning scales to his wrist, testing.

“I wouldn’t try that. The entire compound is warded to disallow anyone to shift within the palace walls. If you try any harder, the wards will trigger, summoning the guards.”

Of course it was, as was the case at the Eastern dragon palace and the tiger clan’s stronghold.

Those wards would undoubtedly extend to any prison cells the Aeleftherian guards would inevitably throw him into, because by his very gender, he was a potentially dangerous enemy. A dangerous enemy that had touched their sacred queen.

They could decide that he had caused her downfall.

“What is required of me?”

Chapter 10

Astredstoodbythewindow overlooking Aeleftheria. The sea was onyx and indigo, with a platinum overlay. The moon, a suspended orb. After that of being in the sky, this view from her mother’s personal chambers in the royal tower of the citadel was the best.

As much as she loved her ship and the sea, this little cluster of rocky islands always pulled her back.

Home.

The Crimson Claw was nowhere on the horizon.

Good.

Directly below, the string of villages wound along the coast, their cottage windows blots of glowing gold as, one by one, they slid into the darkness of the citadel’s tower as the sun completed its descent.

Overhead, the stars in their frothy rainbow web called to her, inviting her to stretch her wings for a few hours

With a sigh, she turned from the temptation, rubbing her eyes as she surveyed her mother’s room, decorated with furnishings and trappings from queens long past.

Heirlooms of a time when this place was founded, and remained frozen as such.

Inside, lanterns and candles cast the room with a warm glow that didn’t provide the comfort it normally did.

Some burned fire-based, others use magical illumination.

Due to the magnetic fields surrounding Aeleftherian territory, electricity and modern technology could not be implemented without great effort, such that none of the residents had deemed it worthwhile.

Astred sometimes questioned that, though she hadn’t expressed concern one way or the other, since she spent far more time aboard her ship than here, anyway.

From her position by the open window, Astred’s gaze fixed on her mother’s pale face, small amid the over-sized pillows of the grand bed.

I should have come home long ago, and not left her alone so much.

A royal shaman remained stationed in the corner, where an inset cabinet rested with its doors and drawers open as they worked through their tests and assessments.

They’d tried to stop Astred from following them, given her a litany of reasons she should not be present. She couldn’t do anything, she ought to rest, she would be a distraction to the shamans, if the queen had a contagion, then Astred might also be at risk…

Ignoring their concerns, she watched for hours as they worked, murmuring to one another when incantations failed to provide results, shaking their heads, mixing new tinctures and exchanging crystals for more crystals until someone finally disappeared into the archive vault and returned with a massive tome.

An ancient book they kept shielded from Astred’s view.

---