Page 3 of Kingdom of Dance

All three of the younger ones started to protest, but Zinnia didn’t stay to listen. With a jerk of her head toward Violet, she set off up the sloping ground, her eyes on the dark figure ahead.

She wasn’t even halfway there when a whisper split the darkness.

“She said Dannsair.” Magnolia’s voice sounded anxious. “Maybe we should go back. I don’t think we should sneak around in the middle of the night to chase dragons.”

With a grimace, Zinnia came to a stop, not at all surprised to discover that the three uninvited sisters had followed them. But before she could chastise them, a new voice drifted out from behind the group.

“Who’s chasing dragons?”

“Daisy, what are you doing here?” Zinnia demanded, irate.

Violet glared at the sister who was only two years younger than herself. “You’re older than this lot, Daisy. You should know better!”

Daisy sniffed disapprovingly. “Idoknow better, unlike you two, apparently. I only came to keep an eye on these two.” She gestured behind her, and Zinnia let out a sigh.

Leaning to see around the others, she squinted through the darkness. “Well, come out, whoever it is. We may as well make it a party.”

A timid face appeared behind Daisy, moonlight catching on tousled curls. “Sorry, Zinnia,” Dahlia said repentantly. “I didn’t mean for them to follow you when I told the twins I saw you climb out the window. But we couldn’t talk them out of it, so we thought maybe we should follow, to make sure they didn’t get into trouble. We accidentally woke Daisy up, and she insisted on coming, too…”

“We?” Zinnia probed darkly.

A slight figure tripped into view, her grin in stark contrast to Dahlia’s repentant expression. “This is very exciting, isn’t it? Why are we meeting with the dragons in the middle of the night?”

“Weare not meeting with anyone,” said Zinnia grimly. “This is ridiculous. I just want to find out if Dannsair has news of Basil. Now the lot of you,stay here. And quieten down, unless you want the whole castle to follow us.”

“Stay here?” A disapproving voice cut through the night. “I think you meango back. Why are you encouraging this, Zinnia?”

“Encouraging it?” spluttered Zinnia, as quietly as her indignation would allow. She peered through the group to catch sight of Lilac, who seemed to be clutching three-year-old Wisteria in her arms. “You think I wanted the whole family to follow me? I’m not the one bringing the toddler along for an outing!”

“I didn’t want to bring her,” snapped Lilac. “I didn’t even want to come to whatever ridiculous stunt this is. When I got back from Mother’s room and looked in to check on everyone, I found this one,” she jiggled Wisteria in her arms, “trying to climb out the window, and just about falling down the cliff!”

“I was not,” protested Wisteria sulkily. “I’m great at climbing!”

Zinnia scowled at Lilac. “Why didn’t you just take her back inside?”

“Because,” said Lilac simply. “Then I wouldn’t have been able to keep an eye on the twins, who were already halfway along the ledge.”

For a moment Zinnia was confused, looking at the older twins who’d been the first to follow Violet. Then understanding dawned as two little faces appeared on either side of Lilac’s legs.

“Holly,” she said, “Ivy.” Her tone was resigned more than anything now. “I guess that makes all of us.” She looked around at the group, most of whom were in nightgowns, half of whom had bare feet. “This is ridiculous,” she muttered again. Could she really not stir an inch without being followed by all eleven of her sisters?

“Do you really think Dannsair might have news about Basil?” Daisy asked, frowning. “Why would she come at night? Do you think he’s in some kind of trouble? Something she doesn’t want to say in front of our guards?”

“She wouldn’t care about that,” said Zinnia, with more conviction than she felt. “I’m sure he’s fine.”

Lilac gave a grunt of resignation. “I don’t see how you can be sure of that without talking to her,” she said, a touch resentfully. “We’re all worried about Basil, and now we won’t be able to sleep until we know why Dannsair came.” She lifted her chin toward the figure on the clifftop. “Go on. I’ll watch the rest here.”

Zinnia nodded gratefully, once again ignoring a storm of protests as she hurried away. She covered the ground quickly now she was on her own, her shoes quiet against the grassy clifftop.

She was still some distance away from the dragon, however, when a voice reached her ears, one so deep that the very ground beneath her feet seemed to reverberate from its rumble.

“Do I understand correctly, then? You feel this Master Lleuad has slighted you, but his magic is significantly stronger than yours, so you wish for assistance to bring about his downfall?”

“Well, Your Mightiness,” replied a slightly sullen voice. “That’s a bit of an oversimplification of what—”

“It would be near impossible for either your motives or your intelligence to be simplified further than nature has already achieved,” said the rumbling voice, disdain dripping from every syllable. “I am disappointed. Your petty feud is not the type of campaign for which I would consider providing additional power.”

Zinnia stood frozen in place in the darkness, a chill that had nothing to do with the sea breeze passing over her. She didn’t understand what was happening, but two things were clear. First, the dragon she’d seen was not Dannsair. And second, whatever the purpose of this rendezvous, she should not be witnessing it.

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