Page 34 of A Kingdom Restored

“Don’t lecture me about divided loyalties.” Heath’s voice came out in a snap. “You’ve shown no sign of struggling in that area yourself. And I’m sick of you acting like I’m the one who threw Percival in the dungeons.”

“Well, you weren’t entirely uninvolved, were you?” Brody shot back. He gestured to the burned building beside them. “As I understand it, you’re the one who busted the king out of this grain house, and confirmed to him that the door was barred with a beam too heavy for a regular man to lift.Andmade a big deal of Percival being nearby.”

“I didn’t know Percival was anywhere near here,” said Heath, stung. “What should I have done? Left the king to die in there?”

“I never said that,” Brody said impatiently. “But you didn’t have to make it look so much like Percival was guilty.”

“I didn’t make it look that way!” Heath protested. “Percival took care of that, openly raging against the king, then riding out here in search of him, making no effort to hide his anger.”

“In case you’ve forgotten, he was angry because the king had you publicly flogged!” Brody retorted furiously.

“I haven’t forgotten, thanks,” said Heath, his own voice cold. “The scars on my back will make sure I never do.” He scowled, wishing Brody’s words didn’t hit such a nerve. He already felt guilty enough about the series of events that had led Percival to his current situation—having Brody throw it in his face was too much.

“It wasn’t just Percival’s carelessness,” he said, speaking more calmly. “Someone clearly set the whole thing up to look like he did it. And that’s exactly why we’re here—to try to figure out who it was. So I don’t think it’s fair to accuse me of not caring enough about Percival just because I dare to be concerned about whether Merletta lives or dies.”

“I agree with Heath on this one, Brody,” Bianca informed her twin. She frowned at Heath. “I spoke out of concern for you, Heath. You can’t hold everything together with your bare hands, you know. We’ve seen you try to do that before, and it’ll rip you apart.”

“She’s right,” said Brody curtly. “If the dragons are determined to kill Merletta, there’s nothing you can do to stop them. You may as well give it up now.”

Heath turned abruptly from his cousin, swallowing the growl that rose to his throat. There was no point arguing with Brody. It would achieve nothing. Without a word, he stalked across the blackened grass, opting to await Reka’s appearance in solitude.

When the dragon arrived, however, Heath’s cousins inched back toward him, clearly curious to see the display. Reka was perfectly amenable when Heath asked him to reconstruct the event. But the results were disappointing.

“I can’t make anything new appear, you know,” the dragon informed him indulgently. “I can’t change the fact that we didn’t arrive until after the fire was lit, and the culprits had departed. My memory cannot construct information about what occurred prior to our arrival.”

“I know,” Heath sighed. “But I was hoping there might be some detail we missed at the time.”

“More magic, like the other attack, you mean?” Reka frowned in concentration. “The only magic I can sense in the memory—other than yours and mine—is the dormant magic coming from your brother’s hiding place. It is faint, suggesting he was already unconscious when we arrived.”

“I already know that,” muttered Heath. “And I don’t think our word is going to convince King Matlock.”

“Given that I’m not offering to give testimony to your magic-fearing king, it is a moot point,” Reka said, with a touch of coldness.

Heath ignored his friend’s offense, his thoughts on his own feeble human attempt to reconstruct the events of that day. But as with all previous attempts, there was nothing new to find. Reka was right. Whoever had lured the king into a trap, and incapacitated Percival nearby, must have already been gone, along with whatever magic they did or didn’t possess.

And, he thought chillingly, there was no reason to think that the intent had only been to make King Matlock believe his life was in danger, as Heath had come to suspect was the case in the attack on Percival. This time, he had no doubt that without his intervention, the king would have perished. Two of the king’s guards had been knocked unconscious outside the door, in addition to those trapped inside the grain house with their sovereign. Those guards would have survived and would surely have discovered Percival nearby.

And Heath suspected that no amount of growing trust and friendship between him and his cousin would have prevented Lachlan from taking drastic action against not only Percival, but likely all the power-wielders in that event. Who would blame him for responding forcefully if he’d become king at twenty-one due to the murder of his father?

“Is it really so important to solve the mystery?” Reka asked, breaking Heath from his reverie. “I understand that your brother has been unjustly accused, but he has always seemed to me to be more of a nuisance than anything.”

“Yes, it’s important,” said Heath curtly. “It’s important to me.”

“Well, if it’s so important to you, why haven’t you made any progress on investigating?” Reka asked reasonably. “You’re intelligent and resourceful for a human. I’m surprised you haven’t found anything yet. Or are you suffering from the usual human tendency toward distractibility?”

“That’s what I said,” muttered Brody. “He’s too busy thinking about how to protect that girl of his.”

“Merletta?” Reka asked, turning his interested gaze on Brody. “What does protecting her have to do with the plight of Heath’s brother?”

“Nothing,” said Heath gruffly.

Reka’s reptilian head swiveled swiftly back toward Heath, and although his face was unreadable, Heath sensed his increased interest. He couldn’t help but wince. The answer hadn’t been entirely honest, and Reka could clearly sense it with the irritating talent of dragons.

“Just leave Merletta out of this,” Heath told Brody curtly, hoping Reka wouldn’t push the matter with the twins present.

He should have known better.

“What is her connection?” Reka asked, his gaze fascinated. “It must be of great concern for you if it has caused you to be deceitful. You are usually very honest.”

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