Page 130 of His Greatest Treasure

“Yes, I suppose. If they’re nice. I’m not letting them go back to someone horrible.”

Glimmer had retreated from the group of us and had been circling us. I got the impression he was working, perhaps laying protections on Rhod and Glenwise, but I wasn’t yet good enough at magic to be sure.

Suddenly he appeared right next to me.

“As Guardian, I have the right to visit allied territories if our clan is to stay there, to assess their security.”

“Do you?” I asked. I’d never heard of that rule but then I hadn’t heard of much at all, since I’d been kept in the dark most of the time.

Glimmer scowled. “Lord Somerville wouldn’t allow it. He would never let me leave our territory, since you—” He shrugged. “He would never let me leave. It’s only because Dane was there that I allowed Morgan to live inside Hoskins territory without checking the security myself.”

“That’s fine with me. Can you wait until our borders are all finished and safe?”

“Yes, of course. Besides, Glenwise and Rhod will be here for a while yet, so you can imprint on them as part of your clan.”

Glenwise said, “I want Glimmer to put down protections around our new territory. They’re strong but they’re not a dragon’s protections. I want my mate to be safe there.”

Rhod looked bashful and pleased. Without seeming to realise what he was doing, he lifted his hand to his neck so he could touch his claimingbite.

“Yes,” I agreed. “That sounds good. You can have all the protection you need. We can hire someone as well, if you want. Aren’t gargoyles meant to be the best security?”

Rhod gasped, “You’d do that?”

I growled, “You’re my clan. I want you to be safe.”

Glenwise murmured to Rhod, “We all want you safe and protected, my love.”

Rhod melted against his mate and I was completely satisfied.

Before we could get back on track, Silvia came bursting into the hall. She flew towards Rhod and Glenwise and embraced them both.

She was already talking.

“There you are! I’ve been so worried about you. I’m so glad you’re safe now. You found safety out there, alright? You’re here to stay now, though, aren’t you?”

Rhod peeked up at Glenwise, checking in before answering. “Yes, Mu- Mother.”

Silvia tutted. “You can call me Mum. I know you never liked calling me ‘mother’ and I’m sorry I asked you to. I’m not going to let you work at all hours again, you know. What about you,Glenwise? Are you taking over as medic again? I’m afraid we raided your supplies and we didn’t do a very good job of healing everyone, so you might have to check up on our handiwork.”

Glenwise smiled softly at Silvia, which was yet another shock.

“Yes, Silvia, I’ll be clan medic again. Rhod can come and take an inventory with me and order whatever we need to replace.”

It was only when Silvia stepped back that I saw it. The bond she had with both of them. The one with her son was brightest, naturally, but she had a bond with Glenwise, too. It had the same sort of maternal feeling to it, and I realised that Glenwise was her son-in-law. But the bond was strong enough that it was clear it had formed slowly, bit by bit. When had that even happened?

Before they left the great hall, Rhod said, “I’ll draw up the documents.”

I blinked at him. “Documents?”

“For the alliance with Heather. I’ll need to liaise with her to work out the details and I’ll get the documents to you as soon as I can.”

“Oh, yeah,” I said. “That’s what I was thinking, too. Lots of… papers to sign. There’s no rush,though. You’re going to stay a little while, aren’t you?”

Rhod nodded and hurried out after his mate. Blaze turned to me and smiled, pushing his way into my arms where he belonged.

“I like them,” he said.

Glimmer appeared again out of nowhere. He liked doing that. It kept making people jump.

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