Page 65 of His Greatest Treasure

I cut her off, which was rude of me but totally justified under the circumstances. I was shouting now, and walking slowly towards the two of them.

“Let him go! You are inside our territory and you must obey.”

“He was trespassing,” she said.

“Release him!”

Behind me, there were running footsteps, and I knew she had heard them too. Her eyes flickered to the corridor behind me and her expression changed. Her voice grew louder, as though she wanted everyone to hear.

“I have caught this trespasser, child. It is my duty to take him to your elder for judgement.”

As she finished, my father streaked round the corner and rushed to my side. I blinked at him. I’d never seen him run before.

When he reached me, I felt the ice radiating out from him and it chilled my arm to be so near him. I actually shuddered at the power I felt in him. He had gathered it to him, and was holding it ready, preparing for a fight.

There was power in his voice, too, when he asked, “What is going on?”

The hag answered before I could.

“I caught this trespasser, my lord. He was going to slaughter your clan.”

“He wasn’t!”

As I shouted that, my mother appeared on my other side at that moment, and I glanced at her. She had her dragon in her eyes and her bond with me flared bright silver and protective. It was tryingto wrap around me, but it couldn’t. It was a single bond.

“Kill it,” said my father.

“No!” I screamed and rushed forward. My mother grabbed me and I struggled against her grip. My father also grabbed me, and I was held in place. “No, don’t kill him. He wasn’t going to hurt anyone, I promise. Make her let him go.”

The hag hadn’t moved to obey Lord Somerville. She was holding Blaze and I thought she moved slightly, drawing him closer to her.

“This is a fire spirit, my lord. It is powerful.”

“It is trespassing,” said my father.

“He wasn’t!” I screamed. “I let him in. I said he could stay.”

More dragons had arrived behind me but I couldn’t turn to face them. My whole attention was on Blaze and the hag.

I don’t know what would have happened if someone else had spoken first, but Mother said quietly, “Take him to the great hall. Lord Somerville will hear all and he will pass judgement.”

Fear shot through me because I knew that my father would not spare Blaze if he deemed him athreat, but I tried to breathe through it. Mother had bought us a few more minutes. She’d given us time to explain. That had to be enough.

As the hag walked past us, holding Blaze tightly, I said, “You’re going to be okay, Blaze. I promise.”

I knew I didn’t have the right to make that promise, but I made it anyway. I was going to do everything I could to keep him safe, even if I had to fight for him with my life. I’d die before I let anyone harm him.

Chapter 27

Blaze

Iwas held in the hag’s pincer grip, flailing around in my flame form, unable to transform back to my human form.

The grip pinched me painfully but I didn’t say anything. None of the people there cared that I was hurting, except Alfie and I didn’t want him to know because he’d worry about me. So I held my silence.

We all proceeded to the great hall and, despite my fear, I was amazed by the splendour of the castle around me. It was all large corridors, high ceilings, marble floors, mahogany panelling and antique art.

Lord Somerville stood on a dais, looking out over the rest of the clan, and I thought Lady Somerville would join him but she stood besideAlfie instead. A woman who looked remarkably like her stood near Alfie, almost on the other side of him, and even without knowing anything about them, I could see that the position they’d taken up was defensive.

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