Page 27 of The Gold Dragon Prince
My throat closed up and tears dared to threaten me. Serfs, especially those with no magic living in the magical world, were so often seen as unintelligent and base, but the people of Saoirse’s estate had proven themselves to beclever and understanding, not to mention heroic in their selfless offer to help. I had underestimated them far too much in the time I had spent on Mother’s mission, attempting to uncover Saoirse’s plans and foil her. The unquestioning offers of help that were coming at me and Selle from all sides were humbling.
“I thank you all for your generous offer to aid me and my mate in rescuing our child,” I told them, my heart filled with tenderness, standing taller. “But I could not put you in danger or ask you to step away from the work you need to do repairing your homes. Besides, I can use my magic to battle Saoirse’s magic to win the day.”
I said that, then stepped aside so that I wouldn’t accidentally damage Selle when I shifted into dragon form.
But as I jumped into the air and focused on transforming, nothing happened. My body stayed exactly as it was, pink flesh and ordinary, alpha muscle. A few golden scales formed on my hands and my fingernails grew, but the scales quickly fell off, flaking into the dirt of the village street.
The realization that Saoirse’s magic still had me bound in my human form dropped like a rock into my gut. I couldn’t transform. I couldn’t use magic against a powerful sorceress in order to rescue my child. I was as helpless as I’d ever been.
“Gildur?” Selle asked in a tremulous voice, stepping closer to me and resting a hand on my arm. His expression was full of concern.
I let out a heavy breath, the fear of my failure when it mattered most making me tremble slightly. “I cannot transform,” I admitted in a shockingly small voice. “I have no power. I’ve failed at the mission my mother set for me and I’ve failed you and our child as well.”
The weight of it all was so crushing that I could hardly catch my breath.
Selle’s deepening worry didn’t ease my anxiety at all. “Could we…could we appeal to your mother somehow? Surely, Queen Gaia would want to help her beloved son retrieve his egg, her grandchild.”
I swallowed hard, a different sort of dread filling me. “I disobeyed her orders by claiming you instead of sticking to my mission,” I said quietly, peeking warily at the concerned serfs gathered around us. “I’ve never failed her before. I…I don’t know how she would react.”
I expected the serfs to be angry at me for falling short and to renege on their promise of help. Once again, though, the good serfs surprised me.
“Our offer of help stands,” Freddy said, glancing first to Alyce, then to the others.
More of the serfs had gathered around to see what was happening, and they all nodded and checked in with each other to be certain everyone was of one accord.
“You stopped the ogres from doing more damage than they could have done,” one man said. “It’s only right that we do whatever we can to help you in return.”
“You need to repair your houses,” Selle pointed out, wiping his wet face, though I could feel warmth and hope growing in him.
“Houses are nothing,” another woman said with a shrug. “They are things that can be rebuilt. Children are everything.”
“I would rather risk my life to find and save your egg than clean up the rubble of my home,” another man said.
A chorus of agreement rose up from the serfs.
I was so deeply touched by their selflessness when I had done so little for them that I wasnearly undone.
Selle must have felt it. He slipped up to my side, throwing an arm around my waist and leaning into me. “Thank you,” he said to the serfs. “Your kindness means so much. The only way to defeat evil of the sort Lady Saoirse has displayed today is to smother it with kindness and community.”
“I know a secret way into the estate,” Freddy said, a sly grin spreading across his face. Everyone turned to him. “It’s an old, overgrown entrance that leads straight into the cellars toward the back of the house. It was built in my grandfather’s time, when the old lord still lived in the house, before Lady Saoirse took possession of the estate. I doubt she even knows it’s there.”
Hope blossomed within me. “Are the cellars part of the manor house or one of the outbuildings?” I asked.
“One of the outbuildings,” Freddy said. “But it should get you near enough to the house that you’ll be able to steal inside and find your egg.”
“I will go with you,” the older beta said.
“And I,” one of the others echoed.
“Us, too,” many of the others said.
“You don’t have to put yourselves in harm’s way for us,” Selle said, weeping again, but for an entirely different reason.
Freddy shrugged. “We are not here to help only those who live with us or who are family, or even who look or live like us. All people are one, and as such, we all must help each other when and how we can.”
A ripple of approval sounded from the rest of the serfs. I was humbled by their show of support. I could only hope that I could be as good and noble as they all were.
“Where is this door?” I asked, ready to carry on with therescue mission and with my mother’s mission as well, if I could.
