Page 34 of The Gold Dragon Prince
Dead silence followed Saoirse’s pronouncement.
Then my father laughed. It started as a smirk, then a chuckle, then he burst into full laughter, gripping his belly as he remained seated in his throne.
“You dare to march into my throne room and make ridiculous and treasonous demands of me?” he askedthrough his laughter. “You? Awoman?” He burst into laughter all over again.
“Silence!” Saoirse shouted. “You will not laugh at me, old man.”
She raised her hand, clearly intending to use magic to harm him in some way, but nothing happened. My father continued to laugh, and several of the anxious courtiers around him laughed uneasily as well.
Saoirse frowned, shook her hand out, then gestured to Father again. Still, nothing happened. She turned to me with a look of rage and hissed, “What have you done?”
“I haven’t done anything?” I said, clutching my egg protectively.
Past Saoirse’s shoulder, in the crowd of my father’s councilors standing close to the dais, I noticed an old man with a wispy beard staring intently at Saoirse, one hand raised slightly, muttering something. My brothers and I had known for some time that one of our father’s councilors was a dragon in disguise. I would have bet anything just then that it was the wizened, old councilor and that he was somehow blocking Saoirse’s magic.
Saoirse must have known someone magical was in the room as well. With a frustrated shriek, she turned away from me, trying to find who was interfering with her plans.
Her search and my father’s laughter stopped abruptly.
“Is that one of my worthless omega sons?” Father snapped, rising from his throne.
A different kind of dread filled me. I hurried to conceal my egg as much as I could as Father glared at me.
“What are you doing out of your bedchamber?” Father demanded. “And where is that wretched brother of yours, Tovey? You’ve discovered a method to escape your confinement,haven’t you?”
It was a mad idea that couldn’t possibly work, but I didn’t have any other options.
“I’m not Prince Selle,” I said, hoping that my lack of glasses would make it plausible that I was telling the truth. “I know I look a bit like him, but I’m not him at all.”
“I think I would know my own son,” Father said, glaring at me.
“I’m not him, I tell you,” I insisted, knowing my plan would fail.
The white-haired councilor flicked his wrist slightly.
My father’s expression changed from fury to suspicion. “I can prove that you’re my son,” he said. He glanced to the back of the room, where the confused guards once again blocked the throne room doors, and shouted, “Bring me the omega princes! Fetch them straight here.”
“Yes, Your Majesty,” the guards said, then disappeared to retrieve my brothers.
Father looked at me again and said, “If the real Prince Selle joins us along with his brothers, then I know you’re telling the truth. If he is not with them, then clearly you are him. Either way, you will be punished, boy. Severely.” His expression lit with glee at the idea of punishing me.
Dread filled me. If I’d had time to talk to my brothers, I was certain they’d come up with some way to make it look like I was with them. As it was, I would have to trust they would help me once they got there.
I hoped against all hope that Gildur would arrive to save me, too. I didn’t know where he was or how to reach him, and the situation was growing more dire by the moment.
“And now for you,” Father said, turning to glower at Saoirse. “How dare you come into my throne room and threaten me?”
Saoirse had been shaking and wringing her hands through my whole exchange with Father, as if she were trying to get her magic flowing again. Nothing she did seemed to be working, which was quickly sending her into a temper.
“You will answer me when I speak!” Father boomed.
Saoirse whipped to face him, head held high. “You will not speak to me in such a manner!” she shouted right back at him. “You have no idea who I am.”
“You are a weak and deranged woman who should be thrown from the highest tower as soon as possible,” Father snapped. “Your audacity knows no bounds.”
“You have no idea what sort of power you are facing,” Saoirse threatened him in turn. “This kingdom, this entire world, will be mine! You will rue the day you ever insulted me.”
“The only one who will rue any day is you,” Father shouted. “Guards! Seize this woman and take her to the dungeons!”
