Page 18 of The Diamond Dragon Prince
“What is the nature of this urgent news?” Diamant asked, as if inquiring whether it was really so urgent as to drag us out of bed.
“I do not know for certain, my lord, but they say they have seen something distressing in a certain scrying glass.”
I gasped. “The battle. They must have seen something about the battle.”
I threw off the bedcovers and scrambled out of bed, searching for my clothes. I needed a thorough wash while Iwas at it. Fortunately, there was a wide basin in the corner of Diamant’s room next to a screen.
I didn’t make it more than three steps in that direction before a cool breeze, like someone sweeping the finest silk over my body, swirled around me. When I glanced down, not only was I perfectly clean, I was dressed in a magnificent suit of white and blue decorated with diamond accents.
When I turned to Diamant, who rolled out of bed, stood, and was instantly dressed in a similar manner, he shrugged. “What is the use of magic,” he said, “unless you can use it to complete life’s more mundane tasks in the blink of an eye?”
I grinned at him and nearly laughed before remembering the urgency of the situation before us.
I walked around the bed and took his hand, and together the two of us left the bedchamber. We followed the middle-aged, beta servant downstairs and into one of the parlors we’d passed the night before. Selle and Tovey were waiting there, their dragons with them.
“Oh! You’re looking….” Tovey greeted me, but stopped, flushing pink, as if he didn’t know how to point out what we all knew I’d just done.
“What is the news?” I demanded, striding into the room like a general and ignoring the bulge of my belly.
Selle, who was wearing glasses again, adjusted his frames as he stared at my belly. He shook his head as though there were more important things for him to focus on, and there were.
“We’ve just seen in the scrying glass,” he said. “Father’s army attacked Berk. The people of Berk put up a long and noble fight, but in theend, they lost.”
“Dozens of prisoners have been taken,” Tovey added fretfully. “They’re being marched toward the camp Father established.”
My turmoil and uncertainty melted away. I knew with absolute certainty what needed to be done.
“We have to rescue them,” I said.
Chapter
Six
Diamant
“No.” I wasn’t generally inclined to put my foot down when Leo truly wanted something, but circumstances had changed in the last several hours and we had more than just the two of us to consider now.
“No?” As expected, Leo turned to me with his own, sweet brand of fury in his eyes. “You expect me to languish here, like I have become your bed slave, when the people we were helping less than a day ago are in danger?”
I had to fight not to smile. My beautiful omega really was a fighter, but the way he subconsciously rested a hand over his belly was proof that everything had changed for him.
I huffed impatiently and sent my brothers a quick look. The two of them understood the gravity of the situation,but I could tell they were amused that I now had a strong-willed omega as part of my soul, too.
It wasn’t polite to talk about such things in public, but I had to point the obvious out to Leo. “You’re only half-bred,” I said, clearing my throat. “You have an egg growing inside you. We, er, need to finish the process.”
I felt a brief flash of amusement from my mate over the sheepishness with which I spoke of such things aloud, but it quickly turned to stubborn indignation.
“I don’t have to birth the egg immediately,” he said, then glanced to his brothers. “Selle, you birthed your egg almost right away, but Tovey, you waited several days before yours were birthed, right?”
“Yes,” Prince Tovey said hesitantly, glancing to Rufus at his side. “I felt terrible for those days, though.”
“That was because you were separated from your mate,” Prince Selle pointed out with a nod. “I never felt sick because I was with Gildur the whole time.” He smiled up at Gildur, then faced Leo again. “I think it’s possible that you won’t feel too ill if you and Diamant stay close.”
Leo damn well would stay close to me. Anyone who tried to separate the two of us now would feel my wrath.
I could feel Leo’s approval of those emotions through our new bond. He sent me a wicked grin then said, “That settles it. We’ll return to Berk and do whatever we can to help the villagers.”
I still had reservations about allowing my omega to dash off into a potentially volatile situation while with egg, but I knew him well enough to know it would be more painful to try to stop him. Besides, with the distress he was feeling about his impending papahood, allowing him to fight mightbe the best thing for him.
