Page 31 of The Diamond Dragon Prince
That thought vanished from my head entirely as what Prince Rumi said registered in my mind.
“Your cousin?” I asked, glancing to Leo. “I wasn’t aware you had a cousin.”
“We do,” Leo said, color and life returning to his form and spirit more and more as we touched. “We’ve always heard rumors about him.”
“We weren’t certain whether they were true,” Rumi told Emmerich, walking up to him but stopping just short oftouching him. “Our father had an omega brother whom he banished from the kingdom ages ago.”
“Omegas are banned from wearing the crown,” Prince Obi filled in the rest of the story from his camp chair near to Osric. “But we’d always heard the rumor that Uncle Florian was with child when he was banished and our father feared the child would be an alpha who would have a claim to the throne.”
“He was right to be afraid,” Osric said, standing and walking closer to me, Emmerich, and Azurus. “And they weren’t just rumors. My papa, Florian, was indeed with child when he was banished. But there’s more to the story than that.”
“There always is,” Azurus said with a laugh.
Osric grinned at him as if the two of them were instant friends. “Uncle Freslik had tried to keep my papa a prisoner in the castle, as he has done with his own sons. He was not as stringent about guarding him, however. Papa was able to move freely within the castle, which was where he met my father, Lord Oberlin.”
“Lord Oberlin,” Rumi explained, still primarily focused on Emmerich, “was a good and wise nobleman who had vast estates in this part of the kingdom, near the border with our neighboring kingdom. The two of them fell in love.”
“More than that,” Osric picked up the explanation again. “They were secretly, although perfectly legally, married. I am in no way a bastard, which struck even more fear into Uncle Freslik’s heart, if he has one. Through treachery, he had my father killed. He would have killed my papa as well, but Papa escaped to my father’s estates. My father’s kin agreed to keep him secret and to raise me as one of their own, all without Uncle Freslik’s knowledge.”
“They are good and noble people, then,” I said.
“They are,” Osric agreed with a nod.
“It’s more than that,” Leo said, gripping me tighter. The excitement that poured off him through our bond had my heart beating fast as well. “Cousin Osric has a legitimate claim to the throne. All we need to do now is fight Father and remove the crown from his head and Osric can become the king.”
“He’ll be a much better king than Father ever could be,” Prince Obi said. “I daresay he’d bring peace and prosperity to our people instead of turmoil and heartache.”
“That is my aim,” Osric said. “I was hesitant to make myself known so soon or to raise an army to fight what amounts to a rebellion, but with everything my uncle has put his kingdom through of late, I had to act.”
A small silence followed those words. I could feel not only Leo’s hope and excitement but the hope of all the omega princes. My heart ached for all of them. They had suffered through so much, personally and through watching their father destroy good people and their livelihoods. For them to have a hero emerge who stood a real chance of reversing the fortunes of the cruel world must have been like a miracle to them.
But it was called the cruel world for a reason.
“How do you plan on challenging Freslik for the throne?” Emmerich asked the question on the tip of my tongue. “He may be a horrific king, but he wears the crown legitimately and he has an army of his own to protect him.”
“I’m not saying it will be easy,” Osric said, facing the question with admirable strength and practicality. “My uncle will not give up his power without a fight.”
“But with us fighting on his side, we’re bound to win,” Prince Rumi said, eyes shining with determination.
I shuffled awkwardly, glancing at Emmerich. There were definite laws about those of us from the magical world aiding in any sort of campaign of conquest in any other world. Mother wouldn’t allow it, no matter how good the outcome might be. If Prince Rumi included us dragons in his estimation of who could fight on Osric’s side, he might be disappointed.
By their expressions, I could see that Emmerich and Azurus understood the same problem. Strangely, it looked as though Osric understood as well. He had a definite look of wisdom in his eyes.
“Please, join us for our morning repast,” he said, gesturing toward the circle of chairs. “There is much more to discuss.”
There was indeed, and we all sat down to eat and discuss it.
At least, my dragon kin and the omega princes did.
“We need to talk,” I whispered to Leo, steering him off to one side as the others settled in.
I noticed briefly that Azurus took the seat beside Prince Misha, who had been silent and pale throughout the introductions and explanations. The poor prince looked as if he wanted to be anywhere other than where he was and as if he might burst into tears if the wind blew too hard.
As soon as Azurus leaned close to him and said something I couldn’t make out, and as soon as Prince Misha grew brave enough to raise his eyes and look at him, I sensed a certain glow around the two of them.
But I didn’t have time to watch the sweetness of fated mates meeting for the first time.
“Yes,” Leo said, taking my hand and leading me away from the center of the camp and behind one of the larger tents. “We definitely need to talk. We need totalk about what the dragons can do to help in the coming battle against my father.”
