Page 6 of The Diamond Dragon Prince
“I’ve never taken part in a battle before,” Prince Obi repeated his earlier statement, but with more worry. “I hope I’ll be as brave as you are, Leo.”
Leo laughed with excitement. “Let’s get there and assess the situation first, then we can decide whether a battle is necessary.”
“Clever prince,” I murmured to him as we walked into the trees just far enough that everyone in the pavilion wouldn’t see me conjure a questionably legal doorway. “I knew there was a reason I liked you.”
“I thought you liked me because I’m pretty,” Leo tossed back, teasing me.
It was going to be a challenge not to jump my delicious omega at the first opportunity we got.
I forced myself to concentrate on my magic for a moment and thought about where I wanted us to go. I wasn’t completely certain where the impending battle was located, but intention alone was enough to open a small portal that would take us close enough to where we wanted to go.
“It’s just after dusk,” Prince Rumi whispered once we’d all traveled through into the countryside of the cruel world. “You can still see the last rays of the sunset on the western horizon.”
Leo nodded, receiving the information like intelligence. “This must be the village of Gannet,” he said, swaying closer to me so he could point out the features of the area around us. “That’s the village there, and you see those hills just that way?”
“Yes,” I whispered, breathing in his enticing scent of ripe summer fruit.
“There are caves from old mines that way,” he explained. “In his younger days, Father was certain there was gold buried in his land. He had several mines constructed, but he never found?—”
His words were cut short by the sound of horses galloping. We were at the edge of a small wooded area, but it wasn’t enough to provide us with complete shelter. The four of us were forced to dash for the cover of some bushes off to one side and to crouch so that we wouldn’t be seen by the riders.
“Are those soldiers?” Prince Obi asked, his youth showing through. “Are they on their way to attack?”
“We have to follow them,” Leo said.
As much as I loved my omega’s determination to do what was right, I wasn’t as happy with his impulsiveness. Rushing into serious things had never been my way. I was far more likely to sit back, preferably with a drink of something tasty, to think about a situation before engaging. Leo leapt up and started following the riders before I could grab him and hold him back. I lunged after him, but he saw that as me following his lead, and his brothers came with us.
Whether it was the smart thing to do or not, all four of us were racing across the shadowed field, following the riders to the small village just beyond where we’d been hidden. I hated leaving an open door to the magical world behind me, but there wasn’t time to seal it up tightly.
“I think we’re too late,” Prince Obi whispered when the four of us made it to the edge of the village. “It looks like the soldiers have already won.”
Unfortunately, the young prince was right. By the time we reached the edge of one of the houses that made up the small village, the air was still, and instead of the shouts andclash of a skirmish, we heard soldiers giving orders and women and children weeping.
“Stay down,” Leo said, taking command of our mission, which I found both adorable and arousing. “We need to discover what happened.”
With a few quick sweeps of magic, I could have read the minds of any of the nearby people or frozen them so that we could walk among them, as if we were observing a painting. Leo seemed to be doing a perfectly reasonable job of leading our mission, so I hung back, smiling with pride in him, and let him take charge.
“…for putting up a fight,” a deep, male voice said from the center of the small square all of the village’s houses were built around. “King Freslik knows you are hiding something. He knows that a sorceress attempted to overthrow him and that she escaped to the edges of his realm to hide and regroup.”
I fought not to laugh. Gildur had told us all about Saoirse’s little gambit with King Freslik and Argus’s attempt to erase the memories of everyone involved. It seemed as though my brother’s powerful magic wasn’t enough to wipe the idea that a sorceress had attacked him from Freslik’s mind entirely.
“We…we know nothing about any sorceresses,” one of the hapless villagers answered.
We’d snuck close enough, using the buildings of the village for cover, to see what looked like about fifty people on their knees in the square, surrounded by maybe half as many mercenary soldiers. It was the smallest army imaginable, but the simple village people were in no position to fight them. A few were bandaged like they’d tried.
“Sorceresses don’t exist,” one of the other villagerspleaded. “King Freslik is mad if he thinks one is set against him.”
“Quiet!” the head of the mercenaries shouted, which was followed by a slapping sound. “How dare you insult the king!”
Leo tensed by my side at the cruelty shown to the villagers. I was certain he wanted to rush into the square and fight them with his bare hands.
I was about to join him. It would have been easy to wipe every one of the soldiers out with fire. But the situation changed before I had a chance.
“Don’t bother with this lot,” one of the men on horseback said. “King Freslik has other plans, especially if this lot won’t talk.”
“Rottum,” Prince Obi gasped behind me, and I heard Prince Rumi shush him.
“But, sir, we have orders,” the lead mercenary said.
