Page 10 of The Sapphire Dragon Prince
“Second,” the Queen went on, “I will need a purple chicken feather.”
My shoulders sagged even more. Were there such things as purple chickens?
“And thirdly, I will need a shard from The Black Mirror.”
Azurus sucked in a breath then. I turned to find him watching his mother with concern. “The Black Mirror is perilous,” he said.
“It is,” Queen Gaia agreed. “But a shard is necessary to lift the darkness your omega has been thrust into. But if you do not think you are up to the challenge….”
“I can do it!” I cried out, desperate not to have the Queen turn her back on me. “Whatever it is, I can do it. Even though I don’t understand any of this.”
The Queen smiled at me. “You are braver and bolder than you think, Prince Misha. I know you can find these three things. Once you have them all in your possession, return to me and I will break the spell that has you in its grip.”
“Thank you, Mother,” I said, desperate to get started.
I glanced to Azurus. My mate watched me with a strange combination of awe and reservation. I supposed that he knew more about the magical items his mother was asking us to find, but he didn’t seem to know much more than me.
“Is there a time limit to how long this quest will take?” he asked, glancing back to his mother. “I have sworn my assistanceto Osric in defeating King Freslik and improving the lot of the cruel world. I do not want to disappoint anyone.”
Queen Gaia smiled. “Everything else will wait until you have seen to your mate and made him well again. Do not worry. You have all the time in the world.”
“Thank you, Mother,” Azurus said.
I could tell he was a little uncertain, but he turned to me and offered his hand. I took it readily, eager to get started.
“Come on, then,” he said, smiling. “It’s time to do whatever must be done to bring us both healing and peace.”
Chapter
Four
Azurus
As we left my mother’s throne room, I felt buoyed by the possibility of being able to help my mate fight his demons and be happy again, but also worried that I wouldn’t be able to complete the tasks Mother had set for us. Not with my magic draining and turning unpredictable. Besides which, I had no idea what she meant by the one hundredth cherry tree or by a purple chicken feather, but I knew full well what The Black Mirror was.
People in the magical realm whispered about The Black Mirror as if just speaking its name could curse you. It was an evil artifact left over from a time that no one remembered, and with good reason. Legend had it that it was created by a dark sorcerer as a place to trap his enemies in eternal torment. Granted, I didn’t know anybody personally who had come up against The Black Mirror, at least nobody who had faced it and lived to tell the tale, but I was determined to be ready for whatever collecting a shard from the mirror would mean.
“We have to prepare ourselves for this quest,” I told Misha as we stepped out of the sphere of my mother’s throne room and into the pastoral countryside where it was currently located. I looked around to get my bearings, then said, “We have to make absolutely certain that nothing on this journey can harm us.” Especially if I wasn’t going to be able to rely on my magic to keep us out of harm’s way.
“Is it very dangerous?” Misha asked, gripping my hand tightly and glancing up at me.
I smiled as soon as I stopped searching for whatever equipment we might need to complete the quest and focused on him instead. “Whatever the danger,” I said, resting a hand on the side of his face, “I won’t let it harm you.”
Misha’s smile was filled with gratitude and love, and for a moment I wanted to forget the quest entirely in favor of taking him back to my lair and trying to see if we could bring on his heat. Heat and bonding would fix things just as much as completing my mother’s quest, I was sure.
As was the way of my mother’s magic, however, as soon as I had those thoughts, I suddenly noticed a large storehouse off to one side of the hill that hadn’t been there before. If that wasn’t a subtle hint from Mother to stay true to the quest she’d set for us, I didn’t know what was.
I stole a quick kiss from my sweet mate, then took his hand again and moved forward toward the storehouse.
Misha jumped as soon as he turned around and spotted it. “That wasn’t there before,” he said in awe.
“Yes, well, this is the magical realm,” I explained, “and we’re close to Mother’s throne room.” Although looking around now, it appeared as though the entire garden where Mother had her throne had vanished entirely and, worryingly, I didn’t feel as if my magic was strong enough to find it again. “Mother has a wayof giving us exactly what we need at precisely the moment we need it,” I said, mostly to reassure myself.
“What is she giving us with this building?” Misha asked, gazing up at its plain, barn-like edifice as we came closer.
“If my guess is correct, it’s a storehouse filled with everything two travelers might need to accomplish the quest she’s set for us,” I said.
“Then I’m eager to see what’s inside,” Misha said, picking up his pace as we reached the large, open door. “I have a good feeling about this quest. I think Queen Gaia really can heal me. I could feel it coming from her. I’ll do whatever it takes to bring back the items she asked for.”
