Page 13 of Winter Goddess
“You don’t understand,” he shouts in desperation. “She’s in everybody’s head! She controls everyone. We can’t ask for help because she forbids it.”
I sigh. We’ve been over this before. Many times.
“Let me show you,” he begs, catching my gaze with his beautiful mahogany eyes. “Please.”
I shouldn’t. This is completely unprofessional. I should leave and let Arc and the Queen deal with him. But something in his expression makes me reach out and touch his hand.
A face flashes in my mind. A woman with hair as black as the night and eyes so cruel that it hurts to look at them.
I stumble back. “Who is she?”
Stepping backfrom Ada’s mind, I take a deep breath and address the Dragon Queen. “The Morrigan was in control of all dragons?”
“How do you… You really can read minds,” Dewi says in astonishment. Her aura changes from angry to something else.
I shrug. “I told you so. Where is the prisoner Ada set free?”
“In custody,” Dewi snaps coldly. “He’s my responsibility to deal with.”
“And Ada’s Guardians?”
“They followed her orders. They will be given the same sentence she gets.”
There’s no emotion in her voice. She doesn’t care about these men in the slightest. Ada’s aura is turning an angry white, so I intervene before she does something rash.
“Dewi, would you mind explaining what’s happened or shall I continue looking through Ada’s mind?”
Again, the Queen’s aura flutters as if she’s hiding something.
“I will explain,” Agierth volunteers surprisingly. Dewi doesn’t protest, which I find strange, but everything she’s said and done so far has been confusing. I have no idea what to make of the Dragon Goddess.
Agierth gets up from her throne and squares her shoulder. “You’re right. We were attacked by the Morrigan, and she took our Queen prisoner. Most people don’t know that we’re bound to our Queen, and she has power over us all. She rarely uses that gift, but the Morrigan exploited it. She twisted the beautiful magic that connects us and turned it into a prison for us all.”
She falls quiet and the pieces fall into place. “The assassin, the dragon assassin… he was sent by the Morrigan? She made him do it?”
Agierth nods. “He didn’t have a choice in the matter. He was a puppet, just a tool. Only when he got away from the Dragon Realm did her influence over him lessen enough that he could think clearly from time to time.”
Yes, I saw that. Moments of clarity, interspersed with days of insanity.
“Then why is he a prisoner here?” I ask. “It wasn’t his fault?”
“It’s the principle,” Dewi snaps. “He tried to assassinate a member of a Royal family.”
Agierth puts a hand on the Queen’s shoulder and to my surprise, their auras touch and merge at the seams. Maybe that’s another strange dragon thing?
“The Guardians and Alastair came here and managed to free the Queen.”
“It wasn’t as easy as she makes it sound,” Ada mutters and I have to suppress a grin.
“Wait, how did he manage to keep the Morrigan from controlling him? I thought her influence would get stronger again once he’d returned to this realm?” I ask and Agierth nods.
“They met someone. A unicorn.”
“Blaze!” I exclaim. I hadn’t realised he was this deeply involved.
“You know him?” Dewi asks in surprise.
“He’s a friend of my men,” I explain. “And mine too, I guess.”
