Page 59 of The Mountain King
He snorted a puff of smoke. “Women. Fine, stay at our backs. And try not to kill anyone—they still need to make quota in the morning, rebellion or not.”
A bit nonplussed by his ruthless practicality, Kailigh followed on Maddugh’s heels. They disappeared for a few moments to retrieve yet another stash of clothing, this time their customary black suits and shoes. And, surprisingly, firearms.
“The guard was ordered to contain but not engage until we arrived,” Amnan said. “I assumed you would want to minimize casualties.”
Maddugh nodded once, and gestured. They ran, Maddugh eyeing the women until he was certain they could keep up, and then increased the pace. Kailigh realized what it meant to be truly Dwyrkin.
Instead of diving into the crowd, they circled around to the side of the castle. Most of the humans were at the front entrance, contained by a string of Dwyrkin in human form, defending but not attacking.
“Cin,” Kailigh said and they made their way to the side entrance, taking out the occasional human who’d separated from the crowd. When they reached the door under Cinvarra’s balcony, a tall figure in a pale dress with long golden hair stepped out, leaning over the railing. Kailigh stared, blinking.
“Hrutha?”
He waved a hand. “Yoo hoo,” he said in a high-pitched voice, then laughed, the sound deep and wickedly amused. “They wanted a pretty hostage, so I volunteered. Do you think they’ll accept my terms of surrender?” He batted his lashes. She heard Cinvarra’s exclamation of disgust and a second later Kai’s youngest daughter appeared, shoving Hrutha aside.
“It’s about time, Ma. How could you leave me alone with this Mad Hatter? He’s certifiable.”
Amnan snorted, pushing past Kai to enter and take the stairs two at a time. She followed on his heels, meeting the pair halfway up the stairs.
“They haven’t breached the interior,” Hrutha said, eyes glittering. “A little sloppy, Amnan. You could have armed them better, provided us with some real sport. It just isn’t even odds this way. Some of them have axes.Axes.”He rolled his eyes. “Unbelievable.”
Amnan shrugged. “Did what I could.”
They strode through the castle to the front doors, the din on the other side increasing as they came closer.
“All right, let’s get this finished,” Maddugh said, crisp. “Get the leaders rounded up and brought to me and throw the men in the dun… basement. And make sure Gaston doesn’t get away.”
He eyed her sideways. Well, now she knew they had a dungeon.
Maddugh threw open the front doors, Amnan and Kailigh hard on Maddugh’s heels. The girls came as well, Kai not bothering to argue with them to stay back. At the sight of their Lord, the line of Dwyrkin guards broke, stepped back, and one by one they all began to shift. Hrutha burst out of his dress with a maniacal laugh, the bronze dragon taking his place with breathtaking scales of palest gold descending to a rich mahogany at his belly.
Kailigh watched, brow furrowed, as the humans were swiftly defeated, their weapons snatched from hands with claws and muzzles, a few streams of warning fire enough to cause the others to drop to the ground, hands on the back of their heads.
“I don’t understand,” Kailigh said. Amnan stood next to her, calm, as Maddugh watched a few feet away, almost bored from his crossed arms. “What made them think even a hundred men with rifles were a match against a town of dragons?”
Amnan scratched his chin. “I may have convinced them that the Dwyrkin lost their ability to shift, all save the Lord and his sons.”
“But… we see dragons in the sky all the time.”
Amnan shrugged. “Wizard’s First Rule.”
Persia started, head jerking around. “How do you know about that?”
Kailigh frowned. “What? What’s Wizard’s First Rule?”
“Ma. How can you not know Wizard’s First Rule?”
“People are stupid,” Serephone muttered.
* * *
Maddugh was closetedseveral hours with the leaders of the rebellion, getting to the bottom of the discontent and hammering out terms. Kailigh slipped in at one point to listen to some of it—because she didn’t want to be left out of the loop of what was going on in her own town, and slipped back out after things got boring to the point her mind began wondering about whether the plants had been watered.
“Gaston disappeared,” Amnan told her as she left the meeting room. “Be vigilant.”
Of course, she was. It was several days before Maddugh would let her out of the castle, several rusty days until she managed to corner him in his office.
“How long are you going to be in this mood you’re in?” she asked.
