Page 16 of Winter's Dragons. Frozen Flames
Chapter Five
A Ghost from the Past
Kerryn
Since our arrival in The Realm of Eternal Ice and the beginning of our relationship with Cassia, my fellow dragons and I had learned a lot about her relationship with her sisters. We'd even briefly visited The Realm of Eternal Bounties, where Phthinoporon—or Pandora, as Cassia called her—was queen. Cassia had also done her very best to give us information on the general functioning of their realms, on how the military worked in Chronikos as a whole and what threats we were supposed to expect on a regular basis.
One thing that had not been included on the latter list was attacks on the messengers of the four queens.
Due to the unique magic of Chronikos, said messengers were supposed to be protected from most dangers. Included in the enchantment were, among others, Cassia's Yuki-Onna Mariko and her sister's tengu, Karasu.
Apparently, someone had decided to change the rules, because the tengu's immunity had worn off.
"Dying?" Cassia repeated. "That's not possible. My sister's power should've protected him even in my territory."
December eyed Cassia with a degree of trepidation, but could not find an adequate reply. "I know, Your Majesty. We're as confused as you are."
Fortunately for December, Cassia did not appear inclined to blame him for his inability to provide an answer to this dilemma. "I take it you've brought him to the palace and he's seen the healers. What kind of damage did he receive?"
"It's not clear either. Some of it appears to be magical, but its source is murky, and we can't distinguish what it actually targeted and affected."
Cassia hissed in displeasure. "Wonderful. Take me to him. Kerryn, Emmerich, Raijin, come find me when you're dressed for the day."
It was more than a little irritating to have to let her handle this without us just because we weren't properly dressed, but we understood her logic and had to obey protocol. "Do you suppose this has something to do with our parents?" Emmerich asked as we were getting ready.
"I don't see how it would be related, but it does seem like a pretty big coincidence," Raijin replied. "Perhaps the fact that they breached Chronikos' wards had some sort of side effect on the magic that protects the messengers."
That made far too much sense, although Cassia had said that she'd checked the wards and there was no issue. And even assuming Raijin's guess was correct, the explanation still didn't provide us with any answers regarding the identity of the individual or individuals who'd engineered the attack on Karasu.
"Whatever it was, we need to find out, as quickly as possible," I said. "If it's something that can override the power of Chronikos, it might be a danger to Cassia."
My fellow dragons nodded, and by the time we left Cassia's quarters, we'd already come up with a tentative plan.
We had located Jack Frost in The Realm of Eternal Bounties when he'd run off to the satyr brothel. While the circumstances might not be identical, one of us should still be able to track down the attacker, as long as we got a look at Karasu's state and at the location where he had been found.
As it turned out, our female had other ideas. We met up with her again, in the healer's wing, in front of the room where Karasu was probably receiving treatment. She took one look at us and said, "You need to go get your families and leave."
Her voice was so calm and level that for a few moments, the words didn't process. When at last, they did, I immediately started to protest.
"Leave? Cassia, you can't be serious. What's wrong?" Well, other than the fact that her sister's messenger had been shot down. But that shouldn't have been enough to make her send us away. Right?
Apparently, it was.
"I'm very serious." Cassia faced us unflinchingly, her expression as icy cold as the realm she ruled over."I don't have time to explain now, but it's too dangerous for you to stay here. Go to Tis Ánoixis. You should be safe with Eranthe, at least for now, until I handle this matter."
Why in the world would we want to go to The Realm of Eternal Youth? This made no sense.
"Cassia, we're not leaving you," Emmerich shot back. "I don't know what answers you've received since we spoke earlier and why you think this is dangerous for us, but either way, we won't just abandon you when you need us."
"I don't think you understand the situation, Emmerich," Cassia answered, icicles forming at the tips of her fingers like claws. "I'm not asking you to do this. I'mtellingyou."
This was more serious than expected if Cassia was turning to that option. She was genuinely scared. Whatever she'd learned from her examination of Karasu's condition had her out of sorts, because otherwise, she would've never pushed in such a way. Even before we had become her lovers, she'd been adamant on the fact that we owed her nothing and were not her servants. I suspected that in her heart, she felt a little self-conscious about the differences between our positions, although she didn't always acknowledge it.
My fellow dragons must've realized this as well because they wasted no time in addressing Cassia's unexpected command. "Cassia, we've talked about this," Raijin said. "We're your lovers and your soulmates. We made you a vow and you accepted it. You can't change your mind about it overnight like this."
Cassia's eyes widened at the reminder and she took a step back, as if she'd just received a physical blow. Emmerich used the moment of vulnerability to sneak past her guard and wrap his arms around her. "You promised that you'd let us help and protect you. Don't push us away now."
Seeing the sense in Emmerich's approach, I decided to mimic him. The three of us ended up crowding our soulmate against the wall, pressing our bodies to hers in an attempt to remind her whom she belonged to and why it was such a bad idea to change that.
