“As I keep telling your mate, my lady, there is no need to thank me. We are family.”
“I wish everyone would stop talking as if I were about to die,” interjected an apprehensive Aurim.
“No one is going to die, Aurim,” Gwen replied, walking over to the young man, “but you know that Toma’s left something in your head. We can’t help but feel a little anxious. I know it doesn’t help to hear that. Just rest assured that there’s nothing Toma’s done that we can’t untangle.”
“I hope,” Aurim muttered.
“Aurim!” Gwendolyn Bedlam stared down at her son.
The Gryphon raised his hands in an attempt to calm everyone. “Please! We should begin as soon as possible. Make no mistakes, this is going to take the rest of the day and likely tomorrow, too.”
That made the young warlock grimace. “
“I’m afraid so. You won’t have to sit there the entire time, though. First we have to see what’s there. Then, we have to see how we can get rid of it.”
“Let’s do it, then,” added Cabe as he joined the Gryphon.
“What about the reception?” asked his son. “Won’t you miss that?”
“Toos will give our apologies.” The Gryphon sighed. “Now, please, Aurim. You have to remain silent for this.”
Next to Cabe, Gwendolyn whispered, “I wish Darkhorse was here! I think that with his peculiar brand of sorcery, he would stand a chance of unraveling this spell by himself.”
The warlock nodded. He decided it was not the time to express his concerns about the eternal. Darkhorse had been missing far too long for his tastes.
“Let me look first,” the Gryphon suggested. “Once I have an idea what is there, I will know better how to proceed.” He met Aurim’s nervous gaze and chuckled. “I should thank you, young warlock. You have no idea how bored I am at receptions. Before your mother contacted us, I had just resigned myself to looking forward to five or six hours of empty talk and stuffy faces. It really was kind of you to drag me away from such wonderful entertainment.”
Aurim smiled, which Cabe suspected was the Gryphon’s intention. His subject more relaxed now, the lionbird summoned his power. Although they could not see his probe, the others could sense the spell progressing.
Forced for the moment to wait, the warlock thought over his old comrade’s words. More a creature of action than speech, the Gryphon despised affairs of state. But at the moment, Cabe would have preferred nothing more than fighting boredom at the royal reception in Penacles. At least that would have meant that his son, his entire family, was well.
His reverie was shattered by an intake of breath by the Gryphon. “Well, what do we have here?”
Everyone leaned forward. Anxiety spread once more across Aurim’s pale countenance.
“What is it?” Cabe asked.
The Gryphon sighed, then looked at his companions. “This is going to take much longer than I had hoped.” If it was possible for a creature with a beak to grimace, then the lionbird had done just that. “We seem to have run into a problem.”
XIV
Grath observed the reception from his usual place a bit behind his brother. Penacles he found more fascinating than Talak, possibly because Penacles was a kingdom built to honor knowledge, one of Grath’s personal gods. The young drake prided himself on his mind. He had already discovered that the majority of adults, be they drake or human, were his inferiors in terms of intellect. Grath did not hold that against them, though. He was certain that he had been born with a superior brain. After all, had not his dam, his mother, once been a part of the clan Purple, the dragons that had ruled Penacles before the Gryphon? All knew that Lord Purple had been the guiding force in the Turning War, not Grath’s sire, the emperor. Had he not died in mortal combat with Master Bedlam’s grandfather, Grath was certain that the Dragon King would have eventually seized control from Gold, the emperor.
Hatchlings were not supposed to know their mothers. All were raised in a communal setting with the matriarch overseeing everything. Grath, being who he was, had had little trouble in tracing his background. It prided him to know that his mother had come from the most intelligent, the most cunning of the dragon clans. That did not mean that he did not appreciate his late sire. If not for Gold, Grath might have never been born. He owed the late Dragon Emperor for that, if nothing else.
Toos was introducing them to yet another functionary. Grath waited for Kyl to perform his peacock routine, then bowed when it was his own turn to exchange greetings. His brother was every inch what one expected from the heir to a throne and Grath took great pride in that, for he felt that he above all others was responsible. Kyl followed his instructions to the letter and performed as well as any trained dog. That he did not realize what was happening, Grath could forgive him. Kyl was intelligent, true, but hardly on the same level as his younger brother. At least he was intelligent enough to realize how quickly he would flounder without his brilliant, loyal counselor by his side.
Grath admired the Gryphon, who pretended he no longer ruled but in reality did. The young drake had once dreamed of being emperor himself, but now it made so much more sense to stand behind the throne. If things changed and it became necessary to step forward, the support would be there.
He had the best of all possible worlds awaiting him.
It would have been preferable if Master and Mistress Bedlam or the Lord Gryphon were also here. They were clever enough to appreciate his skill at handling his brother, even if they did not realize the extent of that handling. Grath had been warned to stay some distance from them, especially his soon-to-be former guardians, but this was one point on which he and his mentor differed. The Bedlams were his family, too, and he saw no difficulty in maintaining a balance between the two aspects of his life. Besides, was it not planned that Valea would join Kyl after he assumed the throne? Better to keep on good terms with her parents for when the time came to convince them of the inevitability of Valea’s departure for the caverns of the Dragon Emperor.
That did not mean, of course, that he would not be willing to destroy them if it proved necessary for the success of his plans.
Something caught Grath’s attention. He shifted his gaze from the attractive young human woman curtsying before his brother and discovered that Lord Green was trying to gain his attention.
Turning to Kyl, he whispered, “Lord Green desires my attendance.”
His brother nodded his permission, never taking his eyes off the woman. Grath forced away a condescending smile as he left his brother. More so than him, Kyl had a fondness for human females. It had made planting the suggestion of seducing Valea that much easier. Kyl actually enjoyed her company, although that was not going to stop him from flirting with others. Grath was more dedicated; when her dashing emperor finally tired of her, Valea would find Grath waiting. She was everything he desired in a female: exotic beauty, a mind, personal strength, and, best of all, the power of a Bedlam.
The dragon king looked impatient by the time Grath joined him. He respected Lord Green very much, even if the elder drake seemed a bit too subservient to his brother. Yet, the Dragon King also found much time for him. How ironic it would be if the tall, hellish knight knew the truth. That was one problem that Grath had not yet solved. If the Dragon King discovered what the young drake was involved in, it would mean having to do something that Grath did not find appetizing.
“How isss he doing out there?”
“Perfect, of course.” Grath thought that the Dragon King had become too nervous of late, as if anything could
