Legends of the Dragonrealm, Vol. III

Cabe was not quite certain how he hoped to end this situation, but he knew that much of it rested on Kyl now. The heir was obviously neither the steady ally nor the outright pawn the mage had expected him to be. If Kyl no longer supported Toma . . . “Kyl, the Dragon Kings will never accept Toma. Ask Blue what they think of him. You already know how Lord Green feels about him. When I spoke of the danger to your ascension, I was referring to this. If you support Toma-and have no doubts that even if I should remain silent, the Dragon Kings will discover what happened today at the Manor-they will reject you.” The warlock shrugged. “Some might not-I suspect that Toma has support from some quarter-but that will only mean a potential civil war among your kind. I can’t allow that to happen. The fate of the drakes is tied to the fate of my kind as well.”

Kyl brooded on this in silence, which Cabe took as a good sign and Toma, it appeared, took as the opposite. The drake turned toward his supposed emperor and, forcing himself to remain calm, again pointed at the warlock. “Subtle wordsss in their own way, my brother, but surely you sssee what lies beneath them?” At the heir’s puzzled look, Toma quickly continued, “He says give in to the Dragon Kingsss in this and give in to the Dragon Kings in that. He tellsss you not to be a ssstrong emperor, but rather a weak puppet of theirs, fearful of offending them. Let them sssee you back down once and they will make you back down again and again! You will be an emperor in name only. A mockery to be paraded around whenever they have need to impressss the humansss. It will be Black, Ssstorm, and the others who will dictate and it will be you who obeysss!”

As opposed to you giving him sage advice, Toma? The trouble was, there was something to what the duke had said, just enough, in fact, to lend credence to his warning. It was clear that Kyl thought so, too, for his face took on a troubled expression, as if Toma had reminded him of something he had already feared.

The renegade drake saw that he had touched a nerve and pushed his advantage. “It wasss what they tried to do to our father, Kyl, but he persssevered . . . at leassst until they entirely abandoned him.” Toma’s tone grew sad. “They tried to overthrow him, but when that failed, they turned their backs on him in his hour of need. Left him to be driven mad by the very human before you! That isss the thing you mussst truly remember, my brother and my liege! The creature resssponsible for the fall of our father, our emperor, ssstands before you now spouting lies!”

Kyl raised a hand, silencing everyone. He rose from the throne and peered down at both the duke and the warlock. The heir’s expression was unreadable. He clasped his hands behind his back, then glanced at Grath, who had remained by Valea all this time. Cabe did not like the way the younger drake held his daughter so possessively. He was almost willing to swear that Grath was obsessed with her, which would be yet another thing he had failed to notice during the past several years. What have I been doing all this time? There were obviously many things he had failed to notice and realizing that now did not in any way assuage his guilt. Should this situation somehow be resolved, Cabe swore that he would be more careful . . . and more caring. How much of what Toma had accomplished might have been avoided if the warlock had not suffered from his own prejudices against drakes?

Kyl faced him again. “There isss much merit in what you sssay, Massster Bedlam, but at the sssame time, there isss much, even you will admit, to what the duke saysss. Asss emperor, I will have to make decisions on mattersss far more complex than even thisss. I mussst consider what ssserves bessst. I cannot be weak, but I cannot try to be too ssstrong, for that, alssso, hasss itsss dangers. I mussst learn to heed the advice of many,” here the heir indicated Grath, Toma, and Cabe, “but make the final choice basssed on my own evaluation of the sssituation.”

Triumph returned to Duke Toma’s expression and Cabe could not blame him for reacting so. While Kyl’s words impressed upon the warlock the fact that the drake would make a more able emperor than he had once supposed, the tone left little guesswork as to his decision regarding Toma.

“I will not bend to the Dragon Kingsss. With or without an official coronation, they mussst learn that I am emperor. They mussst accept my decisions. Lessst they think that I will have no sssupport without them, the duke hasss informed me that the legionsss of the drake confederation will act as my handsss. They are more than a match in number to any Dragon King’s army.”

At this revelation, Toma hissed in dismay. Cabe, on the other hand, found it interesting that Kyl would reveal such a secret. It was almost as if he was trying to warn the warlock.

The confederation. After the debacle with the Silver Dragon, survivors of those clans without a Dragon King had finally banded together, first slowly and then quicker and quicker as the benefits of an independent “clan” became clear. They held lands to the west and, if the rumors were true, kept on fairly good terms with the human kingdoms there. However, among the clans of their kind, they had no recognized status. The backing of the emperor, even an embattled one, would give them some recognition in the eyes of both the drake and human races.

No doubt Toma had presented it to their leaders in much that way.

Kyl looked at his brother, who appeared almost as upset as the renegade, then returned his gaze again to Cabe. He nodded slightly to the wary sorcerer. “I have made my decision. If you have no other reassson for being here, then thisss audience isss at an end.”

That suited Toma. Recovering from his consternation, he started to point at Ursa, no doubt to tell her that the warlock was to be escorted out now. Cabe, however, did not give him the chance to speak.

“You know that I can’t leave yet, Kyl. Even if I grant you all that you say, I can’t leave here without my daughter.”

Grath held Valea’s arm in an even tighter grip. Toma backed up a step. Kyl, oddly enough, did not seem put out by the demand.

“I once thought to make her mine,” he began almost apologetically. “She doesss fassscinate me, Massster Bedlam. I would have treated her like a queen.”

“But not an empress. At the very least, Kyl, as emperor you would have to take one of your own kind to be your prime mate, the matriarch of the hatching chambers.” Dragon Kings took several mates, mostly because many eggs were either sterile or were damaged before the young could hatch. Young drakes also often perished in their first several months.

“True.” Kyl stared long at Valea. There was something more than fascination in his eyes. Cabe was unnerved by the notion of the heir actually caring for his daughter.

“Give me back my daughter, Kyl, and I promise you I won’t interfere in whatever comes of your fight for the throne. Leave my family alone-make him leave my family alone-and we will remain distant.”

Toma gave him a mocking look. “I find that a-”

“I agree to your termsss.”

Duke and warlock stilled. Cabe could hardly believe his ears. Kyl was giving up one of his strongest cards so easily? Without Valea as his prisoner, his hold on the Bedlams was almost nothing. Under the same circumstances, Toma would have laughed in the warlock’s face and threatened the young witch unless Cabe and the rest of his family agreed to obey the renegade.

The differences between Toma and Kyl were becoming more and more evident with each passing moment.

Grath would have none of his brother’s promise. “Kyl, are you insssane? Give her up? I-you cannot do that! Think of what you are saying!”

Toma, too, was incensed. “Lisssten to your brother, Your Majesty! If you give up the female, what’s to ssstop the mage from trying to bring you down next?”

“His word.” Kyl, sounding a bit tired, gave Cabe a polite smile. “In all the yearsss I have known Massster Bedlam, he hasss rarely broken his word, and thossse times were not generally by choice. Thisss time, I know he will hold to his word, becaussse he truly does want peace. Ssso do I, Massster Bedlam. After all this, I mossst definitely do.” He reached a hand in the direction of the ensorcelled woman. “She isss yoursss, with no ssstrings, no tricksss, involved. I ssswear this by both my sssire and the