“You gave yourself something you were never meant to have.” Kaiten said grimly.
“You may say that now, young king, but you will seek out one of yours with abilities no one else possesses in the future.” The old Beastman chuckled. “You will seek me to be your Spellmaster.”
Loren shook her head. The princess had heard enough. She stood and signaled to her friends that they should leave, when suddenly the old Beastman sniffed.
“Wait. You, the girl.” He called, sniffing the air. “A dragon, are you?”
“I am no dragon, I’m a human.” Loren replied.
“Your magic smells of great beasts, there is no doubt about it. Great power and the shine of gold.” The snow leopard sniffed again and his expression soured. “Gold and red, the red of blood. You smell of fire and ash, the metallic scent of blood.”
“What?” Loren looked back at him. The gold of the dragon magic faded from her eyes, no longer hiding the fear that was clear there.
The sickly green glow of the snow leopard’s markings pulsed brightly, then stilled. “It smells foul, under the warm brilliance. Leave my tent with all haste, bloody dragon. The scent burns in my nose.”
“Excuse me?” Loren said. She turned full back to the old Beastman. “Please, explain. What do you mean? Blood?”
The snow leopard shook his head. “Leave! Leave me be. I want no audience with you.”
“What is your name, at least?”
“Malla is my name.” the old Beastman grunted. “But none have called me that in a long time. I have been ostracized by society for my actions, Beastman and human alike.”
“I would have to agree with them.” Kaiten grumbled. “What you’ve done is reprehensible; an abomination.”
The old snow leopard Beastman raised his face, looking to Kaiten with blind eyes. He smiled. “You would have done the same, my king, if you were in that place. If you felt the thrum of life at your very fingertips, you would have done the same.”
Kaiten left the snow leopard’s tent in a huff. If it was possible to slam a tent flap, he would have. Loren came out next, looking haunted. The prince rounded on the princess, unable to keep the growl from his voice. “It was a mistake to come here, Loren!”
“I know.” Loren’s voice was only more than a whisper. “It was foolish of me, and you were all right. It was a waste of time. I’m sorry.”
The Beastman prince paced in front of the tent, seething. Nomads, both Beastman and human, were starting to stop and stare. After a while, the prince seemed to burn out. He stopped pacing. “You didn’t know what he’s done, or even who he was. It’s not your fault, Loren. And I suppose this information is of some benefit. Maybe a cautionary tale that an abomination like this is capable of happening.” Frustrated, Kaiten scratched at his short mane. “I must stop this from happening to any other Beastman.”
Loren stood where she was, staring at the floor. The old Beastman’s words rung in her head. “Bloody dragon,” he called her. She raised her eyes to Kaiten, and they were hollow. “Kaiten…What did he mean?”
“By what?”
“I smell of fire and ash? A bloody dragon? Does he know about my family?”
Kaiten impatiently shook his head. “Pay him no mind, Loren. His mind is probably long gone, after the rituals he put himself through. He should not have played with magical forces, especially anything from the Plaguelands! Ignore it, it’s probably the ramblings of a mad, old man.”
The princess sighed and nodded. It was better to focus on the task at hand, rather than be sidetracked and bogged down with doubt. There was still a long way to go, and so many things to do. Loren took a deep breath and held it for a short while, steeling herself, but a movement caught her eye and what bit of concentration she managed to create for herself left just as quickly as it came.
Kae left Malla’s tent. She met Loren’s gaze as she straightened herself. Loren quickly looked away.
Kaiten grunted and scratched at his mane again. “Come on, let’s get to Hardwick. I have to find some way to remove Doreos from power and reclaim my throne. Then I can fix this mess and protect my people.”
Chapter Twenty One
The road south of the border town was mercifully paved. Trees were cut down and a path was cleared, laid down with flat stones that wreaked less havoc on a cart’s wheels than the natural rough terrain would. A trader’s cart had arrived in the border town just as Loren and the others were about to leave. The princess paid a small sum of gold to the driver, persuading him to let them ride in his cart back to Hardwick. It was there he was going, and with an unexpected handful of extra gold in his pocket, the driver accepted.
While the road was relatively smooth, the ride in the back of the cart still swayed them, bumping them into each other at every dip and gap between the paving stones. The swaying motion of the cart, along with the peaceful, quiet journey, soon found Loren curled up on the bench with her pack under her head, asleep. Ma’trii curled up with the princess, dolefully watching everyone else.
Kae sighed. She watched the scenery go by. The trees gradually shifted from the tall and hardy ones that grew in the bitter cold of the north, to the smaller trees with sprawling roots that spread far along the ground. Those sights were familiar to her, and she had the option of following Loren’s lead and taking a nap, but the events of that morning
