“I presume that the Rajah has told you what we have learned of your granddaughter’s fate, Mother Dragon?” Gin stood up as tall as she could as she addressed the dragon. “We are at your service to make sure that she is safe.”
“And it wouldn’t hurt you to make sure I don’t use the orb as well, would it, tiny one?” Kaerinth lowered her neck until she and Gin were eye to eye. Gin stood her ground but was not as successful as Nelenie at resisting a shiver. Something about the Mother Dragon reminded her of Lord Taanyth—there was a hint of malice coupled with madness in her amber eyes.
“We have responsibilities as Guardians, my lady, and keeping the peace is one of them—I will not pretend that I think it would be a responsible thing to have Taanyth rejoin the world of the living, but -”
“LORD TAANYTH.” Gin took a step backward, and Nelenie stepped quickly in between her and the Mother Dragon, her hand on the hilt of her sword. “You will refer to him with respect in death since you obviously held him in such low regard when he was still alive.” Sath shot a pointed look at Gin, who was glaring back at Kaerinth—Gin nodded and held up her hands in surrender.
“My apologies truly. I cannot imagine the pain of losing a mate, my lady.”
“That’s much better.” Kaerinth turned her attention to Nelenie. “Tell the soldier to stand down, will you? I have no interest in fighting such an easy target.” Gin caught Nelenie’s eye and shook her head, and Nelenie complied, stepping back behind her friend. “So how do you three propose to save my Daelyth from this wizard?”
Gin took a deep breath. “With your help, Mother Dragon, I believe we can distract Taeben long enough to force him back into the Void. We are four Guardians strong, and we bring with us the power of the Guardians gone before us. If you stage an attack on La’al Drygyr, we can find the wizard in the bond and remove him from Daelyth’s mind. Once he is again non-corporeal, we will banish him to the Void for good.”
“And the Ikedrian? Elspethe?”
“She will help us as much as she can, Mother Dragon. She is a Turlach, and they are hard to kill.”
Kaerinth snorted. “You don’t have to convince me of that. I had to drive her ancestor toward the high elf battalion to get rid of her.” She was silent for a moment. “And when I do this, you will turn the orb over to me?”
Gin blanched a bit but held the Mother Dragon’s gaze. “Your Daelyth—we think, without Taeben’s influence—is the only one that knows the location of the orb at this time, my lady. I wish it were not so, because it puts the orb dangerously close to Taeben’s grasp. We must save her from him before it's too late, or the orb and the magic of Ikara will be in the wizard’s hands. Then we may talk about where to leave the orb—once Daelyth is safe, and Taeben is in the Void.”
Kaerinth put her face close to Gin’s. “I will not forget, Nature Walker. I will help, and then I will have the orb.”
Thirty-Eight
Daddy’s Little Wizard
Taeben had never known power as he had in the body of the golden dragon. He could fly. He could breathe—frost, apparently. He had access to an innate ability to form the bond and found that he did not have to do anything more than think of the person—or creature, in terms of Omerith—and it was done. He hadn’t had such clear insight into Gin’s mind since they were together at the embassy. She was with the Mother Dragon, but why? She was a distraction that he needed to free from his mind.
Daughter.
Taeben rolled his eyes. The red dragon was growing tiresome, and Taeben was undoubtedly weary of playing the part of the doting daughter.
Yes, father?
Are you all right this morning?
Indeed. How can I help you, father?
Daughter, I have been listening in on my mother, and I am concerned.
She has the Nature Walker and the Rajah, father.
Yes. Why? It makes no sense. Where did you send them when you transported them away?
Moment of truth. Taeben readied himself for Omerith’s outburst. I sent them to the Mother Dragon, father.
Why would you do that? They are our enemies, Dael!
Aye, father. She will take care of them.
Will they hurt her?
Do you really care, father?
Taeben could not have rolled the gold dragon’s eyes harder if they had been his own eyes in his own skull. Sentimentality toward Daelyth or toward the missing mate was one thing. He had not expected Omerith to harbor anything but ill will toward his mother, just as he did toward the Father Dragon. He had stopped paying attention to the answer from the red dragon because the back of his long, swan-like neck was tingling. Time to go back to the Void for a bit—the golden dragon had lasted about as long as she could with him in her mind before she started to flail against him. Last time, he had waited too long and had almost been discovered—she regained her ability to talk and had started pushing him out. He had barely enough time to get her back to her chambers and command her to sleep before he was pushed out of her mind and back into the Void.
Now he was just an observer, but he could still watch Omerith. He could again hear the red dragon through
