“Then we stop him before that happens.” Gin dug into her rucksack until she found the spellbook she had recovered at the embassy—the one that Taeben had made notes in while he held her captive. “Look, there has to be something in here—he wrote in this thing all the time.”
“And you’ve had it with you?” Sath came over to the bed and sat down next to her. “You kept his spellbook this whole time? Romantic.”
Gin glared at Sath, clearly irritated. “Don’t do that. I cannot concentrate on this if I am worried about saying or doing something that will set you off.” Sath scowled as he nodded his head. Gin flipped through the pages, now and then pausing to run one of her fingers over the notes scrawled in the margins. It was written in Elder Elvish, mostly, so Sath couldn’t read a lot of what he saw. Some of it was written in Eldyr, though, and he could translate that for Gin when she got stuck.
An hour went by, and she shoved the book across the bed in frustration. “Easy. You don’t want to rip the pages.” He took her hands in his and rubbed them carefully, keeping his claws away from her skin.
She smiled at him gratefully at first, but then scowled, pulling her hands back from his. “This is not getting us anywhere. There’s not enough here to help me draw him out—not without risking an attack while he is still in the control of the dragon’s body. Maybe if I can just get him alone, I can -”
“Absolutely not. Anything we do now, we do as a team.”
“The first thing we do, then, is we need to get Omerith away from the golden dragon.”
Thirty-Four
You Can’t Go Home Again
Omerith lingered outside Daelyth’s quarters. He could not quite bring himself to walk away from her door. She was all he had left, and he would give up his own life before he let anyone hurt her. He thought of Andyth for a moment, his memories of the last time he saw her colliding sharply with the knowledge that she might be gone forever. If only he could bring her back—he would give up his life for both of them, of that he was certain.
That is because you are just like your own father, my son.
Mother. Do not ever compare me to Taanyth. He was a mad tyrant. We are all better off without him.
Don’t say that, Ome. Your father loved you—you were our pride and joy. You were the best of both of us, unlike your brother Kalinth.
His fate is your fault, just like Taanyth’s. You left them both there, defenseless and alone. Andyth and I were wise to go when we did and not let our daughter be tainted by you. Mother, but what do you want?
I want to know if you have any information on who is controlling your daughter, Daelyth.
What do you know about my daughter?
Have you found the wizard who has compromised her to get the orb from her?
As if you didn’t already know where she is. She is safe at home, thank you for your concern, Mother. Goodbye -
Wait. Does Daelyth have the orb?
Goodbye, Mother.
The bond severed, and Omerith shook his head to clear it. How did she know that he suspected something was wrong with his daughter unless it was through the bond? The red dragon lowered his head and narrowed his eyes. How would she know indeed, unless she was the one to send the wizard after Daelyth in the first place—and for what reason? He sought out the Nature Walker. Daelyth had been so wary of the Rajah but seemed comfortable with the Nature Walker.
Yes, Omerith?
Ginolwenye of the Trees. Pardon the intrusion, but I need to speak to you about the matter of who has compromised my daughter’s mind. I have new—suspicions, if you will, that it might have involved my mother. May I come to your chambers?
Aye, my lord, I will help you as much as I can.
He closed his eyes and brought his body to join his mind, and soon he was standing in front of a surprised Gin and Sath. “I hope I am not interrupting?”
“Of course not.”
“I sense that you are—troubled about my daughter. I sense that—you seek to do my daughter harm?” He leaned his long neck over the bed until he could see the spellbook. “What are you doing, Nature Walker?”
Sath covered his ears for a moment at the booming voice of the red dragon, then leveled his gaze up at Omerith. “With all respect, my lord, I fear that she is not safe. I fear that there is a wizard inside her mind, and that wizard wants the orb for himself.”
Voluminous puffs of smoke poured out of Omerith’s nose as he took a step back from them. “How DARE -”
Gin jumped in between them. She placed a hand on Sath’s arm and reached out for Omerith, but he pulled away from her. “Omerith, if you will search Sath’s mind in the bond, you will see the wizard to whom he refers and why we suspect this. Please.” Omerith turned his attention back to Sath and stared into his teal eyes. Gin clamped down on his arm as the Qatu’s knees buckled, and he stumbled. “Easy, Omerith, he has only recently learned to use the bond.”
“Lies, Ginolwenye of the Trees. The Qatu have always had the bond. It is—how do you say in your language? It is innate. They are born knowing how to form the bond, just as my kind are.”
“He does not know that, Omerith. The bond is forbidden in our side of the world now, you know that. Draoch of the Trees made the proclamation that it would not be used again.” Sath rumbled in his chest,
