Dragon Storm, page 15
“Nico’s usually the more lenient of our elder siblings. I would have expected the anger from Roland, but not from Nico. Of course, things have been different since our youngest brother, Wil, was kidnapped.”
“That’s your time-traveling brother, right?” Josie looked shocked.
“I guess you could say that. Those who took Wil, sent him home a week later, but he was five years older. The Wizard Gryffid plays with the flow of time on Gryphon Isle. Gryffid didn’t ask permission, he just stole Wil—supposedly to train him—and returned him an older, wiser…stranger. It’s been hard getting to know him again. He is much different than when he left.”
“Are you certain it’s really him?”
“Quite certain. The dragons know the truth. There’s no way to fake what or who we are to them. All of us are half dragon. No one else in this world, besides those of the royal family, can make that claim. And dragons recognize their own.”
“Royal family?” She still couldn’t quite believe they were princes.
“There are several lines descended from Draneth the Wise,” Darius told her. “We are the main branch, descended from the eldest son of the eldest son, going all the way back to Draneth. There is also the House of Kent, from which Riki and her twin, Lana, descend.”
“They’re dragons too?”
“Black dragons,” Connor corrected her. “Only black dragons are shapeshifters. And actually, it’s rare for Riki and Lana to be able to shift. Most females of the royal lines cannot. Their younger sister, Belora, and their mother, Adora, cannot. Both Riki and Lana came to their powers late, as it is said most females do. If they can shift at all, it usually comes upon them after full adulthood. Perhaps Belora might discover the talent at some point in the future.”
“You really are princes? That wasn’t just a line?”
“A line?” Connor looked as if he didn’t quite understand what she meant.
“You know, something you say to impress the girls.”
Darius laughed outright while Connor looked affronted. “No, it is true, I assure you. Our eldest brother is king of this land.”
“We are just lowly princes,” Darius added with a teasing look. “And you are our beloved princess.”
“Princess Josie?” The thought of it was a little heady. She was still just plain old Josie, no matter how many people wanted to deify her in different ways. “Nah, that just sounds silly.”
“Silly or not, it is the truth of the matter. Among our people you will be treated with the respect due a Princess of Draconia.” Connor’s tone told her there would be no further argument on the matter.
Josie decided to let it drop for now. The middle of a family squabble was no place to be worrying about her new title, real or imaginary. Nico looked older and more world-weary than the twins, and he definitely had that elder-sibling disapproval vibe going on. Josie didn’t envy her mates having to face this man’s anger or accusations, but she would stand with them regardless. She could do no less. They were her mates.
Eventually they reached a round chamber with a giant sand pit in the middle. The whole place looked like it had been carved out of rock. Slabs of the stuff formed the floors and walls, though the furniture—what little she’d seen—seemed to be made of wood and other common materials.
The people around her dressed in natural fibers dyed various colors and leather. Lots of leather everywhere. Especially on the men. There were few women here. She did see one or two in the halls along their path. One wore a dress that could have come out of Camelot, the other was in leather pants and tunic. No one seemed to mind either clothing choice, which was a relief to Josie. She liked skirts well enough, but she was no medieval maiden content to wear such things on a daily basis. If she had to give up blue jeans, she was darn well going to wear their Draconian equivalent.
Nico spun on his heel as the door shut behind them, facing his brothers. Riki stood beside him but was much less upset. If anything, her expression looked reserved. Darius and Connor tried to stand in front of Josie, possibly to shield her from their older brother’s wrath, but she was having none of that. She shouldered between them, to stand with them, between them, facing down the dragon alongside her mates.
“Now do you want to go over that again? The truth this time, if you please.” Nico’s raised eyebrow told them he hadn’t believed anything they’d told him so far.
“It was the truth,” Connor defended them. “Everything we’ve told you is true. Josie is a snowcat shapeshifter, blessed with a strong dose of what little magic is left in her world.”
“Her grandfather helped us get back here. He led us to this talisman. See?” Darius lifted the chain around Josie’s neck and she helped him, holding out the snowcat emblem for Nico to see. “It matches the amulets Shanya gave us. With the three amulets used together, Josie was able to call the storm that brought us back.”
Nico still didn’t look convinced.
“Look. I think it’s pretty obvious, I’m not from around here, but my snowcat recognized my mates as soon as they landed in the forest and walked up to my cabin.”
“Mates?” Nico’s eyebrow rose even higher, if such a thing were possible. “You’re mated?” He looked at his brothers for confirmation.
“Yes.” Connor put an arm around her shoulders.
“She is ours.” Darius put an arm around her waist.
“This is ridiculous.” Nico threw his hands up in disgust and turned away, stalking off a short distance around the chamber.
Riki seemed embarrassed. “Congratulations,” she offered with a wry smile. “Don’t worry, he’ll come around. They’ve all been worried sick about you two. Tensions have been running very high since Wil’s kidnapping. To have another disappearance in the family so soon was more than they could really take. Roland is half convinced you’re Lucan’s prisoners in Skithdron. He’d have been likely to mount a major assault before long, but thank the Mother of All, that won’t happen now that you’re back.”
Connor sighed heavily and let his arm drop from around Josie’s shoulders. “I had no idea it was that bad. We were only gone a few days, but with everything that happened to us and all that we saw of Josie’s world, it feels like a lifetime.”
“Is it true there’s no magic in your world, Josie?” Riki offered an olive branch, and Josie took it gladly.
“Not much. No dragons, certainly. My grandfather knew legends of the times when wizards fought among themselves. He said their battle fractured the magic in my world, dispersing it. Only a few races of supernatural beings can claim and use magic. The rest of the people rely on technology, and few now believe in magic.”
“How sad. Yet it must be quite a different place than what you see here. I bet you’ll have a big adjustment ahead of you.” Riki looked sympathetic, which Josie appreciated.
“As long as I have my mates and I can run free every once in a while, it’ll be all right.” She tried to sound brave. Still, the little things would take a hell of a time getting used to. All those dragons, for one thing. There must have been fifty of the creatures in every color of the rainbow along their path, and every one bowed to her men as they passed. That would certainly take some getting used to.
“Run free?” Riki asked.
“I’m a snowcat. I shift form into the cat and back again, much like you can become a dragon. The snowcat enjoys a fast run, particularly on rocky, challenging terrain. I live—used to live—high in the mountains with no close neighbors so I could let the cat run every day or two without worrying about being seen. It would have raised quite a few eyebrows if a Himalayan snowcat were seen prowling in the Pacific Northwest. I had to be cautious about where I chose to hunt and run.”
“What is a snowcat? I don’t think I’ve ever heard of such a creature.” Riki seemed interested, and even Nico had stopped muttering and pacing to stand at the far end of the chamber. He had his back turned to them, but it was clear from his posture that he listened.
“A big cat, like the Mountain Cats of Shindar, but white, with black and gray markings,” Connor supplied.
“And huge paws with curving claws sheathed within to help her gain purchase on snow and ice. She glows with magic in her cat form.” Darius gave her a squeeze, smiling in that roguish way he had.
“Truly?” Riki seemed eager. “Can you change form at will? Is it draining? I’ll freely admit, when I first started shifting, I couldn’t do it more than once a day. It was too tiring.”
“Adolescent shifters often experience a drain, but I’ve been shifting for more than a decade. I can do it pretty much whenever I want to.” Riki seemed receptive, so Josie offered more. “I can show you, if you like.”
“Would you?” An eager light filled Riki’s eyes, and Josie thought she just might have found her first friend here in Draconia.
Without thinking further on the subject, Josie called her cat and felt the white mist of magic envelop her. Darius’s hand sank into the fur around her neck and scratched, just as she liked it. A purr welled up from deep in her chest as he stroked her and her ears swiveled to catch the soft gasp that issued from Riki’s mouth. Nico turned to stare at her from across the chamber, and she decided to tweak him a little bit, padding toward his wife on silent paws.
“You’re lovely, Josie. And you do glow with magic. It’s like nothing I’ve ever seen before and quite stunning.”
“Stand away from my mate,” Nico ordered, suddenly next to Riki, facing Josie down with angry eyes.
Josie bared her teeth at him and growled low in her throat. Darius and Connor came up beside her, and she sat back on her haunches between them, almost daring Nico to say more. In the blink of an eye, she shifted back to her human form.
“I wouldn’t hurt her. She’s at least been nice to me.” Josie’s dry tone said clearly that Nico hadn’t.
Finally, the older brother cracked a smile. Josie saw in that moment, his angry stance had been part of an elaborate test. Oh, he’d started off angry enough, but he was more relieved than anything else to have his brothers back. The show was to teach them a lesson and also to test the mettle of the stranger they’d brought back with them. Josie thought she understood a bit more why they called this brother the Prince of Spies.
“Good one, Nico. You certainly know how to welcome a girl into the family.” Josie shook her head at him while he grinned. One corner of his mouth tipped upward in acknowledgement, and she knew she’d read him right.
The twins didn’t seem to get what had just happened, until sudden understanding dawned and varying expressions of frustration, annoyance, relief and humor crossed their faces.
“Nico, for heaven’s sake.” Connor stepped forward for the hug of welcome he hadn’t gotten on the landing ledge. The brothers pounded each other’s backs as Nico finally relented and welcomed them home.
“Messengers have already been dispatched to Roland and the other Lairs,” Hal reported. The leaders of the Lair had arrived in the round chamber a few minutes later, along with two dragons, who immediately waded into the sand pit and sat as if they were part of the conversation.
It turned out this chamber was part of the leaders’ suite of rooms where they lived with their dragon partners.
“They will no doubt be relieved to find you both returned to us safe and well. And there will be much rejoicing in the fact that you have taken a wife,” Jures added as he joined them at a small table set at the far end of the chamber.
“I wonder what they’ll make of your snowcat,” Riki mused. “I doubt there’s been such a union of different kinds of magic in recent history. From what I’ve learned, the descendants of Draneth the Wise usually marry humans, or as in our case, distant relations who share the dragon legacy.”
“We’ll have someone search the archives,” Nico agreed. “I suppose the Mother of All had some reason for it, which will come clear in time.” As he spoke, a woman introduced as Lady Candis brought refreshments from a side room, then joined the discussion.
“Nico,” Connor spoke after they’d all been served. “When we came out of the storm, we were on the other side of the Border. There we met and fought a group of men that used to be loyal to Salomar. We learned they have a new leader. A man called Gebel. Do you know of him?”
“Gebel?” Nico’s eyes narrowed. “Are you certain?”
“That was the name we were told,” Darius agreed.
“And how came you by this information?” Nico looked suspicious.
Darius grinned and took Josie’s hand. “Our cat cornered the last man standing. Actually, he was trying to run away, but she’s awfully fast on those pretty paws. When confronted by her teeth and the threat of us letting her eat him, the man was very forthcoming. He said this Gebel person has taken over where Salomar left off. He regrouped the armies and is working again with Lucan of Skithdron.”
“This is very bad news, indeed.” Nico scowled. “Gebel was the sorcerer Salomar relied on when Loralie was out of reach.”
Riki picked up the tale. “Lana told me that Loralie would be absent for long periods of time, yet she always came when Salomar called. He had something that drew her, held power over her. Lana didn’t know what it was, but he used it sparingly. When Loralie wasn’t around, Gebel took her place at Salomar’s side. He wasn’t much of a magician, but he was clever and sly. Lana hated him.”
“Then the counselor has now become king,” Connor said with grim finality. “If he manages to solidify as much power as Salomar had, we could have trouble in the North once again.”
A sudden commotion among the dragons had all the men alert. The trumpeting of dragons could be heard all around the Lair and the sound of feet pounded in the hall.
“Roland comes,” Nico said, tilting his head and listening to the dragons’ cacophony. “Judging by the uproar.”
“The messenger couldn’t have reached him yet.” Jures seemed surprised.
“The king has his ways.” Nico sounded mysterious as he grinned and stood, heading for the doorway. Hal and Jures stood as well, accompanying him.
“I bet Shanya saw something,” Darius said to Connor in an aside just loud enough for Josie to hear as they too stood.
Josie joined them. “Who’s Shanya again?” And why was Josie suddenly jealous of what sounded like a girl’s name being spoken so familiarly by her mates?
“She’s the seer we told you about. One of the fair folk,” Connor said offhandedly, which reassured her. He wouldn’t speak casually of the woman if there had been something between them.
“Are fair folk like fairies? Little pixies with wings who play tricks on people?” She tried to lighten the mood with a question that had been bugging her since she’d first heard the term fair folk.
Both men looked at her strangely. “Fair folk are the same size as us,” Darius clarified.
“They do not have wings, and Shanya seemed a very serious girl when we met her. I don’t believe she is the kind of woman who enjoys tricking others,” Connor picked up the explanation.
“My mistake. We have legends about fairies—sometimes called fair folk—in my world. There are many different stories, of course. Some describe them as cute little fairies with wings flitting about like little birds, full of otherworld magic.”
They walked together toward the doorway, but were far behind their hosts and the Prince of Spies. Riki had stayed with them and the dragons remained in their wallow, though they seemed to be spiffing themselves up in preparation to receive visitors, if she was any judge. Josie noted absently that the abrasive sand seemed to do a heck of a job polishing their scales. The dragons were starting to really sparkle as they rolled around in the sand, getting it everywhere in the process. That explained the brooms placed strategically along the walls around the circular chamber.
“To my knowledge, we do not have such creatures here. The fair folk are not common in our lands either, but we do know they exist. Wil told us there’s a whole tribe of them living on Gryphon Isle. Shanya is one of those. She came to us only a short time ago, in the company of two young gryphons who had mated against their elders’ wills. They were having a hard time finding a place for themselves among their disapproving elders, and decided to strike out and try to forge a new path here, in our land. Roland allowed them to nest in the cliffs near Castleton, and they act as envoys, of a sort, between us and the gryphons,” Connor added as they ambled closer to the big, arched doorway.
“Actually, there are two sets of gryphons living with us now,” Riki clarified as the men nodded. “The first pair is slightly older and came from Alagorithia. So we have representatives from two gryphon Clans and so far, they’re getting along well with us and with the dragons. It’s fun to fly with them. Their feather wings gives them a whole different dynamic in flight, and it’s interesting to note the differences.”
“It must be amazing to fly like a bird, under your own power.” Josie was entranced by the idea. She’d gotten used to her mates being dragons. To realize there were women out there—that Riki could in fact shift into a dragon—blew her mind.
“Like a dragon,” Riki teased. “And yes, it is an amazing feeling. I never thought I could do it. I never even knew my heritage, until Nico found me.”
Josie would have asked more, but her mates seemed to straighten as footsteps thundered down the hall toward them. A tall, dark-haired man rounded the corner. Josie could see immediately that this was another brother. An older brother. No doubt, the king.
“Rol!” Darius rushed forward to meet him. Connor followed his twin. Both were gathered up for back-pounding hugs of welcome, and Josie could see the very real relief on their big brother’s face.
“You two had me worried,” Roland said as he let them go. He put one arm around each of the twins’ shoulders and walked with them toward the chairs they’d just left. “Shanya said you’d be all right, but I refused to believe it until I saw you again for myself. You don’t look any older, thank heaven.” The brothers laughed at that, and Josie knew they must be referring to the way their youngest brother had been returned to them—five years older. That had to have been a shock.
