Dragons Among Them (Kingdoms of Fire and Ice) (14 page)

“How much farther, Your Majesty?” called one of the front riders.

Your Majesty?
Zayne’s throat went dry. He wasn’t ready to face his father, not yet.

“Not much farther. Watch for the raven. He will show us the way.”

To his vast surprise, it was not his father who answered, but his mother. And as she’d instructed her escort to watch for Berinon’s raven—the key to choosing the correct path amid the woodland labyrinth surrounding his cottage—the royal band was headed to the same place as he and Addie.

But why?

Chapter Sixteen

The journey was long and the ride uncomfortable, but Queen Helena didn’t care. Her son’s life depended on her setting right the events of the past few days. It would kill her to see him punished for actions she was responsible for.

Actions she’d taken to save his soul, not condemn it.

When at last their horses slowed to a stop before Berinon’s modest cottage, she dismounted without waiting for help from her escorts. Only Edana’s great wizard could help her now, and she was determined to see that he did so no matter the cost. Helena had lost Robert long ago as his heart had hardened with power and his mind became forever distracted by the threat of war. She refused to lose her son as well.

Helena brushed past her men and made her way to the cottage’s door, which swung open on its own as she raised a hand to knock. She sucked in a sharp breath of surprise then ordered her heart to slow. Of course he knew she was here. The question that remained was whether or not he could set right the chain of events she’d asked him to create.

“Wait here,” she told her guards, then stepped across the cottage’s threshold. Their sputters of protest were silenced the moment she was fully inside, as the door magically swung and bolted shut behind her. Helena tipped her chin high and waited for her eyes to adjust to the dim lighting. She’d been here more times than she could count as a child and used to know the layout of the wizard’s lair like the back of her hand. But that had been when Berinon was an apprentice many moons ago. She had been back but once since those early, innocent visits, and he’d made changes of his own since then.

One visit in the past twenty years, and now they were on the cusp of war.

“I had expected you to come sooner,” came a voice from the shadows to her right. His tone was smooth, its undertones full of wisdom and patience. Helena’s heart ached at the sound as it always did. “Your
Majesty
.”

She tried to speak, but the words could find no passage. Helena cleared her throat and tried again. “I first sought your help because I trusted you.”

“I know.” He was closer now, though still blanketed by shadow.

“And now my son has a bounty on his head in not one but two countries.”

“A pity, that.”

Berinon stepped into a patch of dim light streaming through a gap in the closest window’s shutters. His pupils were wide, nearly blackening out the brilliant emerald green of his eyes, and his hands were clasped behind him. A long beard hung from his chin, and both it and the hair upon his head shared hints of silver woven through their auburn color. Though the temperatures outside would soon warm to a stifling level, he wore a long sleeved robe similar to what she’d seen him in last, its fabric embossed with odd symbols. His words hinted that there was much beyond his attire she no longer shared with her dearest childhood friend.

“What have you done?”

“Exactly as you asked, my lady.” He offered her a mock bow. “You asked me to bring him true love, and I have.”

“But at what cost?”

“Ah.” His eyes sparkled with mischief. “We discussed nothing of the consequences.”

“You tricked me?”

The sparkle disappeared, replaced by a cold, flat wall. “I did no such thing.”

The queen took a deep breath. Angering the wizard wouldn’t do her any good. “Forgive me, Berinon. The thought of losing my son has me entirely distraught.”

He studied her for a long moment but said nothing.

“Please,” she whispered and walked forward to stand directly before him. Helena raised a gentle hand and laid it upon his chest, an improper gesture for a queen, but she couldn’t help herself. A flash of emotions ripped through her of could have beens and might have beens, but she forced herself to swallow them away. That was then, this was now. “Please, tell me what I can do to save him from this mess I have created.”

He stared at her, his eyes unreadable as his chest rose and fell beneath her touch. “No actions can undo what has already begun.”

All her strength, all her hope, left her in that moment, and Helena’s knees went weak. Berinon caught her, his grasp awkward as he helped her to a chair beside the hearth. She could no longer see his face, as tears of grief welled up in her eyes. All her fault, she thought as she rested a fist on each of her temples. This was all her fault.

A sob ripped through her body.

“My queen,” Berinon said from close before her.

She shook her head and clamped her eyes tighter shut, though the tears flowed freely now.

“Helena, please. Look at me.”

The queen drew in a ragged breath and wiped her eyes with the fabric of one sleeve. When she opened them, she found Berinon kneeling before her.

“Your son will not die from this.”

Like this, disarmed with concern, he looked like the boy she once knew better than she’d known herself. Her heart ached at the sight. She exhaled a bitter laugh. “Words to soothe, nothing more.”

“Lena,” he said, calling her by the name only he had ever used. “You must trust me on this. Zayne will survive.”

“But at what cost? What sort of deplorable woman am I to sacrifice an entire kingdom of innocents to bring my one son happiness?”

“The most noble of kinds.” He took her hand in his. “Dark times lie ahead, but like each day, darkness is always followed by light. And there shall be light, my lady. Brighter than our lands have long since known.”

“You speak the truth?”

“I do.”

She blinked away the last of her tears and studied his emerald eyes, so close to her now. When they were children, she could sense when he was telling her the truth or a farce. Did she still possess the same ability? She prayed that was the case, as all she could see in his eyes now was honesty.

Helena lifted a hand to his bearded cheek. “Then I shall give you my trust once again.”

His eyes drifted closed at her touch, giving the land’s wisest, most powerful man—more powerful than their very king—a peaceful countenance. She savored the sight; it had been far too long since she’d last seen it.

“How I’ve missed you, Bere.”

He drew back from her touch, a flash of anger in his reopened eyes. “Your doing, not mine.”

“My doing? You speak as though I had any say in the matter.”

Berinon turned from her to busy himself with crucibles on a nearby potions table. “There was always a choice. You could have run away.”

“And put us both in danger?” She rose from her chair and came to stand beside him, but he moved beyond her reach. “My parents—”

“Traded you for gold,” he said.

“Yes, which is why I came to you—to save my son from the same cruel fate.”

Berinon’s hands stilled.

“You think yourself vanished from my thoughts?” Her voice barely rose above a whisper. “That never am I haunted by the memory of your words, your touch?”

She studied his profile. Rigid, unmoving. The Berinon she’d grown up with and once loved hadn’t been so controlled, so distant. Perhaps it was better this way. The silence between them grew. If he were the same warm soul as he’d once been, it would simply pain her more to leave him again.

Helena took a deep breath, drew back her shoulders, and wiped at her cheeks once more to ensure they were fully dried before facing her waiting guards. “Thank you, most noble and trusted wizard, for your reassuring words.”

With that, she headed for the door. But instead of the latch magically lifting or the door involuntarily opening, a hand lit upon her shoulder.

“Wait,” Berinon said, his voice low. “There is something I wish to give you. To make the darkness a bit more…tolerable.”

Chapter Seventeen

Once the galloping caravan had passed, Zayne took Addie’s hand in his and hurried after them. He had to know what was going on and why on earth his mother would be headed to see Berinon. Was someone ill? His father? Her? Never had she been known to travel without the king so far from home.

Addie did her best to keep up and remained silent as she ran alongside him. He worried the physical exertion might become too great for her small body, but not a word of complaint crossed her lips. So he pressed on, ready to slow his pace at her first sign of distress. But as he slowed to a stop at the sight of Berinon’s raven perched high in a twisted old oak, he was surprised to find Addie’s breathing heavy but not overly so. The nimble sprite had better endurance than half his men, and he felt an appreciative grin tug at his lips.

“What?” She dragged an arm across her perspiring forehead.

“Nothing.” Zayne shook out the clothes he’d shoved under an arm as they’d run and tossed her the peasant gown. “I need you to put this on now.”

“Darn. I’d really hoped you would have dropped it along the way.”

He pulled the scratchy farmer’s shirt over his head. “Answers first, my lady. Comfort later.”

“Pfft, comfort,” she muttered as she tugged the dress on. “I left that all behind two days ago.”

“Did I provide no comfort to you last night?”

Her eyes narrowed. “
You
you, or scaly you?”

“Either.” He pulled her into his chest, unable to help himself. She looked absolutely adorable in the patchwork gown, and Zayne secretly hoped Berinon would lack the answers they needed to get her home today. Another night with her in his arms would be heaven indeed.

Her gaze shifted from his to the raven. “Well, dragon you offered me little in the way of comfort, flying me all over God’s green earth trapped between those crazy long talons and all. But princely you took much better care of me.”

Her cheeks flushed as a tiny smirk crinkled the corners of her eyes. Desire crackled in his veins at the thought of bedding her one more night. He released all but her hand and started forward again, eager to hear what the wizard had to say.

They left the path taken by the royal horsemen and began to weave through the forest surrounding the wizard’s lair. It had been left overgrown, creating a fortress out of closely growing trees and dense bramble. No horse could reach Berinon’s clearing save by the main path, nor could any significant army charge through the vegetation with hopes of a swift attack. For Zayne and Addie, though, the forest provided them perfect cover to draw near the high wizard’s cottage unseen. Still a safe distance from the structure, they drew to a stop and surveyed its yards.

Five horses stood in the clearing: two with mounted guards, their gazes surveying the surrounding woods, and two with guards standing at attention facing the cottage door. Worry clawed at Zayne. Why had they allowed his mother to go in unattended? Had Berinon taken her prisoner? Was the ride nothing but a trap? And if he attempted to go in after her, would his own guards try to stop him?

Addie gave his hand a squeeze, the unspoken message clear in her touch: stay calm. New to his world or not, she was right. Now wasn’t the time to go and do something rash. He drew in a deep breath and tightened his hand around hers, drawing strength from their connection.

The cottage’s front door opened in the next moment. His mother emerged, her face unreadable but calm as she descended the building’s steps. The guards bowed, then offered their assistance with her horse. She waved them off and mounted the chestnut stallion herself, and Zayne’s chest tightened with pride. Their privileged life hadn’t changed his independent mother into a helpless royal maiden. Rather, the weight of responsibility bestowed upon the queen had strengthened her. It was she whom the prince worked so hard to emulate, not his tyrannical father.

“Did you locate Prince Zayne, Your Majesty?” asked one of the guardsmen.

“He is not here.” She tipped her chin high. “But I have a message of import for King Robert from the wizard. Make haste, my guides, so I might deliver it to my husband yet this day.”

“Yes, my lady.” The guardsman swung up onto his horse and urged the steed onward. In another moment, they were gone, charging down the trail from whence they came.

“Are we going after them?” Addie whispered when the forest fell silent once more.

“No.” His gaze shifted from the retreating caravan to the cottage’s yet open front door. “The answers we seek are here.”

“Super.”

He heard the apprehension in her voice and gave her hand a squeeze. She offered him a quick, nervous smile.

“You need not hide any longer,” called a voice from within the cottage. “They have gone.”

Addie paled beside him.

“Be not afraid of Berinon,” Zayne whispered. “He is the greatest wizard in our land, but a wise one as well. Never would he harm us unless provoked.”