12. Drake

TWELVE

DRAKE

T he Great Dragon King's head was in the clouds during the meeting with the War Council. He wished he had given Thalia a good-bye kiss before parting, but Pyralis had been standing there, gawking in his strange, shameless way. It was general knowledge throughout the castle staff that Thalia could be the Creation Sorceress, but her being Drake's mate had yet to be revealed.

He didn't want those rumors surging through the grapevine before he got a handle on what Thalia actually wanted.

"My King?"

Mads, one of Drake's military advisors and a grizzled dragon shifter veteran, addressed Drake in the war room. They stood in front of the table, drapes drawn, their forms swimming in the dark.

"Yes, yes, I hear you," Drake said, shaking himself from his vision and pointing down at the map Mads was hunched over. "That is where the inn was, and the other was here."

He ran his finger along the parchment to the area where the first inn lay, quite a ways from the boundaries of Wildwoods. Mads nodded, as did the other three advisors who stood there brooding.

"That is dangerously close to our fault line," Mads said, trailing his finger from the inn where they were ambushed. "I would suspect that Lucien's next maneuver would be the castle itself. Or at least, the town and kingdom."

Drake studied the map, then directed himself toward Olaf, another military strategist leaning against a bookshelf.

"Would you suspect that Lucien would have sent his army by now? It's been nearly a day. It would be fruitful for him to take advantage of the ambush."

Olaf was older and far more blunt than the other strategists. If there was bad news, Olaf would give it to him without flowery language.

He shrugged and appeared to be munching on something.

"Lucien has never been a great forward-thinker, My King. He thrives on impulse. Though the successful armies knew when to draw in and when to draw back. I would say this is likely his drawing back."

Mads stroked his beard but stayed silent. Drake retorted back to Olaf.

"I killed one of his closest confidants and companions, the yellow dragon, Zendel. Do you not think that sufficient enough of an excuse to retaliate? Retaliate twofold, upon impulse?"

Olaf peered around the room thoughtfully, then shrugged again.

"Perhaps, his army is not as grand as we first anticipated. And he could be deterred by the fact that you have the Creation Sorceress within your grasp."

Drake combed through the war council's advice rigorously. They ended with the agreement to stay on high alert but were calmed by the prospect of Lucien's submission.

The king wasn't ready to feel completely safe but let go of the tenseness that came with his own persnickety nature. He left the meeting feeling reborn, elated by the amorous presence of his fated mate.

He floated along the castle, thinking of nothing but Thalia's virtuous scent. He arrived at the library where the royal scholar said he would be sharing the history of the mountain dragon community with her. But he found only Pyralis, droning along the vast passages of book stacks.

"Pyralis," Drake said.

The old man turned as if jolted out of a dream. He smiled heedlessly and gave the king a quick bow.

"My King, how was your meeting?"

"It went well," Drake said, distractedly. "Tell me, where has Thalia gone?"

"Oh! That sorceress, the tall one with the large…"

The elderly man held his arms out in front of his chest in a vulgar gesture. In another circumstance, the king would have given him a dour lashing. But he was an older gentleman, which granted him a pass on offensive, but eccentric behavior.

"Yes, with Sorcha?" Drake said, unblinking.

"Yes, that's it! She's gone to learn some magic. She is eager to learn, that one."

The king swept his cloak and dashed away. Sorcha's room was outside the king's private wing close to Nerin's and a good handful of staff and housekeepers. He arrived quickly, his cloak hovering through the hallways like an apparition.

But when Drake knocked on the door, no one answered. He did it a second time and projected his voice.

"Sorcha? Thalia? It's your king."

More silence. He tried the knob, but it wouldn't budge.

A sensation of unsettledness crawled along the king's skin. He had been so glib leaving the war council, assured of his mate's welfare without attentive consideration. The thought ran through his mind of her capture, her mutilation, the lifeless way her body dangled between the claws of that scoundrel of a beast…

The king scoured the entirety of the castle in a quiet panic. He returned back to his private wing and inquired with a few of his men as to their whereabouts, but all pointed in opposing directions. He gave them a cantankerous growl, stunned that no one was marked by the memory of two astoundingly attractive women.

Eventually, Drake gathered his logical thoughts, abandoning the terror likely fueled by his newfound attachment. He went to Evanth's room and could not resist pounding on the door.

"It's me, Your King," he said in a raspy, inpatient tone.

"Yes, My King!"

When Sorcha responded, Drake grew weary with relief. When she opened the door and found her charming smile, along with Thalia sitting with her father propped up in the enormous bed, he had to resist the urge to fall to his knees.

Sorcha, a shifter with the clairvoyance of a low-level witch, twitched her nose back and forth at him, then stepped aside. She winked subtly as he passed by, headed straight for his mate like the onslaught of an avalanche.

"I hope your meeting was advantageous," Sorcha said.

He barely heard her. Thalia sat on the bed, immersed in a glittering stream of light that streamed in from the glossy window pane. Though her complexion was often kissed with small rosy buds, there appeared to be more, like the bursting of starlight on a clear night sky. And her eyes cast the king into a bewildering stupor.

When he caught her eye, she smiled, and the king had the thought that drowning in her splendor would be such a lovely death.

"You're back," she said mystifyingly. "Look what I did, My King. Look at my father."

Drake had been so mesmerized by Thalia's candescence that he didn't notice the shocking transformation of Evanth.

He was upright and leaning against the bed frame, struck with a boyish grin. He looked like an entirely different man, having traveled back in time nearly a decade. His spirit was pulsing, and the joy in the room was contagious.

"Evanth?" the king said.

He was eating over a tray of breakfast food, a tall stack of pancakes shaking as the youthfully charged man bounced up and down in delight. He was lost in his own reverie, and Thalia's joy was palpable.

"He's busy," Thalia said, giggling with a musical tempo.

"And hungry!" Sorcha jumped in.

"Tell me everything," Drake said, dodging the desire to take Thalia's hands in his.

"Well, Pyralis showed me a few books in the library, then Sorcha showed me how to follow along with the spells. It really didn't take much, but it was like…"

She began to choke on her words. Sorcha sat next to her, that smile eternal and steady.

"She was so good, My King," Sorcha said like a proud sister. "It was as if the magic was lying dormant in her, simmering, waiting to be called. I simply showed her how to say its name."

Drake moved his eyes between Evanth, Sorcha, then Thalia. Thalia wiped at the corner of her eyes, rapturous with solace.

"Though, once he is finished eating, we should leave him to rest more," Sorcha said, leaning in close to Thalia. "The molecules—the small gathering of matter I told you about—they need time to settle once they've been awakened. I know he will want to do back flips, but this is going to take time."

Thalia agreed, and the king and Sorcha excused themselves while Evanth finished off his meal.

Thalia came out, closing the door gently behind her.

"You were right. He was ready to go hunting," she giggled, covering her mouth adorably. "I persuaded him to keep resting. Will you call Nerin in case he starts wandering the hallways?"

Drake promised he would. Sorcha then gave him a bow, a satirical smile painting her lips.

"I will retire to my suite now. Your lesson went well today, Thalia. Celebrate it."

Thalia said her good-byes, as did the King, and they were left alone. Thalia buzzed like a firefly.

"I can't stop smiling," she said, tugging at her cheeks. "I cannot believe this has been living inside me for so long, and I had no idea."

"It's quite miraculous, isn't it?" the king agreed. "You likely require some rest as well. Would you care to dine with me tonight in town? There is an establishment I would love to show you."

Thalia agreed without hesitation, unconsciously caressing her collarbone as she did.

"I would be delighted."