A Time of Darkness (The Circle of Talia) (25 page)

“I have no idea how we’re supposed to catch a dragon without killing him, but maybe we don’t have a choice. Maybe this is what we’ve been sent here to do. This could be what activates the amulets.
I mean, think about it: there’s a threat because of another realm. Do you really think it’s a coincidence that Talia’s about to be overrun by gormons?”

Blayke sighed. “No
. No, I don’t. But we need a plan if we have any chance of doing what they’re asking. I’m not feeling too confident.”

“Neither am I, but think of it this way: if we’re the future of Talia and The Circle and we can’t do this, who in the Third Realm can? Let’s go and get this over with.”

Sarah finished braiding her queen’s hair and stood back, assessing the result. “I think you’re ready for the day, Queen Gabrielle.”

“Thank you, Sarah. I wonder if we’ll hear from Edmund today. They’ve all been too quiet for too long. I’m worried.”

Sarah looked at Gabrielle, her eyebrow rais
ed. “I never would have guessed.” She shook her head. “I think you have every right to be. I do hope they’re on their way back with Verity.”

“But why haven’t we heard anything? Maybe Leon killed them all.”

“Surely he would have sent a gloating message to us if he had.”

“Oh, I don’t know. If this goes on mu
ch longer, I’m going to grab a horse and go and find out for myself. I can’t stand it.” Smoothing her violet skirts with impatient hands, Gabrielle opened the door. On the other side was a guard, his hand raised, about to knock. Gabrielle startled, her hand clapping on her heart. “Oh, my goodness. Are you trying to give me a heart attack? What is it?”

The young guard blushed and bowed. “Sorry
, Your Majesty. I’ve been ordered to tell you that two dragons have been seen flying towards the castle. Astra thinks it is Prince Zimapholous Accorterroza.”

Gabrielle paled and swayed with a sudden rush of dizziness. Sarah held her arm. “Are you okay, Your Majesty?”

The queen swallowed, drew a deep breath, and nodded. Her eyes swam in waiting tears. Not trusting herself to speak, she hurried down the hallway, stairs, and into the front courtyard. The rising sun shone in her eyes: she shielded her face with her hand. Two dragons stood, backlit in the morning light, but she couldn’t make out who they were. Wanting to vomit, scared to ask what news they carried, fearing her world was about to end if they told her Verity was dead, she stood silent, and waiting.

“Mother!” And then Verity was in her mother’s arms, trembling, crying, trying to talk through grief and happiness
—so much to say, but so much she didn’t want to remember. Gabrielle breathed in, smelling Verity’s windswept hair, convincing herself this wasn’t a dream. Sarah clapped her arms around them, the three staying so for a time before Zim approached.

He bowed, not that anyone noticed. “Queen Gabrielle.
” He waited for her acknowledgement. “There is much to tell you. Can we retire somewhere private?”

Gabrielle looked at the dragon over Verity’s shoulder. Reluctantly disengaging from her daughter
, she hugged Zim, managing to reach her arms around part of the front of his belly. “Thank you, Zimapholous. You’ve brought my baby home. We owe you much. Anything you or your sister need, just ask.”

He pat
ted her back gently, awkwardly, and when Gabrielle was ready, they walked inside to Edmund’s private meeting room. They arranged themselves around the table, the dragons sitting on the floor. “I’m so sorry, Arcese and Zim. We should probably have permanent bench seats installed; these meetings are becoming rather frequent. Before we start, you might want to call Warrimonious to join us. He arrived a few days ago.”

Arcese sat up straight and set her jaw, giving Gabrielle the impression she was bracing for a confrontation. She hoped she was wrong: two dragons fighting in the meeting room would likely end in the destruction of said meeting room. Zim sent a
mind message, and within minutes, Warrimonious and Astra arrived, Warrimonious rushing over to rub noses with his wife before embracing her.

Gabrielle took a seat next to Verity and held her hand. The princess would not usually sit in on sensitive meetings
; however, she had information to give, and as painful as it would be, Gabrielle knew it was important: her daughter was becoming an adult before her time. There was nothing she could do to stop it now. She clenched her teeth and wished Leon was here so she could make him pay. “I’m afraid to ask, but where are Agmunsten, Arie, and Boy?”

Zim
hesitated before replying. Gabrielle tensed, dreading the answer. “We left Agmunsten and Arie with Edmund and the army. We thought it best they fill Edmund in on everything we know. They should be here in a couple of days.”

Gabrielle shut her eyes. “Oh
, thank the gods.” She opened them again. “And?” She heard Verity’s sobs behind her, felt the sudden warmth in her own eyes.

Zim’s
eyes held a depth of sadness Gabrielle had never seen on a dragon, and it surprised her that a human’s life could elicit that reaction. “Boy was slain while saving Verity. He died a hero. His bravery, on more than one occasion, was something many grown men lack. I’m sorry we couldn’t save him. Please forgive us, Your Majesty.”

Zim knelt on one knee,
his head bowed.

Gabrielle
shook her head, mouthing, “No, no, no. Not sweet Boy.” Rising, she approached Zim and placed a hand on his snout. She spoke through tears. “There is nothing to forgive. I know you did your best. I will never forget him: such a tragic life for such a beautiful boy. I’m sorry we all failed him.”

She knelt too and sobbed, leaning against the dragon until Astra whispered in her ear and led her back to her chair.

Astra took the lead. “I’m Astra. Pleased to meet you, Prince Zimapholous and Princess Arcese.” Astra gave an elegant half curtsey. “It is clear we have a lot to get through, and I know Edmund and Agmunsten would appreciate it if we formulated some plans before they return. The gormons will break through soon, and Talia is still a world divided. We all know the consequences of that. We need to act now.” She turned violet eyes on Verity. “I know this may not be easy on you, but we need to know everything that happened while you were with Leon. Don’t leave anything out, no matter how unimportant it seems.”

Brushing her sleeve across her nose, she stopped crying. Leon used to be her uncle, but no more. He had killed her friend and turned into the physical form of what he was inside: a monster. The vehemence in her voice surprised her. She did as instructed, and left nothing out. When she finished, it was clear: if it were up to all those in the room, Leon would n
ot survive for another second.

Gabrielle called Sarah in to take Verity to bathe and eat. When she left, Gabrielle shared Karin’s story and her
own plan. By the time the meeting ended, they felt hope. They weren’t done for yet.

After agreeing to help, Korden led Bronwyn and Blayke to where two horses were tethered. Blayke mounted behind Korden, and Bronwyn rode with Sander. She sat behind him, too shy to touch him, even though she wanted nothing more than to snuggle against his back.
Oh, for goodness sake, you’re not here to meet men: you’re here to save Talia. Focus.
She hoped talking to herself would be enough of a distraction to stop her mind wandering where she didn’t want it to go.

Sander laughed. “I won’t bite, you know. You can hold on to my waist. I would hate for you to fall off.”

“But my hands are all dirty. I don’t want to ruin your lovely white shirt.”

He turned in the saddle, looking at Bronwyn out of the corner of his eye. Setting the reins on the horse’s neck, he reached behind and grabbed both of her hands, setting them on his waist. “Don’t worry
—I have plenty of shirts, but there’s only one Bronwyn, and I really don’t want anything to happen to her: she has to help me save the Sacred Realm.”

Bronwyn dropped her head down, wrinkled her nose
, and squinted her eyes shut, smiling, trying not to giggle. His muscled waist felt pleasant under her hands: warm and firm.
Focus, idiot, focus. No, not on him.
She breathed in as the horse started walking, the thud of his hooves stirring up puffs of red dust. “So, you’re saying that if you didn’t need me to save your world, you wouldn’t care if I fell off?”

She was happy he couldn’t see her cheeky grin.

He snorted. “You women always turn everything around. It seems women are all the same, no matter what realm they come from.”

“You mean fabulous and smarter than men? Yes we are.”

“Oh, boy. Hmm, I wonder if Korden wants to swap. I don’t know if I can take a whole day of this.”

Bronwyn took her hands off his waist. “I’d be happy to swap, since all you men are the same.”

“Hey, I was only joking.”

“I know. Sorry. I’m just not in the mood. It’s easy for you to ask Blayke
and I to go and catch a deadly dragon, but now we have to figure out how to do it without getting ourselves killed. You do know that if we die, Talia dies and so, I guess, a whole lot of people from somewhere in this realm will die too. It’s not much fun to have that much pressure, you know. Who are you, anyway? Where do you live, what do you do, other than accosting realmists from other realms to save your hide?”

“I’ll only tell you if you put your hands back where they belong.” He stayed quiet until Bronwyn placed her hands on his waist. “Ok
ay then. Where to start? Korden is chief of the King’s Guards, and I’m second-in-charge. My parents live in the main city, Arethene. I have two brothers and a sister. That’s all there is to tell.”

“How old are you?”

“Well, assuming your years are the same as ours, I’m twenty-four.”

“Can you tell me about the dragon?”

“He’s the last greater dragon in our realm. There are lots of lesser dragons, but they’re not as fierce and they’re much smaller. Devorum breathes fire, of course, but he can also sway you with his mind. He can make men kill themselves, or each other, by invading their thoughts. See that tree over there?” He pointed to a tree that stood thirty-feet tall. “He’s about that big.”

Bronwyn swallowed, eyes wide. “Shit.”

That marked the end of their conversation for the next two hours, until they rode into a village and stopped for lunch. Bronwyn and Blayke dismounted, Blayke trotting to her.

“Are you okay?”

“Yeah, why?”

“You look, well, not happy I suppose.”

“I’m wracking my brain, trying to figure out what we can do to beat this dragon. Sander told me a bit about it. Did Korden tell you anything?”

“Enough that I’m preparing to die.” A tired smile rested on his face. “After lunch we’re going to set off for the base of some mountains, Ishkatar I think he said. We’ll summon the dragon there.”

“How?”

“They have a whistle that screams at a frequency that travels long distances. Apparently only dogs and dragons can hear it. It mimics the call of the dragons’ ancient foe.”

“What? Is that wise? I mean, why would you call the dragon with a signal that will have it being totally angry by the time it reaches us? They haven’t thought this through very well.”

“It’s the only way they can get it to come out, or so the gods have told them.”

“So, have you got any ideas?” Bronwyn looked at her brother expectantly.

“I have a few ideas, but the problem is we don’t know what power this dragon has, what he’s capable of. We could make a net out of
Second-Realm power, which could catch him, but would it be enough to stop the dragon performing magic on us? Korden says the dragon can hypnotize people and make them do as he wishes.”

“We’ll need to shield our thoughts. Avruellen has taught me a couple that could work. Don’t forget about the dragons breathing fire thing. We’ll have to think of some kind of physical shield. This is all going to take a lot of power. I know we’ve been practicing, but are we strong enough? We might end up like Arcon did after shielding your symbols, especially if we have to hold a
Second-Realm net over the dragon until we get it to wherever it has to go.”

“You’re right. Could we do it with earth magic? I wonder if we can combine the different power sources? I know I don’t feel as tired after using the earth energy.”

Korden had tied up the horses and, tired of trying to get their attention by waving, approached the realmists. “Come on, there’s lots to do. We’re hungry and then, after lunch, we have to get you two some horses.”

They followed him into a nearby tavern. Men and women sat around expensive-looking stone tables on cushioned chairs. Near the clean hearth, which remained unlit in the warm weather, slouched padded armchairs
arranged around a low table. Bronwyn thought if she were to design a tavern, it would look like this. Small vases on the tables cradled small, white flowers that gave off an intense, caramel scent. Bronwyn was reminded of Avruellen’s garden at home. Not for the first time, she wondered if she would ever see it again.