The Dragon King (10 page)

Sophia

“You already know your father has close alliances with the Eagles and the pack-Wolves of North America,” Brain told me, his voice unemotional and factual. The same tone of voice my advisors used when giving my father bad news. “He’s also negotiated for the European and Russian pack-Wolves to be on the lookout for you. Worldwide, the lions, tigers, and leopards are on his side and also looking for you, and there are rumors the cougars are, as well.”

He took a breath and looked at me with sorrow. I braced, expecting bad news.

“Word has it the Owls are on the lookout, too.”

My heart skipped a beat at the implications. Owl and Swan shapeshifters don’t get along, and to my knowledge have never joined forces. I went over the possibilities, quickly considering the things my father could’ve offered the Owls to pull them to his side. “Unless he offered territory,” I told Brain, “or perhaps some kind of financial compensation.” I hoped he hadn’t offered them a royal Swan female as a wife, but it seemed the most logical, so I finished with, “or one of my cousins.”

“Ember is missing,” Brain said, his voice careful, as if he didn’t know how I’d take the news. “She was going to a human high school, so her parents had to go to the authorities or risk being looked at with suspicion. Her mother is making all the right tearful statements while her father stands stoically by his wife.”

I shook my head, but breathed a little easier. “Okay. If it had to be anyone, I’m least upset about it being Ember. She’s never really fit into Swan society. Her parents sent her whipping girl away at around fourteen because they discovered Ember loved to watch people get whipped. Her father hasn’t been able to find a suitable fiancé for her because no one fitting of her station is willing to take her on.” I shook my head. “I may not have liked my whipping girl, Madeline, very much, but it still hurt me when she was whipped because I screwed up.”

Aaron didn’t seem happy with my response, and cautiously asked, “You don’t like Ember? You’re pleased she was given to the Owls?”

“Oh, no. I secretly adored her, and often wished I had the nerve to refuse to conform. She speaks her mind and does as she pleases. She’s just turned eighteen, and I was looking forward to seeing what she did when she turned twenty-one and had no husband, and her father no longer officially owned her.” I shrugged and added, “Ember wanted a grand adventure, wanted to take off on her own and explore the world.” I shook my head and looked away as I admitted, “I always hated that the Swan King’s daughter belongs to her father until she’s married or takes the throne from him, no matter how old. I often thought if my station allowed me to step away from my father and one day not be owned by him if I didn’t have a husband, maybe I’d have been able to find the nerve to act like her.”

“So, if you take control over from your father and become Queen,” Brain asked, “you won’t launch a rescue party for Ember?”

I tilted my head, considering. “Not ready to go there yet, but my gut reaction is to insist on a face to face meeting with her, so I can see if she
wants
rescuing. However, back to the problem at hand, what do we do about the Owls? If they’re on my father’s side then so are the Bats. What better way for my father to get eyes into all caves in their search area than to make an agreement that nets him the Bats?”

“Very good, Princess,” said Brain. “It appears they’re searching the Chattanooga and North Georgia area at this time. There are no supernatural Bat families living in this section of North Carolina, the closest is a small clan in Asheville. Aaron has owned this land a long time and managed to keep all but one of the entrances off the official maps, and it’s sealed, so you should be good for the little bit of time between now and the solstice.”

“When they find out I’ve been in North Carolina, what’s the danger they find out the two of you were here, and put it together?”

He shook his head. “We took off for the Tail of the Dragon one day, and we’ve been seen riding the Blue Ridge Parkway other days. We’ve been careful when we came to Franklin, changing clothes and not wearing our cuts.”

Duke came into the kitchen and took a seat as he said, “There are some important political points you don’t appear to understand, and since your father comes down on the side of the bad guys, it’s no surprise you’ve been kept in the dark. I need you to hear me out and not get defensive while I explain some things, okay Princess?”

I nodded and he said, “A very powerful supernatural lives in Chattanooga. We’ll call him Bob. He claims the territory of Tennessee, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, and North Carolina, as well as the panhandle and northernmost parts of Florida. Amongst other things, Bob doesn’t allow humans in his territory to be held against their will by any supernatural, and he includes in this the ability to force a human to think they want to do something they really don’t. For the supernaturals who must kill humans to survive, some species he doesn’t allow in his territory, other species he gives very specific rules that basically only allow them to kill bad people.”

Duke let me absorb this a second, and I said, “My father holds humans who are blood bonded. They don’t have a choice but to obey him. They’re slaves.”

Duke nodded. “Yes, and the supernatural community has speculated for decades why Bob allowed it. I’ve recently learned it’s because of his friendship with Aaron. However, there are some power clans, families, and groups in South Carolina, and Bob taking the state is no longer the sure thing it would’ve been a hundred and fifty years ago. None of us knows what Bob may do, including Aaron, but we could be looking at war.”

Aaron stepped into view and leaned against the doorframe, his arms crossed over his chest. My heart skipped a beat at his majestic beauty, so casual, but I asked, “Is this your friend Abbott?”

Aaron nodded and I asked, “Why haven’t you told me much about him? You’ve told me all of the supernatural leaders’ strong and weak points, but not his? It seems to me this is someone I should know about.”

“He isn’t a shapeshifter, Soph, and I’ve kept your political teachings specifically to them, so far. When you’ve come out and officially faced your father — assuming we’re both alive afterwards — then I’ll take you to Abbott and help mediate an agreement. However, while he’ll likely help you go against your father, I doubt you’ll be able to dictate the terms of his help. If Abbott and his people fight your father and win, your father will die.”

“And if I ask you to spare my father’s life if at all possible, you’ll try your best to beat him without killing him?”

Aaron nodded and I looked back to Brain and Duke. “You’re both based in Atlanta, so this means you follow Abbot’s rules as well?”

“Yes. Since the Great Depression, shapeshifter groups have chosen where to settle based on their attitude towards humans. The ones who saw the need to get along with them and cooexist without treating them as cattle, settled in Abbott’s territory, and another domain in the north-central US and parts of Canada. Those who don’t see the need to change after millennia of using humans as a food and slaves, settled everywhere else. The fights over territory are mostly a thing of the past, unless Abbott decides to round out his territory and add South Carolina.”

“What about the rest of Florida?”

Aaron laughed. “Florida is kind of an anything goes state. With the tourist traffic, and the ability to easily get in and out of the state via the ocean on both sides, no one really holds it.”

“Bottom line here is that you all see my father as a bad guy.” I shook my head. “It isn’t just humans he gives the okay to hold in slavery. He didn’t allow me any freedom, either.”

* * * *

Dinner was warmed up steak, fried potatoes, and another huge salad. When Aaron had finally stepped into the kitchen, he’d pulled me into his arms, kissed my forehead, and asked me to show him what I’d learned from Duke. Five minutes later he’d complimented Duke on teaching me, told me I was getting there, and then gone to work on the food.

Now, sitting beside him as we ate, I wanted his touch. The table was oval so it didn’t take much for me to move sideways enough to prop my feet in his lap. Aaron gave me a gentle smile as he casually rested his left hand on top of my foot and continued eating with his right. He took another bite, swallowed, and asked, “Long day?”

“Yeah, but I’ve learned a lot. What’s your take on our odds of making this work? Coming out the other side in one piece, and with enough power to keep both of us healthy and together?”

“Decent, but it could go a number of ways. I wish I could talk to Nathan, but he’s only close to Raul because of me and I don’t want to ask him to go back on their agreement.”

I’d met Aaron’s best friend and business partner, Nathan, a few times at royal balls and other social functions. He was an excellent dancer, and just as large as Aaron, but with a deeper voice. You could tell by watching him walk he was a cat, though. So much
attitude
.

Duke and Brain watched us, taking in our body language and likely our scents. I figured Brain would speak up, but Duke surprised me by asking Aaron, “You sure you know what you’re doing, flyboy?”

Aaron grinned and said, “Nope, just winging it at this point. Things’ll either work out or they won’t, but I plan to do everything in my power to see they work out.”

Brain took another bite of steak and sat back as he chewed, contemplating us. “Actually, this could work. I hadn’t pegged you as a bird, but if you are, and you’re this powerful? As old as you are, I’m guessing something big, maybe even something we don’t have around anymore. You have to know your secret will get out, though, if you’re seen flying with her. Also, with the Fae and shapeshifter population fully mobilized to look for her? They’ll know where she is within
minutes
of her flying out of this cave on the solstice.”

Aaron lifted his chin and gave Brain a pointed look. “Heard you were smart, and I’d say you’re ten levels above smart and I hope we have time for some chess while we’re here. However, I’d appreciate you keeping your suppositions to yourself, once we leave the cave.”

Brain dipped his head in understanding, a silent promise, and said, “Rumor has it that Raul’s worked several deals with the Fae. Just guessing as to the content, but if I were him I’d have arranged permission to use the Summerlands to get me from the coast of South Carolina to wherever my daughter was found.”

“I know,” Aaron said, “and this area’s known as the
land of the waterfalls
for a reason. Lots of Fae doorways for him to use.”

It occurred to me Aaron might not know I’d spent much time in the Summerlands, so I said, “Ummm, did you know my little waterfall at home is a doorway?”

He looked at me for several long moments without comment, and I couldn’t read his expression but could tell he hadn’t known. I filled in the silence. “My current governess was conceived in the Summerlands, born there, lived there until she was nine, and has spent at least fourteen hours of every birthday there since she moved out.”

“So she’s considered a citizen.”

I nodded and he said, “And she was responsible for you when you were there?”

Again, I nodded, and he asked, “How close are you to her family? The ones still living there?”

“Not at all, I only met them once. My father arranged for my waterfall to give me entrance to my own small section of the Summerlands. I was behind walls there, too, and he only occasionally allowed me into the rest of the Summerlands. The purpose for giving me my little isolated corner was to get me used to the rules, so I could survive if I ever needed to go for emergency purposes.”

“And did you discover your talents in the Summerlands?” he asked.

“Yes. I've had luck changing the weather, and when I concentrate I can successfully keep people from getting near me if they're planning me harm as they approach, and it turns out I have pretty strong teleportation skills, though he somehow locked my little corner so I couldn’t teleport out. Unfortunately, I have a few weaknesses, too — the biggest being that almost everyone knows my true name.”

“Easily solved,” Aaron said with a smile. “I've added to your true name.”

“And I only have to believe it so, in order for it to be true?”

He shook his head. “Three people have to believe it, including you. We have four here, and wolves rarely go into The Summerlands.” He gave me a second and prodded, “Tell us your true name, Soph, and believe it.”

I looked around for a good ten seconds, knowing he was right but needing to work it through in my head. Finally, I said, “My name is Sophia Sassafras Victoria Angelique Siyanko.”

Aaron smiled as he asked, “Sassafras? Nice touch, Sassy. I like it.”

Brian looked solemn as he said, “Your secret is safe with us, Princess. Is there any chance you have allies in The Summerlands?”

I shook my head. “In the summer, yes, but not the winter. I know the Winter Queen, but I never know whether she’ll look on me with fondness or hatred.” I lifted a shoulder and let it drop. “Besides Aaron and the Summer Queen, I can't think of anyone in a position of power who’d go against my father on my behalf. There’s a leopard who might, but he wouldn't stand a chance. There are possibly a few of my younger female cousins, but again, none of them would have enough of a chance to succeed for me to allow them to risk themselves.”

“I thought one of the points of royalty having a whipping girl was to provide a friend to bond with as children?” Brain asked. “Someone to have as an advisor when they grow older? What about her? Was she allowed into your section of The Summerlands?”

“Madeline and I were always more allies than friends. We kept it from the adults until I was, I don't know, maybe seventeen? At nineteen they gave up and let her go to college. I never liked seeing her whipped on my behalf, but I mostly obeyed anyway, and the few times I didn’t and knew I wouldn’t, we talked about it ahead of time and I found a way to get her to agree to it before I went through with my plan. When my temper got the best of me and I smarted off to my father, I felt even worse because she hadn’t already agreed to it, but she was never angry with me.” I shook my head. “She went to the Summerlands with me a couple of times when I was invited for a celebration or party, but she didn’t go into my corner with me. As far as I know, she wasn’t aware my waterfall was a doorway.”