A Tale Of Two Dragons (5 page)

Chapter 5

Braith brought her claws to her head and quickly realized her claws were now hands and that she was on a bed in what appeared to be a castle.

“That
idiot,
” she muttered. Because only a Cadwaladr could make this situation
worse
.

Braith sat up, tossing her legs over the side of the bed. But as soon as her feet touched the cold stone floor, she fell back on the bed, waiting for the spinning to stop.

She gingerly touched her forehead, felt where her head had been split open. Why . . . why would that big idiot ram her into a tree? If it was because he thought she’d been part of her father’s treachery, she would be in the Queen’s pits right now, awaiting execution. Instead, she was in a human bed, in human form—how he’d managed that, she had no idea—and trying desperately not to pass out again.

While lying there, Braith moved her jaw around. It, too, was swollen, although there was no lump. Somehow she doubted Addolgar had done that to her, but she wouldn’t put it past one of his siblings.

Siblings who were probably all over this castle.

She knew that was where she was. In a castle, where the scent of fire dragons was in every nook and corner, which meant only one thing....

Because there was only one dragon she knew of who not only had a castle but actually lived in it rather than on it. And that dragon was Ailean the Wicked.

It made sense, though, didn’t it? Anytime Ailean’s offspring were concerned or confused or had done something that might get them put to death, they returned here for advice from their mother, Shalin the Innocent, or help from their father and the rest of the Cadwaladr Clan. But to Braith, coming here meant putting two very kind dragons at risk. Something she’d been trying to avoid from the beginning. She didn’t want any more innocents hurt because of her father.

The room finally stopped spinning, and Braith was able to sit up. When she felt strong enough, she stood. She took a few tentative steps, and since that felt good, she walked to the door and opened it. The servant standing in the hallway gasped at the sight of Braith. Quickly closing the door, Braith proceeded to look for something to wear. Since she only intended to be human until she made it to a clearing, she pulled a long cotton shirt out of a trunk and drew it over her head. It reached her knees, and she decided that would cover enough of her for the sensitive humans.

She went back to the door and again opened it. The servant was still there, cleaning up after one of the dogs running around. Head held high, Braith walked down the hallway and then down the stairs until she reached the first floor and the Main Hall.

As one of the main dining areas for the extensive Cadwaladr Clan, there were many tables, but only one was occupied. That’s where Addolgar and his parents sat eating their breakfast of meat and bread. Braith decided to forgo common courtesy and headed straight toward the open front doors.

She had barely passed the table when she heard, “Oy!”

Braith kept walking, not looking back, not answering. She merely had to get to the open double doors. She did, too. Making it outside and going down the stone steps. But as her bare feet stepped onto the courtyard, Ghleanna stood there, waiting for her.

“Going somewhere, Lady Braith?” Ghleanna asked.

“I have somewhere to be. So move.”

“Wait, wait.” Addolgar jogged down the steps, stopping by Braith’s side. “You can’t leave.”

“I can’t stay, Addolgar. You are putting your kin at risk. You know what the Queen will do—”

“Exactly,” he cut in. “I know what the Queen will do even though you did nothing wrong.”

“Then that’s what I’ll tell her.”

“Oh, please,” Ghleanna scoffed. “Do you really think that female will listen to you?”

“
That
female is our Queen. Now get out of my way.”

Braith pushed past Ghleanna, but the She-dragon caught her wrist, held her in place.

Letting out a sigh, Braith looked over her shoulder at Ghleanna.

“Perhaps,” Ghleanna murmured, “I wasn’t clear.”

“Actually,” Braith admitted, “you were.”

 

 

“Oy. Boy.”

Addolgar looked behind him and saw his father gesturing to him with his hand.

“But, Da—”

“Up here
now.
”

With a frustrated sigh, Addolgar jogged back up the stairs until he stood by his father’s side.

After Rhys had headed out to see if he could find out any more information about what all of Emyr’s plans might be while not alerting the Queen to what had already happened, Addolgar had sat down with his parents to talk about what their options were. What he hadn’t expected was to see Braith walking out of his parents’ home with, he was sure, the intention of turning herself in to the Queen.

“What is it, Da?” he asked Ailean, anxious to get Braith back inside.

“Just moving you out of the way, boy.”

“What are you talking—”

Before Addolgar could finish the question, his sister flipped up the steps, her back ramming into the hard stone. Snarling, Ghleanna pushed her short, black hair off her face before charging back down the stairs toward Braith. Addolgar began to follow, but his father quickly caught hold of his arm and held it.

“You don’t want to do that, boy.”

Addolgar didn’t understand. Ghleanna was a great soldier, but when she lost her temper . . . well, he just knew his sister, and Ailean knew his daughter. So he didn’t understand why his father would stop him from protecting Braith—until he saw Braith protecting herself.

It wasn’t Braith’s skills that stopped him in his tracks but her strength, her power.

Ghleanna, a true battle-hardened soldier, didn’t bother to play by the dragon rules of fighting etiquette. Instead, she just swung her fist—and Braith caught it. Easily. Shocking even Ghleanna, who couldn’t pull her hand away. After a moment of silence and intense glaring, Braith yanked Ghleanna forward at the same time she swung her free fist. Her knuckles slammed into Ghleanna’s face, blood splattered, and after Braith released Ghleanna’s hand, Addolgar’s sister crashed to the ground. She was out cold, her nose broken from the looks of it.

Unfortunately, the other Cadwaladrs that were lurking nearby, most likely using the courtyard to sleep off last night’s drink, were now awake and moving forward. As one, as they’d been trained to move since hatching, they surrounded Braith. One of their own had been harmed. No matter the situation, Cadwaladrs always protected their own, whether it was from humans or other dragons or bloody centaurs. They prided themselves on their loyalty to blood and kin.

And Braith was neither.

Braith slowly looked over those surrounding her, then cracked her neck. It must have been the sound of those bones grinding that panicked one of his younger cousins. She moved first, coming at Braith quick and hard, but she barely got within three feet of her before Braith’s forearm hit her with such force, she sent the young She-dragon flying back and
through
the wall of one of the courtyard buildings. That’s when the others moved, Addolgar’s kin descending on Braith like the battle dogs the royals called them.

But, wearing only his shirt and with no weapons, Braith stood her ground as he’d never seen anyone stand their ground before. She wasn’t graceful. She wasn’t a proper soldier. No. Braith of the Darkness was simply brutal . . . vicious . . . like a powerful pit dog. There wasn’t one part of her body she wasn’t willing to risk in order to harm her opponent. Yet her innate strength seemed to protect her, and she used that strength without pity, without regret.

“Gods,” Addolgar breathed.

“I know.” Ailean glanced behind him before softly admitting, “Just like her mum, that one. I knew her mum long ago. Before she met Emyr.”

“Is there anyone you hadn’t fucked before you mated with Mum?”

“One or two,” his father teased. “Of course, those were girls that,” he felt the need to add, “really didn’t like males in the first place.”

Addolgar rolled his eyes, unwilling to discuss his father’s past conquests further, which was when he noticed that Braith still stood—while the rest of his family did not.

He glanced at his father. “It was like watching one big dog massacre a gang of smaller, weaker dogs.”

“Like I said, she’s truly her mum’s offspring. That female had massive arms and a thick neck. But a lovely long tail,” he added with a sigh.

“I don’t know how Mum tolerates you.”

“She knows that my heart and soul belong only to her. But me past is me own.”

Braith looked back at Addolgar, sneering at him, one side of her top lip rising a bit to illustrate her true disgust. Then she stepped over his kin and headed off.

But as Braith walked, she didn’t bother to acknowledge the extremely old She-dragon walking toward her in human form, a long, hooded robe covering her from head to booted feet. She moved slowly, leaning heavily on a long walking stick.

Braith had just passed her when the She-dragon’s free hand came up and her fingers curled into a fist.

Braith stopped, her own hands reaching for her throat, and began to gasp. Her fingers pawed at what was not there, her body struggling against what no one could see.

The old She-dragon kept walking forward, her hand still in a fist, and as she moved, Braith was dragged along with her. She still struggled, still tried to free herself from the invisible grip, but it was useless.

Addolgar tried to go to help her, but his father’s grip tightened, and now with no humor in his usually mirth-filled face, Ailean the Wicked gave a quick shake of his head. “Not this time, boy. This you don’t do. This you don’t
ever
do.”

Ailean looked over his shoulder and called out, “Shalin. We need you. Now.”

By the time Addolgar’s mother reached Ailean, the old She-dragon stood in front of the castle stairs and Braith’s human face was beginning to turn blue.

“The shame,” a voice said from deep inside that hooded robe. “The shame of seein’ me own kin getting bounced around like toys by this bit of a lizard.”

Brigida the Foul, a more than nine-hundred-year-old Cadwaladr Elder, glared up the stairs at Ailean. Her hood finally fell back, revealing a human face that had been through much over the years and long, white hair. Not the white hair of age—Brigida had been blessed by the gods with that mane of hair since hatching. She was one of the rare White Dragonwitches and feared—for good reason—throughout the Southlands and beyond.

Everyone, even the Cadwaladrs, kept waiting for her to die . . . but she simply wouldn’t. She wouldn’t!

“Hello, Great-Aunt Brigida,” Shalin cheerfully greeted. “What a surprise to see you here. It’s been much too long.”

“Always so cheery, now that you’ve got the idiot here plowing ya on the regular.”

Addolgar’s mother smiled in the face of that appalling insult and said, “Would you like me to show you an available room? I think your favorite is—”

“Quiet, girl! With all that chattering! It annoys me.” Brigida glanced at the still-struggling Braith. “Who is this?”

Ailean opened his mouth, but Brigida cut him off with a curt, “I’m talking to the boy.”

Addolgar realized she was talking to
him
. “Uh . . .” Addolgar cleared his throat. “This is Braith of the Darkness.”

“Who is her kin, boy? I care not for her name.”

“She’s a Daughter of the House of Penarddun.”

His great-great-aunt made a sound that some generous soul might call a laugh. “Well then . . . that explains so much.”

“She’s here under my protection, Great-Aunt.”

“Is she?” Brigida sneered. “Well, you’re doing a bang-up job since she just beat up your kin and almost walked out of here to wherever she was headed.”

“It’s all a misunderstanding. I just need time to speak to her. So could you please . . . unhinge?”

“You’ll need some chains,” she replied.

“Chains?”

Brigida lifted her fist, and Braith’s body rose from the ground at the same time. Then Brigida dropped her fist hard and Braith slammed into the ground, knocked out completely from the impact.

Poor thing. If she wasn’t being thrown into trees or attacked by his kin, she was being mystically flung to the ground by his old, terrifying great-great-aunt.

It was really going to be impossible to talk to Braith in a rational, calm manner after all this.

Addolgar looked at his father. “Uncle Arranz leave those chains of his around?”

“Check our room, dear,” Shalin suggested. A suggestion that had Addolgar and Brigida staring at her while his father grinned and gazed off across the courtyard. Shalin’s pale, freckled face flushed a deep, extremely bright, red.

His poor mother lifted her skirt so it didn’t drag on the ground and quickly said to Brigida, “Why don’t I get your room ready, Great-Aunt?” She spun and practically ran off.

Brigida shook her head at Ailean, her white hair whipping around her brutally scarred face. “Another poor female you’ve turned into a whore, Ailean the Slag.”

Ailean didn’t have the decency to be a little humble. Instead, his grin stretched into an outright leer and the old witch sucked her tongue against her teeth before slowly walking up the stairs, refusing Addolgar’s offer of assistance.

“Get your bit of lizard, Addolgar the Cheerful. Let’s get her secured before she wakes up and tears the walls of this ridiculous place down around us.”

And based on what Addolgar had already seen . . . Braith was the one dragon who could do just that with very little effort.

Oh, and as for his battling kin? They were already starting to wake up, which meant the complaining would come soon enough because none of them liked to lose. Especially when they lost to a bloody royal.

Chapter 6

Braith opened her eyes and screamed at what hovered above her, “Gods!
Death comes for me!
”

The horrifying face of death curled its lip at her and growled, “Well, that’s charmin’.” Death sat back in its chair, hands resting on its knees. “This face is not me fault, ya know?” Death looked off, thought a moment. Its finger traced one of the deep gouges across its jaw. “This one actually is kind of me fault.” She pointed at the other side of her face, where part of her chin was missing. “And this one. A bit of barney at the pub.”

Braith studied the beast sitting next to her bed. There were so many scars on that face and neck. Gouges. One eye was crystal blue, but the other was a milky white and grey. But that was the eye she felt saw beyond scale and flesh to soul . . . so that it could steal it right from the body.

“What are you?”

That milky white and grey eye quickly locked on Braith, the blue one slowly coming along for the ride, sizing her up. “Don’t you mean
who
am I?”

“No.”

Those disturbing eyes narrowed and that damaged top lip curled. But before further words were spoken, the bedroom door pushed open and Addolgar—that idiot!—rushed in.

“What’s going on?”

“She asked me what am I.”

Addolgar’s brown eyes widened in what appeared to be panic.

“I’m sure she didn’t mean that,” he said quickly. “It was . . . it was the hit on her head,” he offered, nodding desperately at Braith. “She’s mad from that. You should ignore her.”

Death growled a bit, then stood. “I’ll be downstairs with your father,” it told him as it slowly made its way across the room. “Sort this out, boy. The Cadwaladrs don’t need anyone’s problems but their own. Understand?”

“I do.”

“Good.”

Death walked out of the room, slamming the door behind it and Addolgar let out a breath, shoulders slumping, arms hanging down.

“What the hells was that thing?” Braith demanded. “Why are you sending death to my room?”

Addolgar glanced back at the door, his hands lifting, indicating for her to keep her voice down. “That was not death,” he whispered. “That was our Great-Aunt Brigida.”

“Brigida? Brigida the Foul?” He nodded. “I thought she was dead.”

Addolgar shook his head and whispered, “She just won’t
die
.”

“I heard that, boy!” Brigida’s voice rang down the hall, and Addolgar’s pale human face turned paler. Braith did find it disturbing someone that old could hear a whispered comment behind a thick wooden door, but honestly, at the moment, Braith had other issues to deal with.

“Addolgar?”

He looked up at her, tried to smile. “Aye?”

She lifted her hands. “What are these?”

“Chains.”

“Why am I wearing them?”

“To protect you from yourself.” He seemed to calm down, his uncomfortable smile turning bright and cheerful. “See? I’m here to take care of you!”

Braith sighed. “Addolgar the Cheerful . . . you are
such
an idiot.”

 

 

Addolgar walked across the room and sat on his bed. The bed that Braith of the Darkness was currently on. She looked surprisingly cute on his bed, wearing his shirt and his uncle’s chains, and sporting that big lump on her forehead.

“I know you’re angry,” he told her.

“You threw me into a tree.”

“I had to.”

“You
had
to? And why did you have to do that?”

“Because if I’d stopped to discuss the situation with you instead, Braith, we’d still be there . . .
talking.
I didn’t have time for that. I didn’t know if your brothers would be coming back to look for you or if I’d be strong enough to fight them.”

“Addolgar, I’m trying to protect you and, unfortunately, now all of your kin.”

“The kin you just slapped around?”

“They’re still breathing, aren’t they? Because, usually, I don’t allow for that last part. I was just trying to leave. Your family decided to keep me here.”

“Because I’m trying to protect you.”

“I don’t need your protection, you git!”

“And I don’t need yours, brat, but here we are!” Addolgar folded his arms across his chest and suddenly realized something. “You’ve made me angry.”

“I’ve been angry for hours now.”

“We’re not talking about you. You’re Braith of the Darkness.
I’m
Addolgar the Cheerful. I’ve earned this name, and you’re ruining it by being unreasonable.”

“You throw me into a tree—”

“That was for your own good.”

“—have me attacked by your kin—”

“You brought that on yourself.”

“—and leave me alone with Brigida the Foul, of all She-dragons—”

“She got away from us. Normally none of us would have done that. Not even to our worst enemy.”

“—and
I’m
being unreasonable.”

Addolgar nodded. “See? You do understand.”

Eyes closing, Braith sighed once more, her head dropping into her open hands. “I can’t believe I once thought you were adorable.”

“Really?” Addolgar grinned. “You think I’m adorable?”

That’s when Braith dropped to the bed, using a pillow to cover her face.

“Wait. Does that mean ‘Yes, I think you’re adorable’ or ‘No, I don’t think you’re adorable’?”

 

 

When Addolgar pulled that pillow off her, she refused to open her eyes. She didn’t want to see his handsome face. This whole thing was ridiculous. She didn’t understand what she was doing. What he was doing. What anyone was doing!

“Well?” Addolgar asked her.

Braith finally opened her eyes and found Addolgar leaning right over her. “Well what?”

“Do you really think I’m adorable?”

Braith raised her manacled hands, gripping his chain-mail shirt with her fingers. She lifted her body up by pulling herself closer to his face. Then, while trying to rein in her anger, and failing, she snarled, “I am
trying
to help you!”

“I know,” he said simply. “We’re trying to help each other. Like friends.”

“Friends?”

“Aye. We’re friends now.”

“Are we?”

“Of course we are!” he replied cheerfully—just like his name. “Why wouldn’t we be friends?”

“Because you threw me into a tree?”

“To
help
you. You keep forgetting that part.”

Unsure what else to do, Braith released her grip on his shirt and dropped back to the bed.

“So are you just going to keep me here? Locked in chains like some human prisoner?” She studied him. “Maybe I should just shift to dragon and be done with all this.”

“You wouldn’t do that,” he told her with what seemed to be an astounding amount of confidence, considering what they’d recently been through. “I know you wouldn’t harm innocent humans, nor destroy my father’s property.”

Damn the bastard, but he was right.

“Look, Braith, once I’m sure you’re not going to do anything incredibly stupid, I’ll release you. And going to the Queen to tell her about your father—incredibly stupid.”

“So is hiding from her.”

“You’re not hiding. You’re trying to fix the problem.
We’re
trying to fix the problem. And we will.”

“This isn’t your fight, Addolgar.”

“It’s more my fight than yours. It was me they’d planned to kill. That alone will bring every Cadwaladr within a thousand leagues to exact revenge. Trust me when I say you don’t want to be in the middle of that shit storm.”

“What does it matter? Your family already hates me.”

Addolgar gazed at her for several moments before asking, “Why would you say that?”

“Because they attacked me in your father’s courtyard?”

“Only because you battered Ghleanna. And she only tried to stop you because of me. Actually . . . my kin was quite impressed. Once we wrapped up their wounds and snapped bones back into place. Where did you learn to fight like that?”

“My mother. And she learned from her mother. The females on my mother’s side are, what my father has always called when he was feeling nice, hearty.”

“Hearty’s good. The Cadwaladrs respect hearty.”

Braith couldn’t help but snort a little laugh at that while she tried to figure out where to put her damn hands with these damn manacles and chains on them.

“What’s so funny?” Addolgar asked.

“Lady Katarina wasn’t exactly what I’d call hearty . . . and you didn’t seem to have any problems with her.”

“Well . . . no. She wasn’t hearty. Not like you.” And Braith briefly entertained using the chains to choke the life from the big idiot. “But she’s a nice lass.”

“Addolgar, she poisoned you.”

“But she didn’t kill me. That’s what’s important.”

Her mother had been right, all those years ago, when she’d told Braith, “Males will always make excuses for the pretty.” It was too bad, really. Braith had always hoped Addolgar wasn’t like most males. But in the end, they were all the same, weren’t they?

“You’re sneering at me,” Addolgar noted.

“Am I?”

“Your lip is curled, so it does look like you’re sneering.”

“I don’t mean to.” She really didn’t. “I just don’t know how we’re going to fix this. My father . . . he’s destroyed my life, the honor of my bloodline. He’s destroyed everything. And for what?” she asked. “To take the throne of Addiena?”

“That seems like a foolish goal. He’d have to get rid of Addiena, which is near impossible with her Royal Guard protecting her. And then there’s her offspring, two of which are witches.” He shrugged massive shoulders. “In other words, the House of Gwalchmai fab Gwyar is not to be fucked with, I’m afraid.”

“Perhaps my father’s raised an army.”

“Wouldn’t you know if he had? Wouldn’t he discuss it with you first?”

“My father and I aren’t . . . close. We never have been. He wanted two things when he chose my mother as his mate: sons and her royal title. I was never part of his plan and I mean nothing to him.”

“Then why did he involve you in this at all?”

Braith admitted the sad truth. “Because he hates me. Always has. He knew I’d never go along with this. I’m a Daughter of the House of Penarddun, and our oath is our bond. He’s never had the guts to outright kill me, so he was hoping I’d go along, put up a fight, and one of the soldiers would do the nasty job for him. This way he keeps his talons clean and he still has his precious sons.”

She saw a very dark frown on Addolgar’s face, and he said, “Or you could have just gone along with his plan.”

“The honor of my mother’s bloodline means everything to me,” she snapped, “just as it meant everything to her and to all our female ancestors who came before us. You may be from the Cadwaladr Clan, Addolgar the Cheerful, but I’m a direct bloodline from the House of Penarddun. A
Daughter.
That means something to us. So, I’d rather be executed knowing I’d kept our honor than live a millennium in shame.”

Addolgar said nothing as he gazed into her face. She didn’t know what he was looking for or what he expected to find. Instead, she held his gaze until a voice at the doorway said, “Then we’d best figure out how to get your granite fists out of this, Braith of the Darkness.”

It was Ghleanna. She leaned against the door frame, a wet cloth held to her swollen cheek. Her nose had already been put back into place by kinder hands than the one that had knocked it out of joint.

“I don’t understand,” Braith admitted. “Why are you all trying to help me?”

The She-dragon shrugged, smirked. “Maybe because it’s nice to finally know a female with shoulders wider than mine.” She motioned toward the stairs with a tilt of her head. “Come on then, you two. We’d better start figuring out what we’re going to do before the rest of these idiots begin drinking again. They’ll be useless once the ale comes out.”

Ghleanna walked away, and Braith simply couldn’t help herself. She lowered her chin to her chest and tried to see how wide her shoulders truly were.

“Don’t worry,” Addolgar cheered as he grabbed her hands and pulled her up from the bed, the chains obscenely rattling. “Ghleanna actually meant that as a compliment. She
loves
her giant shoulders.”

Once on her feet, Braith looked up at the big, good-natured idiot. He grinned at her and all Braith could do was sigh, shake her head, and walk out of the room . . . her chains rattling along as she did.

“What?” Addolgar asked from behind her. “What did I say?”