Dragons Among Them (Kingdoms of Fire and Ice) (25 page)

“Speak, wizard. And do so quickly.”

“As you wish, sire.” Edana’s high wizard bowed. “Your mate is not who you think she is.”

Zayne stared at the man in disbelief. “You…you mean to tell me she is not Adelaide? Who is she then, a witch? A spy?”

“No. Addie is Addie, but she does not hail from another realm, merely another kingdom: Forath. She is King Jarin’s lost daughter.”

“Lost daughter?” Zayne asked. “The twin who was said to have died at birth? Have you gone mad?”

“Hardly, Your Highness. The woman you know to be Adelaide Miller was born Juliana, twin to Tristan, children of King Jarin and his first wife, Queen Vanora. But their births were too much for the petite queen, and her life began to fade just moments afterward. The king loved his wife dearly and ordered their nurse to save her at any cost. But the nurse was no witch, and thus unable to cast the spells necessary to save Vanora. She sent word to her sister, a skilled witch, but the woman did not arrive in time. Overcome with grief, the king sentenced the nurse to die for her incompetence. She was beheaded that very night.

“When word reached the witch of her sister’s ruthless demise, she stole into the royal nursery and took the newborn daughter, leaving but a brief note behind:
A life for a life.
When the king awoke in the morning, he believed his daughter dead, and everyone within the castle walls heard his mournful cries.

“But the babe was not dead. Though filled with vengeance, the witch could not bring herself to harm the innocent child. Instead, she brought the child to Forath’s high wizard and demanded he put a curse upon the child. ‘Cast her from our realm,’ she said, and threatened to inflict a plague on the kingdom if he refused. So the wizard did as he was asked. But he felt pity for his grieving king and whispered an addition to the curse, saying it could be reversed by the selfless act of a mother’s true love. The child vanished from sight, but the witch knew she had been tricked. Rather than cause more bloodshed, she cast a spell on the wizard and his apprentice, preventing them from telling another living soul about either the curse or its cure until the curse had been lifted.”

Zayne’s gaze slowly shifted from Berinon to his mother. “It was you who broke the curse?”

The smile on her face widened. “So it seems. Though, I knew not of the curse nor its remedy, merely that I longed for my son to find his true love.”

“Fortunately for Adelaide, they were one and the same,” Berinon added softly.

Zayne looked back to him. “But what proof do we have of all this? How can we be certain the legend is true?”

“Because,” Berinon said, “I was the apprentice.”

* * * * *

Rosalind withdrew from the dungeon and returned to ground level, intent on locating Quinn. She’d resisted the urge to hurt Adelaide, to torture the girl for making a mockery of her name, but if there was the slightest chance the girl was indeed Tristan’s twin, then she’d also be Rosalind’s half sister. Her
older
half sister.

And that would complicate her plans infinitely.

Even so, Rosalind felt the nearly overwhelming desire to retreat to the cellar and strike sense into the girl. Not because Adelaide may well have stolen her betrothed’s heart, but because of the hope that had shone so brightly in the girl’s eyes when she insisted Zayne would come for her. No woman should rely on a man so heavily, or believe him to give his love so freely.

Love, Rosalind thought with a snort. An emotion missing from this castle since the day her mother grew ill and died soon after. Even while the queen lived, Rosalind’s father had never looked at her with the same kindness and affection he offered to his son. And in the darkest of nights, those hellish months after the queen died, when nightmares drove the princess to cry out in her sleep, it wasn’t the king who drew near to comfort her small frame but a royal servant sent to quiet her. Not that she could ever blame her father. Rosalind was, after all, a reminder of a second wife lost, and of the first daughter who hadn’t been so lucky to survive.

Or had she?

Fury hastened her steps, and Rosalind soon found Quinn in the servant’s kitchen. He was alone, save for an elderly cook whom he had pinned by the throat to the room’s side wall. The woman’s gaze was filled with terror, her face red from lack of breath.

“Well?” the princess demanded of Quinn. “What have you found?”

“Tell her what you told me,” he said to the woman in a low growl, and relaxed his grip on her throat ever so slightly. “And do not lie, or never shall you speak again.”

“Y-yes, sire,” she said with a small nod. “The king’s first wife, Queen Vanora, blessed him with two children.”

“But only one lived,” Rosalind said as though speaking the words would make them true.

But the old woman shook her head. “Both survived the day, though their mother did not. The king was stricken with grief, he loved his Vanora, and ordered the nurse be killed when she was unable to save the queen. The nurse’s sister, a powerful witch, heard the news and came to the castle that night seeking vengeance. She stole into the nursery and took a child, the daughter, and left a note in her place. ‘A life for a life,’ it read.”

Shock rendered Rosalind speechless. A babe, stolen in the night from within the castle’s very walls?

“And the child?” Quinn demanded. “Was she found?”

“N-no, sire. The king sent his men to search high and low for the girl, but neither she nor the witch were seen again.”

“Could the girl have been hidden?” Rosalind’s voice rose as the veil of shock lifted from her mind. “Disguised as another in neighboring Edana?”

“N-no, Your Highness,” the old woman said. “The high wizard has been ordered to use his most powerful seeking spells once a year, each year since their disappearances, but never did they find either woman.”

Relief washed over Rosalind so strongly she nearly collapsed. “Well,” she said, meeting Quinn’s gaze. “It seems our concerns were a bit premature.”

“Aye.” Quinn dropped his hand. The old cook slumped to the ground with a soft thud. “Shall I…?” He rested his hand on the hilt of his sheathed dagger and nodded toward the old cook.

“Let her live.” Rosalind narrowed her eyes toward the woman. “But tell no one of our conversation, or I will send him for your heart.”

“Y-yes, my lady.”

Rosalind and Quinn vacated the kitchen and came to a stop in the back hall.

“He will have discovered her missing by now.” Quinn squinted toward a ray of amber light peeking in from beneath a nearby door.

“Then ’tis merely a matter of time before he comes to reclaim his prize.”

“You truly believe he will come alone?”

“How could he not? Surely Zayne would not inform King Robert of his intentions, as the king would never condone an action which might jeopardize our peace agreement.”

“And when he arrives?” Quinn’s dark eyes glowed red in the dim light.

“Patience, my lover. First we use the girl as a pawn to force him into marrying me, then we kill him and his parents. It must happen in that order, or our plan will not succeed. Ready your men in and around the dungeon. In the meantime…” She slid her hand across his chest. “We wait.”

Chapter Thirty-Three

Zayne stepped through the window of shimmering air Berinon had conjured and found himself suddenly deep in Forath’s woods. “Are you certain this will work?”

The wizard scanned the nearby trees and nodded. “So long as your men are in position by the time we escape with Addie, aye.”

“You mean to tell me you can predict everything leading up to this moment save for whether or not my army will be ready in time? What good are you, then?”

“I am but a mere mortal, sire.” Berinon winked.

If the gesture was to put him at ease, the wizard had failed. Miserably. Zayne resented having to remain in human form nearly as much as he resented the need to rely on uncertain predictions offered by a wizard who had been less than forthcoming prior to today about this entire ordeal.

“They will be expecting a dragon armed with talons and fire,” Berinon offered as though he could read Zayne’s mind. In all likelihood, he probably could. “Not a man armed with a wizard.”

“I would rather take my chances as a dragon.” The wizard began to object, but Zayne waved him off. “I know, I know. Follow your lead, things will turn out in our favor. For your sake, man, you better be right.”

They continued forward through the dense underbrush and soon found themselves before a narrow stream. Its water ran smooth as ice and allowed Zayne a clear view of the minnows swimming beneath its surface. They darted away as he stepped closer—even the smallest fish seemed able to sense the predator within him.

“This way.” Berinon stepped into the stream. The water skimmed his lower legs, soaking the hem of his robe.

With a scowl, Zayne stepped in after him and felt the stream’s sandy bottom sink beneath his feet. “Could you not have transported us closer? Somewhere drier, perhaps?”

“Odd, I never pictured you to be the whiny sort.”

Zayne shot a dirty look to the back of the wizard’s head. “I’m not whiny, I’m…worried.”

“The girl is fine. Uncomfortable, but fine.”

“You can see her?”

Berinon reached into a pocket and withdrew the small, unfamiliar object that had upset Addie so at the wizard’s cottage. “Aye. They have her in the lowest dungeon. This stream is our safest access point from the outside. ”

“How many guards?”

The wizard stopped and closed his eyes to concentrate. “Seven. One on either side of the room watching the stream for your appearance, one flanking each side of Adelaide, and three just outside the door.”

“Human or dragon?”

“All in human form at the moment.”

“And the king?”

“Sleeping. Though news of your warriors’ arrival shall reach his chambers in short order.” Berinon tucked the item back in his pocket and surged forward. “Come, we must hurry.”

Soon they rounded a bend and came to face a massive black stone wall. As the wizard had earlier stated, the stream didn’t bend and turn from the fortress, but rather cut a path directly underneath it. They drew near the castle’s wall, and Berinon turned to meet Zayne’s gaze.

“You must swim from here. Take a good, long breath, and watch for the glow of torchlight to find your way to the opening on the other side. I shall disable the guards—worry not about them. Just get in, get Addie, and get out.”

Zayne nodded and turned his gaze back to the stream. He felt the beast within him struggling to take control. The dragon didn’t know fear, only instinct. If the wizard’s plan didn’t work—

No, he refused to let his mind travel that path. It would work. It had to.

“Make haste, Prince Zayne.”

Berinon’s words spurred Zayne into action. He took a deep breath and without another moment’s hesitation dove beneath the castle wall. Darkness was all that he could see ahead, but as the light behind him dimmed an orange glow lit the water before him. Panic raked at his mind as his lungs began to burn, but still he pushed on. Addie was there; he could feel it. Again the dragon within him demanded to be unleashed, to be freed to protect her. Again he fought for control.

At last he reached the interior of the castle’s wall, and Zayne broke through the water’s surface with a ragged gasp. He quickly scanned his new surroundings and found a guard collapsed on the ground a few paces away. Several more bodies fell to the ground in quick succession, their armor clattering as it made contact with the stone floor. A startled cry rang out from behind a pillar to his right.

Addie.

Zayne scrambled out of the water and raced toward the sound. The glow of torches was brighter up ahead, and as he rounded the pillar, both the prince and his heart skidded to a stop. There was his beloved Adelaide, shackled like a common thief to an old wooden rack. Her small body trembled with fright, rattling the chains that bound her, and dried blood stained her wrists and ankles. The sight sent the blood in the prince’s veins to boiling, and a low growl escaped him. Her wide-eyed gaze shifted from the fallen soldiers on the ground to him as he dashed forward to free her from her bindings.

“Zayne!”

“My sweet, sweet Addie. What have they done to you?” He allowed just enough of the beast raging within to surface so that he could draw upon its brute strength. Four quick strikes with his fist and his fair maiden was free. She slumped into his arms as tears welled in her eyes.

“Oh, Zayne. I thought…I thought…”

He knelt and cradled her to his chest, stroking her hair while he silently cursed himself for ever leaving her alone. “Shh, I have you now. You are safe once more. But we must go, my love, before the others discover my arrival.”

He stood and gathered her in his arms and cast a quick glance at the fallen guards. Still they slept, but he dared not waste a moment more.

“They’re expecting you,” Addie said suddenly. “We can’t go out the door, Rosalind said—”

Pain flashed across his left cheek. He looked down in surprise to find her glaring at him. Had she truly just struck him? “What was that for?”