cared nothing for being the king, but only for the defeat of the Stühocs. Once it was done, he would step down if that was the wish of the people.
After a moment, only he and Inga stood in the room together. He didn’t know what she thought of him now. She was probably angry with him too.
He looked at her awkwardly, but she didn’t move.
“I suppose your magic kept you alive?” Julian asked. “You know, when you and Silas were attacked?”
She shook her head. “Actually, I didn’t do much. Marcus crashed into us and I was knocked out. When I woke up, I saw them flying away on a dragon. There was nothing I could do.”
“I’m glad you’re ok,” Julian said. He could tell she wanted to ask him about the Dunarians. About the council. But she held her tongue. She knew he wouldn’t tolerate her questioning.
Without another word, she walked out of the room and Julian stood alone. There would be no support for him now, he knew. Now he decided he would have to do things the way he always did them. If the Erellens refused to hand him the medallion, he was just going to have to take it from them. He did not want to fuel his own power; his desire was not to be greedy. His desire was for their own good. For the good of everyone in Marenon.
Julian walked through the city, accompanied by guards assigned by Jiaros for Julian’s protection. He was fine with them. He was used to it. During the past three months he had hardly been alone. In fact, when he had traveled unescorted from Farlaweer to Jarul, he had felt very exposed. He had the consistent urge to look over his shoulder, even while flying his sarian Eden.
He was glad that Jiaros was cordial enough to provide Julian with royal treatment. The bedchamber for the visiting king was more elaborate than his own in Farlaweer.
When he opened the door to his room, he had not expected to see the Erellen prince waiting for him. He stood when Julian walked into the room, and Julian froze.
Daewyn took no time getting to the point. “You want the medallion,” he said. “I want something too.”
Julian’s eyes narrowed as he slowed closed the door behind him.
Deawyn continued. “I think if we can work together, we’ll both be happy in the end.”
*****
Inga had disguised the sound of her footsteps with simple magic when she followed Julian to his room. After Julian closed the door behind him, the guards took post on the other side of the hallway facing the door.
Perfect.
She closed her eyes for a moment and felt the ice-cold blanket of invisibility fall over her. With her sound muffled and appearance undetectable, she was able to place her ear against the door. There were voices. She thought something like this would happen. A meeting between Daewyn and Julian wasn’t unforeseeable, but she was still surprised to hear them speaking together.
With just a bit more concentration, she was able to amplify the voices in her ears to hear them clearly.
“You want the medallion,” Daewyn said. “I want something too. I think if we can work together, we’ll both be happy in the end.”
“What are you talking about?” Julian asked.
Daewyn went straight to the point. “I can get you the medallion without getting caught. But first I want your promise that you can do something for me.”
“I’m listening.”
“Lorcan Zamire,” Daewyn said. “I want him captured.”
Inga nearly gasped. She thought about how Kaden had just broken Lorcan out of prison just days before. Daewyn was obviously angry about it.
“I don’t know how he got out,” Daewyn said. “And I don’t care. I just want him to face justice.”
“I have no idea how to get Lorcan,” Julian said.
“Of course you do!” Daewyn said eagerly. “What’s the first thing you plan to do when you get the green medallion?”
There was a pause in the conversation. Inga imagined that Julian was deep in thought, contemplating what Daewyn was asking.
“You’ll go to Jekyll Rock,” Daewyn said. “And that’s where Lorcan will be.”
“How did you know Lorcan was with the Dunarians now?” Julian asked.
“I was in Voelif three days ago,” he said. “I ran into a couple of his friends there. They got me out.”
“Who did you see? Did you see Nalani?” Inga could tell Julian had gotten excited.
“Yeah,” Daewyn said. “There was quite an uprising there. I escaped with two Humans when Nalani lent us a sarian to ride. She