Dragon's Challenge - D. R. Rosier Page 0,12
her walkabout.”
He growled, “That was five hundred years ago!”
April nodded miserably, “Yes, it was. She broke several rules and had major problems mastering her instincts. Your mother who was queen at the time might’ve even had her removed as too weak. Possibly even killed her, as one of her crimes was that she destroyed a whole village of people on her walkabout. That’s the first time she dominated Blossom, who then against her will started to give highly edited reports. Since then, she’s had my sister tied in knots.”
He grunted, and he remembered his own temptation to do that. It had been easy to dismiss, and he was shocked to find out what his sister had become.
April continued, “Despite the glowing reports, the few angry tantrums she’s thrown since her return and ascension to the throne at your mother’s passing has made a lot of the dragons uneasy. It didn’t help that you were better controlled than most, and that you had more raw magical potential than her. Two reasons powerful enough each on their own for you to challenge and replace her on your return home.
“Anyway, to the crux of the matter. She tried to sabotage you by sending you here to a plane with lesser dragons, and by getting you involved with the locals by dropping you in the middle of a war. That didn’t work. There was nothing else she could do from home, except hope you failed, and your continued strong will and moral behavior was alarming to her in the extreme.
“So… with nothing else she could do from there, she told a few others she was going on a long hunt to settle some matters in her mind, and that she didn’t want to be disturbed. Of course, what she really did is open a planar gate and come here, to this plane. Blossom didn’t know her plans after that, only that she’d come here to ensure you failed and were disgraced.
He grunted in thought.
April giggled, “Succinct as usual, my bonded.”
He snorted violently, which made her giggle harder.
“It’s not funny, if she expects to get away with it then she’ll need to kill you, and I’m going to tear the bitch’s head off when we catch up with her for that alone.”
April looked overwhelmed at his passion on her behalf, and needed a moment to regather her thoughts, “Anyway, she doesn’t know she’s already failed. She has failed, Muranth. She’s a dead dragon for her crimes and weakness as soon as she steps foot back on our plane, but that doesn’t really help us at all. We’ll have to survive whatever plans she has and beat her here, there’s no doubt in my mind she won’t go home until she’s sure of you. So, that’s all I know.”
There was a little comfort to be had in that concept, that even if he lost the battle and his traitorous sister destroyed him, that she would still pay. But there was some. He was strong, and strong willed, but his sister had mastered all of her magics, and was quite a competent and vicious opponent in martial combat, in any form.
He sighed, “Alright, we’ll have to just get on with our lives until we figure out where she is and what she’s doing. It’s an advantage to be aware of it, but chances are she’s not in her usual human form, and she’ll be hard to spot. Anywhere close, and I’ll feel her magic no matter what she looks like. I’m getting married to the princess tomorrow, we can’t put our lives on hold until my sister and her plan rears their heads. We just need to be vigilant. How is Blossom?”
April sighed, “Her mind is broken, but she’ll recover. She’s staying with her mate and mate’s dragon.”
He frowned, his kind weren’t exactly generous with their protection for things and beings that weren’t theirs. He knew he’d lose his own instincts to protect others other than his bonded once he returned to his true form, like the strangers in towns under threat. It was also against the laws to bond two fairies, so that solution was a non-starter. He wasn’t sure how safe that made Blossom. Her mate would protect her, but would her mate’s dragon?
Actually, after thinking it through Blossom should be fine. They wouldn’t protect her for her sake against Khalea, but they would kill Khalea for breaking the laws, which would protect Blossom. If his sister lived to return home that is. He was