Origin (Scales N' Spells #1) - A.J. Sherwood Page 0,45

been taken to task over his choice of clothing.

“Thank you, Lisette,” Alric ground out. She graced him with a smile and then walked back out of the room.

Alric pinned his advisor with a dark look the moment the door closed. The man appeared to be struggling to hold in his laughter. “Did she do this with my father?”

“No, your father always remembered to wear his crown,” Dieter replied, which only sent his friends into fresh peals of laughter. “But she did like to hound him about his shoes. Your father hated wearing shoes.”

A hint of a smile played across Alric’s lips. That he did remember about his father. The old king loved fancy clothes and shiny things but preferred to walk around barefoot.

Alric placed his right hand on the table and pushed to his feet. Everyone else rose at the same time. “Everyone has their assignments—”

“Hoheit?” Gunter interjected and Alric smiled.

“Sorry, Gunter. I want you to make yourself available to Dieter and Lisette. Anything they need researched, be ready. Also take note of anything interesting they might find. Maybe once she learns more about Cameron, his family, and their original clan, we might be able to do more about the seeking spell.”

Gunter nodded, his gaze distant as he mentally ran through all the books in the library. “Yes. Of course. I think I’ve run across some variations on the seeking spell that might be of use now.”

“Bring in help if you must. You’re not to spend all hours of the night and day digging through those books.”

“I’ll check on him between missions for Baldewin,” Ravi offered. Gunter did not look thrilled. Ravi was walking chaos, and Gunter did not like the dragon anywhere near his books.

“Thank you. I’ll see you all in the hall,” Alric murmured. The four men around the table bowed their heads and filed out of the room.

Once alone, Alric glanced down at his shirt and frowned. He did not dress like a moody vampire prince.

Oh god, what had he gotten himself into?

Lisette had mentioned something about a clan meeting and that he should attend. She had made it sound like it wasn’t a big deal, but now he was standing near the front of the hall, looking around at all the people. There had to be more than fifty here. Fifty freaking dragons in one place! That was exciting and sad at the same time. Less than a week ago, he’d been sure they were extinct.

But his history class had taught him that at one time there had been thousands of dragons. Now Alric’s clan was down to just fifty.

And there were even fewer mages.

It was a miracle and a tragedy all wrapped into one.

His mind tossed that aside when he realized nearly every eye in the room was trained on him. No one looked hostile. Just extremely curious.

“Are you sure I should be here?” Cameron whispered when he leaned closer to Lisette.

“Oh, most definitely!” she replied with her usual warmth and cheer. “You don’t want to miss this.”

Cameron turned his eyes away from the people watching him to take in the vast room he stood in. He was in an honest-to-god throne room. It was enormous, with enough space to comfortably hold three times as many people. The walls were a pristine white while the ceiling soared at least three stories above his head. Dragons could have flown into the room if not for pillars that rose up at regular intervals. Pennants and banners hung from the ceiling similar to the ones he saw at the restaurant, but where those looked worn and faded with time, these looked brand new. No wonder Alric was so familiar with them and all their symbols.

Down the center of the room was a long red carpet with gold edging that looked like a line of tiny gold dragons in flight. It all led up four short stairs to a dais and a black throne easily three times the size of Alric.

Cameron leaned close to Lisette again. “Is…is that throne made of onyx?”

Lisette grinned broadly at him. “Solid obsidian.”

Of course, he thought, smirking at the throne. Obsidian was volcanic glass.

He wanted to make a comment, but the sound of doors opening at the back of the room had everyone turning at once. He couldn’t see who entered but he had a guess. Silence fell over the room, but it only lasted a couple of seconds and then it started.

Softly, like a low rumble, the chanting steadily grew. He couldn’t understand