Colonel Weathers ran behind the dragons to hold the bridge with his troopers. They were filling buckets with water from the river so they could douse any further flaming arrow bolts headed their way before the wooden bridge caught fire.
An impressive burst of flame from the ice dragon and a chorus of screams from the archery section of the approaching mob ended the flaming arrows while Lilly climbed up on Shilayla’s back with Luc. It also halted the marchers in their tracks.
The mercs were milling about, waiting for some direction from their officers, it seemed. Colonel Weathers—brave man—reappeared from behind the ice dragon and strode forward. His voice boomed out over the confused silence of the mercs.
“Turn back or face the consequences, in the name of King Alric, the dragons, and our allies to the North. You are surrounded and have but one choice to escape death. Turn to the western pass to Elderland and be on your way.”
Lilly was impressed with this border commander she had never met before.
“We have a contract,” one of the merc leaders called out, seemingly to remind both himself and his troops.
“Who with?” Luc demanded, surprising Lilly. “If it is with the Alchemists, they will soon be entertaining a dragon horde in the skies around their towers. If they have anything to do with your employment here, I hope they paid in advance, because you will not be able to collect from their corpses.”
Lilly had no idea if Luc was bluffing or not, but the mercenaries broke discipline at his words, looking to their commanders for explanations or reassurances. These people didn’t fight for a cause, but to make a living. They would not fight if no payment were forthcoming.
Just as the murmuring among the mercs grew to a crescendo, the renewed trumpeting of dragons could be heard clearly in the distance. From behind the mercs. That sent them into another round of shouting and shifting around on their feet. Discipline was definitely disintegrating in the face of this new addition to the standoff.
The ice dragons stood guard over the riverside, their leader with the smaller snow dragon on the bridge, and coming in from the north was what looked like an entire battalion of snow dragons on the wing, with heavily armed fighters on their backs. On the ground, the Jinn mercenaries were riding hard on their war horses, neatly boxing in the unaffiliated mercs between the border and the wasteland.
“That looks like Det’s entire command,” Luc said aloud, watching the sky in front of them eagerly as his brethren approached.
“It is the battalion,” Shilayla said into their minds as the ice dragons trumpeted a greeting that was answered by the snow dragons who grew closer and closer with each wingbeat. “Gren tells me that the seers ordered them to prepare even before our messages got through. They felt so strongly about it that they made a special petition to the Council.”
Lilly realized she was holding her breath as the wide phalanx of snow dragons flew like a steady stream out of the north. It was one of the most impressive displays she had ever seen in her life.
The unaligned mercenary companies also seemed duly impressed. The troopers all watched as the dragons flew high over their heads, casting their very large shadows over the entire field, only to turn toward the east just before they reached the river. Several of the snow dragons landed on the rocky riverbank, filling in empty spots between ice dragons, reinforcing their line.
One dragon in particular landed just in front of the bridge. Lilly recognized Luc’s brother, Det, and his dragon partner, Gren. There was no time for greetings, just nods of hello between the two brothers as Det and Gren took up their position on the other side of Essalynn, the great ice dragon flanked by two smaller, but no less fierce, snow dragons.
“Lady Essalynn, please meet my brother, Detlif, and his heartmate, Grennulf,” Luc spoke silently into their minds. “They lead the Guard of our enclave.”
Lilly was fairly certain that Grennulf, Shilayla and Essalynn were engaged in their own silent communications, but the ice dragon nodded at Luc and then at Det. If she replied, Lilly was not included in the message. Lilly’s gaze was snared by movement among the mercs. It looked like a small delegation was gathering and heading their way.
*
Zallra smelled the enemy before she saw them. She was walking with Alric. They had just entered the castle from the garden where they’d spent the last hour talking. If not for her dragon senses, she would have been blind to the waiting assassins—just as Alric’s guards were.
But Zallra was made of tougher stuff. Between one eye blink and the next, she shifted into her dragon form, putting herself between the assassins’ blades and the King’s unseeing form. She didn’t want to flame them for several reasons. First, she wanted to be able to question them later. For that, she needed at least some of them alive. Second, there were lots of flammable things inside Alric’s castle that might cause a catastrophe should she miscalculate and give off just a bit too much fire.
Instead, she advanced on the trio of assassins, letting them try to pierce her scales with their puny iron blades. It couldn’t be done, though she had to give them credit for trying. The only thing sharp enough and hard enough to pierce dragon scale was diamond. Luckily for her, none of these men had come equipped with such costly blades.
Using her tail and her talons, she batted the men away, slamming them up against the unforgiving stone walls of the castle. Within moments, all the attackers were unconscious.
Zallra shifted back to her human form once she was certain the danger was past and went to Alric. He was remarkably calm for a man who had just been the target of an assassination plot. Then again, she supposed he’d been through something like this before.
“Your guardsmen have the attackers under control,” she whispered to Alric as she watched the guardsmen step in to secure the unconscious people crumpled in piles around the entryway. “Shall we continue to your chambers, Your Majesty?”
“Certainly,” Alric replied, his voice dry. “I suspect my debt to you grows, Lady Zallra. Did you at least give my guardsmen a chance to take a few of them down?”
Zallra laughed. Giggled, actually. She hadn’t made such a joyful sound since she’d been a child, but this blind King had a way of touching the deepest parts of her. Her heart felt so light and, yet, full when she was around him.
“I’ll try to do so next time,” she assured Alric.
“They’ll be cross if you don’t let them earn their keep,” he scolded teasingly.
“I think I can handle it,” she replied, smiling widely as they walked down the corridor, arm in arm. She not only liked Alric. She was quickly discovering a true and deep love for the blind monarch. He was unlike any other man she’d ever known, in the best possible way.
She vowed that no assassin would get to Alric as long as she was with him…and she hoped to be with him for the rest of their lives. They had yet to formalize their growing relationship, but she felt certain it was only a matter of time. As far as she was concerned, she’d found her one and only. And she felt certain that Alric was feeling the same thing she was, but for some reason, he was reticent to make a declaration.
She’d give him a bit more time. Then, if he still had misgivings—whatever that was about—she’d bring things out into the open, and they’d have a heart-to-heart discussion. If they were both honest about their feelings, she knew they’d be able to come to some kind of agreement. She just had to be a bit more patient, though patience had never really been her strong point.