by ERIN BEDFORD
Lord Shen’s grin dropped, and I partly wished I hadn’t said anything. He shifted in place uncomfortably before clearing his throat. “My wife had good intentions, even though they were executed completely wrong. But she’s still my wife, and I love her, despite her actions.”
“So, you’re just going to let her go unpunished?” Raiden asked, the beginning of anger coloring his voice. I squeezed his hand, hoping to help him retain his temper. When it came to his mother, he was about as hot-headed as Firestar.
“Now, I’m not saying that.” Lord Shen frowned and then stared down at the ground before lifting his gaze to Raiden’s. “If you were in my position, would you be able to do it, to kill her? If it was Maya’s life in the balance, instead of your mother’s?”
“She’d never do that,” Raiden immediately spat out. “She’d never try to use someone the way Mother tried to do to her.”
“I think,” Jack interrupted, interposing himself between the two before they could get into a shouting match, “what Lord Shen is saying is that it’s not an easy decision. It never is when it comes to family.”
“Exactly.” Lord Shen gave a sad smile. “Your mother will be punished, but as to how? I have yet to let my heart close off enough to deal with her in a rational manner.”
“Understandable.” Jack nodded and then turned his gaze to Raiden, clearly expecting him to agree.
Raiden crossed his arms over his chest and glowered. “Fine.”
Lord Shen seemed like he wanted to say more but thought better of it. Instead, he turned to me and asked, “What about you? Are you going to stay here in the East for a while?”
I frowned and glanced at my men. What were we going to do? We hadn’t really thought about it with all that was still going on. There was really no point in going back North right now. We were only there until we could get enough men to save Lord Shen. Now that we’d done that, we really didn’t have anything left to do.
“It’s up to you, Maya,” Firestar said, stroking a hand down my arm.
“Oh great, give the pregnant woman the hard decisions,” I said bitterly and then dragged a hand through my hair. “Hell if I know where we’ll go, but wherever we decide, it better be for a while.” I rubbed my stomach and stared down at it with a loving look. “The babies and I are tired of jumping from place to place. I’d like to stay somewhere until the babies are born.”
Jack hummed and then asked, “We could go back to the West? We haven’t been there in a while, and I’m sure you’ll want to be with your family when the babies are born.”
I smiled at his consideration but said, “While I would love to see my mother and have her to help me, I think you forget an important detail.”
They were silent for a moment, and then Firestar growled, “Ned. That bastard is still out there waiting for his chance to take Maya out. We can’t put her in that kind of danger.”
“Hey,” I said, poking a finger at his chest. “I can take care of myself. Or do I need to remind you of who exactly won this war.” We grinned at each other until we realized we actually had to make a decision.
As luck would have it, my sister took a breath from the ocean that was the twins to put in her two cents. “I have an idea.”
“What’s that?” I put my hands on my hips, ready to hear whatever outrageous suggestion she had. My sister might be a great tactician and a better politician, but she still tended to go for the most extreme option first.
“Don’t look at me that way,” Aeis warned and crossed her arms under her chest. “It’s a good idea. Really.”
“Sure,” I said slowly and then waved a hand at her. “Let’s have it. What’s your brilliant plan?”
Aeis grinned. “I never said it was brilliant.” She tucked a lock of hair behind her ear and peeked back over her shoulder to where the twins stood. “Let me take care of Ned.”
“No,” I said firmly. “I won’t put you in the way of that monster.”
She sighed. “Look, you can’t go because I won’t let my nieces and nephews anywhere near him. He doesn’t know that I know that he’s a traitor. I can go back and keep an eye on him, and then, when the time is right, get rid of him.” Aeis made a cutting sound as she slid her finger across her throat.
“I don’t know.” I shook my head. “I don’t like you going at it alone. He’s been able to hide who he truly is for this long. Who knows how evil he actually is?”
“Then we’ll go with her.” Fujin pushed his way into our little circle. “Let Raijin and me watch her back. Then you can rest your fears and focus on having those babies.”
“Exactly,” Raijin agreed, looking all too pleased with the prospect of being alone with my sister.
I wondered for a moment if they planned this all along. Though, even if they had, it was a good plan. Better than anything I’d have come up with. Plus, it took the responsibility of saving yet another kingdom out of my hands.
“Very well,” I sighed reluctantly. “You can do it, but the moment it becomes too much, you need to call for us. We have allies now.”
“I know.” Aeis nodded.
“And don’t let Father in on what’s going on,” I continued with a warning look.
“I know,” she growled, her eyes flashing with irritation, but I didn’t let up.
“Because you know, he will think you’re being paranoid. He’ll get on his high horse and be all law-di-dah, I know what’s best, go play with your dresses.”
“Now, you’re exaggerating.” Aeis shook her head and started to walk away.
I chased after her, the guys chuckling behind me. “I’m serious, Aeis. This isn’t like fighting on the battlefield. This is political warfare.”
“I know!”
“I know you know, but seriously—”
“Maya!”
Hands grabbed me before I could continue my tirade, letting my sister get away. I growled and glared back at the hands holding me. I traced them up to Jack, a concern in his eyes. “What?” I asked him.
“Your sister gets the point, you should be thinking about getting checked out. You shifted into full dragon form, and most children don’t survive through that.” His hand stroked down my back as if to soothe me from an oncoming freak out.
I opened my mouth to tell him I’m fine, they’re fine, but my vision clouded over and for a moment I couldn’t breathe. A bright light filled my mind and at first, I thought I was going blind, but then something began to appear, another vision.
Three figures stood proud and tall on a balcony overlooking all of Waesigar. On one side was a pale haired man, his hair cut short, the bangs hanging over his face. His familiar face on a stranger’s body told me that this was not any ordinary vision. The first man’s veritable twin stood on the other side, but his hair was black and brushed his shoulders, a cheeky grin on his lips.
The one who stood out the most was the one standing between the two. Long curly red hair fell down the woman’s back in waves, her eyes glittering emerald green as she glanced back at me. A smug grin greeted me as her mouth formed one word.
Mother.
“Maya,” Jack’s voice broke through the vision, bringing me back to the present. “Maya, are you okay?”
I shook my head and turned my head toward him. “I think I just saw our children.”
“What?” Raiden rushed over to me, excitement in his eyes and the exact same cheeky grin that had been on the man’s.
“What did they look like?” Firestar asked, a bit calmer than Raiden but not by much.
“A bit like us, actually. Or a combination of us.” I shot Jack a smug grin. “But I think it’s safe to say they’re fine. Better than that, they’re going to rule the world.”
As the guys closed in around me, each other them chattering about what they hoped our children would be like, my heart warmed. The image of our children would keep me going for the years to come, and based on the grins I’d seen, I was going to need a crap ton of Advil – and dragon’s tears. Lots and lots of
dragon’s tears.
Thank You for reading!
Curious about what happens next?
* * *
Find out soon in Dragons Unleashed!
Author’s Note
Dear reader, if you REALLY want to read the next Starcrossed Dragons novel- I’ve got a bit of bad news for you.
Unfortunately, Amazon will not tell you when the next comes out.
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