“This Prophecy is a big secret only a few seem to know about. I think. Well, I discovered it, and I’m sharing this secret with you, because I need your help.” Hazel leaned over the Fang. She wondered if she could pick it up safely. She was pretty sure she’d read the poison only worked on the Primus. Or was it the Primus’ enemies? She’d had a lot of trouble translating the Ancient Dr’gon on the scroll. There were so many prophecies and warnings, half of which seemed to have expired or were myths to begin with, but still, the warning on the parchment had been worded like all the prophecies and legends taught at Wiz-Tech. It sounded official and there was a vibration that whipped the air as she muttered the words aloud that Hazel associated with dire true warnings. So, she took it seriously. This was a true warning that Fae would sneak in and steal the Fang and use it to kill the Primus.
“Fae are liars and killers,” Hazel said, picturing the creatures she’d never met, but who had warred with Dr’gons once in the distant past and were prophesied to come back and kill a Primus. “They must be. They signed a truce, and yet the Prophecy says they will break it and try to kill Cl’rnce.”
Oddly instead of chiming in with her usual supportive statements, Gaelyn cleared her throat and frowned, still staring at the ash on her fingers.
“What?” Hazel said. “What’s bothering you?”
Gaelyn took a deep breath and peered up. It took a long moment before she said, “Nothing. I’m glad whoever was in the outer chamber did not take the Fang.”
Hazel nodded. She’d changed her mind about sharing anything more about the Fang and why she was really upset. Something was off with Gaelyn.
“How long ago did you find the Fang?” Gaelyn asked.
Hazel sucked on her teeth, uncomfortable once again. She hated lies, and not telling Gaelyn, her Wizard Partner, felt like a big lie. It had been almost a year since she’d found the Fang and tried to get it to work. Breaking into a sparkling shine was all it did. If only it had answered her pleas in some way for more information, she would have been able to train the Co-Primus, to make sure they were the ones meant to use the Fang without dying. She’d failed, and she couldn’t let anyone know that. She’d told herself it was most important that everyone including Gaelyn see her as strong and in control while Cl’rnce and Great and Mighty were learning to be The Primus on their own. It was imperative no potential enemy could see any weakness in her or The Primus.
For now, she’d held all the day to day business of the Primus together. She was relieved that her immature brother, Cl’rnce, and Great and Mighty Wizard Moire Ain were at least attending all their Primus ceremonial duties. There had been very few embarrassing incidents from the two, and those had been mere bumbled spells from the young wizard Moire Ain. Of course, Gaelyn had been indispensable in saving those situations.
Gaelyn and Hazel had handled all the serious disputes and daily Dr’gon Nations governing issues, which was another reason Hazel could not look weak. Her failure with the Fang would make her look very powerless indeed. Enemies would take advantage of the Dr’gon Nations if they saw her as an inept regent or if they thought there was a chance to steal such a powerful magick.
When Gaelyn’s fingers hovered over the Fang, Hazel stopped staring at the Dr’gon’s tooth and making excuses to herself about lying to her Partner. “I don’t think that’s a good idea,” Hazel warned her. “I mean it’s poisonous. Definitely to the Primus, but I don’t know what it would do to anyone else.” At least she was pretty sure that was what the scroll had said.
“You’ve touched it?” Gaelyn’s stare was intensely fixed on the shine of the Fang as if she was mesmerized. She didn’t look up at Hazel. Her eyes stayed plastered on the Fang.
“No,” Hazel said. Which was a lie. Another one. When she’d found the chamber and the Fang, she’d finally picked it up using an edge of the linen pillow. She’d thought inspecting it closely would tell her if she had accurately translated the Prophecy. If the Dr’gon’s tooth had felt like a fake, she would have thrown it all out. After all she’d arrived in the secret chamber thinking it would make a good place to have some privacy. Cl’rnce was a lot of work, and Hazel was tired. A nap or just some alone time was all she had been after.
But in her paw, the Fang had transformed from dull gray to sparkling with all the colors of the rainbow. Only for a moment, but it had happened. She’d nearly dropped it but managed to close her fist around it before she put it back down.
Now that Hazel thought about it, it was odd that the legend and Prophecy had not been told through the ages, at least by the Wizard Partners. The Dr’gon had died, but the Partner was a witness as well as a participant. It was more than strange that finding the Fang was the first inkling Hazel had had of any of this.
In fact, when she first found it, she’d thought perhaps this was all a practical joke. Maybe Cl’rnce’s, or maybe not. She’d asked Professor Gralph about it. He’d said there existed such an obscure myth, but since the Fang had never been seen, it wasn’t believed. The battle with the Fae that had killed the first Primus had gone down as the end of a long war.
Professor Gralph had been so dismissive of the tale, that Hazel had not asked more. Besides the professor had been busy, and that day she and Gaelyn had five more meetings with representatives of the Dr’gon Nations to which, of course, Cl’rnce hadn’t shown up.
Days then weeks fled by; Hazel was so overwhelmed with the work of being the Co-Primuses’ regent, that she’d only had time to visit the Fang once, and that time to put on a ward. She had used a Confusion spell to keep anyone else from finding the secret chamber.
That spell had undoubtedly stopped the Fae today from getting past the outer chamber to the secret one. The shock of the Fae even getting so near the secret chamber had panicked Hazel. Surprise, shock, and panic. She shook with the possibilities if that Fae had gotten the Fang. From several representatives of the other Dr’gon Nations who had visited recently, she’d heard rumors that the current Fae Queens of the Summer and Winter Courts ceaselessly warred with one another and only managed brief truces when they were busy trying to find a way to travel to the Dr’gon Realms plane. Until now Hazel had just dismissed it as harmless gossip. The magick barrier that kept the Fae from crossing into the Dr’gon Realms was impenetrable to all Fae. They had never before breached the ward that kept them out, so she hadn’t truly worried they would be able to do it now. Perhaps she would have tried harder to learn the magick of the Fang if she had truly believed the Fae posed a real threat.
“Let’s get out of here,” Hazel said thinking how she could use a cool drink and a sit-down. Anything to not think about what could have been if the intruder had gotten into the secret chamber. Anything to avoid the guilt and powerlessness she felt over not being able to harness the Fang’s magick to protect Cl’rnce.
Gaelyn nodded. “I’ll cast a double ward on the outer doors to keep everyone out.”
“Excellent idea!” Hazel led the way back to the corridor. She hoped her Wizard Partner’s spell would be many times stronger than the one she had cast. Who knew if the intruder had noticed Hazel’s ward on the secret room and would be back prepared to break all the way in?
Gaelyn took longer than Hazel expected, and from the length of the spells she cast, Gaelyn was using a truly serious spell on the door to the tower room. At last, Gaelyn was done.
“I see Cl’rnce and Great and Mighty didn’t stick around.” Hazel peered down the empty hall. She turned back to Gaelyn. “Will we be able to get back in?” She said it with what she hoped was a humorous voice to try and move past the tension she felt in Gaelyn.
Gaelyn looked at her, eyes wide. “You will.” And then she hurried back down the corridor to Hazel’s chamber.
By the time Hazel joined her, Gaelyn was already seated in a far corner of Hazel’s main chamber room, her head down with her hair hanging to hide her shaking hands. Using magick had never had this effect on her before. But this was the first time she’d been afraid that
something Fae had followed her to Wiz-Tech. Fae were not supposed to be able to cross the planes from the Fae Courts to the Dr’gon Realms. Uncle Firth had discovered that a Jinn like Gaelyn’s Silkkie could transport a Fae to the Dr’gon Plane, breaching the protective wards, but he’d kept that a secret from the other Fae Courts.
Could the Fae Queens of Summer or Winter Courts have discovered where Gaelyn was and how she got to Wiz-Tech? Gaelyn had not sensed a new Jinn like Silkkie, so how had a Fae gotten here and put Cl’rnce and Great and Mighty in danger? The Fae were Gaelyn’s people. If Hazel thought her secrets were big, Gaelyn’s … could she be putting the co-Primus in danger?
Gaelyn knew she must start with finding the Fae who had crossed the planes into the Dr’gon Realm. Hazel was right about how dangerous this Fae must be. Gaelyn had to keep this intruder Fae away from Cl’rnce.
To start she took her small green crystal and commanded it to show her Cl’rnce and Great and Mighty. An image of Cl’rnce and Great and Mighty popped up immediately. As if it were just a day like any other, the pair had headed to the kitchens of the school. Next to napping, Cl’rnce loved eating best. The two were seated with bowls in front of them. They smiled as they spooned up a soup or maybe porridge. Everything looked fine until Cl’rnce choked and Great and Mighty jumped off her bench and ran. Gaelyn decided instantly to refocus the cast so she could follow Great and Mighty. The crystal was too small and focused too closely on a specific area for her to watch both Cl’rnce and Great and Mighty.
The little wizard raced to the cooking fireplace and flailed her arms about. Gaelyn watched, holding her breath, and giving one curl a nervous tug. Was Great and Mighty casting to fight the slippery Fae? Gaelyn feared the Fae might still be in the school instead of Elm Court where Gaelyn had tried to send the intruder. Was the Fae in the kitchen? Gaelyn felt stupid that she had only created an impenetrable ward on the tower outer doors. She should have sealed the whole tower off completely, including the secret room
Gaelyn stood and was about to call to Hazel and head downstairs when Great and Mighty turned around and stared back in the direction where Cl’rnce sat. Then she started laughing. Gaelyn took a breath and sat back down letting go of the curl she had stretched out. It sprang back to the comforting spot brushing her cheek.
“Well, you certainly are antsy today,” Hazel said from where she stood by her tall window-slit. “Sit and stand. Sit and Stand. Maybe we both need exercise after the excitement?”
Gaelyn needed something more than exercise. She needed answers, and she needed to get them secretly.
“I’m going for a flight,” Hazel said. “Do you want to come along?”
“I think I’ll just do some research,” Gaelyn said, glad Hazel had given her what she needed: time alone.
“You and all the research.” Hazel’s snout creased in what Gaelyn knew was a forced grin. “It always makes you happy to find out new things. Flying makes me smile. I think we both need smiles.”
Gaelyn grinned back at her Dr’gon Partner. Not that she felt happy, but she needed to encourage Hazel to leave and give her that private time. Hazel never flew for less than an hour. That would do. “See you in an hour,” Gaelyn said. “I think I’ll need to go get some different sources.” She stood up and headed for the door out of Hazel’s chamber as if she was headed to the school library, the place she went so often. She wasn’t going there, but she hadn’t said the library was where she was headed. So, it wasn’t a lie, not exactly. Hazel did not tolerate liars, even if she had just admitted to lying, or at least keeping a secret.
Hazel stepped up onto the sill of the window-slit and launched herself into a broad-winged flight. “See you in an hour.”
“Well, that was predictable,” Silkkie’s snarky voice slithered from the small bag Gaelyn wore on a cord around her waist. Gaelyn checked and saw Hazel’s winged shadow already a mile away.
Sure that she had time alone, Gaelyn opened the pouch and pulled out Silkkie’s crystal ball. She held up the crystal and said, “You and I are going to Elm Court.”
The pink-furred cat inside the ball opened her sharp-fanged mouth in what was either a smile or a hiss. Gaelyn was never sure with the little Jinn. One was as likely as the other. Silkkie was a faithful Jinn, but only to Gaelyn. She could be tricky with everyone else. She seemed to like torturing Hazel most of all.
Gaelyn wished her Jinn liked her Partner, but the important thing about Silkkie was that with her Jinn powers she could keep Gaelyn connected to Elm Court. “I’m afraid we didn’t get rid of the intruder after all. I need to check that the Fae ended up in Elm Court like I wanted. No arguing. I will say the words, and you will repeat them with me. We go to Elm Court.” This time Gaelyn did not use her usually soft and gentle voice but instead concentrated on sounding forceful and maybe a little dangerous. Silkkie rolled her cat eyes and snorted. She never agreed, but she would help. There was no time for the gentle squabbling they often engaged in.
The little cat arched her back and bared her fangs; for a second Gaelyn thought Silkkie was going to really, for the first time, refuse, but then Silkkie settled down curling her long flamingo-pink tail around her lined-up feet and burped. After one long afternoon with the Barforami Bubbles and Smush, she had decided burping was very funny. Silkkie laughed and said, “Ready.”
“To Elm Court the both of us. Silent arrival in Elm Hall. To Elm Court the both of us.” Gaelyn looked at Silkkie. “Repeat with me twice more,” she ordered. The cat nodded and did just that. As they finished the last word, they were there, in the great Hall of the Elm Court. The Elm Court was the third of the Fae Courts, the one few talked about. Elm Court was certainly the one that few in the Dr’gon Realms on the island of Albion even knew about, as far as Gaelyn could tell. Certainly, in the classes on magickal beings only the cruel and deceitful Summer and Winter Court Fae had ever been mentioned.
But the Elm Court was where Gaelyn had grown up, where all her childhood memories lay, until the day her Uncle Firth, who was regent until she reached the age to be Queen, had sent Gaelyn to Wiz-Tech. He wanted the best for the Elm Faes and for their new Queen, Gaelyn. He wanted her to learn the magick of the Dr’gons and their Wizard Partners. And he wanted her to learn how the Dr’gon Primus ruled without using the sometimes treacherous and cruel ways of the Faes’ Summer and Winter Queens. So, she had left Elm Court for Wiz-Tech.
Gaelyn had been away for many years with no contact with anyone in Elm. What if it was Uncle Firth’s agent who had been in the chamber looking for the Dr’gon’s Fang? What if like Summer and Winter, her Uncle was looking to break the Peace between Fae and Dr’gons by trespassing and stealing the Fang? She could not let that happen. No Elm Fae was ever going to hurt Hazel, Cl’rnce, Great and Mighty, or any member of the Dr’gon Nations.
She couldn’t stand the thought of Summer or Winter Queens’ armies storming onto the Dr’gon plane with a weapon like the Fang, filled with un-paralleled magick. They would replace the peaceful justice of the Dr’gon Realms with the harsh realities of the Queen’s Justice. The Dr’gons believed in the rule of law. The Queens believed in absolute rule.
Years ago, Winter Queen had demanded that her sister, Summer, murder her own son. Winter threatened war if the boy was not eliminated. She demanded his death purely because she had no children and that gave Summer an advantage.
If such an unreasonable demand as Winter Queen’s had come before a Dr’gon Nation’s court, it would have been dismissed, but in the Fae realms, the Queens’ rights were absolute. Uncle Firth heard of the demands and that Winter Queen had threatened to use her right to the Queen’s Justice, which gave her the power to demand whatever she wanted, no matter who was hurt. Uncle Firth talked Summer Queen into secretly sending her son to the Elm Court.
Gaelyn scanned around her. Elm Hall looked empty. She listened. Not a sound except for the combination burping and purring Silkkie began as soon as they arrived. “Hush!” Gaelyn hissed.
Muttering, the Ji
nn went silent, sitting primly. Silkkie’s eyes scanned the area around them. From the way her ears swiveled, she was as alert as Gaelyn.
Gaelyn listened harder. Still no noise. She could feel the vibrations of her people, but they were muffled. They were hiding! She’d never run into that before. Where were they? She paced the long hall looking for clues. She stood still reaching out for those faint echoes of her people.
This was the daily meeting place for all Elm Fae. It was never empty. The regent, Uncle Firth, met during the day with all kinds of Elm Fae: squabbling ones, or beseeching ones, or just bored ones. At night, every night, there was a grand dinner and socializing. Despite the plethora of living greenery, vines, flowers, and all manner of plant life lining the walls and ceiling, the huge room echoed with the emptiness.
The tables and benches were all in place. Even Uncle Firth’s throne. The silent space looked like it was waiting, but it didn’t have a feel like it waited for her. “Something is very wrong. The Elm are hiding, and I don’t know where.”
Silkkie stretched and shifted her weight farther back on her bottom so she could lick her tail. “Yep,” she managed between swipes. “I think we should go looking.”
“I have time. We’ll do it. Hazel will be busy flying for a while. We’ll get back to Wiz-Tech before she returns. She’ll never know.” Gaelyn felt badly about still keeping this secret from Hazel, but with how Hazel worried about a possible Fae assassin and the threat to Cl’rnce, this was not the time to explain to Hazel who Gaelyn really was. Trying to find the Fae she’d sent to Elm would have to wait until she’d found her people.
As Gaelyn reached to scoop up her Jinn’s crystal ball, inside it Silkkie shot to her feet. “No. We have to go back!”
Dragon Bonded: A Bumblespells Novel Page 2