Page 97 of Maleen

He tries to sit up and hisses.

“Don’t make me bind you with vines. You are not moving from this bed or position until you are fully healed,” I tell him, my worry bleeding through my voice.

He gives me a wobbly smile. “You’re definitely okay. No one else in this entire realm has a stronger, more beautiful mate than I.”

I crawl into the bed beside him and curl into him as gently as I can. “Don’t be using that sweet talk on me. You’re in trouble for pulling that stunt, but we can talk about that later.”

Celeste moves over to the other side of the bed. “I can heal his wound now that it isn’t oozing the poison anymore.”

“You can?” I ask, bewildered. “Please do. Also thank you so much. If there’s anything we can do to repay you for your kindness and hospitality, please let me know and it’s yours.”

She shakes her head sadly. “I’m afraid anything I would want is long gone with the years that have passed, but thank you.”

“It’s a standing offer,” I tell her firmly.

She nods and gets to work healing Aemon, and once he’s able to walk again—which won’t be long according to our witch friend—we are heading back to Maleen to inform the others that we failed. That there’s no way to destroy the Soul Stone.

CHAPTER FORTY

A MONTH HAS PASSED SINCE our mission in the Nairiden Woods ended in disaster. We are all relieved yet on edge that Craven hasn’t attacked in all this time. Ravina has thrown herself into research and royal duties, nearly collapsing into bed every night. In fact we’ve all been keeping busy trying not to feel the damage from what happened in the Nairiden Woods.

Sir Geoffrey waltzes across the training field toward me, looking like he’s on a mission. I nearly roll my eyes. Once the coronation officially happens, Ravina will be able to choose new advisors, and I know for a fact he will definitely be the first to go. The ball Madam Windwhisper is planning has been postponed until after the war, but I’m not excited in the least. I am not a dancer. At least I don’t need to worry about that for a while.

“General Driscol,” he yells, waving his hand like I didn’t see him in the obnoxious bright colors of his clothing. Bright orange and blue—he’s practically a walking target.

“What can I help you with?” I sigh, turning and giving him my full attention.

The male stutters to a stop in front of me. “I need the updated count of your warriors with dragons, and the death count of those who didn’t return.”

I resist the urge to rub my hand down my face. “The report has already been filed, you can look it up in the archives.”

“But the Queen-to-be—”

“My mate has already been made aware of the increased number of dragons. Now, if you don’t mind, I have drills to run and new recruits to see. Have a good day.” I dip my head and turn. I was never good at politics.

I circle the warriors currently running drills as I watch Sir Geoffrey out of the corner of my eye, who he stares at me with an unhinged jaw before storming back into the castle.

The past month has been busy with rebuilding our army. The amount of dragons willing to bond has been a weight off my shoulders. We’ve acquired at least sixty newly bonded riders out of the one hundred sent. The last group should be back any day now, and hopefully it will be a good turnout.

A smaller white dragon lands on the edge of the field and Ember hops off. She’s taken to the skies quite a bit since she bonded with Ivna. She runs over to me—Ember has become my second in command. She has fantastic instincts, my mate trusts her and most importantly Nero doesn’t want to remove her eyeballs.

“Killian. A pixie just dropped this off. It’s from Phixmery.” She holds out a small scroll and I take it from her.

We haven’t heard anything out of Phixmery in months. I break the wax seal and unroll it. My eyes widen and I glance back at Ember. “Who else knows of this?”

“Just us so far,” she tells me instantly. “Why?”

I roll it back up and stick it in my breast pocket. “We need to have a meeting. It’s time we take back Phixmery.”

RAVINA SITS AT the head of the table, reading and re-reading the scroll. Her lips are pursed and I can sense her gears turning as she thinks about how she wants to handle this.

She turns to Talyn. “You said Ashbluff is on our side?” she queries.

He dips his head. “Right before the Choosing he approached Jesper, knowing we were up to more than sneaking off to the local tavern after missions, and wanted to help. Jesp searched his mind for any signs of him working for our fathers and found none. He’s seemed reliable ever since.”

“Unless he’s been turned because the stone has been used on him,” Aemon adds.

He’s back to full health now after the ordeal. Celeste healed him up faster than anything I’ve ever seen in my almost thirty-two years. Seeing him like that was one of the top five scariest moments of my life. Even my Little Warrior has been extremely clingy with all of us lately, especially him.