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Authors: G. A. Aiken

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Talan studied his sister. “So you’re really going to do this?”

“I have to.”

“Oh? Has someone put a crossbow to your head?”

“You may be against this, but I’m sure Mum will get over it.”

“It’s not Mum I’m worried about. It’s Rhi. We both felt the power of what she was unleashing at the training ring. If we hadn’t been there—”

“I know.”

“And yet you think it’s a good idea to leave her? Now?”

“So I have to stay while you go?”

Talan looked away from his sister’s steady gaze. And that’s when she snapped, “Gods . . . you idiot.”

“It’s for the best I stay.”

“It is
not
for the best. They’ve sent for you. I’ve done the research, brother. That is not common.”

“Are you not going to miss us at all?”

Talwyn slumped a little. “This isn’t about that and you know it.”

“All I know is that we’re strongest when we’re together.”

“And all I know is that the only thing we’ve been doing the last five years is coasting. Our skills haven’t grown.”

“Our skills or our power?”

“Both.”

“What is it, sister? Do you hope to be both Dragon Queen
and
Southland Queen?”

“No. I hope to keep this bloodline alive and thriving for the next few millenniums. And if you think the three of us can do that sitting here while Mum and Dad take care of us, you’re an idiot.”

“Oy. You two.”

They both leaned over and looked down. Izzy stood under the tree. Behind her stood Éibhear and Rhi. “Come on.”

“Where?” Talan asked.

“To see the family. Time to talk this out.”

Talwyn grunted. Never a good sign. “I have nothing to say to my mother.”

“I don’t care. Get your ass down here.”

Lips pursed, Talwyn looked off. Talan knew that meant his sister had dismissed Izzy and that she had no intention of going anywhere. But Izzy was a top general in Annwyl’s army and she was used to very large men following all her orders without question. So for Talwyn to think her cousin would tolerate this for even one second . . .

Really, she should never have taken her eyes off Izzy.

Without a word, Izzy walked around Éibhear and grabbed the axe he had strapped to his back. She hefted it, spun, and threw it. Talan quickly raised his arms and grabbed onto the tree limb just above him, but Talwyn was still looking off, so she didn’t realize the axe had hit the tree limb they were on until she was falling.

She hit the ground hard, ass first.

Hands on her hips, Izzy asked, “Ready now, cousin?”

Talan released his grip on the limb and dropped to the ground. He landed on his feet and smiled at Izzy. “We’re ready.” He took hold of his sister’s arm and yanked her to her feet, ignoring her snarl of pain because of her now-sore ass. “More than ready,” he insisted. “Bring on the kin!”

Chapter 23

Dagmar was busy slapping Gwenvael’s hand off her thigh for a fifth time when Izzy walked through the Great Hall doors with Éibhear, the twins, and Rhi behind her.

“Oh, good. You’re all here,” Izzy said.

“Everything all right?” Dagmar asked.

“No. Rhi believes herself to be pure evil and Talwyn is under the impression she doesn’t have to follow orders anymore.”

“Oh,” Annwyl announced to the room as well as her daughter, “you can take orders from the bloody Kyvich but not a general in my army?”

“She’s my cousin.”

“
And a general in my army!
”

“
And I’m a princess!
” Talwyn yelled back.

“
Not if I rip that title from your hide!
”

“All of you,” Talaith bellowed, “shut up!”

Mother and daughter stopped yelling, but they were clearly not happy about it as arms were crossed over chests and feet began to tap impatiently against the floor.

Talaith leaned forward, studied her youngest daughter. “You think you’re evil?”

“Pure evil,” Izzy clarified, which got her a rather vicious glare from Rhi. An expression Dagmar had never thought the young, perpetually smiling or sobbing girl was capable of.

“Why would you think you’re evil?”

“It’s a feeling I have.”

“No. Someone told her.”

Rhi glowered at her sister. “I never said that.”

“You didn’t have to,” Izzy shot back. “I know you.”

“Well, who told her that?” Talaith demanded.

And, as one, they all turned and looked at Gwenvael.

He blinked, sat up straight. “I would
never
say such a thing to my dear sweet niece!”

“You said it to me,” Talwyn snapped.

“That’s because you’re not my dear sweet niece. You’re the rude little cow who threw a knife at my head.”

“I wasn’t aiming for you. I was aiming for Mum.”

“She’s right,” Annwyl admitted. “I just ducked behind you.” She shrugged. “Sorry.”

“It wasn’t Uncle Gwenvael.”

“Then who?” Talaith pushed. “And you might as well tell me now because I’ll just badger you until you do. Ask Izzy.”

“She really will,” Izzy said on a sigh.

Rhi looked down at her feet and finally whispered, “It was our great grandmother.”

“
My
mother said that to you?” Bercelak asked. “Because she’s been gone from this world for some time, luv.”

“No.” Rhi cleared her throat. “Adienna.”

Rhiannon got to her feet so fast that her chair scraped the floor and slammed into the wall. “You spoke to my mother?
My
mother?” She looked at Bercelak. “I did kill her, didn’t I? I know she tried to use you to murder me first, Bercelak, but then I clearly remember the life draining from her body while I snapped her neck with that chain and my bare hands. I didn’t dream that, did I?”

Dagmar leaned over and whispered to Gwenvael, “Have I mentioned that I adore your kin?”

“More than your own?”

“Do you really have to ask me that?”

Briec walked up to his youngest daughter and placed his hand against her cheek. “You’ve seen your ancestors. You’ve been to the other side.”

“Why?” Talaith asked. “Were you called?”

“No.” Rhi nervously combed her hair behind her ears. “I just thought it would be nice to meet them. They’re kin.”

Using the tips of his fingers, Briec lifted his daughter’s chin until he could look into her eyes. Eyes like his own. “You traveled to the lands of the dead?”

She nodded.

“Where did you learn to travel to the other side?”

Rhi shrugged. “I just knew.”

The same answer his daughter had been giving him for more than a decade now. One not given to avoid answering the question but instead proving that her power far exceeded most of theirs. Even his mother, as far as Briec knew, had never traveled to the land of the dead. It was rumored Annwyl had been there, but she’d been dead at the time, so it made sense.

“Adienna,” Rhiannon asked, stepping closer. “And she was with your Great Grandfather Ailean and Great Grandmother Shalin?”

“No. She wasn’t there. With them.”

“By the gods, Rhi,” Talaith gasped, her hands covering her mouth.

“You’ve been to the hells,” Briec guessed. “You’ve been to the hells and you met with my grandmother.”

“Not for long.”

Rhiannon stood beside him now. “Long enough for her to tell you that you, your power is evil.”

Briec still held her chin so Rhi lowered her eyes. “She said I was just like her. That I’d be taking her place one day. Everything I’ve read about her says she was a treacherous and purely evil female, so if I’m just like her . . .”

Rhiannon pushed Briec aside and caught hold of his daughter’s chin, gripped it tight. “If you were just like her, my darling girl, I would have killed you at birth. With the same claws that killed her. Trust me when I say you are nothing like her. Nothing. Instead she does to you what she once did to me. She . . . she . . . well, excuse the term, my darling granddaughter, but that bitch fucks with your head. And you believe her.”

“She seemed nice.”

Éibhear, who’d been silent for most of this, finally said, “Rhi, luv, she was in hell.”

“She said it was a misunderstanding.”

Rhiannon finally laughed as she wrapped her arms around Rhi and held her close. “Trust me . . . there was no misunderstanding with that bitch. She’s where she belongs. And you need to stop thinking the best of everyone. Majority of them don’t deserve it.”

“Then what is it?” Rhi asked, pulling back a bit so she could look her grandmother in the eyes. “Why can’t I control my power?”

“From what I can tell, your power is like the most beautiful and worst of nature itself. You’re the tsunami, you’re the hurricane. Your power can destroy, but it can also create something new.”

“So then I’ll never be able to control it, and I’ll continue to put those I love at risk.”

“Except Mum says she’s got a
brilliant
idea about that.”

Surprised by Izzy’s sarcastic tone, Briec looked to his mate. Her eyes were wide as she stared at their eldest daughter. “
Izzy.
”

“Let’s get it out there, Mum. Now. All of it. I mean it’s your idea, might as well stand behind it.”

“What idea?” Briec cut in.

“Tell them, Mum.”

Talaith blew out a breath, closed her eyes. “I thought perhaps. . . we could send Rhi to the Nolwenns for training. Send her to my mother.”

Briec faced Talaith, gazed at her until he finally admitted, “I’d had the same thought.”

“Daddy!”

Her father held his hands up at Izzy’s words. “Before you get upset—”

“Too late! How could you think about sending my sister to that treacherous bitch?”

“Because I think we’ve run out of options.”

Izzy shook her head. “She threw my mother into the street like trash. She was sixteen and alone and with child.”

Rhi stepped away from their grandmother and walked over to Izzy. “But if she hadn’t done that,” she said softly, “I wouldn’t be here.”

Izzy rolled her eyes. “Oh, shut up.”

“Well, thank you very much, you mean cow!”

“Like you thought that line of bullshit would work on
me
.”

“Both of you stop it.” Talaith stepped between them. “This isn’t a decision for either of you. Your father and I will make this decision.”

“But—”

“So suck up the pain!” her mother yelled at Izzy.

Growling, Izzy stalked over to the doors and stared out into the courtyard, arms crossed over her chest.

The hall fell silent and stayed that way until a throat-clear from the stairs had everyone turning. Uncle Bram stood there.

“Sorry to interrupt.”

“So what do the Irons want, peacemaker?” Bercelak demanded of his sister’s mate.

“Revenge.”

Annwyl threw her hands up. “What did I do now?”

It took Great Uncle Bram a few minutes, but he finally convinced Auntie Annwyl that the Rebel King and his sister weren’t looking for revenge against her but instead against Vateria. And while he did that, Rhi sat with her cousins in three chairs pushed up against the wall and watched her mother and sister. They weren’t speaking. Mum was sitting by Daddy and seething. Izzy standing in the Great Hall doorway, staring out into the courtyard . . . and seething.

Although rare these days, it was never good when Mum and Izzy couldn’t agree on something. This, however, was even worse because this was about Rhi. It wasn’t that she had any great desire to leave her family, but to be honest, if she was going to destroy all around her with a misplaced spell, she’d rather do it to the witch who’d deserted her mum than Rhi’s own family. But trying to explain anything to either her mum or Izzy, when they were both this angry, would be a waste of Rhi’s breath. So she sat and listened to all the high-level politics. Talan was asleep in his chair and Talwyn was busy sharpening her sword, but Rhi was fascinated!

“How dangerous is she?” Grandmum asked Uncle Bram. “Really?”

“In my opinion . . . very.”

“He’s right,” Auntie Annwyl agreed. “I only saw her from the fighting pit, but I remember that I really wanted to kill her. A lot.”

Grandmum sat down across from Uncle Bram. “What does this Rebel King want from me?”

“Well, they were hoping that I could help them or their representatives get permission to enter the Desert Lands.”

Grandmum laughed. “Not with King Heru now in charge!”

“That’s what I told them. It would be a long, arduous process and I’m sure by then, Vateria would only move on.”

“So what’s the next option?”

“We send in our own to track Vateria down.”

“And why would we do that?”

“There are many reasons.”

“Name one that would actually make me care. Because at the moment this seems more like an internal family issue than a political one. And I don’t involve myself in other dragons’ family issues.”

“I understand, my queen, and normally I’d agree with you. But it’s believed that Vateria is working to secure an ally that will help her family regain their dead father’s throne. With what I’ve been hearing lately about unrest in the Desert Lands, the citizens might be eager for such a move, depending on what she can promise.”

“I understand that, Bram. And she could be sucking the cocks of every Sand Eater soldier in the hopes of getting her own army. But until she actually puts that army into play for her own benefit, I have no intention of striking her down simply because she doesn’t know how to treat her cousin properly.”

There was a long silence after Grandmum’s words and she looked around the Great Hall at everyone staring at her and demanded, “What? What are you all looking at?”

“That was just so”—Auntie Morfyd shrugged—“
rational
of you.”

“Aye.” Uncle Fearghus rested his arms against the table and studied his mother. “I thought at the very least you’d send in Keita to poison her.”

Auntie Morfyd grinned. “I thought that, too!”

Aghast, Grandmum snapped, “I’m not a monster!”

“Heh.”

Everyone looked down the length of the table. Auntie Annwyl covered her mouth. “Oh, did I say that out loud?”

Grandmum’s eyes narrowed while her children quietly laughed. “I’m not saying Vateria’s not a problem. I’d just prefer we had something a little more concrete on her than she tortures her cousin.” Although to Rhi that alone seemed more than enough.

“We’ll send someone south,” Uncle Gwenvael suggested. “Get more information and find out if Vateria’s truly a threat or if she’s just fucking one of the Sand Eaters for entertainment.”

Grandmum nodded. “I like that idea. Who will we send?”

Izzy, who was still staring out into the courtyard, her arms folded under her chest, looked at Grandmum over her shoulder. “I’ll go.”

While everyone else took a moment to be stunned, Mum jumped to her feet. “Like hells you will!”

“I’m going, Mum.”

“This has nothing to do with Vateria, Izzy. This is all about my mother.”

Izzy shrugged. “Two vile bitches, one stone.”

“I forbid it.”