Page 70 of Of Steel and Scale

With a grin on my face, I strode across the courtyard and ran up the steps to the palace, acknowledging the guards as I headed to the first floor. I hesitated, glanced down toward my parents’ suite, then followed the twitch of instinct and headed down. However badly I wanted sex, I needed to make sure Mom was okay first.

The guard outside their door watched me approach, a smile touching his lips. He was a bull of a man and had manned her door for as long as I could remember. “She said you’d be here in ten. She’s ordered shamoke and a meal for you.”

“How is she, Lenny?” We’d long ago dispensed with formalities, at least in situations where there were few others around.

“Coping. You’ve only just missed your grandparents.”

“Damn. I would have liked to see them.”

He opened the door for me. “Plenty of time, Lady Bryn.”

I wasn’t so sure of that, but I nodded my thanks and entered the room. In many respects, it echoed my own quarters, only twice the size. My parents also had additional rooms—such as a dining and a living room—attached, so they could entertain guests less formally.

Mom was standing near the window slit that looked out over the courtyard, but turned as I entered. Her face was pale, drawn, and there was grief in her eyes, but overwhelmed she definitely wasn’t.

“You heard?” she asked softly.

I nodded. “I’ve just made my report to Father. He also mentioned that my move to Zephrine has been postponed.”

“Yes, and it was, surprisingly, Aric’s idea.”

“I thought he was keen to get his heir home?”

“I suspect he’s decided he needs a more reliable source of information temporarily based here.”

I snorted. Yep, that definitely sounded like something Aric would think.

She motioned me toward the table, then poured me a large cup of shamoke. I sipped it gratefully. Unsurprisingly, it was just the way I liked it—sweet and black. “I take it your father has asked you to journey across to Jakarra?”

“Well, he asked me to send Kaia, but he was well aware I’d be going with her.”

“He was against it.”

“I picked that up while we were talking.” I studied her for a moment. “You’re the one that suggested it, weren’t you?”

She nodded. “Yes, and I know the risk to both you and the queen, but we must do this, Bryn. I—we—must know the situation there before any further plans can be made.”

And that was the practicality of the woman who’d once been the bow master speaking, rather than my mother.

She picked up a bowl and spooned the thick stew sitting on the warmer tray into it before handing it to me. “If there are survivors, you will not find them in any of the towns, if such even exist anymore. They would have retreated to caves high in the Karthling Mountains.”

I raised my eyebrows. “I had no idea there were caves up there.” And I’d certainly spent enough time chasing Garran through that area over the multiple summers I’d spent there as a child.

“Few do. It was a well-guarded secret, known only to those who’d be responsible for evacuation in a time of crisis.”

Andthiswas certainly a crisis. “If they are up there, why wouldn’t they have scribed?”

“Because the area is volcanic, and much like parts of the Black Glass Mountains here, the ability to scribe is restricted.”

“How big are the caves?” My stomach rumbled in sudden hunger, and I hurriedly scooped up some stew.

“They once held drakkons. They could hold all of Jakarra if needed.” She looked away, though not before I’d seen the sheen of tears. “That would not be the case here. We’ll be lucky if half the inhabitants survived.”

“Is there anywhere in that area for Kaia to land and bunker down? I can’t direct her into the heart of the island without risking an attack from whatever ground forces the gilded riders have, or even our own people.”

“You should not go to ground. It is too dangerous.”

“I’ll have no choice, and you know it.”

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