Page 14 of The Arrival of the Dragons

Tilly was near Iolaire’s left ear and whispered, “Do I get my chance to fly today?”

Iolaire nodded eagerly even as Caden felt a little trepidation.

How are we going to stop her from falling off? Or suffocating or something? I mean maybe--oh, man! You’ve gotta be kidding me,Caden murmured.

There were people coming up the rise of the grass field. They were people clearly interested in seeing Iolaire. But even if Caden hadn’t seen the angry scowls on their faces, or the bricks or bats and pieces of glass they held, he would have heard the angry calls of “Host” and “Parasite”.

Humans First had found the White Dragon Shifter.

RESTRAINT

“Are you seeing this, dear?” Esme’s voice rose up to a twitter as she spoke to Chione.

There was a momentary silence as Valerius imagined Esme showing Chione something on the web or television, and then his Councillor murmured, “Oh, my, how did that happen? I thought… they should not be there!”

“It looks like they went to play with the children and… well, Human’s First areeverywhere. Sort of like cockroaches, you know,” Esme answered her.

Valerius, who was changing on one of his eyrie perches in his tower, frowned. Esme and Chione were seated on the ground floor of the tower by the fire, sipping glasses of wine. He hadn’t invited Illarion. According to his servants, Illarion had collapsed on his bed, though the Green Dragon King had pretended not to be tired after his fast, long flight, he clearly had been.

So who could the two women be talking about? He expected them to be discussing strategy about how to deal with an awake Illarion, not to mention the other Dragon Shifters that were to start arriving the next day. But no, they appeared to be looking at the news and seeing something involving Humans First. What were the Human’s First doing now? Didn’t he have enough trouble with Illarion here and Mei to follow close on his heels in the morrow to deal with those idiots?

“I don’t think we should tell him. He’s already so wound up with Illarion being here,” Esme murmured, casting her voice so low that healmostdidn’t hear it, but he was quite tuned into them. “And it’s not like they could reallydoanything after all.”

Chione didn’t answer. He glanced over the side of his perch quickly enough to see his Councillor nod her head instead. He flattened his lips. They were supposed to be plottingonhis behalf, notagainsthim. For he was sure who the “he” in that sentence was.

Iolaire and Caden have done something,Raziel grumbled. It was already curled in a ball, half asleep after the wonderful afternoon with Caden and the straining not to kill Illarion. That last bit had definitely exhausted his Spirit.

No, surely not. I told them to go home. They would not disobey such a rational command, Valerius retorted. But a seed of unease was planted. What else would Esme and Chione be adverse to telling him if it was not about Caden and Iolaire?It must be something else. Because even if they did not go straight home, the likelihood of them running into Human’s First is--

They have done something,Raziel stated.They are young and invite trouble.

Unnerved, Valerius launched himself off of the platform to the next to the next and next before landing in what Chione called his “hero’s pose” with one knee bent and one leg stretched out behind him. The two women clapped, though both of them were just as limber. He weighed being annoyed or amused and decided to bow.

Let them make of that what they will.

“Valerius, you look refreshed. Would you like some wine?” Chione asked, quickly hiding an iPad behind her back.

“What were the two of you watching?” Valerius asked evenly as he stood there, unmoving.

“Oh, nothing!” Chione lied airily.

He lifted an eyebrow. “Really?”

Esme quickly poured him a glass of wine and, smiling winningly, thrust it towards him. “Please join us, Valerius. There is nothing worse than drinking alone.”

“You are drinking with Chione,” he pointed out. “That is hardly alone.”

Esme blinked innocently. “Yes, but it feels ever so much better the more people there are joining in.”

He, however, avoided the glass of wine and went to grab his own iPad off the side table. He heard a slight groan from Chione as he tapped on his browser. It did not take long for him to find what they had been looking at. Every channel was showing it.

“They are all right, Valerius,” Chione said weakly.

“It’s not like they can be hurt by those idiots,” Esme offered.

She began drinking her wine and his own. He wasn’t sure if the drinking belied her words or if she was just thirsty after her long flight across the Atlantic. Valerius ignored both of them as he watched the screen. He went rigid.

“…not fifteen minutes ago, the White Dragon Shifter alighted in the park and began to cavort with the children there, but their time of peace was soon over as they were approached by a group of Humans First protestors armed with bats, knives and who knows what else!” the female newscaster said breathlessly. Her eyes shone with excitement as she added with baited breath, “One wonders if there will be violence!”

---