Page 13 of Dragon's Honor

Tristian shook his head. “What would I have to gain from that? I’d be signing my own death warrant showing up here.”

Ash hesitated.

Marcus cleared his throat. “Are you king?” he asked Ash.

“I’m not mated. Nor are any of my siblings. We cannot take the throne until one of us is. In the meantime, I am king apparent until something can be figured out.”

Marcus looked to the other kings.

Nathan stood. “Tristian could not have done this. He was with me the night of the tourmaline attack. We were in Las Vegas.”

Ash cocked an eyebrow. “Vegas?”

Nathan rolled his eyes. “I’m sure we can call and have plenty of footage to show us there at the time of the attack.”

“You mean, you can have your witch conjure your images on the footage,” Ash said snidely. “I don’t care if you have an alibi. Until someone can prove that isn’t Tristian, he needs to be put away.”

Tristian stood up. “I’m supposed to believe that someone will be searching for evidence to the contrary? My guilt is all but ruled on right now.”

“I would behead you now if I could,” Ash confirmed.

Dalton sighed. “We have ways of getting to the bottom of all of this. The conclave will need to address the issues. Tristian, you will have to trust that we will do everything we can to ensure that if you did not do this, that you are innocent, we will find the truth.”

“No.” Ash murmured just before he lunged.

He charged across the table and tackled Tristian to the ground. The two of them rolled right out of the tent, effectively deflating one side of the tent. They punched, shoved, pushed, and kicked at each other all the way to the water.

Ash’s hands formed sharp claws as he tried to get a better grip on the other dragon. They rolled through the tide. Ash managed to straddle Tristian, holding his head under water. Tristian struggled beneath him, sputtering water and sand until he managed to get leverage to roll them again.

Tristian shook off Ash. He exploded into his dragon form knocking Ash hard in the head. Ash hit the ground seeing stars for a moment. He gathered himself and shifted into a dragon himself and lunging after him.

Tristian dove into the water. Ash took flight across the top of the sea, scanning the dark shapes under the clear blue-green of the Caribbean, trying to find him. He was just gone, and Ash was too exhausted to search the entire sea for him.

He trudged back to the shore where Henrik and the conclave were waiting for him.

“Asher,” Marcus scolded. “It was being handled.”

“He was going to run for it.”

Marcus shook his head. “Your father would be disappointed in your behavior. At a conclave of all things. If you wanted to go after him, you should’ve just made yourself a vigilante.”

“And then what? The clans come for me?”

“If Tristian did this, then we are in serious trouble,” Marcus said.

Nathan snarled. “Tristian didn’t do this.”

“It’s odd, don’t you think, that Tristian and you both have taken your thrones because of the mysterious deaths and disappearances of your parents?” Ash seethed.

Nathan lurched forward, his hand wrapping around Ash’s throat.

Marcus shoved them apart, both of them landing on their butts in the sand.

Ash grimaced. He was naked again and the sand didn’t feel particularly great against his bare ass. He got to his feet, knocking away all the sand that he could.

“The conclave is going to launch an investigation. We will handle this on our own. Tourmaline, Turquoise, and Opal are forbidden to tamper in the investigation. We will have an outside source help us with these matters to ensure that it is done quickly and fairly. We cannot continue to have these spats. The human world is watching with their cameras and videos. This world is too small for clan wars.”

“You’re worried about the humans discovering our secrets?” Henrik spat. “What about justice and peace in the clans?”

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