Page 78 of Queen's Griffon

“Why would you return?”

She whirled. “You can’t be seriously asking. You stole them and because of your greed, Zhos is breaking free of its prison.”

“Which is unfortunate, however, in good news, Zhos is far from Verlora.”

“How can you be so callous?” she huffed.

“Even if you could acquire them, how would you leave Verlora? The ships are destroyed.”

“I know where to find a boat. How do you think we came ashore?”

“Assuming it remains intact. Visitors and their vessels don’t fare well,” he commented.

“Not entirely true, since thieves keep coming. Don’t deny it. I know Merisu has been sending people to filch what they can find.”

Basil’s lips pursed. “Yes, they’ve been persistent.”

“You’ve encountered them?”

“Seen traces of their actions, yes, but as I said, the dragon doesn’t take kindly to their trespassing. Although, the last few groups have gotten smarter and have been releasing slaves as decoys while they rob.”

“How come you never tried to escape with them?”

“Why would I leave?” He sounded genuinely surprised.

“Because you don’t have to live like a mole in a burrow eating mushrooms.”

“Bah, I’ve spent most of my life underground. My foray to Daerva was probably my longest stint in the open air. My research has always kept me busy.”

“Speaking of research, the Dracova stone you tossed into the volcano, it was an egg. A dragon egg.” Stated not asked.

“Yes, which I’ll admit surprised me. The scrolls mentioned them being special, an unimaginable power created from sacrifice, but I assumed some kind of magic.”

“Is that why you wanted them? For the power?”

“That kind of thing never interested me,” Basil scoffed, his pace rapid as he navigated the many tunnels and their branches. “As I mentioned before, I only wanted to study them.”

“Your curiosity didn’t give you the right to steal, nor to seduce my mother in order to facilitate your theft,” Avera rebuked.

“Calixte was a surprise. I went to Daerva expecting to have to pay the queen for information on the stones hidden in Fraegus Spire. I brought her presents to that end, only the moment we met, I was smitten.” His smile softened in remembrance.

Rather than delve more into her mother’s love life, Avera stuck to the other thing he’d said. “The scrolls you mentioned, is that how you learned of Fraegus Spire, because Mother claimed the royal pilgrimage was secret.”

“The scrolls described their location. It wasn’t hard to decipher where they referred to once I began to research. My first attempt to ascend the spire failed. I kept getting turned around, hence why I had to convince your mother, the queen, to help. The scrolls mentioned on those of the old blood could find the way.”

Whereupon he’d repaid her mother by abandoning her and fleeing with his stolen goods. “What made you throw the rock into the lava?”

“Not me, technically. It was the last Verlorian leader, Chancellor Lance Leif. I’m afraid he became irritated with my experiments with the stones. He demanded I cease my studies under the guise of being concerned for my well-being. When I refused, he snatched the stone I was working on and tossed it in the magma lake.”

“And thus, the dragon was born,” Avera murmured.

“Yes, although we didn’t know it at the time. It was weeks before we saw it. It began as a dog-sized lizard with wings that we assumed used to live locked away in the volcano. Lancetook to feeding it, being the only one who could get near. Soon enough, though, the dragon could hunt on its own, and it fed on the infected bugs and rats, and, well… you saw the result. It became a very large dragon.”

“It seems very territorial.”

“It is. Fascinating creature.”

A reply that puzzled given its actions. “Why does it sound like you admire it?”

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