Page 39 of The White Dragon's Dilemma

But Caden wasn’t buying it.“Landry would know that the protection Humans First gave her was conditional.It wasn’t out of the goodness of their hearts and they would expect something back.”

“Leaving prison doesn’t mean she isn’t afraid of what they could do to her if she doesn’t keep up her part of the bargain, Caden,” Wally pointed out as he turned off the car.The engine ticked. The sound had Caden feeling like a racehorse at the starting gate.

“But Valerius will protect her!”Caden cried.“He can keep her safe from Humans First!"

“Are you going to have her live in High Reach?”Rose scoffed.

Her expression had become tangled.No longer was it filled with disdain.That was still there, but she also looked worried.

“That would be awesome!Are you going to move into High Reach, too, Rose?”Tilly turned pleading eyes upon the Swarm Shifter.“It would be so cool!”

Rose blinked.“I--I don’t think I’m invited--”

“Yes, you are,” Caden said firmly.“You are absolutely invited.More than that, I really want you there.You, too, Wally.”

“Are youreallysaying that I should move into the castle of the Black Dragon?”Rose boggled.

“Yeah, I am,” Caden said without hesitation.

“Does Valerius like cats?”Wally asked.

“I’m sure that Valerius willloveyour cats especially when you explain how you believe he’s similar to them,” Caden answered him, his lips twitching.

Wally sat there, behind the wheel, looking thoughtful.He shook himself.“No, I shouldn’t.I’ve got the Emporium, though business would boom if people realized I had adirectconnection--”

“I need you as my Councillor, Wally.You are the Chione to my Valerius, especially since I’m going to reveal who I am,” Caden said.“So the Emporium might have to take a back seat to your new responsibilities.”

“Ah, running the world or running the Emporium?It is a tough call in terms of importance, but I guess you win out,” Wally said.

“This will be so cool!”Tilly straightened up in her seat.“All our friends in High Reach?Brilliant! There’s like no downside to this now!”

“You found downsides to living in a castle near the most powerful person in the world?”Rose teased her.

“I know that sounds really bad, but living in the castle is sort of going to crimp my social life,” Tilly said.“I mean some of my friends are going to freak out.Some are going to be okay with it.But some of them may just stay friends with me because of who my brother is.And I’ll never know about the people who try to become friends with me.Who knows what they’ll really want.”

Rose put a hand over his sister’s.“That’s actually pretty tough.Sorry, Till.”

She shrugged.“Compared to what others go through, it’s nothing.It’s just that everything is going to change.”

Everything is going to change.

Caden was still watching Landry.The press were askingherquestions now.He tried rolling down the window.The crank came out in his hand, but the window was cracked a few inches so he could hear what was being asked and answered.

“...you’re being released, because the Claw and the police made a mistake in thinking that you and your brothers planted the bomb in Dragon Strike Square,” a female reporter stated, “How do you feel about how you’ve been treated?Do you think you were targeted because of your human sympathies?”

Landry licked her lips and looked like a deer in headlights for a moment.Caden felt terrible for her.She clearly was being put on the spot.He thought she would mutter something and hide behind her bangs.But she didn’t.In fact, she brushed her hair out of her eyes. Caden’s eyes widened.

“Oh, boy,” Wally muttered.

“What’s Landry doing?”Tilly cried again though he had a feeling that she knew.

Landry lifted up her chin.“King Valerius is the one responsible for what happened to me! He saw a convenient scapegoat for his bad leadership.The fact that people--reasonable people--aren’t content with being second-class citizens because they’rehumandoesn’t make them criminals!”

Caden gasped.Rose growled.

Tilly let out a low moan, “Whoa, what’s she talking about? She thought her brothers were guilty, too!”

“She can’t believe this,” Caden was saying almost as if it were a mantra.“She can’t.She knows it’s not true.She--”

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