Page 6 of The Emerald Dragon Prince
“I agree that this dark sorcerer is a new twist to our father’s wicked ways,” Leo said with a dark frown. “Whoever he is, I’m certain he slipped into Father’s sphere while most of us were distracted with our dragons and mates.”
I agreed. After the first few, eventful months after Emmerich gave me the marble to create the doorway, there had been a lull of several months through the winter and early spring when not much happened.
It had been too quiet. I should have known better than to think that meant nothing was happening.
I wanted to discuss the matter with my brothers more to find out what information we all had that could be pooled together. I always felt stronger and cleverer when all six of us were together. But before I could say anything, I was distracted as Bronnen, a beta and one of Cousin Osric’s closest advisors, marched through the camp to where Osric sat with his other, key advisors not that far from us.
“My lord,” Bronnen said, stopping near to Osric’s group and bowing with military precision. “I bring word of Freslik’s movements.”
Osric sat straighter from where he’d had his head together with Nikkos, his lone omega advisor, and Hellis, a female alpha. “Where is my uncle?” he asked. “What do you have to report?”
“King Freslik and his army have arrived at the crest of the other hill,” Bronnen reported in a stoic tone. “They are spreading out and digging fortifications. It looks as though they will be ready to attack within hours.”
Osric stood with a deep, weary sigh. “This is the moment, then,” he said. “Soon, the battle not only for this kingdom and this land, but for the souls of our people and the lives they deserve to live will begin.”
“We’re ready for this, my lord.” Nikkos said, an excited light in his eyes as he jumped to his feet, staring adoringly at Osric. “There’s no way King Freslik could possibly defeat anyone as magnificent as you. I…I mean, anyone who has prepared as carefully as you.”
I raised a hand to cover the smile I’d broken into. Nikkos was a little obvious in his adoration of my cousin. I hadn’t seen Osric return that affection in any way so far, but that could have been because there was a war going on, even if we had yet to face the first battle.
“Should I gather our army?” Hellis asked, striding up to Osric’s side and glaring at Nikkos. She didn’t approve of the young omega’s enthusiasm.
Osric held still for half a second, then nodded. “Yes. Gather the troops and make certain everyone is armed. Freslik could attack at any moment, and we need to be ready.”
“Yes, my lord,” Hellis said, nodded, then turned to march off to the west.
“Yes, my lord,” Nikkos said in a much lighter voice, then scampered off to the east.
Bronnen just shook his head and rolled his eyes. “I’ll see to it that your horse is prepared.”
“Thank you,” Osric said, then came over to us.
The entire camp was moving in an instant as word spread that the battle was imminent. Emmerich and his brothers, my brothers’ mates, had been talking off to one side, giving my brothers and me privacy while keeping us in sight. As soon as they saw Osric approaching us, they abandoned their discussion and joined us.
“This is it, my friends,” Osric said, smiling at my brothers and me and giving our mates a more respectful, alpha-to-alpha look. “I am under no illusion that I could do this on my own. I know that I need all of you by my side to make this happen.”
“We are here for you, brother,” Tovey’s Rufus said, stepping forward to clap arms with Osric in a manly handshake.
“Is everything ready?” Diamant asked, glancing around at the suddenly busy camp.
“As ready as it can be,” Osric said with a heavy sigh. “I only wish we didn’t need to fight in order to remove Freslik from the throne and to establish a better kingdom for the people.”
“Unfortunately, sometimes war is the only way to bring justice and restore goodness to a land,” Misha’s Azurus said, standing behind Misha and closing him in a protective embrace.
I could see just how much Misha appreciated the safety of his mate’s arms by the way he closed his eyes and leaned against Azurus.
“Are you concerned about the traitor my father says is in this camp?” I asked, subconsciously reaching for Emmerich’s hand when he moved to stand next to me.
I glanced up at my mate, who smiled down at me and squeezed my hand. The end of this war couldn’t come soon enough! I longed to join with my mate in a quiet life where we could be together without pauses or missions or having to conceal how close we already were.
Osric let out a breath, his shoulders dropping. “I wish I had time to concern myself with the traitor,” he said. “But Freslik’s army is less than a mile away with intent to attack soon. I have to concern myself with the readiness of my troops first.”
I winced, but he was right. Osric was the leader. He was a good leader, which meant he was skilled in the art of knowing where to put his focus.
“We’ll search out the traitor for you,” Emmerich said, smiling at me, then looking at Osric. “It’s the least we can do to prepare for this battle.”
“We’ll help you make certain the troops are all armed and ready for battle,” Diamant said, nodding to Leo.
“Misha and I will check on the supplies for you,” Azurus said.
