Page 28 of Consort's Dragon
“Because he came here many decades ago, seeking something.The Dracova stones, I suspect, although at the time I didn’t know their name or of their existence.My understanding was he visited Okkilam as well, although their welcome was less than warm.He left there quickly before landing in Daerva.”
“I’m surprised you remember.”
“His visit and quest intrigued me.We drank many nights together and he spilled about how the stones he sought were ancient objects of great power.After his departure, I spent weeks in my library seeing if I could find mention of them.”
“And?”
He shook his head.“Nothing until the guardians arrived bearing the Dracova Compendium, a book about dragons.”
“You keep speaking of it and yet I’ve not yet seen it,” she reminded.
He arched a brow.“Are you asking to visit my bedroom?”
Her cheeks heated.“No.What makes you ask that?”
“Because it’s currently locked away in my safe in my chamber.We could go and fetch it if you like,” he said with a naughty grin.
“That wouldn’t be proper, but I could wait here while you fetch it.”
“Are you sending me off like an errand boy?”He sounded slightly shocked.
“You’re the one who keeps speaking of this book and rousing my curiosity.”
“Then we shall have to?—”
A brisk knock at the door interrupted.
The emperor strode to the portal and opened it to speak with the knocker.He turned to her.“They caught the assassin.I’ll have you escorted to your room while I question them.”
“I’d rather be present.”
His lips pinched before he murmured, “It will be unpleasant.”
“More unpleasant than what I’ve endured?Doubtful.”
He gave his head a slight shake.“You are very different from the women I’ve known.”
“Good.I’d hate to think I bore you.”
At that comment, he laughed.“I doubt you could ever bore me.Very well, you may join me, but if you don’t mind, let me do the questioning.I wouldn’t want my soldiers to think I was going soft.”
They exited his office and followed a burly man in uniform who led them, no surprise, to the bowels of the palace where prisoners were kept.The dark building blocks brought a gloom even the lit lanterns couldn’t dispel.
Avera stuck close to Titus who’d gone from teasing man to stony-eyed ruler.He certainly didn’t match the rumors she’d heard of him.It made her wonder what the people of his country thought or heard of Daerva.Could it be she’d pegged him wrong this entire time?Her mother too?
The captured bowman hadn’t been placed in a cell but rather tied to a metal rack that sat in the middle of a circular chamber.The flagstones were dark in the center, as if stained, and a grate below the rack made it clear by what.
Torture wasn’t something Daerva ever partook in—that she knew of.It would seem Merisu had a stricter and more violent method when it came to questioning miscreants.
Titus stopped in front of the attacker who still wore a concealing hood over his hanging head.
“Let us take a look at him,” the emperor murmured.The hood took only a sharp tug to reveal?—
“He’s Daervian,” Avera gasped.One of her own countrymen with the distinctive reddish-yellow hair and fair coloring.
“Perhaps of origin, but I doubt he lives there now.”Titus held up his arm and pushed back a sleeve to show the Assassins’ Guild sigil.
The man had yet to say anything although his eyes narrowed, and his lips clamped tight.Choosing to adopt a stubborn stance despite his capture.
