Page 52 of Water Dragon
How much time had Ewan spent with Lady Shannon that she should have made such a deep impression on him?
When the door opened again, its slam echoing through the dungeon, Malcolm got the strange hope in his chest that it would be Lady Shannon returning. That she would have seen reason. That she would be wearing green once more, delivering clever remarks and friendly smiles and that she would be the one to get them all out of there.
But it wasn’t.
Instead, it was four guards, wearing livery in a dark plum color Malcolm could not place, come to bring him to the throne room.
Chapter 14 - Iona
Iona listened to Malcolm’s cell door being opened, straining to see him but being stopped by the bars. She was going to say something, voice some sort of protest at being separated, no matter how little it might persuade their captors to keep them together. Before she got the chance, two guards stopped outside the bars she was clasping.
“Step back and put your hands on your head,” one of them instructed.
It seemed a bit excessive, but she complied, watching as the other unlocked the cell door and stepped inside to fetch her. She was shoved into the corridor, her eyes finally meeting Malcolm’s. Her face lit up the same way his did, and they shared a smile.
“All right, enough of that,” one of the guards grumbled. “Let’s go.”
She pretended to stumble forward so that she could hurry her step and get closer to Malcolm. There were no protests made and so she kept tight on his heels, glancing at the men surrounding them.
“Remember what Maize said,” Iona whispered meaningfully, pain spreading through her lower back the following moment, and she gave a shout at the suddenness of it.
The sound made Malcolm turn to face the guard who had delivered the blow, the cudgel still in his hand. The guard didn’t back down, merely wagged the weapon at Malcolm as though he was wagging a finger in the prince’s face, letting him know there was little he could do.
Iona had straightened up, the pain already dissipating, her inner dragon burning it out of her as quickly as it had spread through her. She held a hand up, asking Malcolm to step back.
“It’s not worth it,” she said, glaring at the guard, who smiled.
“Don’t knock it ‘til you’ve tried it, sweetheart,” he smirked, and she had to step between him and Malcolm, an arm in front of Malcolm’s chest to get him to think before reacting.
He was burning too hot whenever it came to her. He had to stop.
And he did, even though he looked like he wanted to grab the bludgeon from the man and teach him all the ways it could be used that the guard most certainly was unfamiliar with.
He shouldn’t get distracted, especially not by her. He should focus, now that they were moving out of the cells, moving into territory that was even more strongly linked with his ancestors. He should find the connection that had been tampered with and pull on the watermagic the way she had seen him do hundreds of times. Thousands of times.
His connection had always been strong, the fact that he was the future vessel clear from when he was barely even walking. He had made the rain stop once when they were children. The droplets had hung in the air all around the citadel for a day and a half, like glittering decorations that stuck to people’s clothes and hair and skin. Everyone had been a little bit damp, a little bit aggrieved, and very much in awe.
Remember what Maize said, Iona repeated in her head as they started walking again, gaze holding Malcolm’s and willing him to understand where his attention had to stay.
He had to trust that this was his birthright, and no one could take it away from him.
He had to believe it.
He had towantit.
She wished she could take his hand, but she knew he felt her support. She was glad that she’d been brought with him to whatever it was he was about to face. She worried about the king, but she wasn’t worried about Malcolm. A strange calm had come over her the second she felt his reaction to Sir Patrick. It had been like a soft buzzing right beneath her skin as her inner dragon responded to Malcolm’s dragon making itself known.
She felt calm because she knew he was stronger than anyone gave him credit for, especially Sir Patrick, and if the knight was the advisor on how to handle Malcolm, Iona knew that Leon had another thing coming.
Lady Shannon had hinted that there was someone else behind it all.
Would that person be present now, as things were drawing to a head?
They entered the throne room, and it appeared they were not.
However, she wasn’t surprised to find the ruling heads gathered. They were kept separate, though King Hugh and Queen Blair were standing together. King Greer was conspicuously missing his mate and Leon seemed unamused by it, however unsuccessful Maize had clearly been in getting the royals out of confinement.
Where was she now?
