Page 22 of Hidden Dragons

She prayed he was right. This gathering was beyond intimidating.

“Sir Robert, please start with your observations,” General Jared commanded, sitting forward in his chair as Robert seated Isabelle, then took the chair at her side. “Sir Growloranth, please add your observations as well. We need to know exactly what we’re up against.” The general spoke to Growloranth in a way that made Isabelle respect the man. He treated dragons as equals and partners, which she should have expected, seeing as he was a knight.

But he was also in a position of power and she always half-expected those in authority to abuse it in some way. After all, that’s the behavior she had seen in her own village up to this point. Maybe, just maybe, that was all about to change.

“The news is troubling, my lords,” Robert began. “Growloranth and I prowled the village of Halley’s Well last night and there is much amiss there. The village headman, a miscreant named Cleef Mantell, is colluding with the enemy. There is no doubt about it. Before my very eyes, he was given a sign to put over his door by an enemy agent so that the invading troops would know to leave his place—as well as any other home that carried the sign—alone, when they arrived. The enemy agent stated quite plainly that anyone who fought would be killed. By promising not to fight, the headman is basically giving ground to the enemy. He is a traitor of the worst kind.”

Isabelle wasn’t all that shocked, though she couldn’t imagine the audacity of Cleef to turn traitor in such a distinct way. He always liked to hedge his bets, timing things so that he came out on top. She wouldn’t be surprised if he had some way to deny his involvement ready, in case things went wrong.

“How did you procure this information?” Lord Darian asked.

“On the advice of Lady Isabelle, I made contact with the cook in Mantell’s household. She is loyal to the crown. She let me in the back door and arranged for me to hide in an adjacent room while Mantell entertained his foreign visitor. I saw it all with my own eyes.”

“There can be no doubt then,” Princess Adora said. “This Cleef Mantell must be dealt with and the invasion stopped. If the enemy gets a foothold on this side of the border—particularly in Halley’s Well—they could well take every border village up and down the line, moving unseen under the forest canopy. From there, they could attack this Lair and the larger towns and cities. They could become deeply entrenched on this side of the mountains and claim large swaths of Draconia for Skithdron. That cannot be allowed to happen.” A grim silence met her words as they all thought of such eventualities for a moment. Then the younger princess turned to Isabelle.

“What can you tell us of the village itself, Isabelle?” Princess Belora asked gently.

“It is a village like any other,” Isabelle began, but she soon realized these people needed details that could help their plans. She cleared her throat and tried again. “Cleef Mantell is a snake. He has set up his mansion on the edge of the village under careful cover of the trees. He does not want his growing empire seen from above. He also keeps a low profile when strangers come to the village, except when playing the poor, ignorant farmer. In truth, he is anything but ignorant. He has an extensive library and reads and writes. He also speaks other tongues. My mother said he spoke the language of Talinor. She knew it from her travels, and recognized it when he slipped into what she thought was his mother tongue when he spoke with his wife.”

“Talinor is a kingdom across the sea from Helios,”Sir Sandor said, his voice reaching them all.“In the last briefing from Prince Hugh, he stated his belief that the assassins calledEyeswere from that land.”

“Eyes?” Isabelle was startled into speaking. “Cleef Mantell has an eye-shaped tattoo on his chest, right in the center.” She pointed to her own sternum. “It was the talk of the village several seasons ago when his shirt ripped open during harvest. Everyone saw it and several dared to remark on it to him. He said he’d gotten very drunk one night when he visited the city of Tipolir and woke up with it. Claimed some tart had made off with his coin and left him only a weird tattoo to remember her by. He also claimed to be from the south, near Tipolir, but my mother always thought he was lying about that. She stayed far away from Cleef Mantell and counseled me to do the same.”

“It sounds like your mother was a wise woman,”Kelzy offered.“Growloranth tells me she is no longer with us—my condolences—and that Tildeth believes she carried the blood of the Fair Folk.”Kelzy’s large head loomed over the table, her jewel-like eyes looking directly at Isabelle.“You have the scent of their magic about you, though it is faint. And you can bespeak dragons, which argues in favor of you carrying a small trace of their magic. Do you know where your mother came from? I understand you were not born in Draconia.”

“My mother came here from over the northern border. She chose this land because she thought I would be safe here. She also said my future was here. Sometimes she had visions of the future and when she foresaw my destiny was in Draconia, she decided to give up the life of a traveling bard and settle here. I was very small, but I remember her singing to large crowds of people when I was little. She was celebrated—or maybe that’s just my memories. She often joined with groups of other bards and played with them. I remember brightly painted wagons and dark haired people who were always smiling and played the most beautiful music.”

“The Jinn?” Lord Darian theorized. “Maybe we should contact Prince Nico or see if Sir Drake is anywhere near.”

“I remember a young man named Drake,” Isabelle volunteered. “He had a strong voice and the people we traveled with were teaching him. He was golden blonde and could play many instruments.”

“That sounds like our Drake,” Jared said with a grin. “I think we had best send him a message. He may be able to tell us more about your mother,” he said, not unkindly. “But for now, we must concentrate on the village and its traitorous headman.

What followed was some of the most intense questioning of Isabelle’s life. They wanted to know the layout of the village, which she, Growloranth and Robert supplied. They wanted to know who lived in each house and what their jobs were in the village, also if they were likely to side with Mantell. Isabelle answered each question as best she could and was amazed by the drawing Princess Belora made on a large parchment laid before her on the table. It was an exact map of the village, with notations stating who lived where and what they did.

Isabelle was glad her mother had taught her to read and write, so she did not look quite so ignorant in front of these important people. She sent up a prayer of thanks to the Mother of All and her own mother, who had brought her here to these good people, able to help defend the land that she had been raised in and had come to love.

When the meeting finally broke up, Robert escorted Isabelle back to the great hall where lunch was being served. They dined together and she was amazed by the wide selection of foods that were available. Robert explained that dragons routinely flew between Lairs and often brought supplies in from other parts of the country.

“By the way…” Robert said, reaching into his shirt to withdraw the chain he still wore about his neck, “…I promised to return this to you.” He removed the necklace and handed it back to her. “It worked just as you said. Mrs. Nethins would not speak to me until I showed her the pendant. And then she insisted on questioning me to within an inch of my life about your wellbeing. Finally, I had to point out where Growly was hiding before she would believe who and what I was. After that, she cooperated. She sends her good wishes, by the way. And she said you should never forget where you came from, whatever that means. She made me promise to repeat it exactly like that.”

Isabelle took the necklace and put it back on. She had felt it missing these past hours, but knew Robert would keep it safe. She trusted him as she had trusted no one since her mother had died.

“Thank you. I’m sorry she gave you a hard time, but she is a good woman. I knew she would help you if she knew she could trust you.”

“You were right about that, milady. I could not have gotten the evidence we truly needed without her help.”

He changed the subject and they talked of less worrying things while they ate. Robert greeted a few people who passed their table. It was easy to see that he was popular among his contemporaries. She wasn’t surprised. He was a very nice man, in addition to being incredibly charming.

As they left the great hall, Growloranth caught Isabelle’s attention, chatting about their suite and asking if she liked it. She was conversing with the dragon when Silla approached. Distracted by the dragon, Isabelle saw the healer slip something to Robert, which he tucked into his pocket. She thought little of it until they arrived back at his suite.

Chapter Seven

“I have it on good authority that you might be a little sore today,” Robert announced when they arrived back at his quarters. The sand pit was empty and they had the place completely to themselves. “Lady Silla gave me strict instructions on how to treat you.”

“Oh, she did? Did she?” Isabelle challenged him in the same playful tone he had used. He stalked her around the oblong circle of the sand pit, but she wasn’t scared. Robert was at his most charming and playful. “What did she tell you to do to me?”

The tension that had built between them all through lunch was coming to a head. Isabelle didn’t really recognize herself at the moment, but she liked the new freedom she felt to play these new grown-up games with Robert. Or Bear. Or both. It didn’t seem to matter. Both men held a rather large chunk of her heart already.

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