Total pages in book: 182
Estimated words: 171176 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 856(@200wpm)___ 685(@250wpm)___ 571(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 171176 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 856(@200wpm)___ 685(@250wpm)___ 571(@300wpm)
“Right. Fine.” I shrugged, emulating nonchalance. “We have to spin a story. Whatever, we can figure that out. We do, unfortunately, have to mention to her that her father has a mate and two other kids, though. Can you imagine going over there to connect with dear old Dad and realizing you’re the kid of the other woman? Not so awesome.”
“Not so awesome, indeed,” Nyfain grumbled. “It seems highly likely he is her father. He rose through the ranks fairly quickly and is only one step down from the beta. At that level, they don’t challenge for placement. It’s all about leadership and politics. Mostly politics.”
“He is very politically savvy,” Arleth said. “He’s the protégé of the current beta, who is now up in his years. When the current beta steps down, which really could be any time now because he’s having health issues, Eldric is all but assured the position of beta, defender of the throne.”
“My rank,” Weston said.
“You share your rank with a dragon,” Arleth countered, “in a small and previously hobbled dragon kingdom. We are a young kingdom, since we have been reforged. Eldric, once ascended to the position of beta, will hold more clout because he is in a longer-running, prosperous kingdom. Your power, and previous second-in-command position in the Red Lupine kingdom, is the only thing that gives you anything close to a level playing field when it comes to status.”
“Our kingdom will mature,” Nyfain said.
Arleth nodded. “In time.”
“It’s more prosperous than theirs,” he replied.
She tilted her head. “At present. As I said, it is a young kingdom. The trick isn’t gaining income in one ruler’s reign. The trick, as the late king proved, is keeping it over time. The Flamma kingdom has shown its resilience. Our kingdom has not.”
“And why does any of this matter?” I asked, utterly lost.
It was Finley who explained, as she was better at breaking it down in layman’s terms.
“They are considering Aurelia’s possible status. It is based on her blood, and we must consider the various factors that may tempt her over to the Flamma kingdom.”
“Oh.” I laughed. “She won’t give two shits about status and clout and whatever else. Not two shits! But did you see the bit about his kids? Their mother is powerful, their match was a great one, and yet both kids—a girl and a boy—have only about half, maybe three-quarters of his power.”
“Aurelia will have more than him, plus fairy magic.” Nyfain looked at his mom. “Her blood will build her status and her power will solidify it. Not to mention, she is one half of a true mate alpha pair. If she stays with us, that is worth a lot.”
Finley clasped her hands and leaned forward, bowing her head. She was not great at hiding her emotions. Something was up. I was dying to know what it was, especially given the way Nyfain’s brow furrowed with whatever he was ignoring through the bond. Forget anger-fucking tonight; they would full-on rage-fuck.
“Speaking of the fairy blood,” Arleth said. “What do we know?”
Weston leaned to one side and pulled something from his back pocket. He pushed it toward the royals, and I could tell he really didn’t want to.
“My people intercepted Calia’s note. We’re going to have trouble with the fairies.”
My fucking heart dropped so fast it nearly punched my dick.
Chapter 29
Aurelia
Over a week after I’d received the oddest clothes I’d ever owned, I was hard at work and closing in on some truly amazing discoveries. Arleth and Delaney had been lecturing me on plants and their properties, and also about their complex creations. It was like getting that journal all those years ago, except better, because I could ask questions and dive deeper into anything that struck my fancy. My need to create more product had blossomed—truly blossomed. I was like a woman possessed.
First things first, though. I’d needed to do my duty and cut out Granny’s threat.
The addictive element of that coating had proven easy to formulate, and therefore easy to counteract. They already had something to combat it, it was just too slow. After some analysis and trial and error—using increased pressure to force the plant elements to break down more and then adding a few different elements Delaney had come up with—we had something that prevented the addiction from forming. Take it with the drug—even the one I’d devised that worked really quickly—and there shouldn’t be a problem. Done.
The sickness had been a little more elusive. It was caused by a poison the taramore root created when it was broken down—Arleth had known that one. The dragons had a brew called the nulling elixir that was essentially the cure-all Vemar and I had been using. It worked, but wasn’t quite powerful enough to counteract a deadly dose of Granny’s poison.
After a ton of trial and error, I found that the Everlass leaf was just fine with lots of heat—it was dragon weed, after all, and those fuckers blew fire. It was made to handle heat. I also found that it performed best when under duress. I threw everything I had at it: pressure, heat, ice, water. I even tried to find a way to get lightning to strike it until Weston had tramped out into the field in the middle of the night in a thunderstorm and dragged me back to bed. Vemar was still in trouble for letting me do it, though he’d been just as keen to try.