House of Shadows (Royal Houses 2)

“You!” Zina said when she caught sight of Kerrigan.

“Hello, Zina,” Kerrigan said calmly. “Find what you were looking for?”

“Unfortunately, yes. I found it and more. Did you do it?”

“Do what?”

Zina floated toward her. Her magic so tight that she didn’t even move her feet. She pointed her finger at Kerrigan. “Did you do it? Don’t lie to me.”

“I’ve been unconscious for three days. I’ve no idea what you’re talking about.”

“It’s true,” Helly said. “What is this about?”

“The wall came down,” Zina said, clutching her hand to her throat. “The House of Shadows is free.”

Fordham went preternaturally still at those words. “Excuse me?”

“Someone brought down the bloody wall, boy. Are you faint of hearing?”

“You must be mistaken. You can’t even see the wall.”

“Yeah, well, I have eyewitness reports of the wall turning a shimmering blue and dropping like falling stars. Then, poof, the three mountains appeared out of nowhere. People are talking about it for miles.”

“How has this not reached us?” Helly asked.

“I have no idea. Maybe whatever magic kept the mountains hidden kept its destruction hidden as well. How the hell should I know?” Zina demanded. “All I know is that when I flew over to check it out for myself, the House of Shadows military had already trekked out of the mountain and was on the way to Lethbridge.”

Fordham paled. “Oh gods.”

“What?” Kerrigan asked. “What’s Lethbridge?”

“The closest known city to the original borders,” Zina said.

“The humans who we trade with, the ones who managed to escape, they live in Lethbridge,” Fordham said icily. His gaze was distant. “They’re going to take the city.”

“You’re certain?” Helly asked, releasing the days of exhaustion and immediately stepping into the strong Society Council member.

“Yes. They’d do it for the insult of having to debase themselves. Even if expansion wasn’t central,” Fordham said. He met Helly’s gaze evenly. “It would have been my first move.”

She nodded, understanding instantly. “Then, we need to go.”

Zina sighed heavily. “I was afraid you’d say that. You know that most of the aerie is empty?”

“Yes. We’ll take who we have today to try to stop them at Lethbridge. We’ll send who we can spare to the main tribes for support,” Helly said confidently.

“I brought you a favor then. Actually, the bastard insisted after he saw what happened at the wall.” Zina cupped her hands and yelled, “Come on in here and stop eavesdropping, old man.”

The man who stepped through the door made Kerrigan gasp in shock. She’d know that face anywhere. Even old, completely gray with a scar puckering around one of his eyes, he was quite clearly Trulian.

“Master Trulian,” Helly gasped, bowing deeply.

“Thank you for the warm welcome,” he said as he returned the gesture. “It’s a pleasure to be back at Draco Mountain. I thought I’d never see battle again. But from what I can see, you’re going to need an old man for one more battle.”

“We would be honored.”

“Oh, honor,” Zina said, waving her hand. “Let’s get on with it. Sound the alarm, Hellina.”

“Yes, of course. I’ll rouse the Society.”

“And you, girl. You’re coming with us,” Zina said.

Kerrigan frowned. “I’m not certain that the rest of the council will approve of that. I was recently kicked out.”

Zina rolled her eyes. “I’ll put this legend in front of them, and they’ll all bow and scrape, won’t they, Dad?”

Trulian scowled. “You’re safe with us. If you’re anything like my Mei, we’ll need you.”

“Then, I’m in.”

Fordham interjected, “You just recovered from being unconscious for three days.”

“It’s battle, kid,” Zina said. “We’re running at an empty aerie. We’re going to need everyone we can get. Training’s over. Now, the fun begins.”

Kerrigan and Fordham didn’t argue. She hugged Clover, thanked her for all she’d done, and followed Fordham out the door. They all but ran back to their quarters.

Audria and Roake were seated in the main room, going over some assignment when they entered.

“Kerrigan!” Audria gasped. “What are you doing here? I heard what happened.”

“No time to explain,” she said, wheezing from the exertion.

“The House of Shadows has been released from isolation,” Fordham said calmly. As if none of this affected him. As if he wasn’t about to go to war with his own people. “They’re heading to Lethbridge to take the city. We’ve been called to stop them.”

“What?” Roake asked. “But we’re still trainees.”

“Not anymore,” Kerrigan said. “There aren’t enough members in the aerie. They need every last dragon in the sky.”

“Gods,” Audria whispered. “I know we’ve been training for it, but who thought we’d ever see battle?”

“Doesn’t matter,” Fordham said. He’d already seen battle. Civil war in his tribe was common. “What matters is that we answer the call. Get packed and get to the aerie.”

Audria and Roake nodded. And for the first time in all of their training, Fordham moved into the natural leader position. Despite the fact that he’d always shown this aptitude, he usually fell back and let Audria take the lead. She was precocious and well-liked. She was the one that the Society wanted to be the leader. But what they wanted and what was reality were two different things. The head of their troop had given them orders. No one argued as they burst into activity to meet his demand.