Origin (Scales 'n' Spells 1)

“Safer, yeah. I don’t imagine many people will beard a dragon in their own castle. Is he investigating?”

“The whole clan might be. They’re pretty upset, mostly about Alric getting hurt protecting me.”

“How bad is he?”

“Not bad. Baldewin said something to Alric in German, so I caught none of it. Alric shut him up pretty quickly. I gathered he was more hurt than he let on. I think he’s got some kind of old injury? I’ve seen hints of it. Anyway, their mage Lisette is seeing to him right now.”

Cassie’s brows twisted together. “He has an injury despite magic?”

“Yeah, magic isn’t the cure-all you’d think it is. His injury is not obvious, if that’s what you’re wondering. You can see the trace of a scar on his left hand, but that’s about all I’ve noticed. And the man can move like lightning when the situation calls for it.” At a cost. Alric’s three bodyguards now made more sense. If their king wasn’t fighting-fit, then of course they’d have bodyguards assigned to him.

“So…what are you going to do? Come home?”

“No.” The answer was instinctive, and it wasn’t until she asked that Cameron realized he’d already made up his mind.

Cassie’s head tipped, her expression intense. “Really.”

“Cass, I’m…god, this is hard to put into words. But I feel like I’ve just stepped through one of those magical portals you see in books and movies. I’m literally there, on the edge of wonder and enchantment. But because I’ve stepped through it, I can not only see everything on the other side, but everything there can see me. It’s a dual-edged sword. I can’t take it back now, either. It’s too late for that.”

“You’re pretty sure the guys that tried to grab you did it because you’re of the Noh Clan, aren’t you?”

“Well, let’s add this up, shall we? I’m ignored for twenty-three years, then I meet the Fire Dragon Clan. Fire Dragon Clan discovers I’m from magical family. I smell like magic. All within the space of three days, and for the first time in my life, someone tries to kidnap me. Coincidence? I think not.”

“Laid out like that, I see your point.” Her lips pursed.

“Be safe and keep your guard up, okay? I think life just took a plot twist.”

“About freaking time. I was getting bored.” She pointed a stern finger at him. “Be safe, stick with the dragons, and don’t get kidnapped.”

Cameron gave her a sloppy salute. “Will do.”

With the call ended, he set the phone aside and let his head drop back again. He did feel a little better after talking with his sister. Food needed to happen, though. His stomach was rumbling petulantly.

There was a light knock at the door. Turning his head, he called, “Enter!”

A white-haired woman named Lisette stepped through with a covered tray, a hopeful expression on her face. “How are you?”

“I’m alright.”

He’d met Lisette very briefly when they came in, but her focus had been on helping Alric. He’d barely gotten more than her name before Baldewin was ushering him away to this room while Alric was shooed in the opposite direction under the woman’s watchful eye. “Alric?”

“Will be fine. He’s resting at the moment. His old wound never healed right, and if he over-exerts himself, this happens.”

Cameron felt a little guilty. But he was glad to hear Alric was fine, or would be.

Lisette strode in, the hem of her green skirt swirling around her as she moved. She put the tray on the little round table near his chair, but her crystal blue eyes remained largely on him. “I’ve brought you Kartoffelpuffer.”

One deep breath was all it took for his taste buds to send up signal flags. That. Yes please. “It smells amazing, but I don’t know what that is.”

“Potato pancakes,” she translated with a smile, lifting off the cover. “I thought some comfort food might be in order.”

“God, yes, and thank you.” Cameron dug in with a sigh of bliss. They were warm and perfect on his tongue, with lovely flavor. He could eat his weight in these. “Please tell me you live off these here.”

“Some dragons try.”

Lisette turned to sit in the other wingback chair. She had a slight smile on her face that still somehow hinted at calculation. “Well, young mage. You’ve had quite the day.”

Cameron’s mouth was full, so he couldn’t protest her descriptor, but he frowned at her. It was a frown that relayed disapproval. And frustration. And many other things because he could frown with the best of them. He’d learned it at his father’s knee.

The frown did not have its desired effect. She smiled in return, as if he’d said something particularly amusing. “I think you’re under the wrong impression about magic. Many are if they don’t grow up around people who actually practice it. It’s not a matter of waving your wand, speaking a spell, and poof! Things happen.”