Dragon Lords 4-Warrior Prince (30 page)

"If I hit the post five times, I win," she stated under her breath.

"Too easy," he dismissed, shaking his head.

"Blindfolded?" she suggested.

"No consideration for distractions," he added. "You miss, you lose."

"Fine," Pia said. They barely looked at each other. To everyone else it seemed they discussed Olena’s technique. Olena threw her last blade. It hit, but went too far to the side and instantly fell back out with the weight of the hilt. The men cheered as she went to retrieve them. Nadja, who was standing by Olek, waved away her turn, too embarrassed to try again.

"What are the stakes?" he asked.

"When I win, you have to ... dance for me," she answered. A small blush threatened her at the admission.

"I would do that anyway," he answered with an unashamed shrug.

"No clothes," she added boldly.

"If you miss, you wear no clothes, too," he said, instantly taken with the idea. "And we both dance."

Pia turned red, but she knew she wouldn’t miss. "Fine."

"Agreed," he said. Zoran saw a little tremor rack up her body.

Olena was looking at her expectantly, holding out the knives.

"We need a blindfold," Zoran called. Miraculously, the call was quickly answered as one was passed over the front to Zoran. Zoran crossed over to Pia and tied it around her head. Leaning into her ear, he said, "Perhaps we should keep this blindfold. It might be fun."

Pia blushed profusely. Zoran smacked her hard on her backside and the men laughed. Quietly he backed up. Pia took a deep breath trying to remember where the post was. Luckily, she’d angled her foot when Zoran tied the blindfold on.

"Make your throw!" Zoran called.

Pia lifted her arm, taking aim. Holding her breath, she threw, hearing the blade land on wood.

Zoran grinned. He was proud of her skill. The blade pulled slightly to the right but hit a solid mark.

Pia threw the second and third time. Each blade landed in the post. Suddenly, a loud cheering came up over the crowd.

Zoran grinned as she stiffened. He’d motioned the men to noise.

Pia lifted the blade, trying to concentrate over the shouts. She threw. The fourth hit, though it wasn’t as deep as the others.

"Oooo," the men in unison shouted.

"Zoran!" came a sudden panicked shout. "Olek! Yusef!"

Pia frowned, recognizing Prince Ualan’s voice. Zoran motioned to Agro to keep the men at the field. He ran toward his brother’s call, drawing the sword from his waist as he moved. Yusef nodded to one of the men, who instantly tossed his good hand a blade. Olek was right behind them.

Pia tore the blindfold from her head. Seeing the men running toward the forest she took off after them, knife gripped in her hand. Olena and Nadja soon followed her.

Twelve light blond Var warriors pursued Prince Ualan from the trees, over the forest path. Their bodies grew with fur as they shifted with the vicious, snarling features of wild cats. He dragged Morrigan with one arm. She was unconscious, a dart sticking out from her throat.

Ualan was forced to shift to Draig, using his arm to deflect the enemy’s blows as he fought them off with his free arm. He tried to protect Morrigan, her feet trailing in the dirt. Soon the Princes were by his side, shifting into Draig as they fought against the Var. The one armed Yusef bravely hacked forward with his sword, giving Ualan time to get Morrigan to safety.

Ualan dropped his wife behind them on the ground as easily as he could so that he could join the fight against the attackers. Pia didn’t hesitate as she ran swiftly to help the men, throwing her blade into one of the creature’s throat. As Zoran swung his arm, she ducked beneath him, grabbing the knife from his belt.

Nadja stiffened in fear to see human cats fighting human dragons. Shaking herself at Olena’s call, she darted forward to the fallen Morrigan. With Olena’s help, they pulled the woman from the fray to safety.

Soon the Var were retreating in the forest. Pia crossed over to one of the fallen men and took the two blades she’d used from their unmoving throats. Ualan nodded his thanks at her. Zoran turned to his wife in pride of her bravery and skill, shifting back. She hadn’t hesitated to protect the family.

Ualan turned, smelling Morrigan’s trail as he took off down the path, Yusef and Olek were behind him. Zoran hung back, looking at his wife. Not bothering to clean his sword, he sheathed it.

"You did well," he said.

Pia’s eyes lit up at the compliment.

"Do we give chase?" she asked, motioning to where the Vars retreated.

"No," he answered. "Let them go for now."

Pia crossed over to him and, wiping his blade on her pant leg, she looked deeply into his eyes as she slid it back into place. She let her fingers linger on his firm waist.

"You owe me a dance, wife." He grinned. He looked meaningfully at her blade. "That one missed the post."

Her eyes narrowed. "I demand a re-throw, I--"

"Tsk, tsk," Zoran answered, his eyes flashing. "Distractions don’t count. I want my dance."

"Let’s go check on Rigan," Pia said, shooting him a dangerous glare. She was thrilled by the answering promise in his eyes.

Zoran laughed to himself. His wife didn’t lose gracefully.

"Yes, and after we can go find that blindfold," he whispered.

As Zoran and Pia approached, Nadja was kneeling by Morrigan and looking at Prince Ualan. The dart was still in Morrigan’s neck. Pia frowned in worry. Nadja sighed heavily and whispered, "Let me think. I need to concentrate."

Pia glanced at Zoran, moving quietly closer to his strength.

"Give me your knife," Nadja said to Pia. Pia instantly handed it over. Taking a deep breath, Nadja cut into Morrigan’s throat where the dart embedded into the skin. Instantly, green began to drip and ooze from the wound. Soon, she had the star tipped points of the dart out of the woman’s neck. Nadja dropped the blade and continued to bleed the poison.

Pia turned to Zoran to whisper, "Why would they target Morrigan and not your brother?"

Zoran didn’t answer. Nadja’s words stopped him.

"It’s as I thought. I’ve seen this kind of poison before. Usually jealous old lovers do it for revenge. If you had torn the dart out of the skin, it would have released a poison into the blood stream. She would have lived but you never would have been able to touch her again. It’s ironic really. That way it’s the current lover that poisons the woman, sealing their fate. You should get her to a doctor."

Nadja stood, warily trying to edge away from them. Her round eyes looked over each of the brothers before turning her eyes to the forest.

"I would say that whoever poisoned her didn’t want you to be with her," Nadja said to Ualan, before turning and running away. Olek was right behind her.

Olena stood, watching the woman. Her eyes narrowed. Solemnly, she said, "She didn’t know about the Draig."

Ualan picked up his wife. The others followed as he carried Morrigan to the medical ward. No one said a word.

Chapter Twenty

"Why do they attack the Princesses?" Yusef asked with a frown. Olena stood by his side, her face unmoving. Nadja and Olek hadn’t joined them, but Zoran and Pia stood next to Ualan. Morrigan was on the hospital bed, having been checked by the doctors and given some medicine to help along her recovery.

Pia thought of Zoran’s tender hand on her stomach when he mentioned the possibility of her pregnancy. During the night, while he slept, his hand had found hold on her lower abdomen and she’d lain awake wondering at the naturally slow circles of his twitching fingers on her skin. It hadn’t been hard to conclude what he’d been dreaming about. With sudden insight, she whispered, "Because without us you will have no sons. Your line will end."

Zoran stiffened at her soft words and looked at her, his eyes searching.

Pia’s lips stiffened. She was very aware that further talk into pregnancy would be better handled when they were alone. Taking a deep breath, she continued, "It makes perfect sense. I’ve seen you all fight. Especially with all four of you banded together, you would be a formidable opponent. You expect the attack. We’re new here and it would be assumed that we had no clear idea of the dangers. Plus, we’re women. Men ... ah, no offense to anyone here ... men, especially those from warrior classes, often misjudge women as unworthy opponents."

The Princes listened closely to her words, giving away none of their thoughts. Zoran watched his wife’s face, never having seen the serious militant strategist look coming from her.

Pia gazed up at her husband. Her features were pulled with concentration. "If you were to destroy an enemy, Zoran, would you attack their weakness or their strength?"

"Only a fool would choose to fight a strength if a weakness was to be had," Ualan said, nodding to the woman’s insight.

"Only they have obviously underestimated the strength of our women," Zoran added. Pia actually turned the slightest shade of pink. Again he was amazed. If the conversation weren’t so dire, he’d have thrown her over his shoulder and carted her off to his bed.

"What better way to end this age old feud than to wipe out the leaders before they are born?" Yusef said. He frowned, unconsciously drawing Olena under the protection of his good arm.

"For, if we were to die," Ualan added. "There would be an heir that could sometime rise against them. If they make sure that our line is ended, when we die there will be no one to avenge us. With no King or protection, our people will be left without defense. Everything will be in chaos."

"It’s imperative that we discover who is spying for the Var," Yusef said. Whoever had stabbed him knew the back passages well enough to escape through them.

"Spy?" Pia questioned, blinking. She turned to frown at Zoran. "You said nothing of a spy!"

Zoran sighed. He hadn’t thought of it when she was interrogating him. It had been hard enough to think when she was torturing his body in such wondrous ways.

"Olena," Pia said. "You remember that servant at the festival, don’t you? The one who spilled his pitcher? It has to be him. He was no more fit to be a servant than I am."

Olena shook her head, barely recalling anything but her husband from that night.

"What are you talking about?" Zoran demanded, turning to grab her arms and study her eyes.

"There are too many servants in the kingdom," Ualan mused. "For festivals many come to help. It would take forever to locate them all just to find this one."

"No," Pia said. "He was at the coronation. The spy would be here in the palace kitchens. I remember watching him fumble with some plates. He only carried two unlike the other servants who carried four or more. It has to be him. He was graceless serving. Yet there was something different to his walk and his hand had a sword callous along the ridge. I would almost bet my life he is your man."

Morrigan, who was pale but alive, said through her hoarse voice, "I recorded that night on my camera."

Everyone turned to look at her.

Sheepishly, she admitted, "I’m an undercover reporter for an intergalactic newspaper chip."

Ualan stiffened but didn’t stop her from speaking.

"I was supposed to write a story about the royal weddings," she continued softly. Turning to Ualan, she said, "My camera will have recorded part of that night. Maybe Pia’s servant can be found on the relay."

"It’s worth a shot," Yusef said.

"I’ll go find it," Ualan said. He went from the hospital room, his arms stiff. It was silent until he got back. When he did, he handed a small eyepiece and an emerald to Morrigan.

"Can you make it work so we can all see?" Yusef asked.

Morrigan nodded. "I think so."

She requested some saline and wetted the lens before sticking it into her eye. Slipping the emerald on her finger so it could react with her nervous system, she turned the stone. A light shone from her eyes, darkening as she blinked. They watched in amazement as they saw a picture of the Breeding Festival floating on the air.

Coming around to stand across from Morrigan, they eyed the round picture.

"Can you see it?" she asked.

"Yes," Ualan said.

"All right, just let me leaf through these," she murmured. Morrigan closed her eye and the picture disappeared. Pia saw her turn bright red and wondered about it.

"Morrigan," Ualan began.

Morrigan blinked in surprise and a flash of Ualan’s naked backside came up bigger than life before his brothers.

"Oh," Morrigan panicked. Zoran and Yusef laughed heartily. Morrigan’s cheeks turned a bright, mortified red and she squeezed her eyes tight to block the image out.

Wryly, Ualan stated, "I had no idea I looked that good from behind."

He was rewarded with punches from his teasing brothers.

"Here," Morrigan said, getting back to business as she swallowed over her embarrassment. A screen of the festival came up. "I can’t play sound, but you should see the picture moving like a silent movie."

They watched in silence. Then suddenly, Pia pointed, and said, "There, stop, that’s him."

Morrigan froze the picture.

"Yeah," Olena said, leaning forward to get a closer look at the corner of the frame. "I remember him. Now that you mention it, he was rather strange."

"He has the coloring of a Var," Yusef said.

"But not the scent of one," Zoran said. "Do you think he has found a way to mask his smell?"

"He wears the tunic of the kitchen staff," Yusef said. "We will find him and question him. If he’s Draig, it will be easy for him to prove it. If he’s Var, he’ll come up with an excuse not to shift."

Ualan nodded. Yusef and Zoran left, their women by their sides.

Once the couples were alone in the hall, Pia glanced at Zoran. Her body shook with a terrible sense at Morrigan’s confession. She knew her scars were gone, but she couldn’t help thinking she would rather not be publicly known. Quietly, she asked Olena, "Did you know Rigan was writing a story about us?"

Olena shook her head. "She said she ‘was’ not ‘is’."

Zoran and Yusef exchanged looks. They didn’t much care for their private lives to be made known to the entire galaxy. The Qurilixen, by tradition, were a secretive race that kept to themselves. However, they also knew Ualan would feel the same way and would undoubtedly talk his wife out of writing such a story.