Prologue
“I’m telling you, Tabatha, you need to leave. This isn’t going to be pretty if you stay. On top of that, you are putting your daughter at risk. Doing that to Tyri is just unacceptable, and you know it. She is the only heir we have.” Leonidas’s golden eyes were full of concern, but determined as he spoke to the High Priestess. She, for her part, continued to wander the stacks of the temple’s public library, picking up ancient text after ancient text to return them to their shelves. He wondered, briefly, why the students hadn’t picked up after themselves, but didn’t allow the thought to become more than fleeting. He had to stay focused on the issue at hand.
“I understand what you’re saying, and I appreciate the concern. If it makes you feel better, I know your daughter and General Ohanzee are planning a trip to fashion week in New York. They can take Tyri and Raven with them. While they are on the other side of the divide, they can stop by and see my sister. I cannot, however, go with them. A member of the royal family must always be here, or the throne automatically goes to the next in line or reverts to the previous bloodline, and I think we both know they are all dead but the dragons. I can’t leave. If I do, she wins. I am holding for my sister. You know the throne would revert to that woman. You would then be forced to fight our people to remove her for everyone’s good or leave yourself.”
“Bacia? Make me leave? Don’t make me laugh. First, she is an elf, like you. The throne needs a warrior queen, not a science-minded magick user. It’s why your sister was chosen for the throne despite you being technically older by what, an hour?”
“Yes, but as you know, the treaty that put my family on the throne stipulates that a twin can hold it for her sister but cannot claim it. Between the Dragon Oracle and the Weaver of Dreams, we have a very accurate picture of the future.”
Leo ran his hand through his mane of dark hair. He caught a glimpse of himself in the mirror hanging on the wall that helped to keep an eye on the back of the stacks. The look of frustration on his face was only half of what he was feeling. He knew she was right, of course. He also knew from her scent that no matter how calm she seemed, she was both irritated with him and scared to death of what was to come. “You don’t have to martyr yourself for a prophecy.”
“You’re right. I don’t. I’m not. You don’t think I didn’t ask what happens if I cave to my fear and run? The outcome is much worse. Look, you are one of my oldest friends. One of the few people left who was there to witness our birth, the person who helped us pick up the pieces after Bacia’s mother killed our parents and attempted to kill us. You were there when Tenane was crowned, and I was asked to take over the temple. Who knew what was supposed to be temporary would end up being permanent? Maggie and Niobe, I suppose, but they would say nothing other than they had already said too much. If it makes you feel better, you can send some of your spies and assassins to keep an eye on the temple, but I won’t be leaving.”
“I tried to tell the council this would happen. There is always a risk of birth rate issues when you tie a rule to a single gender and species. Had they not insisted the queen be of Fae blood and the consort Elvin...”
There was a good reason,” Tabatha placed the last book on the shelves the turned to face the lion that was a king in his own right. Smoothing the layers of the skirts of her robes, she gave him a sad smile.“You would be so much better at this than I am. I was meant for my books and a quiet life of academic study. But you and my sister were both designed for ruling and battle. She lives for it, and so do you. It’s how you became such good friends. She trusts you because the few times you were given the chance to take her head in battle, you had her back instead.”
“If only the dragons hadn’t stepped away from the throne, none of this would have ever happened.”
“Perhaps,” Tabatha agreed. “But Leonidas, let us not forget the dragons knew this was going to happen and decided this was a better than the best possible outcome if they stayed.”
“The Dragon Oracle did predict all of this, didn’t she? Did she ever tell you what the outcome would have been if the dragons had stayed?”
Tabatha shook her head and sighed. “I only asked once. The look on Niobe’s face was something I will never forget in all of my days. Whatever it was scared her so badly she couldn’t bring herself to do more than stare at me wide-eyed and shake her head. I think we both know that means something would have happened to the last dragon king. King Arik might have neglected his people for his treasure, but she kept him focused on the people as much as she could. Whatever scared her...” Tabi shrugged and left the sentence unfinished.
“Must have been worse than this. It’s jaded of me to think that she was running from a future she couldn’t handle and pushing off the pain onto someone else.”
“Leo, we have both seen her walk into an ice cave in winter, knowing what it would do to her inner Firebird, to save men she didn’t know and didn’t consider important to the story that were trapped inside.”
“She did it to stop the tears of their children who, she later admitted, wouldn’t play a role on the world stage at all. Cog’s in the wheel of time, I believe, was what she called them,” He agreed.
“No, I think Bacia’s propaganda is getting to me as well as the people.” He shook his head. “Arik refuses to use the title anymore. He is still king of the Dragons just as I am King of the...” He paused to breathe out a puff of air as if he had just realized something. “King of the Dragons is King of the Shifters. There can’t be two rulers.”
Tabatha gave him a gentle smile as he shook himself and continued. “He won’t even manipulate the humans that live around him into worshiping him. How in the world do demigods survive in a world without believers?”
Tabi sighed as she nodded. “Yes, I know, but it is for the best. There are enough true believers to keep him alive. Niobe on her own might just be enough. Her love could realign the stars, destroy the divide, and convince humanity that none of us are a threat.”
“Yeah, if she could get everyone in the same place at the same time. Any word from his brother?”
“No, as far as I know, not even the Oracle has been able to track him, now that he is living among the humans.”
Leo shook his head at her answer. “That one always did have a soft spot for the least of us. Too bad he couldn’t get his brother to be as concerned.”
“Arik was concerned. Have you read the diaries that were given to the library so people could understand what led him to his decision?
“Of course I did. But I don’t buy it. That he left to protect his treasure... Sure. He is a dragon after all. But that Niobe is that treasure...“Leo shook his head. “The palace sits on top of so much treasure that no one family could spend it in a thousand lifetimes. Most of it was gathered by him and his brother, and yet Niobe is the treasure to protect.”
“When he left, he didn’t take a single coin. He took Niobe and their children. He could have demanded anything of the council when they asked him to step aside to avoid a civil war. He didn’t. He asked if he could take his family with him. That was all he was concerned about. He knew that the rebels blamed Niobe for distracting him. He was never going to stop being distracted. Without her, he knew he would burn the world, Goddess be dammed.”
“I know. It’s just a love like that is hard to fathom.”
“She is the other half of his soul. She is both figuratively and literally his fire. She was left to die in that cave. Her mother’s fire burned out in the laying of her egg. Only the griffin was around to protect her.”
“She held it together without having to be reborn for a very long time. I am sure he has something to do with that, but I think it has more to do with his missing kin.”
Tabi nodded. “You need to get home, and I need to get ready for the next class. When Nak and Ohanzee leave, I will send Tyri with them to her aunt.”
“I adore your sister and I trust her on many things. Her faith in people is not one of those things I trust. Do me a favor, keep an eye out on anyone she says is safe, or let me send people to watch out for you.”
“Do you think she will attack me here?”
“Tabatha, we are talking about the child of your mother’s sister. The same sister who tried to have all of you killed so she could rule in your mother’s stead. I don’t trust her as far as I can throw her, and neither should you. She is, after all, the reason your sister couldn’t stay.”
“How is she the reason?”
Leo shook his head. “You really need to hire better investigators. “She was the one who put the queen’s name in the drawing to begin with. She rigged it so that Tenyane’s name would be called. She knows if she can isolate the twin who doesn’t see herself as a ruler, then she would have a better chance to take over.”
Tabi seemed to ponder that for a moment. Before looking at Leo, her blue eyes were wide with fright. “You trust Ohanzee to go with Nak to fashion week.”
“I trust Nak to find out what we need to know through whatever means necessary. If you think Ohanzee will kill her if he realizes what she is doing, then we can send the wolf with them.”
“The wolf’s name is Ulric, and you know it. He is one of the generals of the shifter army, your army.”
“He is also in love with one of my children. I have to keep him on his toes.”
Tabi shook her head. “You still think that cats and dogs don’t mix.”
“I think she is the last purebred of the cat clan. Even her siblings are mixed with something other than shifter blood. She isn’t just a pure-blood shifter; she is a pure blood of the cat clan. It would be a shame to lose that just because her mother couldn’t give me another child, and all the bonus heirs come from other women in the pride.”
“I have never known you to be a purist, Leo.”
He gave a sad smile. “I’m not. I am trying to sound as ridiculous as you. Maybe I should pick my subject matter better.”
“The last I looked, there were no rules on who could rule the shifters other than they had to be a shifter and willing to pledge fidelity to the person on the Throne once occupied by dragons.”
“I am trying to keep that pledge. I don’t want to see you die, and if you do... A civil war will be inevitable.”
“If I die, it was because it was my time. Have faith that all will be well. The Weaver and her children know what they are doing.”
“I wish I could have as much faith in a woman who likes to turn into a potted plant so she can eavesdrop.”
“You just wish you could turn into a potted plant.”
Leo gave Tabatha a half grin and shook his head. “No way I fit all of this.” He motioned down his body as he spoke, encouraging her to take all of him into consideration. “Into a potted plant. There is just too much matter for that kind of shift.” As if to prove his point, he shifted into the largest African Lion she had ever seen before walking to the door.
Tabatha followed him, a bit surprised that he didn’t just jump out a window, then she remembered she was at the temple, not the palace. Jumping out the window meant sure death to anyone who couldn’t fly. Opening the door for him, she waited for him to walk through it before waving goodbye.
