Wyvern's Prince (The Dragons of Incendium Book 2) (20 page)

Urbanus smiled and put his arm around her waist. “Yes, you are.”

“Thank you, Urbanus, for saving me from the curse of my nature,” Gemma said, letting her words fall in a rush.

He preened. “I knew you’d appreciate it, once you thought about it.”

Mother has the antidote.
Venero’s words echoed clearly in Gemma’s thoughts.
Marked with a flame.

A thrill coursed through Gemma. But where was Queen Arcana?

“I heard that!” Urbanus shouted and snapped his fingers.

Gemma turned in time to see Venero was encased in a bubble. It snapped around him, sealing him in place, and she guessed that he wouldn’t be able to send her any more thoughts.

His expression was grim, and Gemma realized he’d anticipated this.

He’d taken the chance, for her.

The bubble looked to be made of similar stone to the formations that surrounded them, but as Urbanus continued to murmur, its diameter kept shrinking. Venero was forced to bend and then to crouch, and she saw him grimace as the stone tightened around him. It shimmered, then clouded, leaving only a clear crystal before Venero’s face.

So he could watch. His lips set and his gaze was steady, as if he’d will Gemma to use the detail he’d sent her.

His own brother had done this to him. No wonder Venero didn’t believe in love.

Urbanus beckoned and the stone ball containing Venero teetered between the stalagmites, then tumbled toward the middle of the cavern. It bounced before it rolled to a stop before Urbanus. He halted its progress with one foot and his smile was filled with satisfaction. “Enough of your meddling, Venero. My wife and I will be happier without you around, making trouble.” His smile was so smug that she wanted to cut it free.

Or fry it off.

She remembered Venero’s warning about eliminating the spell caster. She was willing to risk it.

“Well done, husband.” Gemma kissed Urbanus’ throat and felt his resistance waver. “Let’s go back to the palace,” she purred. “Let’s make our union complete.” She felt Urbanus catch his breath. She rubbed herself against him and his hands landed on her shoulders. He bent toward her, his expression sultry and…

Felice chose that moment to protest being crushed between the pair of them. The pavofel hissed and Gemma stepped back, as if to console it. “Put down the creature, Gemma. Or better, leave it here. My mother has always wanted another pavofel. She’ll take care of it.”

“What a wonderful idea!” Gemma said, having no intention of doing that. She bent as if to put the pavofel on the ground and felt Urbanus come closer. She met Venero’s gaze for a moment and let him see her resolve.

Venero blinked and Gemma knew Urbanus was right behind her. She spun and drove the broken piece of stone into his gut. The point slid into him far more easily than Gemma had expected, and she recalled how soft he was.

Urbanus fell back, staggering. “Gemma!” he cried, but she spun again, as Arista had taught her, and kicked him in the teeth.

Urbanus howled and fell backward, blue blood streaming from his mouth. “Witch!”

Gemma braced herself for attack when he growled and spun to his feet, fury in his eyes.

But then his expression changed and he scrambled to his feet, only to make a low bow.

Surely not to her.

* * *

The hair prickled on the back of Gemma’s neck. She pivoted smoothly, and knew she shouldn’t have been surprised to find Queen Arcana standing between the stalagmites. The monarch lifted her hands and clapped lightly, mocking Gemma with her applause. “I like a woman who is quick on her feet,” she said, and Gemma doubted that was true. “Never mind one who keeps men in their place. Urbanus was always lazy about his physical training.”

Gemma didn’t ask about Venero.

“Help me, Mother,” Urbanus said, holding his injured gut. The blood flowed from between his teeth, and also from his stomach. He stood in a puddle of blue blood, one that reminded Gemma of her first sight of the toad.

“That will depend upon your bride, and her cooperation.”

“Gemma, I entreat you!” Urbanus said, then evidently realized the chance of Gemma helping him were slim indeed. He sank down to the floor, moaning quietly.

“Definitely not the stuff of kings,” Arcana murmured, perhaps for Gemma’s ears alone.

The queen smiled and strolled closer, holding her long dark skirts in her hands. “The time for games is passed, Gemma.” She put out her hand imperiously. “Return it to me.”

“Return what to you?”

“Your disobedience will only infuriate me.” The queen smiled tightly. “Neither of us want to see that situation.”

“But I don’t know what you mean.”

Queen Arcana sighed. “Very well. We shall play this your way.” She strolled the length of the grotto, pausing to consider the pavofel. Felice stared back at her without blinking, as if the beast would provoke the queen deliberately. “I used to have a pavofel,” she said. “I miss him so much. And this is a fine specimen.”

“She is.” Gemma picked up Felice again, not trusting the queen one bit.

“You could give her to me.”

“I’m not feeling very generous right now.” Gemma shrugged. “I might if I had a certain antidote.” The truth was that she’d never abandon Felice, but the queen didn’t need to know that.

“A wager then. How interesting.” Queen Arcana made a circuit of the grotto, touching items idly, and Gemma guessed that the queen meant to distract her from something of import. She watched the queen with care, noting all the places the queen did not direct her gaze.

She had the antidote. But where was it hidden?

The queen gave the stone that contained Venero only the barest glance. “There should be enough air for him to see how this all ends,” she murmured and Gemma was horrified. “Of course, that depends upon you, Gemma.”

Gemma straightened as Arcana turned to face her.

“You were the Sword Sister of Arista, a Warrior Maiden of Cumae, with whom you trained for several years,” the queen said with authority. “She was here under false pretenses. She accepted a commission from me and failed to perform it because her true intent was the theft of a possession of mine. She only escaped because she was aided by my own son.” Queen Arcana smiled. “Now you want something from me. You want your shifter powers back. I want the ShadowCaster back.” She put out her hand again. “I think it would be a fair exchange.”

“A ShadowCaster?” Gemma echoed, pretending this was the first she’d heard of Arista’s theft. “They exist only in legend!”

“No. There is one that exists in truth. It was mine. It
is
mine, but the intruder stole it. I demand its return.”

“Was Arista given that opportunity before she was killed?”

Queen Arcana smiled. “Of course. She insisted that she had given it away, for safekeeping.” Her voice dropped low. “Who better than a Sword Sister? You must have it. Give it to me.”

Gemma knew that the ShadowCaster
was
safe, somewhere.

But she didn’t have to admit that just yet.

“I don’t have it.” Gemma reached into her satchel and removed the
memoria
. “I found only this,” she said then lied. “But it has no more power. I have to get it charged on Cumae to learn what Arista did with the ShadowCaster.”

Queen Arcana snatched the
memoria
and studied it, trying to divine how to use it. She shook it to no avail. She tried to crack it open like an egg, but even the thin seam remained invisible. She whispered a spell to it, but nothing happened. She flung it back at Gemma so hard that Gemma wouldn’t have caught it except for her dragon reflexes. “Open it!”

Gemma decided there was very little to be lost by following the command. She whispered Arista’s code word to the
memoria
. Just as before, it took a long time to respond, and she feared it really had no power left.

Then it split and opened, moving more slowly than it had the first time. It spun in her palm and projected a hologram of Arista.

The image pulled to one side, distorted, and flickered.

“I don’t know why I’m recording this,” Arista confessed, just as before. But this time, the recording of her voice caught, crackled, and faded. The image dimmed even as Queen Arcana stepped closer, intent upon hearing every syllable. “Only my Sword Sister could ever view it…”

The hologram winked out, and the
memoria
closed.

“There must be more!” the queen insisted.

“Undoubtedly, but the device has no power. It must have had a faulty power supply in the first place. It can only be restored on Cumae.”

The queen glared at her. “And only you can make the request.”

Gemma shrugged.

“No, it’s a trick,” Urbanus said. “Don’t let her go, Mother! She won’t return and you’ll lose the only chance we have of retrieving the ShadowCaster.”

“We?” echoed the queen, turning upon her oldest son. “I wouldn’t need to retrieve my ShadowCaster if you hadn’t been such a fool.” Her dark eyes narrowed. “I have to reconsider my assumption that you would become king, Urbanus.”

“But…”

“You are proving to be a failure of the most colossal kind. Perhaps it is your father’s legacy. He had little talent for leadership.” She grimaced, waving off his protests. “First, you failed to guard your dreams, a particularly grievous error when I had entrusted you with the secret of the ShadowCaster.”

“Of course, I
thought
about it. It was key to the future…”

“No doubt with the encouragement of Venero.” Queen Arcana rose and approached her other son. “Who undoubtedly shared your dream with others, ensuring that the secret of the ShadowCaster was no longer a secret.”

“Then Venero is the guilty party,” Urbanus protested. “He must have wanted to compromise your power.”

Queen Arcana turned to face him. “But he would not have had any revelations to share if you had guarded your dreams as you had been taught. You were the origin of the problem.” She held up a second finger. “Then you failed to have the ShadowCaster retrieved before the thief Arista was killed. Third, you failed to fully hide your involvement in that assassination contract. Fourth, you failed to consummate your marriage, or to control your wife, or to conceive an heir.”

“It’s only been two days!”

The queen held up a fist. “And now, as a result of all of that, your wife has a bargaining position, to which I might just have to cede. You could not have made a greater mess of matters, Urbanus.”

“But I’ll make it right…”

“No.” Queen Arcana’s voice boomed through the grotto. “My patience is expired!” When she pointed at Urbanus, there was a deafening crack and a flash, as if lightning had struck in the depths of the grotto. Gemma closed her eyes and grimaced at the smell of burning flesh.

She opened her eyes to see flames and smoke where Urbanus had been. There was a pile of soot on the floor of the cavern and the smell was horrific.

She checked but her ability to shift was still gone.

Gemma hoped it wasn’t lost forever. She’d need every bit of her dragon power to get herself and Venero out of this place.

Queen Arcana turned upon her, those eyes gleaming. “Do we have a wager, Gemma? I let you leave, you return with the ShadowCaster, and I give you the antidote?”

Gemma didn’t know what to say. She didn’t trust Queen Arcana to keep her word, and she already guessed that Venero would suffocate in that stone before she could return. There didn’t seem to be any good options.

Before she could think of another plan, Felice looked up at her, those eyes shining, and mewed. The pavofel’s gaze flicked to Queen Arcana and back to Gemma again, and although she couldn’t explain it, she understood what the creature meant.

And she trusted Felice, more than anyone else.

* * *

“We have a wager,” Gemma said to Queen Arcana. “Provided you take care of my pavofel. It’ll be a faster journey without her.”

“And I’ll be able to rely upon your return. What a fitting suggestion.” The queen reached for Felice, casting an admiring glance over the creature’s gleaming coat. “Such a beautiful—” she had time to say before Felice stretched up, bared her fangs and bit into the queen’s neck.

Queen Arcana screamed. She tried to fling the pavofel away, but Felice dug her claws into the queen’s shoulders. Gemma had to look away. Her pet gnawed into the queen’s throat with vigor, that blue blood flowing over both of them.

When the queen stumbled, Gemma raced to her side and removed the pouch bound to her belt. Inside was a stalactite of clear crystal, with a flame flickering deep within it.

A dragon flame.

The antidote!

Queen Arcana managed to fling Felice aside, but she couldn’t stand anymore. Her skin was even more pale than it had been and she lifted a shaking hand to Gemma. “Help me,” she whispered.

“The way you helped so many others? I don’t think so.” Gemma picked up Felice with concern. There was something wrong with the pavofel. She staggered as well, and her coat looked patchy. Her eyes were dulling and Gemma feared she’d been poisoned by the queen’s blood. She scooped her up and set her in the satchel. Felice curled up, wrapping her tail around herself and gave a little sigh.