Thad shook his head, his long, black hair flying. “Not if he thinks you’re with me willingly, and you come to my chamber. Not if we fool him into thinking you’ll happily breed as many little half-breeds as he wants, as long as I’m the only one who touches you. You stay with me, and then when you have what you need, you leave.”

I tried to find a problem with this, other than the glaring one where I pretended to be his.

“Seems convenient for you,” I murmured unhappily.

He huffed in irritation. “Right, because getting access to a real bath, bed, and food would be such a sacrifice on your part.”

I ignored him. “When I leave, what happens to you?”

He turned away, his posture wilting. “You’ve never cared before, so don’t start now.”

Chapter Four

Benedict

I exhaled loudly, looking up from my view of the valley. We were still rebuilding, but half of the drakens in the clearing were also training, working rotating shifts so everyone was in top form for the coming war. Astrid and the human rebels continued to push for a delegation to go to Aldur, sooner rather than later. Thad was missing, presumed dead or captured. No one had been close enough to see exactly what had happened. Cantrada was fractured; with half wanting to be led by their rightful heir, the other wanting someone from Cantrada to lead. Until someone stepped up, the power vacuum was immense. Spike could only lead so much as an Aldurian noble, and Zara was off sailing back around the coast. I had my own problems to worry about.

“The latest from the witches. Hopefully there are no problems.”

I snatched the letter from Ronan. “There is always a problem with the witches.”

He gave me a pointed look, and I sighed and ripped it open. The dove who had carried it here sat happily on Ronan’s shoulder, picking at his hair. I scanned the contents briefly.

Benedict;

I have discovered one of our witches is with child. As she has only been with us on your island, we must meet to work out the details. Traditionally, witches will keep any female children, and the father’s race will keep the males. Spike has also set up a meeting with King Erias. . . .

I crumpled it up, disintegrating the pieces into shadows with a thought. Ronan raised an eyebrow.

“Bad news?” he asked simply, and the dove took off out the open window.

“Idiocy,” I breathed back. A draken would never impregnate a female of another species. It wasn’t even possible! Was it? We weren’t sure, which had been the entire point of bringing Wren to us all those months ago. I shook my head. Even if it was possible, I would never release a female draken to anyone else! Did Astrid forget the crisis our entire species was in?

I ran a hand through my hair and put the entire matter out of my mind. I didn’t have time for such pedantic matters. If she wanted it sorted so badly, she’d come to me.