Gwythyr stood a few feet away, staff raised, answering the question.
Urien plunged the knife into Father’s back.
Elouan screamed, “Noooo!” His dragon thrashed, nearly tearing Elouan’s throat with its attempt to manifest.
Father’s eyes went wide. “Why, brother, why?”
Urien spat, “You’re in my way.”
Father crumpled to the ground, still reaching for his brother.
Urien shrugged him off, stepping back from the pool of blood gathering at his feet. “Look at your king! How weak! So easily defeated.”
“Only because he trusted you!” Elouan bellowed.No, no, no, no, no!I’ll kill him! I'll make him regret ever being hatched!
“Kill him,” Urien ordered his guards.
“No! Stop!” Elouan fought, watching in helpless horror as a guard he didn’t recognize brought a blade down.
Father screamed. Blood dribbled from his lips. The guard raised his blade again, now dripping with Father’s blood. A heavythunk,then Father gurgled, head lolling to the side.
“No! Get off me!” Elouan rolled to his feet and head-butted the first man holding him down. Blood spouted from the bastard’s nose. The man let go, stumbling back while clutching his face. Elouan wheeled, slamming his fist into the other soldier’s gut. He didn’t let go. Another soldier took the first soldier’s place. These were Father’s guards! Why didn’t they defend their king? If only Elouan could shift! No one could hold his dragon! He threw his cloak to the side. “Get off me, you traitors!” Elouan couldn’t see his father, but Urien’s gloating face said all Elouan needed to know.
Elouan might be too late to help their father, but by the Goddess, he’d save his brothers. He spotted Daire slashing at two attackers with a knife more suited for dining than combat.
Elouan’s dragon roiled with impotent rage. Apparently, the wards still worked on him.
Teron yanked a guard out of his way, slamming a fist into the faces of any who got in his way. Another stood in his path. Teron lowered his head like a raging bull, charging straight for the man. The impact threw the man to the ground, his head hitting hard. Still, Teron pushed forward.
There was no sign of Anrai.
“Teron!” Elouan cried as yet more attackers pulled him down. “Save Anrai!”
Pain filled Teron’s face, but he nodded once, slapped an arm over his chest in salute, and turned away.
Elouan head-butted the guard holding him, driving the spire from his circlet into the man’s cheek. The circlet clattered to the ground. Elouan grabbed the bastard’s knife and rose, fighting his way toward his father. Father had to be alive! He had to be!
Elouan fell onto his knees beside his father’s still body. Blood poured from the gashes in his neck and chest. “Father! Father!” Elouan threw the knife aside, covering the wounds with his hands. “Hang on, Father. I’ll get you help. The mage can save you.” Where the hell was Sakaris?
The crown on Father’s head faded from view, leaving only an afterimage of the massive ruby. “Father! No!” Elouan clasped his father to his chest, pain ripping through his insides. He screamed his agony.
“Where is the crown? What did you do with it? It’s mine!” Urien bellowed, kicking Elouan in the ribs.
Elouan glared, laid his father on the ground, and launched himself at Urien. “I’ll kill you, you bastard!” Red clouded his vision, fury boiling in his veins. How dare this worthless example of an alpha kill his brother and king? He would pay. He and anyone who helped him.
“Silence him!” Urien barked, a touch of fear in his voice. He’d better be afraid.
Elouan barely had time to register an object fast approaching his head.
All went black.
Elouan lay on hard stone, one thin blanket and torn clothing, stiff with dried blood, offering little protection against the chill.
His body usually ran hot like all dragons. Without adequate food and movement, bodily processes slowed, particularly in the cold. If he’d been a primitive ancestor, he’d have fallen out of a tree by now.
He reached inside for his dragon. There, but sluggish, and too starved to shift even if there hadn’t been warding on his cell.
How long had he been here? Was it day or night? Were they going to leave him in this prison forever, with no sight or sound, his only contact with others the food tray occasionally left outside his door with no rhyme or reason?