Dragons Against Them (Kingdoms of Fire and Ice #2)(34)
To all, that is, except her son.
Rosalind had stepped but one foot into the dining hall before Jaxon appeared at her side, his scowl gone and features returned to the relaxed confidence he possessed in the forest the day before and his cottage that morning. And at her side he remained throughout their meal. Ella had correctly predicted how he would react to seeing Rosalind in the scarlet gown, and the smile she wore escorting Rosalind to the stream to bathe under cover of darkness afterward confirmed it.
But why? The question had plagued Rosalind long into the night, robbing her of sleep and distracting her from the true reason she remained among the witches: to rid the realm of one Adelaide Bennett.
Upon request of the queen after this morn’s breakfast, Rosalind now sat beside her sketching the innards of Forath Castle upon a large parchment. Across from her sat Jaxon, studying the diagram and looking handsome as ever in his open-necked tunic and soft leather trousers. But rather than dote on her as he had at dinner the night before, today a tension brewed silently between them just as it had when she mentioned her prior betrothal the day before.
A tension the queen seemed not to notice, but which nagged once again at Rosalind’s conscience.
And how could it not, when she was unable to push the man from her mind? It should be Quinn she envisioned, Quinn she longed for. Yet every time Jaxon drew near, her lover vanished like a specter from her thoughts, almost as though he had never been there.
Was it a spell, then? Or had the tales she heard as a child of the powers of one’s true mate been truth?
“So you believe if my men strike here that we might catch the royal guard by surprise?”
Jaxon looked up at the sound of his mother’s voice and caught Rosalind staring. A smirk tugged at one corner of his lips, damn him. She looked to the queen, feigning indifference.
“Aye. They guard these areas here. And this clearing in the forest. But if your dragons land here and approach the castle’s eastern side, you will encounter fewer guards.”
“Agreed,” said Jaxon. “Silas and I observed as much last night.”
Rosalind looked at him in surprise. “You flew to Forath last night?”
Jaxon ignored her question. Instead, he took the quill from her hand, his fingers brushing briefly against hers, and set about adding markings of his own to the crude map. As he did so, she drew her hand back and tried to rub away the fire that remained from where their skin had touched, irritated by yet another effect he seemed to have on her.
“From here, we could see both this set of guards and another over here,” he said.
“But you failed to see the third, which set up post here.” Rosalind leaned in and stabbed at the far corner of the castle with a finger. “If you had taken me with you, I could have shown you as much.”
Jaxon leaned closer as well. “We saw no such guards in that vicinity. And if we had taken ye along, we would never have gotten as close to the castle as we did without being detected.”
“You think me incapable of stealth?”
“We found ye in the forest easy enough.”
“Children.” The queen sat taller and cast them both a silencing look. “If we are to defeat Forath, we must work together. Share strategies, spy on the castle, do whatever you must so that we may develop a foolproof plan. But neither of you must be captured or all is lost.”
She leaned back from the table and rubbed her temples. “We shall meet again tomorrow. Jaxon, the elders require your assistance in the stables. Rosalind, stay.”
Jaxon rose and bowed to his mother, then cast a dark look at Rosalind as he strode away. Hot and cold, their acquaintance seemed to be. Those dark looks served as sufficient reminders that she should focus on her plans to reclaim Edana’s throne and ultimately bring Quinn alongside her. Quinn, whose devotion and intentions wavered not.
The queen cleared her throat.
“I have searched all records in our village for the spell you seek which allows passage between our world and the other, but alas, I have come up empty.” She raised a hand to silence Rosalind before she had a chance to reply. “It is my belief that such a spell does exist, but has been kept hidden by the highest wizards for centuries, to keep the spell from being used. To move between worlds could lead to the destruction of us all. ’Tis why our realms were closed off from the outer world in the first place.”
“Closed off?”
“Aye. Our reality was not always limited to two kingdoms. But the greed of one ruler led to the near extinction of our dragons. The clans’ highest wizards agreed that something must be done to preserve the race, and so they summoned the darkest of magic to seal off our world from the rest.” She leaned closer, a devious grin on her face. “Of course, this knowledge has been kept secret for thousands of years, and I shall have to wipe your memory clean of it once our journey is done.”
Rosalind frowned. “I shall tell no one.”
“While I believe you, child, your memories can not be kept safe from the spells of others. Regardless, that is the history. The portal you seek was a safeguard in the event that this world failed our dragon race as well, and was never to be used for lesser reasons.”
“So the high wizards, they have abused this sacred spell?”
“Not wizards, wizard. Berinon. Haelan possesses neither the spell nor the ability to conjure it. He is an inferior wizard to Edana’s, focused on greed and the accumulation of wealth rather than power.”