The Dragon Nimbus Novels: Volume I: Volume I

was incapable of making a decision and allowed the Council to rule without interference. Now that Darville was trying to assert authority, the same Council was fighting him for control of every decision. Even when they lacked a decision, the Council would not agree to one proffered by Darville.
    “Like me, your father wasn’t born old and weak-willed. We had our bold moments, just as you and Jaylor had yours. That is why I didn’t stop your childhood pranks. I could have, you know.” Baamin extended a hand to assist Darville to his feet.
    “You knew about our friendship?” Darville and Jaylor had always considered that portion of their young lives quite secret.
    “I am Senior Magician, Roy.” He invoked Jaylor’s nickname for the royal son who wished for anonymity. “As well as Chancellor of the University. Very little occurs on University Island or Palace Isle that I don’t know about.”
    “Even the time Jaylor taught me to swim at Sacred Isle?”
    “That was your first meeting, was it not?”
    Darville nodded.
    “You were thirteen and Jaylor eleven. Who do you think made it possible for you to steal a boat and for Jaylor to slip away from his lessons?”
    “And the time he carried me home from festival dead drunk?”
    Baamin shook his head in mild dismay. “I didn’t find out about that until you awoke the next morning with the worst hangover in history. I arranged for the healer to dose you against the whore’s pox in his vile remedy for your more obvious symptoms. I do hope you have learned to be a little more . . . ah . . . discreet in your liaisons.” One bushy white eyebrow raised in rebuke.
    Darville looked away in sadness. He and Jaylor had shared much as teenagers. But never the women. Jaylor took his magic too seriously to risk losing it by bedding a woman.
    Until Brevelan.
    The bond among the three of them was so strong that there had been no jealousy, no need for discussion. Just a natural need to be complete. All three of them.
    But in the end, Brevelan had chosen Jaylor as her mate. She, with her special brand of magic, must have known that the child she carried was fathered by Jaylor’s seed and not Darville’s. He could not imagine Brevelan choosing any man but the father of her child.
    “I haven’t been with a woman since Brevelan and Jaylor married.”
    “I haven’t been with a woman since I was elected Senior Magician. I allowed myself one last wild night before assuming responsibility for the Commune.” Baamin paused a moment, lost in memory. “I often wondered what became of that dark-eyed beauty. I never saw her again.”
    Baamin gestured to the gaping desk, breaking the somber mood. “Who’s first, you or me?”
    Dwelling on the past would gain nothing for either of them. Darville needed a princess as his wife and mother to his children. Rossemikka came with impeccable breeding and an admirable dowry of ten thousand trained troops to cut off the menace of SeLenicca. But before he could marry her, he had to discover the secret that existed between the woman and his cat.
    “I go alone. You need to stay here and make sure the members of the Council believe I am with you. They will not take kindly to this escapade.”
    “No, they will not. They fear anything to do with magic these days, even their own magician advisers. I think the Commune is allowed to post those advisers only because the University of Magicians produces the best educated men in the three kingdoms. The time may soon come when all magic is outlawed. Then only outlaws will throw magic.”
    “Come, Mica.” Darville lifted the steeping cat from her latest nest on the windowsill. She snuggled contentedly into his arms and purred loudly. Darville stroked her silken fur with fondness. This might be the last time he held his favorite companion in this guise. He wanted to cherish the moment.
    Baamin lit a small candle lantern from the sconce on the wall and handed it to Darville. “Be careful, Your Grace. If anything untoward occurs, you have only to touch the dragon earring and picture me in your mind. I will find a way to come to your rescue.”

Chapter 13
     
    M y rival reeks of Tambootie once more . His trail should have been easy to follow . Yet I couldn’t face the void . Not alone, without guidance or an anchor to this reality.
    I thought my rival had broken his addiction. And yet, on the very night he disappears in the elusive transport spell, he returns with the drug heavy on him. The oils