The Dragon Nimbus Novels: Volume I: Volume I

the return of my grandson!” Zolltarn looked ready to dance circles around the fire.
    (Enough, youngster,) an affronted dragon commanded. If a dragon could blush, Baamin appeared to.
    Jack drew Katrina up with him, wrapping his arm around her shoulders.
    “Tomorrow or the next day will do, Jack,” Jaylor chuckled. “Before His Grace is ready to return to the capital, we must deal with Queen Rossemikka’s pesky cat.” He winked at the queen, who looked very much at home in the rough camp. She’d made a comfortable nest for Corby out of her veil and left her hair loose around her shoulders as she dished stew from the communal cauldron.
    “I knew she had a cat hidden somewhere,” Margit muttered. “I hate cats.”
    “That’s not going to be easy, sir. I’ll need some time to study and experiment.” Jack turned his gaze away from the grumbling girl apprentice and the smiling queen. Her double aura fascinated him.
    “I can’t be away from the capital much longer, Jaylor,” Darville reminded them.
    “The spells need to be thrown here, so we can guarantee privacy. Magic is not yet legal in Coronnan,” Jaylor said. “For now, I’ll send Jack with you, disguised as Sergeant Fred’s assistant. You can all return here when you are ready, Jack. But you’ll have to shave that beard. Square cuts aren’t very popular in Coronnan City.”
    Jack fingered the growth of hair on his face. He liked the image of himself as a bearded, exotic foreigner. Katrina seemed to like touching it. Maybe he’d just trim it to a more rounded shape.
    “You can also advise me about new ambassadors to SeLenicca, Jack.” King Darville stretched and took a long sip of his ale.
    “The best way to establish peaceful relations with our neighbors is to help them rebuild,” Jack said more to Katrina than his king.
    “We will no longer be enemies?” Katrina interjected. She fingered a bright agate in the palm of her hand. Jack had placed a translation spell into the stone to help her communicate.
    “We’ll be friends, allies. Family.” Jack gazed deeply into her eyes. “We can begin breaking down the barriers right here and now. If you will be my wife, Katrina, you won’t be alone anymore.”
    “Do the dragons come with you as part of the family?” A tiny smile touched the corner of her mouth, belying the glistening of tears that glazed her eyes and the trembling of her chin.
    “Amaranth and Iianthe do.” Jack reached to pet the purple-tipped dragon heads. Neither dragonet had been out of reach since the incredible swelling and combining of three forms of magic he had experienced in the clearing this morning.
    Rufan grunted in jealous displeasure. The red-tipped dragonet butted his head between Margit and Fred into the sergeant’s lap, begging for similar pets.
    (My boys are not yet ready to leave the nest,) Shayla insisted. She stretched her wing and shoulder stiffly as if to gather her young to her side. A trail of loosened lace drifted to the ground from her hasty bandage.
    Katrina hurried to rescue the doily. Jack followed her across the cave. He couldn’t let her go without an answer.
    Brevelan and Mikka stood beside him, looking over his shoulder at the damaged wing.
    “I think we should remove the patches and work a proper healing for both Shayla and Darville,” Brevelan mused. She began working the loose edges free.
    Katrina reached to help. Her fingers seemed more concerned with preserving the lace than protecting the delicate membranes beneath.
    “Don’t bother,” Darville laughed, waving his left arm freely. “I think the patch worked a miracle on both of us.”
    “We’ll see about that, Darville.” Mikka looked closely at his arm. “The blackness is completely gone!” she gasped in amazement, then turned her attention back to the lace-covered dragon wing.
    Bit by bit the ladies handed Jack the lace. Square pieces. Round doilies. Yards of edging. Amazingly, it was all as white and pure as when it was first made. The Tambrin fibers vibrated mildly, reminding him of the power within.
    “The wing is healed!” Brevelan and Mikka gasped together.
    “Told you so,” Darville smiled. The women grabbed his arm again and compared the newly pink skin against the dragon wing. All traces of black burns were gone.
    “With our Tambootie and your lacemakers, we’ll all be rich.” Jack turned away from the healers and their patients. “Our farmers will replant the devastated trees if they can see a profit