The Dragon Nimbus Novels: Volume II

drops of Water trailed from the creature’s paw back to Televarn’s hand.
    “Just keep me afloat until I reach School Isle and I’ll set you free,” he whispered to the boat.
    Water quivered, wanting to be included in the promise. Televarn glared at the rebelling element. It stilled. “You’ll be free when you complete the task I have for you and not before. Nimbulan won’t survive the day. Then Myrilandel will be free of the spell he holds over her and she will come to my bed gratefully—as she did when first we met.”
     
    The darkness of the void faded from Myri’s senses. Amaranth’s cries faded from her mind. An irresistible urge to leave her body and fly to her familiar made her stretch her arms wide again to catch the wind. But she was deep within the Kaalipha’s palace on the leeward side of a volcanic crater. No wind stirred to lift her dormant wings. The elongated bumps on her spine didn’t stretch into horns to act as rudders while in flight.
    Over and over she relived the moment Amaranth died. His pain and terrible loneliness swamped her awareness of everything, even the cries of her daughter.
    “Make that child stop crying!” Yaassima ordered. Her eyes grew wide in growing frustration. Then her tone softened and her eyes narrowed. “You are making us late for the ceremonies assigning commissions to my followers.”
    Myri only half heard the older woman’s verbal caress. Amaranth! her mind screamed.
    “We must plan the Festival of Naming for your baby. All of Hanassa will rejoice when I name the child my heir.” Yaassima clapped her hands together in delight.
    How long had she been in the void, unaware of Yaassima’s entrance into the common room of the suite? The Kaalipha had obviously been prattling for some time.
    Myri fought the urge to transform. She had to stay aware and keep Yaassima away from her baby. Her best defense against the bloodthirsty Kaalipha of Hanassa was to stay out of her way and her thoughts until she found a means to escape Hanassa.
    Oh, Amaranth, I’m sorry. I didn’t intend for you to fly to your death. When she escaped, would she share the fate of her birth twin?
    “Only my husband has the right to name my child,” she reminded the Kaalipha of the tradition so old it had become law. Her need to fly faded a little with her efforts to control herself.
    Amaranth! How will I live without you. Did you warn Nimbulan?
    “We are kin, you and I.” Yaassima caressed Myri’s unbound hair. “Your husband abdicated his rights to the child when he exiled you. Now I claim the right of kinship and naming. Come to the Justice Hall now. ’Tis your duty to observe how I delegate the commissions and the fees. You and the child must grow into the heritage I give you.”
    “The rich and powerful of Kardia Hodos come to you only when they need the death of a rival and the disruption of trade.” Myri kept her back turned toward Yaassima, hiding the tears that gathered in her eyes.
    “I will not deal in death and destruction, Kaalipha.” Myri stiffened her spine and her resolve to escape. Amaranth’s death would not be in vain. Until then she had to maintain rigid control of herself and her emotions. Grief for Amaranth must wait. She could betray no trace of weakness before Yaassima.
    Like a dragon, she must remain invisible while she watched and waited for the best opportunity to escape.
    “You are thinking too fondly of your treacherous husband, Myrilandel. I can tell.” Yaassima sounded petulant. “He is but a distant part of your past. Better you should think about how to control Moncriith the Bloodmage.” Yaassima licked her lips. “I have given Moncriith permission to gather mercenary forces against Coronnan. His planned invasion of your brother’s kingdom won’t keep him busy long once he learns that you are here. He is so very single-minded in his obsession. I find his rants about blood and fire and the demons you control quite amusing.”
    Myri felt all the heat leave her face. The man she feared most in the world, the one who had stalked her from village to village all her life, lived. Lived here in Hanassa. He wouldn’t stop with burning Myri at the stake. He’d murder her baby as well. At least her other enemies, Yaassima and Televarn, wanted her alive.
    “Remember this, Myrilandel, if ever you step outside my palace, into the city, I will make certain Moncriith hears about it. He will seize and destroy you. So you see, all your pretty plans to