The Dragon Nimbus Novels: Volume II

shan’t make. Now I am through explaining myself to you. You have chores and lessons. I don’t want to see you again until they are complete.”
    Konnaught looked as if he wanted to argue, then turned sharply on his heel and stalked out of the room. “You’ll pay for this, little king. I’ll make you pay when I rule this land,” he muttered as he slammed the door behind him.
    Quinnault vowed to find a wife quickly. If only there was someone else he could name his heir in the interim. Konnaught d’Astrismos must never be allowed to rule, even for a heartbeat. In the meantime . . .
    “Guard!” he called the sentry posted outside his door. “Have my steed saddled. I join the search for Nimbulan and for the Rovers. I don’t want a stone left unturned anywhere in Coronnan. They can’t have gotten far without leaving a trail.”
     
    “Thank you, Seannin.” Nimbulan saluted the young blue-tipped dragon. He rested both hands against the animal’s side as his feet reaccustomed themselves to the Kardia.
    Nimbulan hadn’t wanted to leave Coronnan just yet. There were still clues to be gleaned from that strange clearing by the river where Televarn had disappeared. The little girl who was supposed to have fetched a book for him needed to be questioned. But Seannin had insisted he fly Nimbulan and Rollett away now. The dragon couldn’t delay any longer. Shayla awaited him. No dragon dared disobey Shayla.
    Few humans did either.
    Rollett clambered down from the animal’s back, also unsteady. He looked as if he wanted to heave his last meal.
    “The flight was gentle, boy,” Nimbulan said. He gripped Rollett’s shoulder affectionately. “Last time I rode a dragon, we hit a high crosswind. I thought I’d be blown off.”
    Rollett turned a little green and gulped.
    (I can take you no farther, Nimbulan,) Seannin sounded apologetic.
    Nimbulan looked down a steep escarpment from the ledge where the dragon had landed. The air was thinner and drier at this elevation than he was accustomed to in the river valleys. He didn’t recognize the sparse, low-growing vegetation with thick needlelike leaves and tiny flowers.
    “You have brought us farther than we could walk alone in a moon or more. For that I thank you, Seannin. You and all of the nimbus of dragons.” A moon closer to finding Myrilandel than he was this morning when he left Coronnan City. Hopefully he was closer to some answers as well.
    (You may not thank us when you face Hanassa.) The dragon bunched his muscles as if eager to be gone from this hostile environment.
    “Seannin, why didn’t the dragons tell me before this is where Myrilandel was hidden?”
    (You didn’t look for her. We will not show you something you do not seek, not even in a dragon dream.)
    Nimbulan dropped his head and closed his eyes. Seannin was right. He’d let Quinnault keep him in the capital for too long before he tried returning to Myri’s clearing. Only when Shayla had broken the Covenant between dragons and humans had he actively looked for his wife and their two foster children.
    But he’d looked with magic, not with his heart.
    Amaranth had died because Nimbulan hadn’t sought Myri earlier. If Nimbulan had gone to his wife, might he have prevented her kidnap into Hanassa?
    Now he had to make that search his primary quest. He wouldn’t rest until he found Myri, Kalen, and Powwell. Kings and treaties and magic schools had to wait—or find a new Senior Magician.
    Could he willingly give up all he’d worked for just to be with Myri for the rest of his life?
    He’d think about that later. After his wife and children were free of Hanassa.
    “Where must I go from here?” Nimbulan searched the mountainside for signs of a trail.
    (Follow your heart to Myrilandel. Only you do we trust to save her. The youngling will help you, but only you can find her. We can do nothing more to help. Hanassa is forbidden to true dragons.)
    “I don’t understand. Myri was one of you. Dragons can fly anywhere. Why can’t you go into Hanassa?”
    (We do not fly over or near Hanassa.) Seannin bunched his muscles again in preparation for flight.
    Nimbulan stepped out of the way of the powerful wings. Seannin launched himself off the ledge and into flight. He thrust down with his wings and rose above Nimbulan’s head.
    The channel of communication from the dragon’s mind snapped shut. Nimbulan felt curiously empty and alone without the few words the dragon had given him. As alone as Myri must