The Dragon Nimbus Novels: Volume II

her.
    “Trees! It will take us to Coronnan.” Powwell pulled his arm free of her grasp and took two rapid steps toward escape.
    Don’t leave me alone, Kalen’s mental voice pleaded with him. You have to take me with you. You have to get me out of here. You are the only one who loves me.
    He slumped sadly against the wall. He had to wait.
    Come to me soon, Kalen. I can’t endure this much longer.

Chapter 20
     
    “I will have to lie through my teeth to convince these hidebound lords,” Quinnault said quietly. He patted Katie’s hand where it rested on his arm. Since the conclusion of the negotiations with Kinnsell, he had been in constant touch with her. He kept a gentle hand at the small of her back, her hand on his arm; he brushed a stray curl from her brow; or brushed his leg against hers as they walked.
    At each touch her mind brushed his, and he knew completeness. He didn’t know everything about her yet. But he knew enough. She still had secrets from him, but she couldn’t lie to him.
    If she stepped beyond his reach for more than a heartbeat, or withdrew her mind from his, he felt cold and awkward and terribly, achingly alone.
    They paused outside the Council Chamber where the lords in residence had been hastily summoned to approve the royal marriage.
    “I was told that your government is new. How can these men be hidebound?” Her humor sparkled in her eyes like green stars. A mature humor despite her childlike stature. The top of her head only reached his shoulder. Her figure was hidden beneath her old-fashioned gown with a long train. The heavy woolen fabric must weigh a ton. And she’d worn it beneath the now cast-off draperies. Why wasn’t she suffering from the heat generated by the thick cloth?
    He wished she’d share the joke with him.
    “My lords come from a long tradition of caution. Some of them believe that we have recreated the government by the few for the few. My sense of responsibility for the people and the land is new to them. They will see you as a disruption of their carefully protected privilege. Each has a candidate for my bride. They seek only to bind me closer to them and away from others rather than thinking of the security of the entire kingdom.”
    “Then we will have to convince them that I am precisely what they want me to be, a foreign princess who brings trade to make them rich and you grateful to them for their wealth.” Her full lips pouted, and she bit her cheeks trying to hide a smile.
    “They will want to see a signed treaty.”
    “I will have Kinnsell draw one up in the morning.” This time the smile burst through her attempts at restraint.
    Quinnault lost contact with the Kardia and his head as he stared at her mouth, longing to kiss her.
    “We are to be married tomorrow and you haven’t kissed me yet. Isn’t it customary to seal a betrothal with a kiss?” She looked up at him, mouth slightly parted, eyes completely serious.
    “Did you read my mind again?”
    “I didn’t have to. Kiss me, Scarecrow. Kiss me and make me forget my fears.”
    “You are a princess. Diplomatic marriages are expected of the offspring of an emperor.”
    “Diplomatic marriages among our own kind, among cultures that are similar to our own. Marriages that bring close alliances and the chance to visit home once in a while. You need to know that I will never again be able to contact my family or friends. I have sacrificed myself so that my people can have the Tambootie.”
    “Your plague must be decimating your people terribly.”
    “Worse.”
    “Do you have this mysterious plague?” Caution chilled his ardor. “Will your people bring it here, by design or chance?”
    “No. I have been one of the lucky ones. The plague is one of the reasons we have disguised our appearances. The veils have been specially made to act as a barrier for the plague. If I should carry the dormant virus and pass it to our children, I know how to distill the Tambootie for a cure. Your people are safe from us.”
    “Then your people will be saved by the Tambootie and my people will gain a defensible port as well as a queen. When the succession is secured, Coronnan will finally be able to put aside the fear of civil war, provided our marriage doesn’t start a new one. I have worked for this moment a long time. I didn’t expect to find a wife I could love and cherish, too.”
    “Will you kiss me to seal the bargain, then?” She reached up to pull his face down to hers.
    He brushed his