The Dragon Nimbus Novels: Volume II

than a partner.” Yaala stood up, ending the conversation. “I think the summons is working.”
    Myri felt Nimbulan’s growing excitement through her talent. The silver cord vibrated in tune with the magic pulsing through the glass.
    “Lyman, you have to warn the king,” Nimbulan said into the glass. He looked tired and hungry from his efforts to contact his friend at the school.
    “Not now, Nimbulan. We’re all very busy.” Lyman’s voice was so strong they all heard the message. “Shayla says you are safe. That is enough for now.”
    The communication ended abruptly, leaving them alone on the vulnerable mountain pass.

Chapter 34
     
    “G et a healer!” Quinnault bellowed. He lay Katie flat against the wooden platform of the dais and began breathing into her mouth.
    (She will be difficult to live with, Quinnault. Are you sure you wish to mate with her for all time?) Amusement tinged Shayla’s voice.
    “Be quiet, I’m trying to save her life, Shayla.”
    (She lives. Your efforts are redundant.) Again that irritating chuckle invaded his mind.
    Beneath his hands, Katie stirred. Relieved that the dragon was correct, he raised his head enough to glare at Shayla. “The shock could have killed her.”
    “It very nearly did,” Katie whispered. Then she raised her right hand and slapped him soundly across the face.
    “What was that for?” He reared back, dropping her back to the dais with a thump. He fingered his right cheek delicately. He’d be lucky if it weren’t bruised for the wedding ceremony and banquet. Not a good precedent to set for the beginning of a lifelong commitment.
    “That was for every man in my life who presumes to know what my duty is and what is best for me. And since my father and brothers, and esteemed royal grandfather aren’t here to collect their share, you get it all.” She sat up, pushing away from his hovering presence. An angry flush replaced the paleness on her cheeks.
    Some of her fears leaked through to his mind—the chill morning breeze against her nearly naked body, and the hostility of the lords and magicians surrounding her. He smiled, realizing that only he stood between her and all those terrible things. Things he could protect her from.
    Shayla pushed her enormous muzzle closer.
    Katie slapped her away—somewhat more gently than she had Quinnault. “Go away. I told you I don’t like other . . . beings mucking about in my mind. That goes for you too, Daddy!” She directed her last words toward the islands in the Bay. “Telepathy made me special back home. Here, it’s a nuisance. I don’t want any more of it.” Anger banished all those fears. But the faintest tremble touched her lower lip.
    Quinnault wanted nothing more than to kiss it back into stubborn firmness.
    “She’s a magician. We can’t have a rogue magician for a queen. The marriage treaty is voided!” Lord Hanic shouted across the courtyard. The other lords pressed closer, along with the magicians to look more closely at the angry princess.
    “You can’t break a dragon-blessed treaty, Hanic,” Lyman reminded the Council member. “Nor can you depose a dragon-blessed monarch. You wrote that law and forced it upon the Council.”
    Lord Hanic glared at Lyman, standing his ground. He opened his mouth to issue another pronouncement. Shayla turned her gaze on the man before he said anything. Quickly he closed his mouth with an audible click of his teeth and backed away from the dragon.
    “I’m not a magician, and I don’t want to be one. I can read minds a little, and that’s too much,’ she retorted. “For seven hundred years, the only telepaths we’ve been able to find in my—um—country are in my family. Kinnsell wanted to take some of your magicians home to study them. I wouldn’t let him. Telepathy is a curse. From now on, I swear to keep my thoughts to myself and stay out of everyone else’s!” Except for you, Scarecrow. I couldn’t keep you out if I tried. “I’ll take drugs to suppress my talent if I have to.”
    Quinnault sat back on his heels, amazed at the transformation of his gentle princess into this spitting spotted saber cat. Some of Shayla’s humor spilled over into him.
    “You are the most beautiful woman in the world!” he laughed uproariously.
    “Stifle it, Scarecrow, before I pack my bags and run far, far away from this dirty backwater.”
    He ended her tirade with a kiss. She pummeled his chest with her fists. He captured them and deepened his assault