The Dragon Nimbus Novels: Volume III: Volume III

and not from a rank arbitrarily assigned. That had been one of the hardest lessons he’d had to learn.
    When the room cleared again and the desk closed, King Darville sat down heavily in the window seat. Mikka curled up against him, like a cat seeking a lap in the waning sunlight. “I am tired of all these plots,” Darville said upon a weary sigh. “Let’s put your plan into effect as soon as possible. I think we need to summon Jaylor,” he said while leaning his head back against the precious glass covering of the window.
    “My thoughts exactly,” Mikka added, stroking her husband’s cheek. The she touched her abdomen, just above her womb, where she had carried five babes and lost all of them before they quickened. “I am willing to share this body only with the children my husband and I conceive out of love. The cat has to go. I have long lost all affection for the pet I once considered the other half of myself.”
    “I’ll need at least three other master magicians, two purple dragons, and you, Your Grace, in the clearing on Sacred Isle tonight as the moon crests the oak trees.”
    “And is my presence required?” Darville asked. Again that half-ironic gesture of one raised eyebrow.
    “Advisable, but not required.”
    “Is the clearing large enough to accommodate all of those you do require. You must include Shayla in your entourage. I cannot imagine the mother dragon allowing you to play with two of her precious babies without her. And Brevelan, too. She won’t want to miss something this big involving her best friend, her husband, and her dragons,” Mikka added with a smile. She and Darville had shared a number of adventures with Jaylor and Brevelan before duty and responsibility had weighed so heavily upon all their shoulders.
    “We may be a bit crowded,” Jack admitted. “But I believe Brevelan must stay home tonight. She’s expecting again, very soon.”
    “Yes, she is. Twins this time, I believe.” Mikka looked at her hands where she plucked at the satiny texture of her brocade gown. “Even for my best friend, I will not postpone this ceremony. We will have to perform it without Brevelan’s supervision.”
    “Lock the door again and armor the desk against eavesdropping.” Darville roused from his seat, leaving his wife there to stare at her own inner thoughts. “Send your summons to Jaylor from here.”
    “Should be the safest place in the palace for a while. The man with the witchlight speeding away from here should draw the witch-sniffers after him.” Jack pulled energy from the nearest ley line to fuel his spells. The magic tingled through his body in welcome waves. He drank it in, relishing the power that fed his talent and energized his mind. The pattern of tingles was different from dragon magic, but more familiar. He knew how to mold this power precisely.
    Besides he didn’t have a purple-tipped dragon at his fingertips to give him power.
    If he’d been able to gather dragon magic from the air, he’d have been accepted by the University and Commune as a child. But if he’d been accepted and nurtured, he’d not have learned the strength and resilience his adventures had taught him. He’d not have met Katrina, or found the lair of the dragons to bring them home.
    Katrina wouldn’t be planning their wedding for tomorrow if . . .
    Breathing deeply in the early stages of a trance, he set a candle upon the desk and sat in the king’s chair. He couldn’t settle comfortably in the furniture custom-made for the tall and lanky man who paced the room like a caged wolf. Jack moved to the smaller visitor’s chair. It wasn’t exactly comfortable either, made that way to discourage visitors from lingering unnecessarily. But the size was better suited to Jack’s shorter, stockier figure.
    Only then did he retrieve a special shard of glass hidden deep within his scrip. Possession of the precious and rare piece marked him as a magician. As a master magician, he was entitled to a much larger, gold-framed piece. Even journeymen used a larger piece than this. But they were harder to hide. And other than an occasional summons to Jaylor, or a bubble of armor to ensure privacy, he wasn’t supposed to work any magic while in the capital.
    A middling trance settled on his mind. His eyes crossed slightly, and the flame doubled and wavered in his sight. He looked through the glass into the flame.
    “Flame to flame, glass to glass, like seeking like, follow my thoughts to the one I