The Dragon Nimbus Novels: Volume III: Volume III

by magic and pregnancy. This was a talent Rejiia and the coven did not know about. She could identify individuals by smell from one hundred paces, she could tell what Cook prepared for dinner before the dishes began cooking. And she knew that the passing steeds pulling the sledges had left a great deal of dung on the path.
    She would not traverse this trail. No matter what Rejiia ordered. She would not go there!
    “I’ll not follow orders blindly anymore. I carry the heir. I shall make all my own decisions.” She kicked her placid mare into a sprightly trot, leaving the noisome trail behind.
    “Why did you tarry there, daughter?” Lord Laislac asked as she rode alongside him.
    “I thought it might lead someplace interesting.” She dismissed the topic.
    Lord Andrall immediately looked back over his shoulder at the trail and up the hill. As his gaze came to the crest, his eyes widened. “I do not like well-traversed trails branching off to old ruins. They speak of outlaw hideouts.”
    “An abandoned monastery.” Laislac kept his voice light, but his eyes remained fixed on the same spot as Lord Andrall’s. “The locals proclaim it haunted and do not go near. Outlaws heed them.”
    Ariiell squinted and called up her FarSight. Nothing but a pile of old stones shrouded in mist.
    “Tales of haunting are often spread by outlaws and bandits to keep the locals away. I’m going to investigate.” Andrall yanked his reins so his steed would make the tight turn onto the trail. Mardall steered his own mount to follow his father.
    “Milord, you cannot go there alone!” Lady Lynnetta protested, hand to her throat.
    “Half of the men with me, weapons at the ready. The rest stay close to the ladies,” he called to the troop of retainers behind them.
    “Not without me,” Laislac muttered.
    “No, P’pa,” Ariiell protested. Amazing, just when she decided not to obey Rejiia’s orders, her father proceeded to force her to follow them. “You cannot leave us with such meager protection.” She waved to indicate her stepmother and Lady Lynnetta. Then she placed her hand on the bulge of her belly in silent reminder of the importance of the child she carried.
    “No one will disturb you on the main road. Go up to the village if you are frightened.” Laislac pushed his steed onto the side trail.
    Lord Andrall looked as if he would protest the safety of the road and village. Then he firmed his jaw and turned in the wake of his great-brother. The men at arms followed. The retainers and servants milled about, uncertain of which way to go.
    Ariiell rolled her eyes up in exasperation. “I’m not going to be left behind.” She joined the trek up the hillside. Behind her the others followed her lead.
    “This had better be good, Rejiia.”
    In the back of her head she heard a malicious chuckle.

Chapter 34
     
    “W here’d he go?” Margit stared at the space where Marcus had just been. She shook her hand to free it of the curious burn on top of the bruising from connecting so firmly with his jaw. “The bastard must have used the transport spell to disappear on me again. S’murghin’ coward couldn’t tell me to my face he expects me to sit quietly at home bearing his brats and babysitting his apprentices! What makes him think I want that kind of life? What makes him think . . .”
    “I’m right here, Margit, right where you dumped me on the ground.” Marcus’ voice came to her from a great distance.
    “Where?” She looked around for the source of his voice. Only Jack and Katrina with the blasted flywacket and another man and woman and a lot of steeds and sledges stood in the courtyard. “Where?” she repeated.
    “Right here!” the once-beloved voice sounded angry now. “You could have told me your dreams. Instead you let me ramble on about my hopes for the future and you never said a word. You could have told me you don’t really love me. You only wanted to use me as a means to wander the world.”
    The thickening fog distorted the air into a vague manlike shape, like looking at a dragon, but . . . but dragons had more solidity.
    “You never said anything to me about settling down. All you did was retell your adventures on the road. I thought you wanted to keep traveling, take me with you on your journeys.” Margit gulped back a sob, trying to rekindle the anger that had propelled her. “Jack, what’s going on?” She looked to the one magician who might figure out this puzzle.
    “Your anger must