the most gifted sorcerer’s in existence, is living there, Chayce is as well.”
“Yes, sir. We believe so.” Darius shrugged. “Hell, Jackson, he’d be a fool to leave Thaddeus, and no matter what any of us think of Chayce, he’s no fool.”
No, he wasn’t. He was smart, devious, and pure evil. They’d do well not to underestimate him.
“Thank you, Darius. Elijah?”
Elijah, the Cymmeran prophet, had been one of his father’s most trusted advisors and head of the Peacekeeping Council. If anyone could have found a nonviolent solution to the threat Chayce posed, it would have been Elijah, who had helped raise Jackson and Chayce. Even he had voted for Chayce’s execution.
“Your Majesty.” Elijah rifled through the papers scattered on the table in front of him. After selecting a few pages, he pushed his chair back and rose, then lingered beside his seat before setting them aside in exchange for a book.
Didn’t anyone in this chamber realize the need to hurry? By the time they got around to going after Chayce, he’d be long gone. “What have you seen?”
He propped the big book on the podium, opened it, and paged leisurely through. The crackle of the ancient tome’s crisp pages echoed through the chamber. Elijah’s visions often dictated the course of action Cymmeran leaders would take. His words in the next few minutes would most likely be the deciding factor in how they proceeded, would determine the fate of Cymmera.
Those seated propped onto the edges of their seats. Those standing leaned forward.
Even Max sat straighter, his ears perked up.
The silence hummed with anticipation.
Jackson held his tongue. If the prophet was moving this slowly, surely there was reason. He’d often scolded Jackson that things needed to happen when they were supposed to happen, not necessarily when Jackson wanted them to happen.
“Your Majesty.” He ran his finger over a page and frowned. “I have been…interested…in this area of Argonas for quite some time. My visions in this matter have been vague of late. Too vague really, yet…” Elijah muttered something to himself. “Unfortunately, this is not the path down which my sight has been taking me. Other visions have consumed most of my attention. Visions of what will happen. Of what must happen if this kingdom is to survive.” He assessed Ryleigh, his expression vacant, as it often was when a vision gripped him.
She frowned at Jackson and shifted in her seat.
Elijah returned to his senses with a shake of his head. “I can tell you this information is just the beginning. Not only the beginning of this battle, but the beginning of a new—”
The chamber door swung open, and Mia strode through carrying a small scroll. “I’ve found it, Elijah, but—”
“Thank you, Princess.” He took the scroll and placed it atop his book.
“Elijah, please, listen—”
“That’s enough, Mia.” The prophet was unusually abrupt. “Please. Do as I asked.”
“But—” Mia sobbed.
He gripped her upper arms, bringing her face to face with him. If not for the tomblike silence in the chamber, he would not likely have been heard. “Mia. We’ve been over and over this. There is no other way.”
When he released her, she wiped her eyes with the sleeves of her oversized sweatshirt and stayed where she was.
He cupped her cheek. “I trust you will do what you must, my child.”
She leaned into his delicate hand, closed her eyes, covered his hand with her own, and nodded.
Elijah stepped back and lowered his hand. “Go, now. Quickly. The events have already been set in motion, not by our doing. There is no turning back now.”
She turned to leave, spun back, threw her arms around Elijah’s neck, and mumbled something against his chest before fleeing the chamber.
Ryleigh jumped up.
Jackson gripped her wrist, stood, and leaned close. Mindful of how sound carried in the chamber, he whispered, “Allow her to do what Elijah has asked. We will seek her out together once this is done and make sure she’s all right.”
“I—”
“Please?”
Staring after Mia, Ryleigh caught her lower lip between her teeth, glanced at Max, then perched on the edge of her seat and folded her hands on the table in front of her. She twined her fingers together so tightly her knuckles turned white.
Elijah wiped tears from his cheeks and returned his attention to Jackson. “Sir. It is time. Argonas will need protection from the coming war.” His expression hardened, no trace of the fragile man who’d held Mia, who’d spent his entire existence in search of peace, remained. “As will Cymmera. You will need to arrange for that before you begin your journey.”
“Journey? To Argonas?”
“Yes, Your Majesty. You will cross the barren lands until you reach the great mountains. Once there, you will leave the dragons at the base and climb to the very top.”
“Is that where I’ll find Chayce?”
“That, sir”—Elijah’s gaze bored through him, his crystal blue eyes hard as ice—“is where you’ll find your destiny.”
Jackson had lived with Elijah’s cryptic messages his entire life. The prophet couldn’t give any more information than necessary to achieve missions he dictated. But this was extreme, even for Elijah.
Elijah approached him and placed a scroll on the table in front of him.
The scroll Mia had brought in? Jackson couldn’t be sure. His attention had wandered for just a moment or two when Ryleigh had stood to leave, long enough to make it possible for Elijah to switch the scrolls.
Elijah tapped the scroll with a fingernail. “Then, and only then, when you have reached the highest peak, open this. It will tell you everything you need to know to save that which you hold dearest.” A tear sparkled in his lower lashes. He turned away and gestured to Caleb to take his place at the podium.
Caleb Sloane, head of the War Council, approached the podium. “Your Majesties.” He bowed his head to Jackson and Ryleigh. “If I may?”
Now in even more of a hurry to be on his way, Jackson nodded for Caleb to continue.
“I assume you will take the Death Dealers to the great mountains.” Caleb rubbed one thick hand down his goatee.
Elijah sat tall, hands in his lap, looking straight ahead. His gaze shot to Jackson.
Startled by the intensity of his stare, Jackson jumped.
Elijah nodded and returned to staring off in front of himself.
As Caleb grabbed both sides of the podium and leaned his considerable bulk forward, it creaked.
Jackson half expected it to collapse and send Caleb sprawling.
He cleared his throat. “I would like to leave the Queen’s Army here with half the Cymmeran Guard. I will take the other half of the Guardsmen to Argonas to provide protection to its citizens.”
Jackson turned to the head of his Security Council. “Darius?”
Darius slid his chair back and stood. “I agree, sir. I will remain here and see to the protection of Cymmera.”
“Very well then.” Jackson shot to his feet, practically vibrating with the need to take action. “Ready the dragons, and make the necessary preparations. We will leave immediately.”
Ryleigh started toward the door beside him. “I can see to Mia.”
“I’ll go with you. It will take some time to get everything ready.”