We entered the castle, and were taken to a drawing room, with a table in front of the fire. Jaik seemed tense in here, although his posture just became straighter and more perfect, his answers more clipped.
Teris came into the room, his deep green robes streaming behind him. “My boys,” he said warmly. He’d always been a favorite for all of us. When we were boys, he’d been amused by our pranks and mishaps, and he’d seemed genuinely fond of us all. He greeted Talisyn by clasping his shoulders, looking at him with genuine warmth.
For most of my life, I’d have done anything to get my father to look at me the way Teris looked at Talisyn.
But Tal just nodded, his distaste for his father barely concealed by his stoic expression. He didn’t smile back at his father. Teris seemed hopeful, just like always, and just like always, after a moment, he dimmed.
The way Tal acted around his father always annoyed me.
“We’re ready for you in the strategy room,” he said, raising an arm to usher us all that way. He reached out and clapped my shoulder as I passed. “How are you, Lynx? Last time I had the chance to really talk with Tal, he told me about how you saved all their asses with that spell to defeat a Gnobhub.”
“Reading will save your life,” I said lightly.
“I’m glad you’re out there with them,” Teris said, clapping my shoulder again before moving on. He fell back to talk to Talisyn, or at least, to try to, as we all walked through the echoing marble halls toward the strategy room.
I used to wish Teris was my father. He saw the way my father treated me and always paid special attention to me as if he were trying to make up for it. Talisyn said he was a manipulative monster and maybe he was. But Tal always had a tendency toward black-and-white thinking.
We walked into the strategy room, where Pend stood at the head of one of the sand tables, providing a raised map of the kingdom. We started to bow, and Pend said, “Oh, none of that, my boys, not today.”
Jaik only seemed to grow tenser, though he bowed his head to his father, who gestured him closer. Jaik walked to stand beside him, reminding me that even though the royals were all big men, Jaik was even taller than his father. Jaik crossed his arms, his spreading shoulders and powerful body giving away his role as a warrior despite his fine clothing.
“Our dear sons,” Pend said, spreading his arms wide to encompass us all. “Today is a challenging day for your fathers. The time will soon come for you all to replace us and take the throne. For years we served the first king, then we guided the kingdom after his passing, when the mantle of that responsibility passed to us. And soon, we’ll pass our own thrones on to you.”
He spoke as if it were going to be easy as inheritance. But we’d been preparing for today for a long time.
“For your last task to prove yourselves, before we of the older generation pass the crowns and the responsibilities that come with them to you, there’s one last test to prove yourself. And this test will leave you with the kingdom that is far more ready for your rule.” Pend smiled around at us, but no one smiled back. Arren looked as stone-faced as ever, and Talisyn looked as if he’d swallowed a nail. “I’m sending you to find the Lord of the Scourge.”
Jaik nodded slowly, looking unsurprised. “If no one has been able to find the Lord of the Scourge in two hundred years, why do you think we’re going to be able to do it now?”
Pend said, “I have every bit of faith in you all. Besides, the Lord of the Scourge has been far more visible lately. He’s been seen with his hybrids, many times.”
“His hybrids?” Talisyn demanded.
“Yes, his hybrids.” Teris fixed his son with a disappointed look. “I continue to be amazed at how much you can see us all as monsters. You seem to think that we raised the hybrids. Why do you think we would do that?”
That seemed like a rhetorical question. But I had certainly thought about it often. They could have created the hybrids themselves so something always kept the peasants eager to have the royals in power. Dragons had only risen to power with the rise of the Scourge after all. Shifters had been reviled before the Scourge made them essential to survival on our island.
“We are always obedient, Father,” Jaik said. To his father’s credit, Pend managed not to snicker. “You know we’ve never shied away from any mission and we are happy to go on this one in service of our king and kingdom. However, this does seem like a suicide mission.”
Lucien’s face paled.
“This is not a suicide mission. Not for my most capable warriors,” Pend disagreed.
“But it is a final test. It’s not supposed to be easy.” Joachim said. “It may be that some of you are not worthy. In that case, I assume this last test will allow the magic to weed out those of you who are not worthy of succession.”
I should’ve kept my mouth shut. But the way he didn’t even bother to look at me as he suggested that I’d most likely return from this mission a corpse made me furious.
I turned to Lucien. That was how desperate I was, I was talking to him voluntarily. You can tell that I’m not having a good day when I talk to Lucien voluntarily. “He’s talking about me. My father doesn’t think I’m worthy.”
“That’s simplistic,” Joachim disagreed, seeming completely unruffled. “You have many useful talents, my son. You’re simply not suited to ruling.”
“Lynx is a far better man than either you or me, Father,” Branok said.
Joachim snorted. He waved off Branok’s attempts to defend me, as he always did. He made it clear many times he considered my twin to be loyal to a fault, irrational, stupid for caring about me. None of that was unusual.
But what was unusual was that I could see Lucien react from the corner of my eye. He gave Branok a considering look—one that seemed almost appreciative. I wondered why Lucien cared.
Pend said, “At any rate. I’m confident you will succeed where my spies and soldiers have failed before. No one ever sees the six of you coming.”
“And I don’t suppose you have any ideas about how we get started finding him,” Talisyn asked. “Besides wandering around looking for hybrids to fight and hoping we get lucky.”
“It will be easier because he is obsessed with the dragon royals and always has been. If you make yourselves visible and perhaps appear vulnerable, the Lord of the Scourge may rise to the occasion, then you’ll have the chance to finally capture him.”
“So the plan is that we’re bait,” Branok said flatly.
“The plan is that you five are my finest warriors,” Pend said firmly, then gestured beside me.
“Well, we might lose our lives but at least we’ll have our egos,” Talisyn inserted lightly.
“My five finest warriors, and… Lucien,” Pend amended, glancing at Lucien. “But you must keep him with you, train him and protect him so he’ll be able to take his place serving with you all.”
Teris added, “There is another thought that I had, as well. The Lord of the Scourge had a family. Perhaps he still cares about them.”