Chapter 11
T anis wasn’t quite prepared for how much warmer it would be when Dash landed on a green, grassy knoll. This was much more like it, and it reminded her of home. “Where are we?”
“Alarium.”
The Elfin kingdom? Bold, given that the Elves weren’t friendly to either of their races. From what she knew, they were likely to be one of the kingdoms that had put up money to murder Dash. “Your wizard lives here?”
“He used to. I’m hoping he still does.” Dash tucked his wings in, and they vanished into his sides so seamlessly that she wanted to touch him and see how. But it might annoy him if she did.
Or worse, give her fantasies she didn’t want to have.
So instead, Tanis began peeling off the thick outer layers of her clothing. She’d barely finished when the tree next to her moved in her direction.
“Dryad! Dryad! Dryad! Oh, good Lord. It’s a dryad!” She danced away from the tree as such creatures normally didn’t get along with dragons. Mostly because they held grudges over dragons setting them on fire by accident.
Or sometimes on purpose.
Either way, they didn’t like her species.
“What do we do?” she asked.
“Try saying hi.” Dash held his hand out toward the nymph. “Good day, my lady.”
The tree sneezed then extended a branch toward him so that he could shake her leaves. “Good day, my king. Are you looking for Marthen?”
“I am. Is he here?”
“He was, until he wasn’t.”
Tanis had to bite her tongue. Wasn’t that always the case with everyone? But the dryad seemed sincere with her response, and for all his normal impatience with everyone else, Dash didn’t seem to mind the odd comment.
“Any idea which way he might have traveled?” Dash asked.
The dryad sneezed again. “Backwards.”
“Sounds like him to me. Thank you, my lady.”
The tree bowed to him. “Any time, my liege.”
Tanis closed the distance between them. “Was that helpful?”
“It wasn’t unhelpful.”
Now he was speaking in the same riddles as the dryad. Was it contagious?
The dryad sneezed again.
She frowned at the tree. “Do they always do that?”
“What? Sneeze?”
“Yes.”
“Only when they’re allergic to pollen.”
Tanis’s jaw dropped at his unexpected response. “A tree is allergic to pollen?”
He nodded. “Some of them, yes.”
Well, who knew? “Isn’t that a little counterproductive?”
“I don’t make the rules, Dragon. I’m just here to see the wizard.”
And she was just following along behind a unicorn. Therefore, all must be right in the world.
Irritated, she looked about the forest that didn’t seem any different than all the others she’d visited. She’d always thought the elfin lands would be more...
Colorful? Magical? Something other than so basically, boringly normal. In truth, it was rather disappointing. Didn’t they have portals or enchanted gates? Something that would make them stand out more?
Where were all the elfin things she’d heard about?
“So, who is this wizard we’re after? Is he an elf?”
Dash shook his head as he led her toward a copse of trees on the right. “He’s the son of an incubus yokai. His mother was human, and he has a bit of an attitude.”
“Worse than yours?”
“Always worse than his, love.”
She gasped at the voice that intruded on their conversation.
Out of the shadows, a tall, leanly muscled man approached. His white hair was cut short to frame a handsome, patrician face. Even so, she could see the demon in him. It flashed in his stormy eyes that took in a lot more than just her physical appearance. There was something about him that was absolutely compelling. Intoxicating. While he wasn’t handsome in the traditional sense, he possessed an aura that lured you toward him. She’d heard of charisma all her life, but until now, she’d never fully understood it.
But the wizard had his share of it, and his share’s best friend’s share, too.
With a wicked grin, he stepped forward and bowed low over her hand. “Greetings, lovely lady. To what do I owe this unexpected pleasure?”
Dash’s staff appeared out of nowhere to fall between them. He pushed the wizard back from her so that he could step between her and the older man. “Bad luck, hidden enemies, death, and a reminder that I have a nasty temper.”
Marthen laughed. “But this beauty’s not yours. You released her. Like a fool, Dash. I would never let something so precious go.”
“We’re not here to talk about you or my stupidity. We’re here to ask you what you know about my sister and the lady’s brother... and the imp who’s carrying around pieces of them both.”
Marthen tsked. “Poor King Dash. Always seeking treasure and always finding pyrite. All the lessons you’ve learned and you’ve yet to learn the most important one.”
“And that is?”
“Sometimes what we seek most is already in our palm, and we’re too stupid to open our hand and see it.”
Dash let out a bitter laugh at Marthen’s typical babbling riddles. “While I always love these pearls of wisdom you enjoy pelting me with, could you please answer the question I need answered?”
“No.”
Dash was aghast at his flat out refusal. “No?”
“No.”
“Why?”
The wizard grinned. “Because that’s not the question you need answered.”
Was he serious? “It’s not?”
“No.”
Dash looked at Tanis with a peeved, hopeless stare. “Why did I come here?” He turned back to Marthen. “Every time I have a discussion with you, I end up feeling like a dog chasing its tail.”
“Better than one licking his balls. Because sometimes the one chasing the tail actually catches his target.”
Dash smirked at her. “See what I mean?”
She decided to try her hand with the wizard. “Good Marthen, could you point us in the direction of where my brother’s skull might be, and tell us how to reclaim it?”
The wizard’s dark eyes sharpened. “Again, that’s not the right question. Even if I tell you, it’ll do you no good.”
“Why?” she asked desperately.
He didn’t even hesitate with his response. “Why is information ever useless?”
Tanis could only think of one reason. “When it serves no purpose.”
“Exactly.”
At least she was correct, but it made her want to groan out loud. Dash was right. This was extremely frustrating. She looked back at her unicorn. “Is this a wizard thing?”
“It’s a Marthen thing. He lives his life backwards, so he already knows what we need and whether or not we get it. It’s his whim as to whether or not he reveals it to us.”
Marthen winked at Dash. “And you know the future, too, Your Majesty.”
“No,” Dash said, irritably. “I have glimpses. I haven’t lived it like you have. My visions aren’t the same thing as knowing history. Not to mention, my premonitions don’t always come true. Sometimes they’re just warnings that can be averted.”
“How frustrating for you to not know the difference.” Marthen tweaked him on the nose.
Tanis gaped, amazed Dash didn’t slug him for the audacity.
Instead, Dash glared at the wizard. “Not as frustrating as you are at the moment.”
Marthen clicked his tongue. “Then ask me the right question. The one you really want to know. The only one that really matters to you.”
Dash ground his teeth at the game Marthen was playing with him. Why would Marthen do this when the old beast knew exactly what was on the line?
What stunk the most was that if he didn’t ask exactly what the wizard wanted him to, Marthen would continue to play this game until he grew bored and vanished. Then, Dash would never have an answer.
If he asked what he really wanted to know...
It terrified him.
Worse, it would leave him vulnerable. He hated that thought even more.
Choose .
That was the real game Marthen was playing, and they both knew it. If he didn’t give the wizard what he wanted, Dash would lose and learn nothing at all.
Of course, he could possibly learn what he needed to without Marthen’s help, but time was running out. With or without Renata’s wand, that spell would kill him. And the time to cast it was within the hour of when the next full moon began to wane. If it wasn’t cast then, he’d have nothing to worry about where the spell was concerned.
But he wasn’t that lucky, and he knew it. They had everything they needed to kill him. That poster had been his warning.
Time was ticking.
If that spell was cast, he was finished.
And even if it wasn’t cast, he was still in danger. So long as Renata’s wand was out there.
Just ask the damn question.
He glanced at Tanis and drew a deep breath. Fine. “If I fail in this, will Tanis be all right?”
“That’s the right question, King. And deep in that dark place where your magick lives, you already know the answer. No one in the Thirteen Kingdoms will be all right if you fail. But the question you should be asking both of you is what will happen to her if you win?”