Chapter 8
Sneaking at night was the best.
Nikki had tried sneaking around the castle during the day once, and it had been a disaster. Everywhere they turned, a dragon or mage would pop up wanting to help them. How was a person supposed to be ninja-sly if someone was always there?
But at night, the long halls and winding staircases were empty. Only the shadows and the eyes of past Burkhard residents frozen in paintings saw them.
Well, the ghosts watched them too. A castle this old had to have ghosts. Nikki just hoped they were friendly dragon ghosts and not grumpy mage ghosts.
They’d made it several floors and an entire wing away from their chambers before needing to pause and sink into the deep shadows of a little niche.
While most good little dragons and mages were in bed for the night, there were still a handful of guards roaming the various corridors and checking the entrances.
A thick web of protective spells enveloped the entire castle, but the dragon guards remained.
Not at all surprising considering four dragon kings—along with a horde of new mages—were in residence.
As head of security for the Burkhard Clan, Baldewin was clearly taking no chances.
When the coast was clear again, Nikki darted out of their hiding spot, continuing on bare tiptoes around the final corner.
Their heart raced with excitement, and smugness bubbled in their veins.
No one saw them. No one even knew they were out of their chambers.
In these dark hours, the castle was their domain and they were free.
But the real prize lay beyond that misty glass door.
The greenhouse. A cornucopia of spell elements just waiting for them to pluck and snip them.
The tour with Tori had given Nikki a much better idea of what all they could play with in the greenhouse.
The anticipation proved to be too much for their fragile willpower.
They positively itched to try magic. Nikki had never had a vested means of doing so.
Plenty of curiosity, sure, but never the actual means or theoretical knowledge to practice.
Since coming to Burkhard, they had been questioned, poked, and coddled—all in the most caring ways.
Lisette had been insistent on lessons, but she was more concerned with theory and math.
She didn’t want to experiment. That was the fun way to do magic.
Just slam a few elements together and see what happened.
What was so wrong with that method? But she wanted to study and rationalize and… ugh…do math.
However, the more Nikki read, the more they found interesting spells, and they really, really wanted to put theory into practice.
In particular, there was an interesting stun spell that would freeze an enemy dead in their tracks.
That would be an excellent spell to know.
They’d already grabbed some moonlight from a waxing moon out their window.
All that was left was to grab some cow parsley and oleander from the greenhouse.
Easy peasy lemon squeezy. Particularly since they were smart enough to make a quick drawing of what cow parsley and oleander looked like.
Wrapping their fingers around the handle, they carefully pulled it down and opened the door a crack.
There was just the smallest click of sound and then nothing.
They waited, holding their breath. No one should be in the greenhouse at this hour, but they’d learned from years of stealth adventures around the Jaeggi compound that it didn’t hurt to be cautious.
Thick, moist air poured out the opening, assailing Nikki with the heavy green scent of leaves and dirt.
They liked the greenhouse. It was peaceful.
This place was becoming one of Nikki’s favorite night haunts.
They were giving serious consideration to helping Tori in the greenhouse.
Working with one mage wouldn’t be so bad and Nikki rather liked Tori.
With no sound beyond the distant drip of water onto paving stones, Nikki slipped inside and silently closed the door again.
Moonlight poured through the windows overhead, painting the lush forest with silvery light.
Nikki’s wilder imagination suggested there might be a fairy or elf ready to poke their head around a leafy fern and invite them to play.
A fantasy, nothing more, and Nikki wasn’t here to play anyway. They had already been away from their chambers for fifteen minutes. While unlikely, there was always a chance Gunter might come to check on them. Successful stealth missions also required speed.
Pulling the piece of paper with the drawing from their pocket, Nikki quickly moved down one aisle and up another, searching for cow parsley and oleander. They might have been humming the theme song to Mission Impossible, but no one needed to know.
In the end, cow parsley was the easiest to find near the end of one of the aisles in a big red and blue pot.
Oleander was complicated. Nikki had drawn the leaves, but the light wasn’t great, and it was hard to tell between two different plants.
In the end, Nikki shrugged and grabbed a few leaves off what had to be oleander.
With the clippings shoved into two different pockets, Nikki folded up their drawing and tucked it in a back pocket.
Successful mission all around. Now to get back to their room for some fun.
As they walked down the main aisle toward the door, a pair of shadows crossed in front of it and Nikki froze. Someone was coming to the greenhouse. Shit. Shit. Shit. They couldn’t be caught.
Nikki darted down a particularly leafy aisle and scampered soundlessly toward the end, their heart racing. They’d just reached a dark nook when the door opened and Lisette’s voice drifted through the greenhouse.
“This will only take a minute. I want to steep the tiniest bit of valerian in your tea, and Tori mentioned yesterday he’d just finished drying some valerian root.”
“That isn’t necessary, my love,” replied a second voice. It was only vaguely familiar, but Nikki had to assume it was Alric’s advisor, Dieter, since he was Lisette’s mate. “I hate for you to go to the trouble.”
Lisette gave an indelicate snort. “Trouble, my foot. You’ve barely slept these past few weeks and I’m done with it. You’re lucky I don’t give you something stronger.”
“There are four dragon kings here, my love,” Dieter said, as if that should explain everything. Clearly it didn’t since Nikki heard her give a huff. “King Chalo and King Roca haven’t been here in centuries. Their needs must be properly seen to.”
“Ha! Do you honestly expect me to believe Alric is demanding you to chase down their every request? I know him better than that. This castle is overloaded with dragons, and the royals have brought their own entourage. I’ve also spoken to Queen Ana and Queen Diya.
They’ve made it clear those kings are more than capable of fending for themselves. ”
“My love—”
“You, on the other hand, need sleep,” she continued in an unyielding voice.
“If you are so determined to get me to sleep, maybe we should discuss methods of wearing me out rather than drugging me.”
Nikki’s eyes widened at the sound of a girlish giggle.
They slipped soundlessly out of their hiding spot and moved to peer between a cluster of leaves to find the dragon and mage wrapped in colorful robes, slow dancing in the middle of the aisle.
Dieter was softly humming some tune Nikki didn’t recognize, his cheek pressed to the top of Lisette’s head while Lisette had one arm wrapped around his shoulders, a look of bliss on her face.
“You old rogue,” she chided, her voice full of love. “I’d have to whip up something for your old bones then.”
“Maybe so, but it would be worth it.” Dieter tipped her into a deep dip and then pulled her close again. “What’s it been? A thousand years?”
“Nearly so. It will be soon enough,” Lisette murmured.
“But not nearly enough time. I was thinking we should just continue for another thousand.”
“At the very least.” Lisette’s agreement was low and husky as Dieter bent to kiss her.
Nikki quickly looked away, blushing. They shouldn’t be intruding on this private moment, but they were trapped until the couple moved or left the greenhouse.
It did cast Lisette in a different light, though.
Humanized her. Nikki had always looked at her and seen a scary, powerful mage.
But she was also a dragon’s mate—and one well beloved.
And truth tell, they envied her a little.
To have that kind of love and devotion would be amazing.
When they looked up again, Dieter was waltzing Lisette down an aisle at the far end of the greenhouse.
As quickly as possible, Nikki scampered to the door and slipped out again without making a sound.
As they walked, Nikki couldn’t help but dwell on what Dieter had said.
A thousand years. They’d been in love like that for a thousand years and still felt like it wasn’t enough time.
That was awe-inspiring to such a degree Nikki got goose bumps along their skin.
Damn, no wonder mages always dreamed of being a dragon’s mate.
They continued at a brisk walk until they were back in their own wing. They weren’t sure where Lisette and Dieter’s chambers were, but they knew the couple wasn’t on their floor. They were in the clear. Mission successful!
Nikki quickly carried their newly acquired goodies over to the coffee table and spread them out.
They snagged the bottle of captured moonlight along with the primer to double-check the spell.
It seemed simple enough. A few leaves of cow parsley, a little essence of oleander, a dusting of moonlight combined with just a push of magic power and bam! Frozen bad guy.
Easy.
Except they didn’t have a bad guy to practice on.