Chapter 21

"Why are you sad?" Yori frowned and tilted his head as he looked at her. "Or are you angry?"

Quynn finished cleaning his face and hands without responding. He had made a mess with the jam and bread he ate for breakfast and this particular morning she had little patience. She was not sure if she had slept at all the night before although Yori had to wake her long after sunrise to complain that he was hungry.

After Carrinda stopped by to tell her that she had cured Amyr of his problem, Quynn should not have expected him to come to her, but that tiny part of her heart in which he still held ground, she hoped that he felt something for her, that everything he had said to her during their courtship had not been a lie. But he had not come and Danlaer, who had told her what Amyr had done to Taeron the previous day, also informed her that the prince had gone back to the castle, probably to quickly ease his ache on the first female to cross his path and with any subsequent females thereafter for the rest of the night. He no longer had a need to waste time on her.

She tried to smile at Yori, but the boy could sense her feelings so it was a waste of time to pretend. "I will be busy today helping the Calabrians with the ship." If he did not know how she felt now, it was because she did not know herself.

"Can I come with you?" Yori bounced with excitement. "I want to see the ship! Will I see uncle Taeron? I want to see his sword." Then he asked sheepishly, "Will my father be there?"

"Your … your father?!" She stared at him incredulously. "Where did you get the idea that ... that …?"

"Prince Amyr is my father," Yori told her as if he were telling her that the sun rose and set. "Jeshed told me so."

Quynn shook her head. "Jeshed does not know what he is talking about." The dragon annoyed her at times, much like Taeron had annoyed her by thinking he could dictate her actions. She wanted to ask when Yori had communicated with Jeshed, but she did not get a chance because a sharp rap at the door preceded the entrance of her brother.

"Uncle Stryfe!" Yori slid off the chair, avoiding one last swipe of the washcloth before dashing across the cottage and shrieking with laughter as Stryfe seized him and tossed him in the air before catching him and tucking him on his hip.

"Good morning sis! You are free now. Should we celebrate?"

Before she could respond, Taeron pushed past him. "She is not free, if you speak of my prince. She has made an oath on the honor of our father's house."

Quynn would have responded that the damage to their father's house was already done, but now Amyr pushed his way into her cottage which suddenly felt far too crowded.

"As if you know anything of oaths!" He glanced briefly at Yori who gave him a wide, heart-rending smile, and then Amyr turned to look at Quynn, his amber gaze warming her too much. This was the prince that had seduced her. He wore an ornate tunic, and she guessed that it was one of the many that Lady Larya had made for Taeron.

"Stealing my brother's clothing now?"

Amyr shrugged. "Offering me his clothing is the least my imperial guard can do for me."

A glance at Taeron told her that he did not care. Quynn could imagine his overprotective mother stitching the design of his father's house in his ceremonial robes and tunics, especially since she thought he was heading to Teralon for a wedding celebration. Taeron was probably glad to be rid of some of his marriage trousseau since he preferred to dress less ostentatiously. Since he was wearing Stryfe's clothing now, he appeared to be very uncomfortable. She had already noted that Taeron could not get through a morning without causing grievous injury to their brother's garments and she had a pile of tunics waiting to be stitched up so that he could wear them.

"Will I have an imperial guard some day?" asked Yori.

Quynn held her breath as Amyr turned to look at Yori. He opened his mouth to speak, then closed it, but he continued to stare at the boy. Suddenly Yori's eyes filled with tears and he pushed away from Stryfe, dropping to his feet on the floor and dashing out of the cottage. Amyr grunted and turned back to Quynn, but she was so furious that she swung out to slap his face. She did not know what Yori had sensed, but she had never seen her son so upset.

Before she could feel the satisfaction of giving him back some of the pain he had clearly given her child, her wrist was seized and she was shocked to find Taeron holding it in his firm grasp. "I cannot allow you to strike my lord prince," he warned her.

Amyr chuckled and nodded to her brother who released her. Quynn felt betrayed although she could hardly blame Taeron for doing his duty. "What did you do to Yori?" she demanded of the arrogant Calabrian.

"Do? I? I did not even speak to him!" Amyr moved away, taking the short tour of her small cottage. "You live in this hovel when you could be living in the castle?"

She ignored his jibe since he only meant it to distract her from his exchange with Yori. "You did something to Yori! He can sense the feelings of others and I want to know what he sensed from you!" Quynn was afraid of what feelings he had transmitted to him after his hateful remark at the castle the previous day.

He surprised her by turning to spear her with his gaze. "He can read feelings?" Now Amyr paled and he shook his head. "That cannot be!"

"Why?" she demanded, putting her hands on her hips. Why did he look ashamed now?

He opened his mouth to speak, but he closed it and Quynn could see that he was shocked and confused.

Stryfe had watched the entire exchange without commenting, but now he chuckled. At times like this he reminded her most of her grandfather who thought humor was the best way to diffuse a tense moment. "I think Prince Amyr has just discovered that he is a daddy."

"Shut up!" hissed Amyr at the same time the heart seemed to stop beating in her chest. "You have no idea what you are talking about."

"Oh yes I do. You forget who I am and what I have been doing since coming to Calabria. Because I can read the ancient Guerani texts, I have studied them thoroughly. One of the first manifestations of Guerani power is the ability to read feelings."

Quynn gasped. "That is not possible!" She shook her head as if denying what she did not want to admit would make it any less true.

"He probably had the ability during his first year. Was he an easy infant to care for? The Guerani young sense their parents moods and as a means of self preservation, they adjust to them. By now he probably has some rudimentary healing powers and may be able to initiate and sustain a trance."

"I cannot initiate a trance!" exploded Amyr, then clamped his mouth shut as if he had not meant to reveal he had powers. His admittance made her heart drop and she knew that she must accept the truth, that Yori was his son, her son.

Stryfe snorted. "Well, we all know what a baby you are, princeling, so just be patient a little longer. By the time you are out of your diapers, you will be initiating a trance as well, as if you haven't already."

"I cannot …."

"Staefyn did it," announced Taeron. "He initiated the trance."

"I don't want to imagine the kind of power he has if he pulled Amyr and Quynn into a trance from so far away," said Stryfe.

"He did not pull Quynn in, but he drew Amyr in and he was not so far away. Sharisse told me that he was acquainted with Kai, and I think they were more than mere acquaintances. He probably met him when Rangyar came to Calabria hoping to win Princess Shamara for his bride. They may have begun planning then, and those plans were put into motion when Staefyn went to Varoonya, then to Teralon." Taeron was frowning. "I remember more clearly now what happened the night of the battle on Teralon. When I thought you had come back to the tent, I first imagined I saw Staefyn, but I had been drugged and at the time I thought I was mistaken. I am sure, now, that it had been Staefyn. Staefyn put me in a trance."

"Staefyn was on Teralon? How could he have gotten there?" asked Amyr, clearly not believing his brother could be guilty of any misdeed.

"He could have easily traveled with the men commanded by Darlac," Taeron suggested. Quynn remembered that the warriors of Meridon's clan dressed in black from a headdress to their boots and painted their faces black for war. The emperor's son could have easily accompanied the Calabrian troops without being recognized.

"You think my father would not have noted his absence?" demanded Amyr.

Stryfe responded. "During the incursion on Teralon, Staefyn spent weeks away from the imperial palace, presumably courting the female. And since he contacted your father regularly and no one had any reason to suspect he was not on Calabria, he would not have been missed."

Quynn did not want to believe that sweet, gentle Staefyn would do the things Taeron believed he had. That would make him a monster.

"Staefyn may have been in battle with you, my lord prince, or at the very least, he had a hand in your slavery," concluded Taeron.

"Why not just kill him?" asked Quynn in frustration. If Staefyn had done what the accused, then he was responsible for pulling her into his scheme, of destroying her happiness if not her life.

"Because the Guerani of Calabria are healers," announced Stryfe. "They can protect and heal, and while they can fight in battle, outright murder is impossible. Dax sent Calabrian imperials to do his dirty work when he was controlled by Camridaeus because even Camridaeus knew that the ancestors would reject Dax and relieve him of his powers if he commited the atrocities attributed to him with his own hands."

"So Staefyn did the only thing he could think of," concluded Taeron. "Knowing that what would happen to you in your trance would affect your body here, he sent you to the trance hoping you would die. He had no reason to suspect that you also had Guerani power and that you might be able to manipulate the trance."

"Your mated bond with Quynn must have pulled her in," suggested Stryfe. "You have no way of knowing where your body was at the time, but you were certainly on a frontier world by then, possibly very near my sister. Something drew you out of the trance or your body would have eventually died on this plane."

"A dragon," Amyr said, not looking at Quynn who could not even think straight as they spoke of Staefyn's evil intentions. "A dragon came out of nowhere. I thought it was going to kill me."

Quynn shook her head. "No! I cannot believe it! Staefyn did not do as you say! Yori cannot be my child! He cannot be ..." She looked at Amyr who did not meet her gaze. "He cannot be his son!" She felt panic now, knowing that if Yori were Amyr's son, she would never be free of him.

The bracelet around her wrist began to vibrate, but she could not concentrate to communicate to the dragon, to warn Jeshed that she was not in danger.

Suddenly they could hear screams and shrieks from outside and an unearthly roar made her tremble. Taeron threw open the door and dashed out of the cottage, but he returned quickly. "The dragon is circling above."

Amyr gave Quynn an accusatory stare. "Did you call the dragon again? Do you hate me so much?"

Tears sprang to her eyes, but she rubbed them away before he saw how his words affected her. Quynn did not hate Amyr. She could never hate him. "I have to do something." She started for the door, but Amyr stopped her by seizing her arm.

"It will not hurt you, will it?"

She was surprised that he was not thinking of himself. "I can communicate with it."

He did not release her but escorted her out of the cottage and when they were outside she felt him stiffen when he saw the gigantic creature circling overhead, roaring and breathing fire.

Jeshed, please come down! Do not hurt anyone! Quynn cried out to him in her mind and she felt the bracelet vibrate before the dragon roared so loudly that even she trembled.

"Mama! Come!" Yori seemed to appear from nowhere and he seized her hand, attempting to drag her away from Amyr, but he refused to release her, even as the dragon headed straight for them, its huge body blocking out the sun.

Suddenly the sun disappeared and Quynn found herself standing in the moonlight beside a pond, Yori holding her hand and Amyr still holding her arm, but now in a tighter grip so she knew that he was alarmed by the change although she had experienced it many times. Another reason to fear was creeping towards them, its huge eyes fixed on Amyr as if he were an intruder, which he was.

"Who brought us here?" Amyr asked. He looked down at Yori. "Did you bring us here?"

Yori looked away from him to meet Quynn's gaze and the uncertain look he gave her broke her heart because she knew now that he was her own child. Believing Yori to be Malya's child, she had tried to keep Yori at an emotional distance in a small part of her heart because she knew that she would one day have to part with him. Now that small part was aching to open to him, aching to have denied the innocent child.

"Jeshed told me to bring you," Yori said. "He did not tell me to bring him!"

The dragon settled only a few paces from them and he growled, his colorless eyes trained on Amyr.

Amyr released Quynn and surprised her by stepping toward the dragon who did not move. "I am sure that you can understand me. I want you to know that you have my gratitude for saving my life."

Foolish Calabrian. I wasn't saving you. I was keeping you from hurting your mate any more than you had.

Amyr thought he had been dreaming, not drawn into a trance with Quynn or he might not have said the things he had.

You delude yourself into believing that. Of course the dragon understood his thoughts and he wondered if Quynn and her child heard, but they showed no sign of being aware of their conversation. For once, you told her the truth. The huge eye blinked at him. Is that still the truth? Tell me now so that I can spare her and her precious child further pain. I will make your death quick, but I cannot promise it will be painless.

Amyr did not know what the truth was any more. He no longer needed to prove himself to his father, nor earn the approval of the Calabrian nobility. Glancing at Quynn he saw her as a woman and not the means to an end, a woman that had attracted him from the first time he saw her. Her rejection still rankled him, but he knew the fault was his own.

Your admission of the truth is enough to save your life, at least for now. Ah! He comes!

Amyr turned so see the air shimmer and it seemed to part to allow Taeron to step into the trance. "What are you doing here?"

His sword was in his hand in the blink of an eye when he saw Amyr standing so close to the gigantic creature. "I am your protector."

The blistering words to remind him of his past failure died on his lips when the dragon blew hot air from his nostrils that made Amyr wince from the blazing heat, knowing that he would have to visit the healer again. The acrid stench of burning hair stung his nostrils and he suppressed the urge to reach up to see how much had been burned off.

Do not denigrate the efforts of the paladin. Your protector saved your life countless times and you repaid him with scorn and betrayal. Still he would face me with a sword to protect you yet again!

Suddenly the dragon moved past Amyr to Taeron who merely raised his head to stare straight at it. Breathing in deeply, it reared up on its hind legs to tower over Taeron who was staring intently, his sword before him, his mind probably racing to discover a weakness in the creature. The dragon opened its mouth and Amyr was sure he was about to see Taeron incinerated. But the flame that erupted from the dragon's maw and flowed over the man holding his long sword ready in both hands was a white golden light that swirled around Taeron, lifting him from the ground and enveloping him until he was no longer visible.

"Taeron!" cried Quynn. "Jeshed, what are you doing? What has Taeron ever done to you? He was only trying to protect us!"

The light gradually faded to reveal that Taeron was standing on the ground, the white golden glow still surrounding him for a moment longer before it was drawn into his body. The dragon dropped down before Taeron now and Amyr was not surprised that his imperial guard showed no fear. Whatever the magical creature was saying to Taeron was not shared with the rest before Jeshed lumbered past Amyr to Quynn who stood holding Yori against her.

She reached a hand out to him and the dragon put his snout under it so that she could stroke its diamond hard scales. When it extended its claw, both Yori and Quynn stepped on to be raised so that they could sit at the back of its head. After one warning glare directed at Amyr, the dragon leaped into the sky, a great flap of his wings creating a tempest that made Amyr fall back. By the time he regained his footing, they were high in the sky and Amyr realized that the sun was shining. He stood watching them grow smaller and his heart pounded with the fear he felt for the two beings riding upon him.

" They will be safe."

Amyr turned around to snap at Taeron to mind his own business, but he was now in the middle of several men, including Mordrad and many of the Calabrians who eyed him warily. He had slipped out of the trance or been sent out most likely by the dragon although it could have just as easily been Yori.

"You're still alive," remarked a soft voice at his side and he turned to see Carrinda looking at him with a wry twist to her lips.

Fearing what he would see, Amyr looked down at himself to find that the entire side of his tunic had been seared and burned, that his flesh was blistering. He imagined his face had not fared any better.

"You had better heal him or he will be crying like a babe with soiled wrappings," remarked the scribe. "He probably has soiled wrappings," he added with a chuckle. "I saw that dragon! The emperor will ..."

"The emperor will want me to describe it in great detail," Taeron interrupted and Amyr correctly deduced that the Teralonian women were present. Both females were standing nearby, but now the princess' sister approached them.

"What happened to you?" demanded Sharisse, hands on her hips as she turned her attention fully on Taeron. "When you touched your prince, you ceased to move as if you were turned to stone."

Since he had never seen a trance, Amyr had not known how Taeron was able to enter without being called, but his uncle Apolo had told him in great detail what had happened in the desert wastelands when Amyr's father had fought his grandfather, Dax, in his trance. He also knew that his father had entered one of the trances Shamara had shared with Dagan by touching her. Taeron must have known what to do. Was there anything Taeron did not know how to do?

When Taeron did not answer immediately, she blew out her breath in exasperation. "For a man who makes his life with words, you are frequently with nothing to say." With that, she turned on her heel and stomped away.

Amyr watched her with a smile. There was one being that could strike fear into his imperial guard. Even though she tried to walk with a man's gait, Amyr watched her hips with appreciation, her womanly curves obvious despite the shapeless garment she wore.

Suddenly he was aware of the tense silence around him and he turned to see everyone looking at him with annoyance, except Taeron who was schooling his features although Amyr thought he could sense his anger. Since it had been so long since he had been able to sense the feelings of others, he was surprised. But he could not determine what he had done to elicit the anger of the others until Princess Dijana spoke.

"If you are interested in my sister, I shall tell her to be ready to receive your attentions." She smirked. "We owe much to Calabria, so it is a small – very small – price to pay."

He opened his mouth to speak, to deny any interest, but Carrinda seized the arm that had been burned and he nearly howled with pain. "Come along, princeling. I should heal this injury before you receive another." She guided him away from the group glaring at his back. Amyr wondered if Taeron would protect him should the Calabrian warriors mount an attack, especially now that he believed Amyr wanted the thrall.

When they were far enough away and approaching her cottage, he said, "I was merely appreciating an appealing female form."

"She is vulnerable and does not trust males after what happened to her. Do not toy with her to annoy your imperial guard."

"Are you warning me because she might hurt me?" Amyr chuckled. "I have been told often enough that I could charm a Wasteland she-beast. And Taeron would protect me from her chakrams."

As she laughed, Carrinda patted his arm, her touch far from healing or pleasant against his blistered flesh. "Princeling, I doubt it was meant as a compliment."

They entered the cottage and she quickly began the incantation that healed his burned flesh before taking a shears to his hair, cropping it to an even length that was above his shoulders. She declared the tunic a regrettable loss, so she searched about and found another garment that was not as fine, but still of good quality which he guessed belonged to Mordrad. The long shirt fit better than Taeron's clothing which had been loose and Amyr mused how his imperial guard had changed in the years of their separation. He was as tall as his father now, and while he was not bulky like some warriors, he was lean and muscular, certainly more so than Amyr. Some day, when the memory was not so painful, he would ask Taeron about those years of fighting against the Varoonyans. Amyr tried not to feel resentful as he thought that Taeron's disappearance caused Calabria more grief than his own.

When she had finished tidying her cottage by removing the destroyed clothing, Carrinda came close to Amyr and she rested her hands on his shoulders as she leaned very close to him. "You are looking very handsome indeed, princeling."

He became aware of her as a woman now as her soft curves brushed against him. "Are you trying to seduce me?"

Her throaty laugh made his heart beat faster. "Do I really need to try? How long has it been since you have lain in pleasure with a woman?"

"Too long," he admitted, barely finding the presence of mind to speak. Her bed was nearby and he had heard enough gossip about her to know that she would take any man that she wished to that bed and that man left after knowing an unforgettable morning, afternoon or night of pleasure.

"You are not hesitating, are you princeling?" she chided as she lowered her head so that their lips were almost touching.

Although it was nearly his undoing, he put his hands on her shoulders and put her away from him. Was this the first time in his life that he had repulsed a woman's advances? He cursed the gods for this punishment, having to refuse probably the most memorable time he would spend in a woman's arms. No, he thought with a shake of his head. The most memorable time in a woman's arms had been in a dream and he was a fool to think that time could ever be matched.

Carrinda moved away. "I think you actually love her."

"Perhaps I have been forewarned by a dragon." Amyr would not expose his feelings to this woman, not when he was unsure of them. He needed time to consider how to proceed with Quynn now that he knew the truth. She was the mother of his son, the son he would probably have as much difficulty winning as the boy's mother.

The healer laughed and went to a pot cooking over a fire. "You will find it difficult to earn her forgiveness, my lord prince." Filling a wooden bowl with a stew with an appetizing aroma, she returned to offer it to him. He detected cooked flesh in the broth, but he had been forced to eat much in his years as a slave that he never would have touched on Calabria.

As he took the bowl from her she said, "She has feelings for you which you ground beneath your royal slippers. You should know that Quynn is able to fend for herself now, even without the dragon, she has developed magic of her own. She has one vulnerability." Now she leaned forward to look into his eyes. "You hurt that child who is your son more than you have already with your careless thoughts, Guerani sorcerer, and I will dry up your man parts so that they fall off."

He swallowed nervously, glad that he had not started eating because he would have choked. Amyr had viewed Yori with hostility when he had gone to Quynn's cottage and found her mothering him. He had been angry and disgusted that she cared for the child he believed Quynn had created with another male despite her ravings about being a surrogate mother. Amyr had been considering how best to separate her from the boy so that he would never have to see him and Yori must have read his thoughts. Amyr wished he could take them back. Not because he had them about his own son, but because he had them about an innocent child. His own mother had born the first princess without the protection of the male that had fathered her child, and Taeron had not had the protection of his own sire for many years. How could he have been so insensitive to a child that had no part in how he came to be?

Amyr raised his head to meet Carrinda's gaze. "I would never harm my own son."

Carrinda patted his cheeks. "I think there may be some hope for you, princeling!"