The Dragon Kings' Forbidden Witch

He moved along the fireplace, like a performer on a stage, making sure every council member could see his expression.

”King Kaelen has grown... cold. Colder than usual. Servants report that he has been dismissing his advisors with increasing harshness. Yesterday, he ordered the entire household management staff to leave his chambers because he disagreed with a suggestion about meal times. Meal times. He is making reckless decisions. Dismissing experienced advisors. Pushing away anyone who might counsel restraint.”

”That sounds like King Kaelen,” Kastor said with a nervous laugh. ”He’s always been....”

”Different,” Cedric said sharply. ”He has always been cold. But not cruel. Not irrational. The difference is subtle, but it is there. The curse is making him... harder. More alien. More dragon.”

Venn, the scholar, leaned forward. ”And King Thorne?”

Cedric’s expression became even graver.

”King Thorne has been spending virtually every hour in the royal archives. Reading texts. Ancient texts. Books about the prophecy, about the curse, about bloodlines and old magic. He barely eats. He barely sleeps. When I last spoke with him, he looked like a man being consumed from the inside by something he does not understand.”

”Searching for what?” Aldrich asked, his ancient voice surprisingly strong.

”That,” Cedric said, ”I do not know. But whatever it is, it has him deeply concerned.”

Hendrick, the military commander, spoke up. ”You’re saying the curse is affecting them. That it’s worsening.”

”Yes.”

”Based on what evidence? Loss of temper? Unusual behavior? These are thin grounds, Cedric.”

”They are not,” Cedric said coldly. ”Because you are forgetting what the curse actually is.”

He walked to one of the tall windows and looked out at the distant mountains.

”Two hundred years ago, a blood witch cursed the three Dragon Kings. The curse was specific: They shall father no heirs. No woman shall conceive by their seed. The bloodline of the dragons shall end with them.”

”We all know the history,” Varrick said impatiently.

”Do we?” Cedric turned to face them. ”Do we know what that curse actually costs? A curse that strong, that specific, does not simply exist. It feeds. It consumes. Every year that the kings go without breaking it, it grows stronger. And as it grows stronger, it affects them. Their temperaments. Their stability. Their very humanity.”

Aldrich nodded slowly. ”The witch knew. Whoever cursed them knew that denying a dragon, a creature of pure fire and instinct, the ability to create life would eventually drive them mad.”

”Exactly,” Cedric said.

Matthias was pale. ”How long before they’re too unstable to rule?”

”I don’t know,” Cedric admitted. ”But I know we do not have another two hundred years. Perhaps another decade. Perhaps less.”

”Then we find the woman from the prophecy,” Garrison said flatly. ”We’ve been searching for her for two hundred years. We intensify the search. We...”

”We’ve been searching in the wrong places,” Cedric interrupted.

The room fell silent again.

Varrick’s eyes narrowed. ”What do you mean?”

Cedric returned to the head of the table and finally sat down, lowering himself to the same level as the other council members, and it seemed to make his next words even more weighty.

”The Selection has been ongoing for nearly four weeks,” he said. ”We have brought in the daughters of the most powerful houses in the realm. Beautiful women. Noble women. Women of breeding and status. Women the kings should have been interested in, by every measure.”

”But they’re not interested,” Matthias said, understanding dawning in his eyes.

”No.”

”Not a single match?” Kasstor asked.

”Not a single match.” Cedric’s tone was matter-of-fact. ”The kings attend the events...the banquets, the dances, the garden teas. They are polite. They are courteous. And they are utterly, completely indifferent.”

Brennan shifted in his seat. ”Perhaps the prophecy isn’t real. Perhaps it’s just legend, and...”

”We cannot afford that thought,” Venn said sharply. He was a small man, thin and intense, with the fervent energy of a scholar. ”The prophecy is documented in texts that predate the curse itself. It was written by the Oracle of the Flame, who had no reason to lie.”

”The Oracle was mad,” Kastor said dismissively.

”The Oracle was burned,” Venn corrected coldly. ”She prophesied that the Dragon Kings would be cursed, and she was right. She also prophesied that the curse would be broken by a woman, the Mother of Dragons. Born of fire. Hidden in shadow. Neither crown nor title shall mark her. But the dragons will know her when she comes.”

He looked directly at Cedric. ”Is that what this is about? Do you think you’ve found her?”

The tension in the room shifted.

Became electric.

”I think,” Cedric said carefully, ”that something unusual is happening. Something that demands our attention.”

”Tell us,” Aldrich commanded, his ancient voice cutting through the murmurs that had begun.

Cedric took a breath.

”I have been observing the Three Kings. Not formally, but closely. And over the past month, I have noticed that they are all watching someone. The same person. With unusual intensity.”

Varrick leaned forward. ”Who?”

”A servant girl who recently joined the household staff.”

Matthias blinked. ”A servant?”

”Yes.”

”What’s her name?” Garrison asked.

”Morgana. She came to the palace about four weeks ago, seeking work. She was initially assigned as a chambermaid in the upper east wing, then reassigned to the stables.”

Kastor’s expression twisted. ”You’re describing a common-born woman, Cedric. Are you suggesting that the Mother of Dragons is... a servant?”

”The prophecy does say ’Neither crown nor title shall mark her,’” Venn pointed out, his scholarly tone thoughtful. ”A servant would certainly fit that description.”

”It would also fit thousands of other women in the kingdom,” Varrick said sharply. ”This is circumstantial at best.”

Cedric held up a hand. ”Allow me to explain why I believe this is more than circumstance.”

He stood and began to walk around the table, addressing each council member as he passed.

”King Draeven summoned Morgana to his chambers two weeks ago. No one knows what was discussed. But she was in there for nearly an hour. Then, few days after, he summoned her again.”