The Dragon Kings' Forbidden Witch

Matthias made a note. ”That could mean anything. Sexual interest, political intrigue, anything.”

”Possibly,” Cedric agreed. ”But consider this: King Kaelen also summoned her to his chambers. Just once, but witnesses report that she left looking... distressed. Shaken. As if something significant had occurred.”

”And King Thorne?” Aldrich asked.

”King Thorne has been meeting her in the palace gardens. Multiple times. Conversing with her. Not as a king speaks to a servant, but as someone speaks to... an equal. Someone they are trying to understand.”

Brennan stood up, excitement in his voice. ”If all three of them are interested in the same woman, if all three of them are drawn to her....”

”It could be nothing,” Varrick said firmly. ”It could be a conspiracy. It could be a game. It could be a dozen things that have nothing to do with prophecy.”

Cedric’s voice became quiet.

”She was found in the dragon tower.”

The entire room froze.

Even Varrick went pale.

”Explain that,” Aldrich said, his ancient eyes gleaming.

”According to the dungeon shadow guard, King Thorne caught her there. Alone. With the ancient ones.”

”The... with the ancient dragons?” Matthias’s voice was faint. ”In chains?”

”Yes.”

”That’s impossible,” Kasstor breathed. ”Those creatures have been kept locked away for decades. No one goes near them. They’re too dangerous. They’ve killed people who got too close.”

”Three handlers in the past month alone,” Cedric confirmed. ”The ancient ones have been increasingly violent, increasingly unstable. No one has been able to get near them.”

He paused, letting that sink in.

Then: ”Until Morgana.”

”What happened?” Venn demanded.

”According to the shadow guard, she approached the dragons. They responded. Instead of attacking her, they... calmed. One of them....the largest, the golden one, lowered its head and allowed her to touch it.”

Silence passed across the meeting hall.

Deep, profound silence.

Finally, Garrison spoke. ”The ancient ones. Those are the oldest dragons in the realm. Former warriors, former royalty, creatures of immense age and power. They haven’t let anyone touch them since they decided to recline to their dragon form.”

”No,” Cedric confirmed. ”They have not.”

”And this girl,” Varrick said slowly, ”touched one. And it did not attack her.”

”No.”

Varrick stood, his face dark with realization. ”You think she’s the Mother of Dragons.”

”I think,” Cedric said carefully, ”that the ancient ones recognized something in her. Something that made them respond in a way they have not responded in living memory.”

Matthias was making frantic notes now, his strategic mind already calculating possibilities and consequences. ”If she is the one, if the prophecy is real...”

”Then she can break the curse,” Venn finished, his voice filled with an almost religious fervor. ”She can free the Dragon Kings and save the realm.”

”Or,” Kastor said darkly, ”she could be a threat we don’t yet understand.”

Brennan was pacing now, too agitated to sit. ”We need to bring her to the council. We need to question her. We need to...”

”No,” Cedric said firmly. ”Not yet.”

”Why not?” Varrick demanded.

”Because if we move too quickly, if we scare her or force her, we risk losing her. And if the prophecy is real, we cannot afford to lose her.”

Aldrich nodded slowly. ”Wisdom, Cedric. The girl, if she is what you believe, she must come to us willingly. Prophecy cannot be coerced.”

”Exactly,” Cedric said. ”Which is why we must first understand who she truly is. Where she comes from. What her bloodline is. Whether there are connections to the old families, to ancient bloodlines, to anyone who might be connected to the curse itself.”

Matthias looked up from his notes. ”You’ve already begun an investigation.”

It was not a question.

”Yes,” Cedric admitted. ”I have sent a man named Greaves to her village, a place called Ashford, in the east. He is investigating her background as we speak.”

”And if the noble daughters find out?” Kastor asked sharply. ”If word gets back to them that we’re investigating a servant girl? If they realize the kings might favor her over them?”

”It won’t,” Cedric said. ”Greaves is subtle. He poses as a merchant. No one will connect him to the crown.”

Varrick was still frowning, but Matthias was nodding. ”It’s sound strategy,” Matthias said. ”We wait. We investigate. We gather information. And then, when we have proof....”

”We decide what to do,” Cedric finished.

”And if your investigation confirms she is the one?” Garrison asked.

The room held its breath.

Cedric met the gaze of each council member in turn.

”Then we have found the answer to two hundred years of prayers,” he said quietly. ”We have found the woman who can break the curse. We have found the Mother of Dragons.”

”And the consequences?” Aldrich asked.

”Will be profound,” Cedric admitted. ”Her entire world will change. The kingdom’s entire world will change. The relationship between the Dragon Kings and their realm will transform in ways we cannot yet predict.”

”What about the prophecy itself?” Venn asked, his scholarly mind working through implications. ”The prophecy speaks of ’the dragons will know her.’ It also speaks of ’the choice will break her.’ What choice? What breaking?”

”I don’t know,” Cedric said. ”That part of the prophecy is unclear. But I know we must be prepared for it.”

Brennan was still pacing, his nervousness evident in every movement. ”If she is the one, why hasn’t she come forward? Why hasn’t she revealed herself to the kings?”

”Because,” Cedric said gently, ”she almost certainly does not know what she is. The prophecy speaks of her being ’hidden in shadow.’ Perhaps she is hidden from her own truth as well.”

Kastor slammed his hand on the table. ”This is absurd. We’re basing a council decision on the testimony of one man who claims to have seen a servant girl calm some dragons. That’s not evidence, that’s fantasy.”

”Then what do you suggest?” Cedric asked coldly. ”That we ignore every sign? That we pretend the kings are not destabilizing? That we continue the Selection knowing it is futile?”

”I suggest,” Kastor said, his voice hard, ”that we examine this more carefully before we make any decisions.”