The Fading Dream Read Free Page B

in form. In the tale of the Thirteen Thieves, the dragon can sense the boy even when he’s invisible, just as you describe. But it’s foolishness. How could you be a dragon? Where are your wings?”
    “Well, the same mission where I discovered my keen senses, I thought that I became an actual dragon.”
    Nandon stared at her. “And you didn’t think this was worth mentioning?”
    “I was battling a demon, and in another plane of existence … reality was distorted. Honestly, I didn’t know what to believe. It’s never happened since then. I’ve tried to force a change and nothing happened.”
    Nandon was on his feet, searching the shelves. “I don’t know, Nyri. I don’t know. What does your Citadel say? Surely they have better tools for a broad-spectrum mystical analysis than I do.”
    “Nothing at all. But honestly … I don’t know who to trust anymore, Nan.”
    “You’re the one who chose a life in the shadows,” he said.
    “I know. And I still believe in what I do. But something is happening to me, and I don’t understand it.”
    “It’s going to be all right,” he said. “Let little Nandon sort things out for once. Just let me draw a vial of your blood and take a lock of your hair. I have a few ideas, but it will take time to get what I need and perform the rituals.”
    “Thank you,” Thorn said, feeling a slight tingle in her eyes. “I’m sorry, Nandon. Sorry I haven’t been here. It’s just—I’m doing what Father would have wanted.”
    He raised a hand. “Let’s not start that now. You need my help; I’m helping. Let’s make sure you’re all right. Then we can debate what’s best for Breland and what our father should have done. For now you’re my patient as well as my sister. And I imagine you’ve got places to be. You said you had a prince waiting for you?”
    Traveler’s tricks! Thorn grabbed her jerkin. “Yes, and I’ll need to run if I’m going to make it by the eighth bell. How long until you’ll know anything?”
    “Three days, at the least. More likely a week or two.”
    “You know how to contact me in an emergency. Otherwise I’ll come back as soon as I can.”
    He embraced her once more, holding her tighter than before. “Don’t be gone so long this time, Nyri.”
    She nodded then broke the hug and headed for the door. “May Olladra smile on you, little brother.”
    “And you, my sister.”
    Thorn broke into a run as soon as she was on the street. A thought brought Steel back into her hand.
    And was it a productive meeting, Lantern Thorn?
    “We’ll see,” she said. “But it was certainly worth the trip.”

C HAPTER T WO

Wroat, Breland
B
arrakas 20, 999
YK
    T horn arrived at the Cyran consulate as the final bell was ringing the hour. Footmen were preparing the royal carriage, hitching the team of stallions and polishing the brass. Thorn had become quite familiar with that carriage over the course of the past few weeks, ever since she’d been assigned to Prince Oargev’s security detail. When she’d been sent to the refugee settlement of New Cyre, she’d seen the assignment as punishment. She’d pushed the edge of her orders in her previous mission. For all that she was looking after a prince, he was a prince without a country; his current holdings were temporary gifts. Thorn and the three King’s Shields assigned to Oargev were more an honor guard than anything else—a show of Breland’s continued friendship with the last branch of the Cyran crown. As expected, the journey to Wroat had been entirely without incident. For all that Oargev was a celebrity, her skills were wasted there.
    Something was different. There was a second coach in the courtyard, a drab vessel compared to the grand royal coach. Yet the prince’s footmen were preparing it as well, and Thorn could see a magewright inside the cabininscribing protective glyphs on the floor. Then there was Essyn Cadrel. Dressed in bright silks, Essyn had the look of a bard, and that’s what