Chapter 23
Draco’s POV ~
I ordered the trial of Johnston to be held immediately. It was strictly for appearances.. to make an example of him. By law, I could have simply listed his crimes in tribunal and executed him. But, since the shifters went public.. human eyes are always watching.
I am watching my beautiful mate sparring with Culver. I am always amazed by her fighting style. She is lethal.. deadly, even.. but she’s so graceful it appears she’s dancing.
I glanced to my left, noticing one of our housemaids approaching. She looks sullen and afraid. I dislike that. Then I realized she is one of our new members.. a victim of Michaelson’s heinous attack.
She moved closer to me, keeping distance.. and asked softly “Alpha, would it be possible to meet with you and Luna today? It is imperative I speak with you.” I checked my watch.. seeing it is nearly lunchtime. I tell her “Come to my office today, at three. I have an appointment at one, and I am not sure how long it will run.” She nodded and turned to walk away.. I asked “Amber? Whatever it is, we will figure it out. I appreciate you coming to me.” Again, she nodded and left.
Aurora bounced over to me and asked what that was about and I shrugged. She grinned and said “I’m gonna grab a shower.. are you too busy?” It took a second.. circled around my head a few times before registering. Busy? For shower time with my mate? Not a chance.. I would ghost a hundred meals or meetings for that opportunity.. and took off chasing her.. watching her cute ass as she ran away, giggling.
The four of us are in my office.. discussing the execution of Johnston this evening.. when a knock sounded. Adrian opened the door to Amber and I offered her a seat. Aurora took her hand and sat down beside her.. offering comfort. My perfect Luna… always aware of the needs of our people.
She spoke quietly, soothingly to Amber.. allowing her time to relax.. then Amber spoke “I have to report something that happened to me this morning. Cook had sent me and another housemaid to town to pick up a delivery of meat from the butcher’s. His truck had broken down, and cook was worried the buffalo meat wouldn’t keep. The housemaid I was with had an errand at the post office to send the documents for Luna for Sacred Moon and I waited by the truck.”
She paused and Aurora poured her some water. I noticed her hands were shaking, and she help a packet of some sort in her lap. Taking a deep breath she said “I was approached by a man.. a dragon shifter. He handed me this packet.. telling me I had better do as I am told.. and that he will be in touch. In this packet, are photos of my mother. She has been tortured.. brutalized.. she looks barely alive.” She began to cry.. while Aurora hugged her tightly whispering softly.
She coughed slightly and continued “There is also a letter. In my mother’s handwriting.. instructing me to procure patrol schedules.. itemized directions in relation to our defenses.. as well as the extent of our military. I am to list our weaponry, arsenal and methodology in warfare.”
I asked to see the letter. She nodded and handed it to me. I read it and said “I see” but she was shaking her head.. “No, Alpha. You don’t. What you see is what they forced her to write. What you don’t see is that the letter is written in such a way, only I would comprehend. Since I was a little girl, my mother and I played a game.. we created a code as a way of extending my vocabulary. If you will allow me, I will read what she actually wrote.”
Ingenious, actually! I am impressed. I handed the letter back and she began to read the code.
“Dear Daughter
Regardless of what you read here, decipher the true meaning. I am being held hostage by Alpha Michaelson. He hopes to blackmail you into betraying our King. Under no circumstances, do you entertain that notion. Go immediately to King Draco.. tell him Michaelson is planning a coup. We have three hundred active warrior dragons.. Michaelson is contacting his seven allies for more troops. As of this moment, our pack is holed up in a cave on Denali of the Alaskan Range. I have been injured.. but I refuse to allow this man do what his father did. If I die, then it is the will of our Goddess.. and know that I will be at peace, in the arms of my mate, once more. I love you, Amber.. we always fight the good fight!
I am blown away! This brave woman risked her life to warn us! I looked at Amber and told her “Here is what we are going to do. You will relay information to this dragon. It will just be false information. Adrian, print out the old border patrol schedules from three years ago. We have increased our patrols by two hundred since then. Give her a copy of our munitions equipment from five years back, when we had geared up for the Demon Campaigns. The militia rosters we had when the Dark Elves attacked. That should be a show of good faith.. and enough to keep her mother alive, while we prepare for war.”
Aurora thanked Amber for her dedication and loyalty.. telling her we will do everything possible to save her mother. After she left, Aurora grabbed her tablet.. typing in a few words, I watched… and asked “Anything I can help with?” She muttered “I’ll let you know.”
Adrian left to get the paperwork together for Amber.. while I finished the paperwork I had started earlier in the day. Culver went back to the training field.. Everyone had a task.
An hour later, Aurora looked up from the tablet “Alright! I ordered dried Mistletoe and crushed Blue Oleander. I need one more ingredient.” I was so confused.. “What are you doing?”
She grinned, devilishly “Making bombs you have to figure out how to launch! It’s capable of putting a dragon to sleep.. which means our people will need to ingest the antidote before the battle. I’m missing one ingredient, however. No one seems to stock it!”
I shuddered “How do you know this?” She grinned again “Oh ye of little faith! I read.. A LOT! But… about that last ingredient.. I’m missing Photinis Sp. Want to chase fireflies?”