Wyvern's Prince by Deborah Cooke

Author:Deborah Cooke [Cooke, Deborah]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Deborah A. Cooke
Published: 2016-09-19T18:30:00+00:00

Chapter Five

Arista’s hologram continued. “I agreed to the terms because I had another incomplete assignment that led to Regalia: this mission would serve as suitable cover. I had been charged to retrieve a valuable relic that was rumored to have been stolen by Queen Arcana. I was to bring it back to Cumae. I came to Regalia alone, so that no other lives would be risked.”

Gemma could easily believe that Arista would sacrifice her own life to fulfill an assignment for Cumae.

Arista shook her head. “I didn’t believe in sorcery before I came to Regalia, and I’m still not certain that magic is the cause for my current situation. But the fact remains that this quest has been very strange, and coincidence is a poor explanation for what transpired. I arrived on Regalia under the cover of being a diplomat, sent to negotiate updated terms for the Galactic Trade Alliance. I sought out Prince Venero at the palace soon after my arrival, for he was said to offer counsel to the queen on matters of diplomacy and law.”

She smiled. “I expected him to be easy to kill, a nobleman convinced of his own safety and one accustomed to indulging his every whim, without regard for others. I expected to feel no qualms.” Arista frowned. “It was not his good looks that swayed me, nor even the splendor of his body. He indulged in humor, which I did not always understand and for this, he mocked me. I recalled your counsel, Gemma, that such mockery could be done in affection, and was known as teasing, so I endured it with apparent good humor.” Arista shook her head. “I did not expect him to surprise me, but he did. Venero not only acknowledged the existence of the prize I sought but said he knew its location. He proposed to be my ally and aid me in its retrieval from the treasury in the Queen’s Grotto.”

Gemma was fascinated.

Arista shrugged. “Why would a prince betray his mother and his kingdom? Perhaps because he knew my other assignment and where it had originated. But the fact was that I had need of someone who understood Regalia better than me.” Arista fell silent and Gemma wondered how much more hologram the memoria could contain.

“I calculated the odds of my success alone to be much lower than those with Venero, even if he proved to be untrustworthy in the end. And so I accepted his proposition.”

Arista looked up, her expression so anguished that Gemma reached out a hand to console her, forgetting she viewed a mere hologram. “He surprised me yet again, for I fell in love with him.”

Gemma gasped. That Arista should fall in love was astonishing. Had she been enchanted? She wondered more about Prince Venero and his ability to DreamCast. Had he convinced Arista of something that wasn’t true?

“I never expected this to happen to me. I do not know what to do.” Arista began to pace, her concern clear. “Should I kill him

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