The Betrayed Dragon (Cycle of Dragons Book 2), Dan Michaelson [best books to read all time .txt] 📗

entirely know. I can feel it. It’s strange, subtle, but the longer I’ve been working with the dragons, the more I’m aware of that power.”

“It is different than other students,” Thomas said.

“Different?” the king asked.

“More developed.” Thomas looked over to me, studying me for a moment before turning his attention back to the king. “I suspect it’s his age. Had he trained when he was younger, he may not have developed it. Since he came to us later, it has evolved. He helped me track the Djarn. You know how difficult it is to make any headway in the forest, but he felt them.”

He looked to the Sharath, holding his gaze a moment.

“He did,” the king said.

Thomas nodded. “And I think they have the dragons.”

The Sharath laughed, and the king turned to look at him. “He continues to try to bring up the Djarn as excuses for his failings,” the Sharath said. “We both know the Djarn pose no threat.”

“We don’t know any such thing,” Thomas said. “All we know is what we have seen.”

“And what have we seen?” The Sharath glared at him. “Have the Djarn ever attacked us?”

Thomas frowned. “No.”

“Have the Djarn ever posed any danger within the kingdom?”

Thomas shook his head. “No.”

“Then there is no reason to accuse the Djarn of this,” the Sharath said.

The king turned to me. “What do you think of this?”

I shook my head. “I don’t know if I’m the right person to ask.”

The king chuckled. “And yet I’m asking you. What do you think?”

I glanced over to Thomas. “I think . . . I have a little bit of experience with the Djarn from my homeland. They are happy to trade with the right people, but they are harmless. They want to be left alone.”

The Sharath watched me. I didn’t care for the expression on his face—there was something about it that left me uncertain. I looked at Thomas again, but he ignored me, the same way that he had been ignoring me ever since we had come here. There was more taking place here than I knew. More than what Thomas had let on, but I had to figure out just what it was.

“That’s not quite all,” I went on hurriedly. “The Djarn were present in the forest. I’m not exactly sure what they were doing, only that they did have us surrounded.”

I almost said something about Joran and his father and the reason they had come to the city, but I already felt as if I had said too much. The king watched me, and my mouth went dry.

I was supposed to serve him. Only, I didn’t know how, or what I was supposed to do.

“What else have you seen?” the king asked.

I glanced over to Thomas, saying nothing for a moment, before turning my attention back to the king. “I’ve seen the Djarn in my home near Berestal.”

“Have you?” the king asked. The Sharath kept his gaze on me, and there was something unsettling, almost predatory, about the way he looked at me. It reminded me strangely of how the mesahn looked at me. There was something dangerous about it, leaving me unsure of his intentions.

“What have you seen of the Djarn near Berestal?”

“That’s all. Nothing more than what I’ve told you,” I said.

It seemed as if they were trying to tease out more information from me through their questioning, but the more they challenged me, the more I began to realize that I had to be careful.

“If he doesn’t know anything, then he’s not useful to us,” the Sharath said. “He can deny it all he wants, but there is only so much that can be—”

“I know what he detected,” Thomas said. “And I saw the way the Djarn circled us. You may not believe it, and to be honest, I don’t really care.” Thomas turned his attention to the king. “The only thing that matters is what you believe, sire. We did have an encounter, and regardless of what your man might claim, it was real.”

The king frowned, staring for a moment before turning his attention back to the Sharath. “There have been rumors.”

“They are nothing more than rumors,” the Sharath said. “Rumors like that can be dangerous, as well. We both know that if rumors are allowed to spread, we find ourselves—”

“Under attack,” Thomas said.

“We have never been under attack from the Djarn,” the Sharath said.

That was what this was about.

“What do you think, young student?” the king asked.

I took a deep breath and had to ignore Thomas this time. Even though he had been kind to me, practically good in some ways, I also recognized the need to be careful here. “I don’t know who is right,” I said, suddenly feeling the weight of Thomas’s gaze on me. “The Djarn have never harmed us. I’ve spent some time around them. Not as much as Thomas,” I added hurriedly, hoping that if nothing else, that would mitigate some of his disappointment, “but I’ve never heard of them harming us. They had every opportunity to do so with me, but didn’t.”

There had to have been some other reason that Joran and his father had come to the city, especially with the missing dragons and everything else that was taking place. I was going to have to figure that out.

Somehow.

I didn’t even know where they had stayed in the city, or anything about who Joran’s father had met up with during his time there.

I didn’t know anything.

That put me into a precarious situation.

“Out near the plains,” Thomas said.

The king watched him, saying nothing.

“Sire?” the Sharath asked.

“I am deciding,” the king said. “At this point, I don’t know what I need to do.”

I shifted my feet.

“We have multiple dragons missing,” Thomas said. “We have evidence the Djarn have been calling to them. And we have—”

“Your evidence,” the Sharath said. “I’m not convinced it is something we can rely on. You have not been the most trustworthy, Thomas Elaron.”

The Djarn were calling the dragons?

Thomas hadn’t told me they had evidence