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Chapter Thirteen
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Jason's grip on Lune's hand was close to painful. He had taken both Damon and Lune to the hottest pools available and ordered them to strip and wash vigorously. Neither had argued and Lune had scrubbed so hard he nearly made himself bleed. Despite the strong soap he still felt like the scent of death and decay was burned into his nostrils. Damon joined them and had new clothes brought down. They were marching up to the meeting hall. Normally Jason would only bring Damon alongside, but he was refusing to let Lune out of his sight.
Lune didn't particularly want to be left alone either. He was pressed tight to Damon as Jason took his assigned seat. The tension in the massive war room was palpable. Jason was almost rigid in his chair, and he wasn't the only one. The faces of his fellow knights were grim. A few looked puzzled, having just come back from patrols or training and having not heard the full story yet. Low hurried whispers were being passed from one to the other. They had all been waiting for almost half an hour as knights and their dragons trickled in.
They were still waiting for news from the medics. The huge room was even more crowded than usual because almost all of the knights had brought their primary dragon in human form. The huge doors burst open as the king swept into the room, the head healer and three of the king's most trusted advisors tailing after him. The murmurs went silent as the Sun King sat himself in one of the chairs.
'Report?' he said to the healer, an older man with greying hair named Aseam.
'The tests are not complete but from what we have been able to confirm, the beast was poisoned. How and with what, we do not yet know,' the man said gravely. The whispers started again until Lune felt as though he were standing outside in a light wind.
'How is that possible? The stables are one of the most heavily guarded buildings in the entire stronghold!' growled out Kyril. There were several aggressive nods of agreement.
'Is it possible the poor beast was poisoned by accident?' asked a weedy red-haired man named Samson.
'Nay, you weren't there. That animal didn't die from a bit of bad meat. It died a foul and painful death in minutes of coming into contact with whatever it was,' barked Gabe. More muttering, growing louder all around the hall.
'Was that the animal's usual stall?' asked Amara.
The room went quiet again. The king turned to look at her.
'That dragon was a youngling, freshly caught. The stall it resided in was temporary. Who normally uses it?' Amara asked. Faces turned to look at each other.
'My dragon normally rests there but I had him moved to a breeding pen. My filly came into season two nights ago. I told the boy he could use it,' Fredrick said in his deep voice.
'Isn't he in your squad?' Lune whispered.
Jason turned his head to respond. 'Yes.'
'Did he go to see that scorched farmland that the apprentices disappeared from?' Lune asked, his brain suddenly working very fast.
Damon gave him a startled look. 'He did,' the black dragon answered. Jason frowned.
'Something you would like to add?' The Sun King turned his blazing eyes on Jason. All eyes turned to him, but he was still looking at Lune in astonishment.
'You think that whoever it was recognised Sir Fredrick's dragon and chose that stall on purpose?' Jason asked. Lune nodded.
'What!?' Logan barked, thunderstruck. He was sat next to Fredrick and shared a stunned look with the man.
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Dragon Bound
الخيال (فانتازيا)In an ancient world those few who have mastered magic have learnt to capture and tame dragons to protect their kingdoms from those who seek to destroy them. Lune, captured by a rider and his black dragon must escape or be tamed by this human who see...
