Page 13 of Dragon Eternal (Dragon Kings 4)
CHAPTERFIVE
Iron Hall ruins
Cullen ran a hand down his face. The conversation—and he used that term lightly since he considered it more of a disagreement—had been going for hours.
His mate, Tamlyn, had refused to budge an inch. She glared at Jenefer, her hazel eyes flashing. “You aren’t thinking this through.”
“How many times do I have to tell you that it’s what I have to do. Your place is here,” Jenefer retorted, her brown eyes flashing dangerously.
Tamlyn threw up her hands. The light coming through the tree roots above glinted over her dark skin. “Your place is here, too.”
“You aren’t listening!” Jenefer yelled, the sound echoing through the underground city.
Cullen looked across the pool of water—a collection of the beads dripping from the tree roots above—to Sian. The petite Alchemist hadn’t said a word since her lover had declared her intent to leave Iron Hall to search for other Amazons.
He understood Tamlyn’s thinking, but he also understood Jenefer’s. All he could hope for now was that Tamlyn didn’t ask him why he wasn’t arguing with Jenefer like she was.
“We’ve always done things together,” Tamlyn told Jenefer. “Always. It’s been me, you, and Sian. Now you want to leave?”
Jenefer sighed loudly, her frustration evident. She brushed her hand over her blond hair that she had plaited into one thick braid. “I’m not leaving forever, Tam. I’m going to search for the other Amazons. We’re going to need them. I don’t care what the Dragon Kings say or what they plan. There will be a war. Those of us with magic will have to stand up for ourselves. Amazons are the greatest of all human warriors. We need them.”
“We have you.” The look in Sian’s pale green eyes beseeched Jenefer to change her mind.
Jenefer turned to her and smiled sadly. “I’m good, babe, but I’m not good enough to stand on my own. The more we have on our side, the better.”
“Then I’ll go with you.”
Tamlyn threw up her hands in dismay. “Are you kidding?”
Cullen opened his mouth to attempt to calm Tamlyn when Astrid came running from one of the corridors. She was one of the six children that he and Tamlyn had saved from execution in Stonemore. From the moment Astrid had called him “my dragon,” she’d had his heart.
Given the speed the child was running, he knew she wouldn’t stop. Cullen waited until she launched herself at him, then he grabbed her and swung her high. Her joyous smile made him melt. She started to say something, but he glanced at the others, silently urging her to remain quiet. Astrid nodded, and he put her on his shoulders.
Sian finally let her fury show. “What, Tam? You don’t think I can handle it out there?”
“That isn’t it at all, and you know it.” Tamlyn put her hands on her hips and glanced at the roots above her. “I don’t want any of us to leave. If one does, then…”
“I’m returning,” Jenefer said again.
Sian shook her head. “You can’t know that.”
“I can, and I do,” Jenefer countered.
Tamlyn turned to him. “Cullen, say something.”
He’d been afraid she would say that. He looked at each of them and then sighed. “Jenefer’s right. The more those with magic stand together, the better. If she can find more Amazons, then she should. Otherwise, you’ll be fighting the same battle over and over again each generation.”
“Unbelievable,” Tamlyn whispered. The hurt on her face was like a knife to his gut.
Jenefer shook her head. “Don’t be mad at him, Tam. This is a strategic decision. We’ve been oppressed for too long. I’m tired of hiding. I’m tired of running for my life. This realm was made with magic. Why should we have to keep who we are a secret? I’m not saying I want to subjugate those who don’t have magic, but I’ve had enough. Our kind is being killed as children. You’ve risked your life time and again to help them. What’s different now? Just because I have to venture out? That isn’t fair.”
“I’m scared you won’t return,” Tamlyn said in a soft voice.
The Amazon walked to Tamlyn and wrapped her arms around her. They embraced for a long minute. When Jenefer stepped away and turned to Sian there were tears on both her and Tamlyn’s faces.
Cullen caught his mate’s attention and motioned for her to follow him. He kept Astrid on his shoulders as he walked Tamlyn outside. She refused to look at him. Tamlyn made her way to one of the rocks near the hidden entrance and sat.
“Jenefer and Sian needed to be alone,” he said to fill the silence.
