Page 79 of Connor and the Dragons

He was going home. And once Connor was gone, there’d be no more Oallian, only Vyranthos.

CHAPTER 25: OALLIAN

“Where does he go when he is upset?” Connor asked as we strode through the palace with a small company of the Grey Guard and a very colorful, very worried Pippin Crane.

“He does not get upset,” Aeldryc said.

“He does too,” Pip said. “But what makes you think he’s upset?”

Aeldryc frowned at Pip. “I have never once seen him upset, and I’ve known him for centuries.”

“Aeldryc does not pay attention to emotions. It’s a handicap, I think.”

Aeldryc did not look like the sort of man a wise person would point out the handicaps of.

“When he’s stressed, he likes to crochet. Maybe he went somewhere quiet with his yarn. Before you left, I had just showed him how to make leg warmers.” Pip pointed down to his legs, which were encased in his signature tiny trousers on top, and colorful knit tubes that ended just above the ankle. “For when it’s cold!”

“You could just wear trousers,” Aeldryc muttered.

“He also likes to have a thing to do when he’s upset,” I said. “Organizing or bossing people around. Is there a tea service somewhere for him to rearrange?”

“Are you sure he’s not still with the Queen?” Aeldryc asked. “No one alerted us to any sort of problem with Frost.”

“He said he had a meeting with her over an hour ago and never came back.”

“They are friends. I did not know talking to one’s friend for over an hour was cause to call the Grey Guard.” He turned a corner, and we followed him, speeding up. “I suppose that’s his last known location, so we’ll ask.”

But it was cause, and I couldn’t explain how I knew. Neither, I assumed, could Connor. We’d both leapt up at the same moment, and whatever had yanked us out of our chairs felt like the sort of thing you sought out the Lord Commander of the Grey Guard for.

I started running faster as the knowledge twisted into a cramp under my ribs.

Pip stopped partway down the hall, bent over and panting. “Keep going,” he yelled. “Find Frost! I had a rough night.”

And Aeldryc the Ironstorm, Lord Commander of the Grey Guard, winked at me, and the lanterns around us vibrated with iron magic, just for a beat.

At the end of the hall, Connor ignored the two large men standing guard, and burst through the door into the Queen’s study as if she was not a queen.

Queen Delsynarea looked up like she might be about to yell at whoever had interrupted her, then saw Connor and tilted her head. “Why are you winded?”

“We’re looking for Kess,” Connor said. “He walked over to meet with you and never came back.”

She frowned. “That was some time ago. I assumed he’d gone back to you.” She looked at Connor, and then she looked past him at nothing, and her hand lifted off the table. “Where is the mirror?”

“In the lower hall as far as I know.”

“He might be there. He mentioned it.”

I flew, because I was fast, towards where we’d dropped the mirror off. It was not in the lower hall, and there was a rectangle in the dust where it had been and a horse blanket folded on the floor beside it, the perfectly creased corners sure evidence that Kessrin had been there. There was a pile of neatly folded clothes next to it.

“He folded his clothes,” I pointed out as the Queen, Connor, and Aeldryc finally caught up to me.

“He must be in Clovermere,” she said. “He took it there to test it.”

“Why would he do that without us?” Connor asked.

For about one second the Queen of Qoksmere looked like a woman who wanted to break something very violently. Possibly Connor. Then she composed herself and she was a queen again, staring imperiously down her nose at us.

“Because, Mr. Liang, you told him you wanted to go home. And he will very much do anything he thinks will make you happy, because he is an idiot. I’m sure he will be back soon.” With that, she turned and started walking back towards her office.