Free Dragon Blood 5: Mage by Avril Sabine

said.
    “I spoke to Kade. He basically said the same as you. But he loves me.”
    “We are dragons. It is expected of us. Not just for those we love. I owe you a life, but I would do it even without that. You would be worth avenging.”
    Amber felt slightly uncomfortable by his compliment.
“What would you do after that?”
    “I would protect the castle and your people.”
    “You would protect Crystal.”
    “Yes.”
Rian stared at her for a moment.
“This is your reason?”
    “I think I must be getting as complicated as your father.”
    “No one is that complicated.”
    Amber laughed, hearing the humour in Rian’s thoughts.
“Maybe not.”
She reached out and rested a hand on his shoulder
. “Crystal isn’t the only reason. Just being Ronan’s son puts you in danger. And not only from others, but also from your father and what he expects of you.”
    “I would do all I could to protect you. But if for some reason you should not survive I will protect your people.”
    “Thank you.”
    “All of them. Not only four.”
    “Thank you.”
She let her arm fall to her side.
“I need to find more humans to turn into mages. I have absolutely no idea how many we’ll need.”
    “At least fifty. Preferably one hundred.”
    “You’ve got to be kidding me. How am I meant to find that many?”
    “You will manage. You always do.”
    “How can you say that? I ran. Well, it was a walk, but I still left everyone.”
    “Everyone needs a break at some stage. You returned when it was time. None of us had to ask you to return.”
    What would have happened if she hadn’t returned by now? If it had taken her a lot longer to figure everything out. She wondered if Ronan would have come up with a plan to make her want to return. She thought of everything that had happened Friday. From the late delivery to the man with the gun on her way home from work. Surely that would have been beyond even Ronan’s planning abilities. Pushing that thought away, she started to say she’d better go, when another question occurred to her.
“Why are you training Roy?”
    “Because he is uncertain of Ronan, but he completely trusts you even though he keeps reminding himself he should not. If he is going to fight at your side he needs to be more efficient than he is.”
    “He told you that?”
    “In a lot more words.”
    “Are you going to let your father turn you into a Gold?”
    “It involves eating the heart of a Gold. He told me he already has a heart, frozen and segmented.”
    She wanted to protest, but as a Gold Rian would be able to protect Crystal a lot easier.
“It’s your choice.”
She wanted to order him to become a Gold even though her mind shied away from the thought of anyone eating a dragon heart.
    “If anyone was to find out I had eaten a heart I would risk becoming a renegade.”
    “It is your choice.”
    “I have the feeling you want me to say yes.”
    Amber smiled wryly.
“Crystal.”
    Rian chuckled.
“Of course.”
    Amber nodded.
“I need to go and find some more recruits.”
When Rian nodded she started to walk away, searching for Kade. She found him in their room, removing his weapons. It was something she needed to do as well. She reluctantly removed her weapons, feeling half naked without them. She met Kade’s gaze, holding it for several minutes.
    “Are you okay?”
    She wasn’t sure. This wasn’t what she’d expected when she’d returned. But she would be. She’d come back for all of them. Come back to protect those she loved and keep them safe. Come back to be with them because without all of them she wasn’t herself. “Yeah. Let’s do this.” She held out her hand, waiting for him to take it so they could travel through the Void.

Chapter Nine
    By Thursday afternoon Amber still hadn’t been able to bring herself to talk to her mother, but she was three recruits off reaching fifty. Her mother would bring her one person closer to her goal. If she agreed to become a mage. Amber dropped onto the