Free Dragon Legends (Return of the Darkening Book 2) by Ava Richardson Page B

guard your royal highness for the rest of my days.” I smiled. I was going to avoid even thinking about the Darkening right now.
    “I promised your mother I would talk to you about all of that,” he said evenly. “You have to understand, Thea—what would it be like if she lost all of her children in some battle? House Flamma. How does the old saying go? ‘Nothing as close as a Flamma and a dragon?’ Your house has been standing beside the kings of Torvald for centuries. You are one of the backbones of our kingdom. If we lost all of you…” The prince shook his head. “Think of the good of the kingdom.”
    A breeze came up and I shivered, but I kept staring at the prince.  “But apparently all is well. Isn’t that what you said? Although, if you ask those from King’s Village they might have a different view on the matter.”
    “King’s Village?” Justin scratched his chin. “I am certain someone was talking to me about that, just recently.”
    I frowned. How could he have forgotten King’s Village and the battle for it? My throat tightened. “Prince Justin—the Darkening? There are new attacks?”
    “It cannot be,” Justin said in a weak voice. He shook his head. “There are raiders and Wildmen as always. That is why we increase our patrols.” He smiled. “Which is why I want you to consider a request to be a Green Flag.”
    “I can’t believe you would ask this of me. You know I am the best archer at present. I’ve beaten you enough times!” I pointed a finger at him. “When we were younger, it became embarrassing how often I would win against you.”
    “No.” His face hardened into that of a stranger’s. “I have always been the better archer. Why seek to annoy me?” He sounded haughty, and nothing like the Justin I knew.
    “Do you—do you remember the apple tart incident? Or the mud pies?” I asked.
    “What on earth are you talking about? I would never have been allowed to play with mud pies. My father would have had a fit.”
    You’re right, he never did allow you—but you did so anyway, because you knew you could bully everyone into letting you, for you were the heir to the throne.
    I remembered those days—but he did not.
    Worry grew into a nibbling monster. I could think of only one thing that would change him—someone had used the Memory Stone on the prince.
    But if Commander Hegarty had the Memory Stone, had it been him? But why? Or had the commander lost the stone? Was that why he was sending out patrols. It had been a long transport to bring it home. Perhaps the stone had gone missing then?
    I turned Bill for the academy. “I’m sorry Justin, I—I thank you for taking an interest in my career, but I must get back. There is something very important I have to look into.” The prince was looking annoyed—but a few moments from now he wouldn’t remember why. That was as sad as it was terrible. “Thank you for your advice.” I turned and headed back at a fast trot. I needed to find Seb.
    Then we need to find out just who had the Memory Stone—and why was it being used on the prince.
    *

Chapter 7:
Burglary
    “It’s simple,” Thea said, her voice breathless and her face flushed. She had just come back from what she’d said was supposed to be a moonlit ride with the prince. And why hadn’t she told me about that before? I stared at her. Sunset was still glowing with a fading purple in the west—she hadn’t even been out until the first star appeared. I didn’t know what had gone wrong, I was just glad that it had. I didn’t like how the prince had been looking at her all day.
    But now Thea was saying crazy stuff.
    “You distract him and I’ll sneak into his study.” Thea gave a sharp nod.
    I shook my head. The Dragon Horns had sounded almost an hour ago. Around us, the keep echoed with riders talking about the squadron placements. I sat, along with Merik and Varla, where our little group always sat, at the back near one of the windows. Thea had got here