Book 2: Chapter 58: Moving On

    "I don''t want it," Marion said.

    Arthur stared blankly at him, his arm held out with Marion''s stolen Legendary Time card pinched between his fingers. This had been a rather trying day and for a full ten seconds he wasn''t sure he had understood the prince correctly.no?vel binz was the first platform to present this chapter.

    Blinking, Arthur said, "Come again?"

    "He doesn''t want the card," Brixaby rumbled from his perch on Arthur''s shoulder. He seemed to have claimed that spot as his own as he hadn''t moved from it over the last few hours. He was content to sit there and provided color commentary. "That means it''s mine again. Gimmie."

    Arthur ignored him and took a longer look at Marion. He seemed a little pale but otherwise not that harmed for having a card pulled out of his heart deck.

    Certainly, he was better off than Francis Orchardtree who had been left a sobbing mess until he got his card back — a rather sorry state for a bearded man older than Arthur. Or the hive leader who had been practically comatose and only stirred once Arthur placed the card back into his hand.

    Both were now recovering under the care of healers, though Arthur had been assured that once the cards were returned into the heart deck, any damage would be quickly corrected.

    He had looked for Marion only to find him missing. He assumed he was getting some medical attention, possibly for mana depletion.

    Sure enough, Marion had asked to visit Arthur privately once back in his room a few hours later.

    But now he was rejecting the card.

    "Marion, just take it. I can''t use it."

    Brixaby squawked a protest.

    Ignoring him, Arthur tried to hand the card to him again. This time, Marion stepped back.

    "No." Marion shook his head. "I feel better than I have in a long time. Clear. I don''t have multiple futures pecking at me for attention all the time. Do you know what that''s like?"

    "No, but we could," Brixaby wheedled.

    "Don''t you have that Nullification card?" Arthur asked.

    "Yes, but it''s only a Rare. It can shield most of the effects of the Time card, but not... not the sense of the future." Marion chuckled to himself, though his laughter had a strain of stress to it. “Now I can read a book without knowing what the next few paragraphs are going to be. Do you know what a relief that is?”

    Arthur shook his head.

    Marion sighed. "It was like... you know that feeling you get where you see something before an event, or a person''s face, and get the feeling it''s happened before? I had that constantly since I was twelve years old. Now I don''t. Arthur, I''ve never felt so free."

    "But it''s from your heart deck," Arthur pressed.

    "Commoners trade out their heart cards, or so I''m told. In times of trouble to avoid being evicted, or they gamble them away."

    Arthur had seen that for himself when he had traveled with Red''s caravan. It had been seen as unpleasant, but not as debilitating as what had happened to the people today. Granted, those men had been using Common or Uncommon cards.

    Maybe Second and his men had been made of sterner stuff than Francis Orchardtree.

    Maybe Marion was more resilient, too.

    "Excellent," Brixaby purred, "We will use this to enhance my own card—"

    Arthur cut him off. "We can''t keep the card. You know that."

    Brixaby grumbled, though his red eyes didn''t leave the card in Arthur''s hands until, reluctantly, Arthur put it back in his Personal Space.

    The moment it was gone, hidden tension drained from Marion, too. He kept insisting he didn''t want it back, but having it right in front of him must have been a terrible temptation.

    "No, you can''t keep it," Marion agreed. "Officially, it belongs to the king. As soon as my title is officially stripped, he''ll want it back."

    "What does that mean? You''ll no longer be a prince?"

    "That''s exactly what it means," Marion said, surprisingly light-hearted. He even dredged up a smile. "All the king''s heirs have Legendary cards. Removing them is the one sure way to step out of the running." Seeing Arthur''s expression, he waved a hand. "It''s fine. I can''t go back to living the way I did. Plus, Echo is safe since I doubt another Legendary dragon is likely to be laid soon."

    Arthur was torn. Marion seemed set on this path, and by the way he spoke about his Time card, he wasn''t sure he''d want it back either.

    On the other hand, Marion was a prince and didn''t know the first thing about being a commoner. Arthur had seen him spend money like water.

    Well... he''d either learn, or he wouldn''t.

    Arthur kept a straight face. "I''ll be here."

    "Very well then. You may move me to the bed."

    Brixaby was more than capable of flying there himself — it would only be a short buzz of wings. Arthur reached up anyway and cupped the little dragon in his hands before he transferred him to a pillow on the bed.

    Once there, Brixaby let out a sigh large enough to inflate him completely before he let it out again, then curled up to sleep.

    He could be cute for such a little monster.

    Emphasis on little.

    No one had mentioned it in Arthur''s presence, but he suspected a large part of the reason why hive leaders weren''t clamoring for him to join their hive was Brixaby''s tiny size.

    He was smaller than any newly hatched Common Arthur had seen, even the tiny purple ones.

    No one knew what to make of him. He was so tiny it was difficult to believe he''d ever grow to a size capable of being ridden. And his color was... odd. He had four wings like many of the purples, with the agility in the air to match. His scales even shimmered with purple highlighting in the bright light.

    But he was sharply intelligent and acerbic whereas purples were sweet and a little dumb.

    Was that because Brix was a Legendary rank? Arthur had asked Whitaker and received a non-answer that left him thinking the man didn''t know either.

    It doesn''t matter, he thought fiercely. Yes, the future was unknown, but that''s what made it interesting.

    One thing was for sure: He and Brix had a lot of growth ahead of them. They had new cards to learn about, not to mention Arthur planned to see if his skills transferred to Brixaby.

    Would his Master of Body Enhancement card help the dragon grow?

    Would their Counterfeit Siphoncardallow him to gain new skills even faster? Arthur couldn’t wait to start officially experimenting.

    A soft knock at the door interrupted his thoughts.

    The door opened before Arthur could answer it. Carley strode in, looking harried.

    "Another Leader wants to see me?" Arthur guessed. Carley had been letting them in on a regular basis.

    "No, only a message from your Wolf leaders: You''re to leave for your new hive in the morning." Carley sent a dubious glance toward Brixaby. Unlike most people, she didn''t seem overly concerned that the dragon was about to steal her cards — probably because she didn''t have any. "Safe to say you''ll be riding on someone else''s dragon for the trip."

    "I think that would be the case even if Brixaby wasn''t..." He trailed off and sent a glance to the sleeping dragon, feeling disloyal.

    Carley grinned and pinched her fingers together, miming something very tiny.

    "Right," Arthur said. "I don''t think baby dragons typically carry their riders."

    She shrugged. "You''d know better than I, being a rider and all." But there was a bit of wistfulness in her tone.

    Arthur hesitated. "You know, I managed to earn a Rare card for myself in Wolf Moon hive."

    "Well, yeah, you''re a noble," she said and though she kept a straight face, Arthur sensed she very much wanted to roll her eyes.

    "I worked for every shard," Arthur said, "Two jobs. One in a kitchen, one as a bar-back."

    The look she gave was pure disbelief.

    "Oh, you don''t believe me? Ever see a noble do this?" Crossing the room, Arthur went to a side-table. He had cleaned out the room once already and placed all useful items in his Personal Space. But some of the hive servants had refilled it in his absence — likely because of his new status as an important dragon rider.

    That included several bottles of wine.

    Arthur grabbed the wine bottles by the stems and started flipping them in the air in a smooth, practiced juggle.

    Carley''s mouth dropped. "You''re joking. That''s not some fancy noble party trick?"

    "It''s not. It earned me good tips for years." Arthur caught the wine bottles and glanced at the labels. Those were good years. Quickly, he stuffed them into his Personal Space.

    "My point," Arthur continued, "Is that while this hive may be large and grand... there''s something to be said about swimming in a smaller pond." He paused. "Plus, I''ll need an assistant I can trust."

    Carley''s eyes narrowed. Then she ruthlessly began to negotiate her new pay.