Total pages in book: 138
Estimated words: 129584 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 648(@200wpm)___ 518(@250wpm)___ 432(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 129584 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 648(@200wpm)___ 518(@250wpm)___ 432(@300wpm)
He’d gone on plenty of scouting assignments like this over the years. At first, they’d all been about locating mages. His stealth meant he wasn’t going to startle or frighten anyone, but until Cameron, those scouting missions had never turned up any mages.
Now, he had the chance to use all those skills for locating Jaeggi. And he couldn’t freaking wait.
“I don’t like the idea of you going alone,” Alric murmured.
“Baldewin? He’s had plenty of experience dealing with the Jaeggi. Or maybe Warin?” Gunter suggested.
Ravi laughed and shook his head. “You just picked two of Burkhard’s largest lumbering mountains to go on a stealth mission. Can you imagine Baldewin ever being inconspicuous?”
Gunter cleared his throat, a light blush burning his high cheekbones. “Yes. Right.”
“Gunter, you need to get some sleep,” Cameron said gently. “You and Cassie have done amazing work, but I think you both can catch a few hours of sleep before Ravi gets into position in Prague.”
The dragon nodded stiffly, shoving one hand through his greasy hair. “Yes, you may be right. I can shower and catch a few hours’ sleep before Ravi is ready to leave.”
“Spoilsport,” Cassie grumbled.
To Ravi’s surprise, Alric lifted on eyebrow at her, and she sank a little in her chair.
“Shall I tell Sasha about the sorry state her mate is in?”
“Now you’re just being mean,” Cassie pouted, but Alric didn’t budge. She huffed, “Fine, I’ll nap. But Sasha has to nap with me.”
“That’s not called napping,” Cameron pointed out, and his sister grinned wickedly at him. Cameron groaned. “There isn’t enough mental bleach in the world…”
“Returning to the problem at hand. Ravi cannot go to Prague without backup, but we need to give him assistance who won’t draw attention to themselves.”
“Sahan!” Ravi shouted as the idea formed in his brain. “Sahan is a wind dragon like me. He’s smaller and just as fast as me, in both human and dragon form. He’d be perfect.”
“But Sahan is also younger than you and has spent his entire life away from the Jaeggi. He doesn’t necessarily have the same training.”
Ravi shook his head. “I can watch out for him. This is supposed to be a surveillance mission, anyway. No confrontation. If we run into any trouble, then we retreat to the castle. We’ll just be watching.”
Cameron shrugged.
“He’s right. How much trouble can they get into?” Cameron suddenly slapped his hand over his mouth, gasping as his brown eyes went wide. “Oh my god, I can’t believe I just said that. We’re talking about Ravi.”
“Not the same kind of trouble as my usual trouble.”
“I find it disturbing that you have a usual trouble,” Gunter tossed out.
“Sahan sounds like our best option for accompanying Ravi right now,” Alric said quickly, heading off any further bickering before it could start again. “I’ll speak with Sahan and Balin about the mission. If either of them thinks it is a bad idea, we’ll come up with another solution.”
“I can take Sahan’s place, Hoheit,” Gunter offered. “I am nearly as fast as Ravi and quite good at blending into crowds. I’m not noticed nearly as much as Baldewin or Warin. I also have experience with the Jaeggi.”
“You need to sleep.”
Gunter glared at Alric. “I have plenty of time to sleep. It wouldn’t be wise for Ravi to arrive in Prague before sunset. I can catch a full ten hours of sleep and still be ready to leave before then.”
“Let me speak with the wind dragons, but I will consider it.” Alric turned his attention to Ravi, frowning. “Are you sure about this?”
“Of course! I just need to grab a few things and get some location notes from Cassie. Thomas Jaeggi won’t be able to take a step in Prague without me seeing it.”
“Yes, but you will also need to tell Sora about your mission,” Alric patiently reminded him.
Ravi winced. He had not thought of that. He’d gone on countless assignments and missions for Alric. Never before had he needed to tell anyone, needed to think of their fears. The twisting knot in his stomach told him Sora wasn’t going to like this plan.
Cameron chuckled and patted his shoulder. “Good luck. He might not like it, but I’m sure he’ll understand.”
Sora did not understand.
Well, Ravi was sure that he technically did understand the importance of this mission and the fact that Ravi clearly had to be the one to go, but he was not happy about it.
“No,” Sora practically snarled as he marched toward Ravi’s private chambers and threw open the door.
Ravi had just finished explaining everything to Sora, trying to make it sound like this was going to be an incredibly simple, low-key trip to Prague with Sahan. Unfortunately, it appeared that someone had clued Sora in on who Thomas Jaeggi was.
At the mention of the mage’s name, Sora’s eyes had gone wide and he’d started marching toward Ravi’s rooms with his entire body stiff and hands balled into fists.