Page 36 of Dragon's Surprise
“You should stay quiet,” Kerry snapped. “You have no right to speak here.”
Rhene leaned forward. “You keep contradicting yourself. If I, as Erwan’s commander, have no right to speak, then why does Alistair? If this meeting is for kings and commanders only, why are you here? It seems you’re going to great lengths to keep me out of here, which raises the question of why.”
“You’re a wolf,” Alistair spat out. “You have no right mingling in dragon business. The whole relationship between you and Erwan is an abomination.”
“King Erwan.” Rhene’s voice was sharp as a whip. “I couldn’t care less what you think of my relationship with my mate, but you will address him with the honor and respect attached to his position.”
“Despite the hostile delivery of his remarks, Alistair brings up a good point,” Oscar, the commander of the O’Connors, said. Fergal and Gregor had gone over all the names of the attendees with Erwan and Rhene, which made things a hell of a lot easier. At least now they knew who they were dealing with.
“And what point is that?” Gregor asked.
“He’s a wolf. He’s not a dragon. I’m not sure I feel comfortable discussing dragon business in front of him. For all we know, he could betray us.”
That was rich, coming from the O’Connors, but Erwan held his tongue.
“The Code does not forbid it.” Gregor’s tone left little room for discussion. “So neither do we. Let’s start this meeting.” He brought the gavel down on the table. “The meeting is opened. The primary purpose of today’s meeting in closed quarters is to determine the validity of the claims of King Erwan, who has challenged King Cladhaire to the rights to the throne of the Doyle clan.”
“There is no validity,” Cladhaire immediately said.
Gregor held up a finger. “King Cladhaire, let me make it crystal clear that I will not tolerate interruptions. The Fitzgeralds are chairing this meeting, and as such, you will yield to our authority. When it’s not your time to speak, you will hold your tongue.”
Oh, that was as good as a declaration of war. Gregor had better be careful going forward because he had just gained an enemy.
“King Erwan, we request to see proof of your claims.”
“You’ve already seen the proof,” Rhene said calmly.
They had talked until late into the night, trying to come up with a strategy, and finally had decided to attempt to turn the tables. All Erwan could do was hope it would work out.
“What do you mean?” Alistair asked.
“He shifted in front of everyone yesterday. He’s the White Dragon and, as such, incapable of deceit. You know this to be true.”
A hushed silence fell over the room, and judging by the surprised faces, no one had expected them to run this defense. Not unreasonable, since it had taken Erwan and Rhene hours to come up with. And in all fairness, it was a bit of a desperate move but a necessary one. Sadly, the hard, irrefutable evidence they had for their claims was razor-thin.
Kerry recovered first. “That’s indirect evidence. Where’s the proof?”
“You want to see proof? How’s this for proof?” Erwan pulled the prints from his pocket and threw them onto the table. They slid right in front of Alistair. Erwan couldn’t have positioned them better if he’d tried.
“What’s that?” King Donál of the O’Connors asked, leaning so far forward that his nose all but touched the table.
Erwan waited with his answer, too focused on Alistair and Kerry as they bent over and looked at the pictures Erwan had so helpfully printed for them. They both paled.
“That, King Donál, is proof the Murphys tried to abduct me.” Erwan had been determined to stay calm, but he couldn’t prevent his voice from trembling with anger. “They came as thieves in the night, cloaked in dark magic, putting a spell on my mate and me.”
King Donál’s gasp was real, and even though Fergal and Gregor had already seen the pictures, they pretended to be just as shocked. The complete lack of reaction from Cladhaire and Baoth only confirmed they’d been aware of the incident. Not that Erwan was surprised. So far, they’d had a hand in every attempt on his life, so why would this one be an exception?
“This is a fabrication,” Kerry said. “A despicable lie in an obvious move to discredit us.”
“Is it?” Rhene crossed his arms. “We also have video from our security cameras.”
Alistair waved his hand. “That in itself proves it’s a fake. We would never have allowed ourselves to be caught on camera. Our magic is way too strong for that.”
“Oh, we both know better. Your magic was too strong initially, and you did a great job cloaking yourself…until an omega unmasked you and ordered you to show yourself. Which, by the way, is evident in the camera footage, where you show up from one second to the next, looking stunned. It even includes audio of your exchange with him.”
“All lies. No omega could ever be strong enough to resist our magic. Not even from one alpha, let alone five.”
“Five, you say? That’s interesting because the pictures on the table only show four, as one of you stood just outside of the camera angle. How did you know there were five?”