The Shores of Rethan (The Kingdom of Dragons Book 5)

II - The Wizard of Rethan

The town of Rethan turned out to be much bigger than Rhen had been picturing. There were over a hundred houses, built along the coastline of the island. There were even houses on the beach, which likely belong to fishermen. There were cobbled streets, lanterns, even trees trimmed into neat, round shapes.

And Rhenor couldn't care less about any of it. All he could think about was where these people had taken Kaz, and how he and Elaya could free him. But at the moment, Rhen just wanted to see the dragon. To tell him that everything was going to be all right, even if it had no way of knowing that. Rhenor just hated the idea of Kaz scared and alone, helpless to whatever these people wanted to do with him.

Though Rhen supposed he should be happy they'd been shot down by people separate from Istamid. He didn't want to imagine what humans from their homeland would do with a captive Dragon Lord.

Rhenor grimaced at that, still not sure how he felt about that title belonging to Kaz. He wasn't mad at Kaz for having it. It was simply that Rhen found it difficult to connect Kaz with being a Dragon Lord. The Lords were cruel, conniving, and almost everyone was terrified of them and their rage. And Kaz was none of this. In fact, the first time Rhen had ever seen him be assertive was on that ship, and Kaz had been acting, then.

All this just made the fact that Kaz must have been scared out of his mind worse.

But surrounded by riders from all sides, Rhen kept his thoughts to himself as he continued following the man who had captured them into an isolated, tall house with a roof made of wooden tiles and stone and wooden walls, much like most of the other houses Rhenor had seen so far. It would be reminiscent of Arlow's houses, if not for the much more elegant look.

All of the houses here, especially this one, were decorated with carvings and small, metal plates of various colors along the walls. The walls themselves were made of smaller, thinner-looking planks, and the tiles forming the roofs were smaller, and uniform, with seemingly no differences or imperfections.

But the people in Arlow were poor, and their houses were built to last in the harsh environment. Barely anyone there would even think about decorating their house instead of working or hunting, busying themselves with trying to make sure they and their families would survive another winter.

But given that here on this island, the climate was much warmer, and the people weren't being taxed to death, Rhenor couldn't say he was surprised.

As they reached the house, the leader, whose name Rhenor still didn't know, got off his horse and let one of his people lead it away. In fact, all of the riders left, save for two who also climbed off their horses and were now watching Rhenor and Elaya through narrowed eyes.

Rhen shot a glare at them. Of course, even with magic, the older man wouldn't let himself be alone with two people he didn't trust. And Rhenor couldn't blame him—if they had been left alone with him, he would certainly try to take the amulet from him. Rhenor might not know what exactly it was, but he had a feeling it had something to do with Elaya's loss of magic.

"Come on in," the man said almost cheerfully as he opened the door, making Rhenor grind his teeth. He was sure the man wasn't trying to antagonize him, but him acting like treating Kaz the way they had was nothing to be upset about was making Rhen see red.

Still, he followed the man inside, as did Elaya and the two guards. Or whatever they were. The man and woman were certainly not dressed like guards, only wearing colorful tunics and trousers. In fact, Rhen didn't think he'd seen anyone wearing armor, at all.

He scanned his eyes over the house interior as he entered, scowling at all the ornate furniture, including a very large, dark, round table in the center, facing a fireplace, which was not lit, but that wasn't surprising as it was warm enough without a fire. There were two bookcases lining the walls, packed with books, as well as gold and silver plates, bowls, and cups displayed in a glass display case next to them.