116 The Dragon of Avalia

Cedric eyed Andre with suspicion. He was barely saying much, merely sprinkling the information in tiny dribs and drabs.

"What do the women have to do with you?"

Andre smiled. "Come. Let's go have a drink and I'll explain everything."

He gestured and, without waiting for Cedric, headed onward towards the lounge area deep within the castle.

Ten minutes later, they were seated at a side table near the fireplace with attendants hovering about, serving pitchers of water and beer.

Since Cedric had polished off a full goblet of wine with Vander not too long ago, he turned down the offer of more alcoholic beverages, opting to sip on his water while Andre chugged down a stein of the grain beer on tap.

Cedric gritted his teeth, trying not to push Andre along. It had been days since he had seen the man and he had to give Andre a little bit of lax.

"You seem tense. Relax a bit." Andre chortled.

"I have to go prepare for the journey tomorrow, but to be quite honest, I have no idea how to prepare for it." Cedric rubbed his face tiredly.

Andre grinned. "Don't worry. Be happy."

"Easy for you to say. You're not the one who will be—"

"Didn't I say I was coming along with you three?" Andre placed his stein down onto the table with a clunk.

"No." Cedric raised an eyebrow. "You asked me if you could come along, but I don't remember ever agreeing."

"Your Majesty. You need me." Andre gave him a deadly look.

"Oh? Pray tell. Why exactly do I need you?"

"I can get you into the Dragon's Lair."

"I have Talia for that."

Andre shook his head. "Talia can only get you into the dragon world using her witchy powers. Once you're in Dragon Realm, you need to access the lair itself. That is where I come in."

"What exactly do you have that will allow us entry?" Cedric leaned forward. "And how do you know so much about the dragon world?"

"The dragon world is called Avalia." Andre grinned. "I know a lot about it because there is a witch who is from our world currently living there. Her name is Ginger."

"Ginger?" Cedric frowned. "I don't remember ever hearing about a witch named Ginger."

"You wouldn't. She left this world before we were even born. She has kept in touch with my aunt however, and that is how I know I can contact her."

"Give me a moment and let me ask my wife about this witch."

'Darling.' Cedric concentrated on a mental link to Talia.

'I'm here.' Talia responded.

'Are you with your mother?'

'Yes. Do you need something from Mother?'

'Ask her if she knows a witch by the name of Ginger.'

'Hang on.'

There was a short silence. While Talia was conversing with her mother, Cedric stared at Andre with a curious expression.

The man was sitting there munching on beer nuts and sipping his beer with a nonchalant and aloof expression as if nothing untoward was happening.

Meanwhile, Cedric was growing more and more agitated. He hated not completely understanding what was going on. It made him feel completely out of control over the matter, and he desperately needed to be able to comprehend what was going down so that he could protect his wife.

Cedric was still fretting inwardly when Talia reconnected the mental link.

'Darling. Mother said she knew of a witch named Ginger. The woman was part of the previous generation of witches, but Mother has not had any contact with her for at least three decades.'

'Alright Love. I'll see you a bit later then.'

Cedric turned back to Andre.

"My wife confirmed that there is indeed, a witch from Chartreuse Mountain named Ginger."

Andrew gave a smile. "Ginger is not just a witch from Chartreuse Mountain. She is also the mother of the King of Avalia, King Lkhagvasüren."

Cedric shook his head. "I've never heard of this King of Avalia before. His name is unique, and difficult to wrap the tongue around."

"He also goes by the shortened name of Süren."

"Süren. Süren". Cedric rolled the name around his tongue a couple of times. "Much better. At least it's not too difficult to remember."

He turned back to Andre. "How will you be able to contact Ginger when we get to Avalia?"

"Oh that's easy. She's my mother."

"Say what?" Cedric gasped. "That's impossible. I've seen you transform into a werewolf with my own eyes."

Andre laughed. "I never said I wasn't a werewolf. I merely said my mother is living in Avalia and was married to a dragon."

Cedric shook his head. "The timing is all wrong. She's been gone longer than you've been alive."

Andre narrowed his eyes. "I wasn't born in Faria."

"Oh?" Cedric shot him a surprised look. "Don't tell me your father is a dragon and you were born in Avalon."

Andre laughed and tossed a beer nut into his mouth.

"That's exactly what I'm telling you. My mother gave birth to me in Avalia and brought me back here to Faria so that her oldest brother, my uncle could raise me."

Cedric snapped his fingers. "So that's why your uncle's last name is Voltaire and yours is Kossova. I always wondered why you were the Duke of Voltaire but your name was different."

"Yes. My father is a dragon. Kossova was his name."

"Was?"

Andre clenched his jaw. "My father was killed by the previous king. Mother took me back to Faria so she could return to Avalia to avenge her husband's death."

"I don't understand…"

"Quite simply, she bewitched King Batsaikhan so that he would marry her, but before she could exact her revenge, she became pregnant with her second son, my younger brother Süren."

"Ahhh. That must have put a crimp in her plans to exact revenge."

"It did." Andre shrugged. "Mother spent many years planning out a way to get her revenge. She had to wait for Süren to be old enough to take over the throne before she could take him out safely."

"So the former king is dead?"

Andre shrugged. "Last I heard, he was sitting in a dark damp dungeon, dying a slow painful death. This is the very same dungeon we need to break into because your sister and her husband are both somewhere in there as well."