Wyvern's Prince (The Dragons of Incendium Book 2) by Deborah Cooke

his axe into the chopping block and bent to look Venero in the eye. “Not you,” he said grimly, which wasn’t the warmest of welcomes. “Not again.”
    “Me. Again.” Venero tried to smile. “Good to see you, too.”
    “Don’t you ever give up?”
    “Not in my nature, I’m afraid.”
    Celo grimaced and spared a glance upward. The trees were dense but far above their branches, the clear blue sky could be seen.
    “I wasn’t followed,” Venero said.
    “Yet,” Celo noted and he had to concede that possibility. “You promised,” Celo accused, folding his arms across his chest as he eyed Venero again.
    “I did, and I apologize.”
    “And you’ve shielded your thoughts,” Celo noted. “At least you haven’t lost all of your powers.” He lifted his brows. “Or maybe you’ve met your one true love. Is she beautiful? Demure?”
    Venero didn’t answer that. “There’s a damsel in distress that I need you to help.”
    “The lady in question?”
    “Urbanus’ new bride.”
    Celo grimaced. “Isn’t she in the tower, conceiving his son? Isn’t he busy for once?”
    “She escaped.”
    “Of course, you had nothing to do with that.” Celo shook his head and went back to his wood pile. “You’ve got to stop challenging him. It never ends well for you.”
    Venero ignored that bit of advice, just as he had a hundred times before. “She’s coming this way, and you need to help her.”
    Celo turned, his eyes narrowed. “Of course, you had nothing to do with that either.”
    “Me?”
    The youngest prince propped his hands on his knees and bent down so that his face was only a finger’s breadth from Venero’s toad face. “I don’t need to do anything. And I’m not going to do anything that might attract his attention. I don’t need that kind of trouble. Let her run through the forest until he finds her. Let them sort it out themselves.”
    “She needs help.”
    “She can ask her husband for some.”
    “She’s very pretty.”
    Celo’s eyes narrowed. “She’s not my problem.”
    “I think she is.” Venero lied, just a little. “That’s why she’s coming here.”
    Celo pushed a hand through his hair. He couldn’t have looked less cooperative and his words were grudgingly uttered. “What do I have to do to get rid of her?”
    “Stoke up your fire. She’ll be wet and needs to get warm. Find some old clothes you can give her and heat up some soup. Then send her to the Queen’s Grotto in the Citadel, as quickly as you can.”
    Celo flinched and took a step back. “I can’t send anyone to that place.”
    “I thought you wanted to get rid of her.”
    “But there ? You know what Mother does to intruders.”
    “Which is why you need to give her your satchel, all packed with food for the journey.”
    “I don’t understand.”
    Venero tried again to smile. “I’ll be tucked inside.”
    Celo shook his head. “Who exactly needs to help her, Venero? You or me?”
    “Me. But I have certain limitations at this time.”
    Consideration dawned in Celo’s eyes. “What exactly is she to you? Are you hoping she’ll help you?”
    “She did already. That’s why I can shield my thoughts and cast dreams again.”
    “She kissed you? When you’re like that?” Celo was clearly astonished.
    “No, she touched my forehead. It was enough to break part of the curse.”
    Celo chuckled. “Lost some of your charm?”
    Venero found himself bristling. “I’m doing fairly well, considering the circumstances.”
    “But does that mean she’s your true love?”
    “There’s no such thing as true love…”
    “You’d better hope there is, unless you want to stay like that for the rest of your life.”
    Venero had nothing to say to that.
    “A little awkward that she’s married to Urbanus, isn’t it?” Celo started to laugh then, which Venero thought entirely inappropriate.
    “She’s not my true love,” he said with some annoyance. “But she’s helpful, and I want to help her in