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  Dragon’s Royal Guard

  Dragons Of Charok: Shifters Between Worlds

  Meg Ripley

  Copyright © 2019 by Meg Ripley

  www.redlilypublishing.com

  All rights reserved. No parts of this book may be used or reproduced in any form without written permission from the author, with the exception of brief quoted passages left in an online review. This book is a fictional story. All characters, names, and situations are of the author’s creation. Any resemblances to actual situations or to persons who are alive or dead are purely coincidental.

  This e-book is licensed for your personal enjoyment only; this copy is not available for resale or to give to another reader aside from any transaction through Amazon’s e-book lending program.

  Disclaimer

  This book is intended for readers age 18 and over. It contains mature situations and language that may be objectionable to some readers.

  Contents

  Dragon’s Royal Guard

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Preview Of Elijah’s Mate

  1. Valentina

  Preview Of Damien’s Nanny

  Chapter 1

  About the Author

  Dragon’s Royal Guard

  Dragons Of Charok: Shifters Between Worlds

  1

  Kaylee Turner shifted uncomfortably in her narrow seat. Usually, she saw these international flights as the perfect time for reading and research. While other passengers complained of boredom, air sickness and cramped conditions, Kaylee was content to lose herself in a good book or an essay from her field of study.

  But that wasn’t the case today.

  Turning and pressing her forehead against the cool glass of the window, Kaylee studied the land formations below. She’d found that every country—and every state, even—looked a little different. She’d been on so many flights, she’d started to recognize them from the air, even before the captain would announce where they were in a thick accent over the speaker. This time, she was heading into Zimbabwe, which meant she wouldn’t get to see much of it from the air. The airport was on the western edge of the country, and the site she’d be visiting was much further east.

  Even so, she scanned the hot, dry earth below her. Deep inside, Kaylee sensed she was looking for something. She’d always felt that way, and she would continue her pursuit when she landed and traveled across the country in a vehicle. Her search had been constant for most of her life, though she never quite knew what she was looking for.

  That was what had inspired her career—that and her love for books and languages, which her father helped foster ever since she was a baby. Kaylee was always reading, and not always in her first language. She had a gift for words, one that she couldn’t explain any more than her yearning for finding that missing something. She took in everything below her, longing to feel some sort of connection to it. She’d been born on this planet. She’d been a part of it for her entire life, yet she never felt that way. The disconnection left her with an unsettled feeling in the pit of her stomach.

  * * *

  “I trust you had good travels?” Dr. Morrick clasped her hand in both of his, his fingers warm and worn as he greeted her near the entrance of the Great Zimbabwe. Releasing her, he pushed his dark glasses up on his nose and ran a hand over his slick, gray hair. His pale, skinny legs stuck out of his baggy khaki shorts, and his matching safari shirt was soaked with sweat.

  “It gave me the chance to get a lot of work done,” she admitted with a smile. Kaylee had always liked Dr. Morrick. He’d been one of her first archeology professors, and his enthusiasm had helped her find her own passion.

  He tipped his head to the side and frowned a little. “Are you all right? You’re not unwell, are you? I’ve heard the airplane food is quite terrible these days.”

  “No, I’m fine. I’m just a little tired.” Kaylee scrunched her toes inside her boots, wishing she could take them off and rest her bare feet against the hot soil beneath her. The sun baked them where they stood, and it was clearly making Dr. Morrick uncomfortable. Beads of sweat rolled down the sides of his rounded cheeks, no matter how quickly he swiped them away with a handkerchief. To Kaylee, it was a glorious heat that sank through her skin and down to her bones, something she would carry with her once she got back on a plane in a few days. She would miss it when she returned to the chilly weather back home.

  Dr. Morrick smiled. “That can be fixed. I’ve set you up in one of the nicest hotels in the area. No sleeping out on the ground for the best translator in the world!”

  Kaylee flushed as she followed him down a dirt pathway. It had been carved by thousands of feet, traveling amongst the crumbling stone walls that had once housed numerous people. While some parts of the ruins were remarkably preserved due to the masterful masons who had once built them, there were others that had been reduced to nothing but piles of perfectly shaped granite bricks. “You don’t have to say that just because I’m right here.”

  “I don’t have to say anything; that’s true. But I don’t think either one of us can deny that you’re at the forefront of our industry. People talk about you, my dear.”

  “I’m not sure it’s always in a good way.” The curving walls of the Great Enclosure rose up in front of them, and Kaylee felt an immediate appreciation for the site. It spoke of ancient people, lost religions and stories that spanned centuries. Archeologists would never truly know everything about the Great Zimbabwe, a monument so stunning that an entire country was named after it, but it was still a lot of fun to guess.

  Dr. Morrick reverently touched the stone walls that framed a doorway. “Don’t take any of that to heart. They’re just intimidated by you. Some of them have studied for decades and yet they can’t decode the way you can. They don’t think that a young woman such as yourself should be able to hold so much genius in her brain. Sexist, I know, but old ways die hard.”

  “Or they die without a single explanation of why.” Kaylee had read everything she could get her hands on about this ancient site as soon as she’d received the request from Dr. Morrick to come out there. She’d been excited both to work with her mentor and to see a new place, but as soon as she’d begun packing her bag, she started to realize the reality of it. She could handle the rigors of airport security, even when it involved flying to a different country. She could handle living out of a small suitcase for a week. She could even handle the inevitable change in diet.

  But she knew the worst of it was yet to come.

  “Perhaps you can help uncover a few of her secrets,” Dr. Morrick replied hopefully. He led her into a circular stone wall and past several other structures, all built of the same stone. They reached another doorway, and upon entering it, descended down a set of stairs that had been freshly uncovered from the earth. “As I said in my email, we’ve only just recently uncovered this new chamber. It’s been quite exciting for us, as I’m sure you can imagine. These new technologies that keep popping up
are hard to keep up with, yet they’re always giving us new information about old sites. I love it. Anyway, we’ve found a tablet we’d like you to interpret for us.”

  “Has anyone else had a go at it?” The steps beneath her were still slick with the dirt that had been covering them for centuries, but Kaylee confidently made her way down them. She glanced up from her footsteps to see that a vast underground cavern had been dug out of the dirt. LED lights on strands had been set up at intervals, run by a generator that grumbled to itself somewhere above them. Several other rooms extended off the one they were in with more glowing lights emanating from them.

  He paused at the bottom of the stairs and turned to her, a look of concern in his houndlike eyes. “Well, Dr. Atwood is here.”

  Kaylee’s heart, which had been fluttering somewhere between excitement and anticipation, now dropped into a solid state of dread. She knew how Dr. Atwood felt about her, but then again, he’d made no attempt to hide it. She raised one eyebrow. “And did he have any success?”

  Dr. Morrick’s mouth was a hard line. “Not exactly, although he claims he’ll have all the answers very shortly. I should tell you he was rather offended that I called anyone else in on this project. You know how he is, always thinking he’s the end-all, be-all of any given situation. I never would’ve brought him on except that his connections with the local university helped me get the permission to dig here in the first place. Besides, I know you have a lot going on while you finish up your degree. Tell me, were you able to make sufficient arrangements with your professors?”

  That had been the very first thing Kaylee had done when she’d received Dr. Morrick’s invitation, and her teachers had been happy to accommodate her. Knowing where she was going and why had only made it easier. “Of course. I’ll have a few things to catch up on once I get back, but it shouldn’t be an issue.”

  “Good, good. Then let’s get started.” Dr. Morrick strode confidently across the dirt floor and through a doorway. While the first room at the bottom of the stairs had been fairly nondescript, this one was most definitely a library of some sort. The wall across from the doorway was covered in ancient scripts that had been preserved by centuries underground and away from the elements. A u-shaped assemblage of stone seemed to form a seating area in the center of the room, and shelves had been carved into the other walls. Each of these held thick sheaves of primitive paper, ancient wooden boxes, and stacks of stone tablets.

  “It’s beautiful,” Kaylee breathed, immediately intrigued by the amount of knowledge they might find there. Even if these writings were nothing more than diaries or recipes, they would certainly give the scientists some definitive insight into the lives of the people who’d once occupied these spaces.

  “I thought so, too,” Dr. Morrick said proudly, his chin rising slightly. “I assure you, the other rooms here are wonderful, but none are as fascinating as this one. Oh, where are my manners? I believe you know Dr. Parkinson?”

  A slender older woman with graying blonde hair stood up from where she’d been crouched on the floor, gently flicking dirt away from a small statue with a paintbrush. She extended her hand and smiled warmly. “So nice to see you again, Miss Turner.”

  “And you know I never leave the country without my partner in crime, Dr. Davison.” Morrick gestured to a man who turned away from the stone shelves to approach them, a fine coat of dust clinging to his salt and pepper beard.

  “No need to be so formal, Douglas. Call me Jonathan. I’ve heard so much about you that I’m starting to think Dr. Morrick here is thinking about adopting you.” He shook her hand as well.

  Kaylee felt a little better. Maybe she didn’t need to dread this trip at all if there were such good people there. “I’ve heard quite a bit about you, too.”

  “Only good stories, I hope?” Jonathan raised a furry gray eyebrow at his partner.

  “Mostly,” Kaylee replied with a smile.

  “Oh, she’s here.” This voice came from the doorway, and Kaylee turned to see a rather rotund man filling it. His dark hair had been slicked back and held in place with either gel, sweat, or a mixture of the two. Overdressed for the occasion, he’d eschewed the traditional garb of khakis and shorts for a dark suit. He made a disgusted face as he swept a bit of dust off the sleeve of his jacket.

  “Dr. Atwood, this is Kaylee Turner. I’ve asked her to give us a little help with the tablet.” Morrick forced a smile onto his face.

  The grimace on Atwood’s face increased, making him look like he’d caught a whiff of some old cheese as his eyes raked over Kaylee. “Yes, I know of her.” He advanced into the room with purposeful steps as though he owned the place until he stood directly in front of Kaylee. He didn’t offer to shake her hand. “You might as well fly right on back to your little college town and hang out on the quad, my dear. There’s nothing here for you to do.”

  Morrick cleared his throat. “There’s plenty for her to do, Atwood. You know as well as I do that she’s a true genius when it comes to this. Besides that, I’m the one in charge of this dig.”

  Atwood narrowed his eyes at the doctor, his chins wobbling slightly. “Do you really want to claim that? When you’ve brought in an impostor like her? We all know that she doesn’t really translate anything on her own. She’s got someone in the wings who does it for her, someone who’s happy to give her the credit. This child hasn’t been around long enough to know anything about what we’re doing here.” His voice increased in volume as he prattled on, his face slowly reddening.

  “Sounds to me like you’re a little jealous,” Jonathan cut in. “You’ve had the first stab at it, but it’s time to step back and let the professionals handle this. Come here, Miss Turner. I’ll show you what we’re dealing with.” He took Kaylee by the elbow and turned her away from Dr. Atwood. “Don’t mind him,” he whispered as they headed to the far corner of the room. “He never likes anyone who he thinks might show him up.”

  “It’s okay. I’m used to it.” Unfortunately, Atwood wasn’t the first person who’d treated her like that. She’d been called in on several other digs and either openly ostracized or whispered about behind her back. If they only knew the truth, there would be a lot more scientists who felt that way about her.

  “As you can see,” Jonathan said, “there’s quite a lot in this old room for us to go through. Most of it is pretty mundane, and we haven’t had too much of an issue with the interpretations. But this tablet was set aside in a small stone box with a few other artifacts. We’re not yet sure what any of it means. Usually, we can get some idea simply from the context of where an item is found, but we’re a bit mystified.”

  He gestured at what was indeed a small stone box. Like the shelves on the walls, it had been carved out of the structure of the room itself. A carefully fitted lid had been lifted and set aside, revealing the contents.

  “What makes it even more of a mystery is that we don’t know what language it’s in,” Dr. Morrick added from over her shoulder. “It doesn’t appear to be the same as what we see in the rest of the documents here.”

  Kaylee was heavily aware that Dr. Atwood was watching her, but she was slipping into her professional mode. She knew what her job was, and she was excited to do it. There was a special, peaceful feeling that came over her when she was presented with a new item to translate. It drowned out the rest of the world, and it gave her a sense of purpose. She quickly pulled her pack off her lap and removed a flashlight from it, shining it down on the tablet. A small smile crept across her face. She knew exactly what it said.

  But she also knew how the world worked. She couldn’t just turn around and reveal an exact translation of an ancient tablet written in an unknown language. Instead, she handed her light to Dr. Morrick. “Hold that just there for me, please.” Kaylee removed a camera from her bag.

  “What are you doing?” Dr. Atwood bellowed from behind her. “Nobody is allowed to take any evidence from this site until the work is completed!”

  Kaylee ignored h
im and quickly began firing away, taking as many images as she felt were necessary. She knew what the tablet said, but there was nothing wrong with documenting it thoroughly.

  “Considering this is the only price she requires and that I trust her, I say it’s all right,” Dr. Morrick argued. “Besides, you can’t expect her to just camp out here for weeks while she translates it.”

  Putting her camera away, Kaylee nodded at the professor. “I think that’s all I need. I’ll contact you as soon as I’m done.”

  “Good, good. Then come with me. There are a few other things I’d like to show you while you’re here.” Dr. Morrick led her back up the stairs and out into the fresh air. They wound their way around several walls until they were on the opposite end of the Great Enclosure from the fresh discovery. “I truly am sorry about that. I knew he’d be a pain in the ass, but I didn’t think it would be that bad.”

  “It’s fine,” Kaylee assured him. “He can gripe all he wants to, but it won’t stop me from my work.”

  He pressed his lips together and dipped his head, looking up at her curiously. “So, you can read it?”

  Kaylee had long wondered if Dr. Morrick knew her secret. She’d never told him, but she’d worked with him more than anyone else. As tempted as she was to just reveal the whole thing, Kaylee knew it was best to just pretend that everything was normal. “I’m sure I can.”