I could use one of those orcan mineral water baths about now.
Daelis is faring much worse than I am. The only reason he's made it this far is because of Frald's skills. She works with him every time we stop, but the rate of his decline is increasing. He could barely walk once he dismounted to camp here.
Frald has been sitting with him since then. His left arm is unbound and his tunic is off. Frald has one hand on his bruised ribcage and her other hand holds his. Her eyes are closed. Wispy smoke rises from the incense bundles by her knees.
I leave the slab rock I'm using to stretch out my back and sit next to Daelis. I hold his right hand and balance the journal on my knee.
"One more day," I say. Frald's lips move as if she's chanting, but no sound emerges.
"She said my ribs refractured. They're putting pressure on my lung, and that's why I've been having trouble breathing," Daelis says. "Every day they refracture and every evening she knits them back together."
"We'll be done riding tomorrow."
"And then what? I think we need to heed Frald's suggestion to wait a night before pursuing my mother. The orcs will be ready to fight when we arrive, but we won't. Especially not me. We'll have to go to your house and hope no one recognizes us on the way. Not your house. Our house. I don't want to return to mine again beyond retrieving my cat and a few belongings. If I can find them, that is. I'm not sure what happened to my cat or my things after I disappeared. Is that all right?"
"Why wouldn't it be?" I say.
Daelis squeezed my hand. "I don't know. I suppose I'm still getting used to being married to you. I feel like I'd be an intruder in your home."
"It wouldn't be home anymore without you."
Frald releases Daelis's hand and ribs. She opens her eyes and leans back against the tree trunk. "You're a mess, elf boy. I reduced the inflammation. Again. Knit the bones back together. Again. How's your breathing?"
Daelis draws a deep breath and lets it sputter out. "Tolerable. I can handle one more day of this. The arm pain, though..."
"What arm pain?" Frald asks.
"Starts in my neck, runs through my fingertips. Burns like it's on fire. And look." Two of Daelis's fingers close toward his palm, then partially extend. "I can do it intentionally now."
"Outstanding!" Frald says. She extinguishes the incense and stands. "You two sit here and relax. I'll bring you some dinner. Just hold on another day and you'll be fine. Well, your backside, at least. I can't guarantee anything for the rest of you."
Day 153, part 3
Dragon screams filled the valleys and pulsed across the hilltops. I stepped away from the campfire and let my eyes adjust to the starlight, but I couldn't see the dragons or the glowing eyes of their riders' masks. The orcs drew their weapons and spread out away from the fire. The horses huddled under the outcropping and huffed as they pawed the ground and shifted their weight from hoof to hoof.
"Where are they?" Daelis asked. He tried to stand, but I pushed down on his shoulder to keep him seated.
"Stay. Hand me my sword," I said.
"But–"
"No. Stay down. You'll be useless in Jadeshire if you hurt yourself again here."
"I'll be useless no matter what," Daelis said, but he remained on the ground.
The screaming continued as I paced a circle around the perimeter of our camp. No black shades blotted out the stars, nothing moved aside from the crackling fire and the wind-kissed grass. Only screaming. Only nerve-shattering screaming.
A thump shook the ground. I dashed to the opposite side of the outcropping. A black dragon lay on the grass, its throat torn out. Its rider landed nearby. The two limbs she still possessed were twisted into impossible angles.
"Dead?" Frald asked from behind me.
"Quite," I replied.
Another crash further down the hill. Another dead dragon, another dismembered Jarrah. The screaming stopped. A third pair splashed into the creek that ran through a nearby valley.
The night fell silent beyond the fire and the breaths of watchful orcs. We waited, weapons drawn.
A heavy pulse of wings preceded the descent of the blue dragon Celeste. She landed first in the valley, then walked to the second dragon up the hill, and finally stopped just outside our camp. Mara dismounted. Blood coated the blade of her polearm and stained her sleeves, but she didn't appear injured. Celeste shook her head, spraying blood from her stained teeth.
"Thank you, Mara. Are you injured?" I asked.
"Of course not. These were only undertrained whelps who believed themselves goddesses. I apologize if their death screams woke you," Mara said. She nodded toward the orcs in greeting, then scrunched her nose. "Where is my grandson?"
"Over here," Daelis called.
I followed Mara to Daelis while the orcs kept Celeste under guard.
"Forgive me for not standing. The caves left me more injured than I care to admit, and my wife commanded me not to move unless necessary," Daelis said. He set down the cup of water he'd been sipping and reached up to hold my hand. "I listen to Rin. She's the only reason I'm still alive."
"Good. I'm grateful for you, Rin, even though you're not the type of woman I expected my only grandchild to marry," Mara said.
"You expected a highborn elf," Daelis said. He squeezed my hand and tugged downward until I sat next to him. "I'm not sorry if I've disappointed you by falling in love with a human."
"I am not disappointed, only surprised." Mara sat next to me and rested her weathered hand on Daelis's knee. "I may even be a touch relieved that you failed to adhere to the prejudices your parents undoubtedly tried to instill in you. The Nightshadow family has a long history of using selective breeding. Not only for dragons, but for ourselves. There is at least one half-blood in each Nightshadow generation, though that fact is kept a secret from outsiders. So many elven families pride themselves on being pure-blood, but I am more proud that we aren't. We draw upon the strengths of our ancestors and use them to our advantage."
"I'm not a Nightshadow. I wouldn't want to be," Daelis said.
"I know. You have Nightshadow blood in your veins, but you're too sweet to be one of us. We're a repulsive lot, aren't we?" Mara said with a smile. "Whatever you think you are, you're still my family. And you're the only one still living whom I like, so I'm going to do what I can to keep you alive."
"Does that mean you'll help us with my mother?"
Mara's lips drew into a pinch. "Yes. Her reign has gone on long enough. I love you, Daelis, but I no longer carry any love for my daughter. I think that may make me a monster."
"No, it doesn't," Daelis said. He tilted his head toward the orcs, who were still in their uneasy standoff with Mara's dragon. "Grandmother, I hate to ask you to leave, but I must. My friends won't be able to rest if Celeste is close enough to fray their nerves."
"I understand. We'll keep watch from over there." Mara pointed at a taller hill on the southern horizon. "Tomorrow, I'll join you in Jadeshire, but I'll have Celeste stay away. No need to cause a panic, is there?" Mara leaned forward to kiss Daelis's cheek, then stood. "My dear boy, I do love you. Rest well, the lot of you."
Mara climbed onto Celeste and flew off to her lonely hill. The orcs relaxed into their nightly duties of sharpening blades and taking inventory of provisions.
"I feel better knowing she's there," I said.
Daelis let go of my hand so he could arrange his makeshift pillows. He lowered himself onto his right side and looked up at me. "As do I. I'm ready to sleep. Will you join me?"
"I was thinking about having another bite of Giret's rabbit stew, but I think an overstuffed stomach may contribute to my nightmares," I said. I laid down and pulled the blankets over our shoulders, then kissed him. "I love you. No matter what happens tomorrow or in the coming days, remember that I love you."
"I love you, too." Daelis rested his forehead against mine. "I promised you a couple days ago that we'll be together until Death comes to claim one of us. Only two things frighten me any
more. Losing one of our children and losing you."
"Neither of those are going to happen. I can't promise you that, but I can give you hope. Within a couple days, we'll all be together again and we'll all be home. The only things we'll have left to fight are cobwebs on the ceiling beams, weeds in the garden, and maybe a touch of Tessen's jealous streak. Life will become blissfully boring."
"Blissfully boring? Blissful, yes, but boring? That's not possible when I'm married to Rin Sylleth," Daelis said. "Go to sleep, my love. Bury your nightmares in the dirt because I don't want you to have any tonight."
Day 154
I know this place. I know these rolling grass hills and the fog-crowned redwood ascent across the valley. I know the towers of the stone guard wall and the iron gates underneath. I know this expanse of streets and houses and trees leading to a shining city center. The pale spires of the Citadel rise like refined stalagmites. The major streets radiate out from it like sunbeams. Green and white flags wave toward the sprawling, dark stone University at the northern end of the city. Near the University, manor houses float in their lawns like islands in a vast and grassy sea. The Celadon Sea isn't visible from here, but I smell the brine on wind. Parks and ponds, houses and markets—they're all exactly where I left them.
Hello, Jadeshire. I've missed you.
I can't see my house, but I know exactly where it is. Beyond the eastern wall, near the top of the knoll called Hawthorn Heights. The district isn't anywhere near as fancy as the area where the highborn manors sit, but it's comfortable and safe, a typical merchant class residential area. My home is behind my sister's house, and down the lane from my parents. I wonder... where is my Tessen now? Is he working in the silversmith shop in the central craftsman district, or is he in one of the family homes? Is he eating dinner with my sister and her family? Is he chopping wood with my nephew and brother-in-law? Is he helping my father move bolts in his Fair Plaza shop? Wherever he is, I know I'll see him again soon.
"Now what?" Frald asks. I had ridden slightly ahead, and now the orcs and Daelis have caught up to me.
I point toward a gate on the northeastern city wall. "That way. I still have friends among the wall sentinels. They'll let us in without issue."
"All of us?" Frald asks, her brow raised.
"Well, Daelis is a suspicious creature and might be detained, but the rest of us are fine. Plenty of orcs in Jadeshire. Plenty of everyone, really. It's not a single-race city in the slightest."
"I'm only suspicious if I'm recognized," Daelis says.
"Don't act suspicious and no one will look at you," I say. I study his face. "I don't think you're easily recognizable anymore. Short hair, orc-made clothes, orc-bred horse, useless arm, pale and weary and ragged from months underground. Sweetie, I'm not sure if you know how little you look like Jadeshire's Lord Daelis Goldtree right now. For our current situation, that's a good thing."
Celeste lands nearby. Mara drops down from her back. She says a few quiet words to the beast. Celeste vanishes into the blue sky and Mara walks toward us. "No more Celeste to scare off the locals. I sent her into the hills to hunt antelope. What is your plan, Rin?"
I point again. "Northeast gate. Should be no problem getting us through once the sentinels recognize me. And they will. I know all the wall lieutenants at that site. We'll go into the city like we belong there and then go to my house, which isn't far from the gate. Other side of that little knoll there. We'll stable the horses near my sister's house and walk to mine. Eat, rest, regroup, and pillage my weapon cache. In the morning we'll figure out where Ranalae is, and hopefully my children are with her and not elsewhere."
"Either Goldtree Manor or the Citadel," Daelis says. He gestures toward the Citadel, then to a treed area behind it. "My father runs this city as a surrogate for the High King, so my parents live in the royal estate and it carries their name. There are rumors about tunnels and catacombs leading from the Manor to the Citadel, but I don't know their location. My guess is they start and end in my father's offices."
"Will Daelon help you?" Mara asks.
"I think so," Daelis says. A troubled tension crosses his face. "I have a bad feeling that he may no longer be alive. Mother tried to kill me and failed, but she may have succeeded at killing him. If he's dead and I'm presumed dead, the ascension laws allow that she rule the Jade Realm until the High King appoints a new ducal family."
"Well, no one needs that. Let's hope we find Daelon alive and useful, though then we'd still have his oddness to contend with." Mara studies the horses for a moment, then says, "Daelis, my dear, I'm going to ride with you. A young elf escorting his elderly grandmother is unlikely to draw attention. Here, I'll make myself even more unassuming." She presses a lever on her polearm and the moon-shaped blade collapses into the staff. "Now I'm an old lady with a walking stick. No threat to anyone at all."
"Let's go," I say. "I want to be home before sunset."
Day 154, part 2
The windows were shuttered, the door was bolted. A chill crept into the air as the sun sank toward the redwood horizon. Jadeshire was temperate, but winter nights could be uncomfortably cold.
"Do you think he's home?" Daelis asked. Mara and the orcs loitered on the walkway behind us. They were developing an uneasy rapport, likely the result of her rescuing us from three vicious dragons and their equally vicious Jarrah.
"I have no idea. He usually stays with my sister when I'm gone, but I've been gone an awfully long time and he's old enough to take ownership of my house if I'm presumed dead."
"You're not dead."
"He doesn't know that," I said. I plunged my hand into the flower box beneath the kitchen window. My fingers brushed against something cold and metallic. Good. The key was where I'd left it. I drew it out of the soil and knocked a worm back into the planter.
I stuck the key in the lock and turned it until it clicked. The door opened before I could touch the handle.
Tessen stood in the shadow of the doorway, axe in hand. "Who are you? What do you want?"
I pushed my hood back and smiled at him, "You know perfectly well who I am."
Tessen dropped the axe. Its blade planted in the floor near his foot. Normally I'd chastise him for wrecking my floorboards, but all I could do was embrace him and kiss his face. He was taller and slimmer than he was when I left, and his dark curls hung loosely about his face. He smelled of rosemary and chicken stew. We must have interrupted him either preparing or eating his dinner.
"Mom... they told me... they told me you were dead," Tessen said.
"Who told you?" I asked.
"Goldtree courier. He said you died on a mission for the Duchess. He gave me this." Tessen pulled up a chain from his tunic. A perfect replica of my pendant hung from it. "That was... that was just after Shan vanished. I'm sorry, Mom. I don't know where he is. He's just gone. Never came back from class one day. I don't know if he went to look for you or what. But Mom, you're supposed to be dead."
"Supposed to be, but I'm not," I said. I drew up my own pendant. The chain was tangled with the one that held Rohir's. "See. The one you have is a forgery. Doesn't matter right now. I'm alive. So is Shan and I know where he is."
"I'm relieved to see you, but I'm confused. Where were you? Why? Who are all these orcs, and is that Lord Goldtree skulking by the flower box? He's supposed to be dead too, did you know? Why's he with you?" Tessen's words swirled like a wind-blown blizzard.
"Oh, honey, I have a lot to explain to you. May we come in? It's not safe for us if we're seen lurking about."
Tessen shrugs and steps back through the threshold. "Your house, your guests. Come on in. I made dinner, but only enough for me, so you'll have to forage if you want something besides stale bread and butter. Where are we going to put six orcs, an old lady, and an undead elf?"
"The undead elf is with me. We'll figure out places for the rest of my friends to sleep after we've had some time to recover and eat." I followed him several steps into the house before embracing him again.
"I love you and I've missed you terribly. I'm sorry you thought I was dead. I have so much I need to tell you."
"I can see that," Tessen said. His dark eyes followed Daelis into the living room, then returned to the door for the orcs and Mara. "Gods damn it all... Mom... seeing you again is the last thing I expected today."
"Wait until you hear the rest of it," I said, closing the door. I reset the bolt and dropped the key into my pocket. "Come on, I'm going to see what you've got in the pantry that might satisfy my friends. I think Frald has a fresh rabbit to cook up with whatever vegetables you've got. Then I'm going to tell you everything."
"Including why Lord Goldtree is here? And what happened to my brother?"
"Especially that."
Day 154, part 3
I'm not going to bother writing out all of what I told Tessen since the events are already written in this journal. The discussion was upsetting for both of us and now he's insisting that he comes with us to confront Ranalae tomorrow. I tried to dissuade him, but I think I need to accept that he is going to join us. I have to let him. Shan would do the same thing for him.
There are things I haven't told him about, things that will wait until after we have Shan and Yana back. Tessen doesn't know about the dragon eggs. He knows we've adopted Yana, but he doesn't know about the baby yet. He knows that Ranalae is responsible for ripping apart our family, but he doesn't know that she tried to hire me to kill Daelis and Daelon Goldtree.
I suppose there are more things he knows than doesn't know. He knows I married Daelis in Sungate, and that Daelis is Shan's father. I gave him Rohir's pendant. Tessen now knows that his own father didn't abandon him like he'd always believed. Relief washed across his face when I told him what I learned about Rohir, and then that relief faded into sadness. Tessen excused himself to his room shortly after that. He's overwhelmed and I'm assuming he needs time to work through everything I told him, especially learning that his father was stolen away before he got the chance to know him.
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