The Burden of Trust

by Nikki Frank

  “Iya, can you please heal his tail?”

  “What?” Iya yelped. “Then he’ll be free to do whatever.”

  “Fine, give me a minute to sort this out and then heal him.” I walked over to stare the dragon directly in one eye. “You aren’t from my district. Do you even understand what service to me means?”

  “Ferika is my younger half-sister,” the dragon said. “We have the same mother. But even so, the dragon community is small. News travels over the course of a year. You employ dragons, and you treat them without abuse.”

  “I don’t simply employ dragons. I expect them to refrain from eating conversational beings unless otherwise ordered. They’re also expected to learn to create friendships and learn to love.”

  He stared at me, disbelief covering his dragon features. “Really? And you still have dragons in your service?”

  I shrugged. “Ferika is my friend, not my staff. She chose the lifestyle on her own and showed me that dragons are capable of those qualities. Velor and Vixaria came with my throne. I didn’t hire them, but they are adapting well to my rules. If I were to hire you, my deal is all or nothing. You can conform to my ways, or we can finish this fight.”

  Smoke curled from his nose into the chilly night air as he thought in silence. The adrenaline in my body hummed, telling me this wasn’t safe. He had no contract with me. He could try fighting again at any moment.

  “And if I serve you and can’t adapt?”

  “You’ll face whatever punishment I deem appropriate. Any effort you’ve put forth will be considered before punishment is issued.”

  Another moment of silence followed. “Okay,” he agreed. “I’ll try.”

  Iya wasn’t pleased with this. I found the link in our magic and spoke to him.

  He’d make an excellent additional guard for Katriane. A guard who can make a gateway in an emergency would be invaluable.

  Iya’s frowned deepened. He could turn on you and eat them. Or worse, betray us to the goblins.

  Iya had a point. But so could any dragon, for that matter. The thing keeping Velor and Vixaria in line was . . . my answer.

  I spoke my solution aloud. “You’ll sign a blood contract to serve me.”

  “A blood contract,” the dragon growled. “That’s a life sentence of service.”

  “And obedience,” I added. “My predecessor had Velor and Vixaria under a blood contract. After Ferika left his service without permission, he felt it necessary. If you betray me, the contract will poison your blood. You will die a horrible death. Only I can release you.”

  The dragon stayed silent.

  I reached down and picked up my sword. “I don’t have time for a dragon dance. The contract is ironclad. Either you agree, or we get this over with.”

  “You pay in magic?” he asked.

  “I pay in magic, and you’ll have accommodations in the palace. All your needs will be taken care of. You’ll be treated with respect as a colleague.”

  “I’ll take the contract,” he said, without hesitation.

  Relief washed over me. “Good. I really hate killing for no reason. Now, what’s your name?”

  “Feran.”

  “Iya? You’re much better at spell work than I am. Can you draw up the contract for me, please?”

  Iya stared at me with an open mouth. “A blood contract is a really demonic piece of magic. Are you sure you want to start down that path?”

  “I’m not taking chances with a dragon,” I snapped. “I’ve got contracts with two. What’s one more?”

  “Yeah, but you didn’t create those contracts, and we just got your power stabilized. Putting the demon magic to work like this could bring out its darker nature.”

  “Iya, please?”

  He shook his head at me. “Sheesh. What is it with you? You don’t want to be a demon, and then you turn around and do this. Even my shi aren’t under blood contract.”

  “Are you going to? Or should I take a whack at it?”

  He held his hands out, gathering magic on them. “No. I’ll make the contract.”

  “How?” Feran glanced between us.

  “You can know after you sign,” I said. “How long, Iya?”

  “Feran. Blood, please. The contract is ready,” Iya answered.

  In his hands sat a semi-solid, glowing piece of paper. Feran dug a claw into his palm and used the blood-covered tip to sign the paper. The contract disappeared in a flash of fire. Feran belonged to me.

  The rush of violent power caught me off guard. My demon magic came surging through my body, ordering me to give in and let the inner beast reign. I slumped to the ground, curling around the pain. Cinnamon-bear magic crept in, soothing and pushing back my own magic.

  “Are you in control?” Iya crouched at my side, looking concerned.

  “Yeah, I―”

  “Thank goodness. You signing a contract of that magnitude seriously worried me.” He brushed a hand across my cheek, and a blush ran wild, racing his fingers.

  “I’m good.” I scrambled away to get a handle on myself. “Now we can talk freely, Feran. He can pull my power because we’re pair bonded.”

  Feran let out a low hiss.

  “Yeah, I know.” Iya ran a hand through his hair. “Blows your mind, doesn’t it? Now, if you tell anyone, you’ll breach the contract. We haven’t announced this, nor can we until we take care of some pressing business. If you want to live, keep your snout shut.”

  “Don’t mind Iya. Oh, and you start work immediately. You have orders, vital ones.”

  He stamped his hind-feet: a very dragonish gesture of excitement. “I’m honored to be put to work so promptly.”

  “Good. We have a human we’re guarding. However, Iya and I are going to have to separate from her soon. You are to help our other guard in ensuring her safety and, if necessary, evacuating them via gateway. The shi you’ll be working with has instructions on where to gateway to.”

  Iya caught my arm as we started back to the others. “Leaving the vessel with him could be extraordinarily dangerous.”

  “Not with the blood contract in effect. And if something happens to me, he can get them to safety much faster.”

  “Or . . . if something happens to you, the contract will fall to someone else, and he’s free to eat Katriane.”

  I closed my eyes and nodded. “What are the chances of her making it to safety without him?”

  “Crappy at best,” Iya growled.

  “At least this way, she’ll go fast,” I whispered. “Naruhi will be fine either way.”

  “You’re hoping he’s still feral enough to eat Katriane if something happens to us?” he asked in disbelief.

  I nodded. “At least they won’t wander frightened through the forest, only to be hunted and eaten slowly.”

  “That’s rather cold and calculating of you.” Iya patted my head. “I knew you had it in you.”

  At his touch, I blushed and ducked a little further away. “It’s compassion. I don’t want her to suffer.” I turned back to Iya. “Since we’re already awake, we might as well leave. I’m not going to be able to fall asleep again.”

  Iya nodded. “Me neither. Naruhi?” He called into the darkness

  She emerged from the gloom off to our right. “Everything all right, Master? Mistress?”

  “Feran, guard these two,” I ordered.

  “Wait. I thought you wanted me to guard a political dignitary or someone important. This is like watching a snack I can’t eat. One of the fabled maidens from Earth.”

  “She’s important to me,” I said firmly. “As long as you’re in my service, my orders are absolute. You can and will resist. My other dragons all managed. Besides, what were you expecting when I said you’d be guarding a human?”

&nbs
p; “An old man?” He hung his head. “I will follow your orders, mistress.”

  His voice held displeasure, and irritation flashed through me. “Iya, give us a moment in private. Feran and I are going to have a little chat.” I pulled Feran’s head down to whisper, “You are not to repeat this to anyone for any reason. We are on our way to assassinate King Valkyv. He has a spell which can rot the magic of any creature who is not a goblin. He is planning to wipe out magic-kind and take the Borderlands for the goblins. Even a dragon is not safe from this threat. It’s not something you can fight once the spell is cast.”

  I rubbed my face and sighed. “If we fail and our contract is broken, please take the two we’re leaving with you and go hide on Earth.”

  His tongue flicked in and out a few times. “That’s why you were so eager to take on another dragon. You wanted my gateway abilities to save your companions.”

  “Yes, but now you have warning, as well. The trade is more than fair. My other dragons are busy with another assignment. We had additional guards, but something came up, and we sent them off on a different mission. Thank goodness you signed the contract. I need you.”

  He gave a strange choked purr. I’d never heard my dragons make that noise.

  “Are you all right?”

  “No one has ever needed me. No one wants a dragon around.”

  I patted the top of his snout. “I do. On both counts.”

  He suddenly straightened up. “You have my word. I will guard your companions with my life.”

  “They’ll be in good claws.”

  Chapter 18

  Rustling in the bushes behind us announced the arrival of Iya, Katriane, and Naruhi.

  “Iya told you about Feran?” I asked.

  “Yes, mistress,” Naruhi stared at Feran as she said this. I couldn’t read how having him around made her feel.

  “I filled Feran in on our quest,” I told her. “He’ll be happy to guard Katriane with you. Try to trust each other.”

  She gave a non-committal growl. I understood. For most in the Borderlands, “safe” and “dragon” didn’t really belong in the same sentence. I hoped this task would bring out the best in Feran; after all, the hardest times pushed people to shine brightest. Omri had introduced me to that philosophy in Elita’s case, but it seemed to hold true for other magic-folk as well.

  Iya packed everything up. Katriane climbed on Naruhi’s back, and we began our last push toward the library. Darkness still covered Setmyth and would for a few more hours. After our meeting with Feran, I kept a paranoid ear out for anything else lurking in the forest while eavesdropping on Iya’s quiet conversation with Naruhi.

  “Inside the library, take the stairs to the second floor. Then behind the mirror, halfway down the right-hand hallway, there’s a secret door. It will take you down to a ground-floor private study room. There are couches in there, and you should be relatively comfortable. The room is also isolated from the rest of the ground floor. No one will be able to get in unless they know the passage.”

  We only took a few hours to reach the library. Daylight came, and I yearned for sleep. By the time Iya and I said our quick goodbyes, the sun had approached its zenith. We left the others a pack full of magic rations and food. Outside, I glanced back over my shoulder at the library. It appeared as vacant as ever, but now my companions were hidden inside. A little shiver shook me. Hopefully, they’d be all right.

  Iya took my hand. “It’s about an hour to the border of the Goblin Kingdom, then another two or so to get to the mine entrance.”

  “I don’t think I can. I’m exhausted.”

  “You can, and you will. We need to get in while the sun is still up, or our next opportunity won’t be until tomorrow. We can’t afford to wait.”

  I nodded and pushed myself to keep up. He never slowed his pace. Good lord, how much wandering around had he done before we met? Or was the seemingly inexhaustible energy an akuma thing?

  We stopped for a quick lunch right before we crossed the border into the Goblin Kingdom. Irony prickled me as we took our first steps into the intimidating country. Nothing had changed. We were still in the mostly conifer Setmyth. The same birds called. The same small creatures scurried across the forest floor. Yet the place felt more sinister, at least to me. I had a hard time telling if the vibe reflected an actual magical aura, or if my imagination drove the feeling.

  Goblins are a thing of nightmares even for malevolent magic-folk like me. As an imp, I’d worked for these creatures before becoming demon lord by providing them with kidnapped children from Earth. But I’d never liked doing it. Iya’s parents had told him horrible stories of what goblins do to children. If a fire demon is scared to let their children loose around a goblin, they must be bad.

  Why was I dwelling on such frightening thoughts? I tried to focus on similarities instead. Goblins are classified as more vile than evil. In theory, they didn’t have to be horrible creatures. During my assassin training, my parents drilled me on the types of magic-folk, their habits, and attributes. One needed to know their enemy before heading into a fight.

  Goblins were humanoid without extraordinary strength, but they had a fair amount of magic at their disposal. As the pinnacle of the goblin family tree, they set the standard. Fairies were the pinnacle of my family tree. Though powerful and cunning, they rarely unleashed their full power, earning them the classification of benevolent. Though, even human lore warned not to cross them. Akuma headed the demon family tree. Mighty and ruthless, they held control with an iron fist, burning any opposition to dust—supposedly. Now that I’d met two of the ruling akuma, I had to wonder.

  The legends my parents told me about goblins said they only needed a single bite of human flesh at the new moon to generate their magic. But the goblins were so greedy and brutal that not only did they eat the entirety of any human child left in their kingdom, they lorded their position at the top of their family tree over the rest of magic-kind by feasting on our young as well.

  Putting together those bits of lore with what I knew left my head spinning. Were the goblins truly as bad as the stories projected? Or could they surprise me like the akuma had? Did we actually have a shot at reasoning with Tezky? Would kidnapping him and bringing him to a neutral location for negotiations work, or just piss him off? Imagine what would have happened if we’d run off with Tomi and tried to get him on our side after. But we held no power or influence inside the goblin kingdom. Negotiations couldn’t be safely held there—unless we were wrong about how wicked the goblins were. But if they weren’t all bad, then why did they insist on eating live children?

  The goblins’ habits of eating live children turned nearly everyone’s stomach. Iya’s eating habits weren’t much better, really. He and the other demons helped themselves to nearly any magic creature. But not all demons ate sentient magic-folk, and at the very least, they cooked them first. My dragons, on the other hand . . . well, I’d banned that in my household.

  All these thoughts of unsavory dining turned my stomach. Never mind that . . . I decided to come up with a plan for our time in the mines to distract myself. But the mere idea of tunnels chilled my blood. Horrible things happened in tunnels in the dark. Attacks and such . . . I shivered. Those thoughts weren’t any better.

  Iya caught me and gave me a one armed-hug as we walked. “Relax. You’ll only make yourself sick if you insist on worrying about this now. Save the worry for after.”

  I took a sideways glance at him. His muscles, just visible through his shirt, called to mind images of his tattoos. One looked like a ring of scrolls around his bicep, and another resembled a ring of weapons. Up the center of his back ran the one for his tail, tattoo wings fanning either side.

  Was it getting hot out?

  I focused on his head instead. His orange-flame hair flickered in the breeze as we walked, though at mi
dday it didn’t give off much light. His hair had surprised me the other night as it held no heat, despite its looks. There had been hardly any substance against my fingers, only a slight, feathery feel. What would it be like to have such hair growing on your head? I hadn’t known Iya long enough to know how often he cut it, or if you even had to cut flame-hair.

  In fact, I knew very little about Iya’s day-to-day life. What was his favorite food, and how did he spend his free time? What were his favorite clothes, and what did his bath products smell like? I’d agreed to this bond, but what exactly had I gotten into when our mission ended? What if he left his clothes all over the bedroom? What if he chewed with his mouth open? What if he farted in his sleep? Never changed his underwear? Refused to wear deodorant? How often would he want . . .

  I blushed, squirming inside my own skin. How could I keep my head about such things, and keep my throne, and assassinate hostile overlords, and kidnap their heirs, and broker peace? A huff forced itself out. Normally I had no problem keeping a level head, except when being taken over by out-of-control, invasive demon magic. What had gotten into me?

  Iya caught the back of my shirt and pulled me behind a bush. “Did you want to go in without a plan?” he whispered.

  His lips touched my ear, and my face flamed—half for the embarrassment of letting my mind wander on the job and half for the close contact.

  “I got lost in thought,” I whispered back. “I’ll focus.”

  Closing my eyes and taking a deep breath helped steady me. Our lives, as well as countless others, balanced on my focus from here on out. I scanned the clearing in front of us, which appeared to be an open meadow.

  “Where’s the entrance?”

  “There.” His face stayed next to mine, and his chest pressed against my back as he pointed at . . . nothing.