The Dragon Gods Box Set

by Resa Nelson

Frayka’s stomach clenched.

  What if we were followed? What if the one who has been stealing babies tries to take Dagby away from me?

  “Refuge?” Frayka said. “Where?”

  GranGran pointed up. “Where no mortal will dare to follow.”

  The Gate of Fire.

  Maybe Fiera will protect me.

  While GranGran and TeaTree left for the skirmish in town, Frayka worked quietly to place Dagby in the sling without waking her. Curiosity made her want to follow GranGran and TeaTree to find out why the gentle women on this serene island were shouting.

  What could have angered them so much?

  At the same time, the keen instinct to keep Dagby safe at all costs quelled that curiosity. With Dagby now safely bundled next to her body, Frayka peered from the doorway into the strange night, ready to take flight if the melee took a turn for the worse.

  Without warning, walls of mist surrounded Frayka.

  My portents!

  She’d experienced these familiar misty walls since childhood as an indication that a portent prepared to engulf her. The mist acted like a signpost telling Frayka to prepare. Removed from reality, she would soon see something destined to happen in the future.

  Frayka bit back the urge to tell the portent to go away because danger was at hand and she needed to protect her baby.

  The last time she felt at risk when a portent arrived, she told it to leave her alone.

  And her portents had done as she asked, abandoning her for almost a year.

  In the moment of distress—torn between the need to protect her child and the importance of welcoming a portent—Frayka remembered something her father told her when she left the Land of Ice in search of the Far East: Don’t you never lose who you are. It be the most precious thing you ever possess.

  Still surrounded by walls of mist, Frayka realized her portents were part of who she was.

  She couldn’t afford to lose her portents again.

  She couldn’t bear the thought of losing such a precious part of herself.

  My portents would never allow any harm to come to Dagby. I have to trust my portents to keep her safe.

  The mist glowed blue and then turned to a warm and welcoming yellow.

  “Thank you for coming back to me,” Frayka said to her portents. “I’m ready.”

  * * *

  Knowing her body remained in the house on Seahorse Island with Dagby, Frayka found herself standing outside the city of Zangcheen.

  Looking toward the city center, Frayka saw the familiar elegant complex sprawled behind a low stone wall. Manicured gardens and tiny ponds surrounded the palace made of golden walls, each corner guarded by an ornate stone tower. A gold statue of a dragon perched among the red clay roof tiles.

  The blue mist swirled around Frayka’s ankles and deepened in hue. The mist continued swirling until it took the shape of a dragon made of water that now stood by Frayka’s side.

  Its scales looked like raindrops, and its eyes shimmered like pools. The dragon’s jaw dropped open. Instead of breathing fire, tiny specks of ice hurled out of its mouth when it roared.

  Frayka stood her ground and gathered her courage.

  This is a portent. And my portents never let anything harm me.

  The water dragon pointed with its nose at the royal complex. “That rooftop used to be guarded by a dragon god.”

  Kikita? Frayka wondered. Or Wendill or Fiera? They once guarded the palace?

  “You think the dragon god guarded royalty.” The water dragon snorted. “Your royalty. The Po Dynasty.” When the creature shook its head, its water droplet scales flew off, but others beaded up to replace the lost scales. “Think again.”

  Confused, Frayka said, “They’re not my royalty. I’m just a distant cousin. Maybe you’re confusing me with Empress Ti.”

  Ignoring her protest, the water dragon continued. “You know the laws. You understand the punishments.”

  “I know some of them,” Frayka said. “They could have charged me with breaking the law because my husband is a Northlander. If we’d been found guilty, they would have killed us. That’s what I know about the laws and punishments of this place.”

  “Aiy yah!” The water dragon hissed and snaked around Frayka’s body.

  She shivered at its clammy touch against her skin.

  “So little you know,” the water dragon said. “Who benefits from these laws and punishments?”

  Frayka scoffed. “Certainly not the people of this country! I don’t see how anyone benefits.”

  “Better.” The water dragon stared at Frayka with a depth in its eyes that startled her.

  “I don’t understand,” Frayka said. “If you’re the dragon god of water, then I need your help to make amends with the Northlander gods. What does this have to do with them?”

  “Patience,” the water dragon hissed. It took a step toward the city. “Thousands of years ago, few enough mortals lived that they ruled themselves in peaceful villages. But as populations grew, so did their greed. Growing regions warred for centuries until the Po Dynasty conquered them all and set laws in place to control them. The laws were first intended to create and maintain the peace the villages had once known.”

  In the distance, the gold statue of the dragon on the red roof tiles shivered to life. The beast dragged its shining claws across the roof and broke several tiles.

  The water dragon continued. “The dragon god that once resided on the roof of the royal palace of the Po family wasn’t there to guard royalty. It was there to guard the people from those who ruled them.”

  Its words startled Frayka. “What?”

  “When people were taken to court and charged with crimes,” the water dragon said, “they prayed to the dragon god keeping guard. The dragon god didn’t guard the Po’s palace. Instead, the dragon god perched on that rooftop to watch and guard over the Hall of Justice. When it saw people going into that hall, the dragon god saw at once who was innocent and who was guilty. Only the prayers of the innocent were answered.”

  “How?”

  “Whenever the emperor found an innocent guilty, the dragon god intervened. When the emperor attempted to punish an innocent, the dragon god protected that mortal. If the punishment was to be boiled alive, the dragon god would appear and drink all the water before it could be heated. If the punishment was to be stoned to death, the dragon god would stand in front of the innocent and let the stones bounce off its scales. No innocent was ever allowed to be harmed under the watchful eye of the dragon god.”

  “But now they are,” Frayka said. “It happens all the time. Why?”

  The water dragon ignored her question. “Some people still pray to that dragon of gold. But it never answers their questions. It can’t. It is nothing but an empty symbol of what once existed.”

  “Why tell me this?” Frayka said. “I need your help. Why won’t you help me instead?”

  The water dragon heaved a sigh, and its breath formed a cloud of vapor, despite the warm air surrounding them. “Why do you refuse to see what you need when it appears before your eyes?”

  “Frayka!” TeaTree’s voice called from outside the portent. “You need to come see this!”

  The vision of Zangcheen faded away, replaced by the beach of Seahorse Island. The water dragon remained next to Frayka while a gate made of shimmering pearls emerged from the ocean. Seawater cascaded from the gate’s highest point like a waterfall.

  “The Gate of Water!” Frayka said. “Does that mean you’re ready to help me now?”

  “Aiy yah,” the water dragon said. “So much impatience. Pay attention. When the time is right to request my help, you will know. And when that time comes, I will help.”

  The water dragon exhaled its entire body out through its mouth until only its needle-like teeth remained suspended in mid-air. They clattered to the ground. Only a cloud of mist remained.

  “Time is running out,” Frayka said. “Why won’t you help me now? I know you’re the dragon god o
f water!”

  The mist cloud shifted into the shape of a man. He stood taller than a typical Far Eastern man. He had a muscular body and cool green eyes. His skin looked rough and weathered. “Call me Taddeo.”

  “Frayka!” TeaTree called again.

  “You are needed elsewhere,” Taddeo said. He released another heavy sigh, floated high in the air, and then hovered in front of the Gate of Water.

  Frayka blinked. She saw she’d left the realm of the portents and returned to her body in the mortal world. Thankfully, she still held Dagby close, bundled up in the sling wrapped around Frayka’s body.

  TeaTree stood outside the door that Frayka discovered she held open. Peering at her, TeaTree said, “Are you alright?”

  “Fine,” Frayka said. “What’s wrong?”

  TeaTree opened his arms. “Let me take the child. You’re needed. Quickly, before it’s too late.”

  Not wanting to argue, Frayka trusted TeaTree’s judgment and transferred the sling with Dagby inside to him.

  “Straight ahead,” TeaTree said. “Let me follow.”

  After taking a few steps away from the house, Frayka saw she needed no directions. A few roads ahead, more lanterns dotted the dark like fireflies. Their light revealed that a crowd large enough to include every resident of Seahorse Island loomed near the village center. Many women shouted, but Frayka couldn’t make out anything they said.

  She assumed Ti or someone else from Zangcheen threatened them.

  When she reached the edge of the crowd, Frayka pushed her way through it.

  She came to an abrupt halt at its center, finding GranGran taking a protective stance in front of a man so disheveled and covered in dirt that Frayka’s first thought was that the wild man she’d encountered in the mountains must have followed her to the island.

  Despite the man’s filthy appearance, Frayka recognized him.

  “Njall!” she cried out. Overwhelmed with joy, she began to run forward until Njall looked at her.

  “Frayka,” Njall said.

  Halting, Frayka looked at him in dismay, shocked by the disappointment and anger she heard in his voice.

  CHAPTER 25

  Frayka didn’t understand the mixed feelings that battled within her when she saw her husband for the first time in many months. He had never looked at her with such disdain before. She struggled to think of something to say.

  But before Frayka could speak, her great-grandmother took charge. Turning to Frayka, GranGran said, “They want to cast him out.”

  Of course. No men allowed on this island. Except for men like TeaTree because the women see him as one of their own.

  “He’s my husband,” Frayka said. Even though she felt uncomfortable with Njall at the moment, she couldn’t let any harm come to him. “We were separated in Zangcheen months ago. I thought I would never find him.”

  Njall scoffed. “Find me? How hard did you try?”

  He doubts me!

  Angered by Njall’s response, Frayka stepped forward. She expected GranGran to move out of the way, but the old woman stood like a barrier between them.

  “We all tried,” Frayka said. “We looked everywhere for you! We scoured Zangcheen and the royal complex. TeaTree spent months searching through all of the Wulong Province for you. How dare you say we didn’t try?”

  “You didn’t. I was under your nose the entire time in the Hall of Concubines.”

  More confused than ever, Frayka said, “The Hall of Concubines? What were you doing there?”

  Even the dirt covering his face couldn’t hide Njall’s shame. “The empress put me there.”

  One of the women in the crowd pointed at Njall and shouted, “He was a concubine! He failed his wife. Isn’t that enough proof we should cast him back into the sea?”

  Frayka turned toward the crowd. “Wait,” she said. “There will be no casting into the sea. This is my husband. It’s our business and none of yours.”

  Ling Lu edged her way to the inner circle of the crowd. “As long as you stay on this island, it is our business. It’s the only way we can stay safe from men like him.” Ling pointed at Njall. “A man who so easily abandons his wife for the sake of comfort and luxury in exchange for pleasing the empress.”

  “Quiet!” Njall shouted at Ling. “You know nothing of it!”

  Frayka’s head swam, and she felt light-headed. “What did happen, Njall?”

  He leaned forward enough to bump GranGran, but the old woman stood her ground as the barrier between them. “The empress put me in the Hall of Concubines. Other men did what she wanted, but I never did. Never. No matter how much she badgered or threatened me.” The pace of Njall’s breath quickened with anger. “Because I wanted to be faithful to you.”

  Under other circumstances, his words would have softened Frayka’s heart. But she felt on edge. “Of course,” Frayka said. “Just as I want to be faithful to you.”

  “Liar!” Njall shouted. He stabbed an accusing finger at Frayka over GranGran’s head.

  His allegation stirred Frayka’s anger. “Who do you call a liar?”

  “You, Frayka!” Njall said. “You’re the liar.”

  The crowd stilled around them, hanging onto every word.

  Frayka paced in front of GranGran, grateful her great-grandmother stood there to prevent Frayka from throwing a punch at her husband. “And what do you think I’ve lied about?”

  Njall spat on the ground. “If you’d looked for me, you would have found me. Finding your dragon gods is more important than me.”

  Frayka stilled, recognizing truth in Njall’s words.

  “So important,” Njall said, “that you would rather be married to one of them.”

  Stunned, Frayka looked at Njall in disbelief. Her voice raised an octave. “What?”

  Njall shook his head in disgust. “You think I don’t know. I met your precious dragon god. He sent me here so I could see the truth for myself.”

  Now thoroughly confused, Frayka said, “What truth? What are you talking about?”

  “His child,” Njall said. “The one you bore for him. The dragon child.”

  The women crowded around them gasped and cried out.

  “The baby!” Ling Lu shouted. “Is it the dragon child?”

  “Dragon child?” Ignoring Ling Lu and all the other women around her, Frayka curbed her desire to knock some sense into her husband. She wondered if something had happened to drive him mad. “Are you talking about your own daughter?”

  Njall snorted. “If we had a daughter, all I would have to do is see her. You might look like your great-grandmother, but your blood is mostly Northlander, Frayka. I can’t believe your daughter would look like anything other than a Northlander if I’m the father.”

  “That’s easy enough to prove.” Frayka turned toward the crowd. “TeaTree? Where are you? Bring Dagby to me.”

  Frayka fumed while waiting for TeaTree to push his way through the crowd.

  What happened to the man I love? How can he think such things of me?

  Frayka considered that while she’d known Njall all her life, they’d been married only a week or so when they were parted.

  Maybe I’ve never known him at all. Maybe this is who he really is.

  TeaTree walked next to Frayka’s side. Amazed that the child remained asleep through all the commotion, Frayka didn’t want to wake her up. Frayka pulled the cloth covering Dagby far enough away to expose the little girl’s face.

  Njall looked and then shook his head in disgust. “I knew it! The child looks nothing like me. It looks like you and your dragon god.”

  Incensed, Frayka said, “Are you blind?” Still taking care, Frayka wrangled Dagby out of the sling.

  The infant woke up and fussed.

  “And now you’ve made me wake her up,” Frayka said. Cradling Dagby in her arms, Frayka marched up close to GranGran and Njall. “There! Are you happy now?”

  Njall squinted. “What do you have to be so proud of? I told you: that child looks nothing
like me.”

  GranGran intercepted. “Bring more light!”

  Several of the women holding lanterns stepped forward to cast light on the child’s face.

  Enraged by Njall’s refusal to see the truth, Frayka placed her hands around Dagby’s waist and held her up in the light. “Look at her! Don’t you see her round eyes? Can’t you see how blue they are? Just like yours.”

  Finally, the rage on Njall’s face faded away. “A daughter?” he said. “We have a little girl?”

  Ling Lu piped up again. “If we don’t cast him back into the sea, then we should lock him up. We have a place for that.”

  Seething with anger, Frayka said, “Yes. That’s a good idea.”

  She cradled Dagby back in her arms, turned her back on a stunned Njall, and made her way back to the house.

  CHAPTER 26

  Empress Ti, Asu Chu, and Jojen reached the trail that led down to the port village where they’d been told the fishermen might know something about Seahorse Island. Because Asu Chu had been to this village before, Ti ordered him to lead the way.

  Once they set foot in the village, its people recognized the uniform of the royal guard Jojen. Perplexed, they stared at Ti as if they should recognize her, even though the empress wore the clothing of a commoner. They kept their distance, showing faces sallow with fear.

  Ti said to Asu Chu, “You know these people. Tell them to be at ease.”

  Asu Chu appeared startled, but obeyed. He stepped several paces in front of Empress Ti as if he were her servant.

  He cleared his throat and then addressed the villagers. “The mighty Empress Ti, ruler of the city of Zangcheen and the Wulong Province, graces your home with her presence. The empress requests your assistance for the great good of our nation.”

  A young boy at the front of the crowd pointed at Asu Chu. “He came here before. When the ice man killed a woman!”

  The boy’s mother clamped her hand over his mouth. She dragged him back into the crowd like the tide taking an unsuspecting swimmer out to sea. They disappeared from sight.

  That’s why they’re afraid. They suspect the truth—that Asu had something to do with the ice man. They think he might kill someone else.