A family? Roberto swallowed. It had been so long.
§
That afternoon, Tonio cornered Ezaara in the tunnels. “My Queen’s Rider, Marlies told me about the crystal. I suspected Roberto may have been turned.”
Anger burned in Ezaara’s belly. “We’ve extracted the crystal, and he’s in perfect control of himself.” She glared at Tonio. “Don’t ever accuse him of being a traitor again. Having his gut slit in the Robandi desert and being held in Death Valley was punishment enough for his father’s crimes.”
“Roberto doesn’t need to be punished for his father’s crimes. Zens is to blame. I see that now.” Tonio shook his head. “I’ve been talking to Master Giddi, your parents and Kierion. We must work with mages to wipe Zens and his armies out.”
Gods, where had that come from?
Tonio grasped her hand, shaking it. “And I’ve heard the news, Ezaara. Congratulations. I’m glad for you both.”
Ezaara stood open-mouthed as he walked away.
Dire News
Not all of the masters were gathered at this private meeting, only those who knew what was going on: Ezaara, Lars, Tonio, Marlies and Hans. And, of course, Roberto had to be present—there was no one to accuse without him. Erob, Zaarusha and Antonika were sitting near the back wall—the only dragons allowed.
Roberto stretched his legs under the table, circling his ankles. “Ah, Erob, it’s good to move without a shackle dragging on my leg.”
“Next time chose a lighter piece of jewelry, perhaps an earring?” Erob teased.
Lars rapped his gavel. “Today we have a few issues to address: Sofia’s punishment; Master Roberto loving Ezaara, his trainee, before she was qualified; the nature of these yellow crystals; and Zens’ new creatures. First, we will deal with Sofia, then Roberto.”
A blue guard opened the door and led Sofia in. Roberto was shocked at her appearance. She’d lost weight and her eyes had the look of a creature being hunted. Is that what those crystals did to people? His gut roiled. Shards, he’d been lucky.
Sofia slumped into a chair, staring at the floor.
Lars read out the charges against her. “Inciting rebellion against the rightful Queen’s Rider. Attacking the Queen’s Rider. Abusing girls at Dragons’ Hold. Subverting public opinion. Sedition against Dragons’ Realm.”
Sofia looked up, shame smeared across her face.
She’d spurned the Queen’s Rider and made Ezaara’s life difficult. She needed to be cast out from Dragons’ Hold.
“These crimes were, in large, against me,” Ezaara said. “May I conduct the proceedings?” She got up, her boots creating soft echoes as she moved around the granite table to face Sofia.
“What are you doing?” Roberto mind-melded.
“Trust me.”
“Sofia.” Ezaara waited until Sofia met her gaze before she continued. “I forgive you. You were under Zens’ influence. I’m guessing you’d do anything to right this wrong.”
Sofia nodded. “I feel awful. Horrible black shadows kept whispering at me, goading me to be mean and making me violent. Now they’re gone, I feel so rotten about what I’ve done.”
Anger burned, slow and deep in Roberto’s belly. “How could you forgive her? They said she tried to kill you.”
“Roberto.” Only one word, full of love and kindness.
Roberto’s chest grew tight. He’d done the same. With that knife at her throat.
Lars’ voice was low. “Ezaara, this is not in your hands.”
“I know, it’s Zaarusha’s decision.”
She’d put Lars right in his place. It was Ezaara and Zaarusha who led the council now.
The queen nudged Lars with her snout. His expression softened as he listened to her, a hand on her head. “Sofia, Zaarusha is giving you a chance.”
Sofia’s eyes grew round. “Anything. I’ll do it. Please.”
“She’s ordering you to muck out dragonet dens for a month.”
Roberto melded with Ezaara. “Did you put Zaarusha up to that?”
Ezaara clasped Sofia’s hand. “I never had a chance to apologize for injuring you. It was an accident, but even so, I’ve regretted it ever since.”
Sofia stood and hugged Ezaara, sobbing. “Th-thank you.”
“It’s going to be all right,” Ezaara murmured.
A blue guard entered with Alban swaggering in behind him, Nadira on his heels. Jaw clenched, Alban stared at Sofia with a face hewn of granite. “You gave us sway weed. Me and Banikan. How could you?”
“And you had me doing your dirty work with the girls,” snarled Nadira. “I believed in you, trusted you, and you made me nasty.” She looked as if she was about to spit on Sofia. Even without sway weed.
“I’ve forgiven her and you,” Ezaara said quietly, stepping up next to Sofia. “And I’m the one she tried to burn and knife. This just shows us how powerful Zens is. He not only bends minds, he infiltrates Dragons’ Hold, trying to ruin friendships and create hate between us. We’ll never succeed if we let his tools of war drive us apart.”
Roberto wasn’t sure what Alban was expecting, but it wasn’t that.
Alban blustered for a moment, then nodded. “Very well.” He turned for the door.
“Alban,” Ezaara called, “Sofia’s going to need some help mucking out the dragonet dens. Might be a good way to get to know one another on new terms.”
He nodded tersely and left. Nadira hung back, “You know, Ezaara, I think you’re right.” She slipped an arm through Sofia’s elbow and wandered outside with her.
“All’s well that ends well,” said Lars. “And now, Master Roberto.” He turned to him. “We understand you kissed Ezaara while she was still your trainee. Ever since the world gate was shut, loving your trainee has been a grievous offense, punishable by banishment.”
All eyes turned to him. Funny, having everyone acknowledge he loved Ezaara. He could lose everything, but he wouldn’t live a lie. “I loved her from the moment I tested her imprinting bond.”
“I thought you were pretty awful back then.” Ezaara kept her face deadpan. “Perhaps we shouldn’t tell them everything.”
“I won’t hide our love anymore.”
Tonio nodded to himself. “You’ve been mind-melding with Ezaara for moons, haven’t you?”
“Yes.” “And I am right now—and there’s nothing he can do about it.”
Ezaara snorted, putting her hand over her mouth to pretend she was stifling a cough.
Lars cut in. “Yet you say the first time you kissed her was in the orchard, when Antonika flew over and saw you?”
“After Fleur, Bruno and Simeon’s banishment,” Tonio added.
“Yes,” Roberto said. This was ridiculous. He’d kissed Ezaara, but the masters’ crimes were worse. “I’d been wrongly banished by you, captured in the Robandi desert, had my gut slit and came home to save Zaarusha from Ajeuria’s attack. So, yes, after all that, I did kiss my trainee, the woman I love, who’d saved me from desert assassins.” And had saved him from himself. He hadn’t wanted to return at all, but she’d convinced him.
“Our apologies for banishing you unfairly,” Lars said. “I’m sorry.”
“Apologies accepted,” Roberto said tersely. “Are you going to repeat the same mistake now?”
“It’s not your position to question council procedure,” Lars blustered.
“It is when that procedure nearly kills me, isolates me from the woman I love and stops me doing my duty to the queen.”
“Tread carefully, Roberto,” Ezaara pleaded.
“They need us.” Gods, he hoped he was right. He couldn’t really run away with the Queen’s Rider if they did attempt to banish him. Dragons’ Realm needed Ezaara and Zaarusha just as much as he did.
Lars gestured to Ezaara. “Apart from that kiss, is it true that you weren’t physically involved throughout your training?”
“They could just ask me,” said Erob, scratching the stone with his talons. “I knew what you were up to.”<
br />
“Naturally, I kissed him goodbye before he went to Death Valley.” Ezaara arched an eyebrow, looking bemused. “But apart from that, Master Lars, Roberto wouldn’t kiss me, despite me once begging him.”
A ripple of laughter ran around the cavern. “Hardly grounds for banishment,” commented Hans dryly.
Lars turned to Ezaara’s parents. “You two have been mind-melding for years. How probable is it that they’ve loved each other, but only kissed once or twice?”
Lars wasn’t going to let this drop, was he?
But thank the Egg, Tonio was unusually quiet, staring at his nails as if they held valuable secrets.
Marlies met Lars’ frank gaze. “It’s a strong bonding experience. It would have been difficult not to have a physical relationship after sharing emotions by mind-meld. Under the circumstances, I think they’ve shown remarkable restraint.”
“Lars,” said Hans, “this rule was established to prevent a relationship that could endanger the realm. These two have done nothing but good. And besides, before Ezaara even arrived, Handel says he’d received a prophecy that they should be together.”
Tonio shot Lars a meaningful look. “Anakisha’s prophecy has yet to be fulfilled.”
Something passed between them, then Lars turned in his chair. “My honored Queen Zaarusha, Roberto has pledged fidelity to you and to the realm, even though he has loved your rider while training her. What is your verdict?”
The queen lowered her head and Lars and Tonio placed their hands on her forehead. “She thanks Roberto for his service and apologizes for his suffering in Death Valley,” Lars said.
Tonio grinned. “She also wants to know when the hand-fasting celebration will be and says, the sooner the better, because war is coming.”
Roberto knocked his chair over as he leaped to his feet and hugged Ezaara, kissing her. Her joy rushed through him and his chest felt as if it would burst wide open.
“Wait until later,” she melded, “then I’ll really kiss you.”
Tonio cleared his throat. “When you’re done, we’ll move on to discussing Zens.”
Ezaara blushed, right to the tips of her ears.
“Pink suits you.” Roberto laughed as they sat down, holding hands.
She rolled her eyes at him. “Be serious. This is war.”
“No, this is love. War will come later.”
“Focus, you two,” Erob said.
“Marlies,” said Tonio, “tell us more about these crystals.”
“We’ve found only three so far,” the master healer said. “Sofia had a crystal, which Fleur implanted after the knife accident.” Ezaara mentally flinched. Roberto squeezed her hand as Marlies continued. “Unocco had one under his wing. And Roberto, could you please explain the effect yours had?”
His face heated. Now it was his turn to blush—but in shame. “Shadows wreathed my mind, driving me to seek Ezaara’s life.” He swallowed, remembering. “I had coherent thoughts, moments where I admired her. And surges of anger against dragons, even Erob. I could move and talk, but darkness stalked me. I … I …” He shrugged, overwhelmed by his memory of Ezaara bravely trying to distract him as his blade pricked her soft skin, blood dribbling down her throat. He closed his eyes, breathing deeply.
An image shot into his head: him and Ezaara feasting on fish by the lake in summer. “That’s what I want you to remember every time that other horrible memory pops to mind,” Ezaara said.
Hope surged inside him. With her, he could face down his darkest demons. “Thank you.”
He addressed Tonio. “Zens wanted to break me. He knew if I killed Ezaara, I’d be filled with self-hatred and be useless to the realm. It would’ve only been a matter of time until he coerced me into abusing people with my mental talents.” He shuddered.
Tonio scratched his head, looking awkward. “I personally apologize for leaving you in Death Valley, Roberto, and for the grudge I’ve held against your father. If these crystals had such an awful effect, maybe your father had a similar crystal. Zens could’ve driven him to do what he did.”
The spymaster looked disconcertingly humble. “I agree.” That was odd, too, understanding his father, instead of hating him. Gods, he had to tell Adelina about Pa.
“What about Zens’ creatures?” Tonio asked.
“I saw his workroom. He grows tharuks in tanks, hundreds of them. And he’s growing something else too. Large black creatures the size of a haystack with strange dark cloth draped around them.”
“Cloth? Like a cloak?” Tonio frowned. “Do they have tusks, like tharuks? Any horns or claws? What are their jaws like? We need to know how they can harm us.”
Gods, it was hopeless. He’d spent weeks in Death Valley and hardly discovered anything. No, he knew they were big. He knew where they were, and how to get into that cavern.
“No. You’re not going back again,” Ezaara melded.
“They were suspended in liquid in glass tanks, all curled up, so they were hard to see. I saw a flash of a horn or tusk, something that was a limb or a tail, and that strange cloth that hung around their bodies. I couldn’t risk lingering, because Zens and a whole lot of tharuks were in that cavern.”
Elbows on the table, Tonio steepled his fingers. “As big as a haystack? Something the size of Erob, then? Or Zaarusha?”
Oh, gods. “The cloth—it could be wings. A horn, a tail. Zens might be creating an army of dragons.”
“The dragon gods help us,” Lars whispered.
No one spoke, torches crackling in their sconces as they all stared at each other.
Hand-fasting
Ezaara lay in her bathtub, steam rising around her in the chill air. She huffed out her breath, the fog swirling among tendrils of steam. “I could almost pass for a smoke-breathing dragon.”
Zaarusha’s head appeared at her door. “Not by a long shot. You’d need horns and a tail.”
“And wings.”
The queen set the wood in the grate alight. Soon a blaze was crackling. “You’d better get out. Linaia’s warned me that Adelina will be here soon.”
Ezaara stepped out of the bath, dried herself, and pulled on her undergarments and a thick robe. She sat by the blazing fire, drying her hair.
The door opened and Adelina appeared with armfuls of luxurious multi-hued fabric.
“What’s all that for?”
“You.” Adelina smiled. “Don’t look so surprised, I’ve been working on your outfit since Roberto asked if you two could be hand-fasted. Although today’s come around so quickly, I can hardly believe it.” She popped the pile on Ezaara’s bed.
“The cloth’s so beautiful. Those colors look like Zaarusha’s scales. Where did you get it?”
“There are advantages to having mages in this place. Master Giddi magicked the fabric so it shimmers. He said it’s your hand-fasting gift. Now, come here and try it on. These shiny ribbons fasten the dress. See? And here …” She held up riders’ garb made of the same material. “These go underneath. The whole idea is to echo your first public flight. A similar robe and breeches, a dress over the top that you can undo when it’s time to fly, and a similar hairstyle. But better, oh, so much better.”
When she touched the silky fabric—the colors flitting through it in the torchlight—Ezaara had to agree.
Hours later, her hair in braids and coils threaded with thin shimmering ribbons, Ezaara was dressed in her elegant garb, flowing gown and matching slippers. She sat in Zaarusha’s saddle, on the ledge, her stomach a stampede of butterflies. “Do you think he’ll like it?”
“Roberto wouldn’t care if you turned up in dragonet dung.” Adelina winked, already in her own finery. “He’ll love it, trust me.”
Ezaara grinned. “Remember the first time we surprised him?”
“At your flight? It was fun to see my brother flummoxed—he’s usually so in control.”
Ezaara squeezed Adelina’s hand. “Thank you for being my friend. You mean the world to me, Adelina.”
Adel
ina’s eyes were bright with moisture, but Ezaara didn’t care because hers were too.
Linaia landed on the ledge, and Adelina flew off, calling, “Give me a few minutes to check Roberto’s ready.”
Dusk had come early. The moon glinted on the snowy basin, the lake a carpet of shimmering silver. A gentle breeze drifted over Dragons’ Hold, ruffling the skirts of her gown. A few moons ago, Ezaara had left her home in Lush Valley, where she’d not even known whether dragons existed.
So much had changed. And now, with the possibility of Zens bringing war to the skies, even more would change. Life would be uncertain. She’d nearly lost Roberto already—several times—but they’d been lucky enough to have another chance. Today they’d be joined, but she’d live every day not knowing if the next battle could steal him from her. So, she’d make sure they lived. Loved. And laughed, so when he was gone, she’d have a treasure trove of precious memories.
“Rather morbid thoughts for one about to be hand-fasted.” The glowing colors of Zaarusha’s sathir swirled in the torchlight. “Time for a happier tune, perhaps?”
“You’re right. Let’s go.”
Zaarusha whipped through the chill air, entering a passage high in the main cavern. They perched inside the tunnel mouth to wait until they were summoned. Hundreds of glowing wizard lights hung below the ceiling. Torches burned brightly in sconces. The cavern was packed with mages and riders, folk young and old, their hubbub rising up the passage.
“Ready?” Zaarusha asked.
“Yes, I’m ready.” Ezaara’s heart thrummed. Roberto was waiting for her.
A haunting note pealed from a horn, echoing off the cavern walls and reverberating through the tunnel.
Zaarusha melded, “Hold on.”
Ezaara tensed, ready for action. The dragon queen bunched her legs, flapped her wings and sailed into the main cavern, circling high above the folk. Ezaara’s ribbons fluttered, her dress shimmering in the light from green mage flame.
Standing on the stage with the horn in his hand and Erob behind him, was Roberto, dressed from tip to toe in black. At his waist was a sash from the same fabric as her dress—Adelina’s doing, no doubt. He glanced up, smiling. “You look radiant.”
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