by Jade Lee
You do things I don't know about?
Of course.
Will you tell me what?
They are too many actions to name. What do you wish to know?
She didn't even know where to begin.
Do you share information with the Copper?
I am his Queen. Of course he speaks with me.
Of course, she echoed weakly. Were you speaking with my mother?
I was too young to speak directly, but it is possible the others were trying to communicate.
How?
That cave is a powerful location, perfectly suited for augmenting such communication. Such... things.
What things? Feelings or thoughts?
Yes.
Yes? To both? Natiya pressed her hand to the side of the egg, feeling the hard shell on top that was even now growing softer and more pliable as the hatching drew near.
So, you can communicate with the Copper in such a way that neither I nor Rashad know about it.
You know. He knows.
She let that comment pass. What else can you do that I'm not aware of?
What do you want to know?
Everything, she thought; but the egg didn't answer. So she began with the most pressing problem. Can you get us out of here before the hatching?
The way has always been available. You need only have looked.
Natiya actually bit her cheek in frustration. The egg had known all along? And had not told her?
My task is not to interfere, not unless asked.
Your task? What task?
My task is my own, and it is nearing completion.
Natiya was already beginning to sense an entirely separate personality within the egg, more than she ever had. Actually, she felt stupid for not having seen it before, but until she read her mother's journal, it had never occurred to her that the egg was much more than a tool, an instrument of revenge against Dag Racho. Now she saw she had limited the egg by her own narrow viewpoint. And that dragons were both infinitely more capable and difficult than she had at first thought. Now she not only had to worry about Dag Racho's empire, but she had to deal with an entirely separate identity with unknown goals tied directly into her thoughts.
If she'd felt unprepared before, she felt completely incompetent now. But before she could allow herself to steep in self-loathing—an emotion she already felt the egg magnifying within her—she decided to force her thoughts into the most urgent task: escaping Dag Racho before the hatching.
How do I... She paused, then rephrased the question. How do we escape the castle?
You must look with my eyes.
How?
You must relinquish control to me.
And there were words to terrify her into immobility. Relinquish control? Of her body? And to an egg—a beast? And yet, even as panic gripped her, her rational mind began to argue. She already knew the dragon was more than a dumb animal. She could also assert control again whenever she wished. Couldn't she?
Of course. It is your body. I am here at your request.
I will retain control if I wish it?
Of course.
She was rapidly tiring of that particular answer, as if all answers were obvious, when the truth was anything but. Still, she had to work with the egg if she wanted to escape. And so she willed herself to relax, to give over control to... the thing in her belly.
It took a very long time. She had spent too many years living in paranoid secrecy to simply hand over her body to anyone else, even if she'd been taught the process in the first place. The egg gave no encouragement or discouragement; it simply waited in patience. In time, Natiya succeeded in relinquishing control of her vision.
And was stunned by what she saw.
Current. Rivers of it. Brilliant-colored waves that moved and flexed and permeated everything. The air, the walls, the furniture, even her own body seemed to pulse in a blinding pattern that her mind could not grasp.
She slammed her eyes shut.
"Well," she said out loud, just to ground herself with her own voice. "That didn't work. I saw no way to escape." Then she carefully opened her eyes, willing the return of her normal sight. It came.
She addressed the egg. "That didn't work," she repeated. Predictably, the egg had no response, so Natiya pressed for more details, making her question silent for fear of the guards. Why didn't that work?
It did. You could see the exit.
I saw nothing but chaos. I don't understand at all.
Again the egg had no reply, but Natiya was beginning to recognize the pattern. The egg would not tell her the answer unless she asked the right question. But if she knew the question to ask, wouldn't she already have a clue to the answer?
You understand what I saw, don't you? she asked.
Of course.
Of course it did. It was the egg's sight she had been using. Of course it would understand what it saw. Which meant...
You know where the exit is and how to get out.
Of course.
Of course. Natiya thought the words at the same time as the egg. She sighed, greatly fearing what she had to do. If I cede all control to you—of my entire body—will I still be able to think on my own?
Of course.
But you would guide me out? You would work my arms and legs and body enough to get me out of the castle.
The egg took a long time answering, but eventually it did. I believe so. I have never tried.
Do so now, Natiya instructed, gathering her courage. Take us out of this castle without being caught.
You must relinquish control. I can do nothing unless you allow me to.
Of course not. And it was just as Natiya had feared: If she'd had such trouble releasing her vision, how much harder would it be to release dominion over her entire body?
I can get it back—
Any time you ask.
Very well, she thought to the egg. Do it.
Except, the egg could do nothing. Not until Natiya actually let it. She took a few deep breaths, consciously relaxing her body, intending to relax her mind. She tried to pull her consciousness away from her body into her thoughts and only her thoughts.
Her eyes were closed, and so it was the smell she noticed first. Her own smell. The egg's smell. Even the lingering scent of flowers, washing fluid and stale water drifted through her mind. Though she had been smelling all of it before, she realized that the egg identified and categorized all these things. Where Natiya had simply pushed them to the back of her mind, the egg noticed it all. Remembered it all.
Natiya stood without expecting to; she had been so caught up in the smells that she had relaxed enough to let the egg manage her body. But the unexpected sensation of standing startled her so much that she instinctively took back control. She snatched at her body like a child after a toy. Except, she was the toy. And as might be predicted, she fell in an ungainly heap on the floor. She landed hard enough that her teeth jarred from the impact.
This isn't working! she thought, even though she knew the reason was in her own paranoid psyche.
You do not trust me, the egg said.
I do not trust easily.
No answer; but then, Natiya did not expect one. Instead, she focused her efforts on smells again, trying to narrow her attention back down to the scents. She identified the flowery odor and decided to focus exclusively on that—forgetting to shut her eyes. So when the egg took control of her vision, she once again panicked, regaining control while she slammed her eyes closed. At least she had not been standing that time.
This is going to take forever!
No answer from the egg, nothing but a silent wall of patience while Natiya struggled to release her presence in her own body again. And again. And again.
And again.
She could not do it. She just could not give up control of her body. Not even though she wished it.
Couldn't there be a compromise here?
Of course.
Natiya did her best not to smack the egg as
she struggled to find a middle ground. Could you tell me where the exit is?
In the bathing chamber between the plant and the window.
Natiya walked to the specified place, pleased that she would be out of view of any guard who chose to look in on her.
Here?
Yes.
At least it hadn't said, "Of course."
What do I do now?
Press the eyelet pattern in the tiling.
Natiya did as the egg bade, and immediately a door slid open in the wall, revealing a stairway just wide enough for her to carefully ease her way inside. A lever blocked her path, and so she pushed it up, silently sliding the door closed behind her... and abruptly engulfing her in total blackness.
Can you see in the dark? Natiya asked.
If you let me.
That meant allowing herself to be blinded by the swirling currents of... what was it she would see?
Thoughts. Emotions. Power. Energy.
Of course, Natiya thought back with obvious sarcasm. None of this made any sense to her, but naturally the egg did not choose to explain. It remained silent, waiting for Natiya to release her vision to it. At least she was becoming more practiced. And since she was blinded by the darkness anyway, it was easier to allow the egg to take over her vision.
Swirling currents of energy appeared before her, and she worked hard not to focus on it. It was making her nauseated. Instead, she thought about descending the stairs one slow step at a time.
You will have to tell me when I'm about to run into something.
No answer. Apparently, she wasn't about to run into something. She was, however, stepping in things. Dirt. Wet dirt. Yuck. She didn't truly want to know more. No one had used this passageway for a long time.
Rashad does, but not often. And not since you came, the egg informed her.
Where does it lead?
To the Coral.
It was a good thing Natiya was already walking extremely carefully, because this information would have made her stumble. As it was, she stopped cold, trying to understand what the egg was saying.
The Coral? A Coral dragon?
Of course.
The one bonded to Rashad's sister?
Yes.
But where is she?
At the other end of this tunnel.
Of course, Natiya thought crossly as she at last made it down to the bottom of the steps, ending in a tunnel that ran off to either side. The egg instructed her to turn right, which she did. And then she began another long trek through a passageway that was exactly like the stairway: narrow, wet and with a musky scent that made her nose itch. As she slowly waddled through a sea of colors and light—moving mostly by touch—she wondered if Dag Racho had learned how to use his dragon's sight, or if this was something she alone had discovered.
He knows. But he will not relinquish control to the Copper.
Well, that made sense, and frankly Natiya didn't blame him. This flow of energy lines was disconcerting to say the least, but she hoped she would be able to understand them given time. If only she had thought to speak to the egg this way earlier. But there was nothing she could do about it now, except to use what time she had.
She continued to travel slowly along the tunnel. Superimposing what she knew of the castle and the city, she guessed that these stairs led well beneath the ground, deep under the castle. Which meant this tunnel ran directly to the Emperor's mountain.
Of course it does, she told herself irritably. Where else could one hide a mature dragon except inside a mountain? In the distance, from back inside the castle, Natiya thought she heard a man's hoarse cry. Had her absence been discovered? Most likely. The guards never went more than thirty beats without checking on her.
Though her body was beginning to tire, Natiya picked up her pace. She needed to get away, though what she was going to do once she got into the mountain, she hadn't a clue. How much of an escape was it when one ran from a guarded bedroom into the center of the garrison for the entire army? Well, she wouldn't be any worse off, and she did suddenly have an urgent need to see the Coral.
Or was that the egg's need?
She slowed a moment, trying to sort out her thoughts. Now that she realized the egg had its own goals and desires, she needed to be a great deal clearer about who wanted what. And though she was very curious about exactly how Dag Racho had kept his sister secretly interned for nearly a hundred cycles, she didn't recognize the burning desire that seemed to pulse through her.
Are you creating this desire? Natiya asked.
I am magnifying your interest.
Why?
The Copper and I have been trying to revive the Coral.
Revive her?
She does not respond. We wish you to touch her. Through you, we can break the magic that restrains her.
You couldn't just ask me? You have to manipulate my desires?
I cannot ask. And I am not manipulating, I am only magnifying.
But you choose what you wish to magnify, don't you?
The egg's answer came with great reluctance. I have some choices in this matter.
Natiya thought so. Indeed, she was beginning to believe the dragons were a great deal more manipulative than their humans ever imagined. Which led to another question.
What will the Coral do when she wakes?
What she is required to do.
And what is that?
No answer; not that she expected one. But once this was all over, Natiya decided, she and her egg were going to have a serious heart-to-heart. In the meantime, she was still in control of her body. So if the egg wanted to wake the Coral, it would have to ante up some information. Otherwise, she was going to just bypass the other dragon, figuring that one enemy was better than two.
She is not an enemy.
Natiya smiled, though her thoughts remained grim. She is not your enemy, she said clearly to the egg. I don't know yet if she's my enemy or not.
We are not your enemies.
Then why are you here?
The egg took a long time to answer, and Natiya had the distinct impression it was working to phrase its response carefully.
We study you. We are scientists, like your parents. We search for the perfect human.
Scientists? Perfect human?
Yes.
That wasn't the complete answer; Natiya was sure of it.
If you are just scientists studying us, why won't you tell me what the Coral will do when she wakes?
She has been asleep for a long time. We do not know what she thinks.
You said "required.' That the Coral will do what she is "required" to do. What is that?
She is required to report her experiences.
To whom?
To me.
Because you are the Queen?
Of course.
And then what?
And then I will decide.
She will take your direction?
Hesitation. And then, Of course.
So, Natiya realized, the Queen wasn't entirely sure of her authority.
Of course I am, the egg respond hotly. I am their Queen.
"You haven't even been born yet," Natiya snapped out loud. She didn't know how things worked in the dragon world, but in the human world, adults rarely listened to children. The egg didn't respond, but Natiya got the distinct impression it didn't think of itself like a child. After all, the egg had been conscious at least since Natiya began incubating it over ten cycles ago. Apparently, it felt as if it had command of the dragons beneath her.
You are sure the Coral will take direction from you? She will not kill you? Or me?
She will not harm her Queen.
There was no hesitation in the egg about that, and so Natiya decided to trust it.
I will help you wake the Coral, she told it.
Typically, there was no thanks from the egg. Neither was there any acknowledgment of Natiya's cooperation. Merely a silence that was beginning to seriously irritate her. All these years, all t
hese cycles of loneliness, Natiya could have had a friend, a companion during the long nights of secrecy. But the egg had been silent all that time—an observer instead of a participant.
A scientist, the egg asserted.
A spy, Natiya countered.
I have not harmed you.
You haven't helped me either.
Natiya felt her irritation begin to boil into anger. She wasn't entirely sure why she was becoming so furious. So much information had hit her so quickly, she wasn't sure she was even thinking rationally. She only knew that she was angry as never before, including the moment when her parents had been killed. Back then she could rail at Dag Racho, hate him with all the pain in her young heart. But now... now she learned that someone—something—had been sitting in her mind all this time, watching, learning—judging—and never once helping.
You chose this when you first picked me up and pressed me to your belly.
Natiya felt her hands clench into fists against the damp walls. It was true, she had chosen this. And yet, she was absolutely furious.
"I have been so alone," she whispered, her voice echoing back at her in eerie hisses.
Such was the life you chose.
And as Natiya at last came to the door that would lead her inside Dag Racho's mountain, she finally saw the truth, bare and unadulterated as only the cold voice of her egg could make it. She'd chosen this life. She'd chosen to seclude herself and live in secrecy when she could have had friends. She'd chosen to go with Kiril because she wanted to know what he knew about the egg. She'd chosen to fight Dag Racho rather than accept the easy life he offered. Indeed, she'd chosen everything about her current situation, and so she could hardly complain about it. In that moment, she made her decision.
I will help you wake the Coral. And then you will tell me how to separate from you, how to separate all of the bonded people from their dragons. Then human and dragon will go their separate ways. Can we do this? Will you do this?
There was a long moment as the egg considered Natiya's decision. Only then did it respond.
It can be done. But there is a cost.
This time, Natiya got to say the obvious:
"Of course."
Chapter 16
Kiril pulled on his uniform, cursing Dag Racho's symbol and red colors even as he thanked the Father that he had stored one at Sabina's place.
