[Vankara Saga 02.0] Dragon Alliance

by SJ West

  Ren held out a hand pointing to Sora's three mechanical dragons. I saw Sora, dressed in her leather-riding outfit, speaking with her two female riding companions. I assumed the women also served as her guards since they both carried swords on their backs.

  "I don't understand," I said to Ren.

  "She's going to take you to her private sanctuary in the mountains," Ren said. "It's a holy place to her because that's where she was born. If she is indeed practicing dark magic, I believe that's where she does it."

  "Absolutely not!" Aurora said emphatically. "Sarah, you can't go with that woman!"

  "Aurora, please," I said. "You're giving me a headache with all your yelling. Trust that I know what I'm doing."

  "But..."

  "No buts," I said looking at her on my shoulder before saying my next words. "Let me handle things, please."

  Aurora did not look happy, but she didn't say anything else either.

  "Are you speaking with your dragon somehow? I’ve heard legends that someone bonded to a dragon can speak with them through their thoughts." Ren said, closely watching my silent interaction with Aurora.

  "Your legends are correct. The bond we share connects our minds somehow," I told him. "Apparently, when you bond with a dragon it's not just on a physical level."

  Ren smiled. "That's brilliant!"

  I laughed. "Not so brilliant when you have to deal with a nagging little voice inside your head all the time."

  "I do not nag," Aurora grumbled. "I'm simply trying to look out for you."

  "And I love you for it," I told her. "But I need a clear head while I'm with Sora. So, please, let me handle things without you warning me about her every five seconds. I know she's dangerous. I'm not a fool, Aurora. Of anyone, you should know that. And if you see something that should be brought to my attention, please tell me. I treasure your counsel just not your constant worry."

  "Fine," Aurora said, not exactly sounding pleased but accepting my request of her.

  "I think I will leave you here," Ren told me. "Sora and I don't exactly have the best relationship. She's probably wondering why I walked you up here as it is. Good luck, Emma. I hope you get what you want from her and don't have to trade in your soul to get it."

  Ren turned and walked back inside the palace. Arisu walked up to my side, patiently waiting for me.

  I faced back towards Sora and her guards. They were watching me closely now, and I could see Ren was right. Sora's eyes held a note of suspicion, and it was plain to see she was wondering what her stepson had just told me.

  I took in a deep breath as Arisu and I walked over to her.

  "Head up," Aurora advised me. "Remember who you are no matter what she says to you. You are the leader of a nation full of people who need you to succeed here. Don't let them or yourself down by thinking you’re less than she is. If anything, you are more than she will ever be."

  Sora's lips stretched into a rather forced, polite smile.

  "I suppose Ren already told you where we are going for tea?" Sora said.

  "Yes, he said it was in the mountains where you were born."

  "I built a private sanctuary there not long after I became queen. It's my own little retreat away from palace life. It can only be reached by air so we'll have to take my dragons."

  I looked at Sora's leather pant outfit. "I'm not sure I'm dressed properly for a ride on one of your mechanical dragons."

  Sora's smile widened as she looked me up and down appraisingly. "Oh, you're dressed just fine. You'll be riding behind me. All you have to do is hold on. Do you feel strong enough to do that?"

  I had the distinct feeling her question held a double meaning.

  "Yes," I told her. "I'm strong enough to handle most anything."

  "I guess we'll see."

  Sora turned her back to me and walked to the other side of her steam-powered dragon. Her two guards went to their own mounts, and Arisu followed one of the guards.

  I followed Sora since she was supposed to be my ride. She helped me hop into the seat on the back of her dragon before taking her place in the seat in front of me. The skirt of my kimono was tight, and I had no choice but to ride with my legs hanging off to one side. I would have much preferred to wear something with pants like Sora but wasn't afforded the luxury. I felt sure it was part of her plan to put me off balance and make me feel vulnerable.

  "Here," Sora said, handing me a helmet similar to her own. "You're going to need this to protect your face. It gets rather chilly up there, especially with the north wind blowing at that elevation."

  I placed the helmet on my head, and Sora adjusted it so that the lower portion covered my face properly.

  "Wouldn't want you to catch your death of cold, now would we?" She said, sounding amused by her own question.

  "Ohhh," Aurora said with temper flaring. "I really don't like her, Sarah."

  "Neither do I," I admitted. "But liking her has nothing to do with this negotiation. Let her play her little mind games. I'm not intimidated by them."

  Sora turned around and began to manipulate the controls of her dragon.

  "Wrap your arms around my waist," Sora instructed me.

  I did as she said because she was really the only thing available to hold onto.

  I suddenly felt the mechanical dragon lurch forward as it ran down the platform and then leapt into the air. I felt my breath catch in my throat as we soared into the sky. The exhilaration of flying through the air was unlike anything I had ever experienced before. The wind nipped at my exposed skin, but its coldness wasn't unpleasant. I looked down and marveled at the beauty of Kamora. Agriculture was how most Kamorans made their living. From this height, the fallow fields below us looked like a patchwork quilt stitched together by the hand of God himself.

  "It's beautiful," I said.

  "Yes," Sora replied, glancing down, "it is. And I intend to keep it that way."

  Sora's words brought me up short. Not so much because of the words she said but the way in which she said them. I knew in that moment that Sora truly did love her country. She wasn't pretending about that for my benefit.

  It didn't take us long to reach Sora's personal sanctuary. It was more modest than I thought it would be. The building was a one level wood structure that was beautifully constructed but rather simple in design.

  Sora landed her mechanical dragon down beside it. After she turned her dragon off, she hopped down and reached up to help me dismount. I took off the helmet she gave me to wear and placed it on the dragon's back for use on the return trip.

  "If there is a return trip," Aurora warned.

  I completely ignored Aurora and focused my attention on Sora.

  Sora took her helmet off and left it on the back of her dragon as well.

  "Come with me, Emma," Sora said. "Let's have our tea and see what it is we can do for one another's countries."

  I followed Sora up the steps to her sanctuary. Her two guards opened the sliding wooden doors to allow us entry. Within the room we entered, there was a woman already sitting inside. She sat in front of a fire pit built into the floor in the center of the room. A large black kettle hung above the flames. The woman was surrounded by a small collection of other items including two small white porcelain bowls, a napkin, a small container with a whisk, and a wooden ladle. Arisu immediately walked over to the woman and sat down beside her.

  Sora walked up to a small sitting area on a raised platform by a wall of glass, which looked out onto a rather strange garden. Within the garden was a large area made entirely of pure, white sand with an intricate design flowing across its surface. Large rocks were positioned strategically within the area and very little vegetation was present.

  As Sora walked over to the far side of the small, low to the floor table on the platform, I stood on the other side of it waiting to see what was expected of me next.

  With her back to me, Sora said over her shoulder, "Please sit down, Emma. I just need to change."

  "Oh, is she going t
o change into someone nice?" Aurora asked sarcastically.

  I sat down on the small pillow by the table. Both Aurora and I soon learned what she meant. Sora’s two guards approached her and began to undress their queen out of her riding outfit.

  "Is she supposed to be doing that in front of us?" Aurora asked, sounding as shocked as I felt.

  "Maybe nudity isn't considered a private matter in this country," I replied. "Either that or she's trying to throw me off guard with the display."

  "I would vote for the latter knowing her," Aurora said.

  I didn't flinch. I didn't let it show that it bothered me in the slightest because if there was one thing I would not do is give Sora the satisfaction of thinking she was embarrassing me.

  After her leather corset was removed, I saw that Sora had a large tattoo on her back. It was of a red dragon. Its shape was serpentine, much like her mechanical one and seemed to reach from the top of her left shoulder past the waistline of her pants. Once her pants were removed, I could see that its body wrapped around her at the waist and continued down to her right ankle.

  "That's a beautiful tattoo," I commented, meaning the words but also making sure Sora understood her exhibition wasn't rattling me.

  Sora looked over her left shoulder at me with a raised eyebrow. Apparently, she thought I would have looked away by now out of propriety. I saw her smile and a look of at least a small amount of respect entered her eyes.

  "Thank you," she said. "I had it done not too long ago."

  "Why do you seem so fascinated with dragons?" I asked.

  One of Sora's guards opened a wardrobe on the far side of the room and brought back a lovely, royal purple kimono embroidered with gold dragons. While her guards were helping her slip into it, Sora said, "They've always fascinated me. As a child living here in the mountains, I could sometimes see them flying in the sky on clear days."

  "Their island is that close?"

  "No, not really," she answered, turning around to face me while one of her guards brushed out her long black hair. "But, I guess even dragons like to travel away from home on occasion."

  "We had no idea there was a host of them living on the other side of the Iron Wall from us."

  "Then you need better spies, Emma," Sora said almost like a chastisement.

  "The ones we sent over were killed."

  "Like I said," Sora sat down across the table from me looking at me meaningfully, "you need better spies."

  Sora looked over at the woman sitting by the fire pit and nodded her head. This set the woman into motion, and she began preparing our tea. Her actions were very precise as she set to work. It was a beautiful display of controlled movements.

  "Now," Sora said, drawing my attention back to her, "what I propose in exchange for our help in your war is this. We will give you the troops you need, but we want a quarter of your reclaimed land and a marriage between my son and your daughter on her eighteenth birthday. However, all of this is contingent on you gaining an alliance with the dragons. If you can't get their help, then I do not intend to send my men to your country just to be butchered by the Fae queen's dragon corp. I think you've seen quite enough of that with your own men."

  "There's no way you're getting an inch of Vankaran soil," I told her, remembering what Dracen said about her asking for the moon on her first offer. I also remembered what Fallon told me about this marriage agreement. It wasn't set in stone, just a tool to be used to get what we needed. "I will agree to the marriage and a handsome monetary sum to compensate for your assistance in this matter."

  Sora sat silently for a moment. I had the feeling she was trying to judge whether she could get anything else out of me during this negotiation.

  "Also," Sora said, drawing the word out, "once you have a deal set with the dragons, I want you to help me make one with them as well."

  "Absolutely not!" Aurora shouted, forcing me to close my eyes for a moment from the pain her shout caused inside my head. I already had a headache, and her constant yelling wasn't helping matters.

  "I'm sorry, Sarah," Aurora said in a whisper. "Have I caused your headache?"

  "Humans get them from time to time," I told her. "But if you could keep from shouting inside my head, I would wholeheartedly appreciate it, Aurora."

  "I will try, Sarah," Aurora promised. "But this woman is asking for something you cannot promise."

  "Why did your attempt fail? And how were you even able to speak with them in the first place?" I asked Sora, not making any promises and trying to learn what the Kamoran queen did wrong during her visit to the dragons so that I wouldn't make the same mistake.

  Sora averted her gaze away from me and looked out the glass wall to her sand garden.

  "I went there and spoke to one of them. I wasn’t sure if the dragon understood what I was saying until…," she trialed off , like the memory of her visit still haunted her, and she didn’t want to speak of it any more than she had to. “Just be prepared to meet your true self when you’re with them."

  I felt my head tilt of its own accord.

  "What do you mean exactly?"

  Sora slowly returned her gaze back to me, and I could see fear in the irises of her eyes.

  "They will make you face the worst memories you have about yourself. If you come out of the experience whole, they might ally with you. If you do not, they won't. It's that simple."

  "And did you attempt to pass their test?"

  Sora returned her gaze back out the window.

  "I wasn't strong enough," she said, an admission which seemed to pain her to make. "And that's why they didn't accept my offer for an alliance. But, I can't imagine you have memories anywhere close to mine. I'm sure your life has been filled with parties, beautiful dresses, and handsome suitors. King Leopold was a protective father, from what I've been told. You should have a far easier time of forming an alliance with them than I did. You also have the added benefit of already being bonded with one of their kind. Everything is in your favor, Emma. There's no reason for you not to succeed."

  "Well, at least she's that smart," Aurora said.

  "I will ask on your behalf," I told Sora. "But in the end, if the dragons don't want you as their ally, there's really nothing I can do about that."

  Sora sighed and nodded, knowing I was right.

  "I suppose that will have to do," Sora said. "You have the might of the Kamoran army at your service then, Queen Emma. I hope you use them wisely."

  "There's one more thing," I said. "My fleet needs the supplies that were promised to repair their ships. Why has that been delayed?"

  "Well, I couldn't very well have an entire armada of Vankaran ships anchored in my harbor in fighting condition, now could I? A deal between us needed to be settled on first. Your men will get what they need when I return to the palace. You have my word."

  I returned my attention to the woman who was preparing our tea. She was pouring steaming water from the black kettle in the fire pit into one of the white bowls which now had what looked like ground green tea leaves inside it. After dispensing the water into the bowl, she used the small whisk at her side to stir the mixture. She repeated this process with the second bowl. It took quite a while for her to finish the ceremony of tea making. Afterwards, Arisu brought the bowls of tea to us.

  Sora lifted her bowl and held it out slightly as if she was making a toast.

  "To the alliance between Kamora and Vankara," she said. "May it last for a thousand years."

  I held my bowl out as well and added, "Hopefully more."

  Sora smiled which took me by surprise because it was a genuine one this time.

  After we drank our tea, Sora said, "One of my guards will take you back to the palace. I'm going to stay here for a while to work on a small project of mine."

  "Some dark magic project, most likely," Aurora whispered in my head, knowing my headache had grown exponentially worse over the course of the visit.

  I stood from the table.

  "Thank you. I would ap
preciate a return to the palace now. My head is hurting for some reason."

  "It could be the thin air up here," Sora said. "Some people with weak constitutions have a hard time with it."

  "I'm perfectly healthy," I told her.

  "Of course you are," Sora said. "And perfectly pregnant. Mind me asking if your Queen's Marshal is the father?"

  I wasn't sure how Sora knew I was pregnant but didn't feel it was worth arguing about.

  "No, he isn't the father. Why would you assume such a thing?"

  "Well, I did see you and him exit your bedchamber in the airship when you first arrived. And I was told there was an almost kiss in one of the palace gardens earlier. It wasn't hard to put two and two together, Emma. But, if he isn't the father, who is?"

  "That's really none of your concern," I told her, remembering what Fallon said earlier about perception being everything. It made me wonder who else Sora would tell my secret to. Not that I cared about my reputation. I had more important matters to worry about than a stain on my virtue. I just hoped word didn't somehow spread to the ears of one Aleksander Chromis.

  "You're absolutely right," Sora agreed, standing to her own feet. "It's none of my business."

  One of Sora's guards walked up to me.

  "Hana will escort you back to the palace," Sora said, looking meaningfully at her guard. "We have a celebration planned for this evening to wish you luck on your journey to the dragon isles and to celebrate the alliance between our two nations."

  "Then I would appreciate going back to the palace now to prepare for it," I told her.

  Sora nodded to her guard. "Escort Queen Emma to the palace safely, Hana. Then come back here so you can help me with what we discussed earlier."

  Hana bowed to her queen and looked to me.

  "Are you ready, Queen Emma?" Hana asked me.

  I nodded my head slowly because even that small motion seemed to double the ache inside my head.

  "I will see you tonight," Sora said to me, right before turning away and walking down the only hallway leading out of the room into the rest of the structure. Arisu and the other guard followed her.

  Hana and I walked out to the mechanical dragon she rode. After she helped me onto the back of her dragon, she retrieved my helmet from where I left it on Sora's mount. While she was doing that, I noticed black smoke coming from somewhere behind the house.