The adamantine palace

by Stephen Deas

  He smiled. Instead, in a few days he'd be joining the search for it, even though he was absolutely sure that the dragon was safely locked away in some distant eyrie. Shezira was putting on a very good show. She'd kept it up for two months, and all sorts of little rumours leaked from her camp.

  Another thought crossed his mind. Maybe it was all a ruse, just not the ruse he thought it was. She had some two dozen dragons and a hundred riders in the search, and all of them so very, very close to the Adamantine Palace. A lot closer than anyone else.

  Yes, he thought. Definitely worth a look, and he let his mind wander over the possibilities as Wraith wing powered through the air. They flew over miles of rolling hills covered in trees, and then the ground fell away, faster and steeper, diving down into the Fury River gorge, which effectively cut the realms in two. To the south Queen Zafir ruled. To the north, the speaker. Jehal thought about that too, as he guided Wraith wing down into the gorge and shot along the roaring river. He skimmed the line between the two as closely as he could, while Wraithwing dipped his tail into the waters and threw up a cloud of spray behind them.

  He flew along the gorge for an hour and then climbed out again, veering north across the dullness of the Hungry Mountain Plain. He made Wraithwing fly high. No point in scaring all the peasants. For a while he closed his eyes and dozed, but as the Purple Spur mountains slowly grew out of the haze and he could see the first glitter of the Adamantine Palace, he saw that there were other dragons in the air. Hunting dragons, by the look of them, half a dozen or so. At first Jehal wondered what they were doing there. Then he saw that Hyram had his legions out.

  Perfecting them so he can show them off before he stands down as speaker. Jehal nudged Wraithwing into a tight spiral, diving straight through the other dragons towards the men on the ground. As he fell towards them, each legion bunched together, presenting a seamless wall of gleaming shields towards him. The shields were made of dragonscale, large enough to hide a man, and if he'd ordered Wraithwing to flamestrike, the fire would have stopped at the shield wall. As he passed over the heads of the soldiers, the shields came down and a hedgehog of scorpions popped up in their place. Each could fire a bolt the size of a javelin with enough force to punch through a dragon's scales, but it wasn't the dragon they'd be aimed at; it was the rider.

  When he was past them, Jehal climbed again and had Wraithwing tip his wings to salute them. Best to be nice. One day they're going to be mine.

  He landed at the Adamantine Eyrie, almost expecting to see Speaker Hyram waiting for him with a posse of guards, ready to drag him straight off to the dungeons. Not that the old goat would dare such a thing without any proof. Not when Jehal was married to the next speaker's daughter. Ah, Lystra, all these little uses I have for you. A pity I'll have to be rid of you in the end.

  He frowned. Thoughts like that left him feeling strangely uncomfortable, so he set them aside and concentrated on what was around him. Instead of the almost-expected armed escort, the eyrie was almost deserted. A couple of hunting dragons were ripping into a pile of freshly slaughtered cattle. A few Scales were going about their duties; one of them ran to help him dismount and care for Wraithwing. There were soldiers too, but not very many, and he supposed that he'd already passed most of the Adamantine Guard out on the plains. He'd brought a dozen riders and half as many dragons of his own in case he needed them; now he felt almost foolishly overdressed. All in all, he had the distinct impression that the eyrie-master, when he came running out of his little tower, hadn't even known he was coming.

  'Prince Jehal!'

  'Copas.' Jehal smiled. The man looked horrified, taken completely by surprise. 'Did the speaker not warn you of my arrival?'

  'Ah, of course, Your Highness. We were expecting you tomorrow.' Lies. Jehal could see straight through them. Strange. Why would Hyram assume I would ignore his summons? Does he think I'm scared of him?

  Well if he did, he was in for a shocker of a day tomorrow. Jehal widened his smile and let out a few more teeth. 'I can't help but wonder why, since it always has been and always will be a three-day flight from Furymouth, and when the speaker summoned me, his words were quite terse and direct. "Immediately" I believe was his demand.' I shouldn't blame him. Most of the men here belong to the order, not to Hyram. One day he's going to be mine too.

  'Your Highness, I am at a loss. Do you intend to proceed directly to the palace? I can arrange accommodation here, if you would prefer.'

  'In case no one at the palace is expecting me either?' Jehal cocked his head. 'No, thank you, Copas. It's hardly your fault if the speaker's staff failed to warn you. I'm sure they can't have made the same mistake twice. However, my riders will stay here, if you would so oblige me.' If Hyram does plan me any ill, they'll do me no good in the palace.

  He watched as various Scales unloaded his baggage into a pair of carts. For a few minutes he wondered whether he was going to have to ride perched on the back of one of them. Eventually Copas brought up one of his own horses. He hung his head.

  'I'm sorry, Your Highness. We have disgraced ourselves.'

  'Someone has. I'm sure it's not your fault.'

  Copas had at least managed to send a rider ahead so that the palace gates were open and the servants and the guards could pretend they hadn't been taken entirely by surprise. But everything took far longer than it should, and by the time he was finally alone, he had to admit that whatever mad game Hyram was playing, it was starting to work. What was it that Hyram thought would keep him away? What is it that I don't know?

  It turned out to be two things. The first he discovered when he unpacked his precious potions and found all but one of them were missing. The second became clear when Adamantine Guard smashed their way into his room in the middle of the night.

  32

  The Alchemist and the Dragon

  Kailin was terrified. He had no idea what he should do or say. In front of him were dragon-knights from Queen Shezira's eyrie. He didn't know them by name, but some of the faces were familiar. And the alchemist, of course. He knew Master Huros. They'd all want him to bring Snow back home, and a Scales always obeyed. That was his life. Look after the dragons and do as he was told. Except that behind him was a dragon who didn't want to go home. He walked through the shallow rushing water of the river as though lead weights were shackled to his feet.

  'That's far enough!' The dragon-knight standing next to Master Huros held up a hand. Kailin stopped. They were still a good twenty feet apart. The other riders were spreading out, edging towards the trees.

  Snow spoke in his head. Make them understand that I will not come back. Not yet. They should cease their pursuit of us.

  Kailin winced. I don't know how. They won't listen.

  'Um, what is your name, Scales?' shouted Master Huros.

  Kailin looked at his feet, too used to averting his eyes from his masters. 'Kailin,' he said.

  'Scales Kailin. We are here to take you home. You and your dragon.'

  'Queen Shezira will congratulate you herself,' called the knight. 'Her dragon is still intact and has not been lost. She will be greatly pleased. There may be a reward.'

  He didn't know what to say. He shook his head. He couldn't force the words out of his mouth. As soon as he did, they'd kill him. They'd take him back to Outwatch and string him up for all the other Scales to see, and then they'd very slowly execute him.

  This is what happens to a Scales who does not obey.

  Tell them no!

  He was shaking. He glanced up at the dragon-knight and at Master Huros, pleading with his eyes. 'I can't. I don't know how to. What if… Snow doesn't want to-'

  'This is not a request, Scales,' shouted the knight. 'This is an order!'

  Master Huros stepped forward. He walked over to Kailin and put a hand on his shoulder. 'Um, listen to me, Scales. Whatever has happened out here, it, er, it doesn't matter. If you've ridden the dragon, that doesn't matter. Whatever petty crimes you may have committed, they can be forgiven. The ru
les that we live by do not extend to circumstances such as these. You've done your duty and done it well. The dragon is intact but, um, she must come back to an eyrie at once.'

  Kailin still couldn't meet the alchemist's eyes. 'I can't. She won't.'

  Tell them no! Or I will.

  'Scales, you do not understand. There are, er, things you don't know. She must come back to an eyrie. If she doesn't, she will change. You might even have noticed little differences in her behaviour already. We have to take her back.'

  Change? He could feel Snow's curiosity grow.

  'I should not even have told you this much, Scales. These are the secrets of our order, but you must believe me, and so I tell you that without the elixirs I and the other alchemists at the eyrie will prepare for her, she… she will change. She will become a wild thing. She'll be dangerous, not just to you but to everyone.'

  What does he mean? Ask him what he means!

  He felt the edge in Snow's thoughts, the suspicion, the horror, the incipient fury. He felt it in himself. 'No! Stop!' He wasn't sure whether he meant it for Master Huros or for Snow.

  The alchemist suddenly looked very surprised. 'Yes,' he said. 'Yes, that's right. More intelligent. More independent. How did you know?'

  Kailin went rigid. 'Master, Master Huros, please-'

  Leave him be!

  'How did you know this, Scales?' The alchemist's voice had dropped to a whisper and he was glancing back at the knights. 'Yes. They remember things. That's exactly what happens, and that cannot be, cannot be allowed to be! But, but you shouldn't know this. How do you know this?'

  Something in the air began to change. The anger inside his head was growing, blooming, pouring into him. 'Master Huros! She's in your head! She's reading your mind! She knows!'

  He caught a glimpse of abject horror in the alchemist's eyes, and then Snow moved so fast that Kailin didn't even see it happen. One moment the alchemist was there in front of him, the next he had shot up into the air, the tip of Snow's tail wrapped around him. He dangled helpless in front of Snow's face – shrieking, screaming, pleading – while everyone else froze and watched. Stray thoughts flickered through Kailin's mind, thoughts that weren't his and were filled with such a frenzied rage that he fell to his knees in the water, clutching his head. Preparations? Memories? How? How long? How long have you done this? HOW LONG?

  He didn't see the moment when Snow squeezed the knot in her tail and crushed the life out of the alchemist, almost splitting him in two. He saw the body, though, flung through the air like a stone from a catapult, straight into one of the knights, so hard that the force of it lifted him off the ground and both sprawled like broken rag dolls. He felt the sky go dark as Snow leapt straight over his head. She landed, shaking the ground where the knight had been, and snapped up another in her claws. The man screamed as she crushed him, and Kailin heard the metal plates of his armour bend and break. The other knights were bolting for the cover of the trees. Snow's tail whipped around again, casually flinging a rock the size of half a man. It caught another rider, smashing him into a tree. He didn't get up.

  Then came the fire. She swept her head from side to side, sweeping the edge of the forest with torrents of flame. The knights, if they were quick enough, would cower behind their dragonscale shields and the heat would pass them by.

  But if they were crouched behind their shields, they weren't running. Snow sprang out of the river and up the bank to the forest. The fire came again, and this time her tail cracked into the trees. She plucked out one knight, cartwheeling him a hundred feet into the air, and then another, this one smashed head first into the stones of the river bed. Kailin whimpered and covered his face. He couldn't bring himself to watch. He heard men scream, branches crack, tree trunks bend and break.

  Sprinting footsteps splashed through the water towards him. He heard a voice: 'What are you doing? Are you mad?'

  Arms roughly pulled him up and gripped him tight. Raw steel touched his throat.

  'You tell that dragon to fucking stop, right?'

  Another voice: 'Kemir! Get away from him, you idiot.'

  Kailin screwed up his face. 'I can't.' I can't stop her. She's not listening to me.

  'Kemir! It's gone berserk! You can't stop it!'

  'He's right.' Snow. Stop! Help me!

  The man with the knife at his throat tensed as if preparing to make his killing cut. 'Well then, you're coming with us.' He started to drag Kailin out of the river. 'If it's going to burn us, it's going to burn you too, you bastard.'

  The man was doomed. They were all doomed. Kailin knew it as soon as they started to move. He could feel Snow had sensed his plea. She wasn't done with the other knights yet, but as soon as she was…

  'Shit!'

  They had almost made it when Snow exploded out of the inferno on the other side of the river, showering ash and embers and burning branches all around them. The fire flashed again, and the other man shrieked.

  'Sollos!' Kailin's captor stumbled and the two of them went down together on the soggy grass. The man didn't let go, but rolled so that he was lying on his back with Kailin on top of him, both of them staring up at Snow, who glared back down at them. Her teeth were bloody, her eyes blazed, and she had someone in her tail again. Through the haze of smoke and gibbering terror, Kailin thought he recognised one of Knight-Marshal Nastria's sell-swords.

  'Let him go!' roared the man with the knife. 'Let him go or I'll kill your rider.'

  Where are the alchemists? The thought hit Kailin like a hammer. Where are they? Burn them! I will burn them all!

  Don't know! Don't know! Inside, Kailin curled up into a little ball and just waited to die.

  Where are the others?Where are they?

  'I know where they are!' shouted the man with the knife. 'I know how to find them.'

  The fire in Snow's eyes died. She snarled and dangled the man held in her tail close. Kailin could see him clearly now, and he was one of the knight-marshal's sell-swords. Sollos. He couldn't remember the name of the other one.

  Tell me!

  Kailin blinked. High up in the sky he thought he could see a dark speck or two moving against the clouds.

  33

  Jehal's Cure

  There were seven or eight of them, all wearing veils to hide their faces. They dragged him out of bed and away through the palace. He shouted and screamed but they ignored him. When he struggled, one of them hit him hard enough to split his lip and knock loose a tooth. They took him out into the courtyard, across to the Glass Cathedral and to a hidden staircase behind the altar. Far underground, they hauled him through dim passageways murky with smoke and into a gloomy cavern of a room. A scattering of torches shed enough light for him to see the torture machines lining the walls. Hyram was sitting in the middle of the chamber, a small brazier glowing beside him.

  'Are you mad, old man?' shouted Jehal. 'Have you completely lost your mind?'

  Hyram didn't say anything, only watching as the veiled guardsmen chained Jehal to a wheel.

  'No one will stand for this – Narghon, Silvallan, Zafir, even Queen Shezira and King Valgar. Even the Syuss will rise out of the sand to shake their fists at you.'

  Hyram simply watched, trembling slightly. The veiled guardsmen finished their work and slipped away into the shadows. Jehal and Hyram were alone.

  'Y-You missed someone.'

  'Yes, even the King of the Crags might swoop from his lofty throne if he ever finds out that you've imprisoned a dragon-prince.'

  Y-You know, I simply d-didn't think you'd come.' Hyram rose painfully to his feet and snapped his fingers. 'I-I am not imprisoning you, Jehal. I'm t-torturing you. When I'm done, you can g-go.' Another pair of veiled men emerged from the shadows in the corners of the room. 'I have h-had letters from Queen Zafir. She says that you and Queen Aliphera were lovers.' Jehal's heart skipped a beat. Letters from Zafir? Ancestors! What's she done?

  Hyram was pacing up and down. The two men with veils were standing patiently, waiting. '
Z-Zafir blames you. She thinks that her m-mother killed herself because you were about to marry s-someone else. Were you lovers?'

  Jehal spat at him. 'Does your interest in my bed stem from the emptiness of your own, old man?'

  'Were you 1-lovers, Jehal?'

  'None of your concern, Speaker, but yes, I fucked her every way you can think of. She couldn't get enough of it.' Even in the gloom he could see Hyram's face tighten. The speaker gave a little nod, and the two torturers set to work. One pulled his head back so he couldn't see what the other was doing. He could feel it, though, the waves of agony they sent through him.

  'No!' he shrieked. 'No, we weren't lovers!'

  Hyram gave another nod, and the torturers let go and stepped away. Jehal hung his head, slowly catching his breath as the pain faded away. Sweat dripped down his face. He didn't even know what the second torturer had done. Have they marked me? Scarred me? If they have, I will return the favour a thousand times.