by Debra Dunbar
Closing my eyes, I sent my energy into the lemon tree, repairing bark and photoreceptors, regrowing leaves and limbs. I felt it come alive under my hands, vibrant and lush.
The gardener gasped. “You’re one of those elves, aren’t you? But where are your pointy ears?”
“Yes, I’m an elf,” I replied, figuring it wouldn’t be wise to have it all over northern Italy that I was a half-elf. Someday I’d feel safe in making that widely known, but for now I still worried the elves might find a way to hunt me down and kill me if they knew.
“Are you here to restore the gardens?” He looked down at his trimmers, no doubt wondering if he should just go grab a cup of coffee and come back later.
“It’ll take more than me to do that, but I hope to be able to repair the most critically damaged areas. You all can replant the annuals and the olive grove, but things like centuries-old azaleas and the more rare plants need my help.”
He smiled. “Thank you. I know the Sommarivas will be so grateful.”
I was counting on that. But as I made my way through the gardens I didn’t see any of my hosts. I conserved my energy, concentrating on the rare plants and trees as I’d told the gardener. By the time I reached the valley with the ferns, I was already beginning to feel exhausted. There was so much. And if this made me want to cry, I could imagine how Daniela and her father must feel.
Yes, Bianca had been hurt, but it was a minor injury. It wouldn’t even scar. And she’d been trespassing in a place where she knew there were risks. As angry as I was at Daniela for losing her temper, none of that justified this horrible attack.
I bypassed the ferns for the moment and made my way to the gazebo overlook, running my hand along the charred wooden railing. I could see clear across the lake to the dark shapes with wings on the snow-capped mountains. They were still there. Would they attack again at night? I suddenly realized that although I might use my ability to heal these plants to get the Sommarivas to back off and declare a truce, none of that would matter if the Montenegros continued to attack.
Too bad they didn’t have a bunch of gardens for me to heal in return for a favor.
But I’d need to worry about them later. For now, my priority was to get Daniela and her family on my side, and I had an idea where she might be found.
I picked my way back down the path through the tall azaleas, which had thankfully suffered minimal damage in the raid. And there, in the damp tiny grotto, sitting on the wet stone was Daniela.
“I can already feel what you’ve done,” she said, her voice numb. “Thank you. Every little bit helps. Thank you.”
I hovered, not really wanting to step in and have icy water drip on my head, but not wanting to loom over her in the doorway like this. “Come out and prioritize for me. I won’t be able to heal everything today, but I can come back each day I’m in Italy and do a little more.”
She stood up, and walked out into the sunshine, shaking the water from her clothes and hair. “I know we should try to hire a group of elves to come in, but Father would never allow strangers here, even if they were coming to help restore his treasure. He likes you.” She smiled, and this time it reached her eyes. “He really likes you. So anything you can do while you’re here in Lake Como will be appreciated.”
“There will be a price,” I warned her. It was a bit of a bluff. I’d already healed several trees and shrubs. It was agonizing for me to walk by some of these plants and not help them.
A muscle twitched in her jaw. “What is your price? I have to tell you now that I won’t be able to give you any of our artwork or statuary. Perhaps some clippings off the rare plants, but nothing else. You must understand that it’s physically painful for us to part with our treasure.”
“You won’t retaliate against the Montenegros for this attack,” I told her. “And you will allow Bianca to go to and from her villa and stay there without any harassment from you or your family.”
She spun about to face me. “You’re joking. I’d be willing to allow that girl access to her villa as long as she stays away from Sergio because I feel bad for hurting her, and I know what it’s like to be separated from my treasure, but we cannot let this attack on our home go unavenged.”
“They let the death of Guido Montenegro go,” I told her. “I’m pretty sure they were willing to let that slide, but the injury to Bianca was the tipping point for them.”
She tilted her head, her eyebrows coming together. “What do you mean?”
“Coupled with Guido’s murder, you harmed a child of theirs. If she’d been an adult trespassing, then they might have been willing to overlook that, but she’s only eighteen.”
“That I truly regret, but I mean Guido’s death. What do you mean we murdered him? He died of natural causes. I know we’re dragons, but we’ve been interbreeding with humans for nearly a thousand years. We’ve inherited some of their frailties, and with each generation our lifespan grows shorter. He was over one hundred. He had never found his mate. And he smoked. I wasn’t particularly surprised when I heard he died.”
Was she lying? I got the feeling that she was earnest in her belief that Guido had died of a heart attack or a stroke or something. But if Daniela hadn’t killed Guido, that didn’t mean one of her family hadn’t.
“The Montenegros are convinced he was killed. Perhaps a member of your family murdered him and you didn’t know about it?”
Her laugh was short and bitter. “Who? Sergio? Why? He would hardly be able to kill a mature dragon. Even if he had gotten lucky, he would be covered with scars from the battle. My father wouldn’t leave his treasure to kill a mere trespasser unless Guido had attacked him first. And the rest? Gianna is very like her side of the family. They want peace. They want to enjoy life with their human mates, sleep among their treasures, fly across the lake and through the mountains in the dark of the night. Yes, Guido Montenegro’s presence was like a splinter in our thumbs. We were constantly aware of his presence when he was at the villa, and we were always vigilant in case he were to attack or attempt to steal what is ours. But in spite of his trespass, we would not have struck the first blow.”
I believed her. I know it was absolutely weird, but I believed her.
If they hadn’t killed Guido Montenegro, then who had?
“Are you sure?” I asked. “Sometimes murders are committed by the people you’d least expect. Are mate-bonds always reciprocated? Maybe one of your cousins fell in love with the dragon across the lake, and when he spurned her, she killed him out of shame. Or maybe there was a member of your family who had secretly bonded with the villa as their treasure and couldn’t stand the thought of another dragon, especially one from a rival family, taking possession of what they thought of as their own.”
She bit her lip. “I just can’t see it. Most of my cousins are very non-aggressive. You’d need to walk into their house and try to rip the treasure from their hands before they would even think of shifting to their dragon form, let alone trying to burn you to ash. The only ones who feel the dragon so strongly are my father and I. I’m not even sure Sergio is as possessive as we are.” Her eyes grew soft and a smile curved her lips. “He is so like his father. Gentle. Kind. Loving. Stubborn. The only thing Nico was ever possessive about was me. From the moment we met, he was determined to make me his own. It amused me to see a human so bold and forward—amused and flattered me. He sent me flowers and little gifts. He sang to me. He would surprise me with special trips and weekends that were meticulously planned and thought out. His devotion won my heart and within weeks my dragon was determined to make him mine. I’d hoped that we would have decades together. I’d hoped for possibly the gift of another child. But one rainy night, his car…”
I felt her pain. It was like a knife twisting in my stomach. If that had been Irix, I don’t know how I would have gone on. But she had Sergio, her greatest treasure, the one reminder she had of the man, the mate, she’d loved.
“Do it for Sergio,” I urged her. “Convince your family
to hold back because your son loves the heir of their family fortune. These children are innocent in all of this. They don’t care about a thousand years of feuding, or old hostilities. All they care about is that they love one another. Just as Sergio is the most important treasure you have, Bianca is his most important treasure. Don’t retaliate and force him to choose.”
I could tell she was undecided, on the edge of saying either yes or no.
“Let me think of this and discuss with Father. In the meantime, know that I will give you my assurance that the Montenegro girl can have free access to her villa—the one she inherited from her Uncle Guido. If she ventures outside the boundaries of what the humans would consider her property, toward our section of the lake, then I will do all I can to chase her away, which might involve harming her physically. But she is free to access her treasure.”
That was a start. And if Bianca could stay at the villa, then Sergio would, no doubt, find a way to visit her there. Now, if only I could manage to discover a way to keep the two families from continuing, or escalating, this war between them, I’d be happy.
I nodded and followed Daniela as she led me down the winding paths of the garden to the redwoods. There at the base of the Dawn Redwood, the Metasequoia, was Mr. Sommariva.
He looked ancient. His skin was waxen and drawn so tight against the bones of his skull that he seemed to be mummified. He turned to me, his eyes sunken and hollow. There was no hint of that flirtatious man who’d felt me up a few days ago.
“My daughter says that you have magic to grow plants. Are you an elf? Can you help me?” He choked on a sob and reached out a hand to touch the charcoaled bark of the tree. “See what they’ve done. See what they did to my treasure. This tree…the burns to this tree nearly destroyed me. It’s one of the most precious things in my gardens.”
I reached out a hand to touch the bark, my fingers next to his. The pain of this tree, the damage…it was almost to the point of being beyond my abilities to heal. How could someone do this to a tree that had been and still was so close to extinction?
“Papa, Amber has agreed to help restore your treasure to the best of her abilities. I know you’ve felt what she’s done in the citrus grove as well as the other areas. She might not be able to heal everything, but she can bring many of our beloved trees and shrubs back to their glory. In return, she has asked that we allow the Montenegro girl to reside in her villa without harassment, and that we not retaliate against this attack.”
I heard a subsonic grumble that made me quiver, along with a clicking noise. Mr. Montenegro turned his eyes to mine, the pupils elongated like a reptile’s. “I have no grievance against that young girl, no matter what scum she might descend from. But we would appear weak if we let the attack on our home and treasures to go without any action on our part.”
I was relieved that both leaders of the Sommariva clan had agreed to allow Bianca access to her inherited villa, but the other demand of mine was key to ending what would become a war.
“Then where does it stop? The Montenegros believe you killed Guido for his trespass in purchasing a villa in what you consider your territory. They were willing to hold back, but when Daniela attacked Bianca and injured her, they were the ones who felt they’d appear weak if they let it go. If you retaliate, then they will, then you will again. Both of your treasures will be destroyed. Your families will be destroyed. The humans who have lived by your side and kept your secret for centuries will be destroyed. Someone needs to be strong enough to stop this chain of events. I’m hoping that’s you.”
He turned a puzzled glance my way. “Didn’t Guido Montenegro die of natural causes?”
“His family is convinced he was murdered, but they put out the story about natural causes to save face and as a way of letting your family know they weren’t going to act on you in retribution for his death.”
He frowned. “We didn’t kill him. I didn’t kill him, and I didn’t authorize any of my family to do so. In fact, I told everyone to leave him alone. He stayed in his villa most of the time when he was here, and never came near our lands or our treasures. He was a private man who kept to himself when he wasn’t off adventuring in Antarctica or someplace else. And he played a darned good game of backgammon, too.”
“Father!” Daniela gasped. “You socialized with him? You played board games with a Montenegro?”
He waved a hand at her. “I ran into him one day while drinking Bellinis in a little bar in Milan. It was neutral territory. He bought me a grappa. Turns out we had a lot in common, including a love of backgammon.” Mr. Sommariva turned to his daughter. “A thousand years ago our ancestor escaped with his. They were the only black dragons to survive the war. To live in safety among the humans we needed to humble ourselves. We needed to live as humans, to mate with them and have offspring with them, diluting our dragon blood. Our families were not always enemies. And while I want to kill every Montenegro for harming my treasure, I would not have blamed Guido for this had he been alive. And I will not blame that young girl.”
I held my breath, wondering if this tired, elderly dragon would be the key to peace.
“Papa, that young girl seduced Sergio. He has bonded to her.”
The man shrugged. “Then let them go make love and have dragon babies together. It might do us all a world of good. You’re far too protective of him, Daniela. He’s a young man, and if he’s given his heart, then so be it. Besides, if that girl is at all like Guido said she was, she’ll give me some wonderful great-grandchildren. If I live to see them, that is.”
Things were looking better for Sergio and Bianca, but I had a bad feeling that a war between their two families might bring this all crashing down, regardless of how much Sergio’s grandfather might be willing to allow them to be together.
“I will heal this tree,” I announced. “I will restore it to its full glory with no damage at all. And I will come back each day to heal as many of the rare and old-growth plants and trees as possible, but I will only do this if you not only agree to let Bianca reside in her villa in peace, but if you promise not to retaliate against her family for this attack. Those are my terms.”
Mr. Montenegro set his jaw. “We had no part in Guido Montenegro’s death. Their attack on us was warrantless. And I’ve been told the girl’s injuries were minor. She probably won’t even bear a scar from them. We can’t sit passively while those gutter rats destroy our treasures and harm our family.”
“I’ll deal with that,” I told him. “And I’m not telling you that you can’t defend yourselves. If they come here again, go ahead and burn them. But don’t go into their territory to attack them, or steal or harm their treasures. That’s what I’m requesting.”
He stared out across the waters to the mountains where, for now, no dark, winged shapes lurked. “Okay. If you’ll help restore my treasure, I won’t go after them. But only this time. If they attack again, then I will have my revenge.”
That was as good as I was going to get. I’d need to work on the Montenegro side of things, but this was a start. They’d had their own revenge, and I was pretty sure the dragons on the mountains this morning had been a sort of early-warning and defense system.
I was figuring these dragons out. It wasn’t war, this thing between them. It was an exchange of blows. One hit, the other returned with a strike of their own. And so on, back and forth until someone found a way to stop the back-and-forth without losing face. I got the feeling no one in the Sommariva family really wanted to see their rivals dead. They just didn’t want their treasures stolen or their family attacked.
We’d come to an agreement, so I motioned for the elderly man to move back. Then I placed both hands on the tree and sent myself through the bark, into limbs and leaves, and down through the roots. It was badly damaged. Trees are built so that they can usually come back from traumatic injuries such as this. I’d seen ones split into two from a lightning strike eventually recover and put out new growth. The danger was that a tree this damaged was
weak and open to all sorts of parasites and bacteria that would rot and destroy it before it had a chance to recover. Trees grow slowly, where parasites and bacteria are fast. Once they were in, the tree would be fighting a losing battle.
The first thing I did was seal the wounds. Even if I couldn’t completely heal this tree, I could give it a better chance if I made sure it wasn’t open to infection or infestation. That done, I worked to repair the damage, starting at the burned trunk and working outward and upward. It took time. And when I was done, I was ready to take a nap in the grass.
“I don’t think I can do much more than this tree and what I did earlier,” I told Daniela and her father. “I’ve got to head to my seminar now but I’ll be back early tomorrow morning. Just let me know which ones I should concentrate on first.”
“I’ll leave a list of priorities,” Daniela told me. “Thank you. Just healing what you’ve done helps immensely. I feel much better already.”
“I do as well.” Mr. Sommariva reached out and gave me a hug. “Go to your seminar, then rest, or do whatever you need to do to recharge. I promise you that I’ll keep our bargain.”
Chapter 21
Bianca ran to me as soon as I pulled into the courtyard of Abbondio castle. She was pale, her hair parted so it covered where her head injury was. I noticed she had on a long sleeved shirt as well and she was favoring that left shoulder.
“Oh, Amber.” She threw herself into my arms. “Is Sergio okay? Uncle Marcus vowed to kill him and his mother. They took my phone and I’ve had no news.”
I hugged her tight. “I’ve seen Daniela and her father and they’re okay. Sergio wasn’t there during the attacks. I thought maybe you’d know where he was. His mother hasn’t seen him since what happened in Bellagio.”
She pulled away, anxious eyes searching mine. “No! They took my phone away and I’m not allowed to leave.” She bit her lip. “I…I think I might know where he is, but I don’t want to say when someone might overhear us.”
