“How will I teach him to race?” Silver asked. “How will I teach him to fly?”
Nebekker shook her head. “I’ll show you the way back to Jaspaton. You’ll be able to come and go as you please, so long as you never let anyone see you. If our secret is discovered, say good-bye to Hiyyan.”
Nebekker picked up her lantern and began walking. Silver took a step toward the old woman. Hiyyan whimpered. He began to follow Silver.
She stopped. “He just lost his mother. And now I’m supposed to leave him?” She shook her head, thinking about that tight feeling she’d had when she’d thought about her own mother. “No. I’m not going back. In fact…”
Silver looked in the opposite direction, to where the caves met the oasis lagoon. She imagined what would be beyond that: miles upon miles of underground twists and turns. Places where pinpricks of light would cut across stone walls. Places where the dark would be so deep that she’d wonder if she’d fallen asleep. Or worse. A shiver danced down her back.
Silver pressed her lips into a hard line and went to Nebekker’s supplies to begin filling her sack.
“What are you doing?” Nebekker waved her arms and crept back to Silver.
“Brajon, go back to Jaspaton. Return with more supplies for Nebekker. Keep an eye on her. I’ll be back from Calidia as soon as I can.”
Her cousin curled his hand around her wrist and gazed down on her with worried eyes. “Why do you have to go? Come back with me. Hiyyan can take Nebekker to Calidia…”
The thought of separating from Hiyyan made Silver’s head thrum. “I’m going, and you’re not going to talk me out of it.”
Brajon watched his cousin silently for a few beats. “You can’t do this.”
“I have to.” Silver looked at Hiyyan. The water dragon was miserable. She thought of how much she’d miss her own mother when she was gone, and felt the ache that filled Hiyyan’s heart. And then there were Kirja and Nebekker. They needed to be together, and they needed to be well. She couldn’t let Sagittaria race the Aquinder. She had to get to Calidia as fast as she could.
“No,” Brajon said. “I mean you can’t do it like this. Taking Nebekker’s supplies. You’ll need your own.”
As realization dawned on Silver, her mouth fell open.
“You’re going to help me?”
“It’s probably the stupidest thing I’ve ever done, but—”
Silver threw her arms around her cousin. “A dash to Jaspaton for supplies, then right back here?”
Brajon nodded.
“As soon as I drop you back home, I’m filling the opening to the caves with stones,” Nebekker grumbled as she began walking in the direction of Jaspaton again.
FIFTEEN
To exit the underground river system, Silver had to haul herself up a smooth granite slide with sporadic handholds, then slip through a narrow opening beneath a massive boulder near Herd Valley. She whacked her head on the boulder and sat for a moment, pressing her palm to the rapidly growing bump on her forehead.
Brajon snorted. “And you’re supposed to be rescuing a dragon?”
“Oh, go stuff sand in your mouth,” Silver said to him. “You get food from the kitchens. I’ll get lanterns and”—she swallowed a hard lump in her throat—“money.”
Brajon gave her a sidelong glance but didn’t ask any questions.
“We’ll meet back here when the foxes first appear.”
About an hour after full sunset. That was when the little desert creatures popped out of their burrows and began searching for food.
The cousins trudged all the way to Jaspaton proper. Silver pulled her scarves across her face and kept to the deepening shadows. Normally, her father’s workshop would be empty in the evening. But perhaps he would be up, working feverishly on the queen’s orders.
She picked her way down the stairs and paused at the workshop door. Voices made her sink back into the shadows.
“Of course he’s upset. Losing his daughter…” The voice belonged to Phila. Silver’s chest warmed. Her father missed her, perhaps was even out looking for her. Could she really leave Jaspaton without saying good-bye?
But then Phila went on: “It’s inconvenient. We have so much work to do, and that selfish brat went running off. I’d be furious, too…”
Silver went cold again. All her father cared about was his precious masterpiece. But it didn’t sound like he was in his workshop now. The voices came closer. Silver slithered around the corner. She heard Phila and another ele-jeweler leave the building, locking the door behind them. She peeked around and glared at their retreating backs, then tiptoed to the window at the back of the workshop—the one she knew had a wonky lock—and pounded her flat hand on the frame once, then twice, until the latch dropped. She opened the window and slipped inside. The workshop was empty.
Silver collected two small lanterns and enough oil-soaked wick to last a week. She rifled through the general jewelry-making supplies, grabbing anything that might be useful. A couple of files with pointed tips. A pair of magnifiers. A blanket and cloak draped over one of the chairs.
There was a sheaf of parchment splattered with ink. Designs for royal masterpieces were sketched all over it. Silver paused, chewing on her lip. Maybe her father cared only about his masterpiece, but her mother might feel differently.
Silver tore a piece of the parchment and scribbled a note on it. She began to leave it on the table but changed her mind. Instead, she folded the note, wrote her mother’s name across the center, and tucked it in her pocket.
Then her gaze fell over the locked drawers filled with raw materials. Precious metals. Gemstones. One key was with her father at all times.
But she also knew where there was a copy of the key.
With her heart racing, Silver lifted a corner of one of the rugs. There it was: a tiny, silver key. Her fingers shook as she took it and fitted it in the drawers, one by one. From each drawer, she took a few small things: an unmarked disc of gold, a finished ring, two pairs of earrings. Her hands reached for the plain wooden box that held the most perfect gemstones Rami Batal had ever collected. They were reserved for the queen, but Silver opened the lid and let her fingers hover over the jewels. Blood pounded in her ears. What if she stomped on his dreams the way he had stomped on hers?
“No.” She thumped the box shut and pushed it away quickly, before she could be tempted again.
Silver squeezed her eyes shut. She was a thief. “I’ll pay you back someday,” she said into the empty workshop.
She dashed outside and ran as fast as she could to the yarnsladies’ tents, empty now that the royals had left, where she left the note on her mother’s favorite cushion. Never once looking back over her shoulder, Silver sprinted out of Jaspaton and to the boulder near Herd Valley, slipping underground like a raindrop disappearing into sand.
* * *
SILVER WASTED NO words when Brajon appeared.
“Let’s go.”
They ran. There were tunnels that branched off here and there, but Silver didn’t wonder where they went. Her focus was on getting to Hiyyan. The water dragon met her partway to the lagoon cave. In one moment, Silver was running, and in the next, she was on her back, warm wetness across her face, her entire body covered with Hiyyan’s weight.
“Hiyyan! Stop it.” Silver laughed.
“Gross,” Brajon muttered, still jogging. “Hurry up, you two.”
Hiyyan took to the river, the current carrying him along. Silver sped up.
When they reached Nebekker’s camp, the old woman heaved a sigh. “I’d hoped you wouldn’t come back. But have it your way.” She pulled a garment from the bag at her side and held it up. “Come here, girl. Let’s see if it fits.”
“Oh!” Silver reached out to touch the silvery threads.
Nebekker had been working on a new riding suit. Every single minuscule scale was perfectly woven, impossibly thin, and in perfect proportion to the others. They were connected, not with clumsy bits of wool, like in the suit Sil
ver had made, but with the silkiest threads, each part matched so that there were no holes, stubby parts, or extra edges popping out here and there. It was glistening, and it was magnificent.
And then Silver realized what the suit was made of.
“This is Kirja’s fur,” she whispered.
“That ridiculous dragon sheds like crazy,” Nebekker said. “Try it on. You’re growing at practically the rate of Hiyyan, so it might be too small.”
Brajon turned around, and Silver stepped into the suit. It wasn’t too small. It fit her exact measurements, running just a touch long in the arms and legs, flowing over her skin like water. She ran her hands over the material. It was light but strong, and just as warm as her old suit. The scale pattern was slick but dense. It would provide protection against water while minimizing wind resistance. And the color meant people would have to look twice to see a human on the back of an Aquinder.
She wondered what Sagittaria might say if she saw her now.
“It’s perfect,” Silver said. “Thank you.”
She reached to hug Nebekker, but the old woman pressed her hand to her chest, let out a sound of dismay, and doubled over.
“You’re getting worse,” Silver said. “Brajon, help me.” She was struggling to hold Nebekker upright.
“I’ll be fine,” Nebekker said faintly. “I just need to rest.”
Together, the cousins moved her so that she could sit with her back against the wall. Her breathing was labored, and all the color had drained from her face. Silver arranged blankets around her.
Watching Nebekker’s pained expression, Silver knew that she had to leave for Calidia immediately. If Sagittaria claimed Kirja in the races, Nebekker would never see her water dragon again. She would weaken. And if Silver understood the old woman’s words correctly, Nebekker could even die.
Silver watched the light patterns play on the walls of the cavern as she thought. Hiyyan waddled over and sat beside her.
“It’s going to be all right,” Silver told him. But she wasn’t sure she believed what she’d said.
One girl, one boy, and one baby dragon … against all of Calidia? It felt impossible.
SIXTEEN
Hiyyan rested his big head on Silver’s shoulder as she assessed her belongings.
“Ugh, your breath is vicious,” she muttered. It smelled like fish.
“It’s a good thing,” Nebekker said. “Means he’s learned to catch his meals himself. There’re fish here who don’t need light and live in the little underground streams.”
The young Aquinder turned his face to meet Silver’s and breathed right up her nose.
“Hey!”
He let out one of his snorting dragon laughs and rolled onto his back.
Silver ignored him and pulled the thin but tightly woven wool blanket from her pack, as well as the cloak to double as a second blanket. She would need both to sleep in the chilly underground caverns in the nights to come. Brajon handed her the things he’d collected: a selection of dried foods, packed tightly and neatly into cloth sacks. Soap. A lightweight cup. A comb. Silver raised her eyebrows.
“You know I want to be the fastest dragon racer, not the prettiest?”
Brajon rolled his eyes. “So you’ll be presentable when you meet with Queen Imea and ask for Nebekker’s dragon back.”
“We don’t even know if the queen is involved.” Silver hoped she wasn’t. She was beloved by the whole desert for her generous nature and peaceful policies, and she had been so kind to Silver in the workshop. Unlike Sagittaria Wonder.
“And even if she was involved,” Silver said, “we can’t just ask for Kirja back. We have to…”
“We have to what?” Brajon said.
“I don’t know.” Silver had hardly thought that far ahead. All this time, she’d been trying to figure out how to get out of Jaspaton. Now that she was, she wasn’t certain where to go from there. Only that she had to get to Calidia, and soon. She lowered her voice to barely a whisper. “But I have to come up with a plan quickly. I’m leaving tonight.”
“Tonight?”
“Yes, and you can help me by not telling my parents where I am this time.” Guilt flickered across Brajon’s face, but Silver had no time to worry about her cousin’s feelings. Her mind was racing with ideas and questions. She went to Nebekker and crouched beside the old woman.
“Help me, Nebekker. How do I find Kirja?”
Nebekker seemed deep in thought as she slowly sat up, settling her back and hips against the wall until she seemed comfortable. Finally, she spoke.
“I have an old friend who might be able to help you, but I haven’t spoken to her in years. Her name is Arkilah. She came to my village from the vast desert to study water dragons. No, not the dragons themselves, but the mythologies and lore surrounding them. Arkilah is also Kirja’s friend.”
“Someone else knows about Aquinder?”
Nebekker nodded. “Last I heard, Arkilah was reading the stars in Calidia. Look for her in the Maze Market just outside the palace. She will do all she can to lead you to Kirja.”
Silver nodded and slung her bag across her back.
“One more thing.” Nebekker reached into a basket. “I’ve been saving money for you. I thought I had many more years to save, to convince your parents to let you go to Calidia.” Nebekker paused over her thoughts. “Your letter convinced me you were … ready to go. All I can give you besides the pattern I taught you is this.”
Silver took the small pouch Nebekker offered. Inside were just enough coins to fit in her palm. It wasn’t much, but Silver’s chest warmed with gratitude.
“I won’t let you down,” she said.
“Silver.” Brajon leaped to his feet, his eyes wild as he appeared to realize that his cousin meant to leave right then. “You can’t just—”
“Come with me,” Silver blurted out. She wasn’t sure where the words came from, only that she knew the journey would be better with her best friend. Silver had been eager to leave, but now that the moment was here and Hiyyan and Kirja needed her, she felt a bit panicked.
Brajon shook his head slowly. “I can’t just leave my family.”
“They’ll be there when you get back. Don’t you want to see what happens to all the beautiful metal and gems you pull out of the ground? What about adventure?”
Brajon folded his arms across his chest and raised his voice. “Adventure? You think that’s what this is? This isn’t a game!”
“No,” Silver said. “If I played games, I might have more friends!”
Brajon sighed.
Silver held out her hand. “Best of luck, cousin. I’ll send word when I reach Calidia.”
She squared her shoulders and slowly turned toward the southeast. As she took her first steps to Calidia, she felt a pang, but she kept moving.
“We’ll,” Brajon said. He caught up to her and took her elbow. “We’ll send word. You’re not going alone. Especially when you don’t have a plan.”
“You’ll leave without saying good-bye to your parents?” Nebekker said. When Brajon hesitated, she waved him off. “I’ll get word to them. I have my ways.”
Silver hid her relieved smile when Brajon nodded.
“Thank you, Brajon. And we do have a plan. Get to Calidia and find Nebekker’s friend Arkilah.”
That was the start of her plan, at least. Silver glanced at Hiyyan. She knew how much her dragon wanted to be with his mother again. She felt the longing in her bones. But she also knew she needed to protect him, and that meant claiming him.
That meant racing him. She dragged her palm across his back. Her heart gave a happy jolt.
Brajon looked nervously at Hiyyan. “I don’t think you’re going to find Arkilah with all the commotion you’ll make flying that thing into Calidia.”
“He’s not a thing! Besides, we can’t fly if we’re taking the river tunnels all the way there,” Silver said. “I don’t want to be seen. If we raise an alarm, they might move Kirja. Hide her somewhere we can
’t find her.”
Silver looked away. She didn’t mention that if they didn’t find Kirja, Hiyyan might never learn to fly anyway.
“Underground the whole way?” Brajon rubbed his hands. “That sounds more like it.”
“Here.” Nebekker’s voice soared through the cavern. She toppled one of her baskets and rummaged through the objects that fell out. “Take these, and don’t cut your hands off using them.”
She handed them each a long knife, sheathed safely in hard leather. Silver swallowed hard, her throat dry. What would they need the daggers for?
Nebekker coughed. Then, as though reading her thoughts, she said, “For catching and cutting food.”
Silver didn’t wholly believe the woman, but she buckled the dagger around her waist.
“Now, just follow the river,” Nebekker said. “It’ll branch off here and there, but always stick with the largest flow. Don’t wander into side caves or follow streams. No matter what.”
“Why not?” Silver asked.
“Just do as I say and stop asking questions. Do you think I got to this ripe old age by wandering around like a desert beetle?”
“No.” Silver leaned down to kiss Nebekker’s soft cheek.
Although Nebekker waved her off, Silver caught a small smile. She blinked back tears as she realized that it might be a long time before she saw Nebekker again. The gruff woman had never been one for affection, but Silver impulsively grabbed her hand. Then Silver reached into her boot and pulled out a small object. When she opened her palm, light hit the blue gemstone so that it glittered madly.
Nebekker sucked in a breath. “My pendant. Where did you find that? I thought Sagittaria took it.”
Silver gnawed on the inside of her mouth. Guilt overwhelmed her. “I picked it up the day they took Kirja.”
“And you hid it from me all this time?” Nebekker looked wounded with disbelief.
“I didn’t know—”
“You kept it for insurance,” Nebekker said flatly. “In case I sent you away from me. No, from Kirja … from Aquinder. You wanted to be able to force me to—”
Silver Batal and the Water Dragon Races Page 9
