Oaths (Dragon Blood, Book 8)

by Lindsay Buroker

  Hm. I wonder if the construction workers Ridge has talked into the project will be pleased to have helpers or annoyed because they’ll be untrained and get in the way.

  It’s possible nobody will show up. Jaxi sniffed. I wouldn’t.

  I don’t know. I would think curiosity might bring some people out. Though my understanding of the location is that it’s difficult to get to without a ship.

  Maybe Bhrava Saruth will volunteer to pick people up each morning at one of the city squares and fly them over.

  “All better,” Tylie announced, setting down her green patient and lifting her hands.

  The frog loosed a few ribbits and bounded toward the pond.

  “Good work, Tylie.” Sardelle lowered the paper, deciding she would wait until later to flip through the rest of it. With luck, the female journalist’s focus on Bhrava Saruth would keep her distracted, and she wouldn’t write any more articles about her and Ridge. “Perhaps you’ll end up specializing in animal healing rather than human healing. Though you can certainly do both.”

  “Animal healing?” Tylie, barefoot and in a sleeveless summer dress with fresh paint spatters on it, spun toward Sardelle with her hands clasped in front of her. “Is that truly a specialty?”

  “Animal husbandry and healing, yes. The sorceresses who went into that in my time tended to help with domesticating wild animals and keeping already domesticated ones healthy and happy. Sometimes, they would have a herd of goats or similar creatures that they traveled with to help farmers clear brambles and weeds before cultivating land.”

  “A herd of goats?” Tylie appeared inordinately pleased by that idea.

  She’s not keeping them here, Jaxi said. It’s bad enough she has turtles, ravens, rabbits, owls, and that cat Kaika brought as a housewarming gift. The cat is the only normal thing in the house.

  “Eventually.” Sardelle smiled and ignored Jaxi. “If that’s of interest, it wouldn’t hurt for you to sign up for some classes at one of the pre-universities in town. It wouldn’t be a bad idea for you to learn the basics, but you could also start studying the veterinary sciences. It’s good to understand things from a mundane scientific viewpoint as well as from a magical one.”

  Sardelle had been meaning to suggest classes for a while, since she’d learned that the sanitarium where Tylie had been held for years hadn’t given her any schooling. Sardelle loved teaching history and magic, but she was still three hundred years behind on a lot of her own studies, so there were others who could teach other subjects better. It hadn’t stopped feeling strange to her that what had been current events in her day were now historical events to everyone alive today.

  Doesn’t the king want her to become a powerful sorceress who can help defend Iskandia against dragons and various human evils? Jaxi asked.

  Maybe, but she loves animals, and I haven’t noticed that she loves hurling fireballs, or even studying how to make fire.

  Which is inconceivable. Fire is fun.

  “Maybe I would be better at working with animals than at finding people.” Tylie grimaced, and Sardelle sensed her distress at having been so slow to locate Tolemek. She had expected it to be easy with Phelistoth’s help.

  “Cas followed quite the trail of breadcrumbs to find him,” Sardelle said. “With that shaman muffling his aura, it’s not surprising that even a dragon didn’t sense him until you were right on top of him.”

  Tylie shook her head, clearly disappointed in herself. “He’s my brother. I should have known where he was.”

  Someone’s coming, Jaxi said.

  Pardon? Sardelle looked toward the street and stretched out her senses.

  A fancy steam carriage turned off the main street and is heading this way. It has the royal emblem on the door.

  Sardelle nodded, also sensing it now that she was looking. Jaxi had been assiduous in warning of visitors since the Fern incident.

  Sardelle rose and smoothed her dress. She didn’t recognize the driver or the two young men inside, but she assumed from the emblem that Angulus had sent them.

  The carriage rolled into view, black, blue, and gold, not a dent or spec of mud on the exterior. Fluffy gray plumes wafted from the smokestack in the back.

  A driver on the bench up front nodded to Sardelle, then maneuvered the vehicle so that it faced back up the dead-end street before stopping in front of her walkway. The side door opened, and one of the men stepped out wearing the king’s colors and carrying a small beige envelope. One of the king’s uniformed guards watched from the doorway, a short sword and pistol on his belt. He appeared more bored than alert.

  The king’s men, at least, seemed to have gotten over their fear of mages and magic. Or maybe Angulus intentionally picked people unlikely to be concerned about her reputation.

  “Ms. Sardelle Terushan?” The man with the envelope stopped in front of her and bowed.

  “Yes.”

  “The king requests that you come with us to attend a meeting at the castle.” He offered her the envelope.

  Sardelle was tempted to ask what kind of meeting and with whom but doubted the man would know. She withdrew a card and recognized Angulus’s small, tidy writing.

  Sardelle,

  I’m certain you are busy, but if you are able to break away from your projects, please join me for a meeting this afternoon. I hope it will benefit you.

  ~ Angulus

  “Of course I’ll come.” Sardelle nodded to the man. Selecting meals for her wedding and watching Tylie heal a frog hardly constituted busyness.

  “Excellent.” He bowed again and offered his arm.

  “One moment.” Sardelle jogged inside to grab Jaxi off the rack.

  The king’s man raised his eyebrows at the addition of the sword, but his arm remained out, and all he said was, “This way, ma’am.”

  Tylie, Sardelle asked silently, will you be all right here alone?

  She almost asked if Tylie wanted to come along, but had no idea what this was about, so decided not to presume it would be permitted. Besides, the last time Tylie had been at the castle with her, she’d put a ladybug in Angulus’s lute. Something about insect eggs inside of it that the ladybug would enjoy munching on.

  Yes. I’ll find more injured animals to practice on. Tylie skipped toward the path that led to the pond.

  At least she likes to be useful, Jaxi said as Sardelle climbed up into the carriage. The velvet-lined seats had the perfect amount of cushioning, and the interior smelled of some pleasant floral perfume. To small animals with broken things.

  There’s nothing wrong with caring for animals as a profession.

  I can’t imagine healing frogs pays well.

  She’ll find a way to earn enough to live on. The animal husbandry specialists were in quite high demand with farmers and ranchers, as you may recall.

  Taddy will be bored out of his mind. He likes to slay things in noble battle, you know.

  From what I’ve observed, Wreltad is more interested in spending time with Ridge in the duck blind and debating the merits of engines and aerodynamics.

  Jaxi snorted into Sardelle’s mind. They’re the ones who should have been bonded.

  Perhaps so.

  “You seem calmer about going to see the king than the last woman we picked up and delivered to the castle,” the guard sitting across from her said.

  “Oh?” Sardelle asked. “Who was she?”

  “General Zirkander’s mother.”

  Sardelle’s calmness evaporated. Did this mean Fern had also been invited to the meeting? If so, what was it about? Her?

  Even though she knew she needed to find a way to get Fern used to the idea of a sorceress as a daughter-in-law, she hadn’t planned to do it in front of Angulus. How had he even found out? Surely, Ridge wouldn’t have asked the king to talk to his mother about her. Would he?

  Jaxi, do you know anything? Sardelle had spent the night before with Ridge, and he hadn’t said anything about this. Why wouldn’t he have warned her?

 
Only that it would be amusing if Fern showed up with a basket of cat soaps for the king.

  Sardelle dropped her face in her palm. You’re not as helpful as you think you are.

  No? Should I heal a few frogs on the way to the castle?

  I’ve seen your idea of healing, incinerating whatever the offending thing inside a person’s body is.

  That works fine in some cases. Bullets. Arrowheads. Lances.

  Sardelle looked out the window as the carriage turned onto the main street into town and ignored the rest of Jaxi’s list. She told herself that Angulus was an ally, even a friend, and that he wouldn’t put her in an awkward position intentionally.

  That didn’t keep her from feeling nervous as the carriage rolled closer to the castle.

  12

  The man who had delivered the envelope led Sardelle all the way through the castle and to the door to Angulus’s office, the one upstairs and in the back, attached to his private suite.

  Sardelle smoothed her dress, wishing she had run into the house to change into something more formal instead of only grabbing Jaxi.

  Only. Jaxi made a sniffing sound in Sardelle’s mind. As if I’m not the most important thing in the house to grab.

  You definitely are. If ever there’s a fire, I’ll grab you first.

  And wave the flames toward Ridge’s couch, I hope.

  I fear that monstrosity may be fire retardant.

  I could test that theory, Jaxi said as Sardelle’s guide knocked on the door.

  She patted her hair to make sure it was all still back in a neat braid.

  “Come in,” Angulus called from inside.

  The man pushed open the door, stepped in, and presented her as, “Ms. Sardelle Terushan here to see you, Sire.”

  Then he stepped back, letting her take his spot, and closed the door as he exited.

  Angulus wasn’t the one occupying his chair behind the desk. Fern sat there, dabbing a handkerchief monogrammed with the king’s initials to her eyes. She lowered it when Sardelle entered, her expression growing difficult to read.

  A tray of fresh cinnamon buns rested on the desk next to a basket of homemade soaps, the latter a gift she’d presumably brought to him. Sardelle couldn’t tell from the door what shapes they were carved into, only that they were different colors.

  Worried the meeting wasn’t going well—what exactly was this about?—Sardelle looked to Angulus, who leaned against a bookcase nearby. For a moment, she thought something might have happened to Ridge. Why else would his mother be in tears?

  No, this is all about you, Jaxi said, and the shattering of long-held beliefs.

  “Good afternoon, Sardelle,” Angulus said gravely. “I’m glad you were able to make it.”

  “Of course, Sire.” Sardelle curtseyed, then nodded to Fern. “Mrs. Zirkander.”

  Sardelle usually called her Fern—Fern had insisted on that—but didn’t know where she stood with the woman now.

  “We’ve been discussing the return of magic into the world,” Angulus said, “and how it’s getting harder to ignore it these days.”

  “Are you really three hundred years old?” Fern blurted, then glanced at Angulus and shrank back into the chair, as if she wasn’t sure she should speak.

  “I was born more than three hundred years ago, yes,” Sardelle said, “but I was trapped in a stasis chamber for most of that time, placed into a sort of hibernation where I didn’t age and wasn’t aware of the outside world. As far as I know, I’m essentially thirty-five years old, but during the time I slept, everyone I knew, including all of my family, passed away.” She didn’t want to appeal for sympathy from Fern but thought the information might answer a few questions Fern might have had about Sardelle over the months they’d known each other, such as why her side of the wedding guest list was so small.

  Fern bent forward and coughed into the handkerchief.

  She doesn’t appear all that enlightened, Jaxi said.

  Fern coughed long enough that Sardelle was tempted to reach out with her senses to see if something more than a cold was troubling her. But right now, she was afraid to presume to touch her, physically or magically. Fern was a stringy, strong woman, used to living alone and fending for herself most of the time. It was hard to imagine her contracting some debilitating illness.

  “I didn’t see Sardelle’s stasis chamber,” Angulus said when Fern stopped coughing, “but I’ve seen other examples of the technology. The dragons that have returned to the world all came out of frozen states. I know because I was the one to inadvertently let one out. And then he let others out. Including the one who is somehow getting free press in our reputable city newspapers.” Angulus frowned over at Sardelle, as if she would know something about it.

  She lifted her hands in innocence.

  Reputable. Jaxi sniffed. Has he not seen the drivel being printed about you? Next thing you know, The Pinoth Observer will be speculating on clockwork automatons controlling the government and men giving birth to babies.

  “I understand, Sire,” Fern said quietly, looking at the soap basket instead of at either of them. “I saw one of the dragons.”

  “And you saw some magic being performed, too, did you not?”

  Her voice grew even softer. “Yes, Sire.”

  Fern wrung her hands in her lap. Sardelle wanted to use her power to comfort her with soothing waves of energy, but once again, she was afraid to do anything.

  “Do you want to see any more examples of it?” Angulus asked. “I’m sure Sardelle could give a demonstration.”

  “No, Sire.”

  “It’s been very useful to have her here helping the country against Cofah invaders, enemy dragons, and a sorceress who wanted to kill me and take over the country. She did kill many of the regional lords that were here for a meeting.” Angulus winced at the memory. “Sardelle has been one of our few magical allies, and we’ve been lucky to have her.”

  “Magical,” Fern mouthed, shaking her head.

  Angulus frowned and met Sardelle’s gaze, opening his palm toward the ceiling. He seemed at a loss. Sardelle wondered how long this meeting had been going on.

  “I know you think General Zirkander—Ridge—has been teasing you about magic,” Angulus said, “but that’s not the case. He’s… a loyal and trustworthy man when he’s not being an irreverent pain in the ass.”

  Fern lifted her chin and met his eyes for the first time since Sardelle had come in. “Ridgewalker is a good man. I know he is. I just didn’t know…” She lost her certainty as she glanced at Sardelle again.

  “And Sardelle is a good woman,” Angulus said. “I would certainly welcome her into my family if she were marrying any of my children.” His lips twisted in a wry expression.

  Sardelle wasn’t sure if it was because they weren’t that far apart in age or because he lamented that he didn’t have any children.

  I guess Captain Kaika hasn’t shown any excitement about giving him heirs, Jaxi said.

  Any heirs Kaika produced would be… problematic.

  Because she would insist on teaching them the finer points of demolitions?

  Because they’re not married.

  Technicalities. If he dies without any children from legitimate marriages, I’m sure the nobility will go hunting for half-noble babies that they can stick on the throne. It would be crazy to put someone in charge of the country who’s smart and wise and a capable leader. Much better to stick with bloodlines.

  I hope you’re not sharing these thoughts with Angulus.

  Of course not. I haven’t observed that he enjoys my delightful presence in his mind. Oddly.

  Fern coughed again.

  Concerned, Sardelle started to stretch her senses toward her, deciding Fern need never know. But she grew aware of a powerful presence approaching and paused.

  Your god seems to be heading this way, Jaxi said. Uhm, and he’s carrying someone. Is that normal?

  How would I know?

  You’re his high priestess.
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br />   You’re with me every time I interact with him. You see him as often as I do.

  Not by choice, Jaxi said.

  I could leave you home with the couch more often.

  Did I mention how much I enjoy interacting with dragons?

  “Sire?” Sardelle decided she should warn him since it appeared that Bhrava Saruth was heading straight toward the castle. Would he land in the courtyard? On the rooftop?

  “Hm?” Angulus had walked to Fern’s side and laid a hand on her shoulder, but he looked up at her address.

  “Bhrava Saruth is heading in this direction.”

  Angulus’s lips thinned. He must have truly been irked by that newspaper article.

  “I think he might land inside—”

  The large windows behind Fern flew open, and a hulking gold form appeared in the air outside.

  Fern shrieked and ran around the desk. Angulus also backed up a few steps, though he faced the window instead of looking away.

  Bhrava Saruth alighted on the ledge, scrunching his body and using magic so he could balance there while bending his long neck down to stick his head inside. Sardelle would have been impressed at his contortionist’s skills if she hadn’t been busy gaping at the person clasped between the dragon’s jaws.

  The man screamed, flailing, his feet dangling above the king’s rug. Fern shrieked and ran for the door, almost bowling Sardelle aside in her haste to escape. She sprinted into the hallway and didn’t look back.

  Greetings, high priestess and human king, Bhrava Saruth spoke into their minds, heedless of the screaming man dangling from his fangs—and the fleeing Fern. It is I, the god Bhrava Saruth, and I have captured an evil Cofah spy.

  “And you brought him to my office?” Angulus looked like he had more scathing words in mind, but one did not irk one’s dragon allies, however irking they were.

  Of course, human king. I caught him spying on the island where my temple is being constructed. He was peering down from a cliff and had inimical thoughts in his mind. Clearly, he is a threat to Iskandoth. Do you wish to interrogate him now? Or shall we simply execute him?

  The man shrieked and flailed some more, apparently privy to Bhrava Saruth’s telepathic communication.