“Quite,” I said. “I invite all of you to come and watch me summon him tomorrow morning. We’ll have to find a clearing, however. For now, I do have more news to share.” I reached out to take Rosemary’s hand. “I saw Alex.”
“Alex! Then he’s alive?!”
“Yes, but I had to cross blades with him.” I glimpsed at Clarissa, who returned it. “A collapsing mountain interrupted us, but I’m certain he made it out. At least he seemed to have all his memories intact.”
“Why did you even cross blades with your brother?” asked Lord Winfield.
“Because fear, spell, or misguidance has him working with the Advent.”
“Working for them!?” stated Erica. “Impossible! Why would he work for the people who kidnapped him?”
“They gave him power, and while it strengthened his body, his mind is weakened. He also thinks he’s protecting you, which might be true. I doubt the Advent will attack the family of an ally.”
“How can you declare such a thing!?” asked Rosemary. “These cultists attack us, valkrean, and a queen and you believe they’ll refrain from violence!?”
“I realize I can’t comfort you, but if I truly believed you to be in danger, then I’d compel you move as secretly as you could to Ecrin.”
“Maybe we should anyway,” said Lady Pendlecot. One of her gray eyes darkened out of fear for her safety, and the other glinted when it envisioned moving into Ecrin’s nobility class with the knowledge that one person stood between her and a friendship with royalty.
“You’d all be welcome, of course,” said Odet.
“Something to consider, then,” said Lord Winfield.
Lady Pendlecot’s eyes lost any glint to them when she asked, “And what of Nathaniel? Did you learn anything of his fate?”
“I’m sorry, but Alex said he didn’t make it.”
Her face fell. “I-I see… I’ve been expecting to-” She rose from her chair. “Please, excuse me.”
Cecelia rushed after her mother.
“Should I follow after them?” Phillis asked my uncle.
“Leave them be, Miss Pharos,” answered Kario. “There’s nothing you or anyone else can do for them.”
Heftier items of heated food making their way to the table helped diminish the tension my distressing news created. Apart from Rosemary, much of the attention turned not so subtly to the princess. I made the effort to add a comment or two, knowing I should leave a bigger impression of myself to my family before leaving for an Orda spanning journey. For her part, Odet cited the contributions of my companions and I to the security of her kingdom. She took my earlier cue and left out any mention of a dragon, perhaps also enjoying the idea of surprising them in the morning with a summoning show.
In contrast, Odet was interested in hearing anecdotes of me and my brother. Rosemary and Erica were happy to comply. It was strange listening to vivid tales about a past I could not recollect. Someone else climbed the old oak tree to save my pet cat. Someone else played hide and seek with my frustrated tutor. Still, did that exuberant lad somehow influence my decisions? After all, if my first memories only involved pain and killing, then why did I kill Garf’s men? Whose voice urged me to stop their murdering and raping?
Our talk lasted to the point that the manor dwellers needed to prepare for the dinner hour by changing into their casual attire. Spencer arrived around this time. He joined us in the tour that showed Odet and the others the guest room they could use. It was then back to eating, which included the reappearance of Lady Pendlecot and her daughter. The lady insisted several times to not let her presence subdue anyone’s tongue, going as far as getting the conversation started by asking Odet questions.
Dessert and tea moved us to the main sitting room of the grand house, a move that lasted well into the evening and early night. A sleeping Michael forced his mother to detach from the group first. His father’s work schedule had him trailing his family soon after. The others trickled out from there. By the end, only Rosemary and I stayed in the sitting room.
“I’m glad you have good friends accompanying you, Cyrus.”
“I have mixed feelings about it. Listen, Rosemary, I realize I’m not making it easy on you by only showing up for a few moments before leaving again. I almost didn’t come because of it.”
“It is hard, almost cruel, but if you can, you should always choose to show yourself to me, even if it only be for an hour every year. It makes me so glad to see you and hear your voice.” A hot hand with a mild quiver to it caressed my cheek. “You may look and sound different to everyone else, but not to me. So go, do what you have to do. But go knowing that no matter what you do or how much you change, that you will have someone here who loves you.” She leaned in her upper body for an embrace.
When the upper embrace ended, I said, “If you mean that, then there’s something I hope you understand. I’m not only doing this because I have to, but because I enjoy it. I enjoy the traveling. I enjoy the training. And now there’s the flying. I’m not telling you to stop worrying, but I am asking you to understand that it isn’t all bad for me. We both wish the circumstances were less dire for me, but I at least hope you can find some solace knowing I’m no longer suffering. That I’m out there trying to stop the Advent from doing to others what they did to me.”
“Oh, Cyrus. Yes, I do wish circumstances were different. I wish your mother were still alive. I’m sure the princess and her sisters wish the same of their mother. And Lady Pendlecot… I’ll never stop worrying, but I should learn to cherish what remains, what can still be. Your mother would be so proud of you. She’s always the one who imagined adventure with warrior princes and dashing rogues. And now here’s her son traveling with a princess and a knight to stop evil from spreading. That pure spirit is still alive in you, it seems.”
Hmm, now I had to consider my mother’s spirit as a possible motivator to my first willing actions. And what of my other parent’s spirit? “Rosemary, I know he’s not your favorite person, but I have part of my father’s spirit in me as well.”
“Nonsense, you’re no plundering drunkard.”
“Aye, he’s partly those things, but Mother didn’t love him for those habits.”
“How would you know?”
“Because he’s been looking for me and my brother ever since learning we’ve been abducted. We found each other shortly after I found you. He and his men helped me when we went into the Hadarii and Uthosis. He’s helped train me and fought by my side. There’s no question he’s willing to die to save his sons. I’ll never tell you to revel in his company, but I am saying your sister didn’t love a ruffian simply because he was exciting and tall.”
Rosemary stared at the fluffed blue rug at our feet. “Your mother once stated something similar, and I believed her.” She met my eyes again. “I never doubted that Lydia could see the best in a person, and believe it or not, I would have given the pirate a chance to prove himself, but he wanted no such chance. He wanted to take your mother away from her family. Away from me! Fight with your father, learn from him, but don’t pretend he didn’t desire the most selfish path all those years ago.”
“I’m sorry I brought him up.”
“Don’t be. As the gods preach in Duality, children should defend even unworthy parents, and if you trust him to be worthy, that is your…” She held back a yawn. “…business.”
“It’s time for you to go to bed.”
She chuckled. “It was once my job to tell you that. So, if I were to take your role, I would say, ‘I can stay up all night with you.’”
“If your blinks didn’t last so long, I’d let you.” I stood up. “Come, let’s each get a little sleep. I’ll tell Phillis to wake us up extra early. We’ll talk and eat some more before I have to go.”
Rosemary agreed with a nodding sigh.
I found sleep minutes later in my room. However, without training or leg travel to tire me out, I awoke with a pent-up energy well before the sun could brood over his own awakening. Ten minutes after sol
ely laying on my bed, I decided to get up and move around. The echo of my steps sounded too loud inside the dormant manor, so I went outside.
Green animals made from twigs and leaves guarded the garden from mischievous children. A few bulls, birds, pigs, and an elephant kept me company as I wandered the zigzagging shrubbery alone. At least, I presumed them to be my only company. A shadow crossing in front of a failing torchlight suggested otherwise. Looking past a gap in the bushes showed the back of Cecelia. She walked toward a marble bench, which she made use of. In her hand was a big pink flower, whose petals were being plucked by the young woman shrouded in a black dress.
I planned on leaving her be, but I startled her when she spotted my darkened figure. To show her I was no captor, I stepped into the measly light.
“Oh, Cyrus, i-it’s you.”
“Forgive me, I didn’t mean to frighten you. I wasn’t expecting anyone to be in the garden at this hour.”
“Likewise. Couldn’t you sleep?”
“I did, but I didn’t need much tonight… You obviously wanted to be alone, so I’ll leave.”
“I’ve never wanted such a thing.”
She dropped her flower so her hands could catch her falling head. A wet sob escaped her before she inhaled a deep breath to stop the next one. Leaving her now would be a dunce’s choice, so I sucked it up and sat beside her. Sensing she was already composing herself, I refrained from putting my arm around her or saying anything. We then just sat there, taking in the new moon night and miniscule chorus of chirping bugs.
Finally, she said, “I’ve been waiting to hear bad news about Nathaniel since the guards turned up nothing after the kidnapping. I’ve cried for him for a long time now. What’s upsetting me tonight more than anything is hearing his best friend dispassionately announce his death. The Cyrus in my memory would never have kept his voice steady when expressing those words. It reminds me that your former self, my friend, is dead as well.”
“I suppose I am something closer to a ghost to you than not.”
“Please, don’t get me wrong. I’m happy life hasn’t left you, that you’ve found us after your hardships, but we’re strangers to you. In that sense, it’s odd for me to hear everyone recount tales of your childhood without you reacting at all to them.”
“It’s odd for the listener as well. If it helps, I feel sorry for the loss of my former self as much as anyone. Not a day goes by since I learned where I came from that I don’t wonder what could have been. What would I be now? If the oddness isn’t too overwhelming, what do you imagine I’d be now if the Advent never touched our families?”
“That’s hard to say, of course. We were still children. If anything, what you are now is close to what we pretended to be. I’m actually a little jealous to see you wielding a sword and escorting a valkrean princess. I realize it’s immature and unrealistic to only imagine the romantic side of that sentence, but that sentence is still greater than anything I will ever accomplish in my life.”
“What do you plan on doing with your future?”
“Well, unlike the imaginings of our youth, or even my current contemplations, my desires are simple. I just want to help what’s left of my family find peace. Without Nathaniel, it’s now up to me to secure our future. I have yet to seriously pursue a courtship with anyone, but there are one or two young men I’ve met in social visits and balls who can offer a strong foundation to that end.”
“You might want to wait to see if you’ll be moving to Alslana. Your mother will love your options there, especially if I can get Beatrice to say a kind word.”
“Truly? You can sway a queen’s words?”
“Truly, truly. In fact… Er, promise to keep this to yourself?”
“Of course.”
“Now, it probably won’t happen, but Beatrice proposed to me.”
Forgetting herself, Cecelia exclaimed, “What?! Are you-” Recalling herself by giving a glance around us, she lowered her speech back to its previous level. “Are you being serious?”
“Aye. She proposed before I left for Uthosis.”
“Since then? And you haven’t given her an answer yet? Do you love one another? Why do you think it won’t happen?”
Pleased to get her mind off more depressing events, I said, “Where do I start? No, we haven’t known each other long enough for any kind of love to flourish.”
“Then why did she propose to you?”
“My good looks overawed her.” A groan accompanied her raised eyebrow, but the groan came from Aranath. “I don’t look that disagreeable, do I?”
“Of course not, but you don’t look that agreeable either.”
“Fair enough. She proposed because of this.”
I unstrapped the scabbard and presented the hilt to her. Two tentative, dainty hands took hold of it. Two dark brown eyes enlarged to the size of saucers when the reptilian voice entered her head. She appeared to want to throw the sword out of bewilderment, but my hand resting on her forearm helped preserve her grip. A few seconds later and she stood up to push the sword to my chest.
“This is the beast you fly on? A dragon? Then you’re the dragon knight Alslana has declared their ally?”
Standing up to retie the scabbard, I replied, “Aye.”
“Why keep this a secret?”
“Tomorrow it won’t be. So, as you can guess, Beatrice has proposed to a dragon knight, not necessarily to me.”
“I see… You have more secrets, don’t you?”
“They aren’t so much secrets as pieces of information I’d rather parcel out little by little.”
“Then our musings as children were woefully inadequate.” She grew quiet again.
“Cecelia, I may not be the Cyrus you remember, but this new me hopes to lessen the grief of that loss in any way I can. I don’t know what I want to be to the world, but I do know I can start by using my connections to give your family and mine a higher leg up in it.”
“Thank you, but give your attention to those who need it the most. Save Alex. Stop the cult. Keep your new self safe so that someday we can make new memories. I’ll always miss the friend I played with, that can’t be helped. Don’t try to make up for his passing, just be you. I’m certain he’ll make for a wonderful friend as well.”
“I’ll be sure to prove you right.”
Suddenly exhausted, I turned around to head back inside.
Chapter Thirteen
After breakfast, many in the manor, including the servants, walked to the nearest clearing, which happened to be behind a hill behind the garden. The fenced glade contained a stable holding eight horses. Light rain clouds rolled in, but no droplets fell yet. With everyone in position, I told them to brace themselves for the gust of wind that would come.
Once the gale blew past, a few people couldn’t help shouting in surprise at the long forgotten sight. Feeling pompous, the dragon rose on its hind legs, spread its forelimbs, and snarled at nothing in particular, filling Orda with more of his already momentous presence. I took a moment to take in the awe etched on my family’s faces, giving my own face a baby’s smirk. After a bob of my head, my group made their way to Aranath to climb up to his saddle.
With her mouth still agape, I asked Rosemary, “What do you think?”
Her mouth moved, but only a croak came out. Swallowing the second back down, she said, “He’s, h-he’s a dragon?”
“His name is Aranath. Without him, I wouldn’t be here. With him, no storm or enemy can stop me from flying over the world to reach you again.” Directed to the rest of my family, I said, “I wish I could explain more, but it takes a lot of energy to keep him summoned. I have to go.”
Hearing the last word brought Rosemary back to a semblance of reality. We embraced and said our loving goodbyes. Moments later and a beast as long as the horse stables became smaller than a hummingbird.
Our route moved away from the coast from here. According to the maps, reaching the southern tip of the Forest of Giants merely required Aranath to keep a
n almost straight line northward for two days. Fields of crops, flowers, and fruiting trees carpeted the lands between towns and roads. An expanse of rolling hills engulfed with clovers became our landing site when the time came to find one.
“Your family and the Pendlecots were lovely,” said Odet.
“I’m growing fond of some of them myself.”
“Only some?”
“Well, I have only spent a grand total of two days with them. There’s still much to say. We’ll need at least one more day for us to express all our beliefs and feelings. Only then will my fondness extend over everyone.”
Overhearing me, Ghevont asked, “That’s not a literal claim, correct?”
“Aye, scholar.”
“Did you see everyone’s faces?” wondered a gleeful Clarissa. “I’ll never get tired of watching people drool in awe over Aranath!”
“I still drool,” said Gerard. “You do quite a bit of drooling yourself, madam vampire.”
“That’s because I keep wondering what dragon blood tastes like.”
“Aranath says it would be too bitter to you,” I said.
“Uh-huh. Only one way to find out.”
Our talking transitioned to training. Training transitioned to eating, and so on.
The end of the next day had us flying over rockier highlands, the first sign of the Yuroks Range. Patches of the Forest of Giants grew in this area, extending several dozen miles into Etoc territory. To the west of the fifteen hundred mile line of mountains lied the more impressive specimens that gave the haughty woodland its name. Rivers and streams flowing down the eastern slopes of the Yuroks drained into the Great Marshland, the same one I found Clarissa’s vampire clan a lifetime ago. It was no forest, but since we were going to head east anyway, the swamp’s center would be our next target.
For the time being, we had to rest on a high meadow of stones before our path took us between true mountains and the unbroken vision of forest. Since Ghevont was usually the most refreshed of us, the scholar almost always took first watch. With Odet and myself training the hardest, we had to sleep right after eating and take later watches. To prevent an enemy catching an exhausted group, Clarissa or Gerard were careful about not getting too tired, so their sleep schedules remained the most pliable.
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