I needed to be brave for him and Ahlskibi and Leng. I cleared my throat.
“Prince Raktaran. Leave the dragons in peace.”
He didn’t even turn around. “They don’t belong to you.”
“I’m not saying that they do. I’m asking you to stop harassing them.” It felt like too bold a thing to say. Especially to royalty. But what other option was there?
I could flame him.
It would be best to avoid that. It could start a war.
“Magnificent beasts like this shouldn’t be kept by mangled riders. They should be the mounts of a Prince. Together, we shall spread the rule of Baojang and I will show the Council that I am their promised ruler.”
I shivered. I needed to distract him from this kind of thinking.
Or I really will flame him.
“I thought you were getting married to a High Castelan of the Dominion to cement peace between us.”
He barked a laugh and finally looked at me. “You know more than you pretend.”
I held up a hand. I didn’t want him to say too much or there would be no peaceful way out.
“I know your intended, Savette Leedris.”
His eyes lit up and he crossed his arms over his chest, intrigued and defensive at the same time. “I’d like to know more about her.”
“The dragons won’t go with you, diviner or no diviner.”
He waved a hand like he didn’t care anymore. He was surprisingly easy to divert from his intention if he was shown something more interesting. That was useful to know.
“So, you are of some use. Tell me about this Savette.”
“She’s very beautiful.”
He smiled. Good, I was on the right track.
“Very smart.”
He didn’t seem as excited about that.
“Brave and strong.”
He shrugged.
“Of a powerful High Castelan family, respected throughout the Dominion.”
His smile returned. He clearly saw her as a prize or a pawn. Oh, Savette! What had they done to her? I needed to get to wherever she was before he did. Either the Magikas would get there first and get rid of her to replace her with Starie, or this arrogant prince would take her for a wife. I wouldn’t wish either outcome on my friend.
“And she rides a dragon like these?” He looked like he was thinking hard. “Perhaps, as a dowry, they will give me a dozen of these with riders. No, twenty.” He looked me over. “With able-bodied, strong riders.”
I tried to keep my face smooth of the irritation I felt. Even my enemies disregarded me. He rubbed his chin with a finger and thumb and then finally smiled. “You may tend to your friend and leave. I think I have better plans to dwell on.” He turned to leave, but then turned back to me. “Oh, and don’t tell anyone about this meeting or I’ll have my men slay this lovely dragon of yours. I hear purple ones are rare. You might have a hard time replacing him.”
He walked into the forest as carefree as if he didn’t have two angry dragons right behind his back. My mouth was still hanging open long after he was gone. It wasn’t like that. Raolcan could never be replaced at all.
In retrospect, I probably should have flamed him.
Chapter Five
I scrambled across the ground to where Leng lay.
I’ll watch for them. If they come back, they’ll see why they can’t just take a dragon. We have no pact with them.
He left, creeping down the path. Ahlskibi hissed at me as I drew near, but he backed up so that I could reach Leng and I ignored his bad temper. He was probably just worried like I was.
He is. Dragons don’t get sick the way Leng is.
He was slumped over the rock in an uncomfortable way. I sat down next to him and flipped him onto his back, tucking blankets from our bedrolls under his head. Our things were scattered across the ground – whether from Leng’s thrashing or the dragons’ reaction to Raktaran, I didn’t know.
Leng mumbled something, his eyes fluttering open. I grabbed the flask of water, wet a rag and wiped his forehead and face hurriedly. He was burning up. I offered him a drink, and when he opened his mouth I gently poured a tiny stream of water for him, trying not to give him too much too quickly.
“Amel.”
“Don’t give up on me, Leng. I’m making some medicine for you.”
He closed his eyes and I waited a moment to see if he would ask anything else. When he was silent I hobbled to the packs, pulled out a pot, and filled it with the last of the drinking water. I tore the velvety white petals from their stems, surprised by their sweet smell. Just the scent of them made me feel less tired. I threw them in the pot, mercilessly, and set to work building a fire. As soon as I had the tincture made I’d need to find fresh water.
Let me.
I looked up to see Raolcan had returned from wherever he had gone. I kindled a tiny flame, blowing on it to light the kindling pile I’d made.
The men have returned to their ship. I will keep an eye on them until they are gone. There is a fresh stream to the south. Give me your waterskins and I will fill them.
How would he do that? He didn’t have hands and the task would be nearly impossible using your mouth.
Let me worry about that.
I hesitated, playing with sticks as I set them over the flame, but after a moment I stood, gathered the waterskins and handed them to him. The draught the healers had made for Leng was used up. I gave Raolcan the draught flasks as well. We’d need a lot of water to get Leng well. Raolcan gripped them all between his teeth and I could almost have sworn he was smiling.
I spent the rest of the morning brewing the tincture and trying to keep Leng warm enough or cool enough as he moved from sweating to shaking and back again. Ahlskibi paced around us, never once settling down. He made me feel jumpy, but I didn’t blame him. I just wished that he could join Raolcan in flying over us and watching for enemies.
I have that covered. You should also know that the Baojang ship has set sail. She moves north-west. Strange, don’t you think, that a powerful human would be so far from his territorial waters and with only one ship?
It was strange, but I had no time to dwell on it. The forest floor, dappled with green shadows and golden sunbeams, though beautiful, was a terrible place for a sick man. I dragged fallen trees and branches to make a lean-to, dragging Leng into it when I was finished and wrapping him up with the blankets. Since the tincture was finished I’d been feeding it to him every hour by my best guess. His shaking and sweating seemed to be less, but I wasn’t sure if that was a good thing or if he was getting too ill for even that.
In early evening, Raolcan dropped down to the clearing to present a pair of birds to me and another handful of them to Ahlskibi. He ate them immediately, flaming them first. I set to the work of dressing the birds and cooking them with water in the pot. A broth would be good for Leng if I could get it into him. I was worried that his breath seemed fainter than it had earlier. Was he better or worse?
“Amel,” he said for the thousandth time as the night grew colder. I was keeping the fire hot, afraid to sleep in case I missed giving him the tincture. “Amel, I see them flying.”
“Do you, Leng?” I asked gently, tucking the blankets back around him. He’d knocked them off again as he slept.
“Flying so far above. Flying.”
I checked his breath with the back of my hand, worried when his words faded off. He was still breathing. Ahlskibi shuffled in beside the lean-to, creeping on all fours. He was also refusing to sleep, though Raolcan had eventually stopped his circling and settled down nearby. He was the only one getting any rest tonight.
The hours were long and slow and I fought exhaustion as I moved woodenly from one task to the next. Feed the fire. Give Leng his tincture. Bathe his forehead with water. Feed the fire.
Dawn came eventually, hours after I thought it should have. Fog wreathed our clearing and obscured anything more than a dragon-length away. In the white stillness, Leng’s eyes flickered open an
d he smiled.
“Amel. Where are the others?”
“The others?”
“Grandis Leman. Rais. Starie. The others in your knot.”
I watched him hopefully. He seemed like he was with us again, not floating on fever dreams. “Rais and Grandis Leman are dead and Starie joined the Magikas in killing them. We escaped at the last minute. Can you remember that?”
“I thought it was a dream.” He sat up, weakly.
“You should rest,” I said, anxiously offering him a waterskin and a flask of the broth I’d made the night before.
“I can rest just fine sitting up. You look tired, maybe you should sleep.”
He seems better. Maybe you should listen.
I glanced towards Raolcan and saw two sets of glowing eyes staring at us through the fog – him and Ahlskibi keeping watch.
Leng finished his tincture and broth and then lay down again and promptly fell asleep. There was some color in his cheeks again and no sweat on his brow.
Relieved, I lay on the ground beside him. I’d just rest my eyes for a moment. Only for a moment.
Chapter Six
I awoke to whistling and sat up to see Leng oiling our tack. He’d changed his clothing and washed his face – he looked like a new man entirely.
“You slept most of the day away,” he said with a smile. His easy nature was back. He was well again. I smiled, gently, wondering what he would think of everything that had happened when I explained it all. “Ahlskibi has been filling me in on everything I missed. Apparently, he’s taken a strong dislike to a prince of Baojang.”
“With good reason,” I said. “He wanted to take him.”
He finished polishing the saddle he was working on and handed me a crutch, his fingers brushing gently against mine as he passed it to me. He blushed and pulled his hand away quickly. I took it in awe, surprised to see one here. After a moment’s inspection, I realized he’d carved the top and fitted it with leather. It was a different shape than I was used to, fitting along my forearm instead of under my arm.
“For me?” I asked. I knew it was, and yet it was a lavish gift. He must have been carving it while I slept.
“It’s the only way I can thank you for taking care of me. I know that it wasn’t easy for you and that it put you in a lot of danger. I’m so grateful for your care.”
I felt myself blushing as I inspected the portion that fitted around my arm. He’d carved his initials into it. L.S.
“We need to leave soon, so we need you to be mobile again,” he said, looking like he felt awkward. He kicked idly at a clump of dirt at his feet before looking up at me wistfully. Why did he look so sad and longing all at once? “I need to get you back to the teachers of Dragon School and back to your studies.”
That felt so far away. I had Savette to warn and a Magika plot to foil. “So much has happened since I left Dragon School. I feel like there are more important things going on right now than studies.”
“When we meet back up with the teachers you can tell them all about those things.” His mouth was firm. “I appreciate everything you’ve done, Amel, but you’re a student. It’s not right to put you in danger or to have you out here in the wild with me. You need to be back in the care of your teachers and learning what you’ll need to be a full dragon rider. From what Ahlskibi tells me, we aren’t too far away. We’ll leave first thing tomorrow and make full haste to the Ruby Isles.”
Why did I feel so disappointed? Somehow, I’d thought that maybe after going through all of this I could carry on with the adventure and keep on making decisions for myself. Maybe I’d also expected a bit more respect from him. After all, I’d been keeping him alive these past few days. He felt- what was the word? Distant. Like he was keeping himself apart from me. I guess maybe it was silly to think it would be any other way. It had only been his illness that had thrown us together. He was a full dragon rider and I was a student. We couldn’t be close friends like that, could we? It was probably inappropriate. We certainly couldn’t be anything more than close friends.
“I’d better test out this crutch,” I said, hobbling away down the path. I was glad that I didn’t cry until he was out of sight. After all, my tears were silly. What had I expected?
It was hours before I trusted myself to return to the camp. I didn’t sleep in the lean-to, but instead, I curled up against Raolcan to sleep.
Don’t worry, spider. I remember what you did for him. I admire your courage. I won’t forget and I won’t treat you like you are less than me.
I fell asleep clinging to the faith in his thoughts.
Chapter Seven
We’d left at first light. Even with my disappointment that the intimacy between Leng and I had evaporated, I still found flying exhilarating. Leng didn’t keep us flying in a steady, even line like Grandis Leman had. Ahlskibi swooped and darted, occasionally even barrel-rolling over the ocean as we made for the coast again. Raolcan followed him and I sensed his giddiness at being able to fly free again. He wore reigns, but I didn’t bother with them, simply tying them to the saddle horn and setting my hands gently on his neck to help me keep my balance. He didn’t need me to tell him where or how to fly.
Leng looked so much better, his back straight and his face clear of pain for the first time in days. He moved a little gingerly when we were on foot, but his smile was easy, and he seemed over his illness. He kept himself a bit remote, though, standing up immediately any time I sat nearby and rushing off to tend to some urgent task. When I spoke to him, he answered politely, but he gave no more information than what was strictly necessary. My heart plummeted deeper into disappointment every time. I’d hoped we’d be close friends after everything, but he probably didn’t even remember it all.
Stop pouting over the man and look at how the sun sparkles on the sea! How many humans do you think have ever looked at the world from so high?
He had a great point. I’d never even expected it myself. I needed to enjoy this, not complain about what I didn’t have. As the hours passed, I found I was enjoying myself more, relaxing into Raolcan and his movements and just letting gratitude fill me instead of hurt feelings.
I was so busy enjoying myself that the first I realized that we had a problem was when Raolcan tensed.
“What’s wrong?” I asked.
Weather is brewing on the shore. We should be hunkering down somewhere to wait it out. Over the sea, it could get really dangerous.
Leng and Ahlskibi didn’t seem to be changing course. They flew on, faster than ever.
Hold on.
I hunkered low over Raolcan’s neck as he shot forward, wings propelling us forcefully ahead. He pulled us level with Leng and Leng gave a hand signal – two fingers spread apart, tapping on his forearm. What did that mean? No one had taught it to me yet. Leng tried the signal again, as if I simply wasn’t seeing it. He looked frustrated as he gave up signaling and swept his arm from in front of him to behind as if trying to wave us back in behind him.
Ahlskibi is also demanding that I fall back behind him.
Was he saying why? I didn’t understand why we weren’t landing in the forest to ride out the storm.
Leng wants us to harness the storm to make up a few days of traveling. If we are careful, we can catch the winds and ride them.
In theory, that made sense, but I could already feel the wind picking up and it was pushing me hard from the left, not from behind.
Exactly. We can’t just ride it. We’d have to tack back and forth across it. It will still get us there faster, but it will be a rough ride for you and Leng and it will be dangerous. He’s betting hard that Ahlskibi and I can fly winds like that. He must be desperate to get us to the Ruby Isles.
Was he just desperate to be away from me?
Don’t be so self-centered. This isn’t about you. Something else is going on in that man’s mind.
Ahlskibi turned his head to the side long enough to hiss and Raolcan fell in behind him. It looked like he was willing to go along
with the plan.
It’s that or else let them fly on without us. Which do you prefer?
We’d better stick with them. I didn’t want to be alone out here.
You wouldn’t be alone, but I see your point.
Hours later, I was regretting my agreement to this. The clouds around us were black and thick. The winds so strong that the dragons had to dive and swoop, roll, and then fight to gain height again. I’d vomited up every scrap of food inside me and I was still so queasy that it was all I could do to hold on with the land and sea spinning beneath me and dark clouds swirling from every direction. Even Raolcan seemed worried. He was so focused that he hardly spoke to my mind at all as he fought the gales. I couldn’t go on. My hands were too tired. I was going to fall off.
Steady now!
My leg throbbed with pain. I hadn’t been able to move out of this position in hours and the weight of my dead leg just hanging there made my hip ache so strongly that it was almost all I could think of.
Stay steady. Focus on the horizon.
And where was that, exactly? I’d lost any sense of direction hours ago. I didn’t even know where Leng and Ahlskibi were. Ahead of us, I assumed, but I couldn’t tell. Lashes of rain obscured my vision and ran down through my eyes. I didn’t have a single bit of dry cloth to wipe them with. My hair hung wet and bedraggled in a thick knot. I gritted my teeth and hung on, fighting my roiling belly and swimming head.
It felt like days later when the flying grew more steady and after about an hour of flying in a straight line my head wasn’t swimming anymore. I still felt lightheaded and like I needed to move carefully, but I wasn’t just holding on, worried I might die. The rain had reduced to a light mist and if it wasn’t so dark I’d have thought we were through the clouds.
We are through the clouds. It’s just night now.
He was right. This was the velvety black of night. Were Leng and Ahlskibi safe?
They’re ahead of us. Ahlskibi says the rain will clear.
On cue, I felt dry air wafting over me and my vision cleared enough to see a faint crescent moon glinting over the sea. Ahead of us, was a golden glow and between us and the glow I could faintly pick out Ahlskibi and Leng.
Dragon School: The Dark Prince Page 2
