Seb nodded. “What if you can sense the other stones? What if you have…well, a stone affinity now?”
I nodded. “But how does it help us? It didn’t help today.”
“We just need to get you close to the stone.” Varla tapped a finger on her chin. “You said that you got an odd feeling around Commander Hegarty? Maybe we should try to ask him about the stones?”
Seb gave a snort. “Commander Hegarty swore us all to secrecy. He said the stones can do good, but they’ve caused a lot of trouble. Any Dragon Rider trusted with the secret that the stones even exist is supposed to swear an oath not to talk about them, so I think if we start asking about them, he’s going to want to throw us into the darkest hole he can find.”
“But what has he has done with the Memory Stone? Could we use the two stones the commander has to find the Armor Stone?” Merik asked.
I pushed out a breath. “Maybe that is what he’s doing with the patrol he’s been sending out. But he said the stones were too powerful to be used all together. That’s why they were split up. So he might not want them together. And he said the one Dragon Stone—all of them together as one or one that could control them all—was an impossible myth.”
Varla pulled out a box of books from under her bed. “I can tell you for certain that the Dragon Stone—the one that has all of the powers, there’s evidence it really exists.” She leafed through the books until she found the page she was looking for. She spread out the book on our low table of rocks.
On the page a drawing of all of the dragon egg stones jumped out at us, all looking exactly like eggs, but with different colors.
“Where did you find this?” Merik grinned like a fool.
“You’re not the only one who’s good in a library.” Varla pointed to the drawings. “As we know, the gray is for memory, black for armor and white for healing. That—the one with a rainbow of swirling colors is the Dragon Stone. It’s supposed to be slightly larger than the others, with inscriptions around the sides. And why would anyone bother to go into this much detail for a myth?” Varla folded her arms.
Cold trickled down my spine. “We have to make sure Lord Vincent and the Darkening don’t get the Dragon Stone.”
Seb nodded. “One thing at a time. We have no clue about the whereabouts of the Dragon Stone, but we know one thing—the Armor Stone wasn’t at the Leviathan Mountains or in Wychwood, so the last story of the wandering monk must be true.”
“There’s a map of the old monastery networks in the map room,” Merik said. “We studied it a few years ago. Even the academy used to be a monastery at one time—an order of monks that communed with the dragons. So we have a few maps of the other ruins of monasteries of his order.”
I nodded. “Tomorrow, you two find the monastery map.” I grimaced at the thought of what I had to do. “Varla and I…well, we’ll try to talk to Commander Hegarty about the stones.”
“Good luck with that.” Merik murmured.
A voice sounded from outside the door. “What’s going on up there?”
As there were only a few girls who became Dragon Riders, Varla and I shared separate rooms to the boys and were watched over by the ever-vigilant Matron in her black skirts and pulled-back hair. Her iron-shod boots clattered on the stairs. “I heard someone.”
“Boys aren’t allowed!” Varla hissed.
We’d all be put on cleaning duties for a month if Seb and Merik were found here.
I nodded to the window. Ivy ran up one side of the keep, and the boys would have to use it to climb down.
Seb went out first, then Merik. Matron rapped on the door with her cane. I heard a rustle and a garbled shout as the boys slipped out. The door burst open and Matron swept in. “What is going on in here? And why on earth do you have a collection of dirty old rocks on your table?”
I stood next to Varla. “Why, Matron, don’t you know? It’s part of our new strategic study of better flight tactics.” Varla and I both pasted on stiff smiles.
*
The next day we didn’t have a chance to carry out our plans. The blare of the Dragon Horns woke us at dawn, the clear sound echoing against the mountains and vibrating in my chest. I rolled from bed and gave a yelp when my feet hit the cold floor.
“What is it?” Varla asked, mumbling the words and poking her head out of her covers.
I put my head out of the window to see message flags already being hoisted. “Another practice. The commander wasn’t joking when he said that he was going to push our training hard now.”
Yawning, Varla got out of bed. “It’s still evaluations. Let’s hope Matron doesn’t mention our rocks.”
I tried not to think about that as we dressed and headed to the keep. I had the feeling that if someone knew we were trying to find the Armor Stone, it might be bad for us—they were supposed to be a secret. But I was starting to wonder if Lord Vincent already knew—or had—the Armor Stone.
In the keep, everyone was grabbing rolls and a fast bite of porridge.
“Plan’s off for now,” I whispered to Seb.
He nodded.
Instead of Commander Hegarty, Instructor Mordecai came into the keep, scowling like always and looking even more stooped today. “That’s a slow start you’ve had. Just how will you respond to an attack if the enemy hits before dawn?”
“The enemy?” I jabbed an elbow into Seb’s side and mouthed, “The Darkening.”
Jensen stood, washed and dressed, his tunic, pants and boots perfect, just his hair a little too long. His bowl of porridge was steaming. “Which enemy, sir?”
“It doesn’t matter which,” Mordecai barked. “Just know they are out there and that one day you will have to fight them. Double-time to the practice fields. Breakfast is cancelled.”
Beside me, Seb groaned. He grabbed a roll and stuffed it in his mouth. I copied him and jogged to the chilly practice yard, and I saw we had a special visitor on the battlements—Prince Justin.
Most thought him a handsome young man. He was just a few years older than me, with blond hair, high cheekbones, and I’d heard that every girl at court had a crush the size of a dragon on him. I remembered him as a boy who used to pull my hair and steal my sweets—the disadvantage of a noble house was that there were no illusions about royalty being perfect.
“Dragon Riders,” Prince Justin called out to the assembled riders. “I have come to announce that the Crown will be asking your instructors to begin placing you in squadrons and asking you to take forward duties.”
A ragged cheer swept up from across the riders in the yard. Finally, I thought. But it was also early for us to be assigned. Why was there a rush now?
Prince Justin nodded at us. “The king depends on you—on your courage, on your strength, but most of all on your skills. Because of this, new training will begin in the field. Nothing is wrong. The kingdom remains at peace and will continue to do so, thanks to your fine efforts in the skies!”
Another cheer went up, and Commander Hegarty took to the front of the stage. “Today, all protectors will be assessed as to their combat effectiveness and the navigators assessed for their orienteering readiness. To the training yards.” He clapped his hands. Cheers turned into groans and moans.
“See you on the other side, and good luck,” Seb said, hitting me playfully on the shoulder. I heard a disapproving grunt from Beris—he still didn’t approve of commoners fraternizing with those of the noble houses. I shot him a glare and collected my practice armor.
But I kept thinking—why had Prince Justin said nothing was wrong when he knew as well as the rest of us that the Darkening was coming again?
*
I kept thinking about the prince’s words. Jensen took another swing at me with the wooden practice staff, and I barely brought my own staff up in time to block it before he was returning with another blow. Ducking backwards, I lost my balance, tripped and fell. The instructor nearest me raised the flag to indicate my failure.
“Better luck next time, Thea,”
Jensen grinned and offered me his hand.
I slapped it away. “I can get myself up, thank you very much!”
Jensen’s eyes narrowed. “It’s unlike you to go down so easily and so quickly. If you want to make the Black Claws, you have to do better.”
I knew he was only trying to look out for me, but I still felt like I was being judged and I didn’t like it. “I’ll be fine. But if I keep this up, we’ll be lucky if we get to even deliver packages.” Picking up my staff, I rolled my shoulders, and found myself looking into Beris’ small, dark eyes.
“Ah, Flamma,” Beris said. “You worrying too much about your pet peasant and how he’s doing on his tests?” I swung my quarterstaff at him in a jab, letting that be my answer. “Whoa! Testy!” Beris dodged, grinned and started to circle around me. “Some of your navigator’s rough habits are rubbing off on you. That’s what you get for hanging around a smith’s son.”
I jabbed again, moving forward, but Beris had been expecting my attack. He sidestepped, sticking out his quarterstaff to bang me on the shins, hoping to bring me down. I took the blow and stepped forward to ram my shoulder into his chest. Surprise bloomed on his face and he went down with a heavy thump.
“Beris lost to Flamma!” The instructor held up his flag.
I stood over Beris. “Don’t test me, Beris. Ever.”
“Let’s see you do that in the air then,” he said, staggering to his feet.
The wooden quarterstaff in my hand felt heavy and very useable all of a sudden. I wanted to wipe that smirk off of his face.
“Thea!”
I knew the voice. I turned as Beris bowed. “Prince Justin?” My heart was still pounding from the fight, and a tremor ran through me for the rage I had almost unleashed.
The prince looked at Beris, who’d gone red-faced. “Beris Veer, let us not keep you. And tell your father that Prince Justin is looking forward to seeing him at court.”
“Certainly, your highness.” Beris nodded again, before shooting me a poisonous glance as he strode away
The prince turned to me, and I bowed low. “Oh, you don’t have to do that, Thea, we’ve known each other long enough, haven’t we?” He smiled.
I straightened. “What brings you to speak with me?”
“Just to see how you are getting on.” His smile widened, and I had to admit it was hard to remember the little brat I had known. His smile made me want to smile back at him, and I had to resist that tug. It wasn’t that I couldn’t like him, but someday he was going to have to marry—and I wasn’t able to think of myself as ever being a princess. Or a queen.
Rubbing my sore ribs, I said, “I think you’ve caught me on a bad day.”
He frowned for a second. “About that…did you have a preference for your eventual squadron placement?”
“Black Claws.” I grinned. “Could you put in a good word for me?”
His face darkened with worry. It was suddenly clear the prince had some different notions for where I should end up. “I thought you said that your navigator—what was his name? Smith?”
“Sebastian Smith.”
“Yes, the smith’s boy. You once said he wasn’t much of a fighter?” The prince began to walk.
I fell into step with him. “Seb is amazing with the dragons. To be fair to him, he is far better than he used to be. And he has already been of great service to the Crown.”
Prince Justin nodded. “I must see what your brothers think, of course. It was just—I was hoping you might have a desire for the signals corps?”
“You mean never see combat? Fly around delivering goods?”
He winced, stopped and faced me. “To be blunt, it’s your mother, Agathea. To have all three of her children on the front lines, it’s…it’s become clear to her that she might lose all of you. She has petitioned my father—”
“The king?” I felt dizzy. “For what? My dismissal?”
His face paled. “I’ve put my foot in it. Look, come on a ride with me tonight—not dragons, just a simple horse. We’ll talk. Your mother doesn’t want to take your position from you, she is just thinking to have you further back from any battle.”
“I thought you said everything was fine?”
“Of course,” he said just a little too quickly. “But come. Meet me by the back gate, bring a pony and we’ll talk about old times.”
That was the last thing I wanted to do—despite his charm and his smile. But this might be the only chance I had to convince him I could be a Black Claw. I smiled, agreed, and even added a curtsey. The prince turned away, leaving me worried and cold.
Something was very wrong.
*
By the time practice ended for the day, I was feeling sore, tired and wishing I had one more bout so I could pound someone. Senior riders had been coming and going, helping the staff to erect a large wooden board at one end of the training yard. The different squadrons were written at the top of large columns and names would be going up.
The King’s Own—the smallest unit, made up of bodyguards to the King and Prince Justin. After that came the Black Claws, then the Storm Blues, who acted as a reserve troop, the Green Flag messenger core, and the Heavy Whites who carried goods, and the Far Flyers, who served as long-distance scouts. It had been hard to keep my eye on the battles as names were added to the boards—and the names kept changing as the instructors and senior riders were working out the best fit in each squadron.
Jensen and Wil stayed securely in the Storm Blues with their dragon, Dellos. Beris and Syl were also put into that squadron. But at the very end, Jensen and Wil moved up to the Black Claws—Jensen had beaten two opponents at once in hand-to-hand. Varla and Merik were put into Storm Blues to start with, but were moved to the Green Flags.
“This board does not reflect your final position, but our current decision,” Commander Hegarty had said.
I started to hope that Seb would somehow be really bad at navigating, meaning that we would make terrible messengers.
“The best of the best, of course, will join the King’s Own, who are able to do anything, be anywhere, lead armies or protect their leaders,” he announced, pointing to the blank space under the list behind him. “None of you have made it there yet.”
That had sounded like a challenge to me, and I hated that Seb and I were still set to join the Storm Blues.
Nothing but patrols, I thought in despair. We’d be stuck watching the roads and repelling the occasional wild dragon.
Heading over to where I stood in front of the board, Varla punched my elbow. “Hey, maybe you’ll join Merik and me in the Green Flags. We get great tunics and we’ll fly all the time. It’s the Green Flags who keep the whole kingdom together, making sure the watchtowers are working and signaling the approach of any enemy.”
I glanced at her. “Messenger service,” I muttered.
Varla smile faded. “I’m sure you’ll get where you need to be.”
I wasn’t so sure. Varla headed away, and I turned from the board. And as I turned from the board, Seb and Merik were just arriving to take a look. I wasn’t sure I wanted to talk to them. Seb would probably be fine with being a Green Flag. He’d get to fly all day and hang out with other dragons. I could have howled in frustration.
Instead, I ducked away and headed for the stables, but I heard Seb and Merik talking and slowed my steps.
“Do you think it’s true? What I heard about Deep Wood? One of the Senior Riders came back from there today—said it’s gone, disappeared. Like King’s Village did when the Darkening took hold.”
“Must be why the commander is so touchy,” Seb said.
I moved away, heading for the stables.
With Bill saddled, I threw on a warm cloak. Extras were kept on pegs near the stable doors. Bill, one of the tough mountain ponies used for carrying packs of supplies to the academy, followed me out of the stables and to the back gate.
Prince Justin waited for me, standing next to his gray gelding. “Lady Agathea,” he said and bowed ov
er my hand. My cheeks warmed. He wore simple riding leathers, but his wool cloak glinted with gold embroidery at the edges. When he smiled at me, a little thrill chased over my skin.
“Shall we?” The prince mounted and I swung up on Bill. We headed up the narrow mountain trails. The prince’s horse had the longer stride, but Bill had the advantage on the hillside and easily kept up.
The sun was starting to go down over Dragon Mountain, causing a wonderful display of red and orange clouds. I pointed at it, “Dragon’s Breath.”
Justin smiled. “I know. I went to the academy, even if it was dragon’s years ago.”
The ponies clipped their way upward. Oddly, the prince didn’t even try to choose the trail, so I let Bill pick the way.
The orange clouds turned to a red, fiery haze as the sun finally started to set. We came to a halt at the top of the hill, and I glanced back at the prince. “You never could beat me in a race, remember,” I said and grinned. I let Bill nibble grass.
The prince frowned and shook his head. “No, I remember winning often.”
Sure he was joking, I glanced at him. But his forehead was lined and his eyes vague as if he didn’t seem to remember us racing and my winning. “You have the benefit of a selective memory.”
“I have the benefit of being right. But I didn’t come here to argue. I want to talk about the future. Your future,” he said lightly.
Tension gathered inside me. “What of it? I’ll be a Dragon Rider, and guard your royal highness for the rest of my days.” I smiled. I was going to avoid even thinking about the Darkening right now.
“I promised your mother I would talk to you about all of that,” he said evenly. “You have to understand, Thea—what would it be like if she lost all of her children in some battle? House Flamma. How does the old saying go? ‘Nothing as close as a Flamma and a dragon?’ Your house has been standing beside the kings of Torvald for centuries. You are one of the backbones of our kingdom. If we lost all of you…” The prince shook his head. “Think of the good of the kingdom.”
A breeze came up and I shivered, but I kept staring at the prince. “But apparently all is well. Isn’t that what you said? Although, if you ask those from King’s Village they might have a different view on the matter.”
Dragon Legends (Return of the Darkening Book 2) Page 6
