Sworn To Secrecy: Courtlight #4

by Edun, Terah

  Their passion became emotions, their emotions became thoughts, their thoughts became symbols, and, in the way of the daemoni race, their symbols became sigils.

  Their minds and bodies merged in the air. Through his open eyes she saw. She saw the darkness of the arcane sigil rise above, written in the sky in lines of black outlined in the Weathervane power of gold.

  And not a moment too soon. Because the dragon had reached them. Instead of killing the two before him, the magic of their union surrounded him. The sigil grew to immense boundaries. So large that it dwarfed the dragon in the sky as it realized its mistake too late, the sigil morphed and wrapped around the dragon’s torso in a wide net that looped and crisscrossed every inch of it’s body.

  The dragon managed one scream of horror as the powerful sigil lines of thrumming black and gold bound its wings and cut off its flight. It plummeted just as Thanar and Ciardis had moments before. But its plummet was uncalculated and unchecked.

  She didn’t fear the dragon’s death. She feared the destruction of people and buildings below. Before her horrified thoughts could overtake their bond, Thanar hushed her in their mind’s eye.

  Watch, he whispered to her.

  As she watched through his eyes, the lines of power wrapped around the dragon’s body, pulsed once, pulsed twice, and glowed with a blast of power. The dragon was afire. But not with its own power or smoky intent, but with the orange and red sunset of a molten explosion.

  In satisfaction, Ciardis felt Thanar unseal his lips from hers. He whispered aloud to her, “The net of Sauras—the only fire that can kill a dragon.”

  And then they were falling again but in unison and content, almost drunk, with the power that raged within them. Ciardis was silent. Her head buried in his shirt until they touched land. Unsteady but unwilling to stay hidden in his arms, she forced herself to take steps back. She kept stepping back until she could see around them and the building on which they stood.

  Breathing heavily from the passion of the death-defying stunt and the kiss, she said, “What just happened?”

  He gave her a lazy smile. “Something that hasn’t happened in centuries. We released the net of Sauras. A powerful arcane spell that can only be created between two individuals in perfect unity.”

  She looked at him, breathing heavily.

  “We’re not in perfect unity.”

  “You go on thinking that, sweetheart.”

  She shook her head. She couldn’t distill the heavy feeling of their combined powers. “What have you done to me?”

  “Nothing that you haven’t already experienced before with Sebastian.”

  She shot him a dark glance. “You think you’re equal to the love of my life now? It was just a kiss.”

  “I wasn’t talking about the kiss, Golden Eyes,” he said languidly.

  “Then what?” she said in confusion.

  “But now that you mention it,” he said with a devilish smile, “I will give you something you’ve never experienced with that human prince of yours.”

  Before she could process his words, he moved forward with the speed of his race, rivaling a chimera’s rapid pace.

  Taking her face into his hands, he kissed her again. Long, thorough, delicious, and devilish rolled into one. As their mouths warred, she felt the pain of betrayal in her heart. She had no choice about the first kiss, but she did about this one. With power that she never knew she had, she gripped his chest and threw him back.

  She watched as he fell back not just a few steps, as she had expected, but was thrown back almost four feet, where he landed on his bum with a laugh.

  “Now you see, Golden Eyes?”

  Staring at him in befuddlement where he lay laughing, she realized slowly that something was wrong with her hands. Shaking she brought them up to her face and stared. There was no silver orb in her palm. Instead, each hand was outlined in a bright aura of gold.

  “What? What is this.” she said.

  Sitting up, he said smugly, “It’s your power. Your magic has absorbed the Cold Ones elemental gift and unlocked new Weathervane powers.”

  “My gifts were already unlocked,” she shrieked as she continued to stare at the golden aura that pulsed through her hand.

  “That, Ciardis,” he said seriously, “was merely a taste of what you can do. Back during the wars, Weathervanes were among the most powerful creatures to inhabit this empire. Now you’ll truly see what is that you can accomplish.”

  She shook her head. “How do you know?”

  “Because I was there.”

  She growled in frustration. “How do I turn it off then?”

  “Relax,” he said. “It’s reacting to your fear, your passion, and the threat you felt to your life. Let the power soak back into your core until you need it.”

  She felt true fear, fear of the unknown, and the uncertainty of new gifts. She’d just gotten used to her old ones, damn it! And she knew he saw the fear in her eyes, because he said soothingly, “Just breathe in and breathe out. Slowly. That’s it.”

  And just like he said, the visible aura surrounding her hands diminished and died.

  Backing up hastily, she turned around and stuck her hands under her arms. “That’s enough of that.”

  “Why?”

  “Because I’ve had enough of this. Enough of being special. I was special enough as it is before you fiddled with my magic. Without my permission I’ll add.”

  Then a thought occurred to her and she turned back to him quickly. “Can my mother do this as well?”

  “Most likely not.”

  “Good.”

  “Why?”

  Fear surfaced again in her eyes. “Because if she did, I’m not so sure she’d stop at just eliminating the threats to her life.”

  He looked at her with his mouth set in a grim line. There was nothing else to say.

  Chapter 20

  “Are we where we were supposed to be?”

  He gave a grudging nod. “The very building.”

  “Then let’s go down and see, shall we?”

  They turned and walked across the flat rooftop—a rarity in Sandrin, but a normal occurrence in the weaver’s distract. A door lay nearby—their entrance to the lower floors. Ten feet away from the entrance, Thanar stopped and held out a hand at Ciardis’s waist to halt her.

  “Who’s there?” he demanded.

  She peered into the darkness of the doorway, but saw nothing but shifting shadows.

  Out stepped a woman in the floor-length golden robes of a mage. It wasn’t until her face was revealed in the light that Ciardis let out a gasp of mingled surprise and relief.

  Ambassador Raisa stood staring at them with an unreadable expression on her face.

  Thanar stiffened perceptibly and gathered his magic.

  “No,” shouted Ciardis, knowing instinctively what he was about to do.

  Raisa smiled, one of teeth bared in challenge rather than welcome.

  “You think you could take me so easily, daemoni prince? I am a dragon queen.”

  “I could try.”

  “No one’s taking anyone,” snapped Ciardis. “You must have seen the black dragon, Raisa. It attacked us with no provocation. We had no choice; we had to defend ourselves.”

  “That dragon was from my clutch.”

  Ciardis paled. The tone was deadly. Raisa might as well have said the male dragon was her brother.

  No, he wasn’t her brother, Thanar whispered in her mind. Queen dragons birth dozens of dragonlets in a litter. Then they throw them together in a clutch.

  I thought they had an empress. Are you saying she’s their queen?

  No, said Thanar in exasperation. What are they teaching children these days? Being a queen only refers to her ability to breed. Queen dragons can clutch multiple litters. All dragons, male and female, are ruled over by one empress who is always a potential queen.

  Got it.

  And, scoffed Thanar, just because they’re raised in the same clutch means nothing.
He was probably no more her brother than I am yours.

  Ciardis said to Raisa, “Can’t we let bygones be bygones? I certainly hated my foster brothers. Isn’t it the same in a clutch, friendly rivalries and all that?”

  “He was also my suitor,” snarled Raisa.

  Unless they mated, added Thanar with a touch of reluctance. Damn it.

  Ciardis felt dismay cloud her thoughts until she heard another voice in her head.

  He was not my mate, said Raisa in Ciardis’s head. Merely a suitor.

  Wide-eyed, Ciardis remembered the first time Raisa had spoken in her mind at the duke of Carne’s outdoor gala. With dread she was beginning to wonder how many people could just invade her thoughts so nonchalantly.

  Many. You’re not shielding very well, said Raisa.

  Ciardis? asked the tense Thanar by her side. You’re thinking strangely.

  Can Thanar hear your thoughts, Raisa?

  No, only you.

  Can you hear his?

  Only if I choose to, was the carefully measured response.

  Ciardis! snapped Thanar.

  Aloud, Ciardis growled, “All right, enough—both of you! You’re giving me a headache. Everyone talk out of their mouths.”

  Thanar looked at her askance.

  She whispered out of the side of her mouth, “Trust me, you don’t want to know.”

  “I take it you’re not here to kill us,” said Thanar.

  “And why would you assume that, Prince?” said Raisa.

  “You already would have. Dragons are swift on retribution.”

  “That is true,” she said as she stepped farther into the light with lidded eyes.

  “Then what happens now?” Ciardis said.

  Raisa looked to her. “Balash was a fool. He bargained with the wrong group and left his dragonkin to suffer for it.”

  “What do you mean?” Ciardis said sharply.

  “She means that big black menace of a dragon was a hired killer,” said Thanar with a hiss.

  Raisa didn’t argue with his statement.

  “By the duke of Carne,” said Ciardis. It was more statement than question.

  “Most likely,” agreed Thanar.

  “You’re probably right,’” said Raisa.

  Ciardis stepped forward, ignoring Thanar’s warning gestures. “Well, we need answers too. Starting with where you’ve been and why you’re here.”

  Raisa turned to look out over the building ledge where the glare of the setting sun descended over the city.

  At last she spoke. “I went to see your emperor. To hear his words about the mines of Sarvinia. He told me a harsh tale.”

  Thanar stepped forward with a triumphant grin.

  Raisa held up a swift hand, silencing him in mid-step. “Tales which I will not repeat here. Suffice it to say I believe what you have said about the blutgott. My initial belief has not changed, though; there is nothing we can do to stop his advance if he is indeed coming.”

  Ciardis scoffed, “There is always something—”

  “However,” Raisa said with a chilly look, “I am willing to try. But before that can be accomplished, this sordid tale of the princess heir must be finished. You must bring the Emperor of Algardis what he seeks. Because I will not have my people fight for you, knowing your emperor does not stand by your side.”

  “I understand. I truly believe that together we can end this threat before it truly arises,” said Ciardis.

  “You misunderstand me, Weathervane. The only way I am onboard is if your emperor issues a call to arms. Is he ready to do that?”

  “Well, no, but he will be.”

  “We shall see.”

  Then Raisa stepped back and disappeared into the darkness.

  Ciardis asked Thanar, “Did she just leave?”

  “Umm.”

  “No,” was the hiss from the doorway.

  They both jumped.

  “Let’s go,” the ambassador said in irritation from the darkness.

  They followed without a word, a bit chastened.

  As they descended down the rickety staircase inside one-by-one, Ciardis looked around the cobwebbed hallway and decaying wallpaper all around. Whatever this place was, it hadn’t been in use for years.

  They came to a black door at the base of the winding staircase. Raisa stopped and Ciardis watched her reach up with an open hand to lay her palm flat against the doorway. In her mind’s eye she flipped on her mage sight and watched as Raisa’s hand heated up with the glow of fire, red spreading from her hand in a surrounding aura until the lock on the door clicked open.

  “It’s safe,” said the dragon ambassador without turning around.

  As the door swung open, she proceeded through with Ciardis and then Thanar following closely behind.

  What they saw when they went through the door took their breath away. It was a large warehouse chamber with no windows and no other doors. The vast building extended quite far in the distance, with rafters high up above them. Ciardis stepped forward to the edge of the railing where she could look down upon the object that rested on a wheeled platform in the center of the room.

  A ship rested there. At least one hundred feet high and hundreds of feet in length it was a mighty vessel with three masts and sails still in place.

  “What in the world?” asked Ciardis astonished.

  Thanar came up by her side and placed his hand on the railing. His gaze looked troubled. He didn’t answer.

  Walking past, Raisa came up on Ciardis’s left and Ciardis strained to get a good look at the right side of the ship whose prow faced them. There, in brilliant gold letters, was the ship’s name: The Marde.

  Staring in wonder, Ciardis felt faint. What could this all mean?

  “It’s a kasten ship,” said Raisa abruptly.

  “A what?” said Ciardis.

  “A kasten ship,” echoed Thanar mutely. “One of the few ships that are built to withstand the cross-ocean travel from Algardis to Sahalia.”

  Ciardis stared at it and then back at him in perplexity. “So the princess heir had a ship built?”

  “No,” whispered Raisa.

  Ciardis felt like screaming in frustration at their short answers.

  Keeping her tone level, she said, “It’s here in her warehouse. Surely it’s hers?”

  Thanar said, “The ownership is not in question. It’s her ability to build one. Kasten ships are unique. They can only be built by a master mage shipbuilder, and the art has been lost for over three hundred years. The last one to be built was said to have been destroyed on the rocks of the isles decades ago. It was this very ship.”

  Ciardis stared at The Marde. “Then how did it come to be here?”

  “I think the more important question is why,” said Raisa in a clipped tone. “Humans have not traveled to dragon lands for many years for a reason.”

  “And what reason is that?” ventured Ciardis.

  “If you don’t know, child, it’s not my place to tell you. Let’s go.”

  “‘Let’s go?’” said Ciardis, astonished. “We need to see what’s on there.”

  “We’ve seen all we need to,” snarled Raisa.

  Thanar shook his head. “There doesn’t need to be anything else onboard, Ciardis. This is obviously the second part of the princess heir’s plan.”

  “Destroy Kifar and board a ship to Sahalia?” Ciardis said skeptically.

  “Kifar?” said Raisa in shock. “What do you mean destroy Kifar?”

  Ciardis turned uneasy eyes on her. “Exactly what I said. Princess Heir Marissa had a plan to destroy the city of Kifar.”

  Raisa was pale. “One you thwarted?”

  “No, unfortunately,” Thanar said with crossed arms and a glare. “The attack is still scheduled to proceed.”

  “When?” snapped Raisa.

  Ciardis and Thanar exchanged strange looks. “In less than three weeks.”

  Raisa said, “It must be stopped.”

  “Why?” demanded Ciardis. “Why
is Kifar so important to you?”

  Raisa turned darkened eyes on the Weathervane. “Kifar is sacred to my people. It is where dragons first landed in Algardis.”

  “Not in Sandrin?” said Ciardis with skepticism. With good reason, Sandrin was the first port of call from the open sea. Kifar was hundreds of miles inland.

  “No,” said Raisa.

  With that, she turned and hurried back through the doorway they came. Ciardis and Thanar had no choice but to follow.

  As they reached the rooftop entrance, Ciardis whispered, “The emperor needs to know of this.”

  She felt wary calculation running through Thanar’s mind, but it wasn’t like she could read his thoughts and emotions. Unlike Sebastian, Thanar remained a locked box to her unless he directly spoke to her and let something slip.

  Reaching the roof, Ciardis wasn’t surprised to see that Raisa was already gone. She had a way of disappearing like a ghost when she wanted to.

  “To the palace or Lord Steadfast’s manor?” she said over her shoulder fretfully.

  When Thanar didn’t answer, she turned to see him looking at her with an unreadable expression on his face and his arms crossed.

  “Well?” she said in frustration.

  “I don’t know,” he answered as he paced the roof. “There are advantages to both. But whatever you do, the emperor needs to be informed of this ship at once. If you keep it from him there will be hell to pay and there’s no telling when Ambassador Raisa will next speak to him. She could be on the way now to force his hand in her bid to save Kifar.”

  “You’re right.” Ciardis was miserable. “Either way we have no choice. It’s best that we go now.”

  The sky rumbled with the warning of oncoming lightning and thunder. Thanar held out his arms to pick her up. Reluctantly she went to him and allowed him to scoop her up as before. With a running leap, he jumped from the roof and was in flight once more.

  To her horror she saw the eye of the storm was over the imperial palace.

  “I think we should go back to the manor,” she shouted in Thanar’s ear.

  “I agree,” he said as he dipped his wings subtly and they flew away from the maelstrom over the palace walls.