Revelation of the Dragon

by J Elizabeth Vincent

  “You’re the raven!” she said, the awe obvious in her widened eyes.

  “That’s right,” he replied. “The best one out there, I’ll have you know.”

  “Well, Mellar shot you down easily enough.”

  Xae swallowed, and Mariah could see him push his discomfort down. “Didn’t say I was the best archer … Mellar’s not a raven, is he?”

  Kaddan giggled. “No, he’s a cat. A big one!”

  “Hmm”—he rubbed his chin as if thinking hard—“I wonder how he’d stack up next to our Gwyn. She’s a big cat too.”

  “Xae.” Mariah elbowed him, a smile on her own face.

  “Well, I know that if it wasn’t for those darts, fuzz face here”—he nodded in Shira’s direction—“could knock him flat.”

  “Watch it, bird boy,” Shira muttered, but she was smiling as well.

  Nilovi stepped up beside Kaddan, a light blush on her cheeks that had Mariah wondering where it had come from. “Kaddie, you haven’t introduced yourself to Mariah’s other companions.”

  She looked at Han and stuck out her hand. “I’m Kaddan.”

  “My name is Hanas Vasdaf,” he replied formally, but he was not immune to the young girl’s charms either. “My friends call me Han. I hope you will as well.”

  “What are you?” she asked.

  “Kaddan! Don’t be rude,” her mother chided.

  “That’s alright,” the big man responded warmly. “I’m afraid I … How did the councilor put it? … I am … Unblessed.”

  Kaddan frowned, obviously disappointed. Then, she turned and eyed Grelem. Although the two children seemed of an age, the boy had several inches on her, and neither one of them seemed inclined to actually speak to the other. The awkwardness was palpable.

  “Kids,” Shira muttered, before she put her arm around Grelem and pulled him forward. “This is Grelem. He’s my little brother.”

  “But …” Kaddan looked back and forth between them, a finger lifted, as she silently noted the differences in their skin color and other traits.

  Fortunately, neither of them seemed to take offense. Shira explained. “He lost his natural family during the war, and my folks took him in. Now I make him do all my chores.”

  Grelem huffed, “Not likely!” and then grinned. Mariah realized that Shira had pulled him right out of his shell with that remark. The triumphant smile on her face said she had done it quite deliberately.

  Kaddan’s face, on the other hand, had sobered. “My pa’s gone too. I wish he was still here.”

  Grelem reached out and patted her shoulder. “My friend Miss Rose says as long as you remember those you lost in your heart, they’ll always be with you, even while you sleep.”

  Nilovi silently took her daughter’s hand and squeezed, her own eyes a little glassy as she regarded the boy for a moment. Whatever was going through her head, she pulled herself out of it quickly. “You must be sapped from all you’ve been through. Girl,” she said, turning to Kaddan, “did you and Vallen bring the things I asked for?”

  Kaddan nodded briskly.

  “Excellent.” She turned back to the group and held out a hand toward the opening in the wall. “I’ll show you to your rooms. Kaddan, get ready for bed.”

  A frown of displeasure came over the girl’s face, but she bid the others goodnight and disappeared down the little hallway. Nilovi followed but led them past the curtain-covered doorway that the girl ducked into and two others before they came to the end of the corridor. On opposite sides were two more rooms. Nilovi indicated that the left room was for Mariah and Shira and that the right was for Xae, Han, and Grelem. Swaths of muslin served as their doors. The chamber Nilovi led the women into was small, but it had two narrow pallets built of layers of straw mats, rugs, and thin, stuffed mattresses. A low table with a bowl and ewer separated the beds.

  In one corner of the room, Mariah noticed a neat pile of packs, cloaks, short swords, and a bow … her bow.

  “I tried to make sure that none of your things were damaged,” Nilovi said.

  A deep, familiar masculine voice rang out from the main room. “Nilovi?” It was Mellar Kiem.

  “A moment, if you will,” the woman said, bowing and disappearing through the curtain.

  While they waited, Mariah and Shira checked over their things, relieved that everything seemed to be as they had left it. Then they crossed the corridor to join Han, Xae, and Grelem and found that their room was much the same, except a third pallet had been laid out at the foot of the other two beds, and some of their belongings were spread out across one of them.

  “Mine’s all here,” Xae said as he stuffed everything haphazardly into his pack.

  “Your mother would have an attack if she saw the mess you’re making,” Mariah joked.

  He only grinned, although she recognized the sadness in his eyes. It reminded her of the way she felt when she was missing Gwyn or Bria or the children, which was often.

  Han invited them to sit, and they all settled onto the pallets. No sooner had they gotten comfortable than had Nilovi pulled back the curtain, allowing Mellar and Teneth to enter. They were carrying two trays laden with food and drink.

  In a few minutes, the five of them were left alone again, once Nilovi had made sure that all of their needs were met. The quiet voices of their hosts murmured quietly from the front of the den as they began to eat, but soon, they quieted, and the outer lamps were extinguished. When they had eaten their fill, Mariah and her companions pushed the trays aside and began to talk quietly of all that had transpired since Mariah left Cillian.

  When Xae told his story again for Han’s benefit about getting the messages from Mariah and Grelem and when Shira relayed her fears and visions about her parents’ fate, the air became tense.

  “Was it really Biorna?” Xae asked. “I mean, are you sure?”

  “How can I be sure of such a thing without having the White Bear walk in here and introduce herself? Of course, I’m sure, boy. You must learn to have a little faith. It’s not everyone who is blessed enough to have the gods talk directly to them.” She didn’t sound like she felt blessed, and she was glaring straight at Mariah. “Featherhead over here still doubts her own visions.”

  The funny thing was that Mariah didn’t really doubt Shira’s experiences or the fact that the Althamir seemed to be manipulating all of them. But she didn’t have to like it. Why had they picked her anyway? Surely one of the Sovereign, who knew firsthand what it was like to live under the reign of their oppressive king, would have been more suitable. Someone like Mellar, or even Nilovi.

  Mariah sighed loudly, turning her head and noticing that Grelem had curled up on one of the pallets and was breathing steadily in sleep. She smiled, but the sadness returned to her heart. “We can’t take him with us.” She nodded toward the boy. “It’s too dangerous, and he has no … protection.”

  “But he has nowhere else. With my parents gone …” Shira’s voice was tight, and Mariah was afraid her friend was on the verge of breaking down. “We’ll protect him.”

  “Let’s just see how things go, what our options are.” A thought struck Mariah. “Shira, you said that Berg is an old friend of your family? Would you trust him with your brother? Just for a little while?” There were no guarantees that they’d return, but she refused to voice the thought.

  “Maybe,” Shira answered without meeting her gaze.

  “If he stayed here, at least he wouldn’t be alone.” The look on Shira’s face … the pain was too much to bear, so she let it go. “Tomorrow, we’ll talk to the council once more if they’ll hear us, and then we’ll find a way out of here. We’ll go to Glenley.”

  Shira’s head snapped up. “No!”

  “What? Shira, your folks—”

  “No! They wouldn’t want this. We came all this way to help the little ones. Ma and Da wouldn’t want us to leav
e more of the kids to be hurt because we were tryin’ to save them. And gettin’ into a camp and then disappearin’ into the woods is one thing. Gettin’ into the castle would be impossible. It’s surrounded by a walled city. Forget about gettin’ out.” Her voice was firm and angry.

  “I got out,” Mariah said quietly. “I can get back in.”

  “No,” Shira hissed. “I refuse to discuss it anymore. I know what my parents would want, and I know what Biorna wants.”

  Mariah knew without a doubt that it wasn’t what Shira really wanted, but with those words, her friend rose and left the room, presumably to go to bed.

  Her remaining companions were quiet for several moments.

  Xae’s jaw was tight, and he fidgeted with his hands, popping his knuckles and twisting his fingers. “I know your mission is important,” he finally said, “but it can wait. I don’t mean to be cruel, but the children will still be there in a week … a month. But the longer Rose and Jahl stay in that place … How long before they become useless … expendable?”

  Mariah’s gut twisted. “I know.” How could she leave them there?

  “I mean, they helped us, risked exposing Shira, when they barely even knew us, and now we’re just supposed to let them rot? We’re probably the reason they were arrested to begin with.” Xae had voiced her thoughts almost to the letter, but …

  “How in the world are we supposed to get them out of someplace like that? Shira’s right. They can’t fly out like the two of us can or even pummel everyone in their path like Shira might.”

  “I don’t know, but we have to try,” Xae pleaded. “I never thought we’d be able to rescue my family, but we did.”

  An awkward moment of silence passed.

  “I might have some ideas,” Han said. He had been quiet for much of their conversation. “At the least, I have quarters in Glenley.”

  Mariah studied him. “What do you mean?”

  “I needed someplace to go on furlough when I didn’t want to go home or stay with my unit, so I have a little room in the city. We can start there and figure out the best way to get in and out of the castle. I think I might already know a way. I don’t know if it will work—”

  “But what about your captain? Won’t she be watching it?”

  “They don’t know I’m with you. As far as they know, I disappeared while chasing you. For all they know, you could have killed me and eaten my body.”

  Mariah’s face screwed up, reflecting Xae’s. “I’d never—”

  “I know that, but they don’t. Besides, Captain Atha must have returned to her post in Eaglespire by now. They’ll have sent other units, Trappers for sure, to find you. Anyway, I never told my unit about the room because I wanted a place where I could be away from the guard, so it should be safe, even if they are suspicious of me,” Han continued.

  “Tell us your idea,” Xae said, shaking off his disgust and moving closer.

  Although the boy had been suspicious of Han when they had told him that the man had been one of Rothgar’s soldiers, he had nodded and accepted it without much argument. Mariah realized that he trusted Han because she and Shira trusted him. As she listened to Han’s ideas, she hoped that their judgment wasn’t flawed.

  * * *

  The three of them talked long into the night, only retiring to sleep when they could no longer keep their eyes open.

  Mariah had returned to her room and had just settled onto her pallet when Shira began to stir. It quickly became obvious that she was dreaming. She voiced her fears in an urgent murmur and tossed and turned, and Mariah found herself wide awake once again, listening to her friend and wondering if she should wake her. But what if Biorna was speaking to her again? She had no idea what would happen if she woke Shira from such a vision.

  Mariah wished that she could talk to the goddess herself and give her a piece of her mind for torturing Shira throughout their journey with news of her parents and then refusing to let her act.

  A while after Shira’s mutters finally quieted, Mariah finally fell into her own fitful sleep, her thoughts on gods and goddesses and what, if anything, they were supposed to do about their cryptic messages. The Ceo San as a people were apparently born to serve the gods’ purposes, to remedy a need. Apparently, though, the Ceo San had no say in what they did and were expected to act without question. It was if they were slaves of another sort, this time at the hands of the gods.

  As if summoned by her thoughts, Mariah found herself in the same grassy field that she had visited during her vision in the dungeon, the same field where she had first met Old Cat Eyes, where he had told her that she was destined to save the Ceo San and Whitelea.

  Was she having another vision, or was she just dreaming?

  Mariah looked around for the god. She was sure that’s what he was, even if she didn’t know which one. After all, he had visited Gwyn’s dreams as well and even Tibbot’s. If she was having a vision, why had Old Cat Eyes waited so long to speak with her again?

  Her heart sped up, and she began to walk, climbing a seemingly endless low hill in search of him. Where had her eagerness come from? She tried to hold herself back, to remember how angry she was with him and his kin for using her and the other Ceo San like puppets. Why couldn’t they fight their own battles? From the beginning of time, it seemed as if they had found it more convenient to use the people of Whitelea as pawns.

  Despite herself, excitement filled Mariah when she finally spotted Old Cat Eyes over the rise. He was sitting atop a large boulder, his legs crossed at the ankles and his back to her. The long, rust-colored braid was still there, over a trim coat the color of blood. He didn’t turn, but just as Gwyn had known she was there the moment she scented her in her backyard so many weeks ago, Mariah had no doubt that he knew she was there.

  He extended a hand, and she found herself walking quickly, grasping it in her own before she could stop herself. He stood and pulled her into a warm embrace. “It is good to see you, Mariah.”

  Her throat was taut, and she found that she couldn’t reply, although her heart was full. Why did it feel like she was coming home somehow? That with him, she was safe. What pull did he have over her?

  When he released her, she stepped back, brushing at her tunic self-consciously and refusing to look up at his face.

  “You are upset,” he stated without preamble, and the shock of his statement, that he knew, made her look up.

  His green eyes, with their vertical, catlike pupils, showed no surprise or anger, only calm. “How did—”

  “Mariah, you have a role to play. You mustn’t let your emotions, your attachments, stop you from fulfilling that role.” He did blink then and look away for a moment, as if he was telling her to do something that he couldn’t do himself or as if he didn’t believe what he was telling her. “Sometimes, we must make sacrifices for the greater good.”

  Her mouth fell open. Was he suggesting that Shira’s parents were nothing more than tools, pawns to be forfeited? Her brows knitted together as the anger that had been subsumed by her joy in seeing him began to rise back to the surface.

  “The children have no one,” he continued, as if he were reading her thoughts. “Who will stand for them if not you?” It felt as if he had thrown a bucket of cold water over her, dousing her anger and leaving her desperately aching. “You must go to them. If you wait, it will be too late.”

  “What—”

  But before she could voice her thoughts fully, before she could scream at him, his form began to fade. She reached out, but her hands found nothing but mist. Darkness surrounded her, obscuring the grassy field and the boulder where Old Cat Eyes had waited for her until it all faded into nothing.

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  High Chosen

  Late the next morning, after a hurried breakfast, Kaddan walked Mariah and her group back to the council chamber, where, according to the girl, the members h
ad been squirreled away since dawn. Not that she could tell when dawn was supposed to be down here. She had no idea how deep underground they were, but the lack of sunlight was already getting to her. She itched to get outside, to fly, where the yellow rays of the sun could warm her wings.

  It suddenly occurred to her that she could see the sun anytime she wanted, that she could just wish herself outside, just as she’d done the day before. After glancing around at her friends, who walked beside and behind her, she decided against it. It wouldn’t be fair to them if she disappeared every time the whim struck. But it comforted her that she could. And it saddened her that Shira and Xae and the other Ceo San couldn’t seem to do the same.

  Looking down at her feet as she walked, Mariah thought about everything that had happened the day before and the decision she had come to during the night. She hadn’t really thought it through, she realized, but when she woke up, she knew what she had to do, and her doubts had faded. She would inform the council and her companions as soon as she was able. She only wished she had awakened earlier so she could’ve already gotten started.

  According to Kaddan, Nilovi had ordered her to let their guests sleep as long as they needed to. Mariah had been the first one awake, rising well into the morning, but her companions were up soon after. They had eaten in stiff silence, with no one very talkative. Only Grelem had anything to say, asking Kaddan questions about the Cellar between bites of his meal in the Melosi’s living area. Mariah had only half-listened, her thoughts focused on how her companions were going to react to her decision and whether any of them would survive the coming days.

  It wasn’t fair, she knew, but she had decided to wait and tell her friends at the same time as she informed the council. It felt childish and immature, but the truth was that she didn’t want to give any of them a chance to argue with her.

  The council chamber quieted as soon as they entered. Instead of sitting around the table, its various members were seated on pillows scattered about the room atop woven rugs that hadn’t been there the night before.