Revelation of the Dragon

by J Elizabeth Vincent

  “Mari, you saved me,” he had said. “Just in time, you gave me a chance to redeem myself, to help you. We can use the armor they gave me to save Shira’s parents. Just let me tell you my plan.”

  The memory still fresh, Mariah glanced around and looked over to find Midelia with her back pressed to the door. Mariah turned back to Xae. “Put it away.”

  Reluctantly, he complied.

  As he did, Mariah took several deep breaths and began to explain Han’s plan to Midelia.

  “You trust him? How? With that plan, he could just hand you over, and you wouldn’t be able to fight,” the older woman said when she was done. Her gaze kept darting back to the chest where the offending items were now stowed.

  “He’s proven himself to me,” Mariah said simply.

  “I don’t think I could be so trusting, Chosen,” the other woman responded, her voice shaking.

  “Perhaps we should gather our things and stay in the temple until they return.”

  Midelia’s eyes widened, and she nodded fervently. “Yes, yes, I think that would be much better.” By the time she had finished her sentence, her gaze was back on the trunk, and Mariah knew she had made the right decision.

  * * *

  “Xae, it’s too dangerous, and it’s also not necessary.”

  “Girl’s right,” Tibbot muttered.

  “We left Shira with him!” After seeing the Trapper’s armor, Xae’s secondary trust in the former soldier had eroded quickly.

  “Not to mention Teneth and Berg,” Midelia piped in.

  “If his plan was to hurt them, he would have done so by now.” She shook her head. As much as she hated to admit it, Han was in awe of her. He almost seemed to worship her. She was sure that alone would keep him from hurting anyone she loved.

  They were once again in Damaris’s study, having revealed Xae’s discovery to the Keeper and to Tibbot. Now, the Keeper sat quietly at her desk while the rest of them tried to figure out what, if anything, to do about it. Xae wanted to take Mariah and fly out immediately to intercept their friends and confront Han.

  Trying once more to calm her young friend, Mariah said, “You know we can’t fly out of this city. We’ll likely both be shot down. Even if we get past the guards on the wall, we’ll be alerting them that we’re here. I’ve been thinking about it, and about what Damaris told us, and I think that’s why he took Shira’s parents.”

  “What do you mean?” Xae asked.

  “Somehow, the king found out I was linked to Shira. Zirana and Odrin saw us together in the mountain camp. If they found out who I was, then they would be able to tell the king who I was traveling with. Not to mention those at the slave camp. A hawk, a bear, and ravens. All it would take is one spy in Grof to get suspicious enough to find out what the Caden family has been hiding all these years.”

  Tibbot nodded, following her logic. “So, he took the girl’s parents to get you to come to the rescue—”

  “Where he could capture you and make you a slave,” Xae finished, all the fervor gone from his words.

  Mariah nodded. “Thus sealing his hold on Varidian and beyond.”

  Midelia walked over and stood at Mariah’s shoulder. “High Chosen, are you sure about this plan? It seems you are playing right into the king’s hands. Perhaps you should leave Glenley altogether and forget this rescue. Now that you know what will happen—”

  Mariah spun to face the woman. “Would you?” she asked with more venom than she intended. She took a breath before she continued more calmly. “If those were your friends, your family, in there, would you leave them to the king’s will if there was even a chance of saving them?”

  Midelia blinked several times and then shook her head, turning away.

  “Well, I feel the same. I cannot leave them if there is even a small chance I can free them.”

  “But what about Han?” Xae pushed.

  “Once the others reach the city, I will talk to him. If I have any doubt at all, I will come up with another plan. I promise.”

  “Fine,” Xae responded.

  Mariah’s stomach grumbled, and she realized that they had never eaten the dinner they had carried away from the temple. But things were still not quite settled. “Keeper Damaris,” she said, approaching the woman’s desk. “May we shelter here now, as Tibbot has? It will only be a few more days at the most.”

  The Keeper was quiet for several moments, her eyes on the book in front of her. Finally, she answered. “Yes, but I urge you to consider what this wise woman has said.” She gestured to Midelia. “To go into the Keep, to risk being captured, you endanger not just yourself but every citizen in the kingdom.”

  Mariah wanted to snap at the Keeper, but she ground her teeth together instead and nodded. “I will consider it.”

  * * *

  Later, in the sparse, cell-like room Mariah had been given, she was still finding sleep elusive. Xae’s paranoia was eating at her. Thoughts of Han trapping Shira or, worse, sneaking up on her and killing her kept flashing through her mind. Her nerves were on fire, and when sleep came, it brought nightmares. After a particularly harrowing one, she woke up breathless, but sleep dragged her back down before she could rouse herself.

  A sharp, cold breeze brushed over her brow, cooling the sweat that coated it, and her breathing began to even out. White light seeped through her eyelids, and she blinked, opening her eyes to a white landscape. She stood on the bank of a vast sea, with cracked and broken ice floes floating in the dark water before her. It was vast and quiet, and a serenity settled over Mariah that she hadn’t felt since she had settled things with Gwyn back in Wellspring.

  “It’s beautiful, isn’t it?” The voice at her ear was feminine but rich and deep.

  Mariah nodded. “Where are we?”

  “We are in the far southern reaches of Whitelea. This is my domain, both in dreams and in your reality.”

  Mariah turned to see a large woman at her back. She was taller than Mariah and broad, wrapped in pale hides and spotted furs. Her skin was tanned and leathery, and her hair was pure white, almost translucent. “Who—”

  Her rumbling laugh was soothing, but there was something at the edge of it, something dangerous. “Your kind call me Biorna.”

  Mariah’s eyes widened. Biorna? The White Bear, goddess of the Althamir? Her wonder was soon replaced by irritation as her memories made the connection. “Why have you tortured my friend? Warning her about her parents but then refusing to let her act? You knew, didn’t you? That she wouldn’t go against your wishes?”

  “Don’t fret, little bird. I had my reasons.”

  “And what reasons were those?” she demanded.

  The goddess considered her with deep brown eyes. “The bear follows you, as she is meant to, but before you returned to the king’s stronghold, certain things needed to happen. If you had returned here as soon as you learned of her parents’ fate, darkness would have fallen upon our land, a darkness so deep that even my brothers and sisters and I and all of the Ceo San from sea to sea would have had trouble bringing light to the land again.”

  Mariah puzzled through the words. She wasn’t sure exactly what the bear goddess meant, but perhaps it had something to do with the Sovereign. “Is it safe now? For me to rescue them?”

  The bear laughed again, but now, it prickled Mariah’s nerves. “Dear child, it will never be ‘safe’ for you, at least not for a long while yet. But now there is a chance for light.”

  “Why didn’t you tell Shira this then? Why torture her with dreams?”

  “Even I must be careful. When one reveals too much of a possible future, she risks changing it into the very thing she wishes to avoid.”

  Mariah opened her mouth to protest again, but Biorna laid a heavy finger over her lips.

  “But I would offer you a boon if you would listen. The High Keeper has been keeping knowl
edge from you. Important knowledge.”

  Mariah nodded, her interest piqued, and the goddess lifted her finger from Mariah’s lips and began to talk.

  * * *

  Late the next morning, after sharing breakfast with her friends and the Keepers, Mariah confronted Damaris in her study.

  “Tell me how to get into the keep, Damaris. I want the truth this time.”

  “I cannot tell you. He wouldn’t want this.”

  “He who?”

  “He doesn’t want you to return to the castle. He knows the prophecy as you now do. You cannot risk falling into the king’s hands again.”

  “He who?” Mariah repeated, although she had no doubt it was Old Cat Eyes, once again manipulating her life. She wished she didn’t feel such a strong attachment to the supposed god, that he were there for her to scream at. But for once, he was strangely absent. When the Keeper remained stolidly silent, Mariah switched tactics. “I was told that some of your tunnels lead into the keep itself, that others lead completely out of the city.”

  Damaris’s eyes widened. “How—”

  “Do you realize how much you could lower this risk you are so worried about if you showed me these tunnels?”

  “High Chosen, I cannot! He would not allow it!”

  Mariah nearly screamed in exasperation, but before she could say more, a faint shimmer filled the air between them. She gasped and stumbled back as the image of Biorna, looking as she had in her dream the previous night, materialized in the room. She was looking straight at the Keeper.

  “Great Goddess!” Damaris exclaimed, dropping to her knees next to her desk.

  “High Keeper,” Biorna nodded, her form dissipating and reforming along the edges as she spoke. “My brother is too close to this matter to see it clearly. Whatever he says, you must give this knowledge to the High Chosen. I command it.”

  Damaris stared at the form, and Mariah guessed by her expression and her trembling hands that physical visitations such as this one by the Althamir were rare, even among the Keepers. She herself had never seen any of them outside of her dreams and had started to doubt they had actual physical forms.

  Stuttering, the Keeper started to argue. “But, Goddess, please …”

  Biorna laid a hand atop Damaris’s head. The woman closed her eyes, calm filling her face, and a long moment passed in silence.

  As Mariah watched, the bear goddess removed her hand and smiled down at the woman.

  “I … I … Yes, Divine One. I will do as you say.”

  “Thank you, Keeper.” With that, Biorna turned to Mariah. “Give my regards … and my apologies … to the little bear.” She winked at Mariah and then disappeared.

  Chapter Thirty-One

  Betrayer

  While they waited for their friends to arrive, Tibbot, Midelia, Xae, and Mariah spent the next two days in the High Keeper’s study, examining every map of Draydon Keep and the area around it that they could find, familiarizing themselves with its layout. With no further protests, the Keeper also brought out maps of the tunnels that led from the temple to the Keep and those that led out of the city.

  “There is but one tunnel that leads into the king’s castle. I will have to lead you there myself because it has been closed off for many years, ever since …”

  “Ever since what?” Xae pressed.

  “It is no matter. I will go as far as that. After you go through, I will lock it again. I will check the door regularly for your return, but I will not leave the gate unsecured. I cannot risk my sisters’ well-being. As for the tunnel leading beyond the walls, it is long and treacherous as it goes deep beneath the Fosse.” Mariah had only recently learned that the river-sized moat that encircled the city had a name. “You’ll do well to make sure that you are not followed. I also cannot guarantee that the passage will not be flooded. It is old and has not been well maintained. It was built by another king long ago in a time of war, when the city was under siege.”

  Her news was not welcome, but the tunnels were their best hope of escape. If they were lucky, she would have nine people to get safely out of the city. Han might know another way, but for now, the tunnels were their only option.

  * * *

  On the eighth day after they had arrived in the city, Xae brought news that their friends had reached Glenley. He spotted them outside Neiman Jein’s shop. Without speaking to the newcomers or alerting them to his presence, he had come to the temple to fetch Mariah.

  When she and Xae returned to Han’s room, they were greeted warmly by the others just outside. When Teneth asked after Midelia, Mariah asked Xae to fill them in as he escorted Teneth and Berg to the market for food. The boy did not want to leave Shira and Mariah with Han, but he acquiesced.

  Shira was no fool. As awkward silence filled the space, she asked, “What’s going on?”

  Mariah looked to Han, who was sitting on his bed, his head down and his hands hanging between his knees. His boots and trousers were muddy and road worn, amd his face was unshaven.

  “Xae found your armor.”

  He looked up at her, confusion in his eyes. “Yes. I told you about it.”

  Mariah’s eyes shifted to the trunk.

  “Really?” Shira asked. “It’s in here?” She backed up a step toward the door.

  The big man rose, his head almost touching the rafters, and went to open the chest that contained his belongings. Carefully, he took out the Trapper’s chestplate, cuff, and chain. The all regarded the items grimly.

  Shaking her head, Shira asked, “What’s the problem then? We can’t very well get into the castle without them.”

  “I think … Well, seeing them here, imagining the way you plan to use them”—Mariah met Han’s gaze—“Well, Xae thinks you’re keeping something from us, that you’ll turn once it’s too late.”

  “Poor kid,” Shira muttered. “Must be hard bein’ back here.”

  Mariah agreed. Here so close to where his father had been killed and his family had been taken by someone wearing this same uniform.

  Han slowly put the items back in the chest before sinking back down onto the bed. “He’s right, about one thing at least.”

  Mariah’s mouth fell open. “What?”

  “I haven’t told you quite everything. And it’s fair you know before you put all your trust in me.” Shira had narrowed her eyes at him, and Mariah waited. “You see,” he began without meeting either of their gazes, “Being a soldier, but most of all a Trapper, it was all my mother ever wanted from me. My father, he was a soldier as well. When I was just a tot, he was sent with a small company into Laikos. They knew about the wolves all along, and the king still thought he could take them. Not a man returned.”

  Mariah’s heart twisted. How could she feel sorry for him? For the soldiers that had probably been slaughtered by Loleon’s pack? They had gone into those woods to enslave or kill people, people who had done nothing to them or their king.

  Han spoke once more into the silence. “I found out, much later, that my mother had vowed to see as many of those ‘animals’ trapped and killed as she could. I didn’t know that then … I wouldn’t have told her …” His voice was thick as he trailed off.

  Mariah waited, confused, for several moments, but he didn’t continue. “Han, what do you mean?”

  He lifted his head briefly and met her gaze. His hazel eyes were glazed over with tears, and his brow was tight. “I knew about you. Remember, I told you that I’d followed you down to the creek when I was a boy?”

  She nodded.

  “And you asked me if I was the one who’d reported you? I denied it.”

  Something squirmed in Mariah’s stomach. “Yes.”

  “Well, I didn’t lie, but I didn’t tell you the whole truth. I was so excited, so fascinated by you. You were beautiful … I told my mother about you, you see. I thought I could trust her.” His
eyes went back to his hands, hanging limply between his knees. “I was wrong.”

  Mariah’s throat closed up, but she pushed the words out. “Your mother?”

  “Yes. I told her. I don’t think she believed me at first. She thought I was just making up fantasies because I didn’t want to believe you were … deformed. But we lived so close, just across the road, so she started to keep an eye on you through the front window of the shop. It was my fault. If she hadn’t been suspicious because of what I’d told her, she’d have never known, would never have spotted your feathers.”

  “The shop?”

  “Yes, my mother was the baker.”

  Her hand over her mouth, Mariah sunk to the floor, grief and pain seeping into every fiber of her being. Her own mother’s incomplete letter—the one now nestled in her pocket with the missive from her father—had insinuated that it had been the baker that had turned Mariah in. The baker had brought in the soldiers that chased Mariah from Eaglespire, from Varidian, from her family.

  Shira’s hand touched Mariah’s shoulder, and Han sank to his knees before her. “I’m sorry. I’m so, so sorry, Mariah. I’ve regretted telling her every day of my life, but then you and your family were gone. And I was supposed to take care of her. It was my duty. I loved her, and with my father gone, she had no one else.” He gently took her hand in his. “But I didn’t want to go back. Here, I mean. Please believe me. I was halfway to desertion when we met. I’d left as much gold as I could with my mother and was planning on getting a ship out of Kilgereen when you showed up.” That awe that she had seen so many times before filled his expression.

  She couldn’t speak for a long time.

  “Please, let me help you, help Shira. Let me finally do something good for once.”

  It was Shira who spoke. “I think we should.” She looked briefly at Han before meeting Mariah’s gaze. “We’ve had a lot of time to talk, to get to know each other on this journey, and I just got a feelin’. If you never want to see him after this, let him go, but I think he’s meant to help us.”