“Let’s leave our shoes here,” Aurek said.
“Leave our shoes!?”
“Otherwise they’ll just get dirty tonight.”
“I don’t want my toes to get stepped on!”
“I don’t have to take my shoes off, do I?” Oszin said.
“What a bunch of humans you are,” Aurek said. “The ground will get muddy, but suit yourself.”
That was probably all that needed to be said about dragon dances, honestly. They were raucous. I was initially worried about how Aurek would do with dancing, since I was used to dances being very formal and choreographed, and I thought that might hard for a blind person to do. I immediately realized that in this situation, it probably wouldn’t matter if every single person was blind, because they were bumping into each other all the time anyway.
Aurek still kept me off to the side, sensing that this was a little much for a human girl. But the joy was infectious, with everyone clapping and springing around, joining hands, embracing loved ones, stomping and swaying, with no rules at all. When they knew words to a song, they sang. The servants kept the drinks flowing.
Aurek dance with me for a song, spun me around and then passed me to Oszin.
“What have you got, farm boy?” I asked.
He did a Kamiri step, left and then right. Their dances were like water, all the way from feet to fingers and down through the back and hips.
“Ooh! I’ve never seen you do that.”
“My mother made me dance every year at the Fisherman’s Festival when I was a kid,” he said.
I flicked up my skirts, took his hand, and did a Gaermoni promenade.
“You’d think I’d know more dances, after watching other people do them…”
Seron had meandered over to watch us at a comfortable distance.
“Come on!” I beckoned to him.
“Nah…”
“You must!”
Eventually I coaxed him into a dance, mostly me dancing around him until Aurek said, “Remember what I told you.”
“What did Aurek tell you?” I looked at Seron.
“Ah, nothing much…”
“To show the court how much he loves you,” Aurek said. “Affection is infectious. At least kiss her.”
“She’s just so short,” Seron said, with a little smirk. I knew Seron much preferred privacy for his affection.
Then he swept me into his arms and kissed me deeply, and everyone could see. The dragons hooted, and soon I was the one blushing. My lips still bore the feeling of being crushed by his as he put me on my feet and spun me back into Aurek’s arms.
I felt so light and so happy. The pain that had dogged me since my father made me swallow the crystal seemed so far away now, hardly even a memory, like trying to remember bitter cold on a warm summer day. For so many years, I had yearned for nights like this, to be a part of things. Tonight, I was surrounded by the men I loved, and with every passing day, we were knit more closely together. I loved them, and they loved me, and I think even Oszin was starting to like Aurek and Seron, and vice versa. Of course, I knew Aurek and Seron loved each other already.
Father, you would never have guessed how happy I am, after all, to marry the dragon king. Whoever he might be.
On a night like tonight, nothing troubled me at all.
Chapter Twenty-Four
Ezeru
The passages leading to Imaru were colder than the rest of the kingdom. I woke up, the fire still smoking but barely warm, and all the rock dragons were lethargic in the cold. I took this as a good sign. If we found any rogues, they wouldn’t be quick to fight either.
We were almost there. Imaru was in sight, a dark ruin cupped inside a huge broken geode of black crystal. I hadn’t expected it to look and feel so ominous.
I could imagine King Orvenu handing his illegitimate son this castle. Had it really been a gift? Or was he just getting him out of the way?
Having rested up, I was ready to tackle this dark place.
It had been two weeks since I left Irandal. I had not run into too much trouble. Some high dragons had put up a fight, and I had to talk my way into peace. One traveling merchant wouldn’t let up; I had left him unconscious on the side of the road, with water and food close at hand, hopefully he would be all right. Trouble might come for me, but I had no interest in starting it.
The rock dragons stirred as I fixed some breakfast. They could hunt on their own, but they always wanted mine. I quickly learned that I couldn’t share and I had to keep them back, or they would swarm me and snatch food right out of my hands. The worst offender was a little female, Nuru, who would rub her head against my knee, trying to cajole my way into giving her a bite.
If I ignored her, she would swish her tail impatiently. “I want,” she said.
“Catch your own!”
I could use food as rewards for particularly good behavior. It was a fine line between fair discipline and just ordering them around.
I’m sure one of the biggest differences between Dvaro and myself is that I wanted to see the rock dragons as individuals and as people. Dvaro and Izeria didn’t look for it. They only saw a useful mob.
As I was cooking my meal, I sang to them, despite my ragged voice. All the songs were about how terrible Dvaro and Izeria were. It was doing a very nice job of making sure they remembered who the real enemy was. By now, they knew the words and they would start to pick up the song for me. More than anything, music got through their heads, and marked them as superior creatures to the snakes and weasels and fish. They understood rhythm and dance, and they added little improvisations. The men sang in a low drone, and the women in a higher howl, and the more they sang a certain song, the more they made it their own. It was the greatest pleasure of my day to get them going, and I’d picked up new recruits just because they were attracted by the music. By now, my band was nearly a hundred strong. In fact, I would have to turn them away from now on or we wouldn’t be able to find enough food.
Then, the song stopped. All the dragons suddenly stirred, their heads lifting.
I turned also, and saw movement near the castle.
“Hide,” I hissed at them, and they did.
The castle was quite distant. I couldn’t see much from here. One of the rock dragons put a small, scaled hand on my arm like he was concerned. This young rock dragon, Aknu, had become one of my favorites. He generally led the hunts, and had some command of his magic. He made an effort to approach me and communicate, when the rest of them just awaited orders. Sometimes, they took me off guard with a gesture that was so human it made me miss Himika unbearably.
“Okay?” he whispered.
“It’s okay,” I whispered. “Stay here.”
“We help you?”
“No. Stay.” I hissed at them a few times, warningly, until they were all sufficiently cowed, even Aknu, who crouched low and flattened his ears to acknowledge deference. Whoever it was, I expected they were Dvaro’s men, this far north. I was already worried they might see the trail of smoke from my small fire.
Using the rock to form a silent path up the side of the cavern, I got close enough to see two men standing on the bridge that led into the castle.
Now I had a choice to make; I could gather up my dragons and launch a full offense, I could spy on my own (I couldn’t trust them with espionage) or I could try to wait until they left.
They strolled into the castle, and I settled on spying. More than anything else, the high dragons needed to know what Dvaro was planning. I moved across the landscape, using the rocks as cover. It took me a couple of hours to reach the foot of the castle.
The dark towers of rock were cracked and crumbling, perhaps damaged in the last battle that this place would see. Still, it unfolded from the sparkling bowl of the geode like a sinister flower, accessible from a single bridge that spanned the glittering crystals. I saw no lights inside, and many of the windows were cracked and destroyed. Bats flew in and out of the upper windows.
I drew rocks up against my skin
, forming a partial armor, but not so much that I couldn’t move easily, and carefully climbed down into the bowl of crystals. I had no power over the crystals, but when I reached the crystal, it was constructed mainly of rocks and I was able to scale it easily, moving between windows until I heard soft voices inside.
“…at least the wine is good.”
“Really, the bat isn’t so terrible once salted.”
“Oh, no thank you. I have been spoiled on food of the sky realm, I’m afraid. They have large land mammals that make for such good eating, you can’t imagine.” This man had a measured accent, unfamiliar from the voices of other dragon’s, or Himika’s voice as well.
The other man grumbled. “And yet, there is no mist in the sky realm. No thank you. I’d feel much too vulnerable.”
“Then you probably rely too heavily on your magic. You hardly need mists in the sky realm, because the humans are so weak. I hardly ever needed to turn. Few of them are skilled mages. And…they are easily manipulated without any mist at all.”
My ears were pricked for every last word. The sky realm? So, the man with the unfamiliar voice was from Himika’s world…but it sounded like he might be a dragon.
They talked about the food for so long that my muscles began to cramp, but my patience was rewarded in time.
“So, Gerala…let’s get to the heart of it. You’re telling me he thinks Ezeru betrayed his kindness,” the man from the sky realm said.
“Well, you know, he’d been showing sparks of rebellion since his teenage years,” Gerala said, dismissive.
“What a shame. Izeria must be heartbroken. She adored that strange child.”
Like hell she did. I had no idea who this man was so I didn’t see how he would know. But that means he’s important enough that Izeria sends him letters, no doubt crowing about how good she was to me. Now, Gerala…I knew him, vaguely. He was a handsome man who usually traveled off doing gods-knew for Dvaro, but the ladies were all in a tizzy when he came home. He didn’t have a warriors build, but it was quite possible he had absorbed the power of some strong mists in his skin. Mist dragons who traveled were often the most dangerous because they could tap into many different kinds of magic.
“I think it’s for the best if she gives up on him,” Gerala said. “I always thought it was a bad idea to groom a rock dragon for greatness. It’s a splendid thing that they’re stupid. Why fight that? It’s been one of the most useful things about them.”
“Izeria strives for greatness,” the other man said. “Even if Ezeru betrayed her, I think she will still consider it a success… She made a rock dragon into a man.”
My fingers clenched. This was absolutely true. To Izeria, I wasn’t really a ‘man’ so much as an accomplishment. She was so pleased with herself to have made me into something, and I supposed I could thank her for every thought in my head… It was her great weapon over me. My great shame.
“But…she won’t give up on him easily,” the other man added. “There are ways…you know, to get him back.”
“Are you speaking of dahna mist? Does she have a source?”
He sounded a little coy as he said, “Let’s move on, shall we? I’m not authorized to tell secrets.”
The dreaded dahna mist. A mist that stole memories and controlled the mind. I had heard of it…but it was very rare.
Dahna mist in Izeria’s hands? What a nightmare.
“Very well, Rothair, let’s speak of the northern gate, then. You think you can keep holding it?”
Rothair, I thought. This dragon who has lived in the sky realm is named Rothair. I must remember this name.
“Oh, I can hold the gate all right. A lot of people still believe in the Elders,” the man said. “Not only do I think I can hold the gate, but tell my sister I think the Elders can spread their influence.”
His sister?
“Oh yes?” Gerala said. “Should Izeria make a move?”
Rothair is Izeria’s sister? Could that be right?
“This new emperor of theirs is young and he’s Gaermoni. We’ve already been seeding word in the north that he isn’t one of them, that he only cares about the southerners.”
He’s talking about Queen Himika’s brother, I thought. I was certainly in over my head now. Dvaro kept me away from any talk of his plans. But if I took this information back to Himika, she would probably understand better. It was extremely fortunate that I had chanced upon this meeting of two higher operatives in the abandoned castle.
“Come to the north,” Rothair said. “The conditions are far more favorable.”
“Ahh, wouldn’t that be a prize? But can we hold it?”
“If we’re ever going to do it, it should be now. Besides that, Guardian Niko is looking for his mother,” Rothair said. “I have a strong suspicion of who his mother is. He looks like a certain someone…and it certainly matches her origins. I never trusted her anyway.”
“Who?”
“Peri.”
“Peri?”
“The prison guard.”
“Oh…just a prison guard,” the second man said, dismissive.
“I pay attention to everyone, Gerala. You should do the same. Prison guards hear a lot of things.”
“Isn’t she the one without a tongue?”
“Yes. She was part of Dvaro’s great tongue purge.” Rothair chuckled. My stomach twisted as Peri’s loss was reduced to a joke. Just a prison guard… Yes…my poor Peri had played her part so well over the years. She had kept her position, and she had indeed heard many things as a result, but rather than act on them, she waited. Now I knew what she must have been waiting for. The return of her real son, the guardian.
“Whatever she hears, she won’t be repeating it.”
“Yes. But the guardians are powerful, and Niko has been appointed trade minister. If he’s looking for her, there’s a bargaining chip to cut off the trade prospects between the humans and the high dragon king.”
“Ahh, and that’s how he gets Ezeru back?”
“I am so disappointed in Ezeru, I really am. Izeria should never have had her fun. She made him so strong. It was an experiment that failed and I should have known better…” His voice lowered into a softer tone. “No, she can never trust Ezeru again unless severe steps are taken.”
“You warned her against taking him in, didn’t you?”
He paused. “No, at the time I didn’t… I thought…” I heard a hand smack the table. “Well, look, let’s just make sure it doesn’t happen again.” They both got up.
I needed to get this information back to the high dragons. They want to get me back in exchange for Peri. I had tried to hard to conceal Peri’s identity, and we had concealed how much we cared for each other, as best we could. Peri’s outward face was tough as nails. So it was always my hope that Dvaro wouldn’t consider her worthy of bargains.
But this man has seen Guardian Niko…seen a family resemblance…and put the pieces together.
That was definitely bad news. I wondered if it was possible to stop them. It sounded like Dvaro had no idea about any of this yet.
Soon, they came out the castle entrance and made their way back to a transport cart that was parked behind some rocks. I trailed them, moving slowly around the outer edge of the geode’s walls until I found a good vantage point among some black rocks outside the castle. They had two small attu with them to tug the cart, who were currently rooting around grazing for roots. Rothair was holding something roundish and ivory in his hands—
A skull?
I didn’t have even a faint idea of what purpose a skull would have, but the sight of it gave me a feeling of unspoken terror, like the dark castle itself.
“It’s been too long since we’ve done this,” Gerala said.
“I don’t enjoy it.” Rothair grabbed one of the attu by the reins. “I hate their ugly little faces. It’s too bad we can’t kill them all,” he said, his tone turning very sharp.
They tied up the attu some distance away, unlocked the cart a
nd started lifting out sacks of kuda roots, a sweet root preferred by the rock dragons. They dumped the roots everywhere and then stood back to watch. Gerala waved his hands, and a deeply alluring smell began to rise from the kuda. Even my own mouth watered as it drifted my way.
This is a trap.
That was obvious, but I had no idea how I could have stopped it. Now that the men were out in the open space of the cavern, it would be difficult even for me to make my way back to my camp without being seen.
Hopefully, my dragons were far enough away that they wouldn’t be attracted.
Gerala and Rothair tried an attraction call: “Zhoot zhoooot!”
I rolled my eyes. That’s a female call, you idiots.
Still, I saw rock dragons approaching from multiple directions. When they saw the bounty of kuda root, they started running, making their own little calls to signal to their families that there was food for the taking.
I looked toward my camp.
Fuck.
Chapter Twenty-Five
Ezeru
I’m sure if no other rock dragons had appeared, mine would have stayed put. However, naturally the sight of all the other rock dragons in pursuit of a feast brought out a competitive streak and I saw the herd of them thundering down.
“Where did all those come from?” Gerala asked.
“That is odd,” Rothair agreed. “That’s a massive herd to be running around wild. There must be a new food source here.”
They immediately rushed into the feeding frenzy and started grabbing up the kuda roots. Once they had joined the group, Rothair looked around, and when he didn’t see any others coming, Gerala spread his hands. Now a relaxing mist spread among the dragons. They stopped battling over the roots and just chewed slowly. A few even dropped off into sleep.
Rothair lifted up the skull, chanting out a spell.
“Blood of Orvenu…show me your kin…”
My skin started to glow.
Startled, I shaped the rocks to cover me. Rothair and Gerala were too preoccupied with the rock dragons to notice. I carved out a slit from the rock so I could still watch.
The Kingdoms of Sky and Shadow Box Set: A Fantasy Romance Page 43
