Slither

by Melody Steiner

  “Where are the others?”

  “Here.” His eyes follow the bug until it reaches a corner of the room. Then he wets his lips and sweeps hair away from his face. “I’m tracking them.”

  I sit up straight, shoulders perpendicular with the ceiling. “Don’t you have some kind of dragon sense? Can’t you recognize your own kind?”

  “Can you?” He glances at me and smiles. There is sadness in the look, a weary vulnerability I have never seen before. “They’re living among the humans. They smell just like you and I.”

  My mind absorbs this new information. If there are other changelings living in Trana, it means the dragons didn’t all leave like the legends say. Why would Adom track them except to make them join the herd? “The Battle of the Sky Rock is a myth?”

  “You learned about the stone soldiers?”

  Avoiding his eyes, I say, “Muuth taught me a little bit of history.” I don’t want to give too much of my knowledge away. He might reconsider keeping me with him in Trana if he thinks I know enough to get by without him. Besides, I don’t want to put Muuth in danger.

  If he’s angry at this, he doesn’t reveal it. “Muuth was there the last time the stone soldiers appeared. The day the sun went black and many of my kind died.”

  “But if it’s true, why are there still dragons?”

  He shrugs. “Because the story is distorted, and Muuth has a touch of the theatrical.”

  “He’s got a touch of something, that’s certain.”

  Adom’s eyebrows crinkle. “It isn’t his fault. He’s bound to the mountain. Muuth lived there before the dragons came. He considers himself the guardian of the island.”

  I always thought the dragons kidnapped Muuth the way they kidnapped me. “Maybe you don’t know Muuth as well as you think. He hates it there.”

  He hesitates. “If he hates it, why doesn’t he leave? Last time I checked, his boat was still tied to the underground dock. Nothing is stopping him from leaving. He’s always had a choice.”

  “What do you mean? What boat?” And why did Adom emphasize he?

  “It’s hidden in the cave used for bathing. I’m surprised he never told you about it.” He can’t seem to meet my eyes anymore. “You couldn’t have used it in any case,” he mutters. “The water dragons would have overturned it and drowned you for sport.”

  I’m angry that Adom has me stumped. I can’t ask Muuth whether or not it’s true unless I go back to Onyx. And I don’t plan on going back to the island. He’s just toying with me. Muuth wouldn’t have hidden a boat all these years. Adom wants to drive a wedge between us, to make me question my loyalties. I won’t waste my energy on his lies.

  “So we’re here to track down the changelings?”

  The corners of his eyes tighten. “That’s right. We’re here to find them.”

  My stomach contracts. “And what will we do once we’ve found them?”

  “That depends on how...compliant they are.”

  “You’re trying to move them to Onyx? To reintegrate them into the herd?”

  He turns and gazes out the window, grim shadows haunting his visage. Sunlight glints in his eyes, making them glow like violet gems. “That might be ideal in some cases.” Then he looks at me with hollow eyes. “In other cases, we may need to resort to drastic measures.”

  My breath catches. “You expect to kill some of them, don’t you?”

  “I already have—”

  Someone raps on the door. I bound across the room, dread coursing through my veins. A changeling? A nosy neighbor listening in on our conversation? I press a hand to my collarbone.

  Adom doesn’t look perturbed. “Here,” he thrusts a pile of ruffly clothes at me.

  Heartbeat slowing to a relatively normal rhythm, I let my hand fall to my side. “I’ve already got clothes on.” I stare at my white attire. I’ve only worn it one day.

  He snorts. “Those are night garments.”

  Night garments? “Very well.” I snatch the clothes from his hands. “But turn around.” Fabric slips out of my hands as I fumble to undo all the buttons and ties.

  The knocking grows more urgent.

  “Hurry,” he urges.

  I throw the clothes on over my head and pull them over my waist. “I’m ready,” I declare, proud about how fast I managed to finagle the thing on me. Why in the world do women wear such excessive folderol? To look like a cake? I’ll take my airy and simple shifts any day!

  Adom turns around and lets out a curse. “It’s on backward.”

  I right the outfit. “Now?”

  His eyes light with approval. Then he pivots to the door and calls, “Come in.”

  “Brought something for the we—” Raina stops mid-sentence, her rosy cheeks puffing in exertion. “Oh. Sorry to bother you, my lord. I just brought up a blue ribbon for your ward.” She flutters in, right hand on her buxom chest. “Would you like me to put it in her hair?”

  He catches my eye. “It’s her hair.”

  “Just put it on the bed.” I back away from Raina’s eager hands.

  She lets out a tireless sigh, places the ribbon gently on the bed and then turns to Adom. Curls bounce like springs against her shoulders. “Lord Faigen’s having a celebration in an hour.” Color deepens in her cheeks, underscoring cornflower eyes.

  Adom surveys the maid with a flat, unimpressed lip line. “Faigen’s hosting a party? Why?” He glances at me and for a moment we share matching expressions of disgust.

  “He’s leaving to become a soldier,” Raina croons. “He wants to battle the dragons.” She spares me a look so full of sympathy I want to pull out her curls strand by strand. I can’t tell her the truth with Adom in the room, but why can’t she see through his guise? Isn’t it obvious?

  Then I realize the significance of her words. So people in Trana do believe in the fight against the dragons? I wish I’d known there were efforts of that sort. I’d have sent messages in bottles or by pigeon, if I could have trained them. I glance at Adom to read his reaction.

  He’s turned white. “Tell Lord Faigen we’ll have to decline.”

  Raina’s forehead creases; her enthusiasm dims. “But why? The good lord wants to see you before he travels to the city. It’s been such a long while since you’ve visited!”

  Adom visited here before? He knows this town? He knows Raina? And he’s a friend of this Lord Faigen? Adom never told me he had human friends. How does he scorch the fields of people he knows? How does he do it and possess a shred of humanity?

  But it explains the doe-eyed glances Raina keeps giving him.

  “We’re also on our way to the city,” Adom says. “The king wants to see me tonight.”

  The king? How can he lie so boldly? And yet I can’t contain the thrill of excitement that flows through me when I hear him mention the city. It’s the perfect place to lose him.

  Raina looks like she wants to persuade him otherwise. The maid’s eyes mist, but before she bursts into huge crocodile tears, Adom changes the subject. “How soon can the footman ready a carriage? I’d like to leave before dark, if possible.”

  I’ve never ridden in a carriage before. Papa used to say they belong only to fancy people. An icy chill goes through me. How does Adom have the money to pay for an inn, much less a carriage? I think of simple farmers like my father. Heat surges through my veins.

  Raina’s smile returns as his eyes caress her. “Do you have to leave tonight?”

  “Unfortunately, yes,” Adom says reaching for her hand.

  She giggles when he presses lips to her skin. “Our driver raved about you all morning, though he’ll be disappointed when he hears you won’t attend Lord Faigen’s—”

  Adom pauses mid-kiss. He elevates his chin, dark black hair falling over his left eye, and relinquishes her hand. “The king said no one should know of my comings and goings. H
ire someone from out of town. Someone who doesn’t know who I am.”

  She looks like she wants to cry again. What the hell is wrong with the woman? “I’ll tell Simon,” she sniffs. “We’ll see what we can do.” She lets out a small sob and flees.

  I straighten the neckline of my pinching dress, and then tuck hair behind my ear. There’s a reason he wants me here, and why he expects me to play the part of his ward. In the startled silence of Raina’s departure, I give him a measured look. “Why am I here, Adom?”

  “I need to you help me locate the changelings and convince them to leave Trana, to leave all they know, and come with me to Onyx. It’s the only way to strengthen the herd.”

  “Why me? Why would you suppose I would be a good candidate for this?”

  “Because it benefits you. With other humans on Onyx, life won’t be so horrible. You’ll make friends. You’ll have helpers. Things will reform as the changelings begin to integrate.”

  It does no good to remind him that life will always be horrible, purely because I lack basic freedom. How could he think I’d wish that curse, enslavement, on anyone else, changeling or no? “What if they don’t wish to come with you?”

  “You want to kill dragons, don’t you?”

  “No. I want to kill you.”

  He winces. “Put aside your desire for revenge for a short while longer, Rat. If they choose not to come, the changelings risk endangering all of us. You know the stories. You know how it ended the last time the stone disease afflicted them.”

  Stone disease? He assumes I know more than I do, but I don’t plan on revealing my ignorance. “So you want me to spy for you, to tell you if I discover one of these changelings?”

  He nods. “I need someone who can go places I can’t and be my eyes and ears.”

  I consider this for several seconds. “Then I need more autonomy.”

  Adom’s eyes linger a moment too long on my face. He swallows and lifts the bit of blue ribbon Raina left behind. “You heard me tell Raina I have a meeting tonight. That isn’t a lie. I’m not leaving without you.” The set of his brow softens as he studies the bit of silk in his hands.

  The ribbon looks like the kind of flouncy thing Raina would wear, and I would not. Ever. Watching Adom with Raina is unsettling, because he isn’t the man I know and it makes me doubt myself. If Adom is attached to a silly, giggly Tranar human, he can’t be the monster I’ve labeled him. That would change everything. But he can’t feel genuine affection for her, can he?

  I worry the inside of my cheek. “How far away is the meeting spot?”

  “Two hours by carriage. A few minutes flying.” Adom’s eyes intensify. “But I don’t plan to fly so close to the city. It isn’t a safe place for dragons.”

  My eyes settle on the window. It’s not yet noon. “What time is your meeting?”

  “Midnight.”

  “It’s only mid-morning. Whatever will we do to pass the time?” Maybe I can ply him with alcohol at this extravaganza Raina was telling us about and confuse his wits. Or maybe the other human females, like Raina, could distract him all evening so he later sleeps soundly and I could make an escape. I cross my legs, expectantly.

  He avoids my merciless gaze. “I’m not interested in the party.”

  I tap my foot impatiently against the floor. “You’re interested in keeping up this Lord Malandre ruse,” I guess. “You think playing a lord will help you uncover changelings.”

  “I have other priorities.”

  “But you wouldn’t want to insult Lord Faigen.”

  He releases an exasperated sigh. “It sounds to me like you want to go to the party.”

  I shrug. “I’ve never been to a party. How should I know whether or not I want to go?”

  His eyes fix on mine, suddenly intense. A crooked smile crosses his visage, now shades brighter than a moment ago. “It would overwhelm you.”

  I fake a confidence I don’t feel. “Then I’ll stay here and see if I can uncover changelings at the inn,” I promise, patting my hand on the bed. “You go. Have fun.”

  Adom nods to himself, almost as if he fully expected this response. He tugs me off the bed. “I know precisely how your mind works. If I go, you must come with me.”

  I spread my hands apart. “But I have nothing to wear.”

  “I’ll buy you a dress,” he replies too quickly, as if he’s already considered this.

  I have the strangest feeling he tricked me somehow. My objective was to send him off to this party, to keep him distracted so I could slip away. I don’t have any interest in parties or people, for that matter. “You said I would be overwhelmed.”

  He flashes a wolfish grin. “I’ll protect you.”

  Adom now seems so eager. Suddenly, I’m not sure this event is the wisest idea. “I don’t need your protection.” I put as much space between us as possible without being too obvious.

  “Fine.” He grins. “But there are rules. Stay close beside me. Don’t ask questions. Say nothing about dragons. And tell no one my real identity,” he warns. “If you do, I’ll have to resolve it in possibly bloody and probably violent ways. It could get messy.”

  My eyes trail to the closed door. “You’re heartless, Adom.”

  “I am,” he agrees. “But this is as much for your protection as it is for mine. Some people want to see both of us dead.” He says this with such a composed look I almost miss his meaning.

  “Why would anyone want me dead?” I reconsider my question. “Not counting Ona.”

  “My enemies are your enemies.”

  “Who are your enemies, Adom?”

  “Never mind that now.” He clamps his mouth shut.

  I try reading his thoughts. Why can’t he be transparent now? Only moments ago, he poured out his motivations in uncomfortable abundance. Now my life hangs in the balance of some unknown aggressor? Why the secrecy?

  ~ * ~

  Raina rejoices when she learns we’ve changed our mind. “I’ll send for the seamstress to fit your ward into a lace dress for the party. She’ll do wonderful as a swan, and I think you’d make a fine garden snake if you don’t mind my saying so.”

  “A swan and a snake? Whatever for?” Adom asks.

  “Oh, didn’t I mention? Lord Faigen’s party is a costume ball. You’re meant to dress as the animal you think best represents you.”

  If that’s the case, I should go as a rat. I’m as small, and as ugly, and as resilient.

  Adom glances at me. “A swan,” he murmurs. “Yes. I see it now.”

  I bare my teeth and then look out the window. He wants me to be a swan for the party? To preen and smile and play the part of an elegant, giggly companion such as Raina? Fine. I’ll go as a swan. I once saw one of those lovely creatures peck out the eyes of a squirrel.

  ~ * ~

  As soon as we enter Lord Faigen’s assembly hall, my heart begins to race. Open-mouthed, I slide the swan mask away from my eyes until it rests above my forehead.

  Animal heads and furs hang along the gray-green walls, gory symbols of the conquering warrior. Loud music, sharp scents, and bright paintings contrast starkly with the dark wall color and lurid animal pelts. Already, I can tell Adom is right—this party will overwhelm me if I’m not careful. The stench of sweaty, human bodies weaving around each other on a dance floor, gyrating and swaying to the beat of a hide drum.

  A woman standing next to the drummer plays a smaller stringed instrument that looks similar to my brother Collum’s worn old violin, but the strings sound like a horsehair bow dragged across a wobbly saw. Then there is another man, seated on a pincushion pillow, strumming on an oval sitar. The man and the woman playing the spellbinding instruments also sing with raw conviction while the percussionist whoops and groans in the background.

  Neither Adom nor I are dressed as elaborately as some of the individuals before me
now. I’m wearing a white dress with ivory feathers Raina stitched on along with small, glittering glass gemstones, and a slender, silver-colored mask secured to my face with a bit of string. Adom is wearing a garden-snake green jacket paired with a black velvet mask, leather gloves, a gold vest, and matching boots over black trousers.

  “Welcome, welcome,” says a glittery tiger climbing down a grand staircase in the colorful foyer. He gestures to the red buffet table. “Lord Faigen has already gone, but in his honor you are welcome to imbibe exotic wines and feast on musty cheeses.”

  Adom lets out a curse as a servant passes by with a tray full of yummy niblets and glasses of wine. “You see?” He turns to me and spreads his hands wide, as if this is somehow my fault. “Of course Faigen would abandon his own party. That man is as fickle and as useless as—”

  “Mold on a cave?”

  “How did you know I was going to say that?”

  I cock an eyebrow, raise a fan over my mouth, and whisper, “Dragonisms.”

  He bends until his nose aligns with mine. We are hidden behind my lacy black fan. Adom reaches for a glass of wine from a passing tray. The thudding beat of the music shakes the red liquid as it exchanges hands. Noise rises from the ground beneath me, a steady thump thump.

  Adom sways an inch closer. “I can see I’ll have to keep a closer eye on you.”

  I snap the fan shut and take a deliberate step away. “You’d have to find me to do that.” The air is too tight in this room. And what is that horrible smell? It smells like sandalwood, only there is a human odor to it, like these people haven’t left the room in a week. Who is this Lord Faigen and what does he do for a living? Why doesn’t Adom like him?

  He straightens and folds his hands together. “I have a gong.”

  “I won’t always be around to respond to that horrid thing.” A newcomer pushes past me in his enthusiasm to join the raging pile of humanity in the room beyond ours. I bare my teeth and hiss the way a dragon would. He can’t hear me because of the noise of the music.

  “No, I suppose not.” Adom studies his wineglass. “You’re nearly of age now.”