“That won’t be an issue. I never blush when I lie.”
That penetrating gaze again. “And you lie often?”
Kierion coughed.
Tonio swept right on. “Tomorrow morning, you’ll undertake mind-blocking lessons with Master Giddi in case you come up against tharuk mind-benders or that dark dragon. You’ll leave late tomorrow, arriving in Montanara under the cover of darkness.” He nodded at them. “Get to the Brothers’ Arms as soon as you can to meet Danion. He’ll give you further directions so you can get to work. The code to give Danion when you meet him is black pepper. Repeat it now.”
“Black pepper,” Kierion, Gret and Fenni chorused.
“At least you’ve got that right.” Tonio stalked forward, thrust his face into Kierion’s and jabbed a finger into his chest. “Just for a change, don’t do anything stupid.”
Precious Time
Leah entered the infirmary and approached Marlies, grinning. “I have the piaua juice vials, all clean and ready to go.” She held out a small wooden box containing row upon row of slim vials nestled in sheep wool.
Marlies pulled one out and held it up to the light. The girl had done a good job. An eager trainee, Leah was keen for any opportunity to learn new skills. She nodded. “Excellent. Pop them in Liesar’s saddlebags and then get ready.” She turned back to Seppi, who was thrashing on the bed.
Adelina sponged his forehead. Mara hovered nearby with a brew of feverweed.
“Good, sponging will help keep him cool. His fever should come down by nightfall unless he has an infection. If it doesn’t break in two hours, give him more feverweed. If you’re really worried, ask Ezaara for help. She’ll be back from her hand-fasting holiday tonight.”
Seppi’s wound wasn’t looking promising, but Ezaara would be here to tend him in a few hours. A twinge of guilt hit Marlies. Now wasn’t the best time to look for piaua juice, days away in Lush Valley. But there was never going to be a good time. She was exhausted, bone weary and worn out. Battle could come at any moment. They needed the juice as fast as possible.
As she rose, Seppi turned over, clutching her hand. His eyes became focused. “Marlies, the dark dragon seared me with its eyes, yellow rays slicing through my belly.”
He’d been babbling like this all morning, making no sense at all. She squeezed his hand. “I’m sure it did, Seppi. Rest now, and you’ll recover more quickly.” If his wound didn’t get infected. It was too early to tell whether this fever was due to infection or just the pain he was in.
“You don’t believe me, do you?” Seppi’s eyes were lucid, his gaze steady. “Yellow fire shot from that dragon’s eyes. Like sunbeams. But everywhere it touched, it burned and sliced.
She squeezed his hand again and turned to Leah who was coming back from the infirmary ledge.
“I’ll be back in a moment, Master Marlies,” Leah said, ducking out the door.
They had to go now. It was three days’ flight to Lush Valley, then they’d spend a day there, harvesting, and have to fly straight back. Living in Lush Valley with direct access to the piaua tree had spoiled her. She’d grown sloppy, relying far too heavily on the restorative juice. She’d taken it for granted for years.
Seppi gripped her hand again, his voice low and urgent. “If you don’t believe me, check Septimor’s wings. Everywhere those light beams hit, there were holes in his wings that left him howling and screaming in pain.”
Marlies paused, turning back to Seppi. Rocco had healed Septimor’s wings and mentioned those wounds, wondering what had caused them. Seppi was experienced, had been the leader of the blue guards for more than twenty years. Perhaps it wasn’t just fever speaking. “Thank you for letting me know, Seppi. I hope you’re on your feet and back in the saddle flying Septimor when I return.”
She nodded to Mara and Adelina. “Be sure to let Ezaara know if you have any concerns tonight.” She hugged the girls. “Thank you for filling in for me and Leah.”
As she turned, a figure stirred in a chair in the shadows of the infirmary. “Surely you weren’t going to leave without saying goodbye,” Hans mind-melded as he unfolded his legs and stood. “Marlies, you’ve hardly slept in days. You’re exhausted. Please, rest for a few days before you go.”
“Hans, we need to face reality. I know you’ve been trying to deny it.”
“Just because you’re exhausted doesn’t mean something’s wrong with you. I’ve told you that before. If you take things slowly, you’ll recover.”
Gods, she could throw her arms around him. If only it were true. Aware of the girls’ eyes upon her, Marlies didn’t dare speak aloud. “Hans, I’m the master healer. I’m not afraid to diagnose myself. I knew the risks when I took piaua berries in Death Valley. Those berries would’ve killed me if Tomaaz had found me a few hours later. But he saved me. And if it wasn’t for the berries, I’d be dead at Commander Zens’ hands, so they served their purpose. But the damage has been done. Piaua berries have long-lasting effects. I may not have realized how far-reaching the effects would be, but I feel them now. My time is coming.”
Leah entered the room wearing her thick winter cloak and tall boots. The young girl nodded at Hans.
Behind them, Marlies heard Leah bustling the girls out to the ledge to say goodbye to her and Liesar. Mature beyond her years, the girl knew Marlies and Hans needed time.
Hans approached Marlies, his eyes glimmering. “But a few short moons ago, when you left Lush Valley, you were in the prime of your strength.”
“Not anymore,” she murmured, keeping her voice gentle. It broke her heart to see him aching like this. Broke her own heart to acknowledge the truth that she’d been hiding these last few weeks.
“How could your health fade so quickly?” he croaked between sobs.
“That’s why I have to train Leah while I can. She’s a true tree speaker, Hans. She’s gifted in healing.”
He enfolded her in his arms. How she wished she could stay in his warm embrace, safe and comforted. But it wasn’t reality. War was looming. A battle could erupt at any moment, and wounded riders and mages would flood Dragons’ Hold.
“Marlies, I haven’t told you. I didn’t want to tell you because I didn’t want you to go.” Hans’ sigh ricocheted through his chest against her breast. “This dark dragon that plagued Seppi and Tomaaz… there are more, Marlies. Swarms are coming. I saw them in a dream last night. They could overrun us.”
A shiver snaked down her spine.
He kissed her brow. “We’re going to need all the piaua juice we can get. May the dragon gods speed you and keep you both safe. Whatever you do, don’t get caught.”
Marlies’ throat was raw and swollen. “Fleur corrupted healing at Dragons’ Hold. We don’t know how many people she murdered with her poisons. Now, there are no healers left here, except me and Ezaara.”
He nodded and held her tighter.
“Ezaara has other responsibilities, Hans. She can’t be Queen’s Rider and the only healer at Dragons’ Hold. I have to train Leah while I can.”
“I know,” he whispered against her hair, his breath soft and warm.
“And what about you, Hans?” she asked. “Anything could happen to you. Bruno corrupted prophecy as much as Fleur corrupted healing. What are you doing to train your successor?”
Before Hans could answer, Marlies bent and shouldered her rucksack.
“I nearly lost you last time.” Hans’ bright green eyes shimmered.
“And I nearly lost you,” Marlies melded, stroking Hans’ stubbled chin. “I love you, Hans. I always will.”
Her heart aching, she walked outside into the snow to Leah and Liesar.
§
Taliesin sat at a corner table, took a spoonful of soup and closed his eyes. Tuning out the hubbub in the mess cavern, he savored the taste of sweet potato and lemongrass.
“Mind if I sit here?”
He snapped his eyes open. His cousin, Sofia, was standing on the other side of the table, holding a bowl of soup, watc
hing him.
Taliesin gestured with a spoon to the seat opposite him. “Sure,” he said, taking another spoonful.
She sat down, sighing. “The same soup again.”
He didn’t care whether he ate the same thing all year. Any food was better than the rock-hard bread and weevil gruel the tharuks had fed him in Death Valley.
“Taliesin, um...” Sofia stared at him.
An awkward space stretched between them. Taliesin hadn’t seen much of Sofia since her trial for attempting to kill the Queen’s Rider, but she was the only family he’d talked to in years. His parents and siblings had been murdered in Death Valley.
Sofia ate her soup and took a few bites of bread, her eyes scanning his face.
He didn’t mind not speaking—he hadn’t spoken for weeks when he’d first come to Dragons’ Hold. In fact, having numlock as a slave in Death Valley had meant he’d been incapable of coherent thought or much speech for years.
Sofia’s mouth quirked up in a smile. “You know, I wondered for years what had happened to you…”
Taliesin shrugged. It would have been strange for her to have a whole family go missing, but that was no reason for Sofia to attack the Queen’s Rider.
She stared at him. “I, um.…”
“What is it, Sofia?” he asked.
A tear slid from her eye. “I’m, um, sorry.”
That, he hadn’t expected.
She reached a hand across the table. It had been so long since he’d been with his family… He reached out, placed his hand near hers. She grasped it. “Taliesin, I’m so glad you’re alive.”
His eyes pricked.
She squeezed his hand tightly. “It’s all right, Taliesin. We’re family. You can be yourself with me.”
Anger swelled inside him. “I don’t know if I want to be your family, Sofia. Tomaaz’s family has taken care of me, and you tried to kill his sister. I don’t know if I want family who try to kill the people I love.”
Sofia gripped his hand tighter. Her mouth drooped. Her soup forgotten.
Taliesin disentangled his hand, pushed his soup bowl away, and left the mess cavern.
§
Hans paced the length of his sleeping cavern, turned, and paced back. Turned again… He couldn’t go on like this all morning—it had already been hours since Marlies had gone, but her words were still pounding through his head. “The damage has been done. Piaua berries have long-lasting effects… I feel them now. My time is coming.”
She couldn’t be dying. No, he refused to believe it. Lars wouldn’t have sent her off if he thought she was unwell. She must be tired. That trip to Death Valley had taken everything out of her.
Nagging doubt persisted, eating away at his mind.
Gods, how could he face life without her? They’d been together twenty years—longer. And with the ability to mind-meld, a talent only three other couples and their dragons had ever achieved, her death would rip apart his soul. He ran his hands through his unruly curls.
Someone rapped at the door. Thank the Egg for the distraction.
Hans opened the door to Lars standing there, face grave. “Can I please come inside?”
Hans showed him in. “Would you like a cup of tea?”
“No, I’ll make this quick and to the point.” Lars closed the door and placed a hand on Hans’ shoulder. “Hans, I’m concerned about Marlies. She doesn’t look well, and you’re looking tired too. Bruno and Fleur made such a mess of healing and prophecy.” He took a deep breath. “I hate to mention this, but we need a contingency plan in case something happens to either of you. And soon. I’d like you and Marlies to train your successors.”
Marlies’ words rang in Hans’ head. “And what about you, Hans? Anything could happen to you. Bruno corrupted prophecy as much as Fleur corrupted healing. What are you doing to train your successor?”
Hans swallowed. Nodded. “Of course, Lars.”
§
A whimper woke Hans. He sat up, cocking his head. There it was again, a terrified yelp coming from Tomaaz’s sleeping cavern. He swung his legs out of bed and rushed into the room. Taliesin was thrashing in his sleep. He often had terrible dreams of the treatment he’d suffered at tharuks’ hands in Death Valley, but this was different: he was clutching his head.
Hans shook him awake and sat on his bed, pulling the boy into his arms. “Taliesin, what is it?” He stroked sweat-sodden hair off the lad’s forehead.
Taliesin stared up at him with those deep, lake-blue eyes and shuddered. “It was awful. Screaming in my head. Everything was dark. Hundreds of flapping wings.”
The dark dragons. It had to be. Hans had dreamed of them only yesterday.
Someone knocked at the door. Had Tomaaz finished patrol? No, he wouldn’t knock. Who could be visiting at this hour? “Come in,” Hans called.
Lovina padded into the bedroom in her nightdress with a riders’ jerkin thrown over it. “He’s been dreaming, too, hasn’t he?”
Hans nodded. “So have I.”
Lovina’s eyes were grave. “Hordes of dark dragons, Hans, the ones Tomaaz fought. I’ve been dreaming of them for the past two nights. Huge, leathery wings blotting out the sun. And screams, as if someone was torturing a thousand beasts.” She shuddered, rubbing her temples. “Even after the dreams have finished, I can’t get them out of my head.”
This was it—his teaching moment. Hans had started training these two gifted young ones weeks ago. Now they had no time left. “It could be a prophecy, or a dream, brought on by what we’ve been hearing.” He rocked Taliesin gently. “How would we tell the difference?”
Lovina’s brow crinkled. “If more than one of us with the gift dreams something, that’s a sign.”
“Anything else? Hans asked.
Taliesin pursed his lips. “The light looks different in those dreams,” he said. “It’s clear, with golden edges.”
This boy would never cease to amaze him. Hans had been trying to explain to Marlies for years how his visions were different than normal dreams, but he’d never been able to put his finger on it. Now here was a young boy, barely escaped the torture of Death Valley, who’d nailed it. Sure, he was Anakisha’s descendant, so he probably had prophecy in his blood, but still… Hans couldn’t help grinning.
He ruffled the boy’s hair. “Well done, Taliesin.” He winked. “That’s exactly how it is.”
“It is indeed. You’re so clever.” Lovina leaned in and gave Taliesin a quick hug. “I’m glad Tomaaz rescued you.”
“So am I.” Taliesin clambered off Hans’ lap onto the bed. He grinned. “I love my new family.”
Hans grinned back. Among these terrible times, there were pockets of joy, things to celebrate. “And I’m glad to have you both as part of my family. Let’s put on a brew.”
Handel mind-melded. “Those young ones awake again?”
Chuckling, Hans stood and reached into a drawer to grab some woolen socks for Taliesin. Lovina helped the boy pull them on.
“That they are,” he replied. Hans could feel his dragon’s mind whirling. “What is it?”
“I’ve been dreaming of dark dragons, screaming, blotting out the horizon with their wings, burning fields and villages. Searing the skin off our people. Is this what has plagued these young ones?”
Hans sighed, running a hand through his hair. “Yes. These are dark times.”
“Enjoy this quiet moment while you can, Hans,” Handel replied. “We haven’t seen the worst of this yet.”
Discovery
“I told you, Son. You were too slow. You should’ve taken that girl when you had the chance.” Pa whirled, his boots scraping stone. “But no, instead of listening to me, you had to play with her, a cat with a mouse.” His father’s eyes cut through him. “I’ve trained you to be a wolf, not a pussy cat.”
The blow came out of nowhere; Bruno struck Simeon’s cheek snapping his head around to face the cavern wall.
Simeon’s eyes smarted. He clenched his jaw, staring at stone, refusing
to face his father.
Pa yanked his hair, pulling his face around. His stinking breath wafted over Simeon as he thrust his face close. “Hear me?” he growled. “Next time, pump your seed in that girl, then we’re gone.” Pa let go of his hair and paced the stone floor again. “I know what I’m talking about, Son. I have experience. I’ll teach you the best way to take an unwilling woman.”
But Simeon didn’t want to take the Queen’s Rider and run. He wanted her, the whole deal, all right, but he wanted to take his time. Make her pay. He suppressed a smile. When it was time, he’d do it his way. Not Pa’s.
“Hear me, Son? Next time you do what I say.”
“Sure, Pa. I’ll be quick.” He wasn’t talking about Ezaara. At his side, hidden from Pa’s view, Simeon ran a finger along his blade.
§
Unocco’s wings were tiring and he was hungry. The Naobian sun warmed him as he soared on a tailwind over Crystal Lake. Ahead was a forest and the caves where Naobians fossicked for dead jewel beetles. He could rest in a cavern there before he attempted the flight over the Naobian Sea to the Wastelands—not that he’d ever stoop to eating the brightly-colored bugs or their larvae. No, a young goat would do fine for him.
“Bruno, can you hear me?” He’d been casting his mind out, asking the same question for days—without an answer. But he had to try.
He was thirsty too. That water below was so clear, his reflection flapped back at him. “Bruno, can you hear me?”
Maybe Ajeurina was right. Maybe he should turn around and head back to Dragons’ Hold. Just the thought made his chest ache and the hollowness inside him deepen. No, not without Bruno.
“Unocco?”
He was imagining things. Must be the heat. Or the hunger. He’d have to eat soon.
“Unocco, did you call me? It’s Bruno. How are you, boy?”
Unocco’s heart thrummed. “You’re alive.”
“Very much so. I’ve missed you.” The warmth in Bruno’s voice made Unocco’s chest lighten. “I’m terribly sorry I mistreated you. I was under Zens’ influence. It was awful. I tried to fight it, but he was too strong.”
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