Draka

Mak, Val and Ardek left to question the archer early the next morning, while Herald and I slept. It was close to noon when they came back and woke us.

“He wants to talk to you,” Mak said as we gathered in the basement. “He hasn’t even talked to the council’s interrogators, though that might be because they’ve been unwilling to get rough with him until now. Kalder asked that we try, before they resort to harsher methods. I took the liberty of agreeing on your behalf.”

“Sorry, boss,” Ardek said. “Guy really refused to talk. He’s nowhere near as soft as he looks.”

I groaned. “Why, though? Why couldn’t he just talk to you? What the hell does he want?”

Mak shrugged. “To talk to you. He swears he’ll tell us anything we want to know if he can meet you, and since his method of tracking you sounded so important to you… I didn’t overstep, did I?”

I felt, more than saw her anxiety when she feared that she’d displeased me, that my annoyance was directed at her, and I hurried to calm her. “No, you did good. If talking to him is what it takes, then I want to talk to him. Where and when?”

I knew that she could feel that I meant what I said, and the tension left her as quickly as it had come. “Here, tonight. Mister Kalder will bring him.”

“I assume that means that Kalder will be listening to the conversation as well?”

“Not if we don’t want him to. He assured me so himself. We can leave him in the common room, but we’ll have to promise not to hurt the prisoner.”

“I mean… hurt? I can probably manage without hurting him, yeah. So, who is he? What do we know about him?”

“There is something of a mystery,” Val said after Mak looked at him, inviting him to take over. “His name is Avjilan. He is no one I know, and no one I’ve spoken to knows him by description, though that description has been vague so far. Fairly new in the city, I believe. By his appearance and accent, I would think that he’s from Faltha, far to the south-east. Nothing was forthcoming except that he’s a monster hunter.”

“Figures,” I said, not trying to hide my disgust. “Do you think he’s after the bounty, or just trying to kill me for its own sake?”

“The bounty is still for a wyvern,” Val said. “Even after the Adventurers’ Guild matched the Alchemists’ one dragon and twenty eagles, it’s still for a wyvern. This man surely knows what you are.”

“So he wants to be a big damn hero, or to sell me for parts, or to try to claim my hoard. Something like that.” I felt the venom leak into my mouth as anger roiled inside me. “And you expect me not to kill this man when I see him?”

“Better not, boss,” Ardek said. “This Kalder guy… being around him is a little like being around you. You understand what I mean? Like you’re only alive because he hasn’t decided to kill you?”

I huffed. Ardek was right. The guy did have an aura of danger around him. Not like he gave off the impression of being violent, just extremely capable of violence. As you’d expect of someone guarding one of the most important people in the city.

“Yeah, fine,” I said. “I get it. He, and by extension Sempralia, wants the archer alive, and getting on her bad side would be a huge pain. But I’ll be relying on you all to shut him up and get between us in case he says something extraordinarily stupid. Or if I just really, really want to kill him for some reason, Mak.”

“I’ll make sure of it,” she promised.

“Thank you. So. What did you agree with Sempralia? You were away for hours, but if the archer guy didn’t talk I can’t imagine you spent long with him.”

“I spoke with the lady justice, but not for long. I waited for hours before I actually met her. I don’t think that was intentional, though. I wasn’t the only person outside her office, not by far. Honestly, we didn’t agree on much, other than another meeting in the near future.”

“‘Not much’ isn’t nothing, though.”

“No. We did agree on this: If you help the forces in the south to the satisfaction of general Sarvalian, the lady justice will tell you what it is that the council needs your help with that they can’t do on their own. We pretty much can’t negotiate terms for that without us knowing what the issue is, so that will have to wait. But no matter what, if you fly south, she and some of her allies will start to work on public opinion in your favor. She wouldn’t promise success, but she did promise her best efforts, and I believe her. She’ll make sure that there are city guards, ones vetted by her own guard Kalder, nearby the inn at all times as long as you’re away. And I also got a promise out of her that the general will not ask you to put yourself at risk. That means reconnaissance only. You won’t be expected to deal with any raiders or anything like that.”

“What if I want to?”

She sighed. “Draka… Please be careful, all right? I know that you’re you, and you have some aggression to let out, but don’t take any unnecessary risks. Please?”

“Yeah, all right. But I’ll decide what’s unnecessary.”

“That’s the best we can hope for, I suppose. Ah, and I tried to get some gold out of her, but no luck, I’m afraid. I think she’s worried how it would look for the city to be giving gold to a dragon. But I won’t give up on that.”

“I know you won’t. Maybe see if you can get your taxes waived for the year or something?”

A grin split Mak’s face at that. “I’m sure the lady justice could manage some tax relief for services rendered to the city. Great idea!”

“She’s a clever one, our boss,” Ardek opined from where he sat. The flatterer.

“So, there’s one more thing,” Mak continued. “And the lady justice was adamant about this. She wants you to travel south with a small group.”

“What?” I asked flatly, my tone not at all betraying how annoyed I was at hearing that.

“Sorry,” Mak said. “She wouldn’t budge on that. I know that it’ll slow you down something awful, but she insisted. They’ll all be mounted, and she believes that they can be trusted, but it’s take it or leave it, I’m afraid.”

“Yeah, it’ll slow me down! And I’m guessing we’ll be traveling during the day, too?”

“That was what she wanted, yes. She says that she wants you to be seen. Though maybe not together with the others.”

“But why? If she wants me to be seen I could just fly long loops on my way down. Did she at least say why it’s so important that I travel with these people? Who they are?”

“No. Only that if you agree, she’ll inform us of a time and place to meet them. And I’m as confused as you are. This whole thing is supposed to show that you can trust each other, right? So if she doesn’t already trust you it’s not likely that they’re anyone very important, or that they’ll be carrying anything valuable. It smells of some kind of scheme, and she must know that we’ll see that.”

“Again, perhaps it is about trust?” Val suggested. “Do you trust her enough to do this despite knowing that there is a scheme behind it? Or perhaps she has decided to trust you already, based on what she knows. Your scouting for the army might be for the sake of the other council members. It could be that she simply wants to take the opportunity to use you to escort someone or something important. The mercenary raiders are still about, afterall.”

“Ugh, I don’t like this,” I complained. “I thought she was supposed to be straightforward.”

“Fair and equitable in her rulings, and true to her words. That is her reputation. If she is a skilled enough schemer, there would be no rumors about her being underhanded.”

“Fine. Tell her that I agree. I’m going to just hope that this is a sign of trust, and prepare myself emotionally for it to be some kind of scheme that makes me a new enemy,” I sighed. “I’d hate for you all to get into trouble because I don’t go along with her bullshit. Anything else?”

They all had things to take care of, so Mak and Val went upstairs. Ardek, to my surprise, stuck around, seemingly just to spend time. He told me a little about the people he’d recruited, mostly old friends or friends of friends, but other than that we didn’t talk about anything serious. He taught me a dice game that was very similar to dice poker, except that you rolled six dice and got to keep one for your next hand. Ardek explained that there would usually be a lot of betting, and most games ended with a fistfight, but that he’d appreciate it if we could just not do that. That ate up a good hour. It was nice to have another game I could play. The others, Tam especially, had tried to teach me some local card games before, but I had trouble holding the cards. Ardek’s large dice, though, were no problem.

It was pretty amusing, too, how Ardek had a dreamy, almost dazed look on his face half the time that we played. Rolling dice with a dragon had probably not been on his list of things he’d ever expected to do.

“Oh, before I forget!” Ardek said as he was leaving. He then cleared his throat, concentrated, and said, in Kira’s dialect of Tekereteki, “Hello dragon Draka! Name Ardek. Pleased!”

“Ah… hello, Ardek. Very good!” I replied in the same language, non-plussed but amused and impressed. The grin that broke out across his face when I replied was irresistible, though, and I couldn’t help but smile back at him. “Been spending time with Kira, have you?” I asked, going back to Karakani.

“Yeah, been keeping an eye on her when she’s healing and such, I’ve been helping her with the lingo, so she’s been returning the favor. Didn’t think I’d get along so well with someone I can’t talk to, but she’s easy to like, yeah?”

“She is that.”

I let Ardek go without asking, but of course I immediately started speculating about if there was or might potentially be something going on between those two. They had something in common at least: me. Both of them had been forcibly brought under me through a combination of good and shit luck; they’d both been associated with groups I loathe, but I’d decided to spare them instead of slaughtering them together with their companions. Together with being put together in the relatively small confines of the inn, was that enough for a friendship or even romance to bloom? Time would tell.

Well into the afternoon there was a minor commotion upstairs, and I felt both Herald and Mak moving around, meeting up near the front door in the common room. Soon thereafter Tam popped down to let me know that Maglan had arrived, and that he’d be having a quick, late lunch before Herald brought him down. I thanked him, he left, and I commenced worrying.

I felt some guilt about forcing this meeting. Maglan had no idea that I existed; he’d’ve probably heard the news about a dragon in the harbor, but that wasn’t the same thing. But it wasn’t him I was worried about, at least not directly. I was worried about Herald, and what would happen if Maglan freaked out.

Herald really liked this guy. She had claimed to not be in love with him, months ago, but I couldn’t help but think that had changed. She’d been so excited to go see him the previous night, and she’d left in tears after finding out that he was being sent south again. Now, if Maglan couldn’t both accept and keep quiet about me, there was no telling what that would do to their relationship, and despite how jealous I felt when I thought about her feelings for him I didn’t want to be responsible for ruining something good in her life.

I resolved to be on my best behavior, and only lightly terrify him if I absolutely had to.

I wouldn’t let him run off into the night shouting about how the Tekereteki women at Her Grace’s Favor were consorting with dragons, of course. I was hoping that his affection for Herald would translate into a willingness to keep a big, dragon shaped secret, but if I couldn’t trust him to stay quiet about me I’d have to break him, one way or another. I couldn’t kill him, for Herald’s sake, but that was fine. I didn’t want to do that anyway.

I didn’t want to. I really didn’t.

I’m going to kill him.

I squashed the thought ruthlessly, keeping myself still and ignoring Mak’s worried looks.

Things had been going fine. I’d been perfectly polite, and Maglan had taken the whole thing well, once the shock wore off. He was visibly tipsy, which Herald had told me was intentional on her part. She’d also been preparing him to see something utterly, unbelievably amazing, so that he’d properly steeled himself before I made my entrance. He’d prostrated himself, then stammered out an introduction once Herald got him back on his feet. I’d responded — very politely, I thought. I’d told him how much I’d been looking forward to meeting him. He flattered me outrageously. He made the connection between my eyes and the change in Herald’s from a rich, deep brown to gold, and talked for a minute about how beautiful Herald’s new eyes were and what an amazing gift I’d given her. Things were going just fine.

That was until Herald, sitting next to him, started unconsciously playing with his hand. He, equally oblivious, brought it up so that he could kiss her fingers as we spoke.

Seeing them kiss at the army camp hadn’t affected me a fraction as much as those small, affectionate gestures. Jealousy burned inside me. It was stupid and irrational, I knew that, but I wasn’t sure how to deal with it. I loved Herald. She was my best friend and my sister. I was not in love with her. He was not a rival in that sense. But he was a rival for her attention, and her affection, and seeing them like that caused a cascade of what-ifs in my mind. What if she started spending more and more time away from me? What if they got married? What if they moved into a house somewhere I couldn’t easily visit? What if they had kids?

It was the same ugly possessiveness that I’d been struggling with, and it was telling me, again, to hide Herald away so that I could have her to myself. Only this time I felt like I should kill Maglan first, to remove that possible complication. I even had to consciously keep my shadow from doing anything, which it most definitely would if I let it.

Maglan, thankfully, was entirely unaware of the violence inside me. When he laughed nervously it had nothing to do with me wanting to tear him limb from limb. “You know,” he said, “I was really nervous to meet miss Makanna — ah, sorry. Lady Drakonum, I mean. And that never really went away. It was like meeting Herald’s mother and older sister all at once, you know? But this, this is like — and I’m really sorry, lady Drakonum, I know how wrong this is! — this is like meeting the matriarch of the House. You have this air of authority about you, lady Draka. It’s—” He turned to Herald. “What was that word you taught me, love? When it’s like you could touch it?”

Herald was rubbing his palm with her thumb, smiling softly. “Palpable.”

“Right, yeah. Palpable! Like I could take one or two steps towards you, if you’d let me, but after that I’d really struggle.”

“Unapproachable, am I?” I fixed him with a look that must have been much more like a glare than I’d intended, because the scent of fear in the cellar immediately grew stronger.

“Ah, not as such? Majestic, more like? Regal?”

“Like you do not feel quite worthy to be in her presence?” Herald suggested, openly trying to butter me up. She couldn’t feel what I did the way Mak could, but she could read me like no one else. She knew how I felt about Maglan at that moment; the tension and worry in her eyes was obvious to anyone who knew to look for it.

Not that it stopped her from playing with his hand. Perhaps it really was entirely unconscious.

While their words slid off me, that worry shamed me enough to make me behave.

“Herald told me that she learned archery from you,” I said, changing the topic. I wasn’t really going anywhere with it; I just wanted to say something polite. “She’s an excellent shot. You must have done a good job.”

“Well, she’s a quick study,” he said, looking at her fondly. “And you liked it, didn’t you, love?” He looked at Herald, who smiled back at him. “I could barely get her to go home from the range some days. Of course, we in the regiments mostly practice firing quickly at formations. The sniping, shooting birds in flight and all, that’s miss Lalia’s doing.”

“Right. You like being a soldier, Maglan?”

“I suppose. Pays well enough, and I’ve got my mates. Even got some pay when we weren’t called up, just to come for training every morning. And now we’re called up I don’t spend much, so I can put most of my pay aside. But, ah… I haven’t seen a battle yet, have I? So I don’t know quite yet how I’ll feel once I do.”

That was honestly much more than I’d expected from him. I’d been prepared for him to try to impress us with bravado, and here he was giving a measured, thoughtful response.

“But you’re going back to the border soon, aren’t you?"

“Yeah. Tomorrow or the day after, I’d guess. Commanders won’t say. Don’t know what they’re waiting for, but we all have to be ready to move every morning. I have a kid coming around the gate every morning in case I need to send a message to my Herald.”

The two shared a sickeningly bitter-sweet look. Not in love, my scaly ass. And that whole “my Herald” thing didn’t help with my jealousy at all, which made me want to do something unfortunate.

Mak probably felt the bitchiness rise in me, because she chose that moment to speak up. “So, Mag, you’ve met Draka. You know about our secret friend. Can you keep that knowledge to yourself?”

“Well, lady Drakonum, I mean, it could put you all in trouble if I didn’t, wouldn’t it? I can’t do that. And you, lady Draka, you must be very important to Herald. She was so anxious about me meeting you, you know? And I haven’t heard about you hurting anyone, excepting those pirates in the harbor, so I guess you can’t be as bad as the stories. No, I’m not going to tell anyone.”

I looked at Mak, who nodded at me. “All right,” I told Maglan. “It was nice meeting you.”

Herald took his hand and led him up the stairs, and I let him go, both frustrated and relieved that I didn’t have an excuse to hurt him.

Late that afternoon there was a reply from the Lady Justice Sempralia. It came with a simple map. She respectfully requested that I prepare myself to meet my traveling companions at the specified location the next morning, two hours after sunrise, and then be ready to continue south. Everything was ready.

I had one last meeting to get through. One night with my sisters. And then, I was going to the front.