The Dragon Eater, page 24
part #1 of The Tharassas Cycle Series
“What in the holy heartland just happened to you?”
“It’s … I don’t know.”
“Aik, you were glowing red.”
Aik closed his eyes. He had no idea what was happening to him, only that it was because of the gauntlet. “They’re bones, Raven. Put them back now!” He didn’t want to look at the skull again.
Raven did as he was told, burying them again deep in the grain dust and closing the lid of the chest with a heavy thud. “What’s going on, Aik? You’re starting to freak me out.”
Aik closed his eyes. “I went to look in on you, after dinner. You … you were asleep. How are you here?”
“I put some pillows under the covers and snuck out. Oldest trick in the book.” Raven was reverting to his normal, smart-alecky self.
“Asshole.” It came out as a whisper. Aik looked up at his friend.
“Almost always.” He edged up to Aik, reaching out to touch his now-bare right arm.
“As soon as I closed the door to your room, this weird compulsion grabbed me. I couldn’t go back to my room. My feet led me here. To you. To this.” He blinked, the last of the wine-induced stupor clearing. “Like sleepwalking, but I was wide awake.” He stared at Raven. “What in the green holy hell is happening to me?”
Raven embraced him. “We’ll figure all this out.” He squeezed Aik harder. “If it helps … I know exactly how you feel.”
“You do?”
“I felt it too. When I stole the egg. I … I had to have it. Like this little voice inside my head egging me on.” He grinned. “So to speak.”
Aik flashed him a weak smile. “What’s happening to us?”
Raven sighed, glancing back at the chest. “I wish I knew. What was that … thing?”
Aik sank down onto the ground, turning and putting his back to the chest and his head between his knees. “Life was so much easier a couple days ago. I got up, went to work, did a full day’s shift, and went home afterwards.”
He felt Raven settle in next to him. “Tell me about it. So, when did this happen?” He pointed to Aik’s right arm.
“Yesterday, when you were out in the city with Silya. I’m sorry, Raven — I didn’t mean for it to happen. I was just trying to organize your things for you.”
“Was that … all the artifacts?”
Aik nodded miserably. “I put them next to each other, and they … fused. Like the inthym.” I was an idiot. After lecturing Raven over his stupid theft of the egg … “It looked kind of like a gauntlet, so I tried it on, and it … flowed around my arm. Now it won’t come off.”
“That’s really odd. Can you make it reappear?”
“No. It comes and goes when it wants.” He glanced at Raven. “It saved your life.”
“I know. I’m grateful. Honest.” Raven put his arm around Aik and squeezed him tightly. “We’ll figure this out. But you have to tell Silya.” He let go of Aik, staring at the open linen closet door. “You tried to tell me last night, didn’t you?”
“Yes … but then you surprised me with what Spin could do …”
Raven bit his lip. “So it’s my fault?”
“That’s not what I meant, and you know it.”
Raven met his gaze. “I understand. Still, too many secrets between friends.”
Friends. Aik bit his lip, disappointed for the hundredth time. “You sure you’re not mad at me?”
“Not mad.” Raven still looked spooked, though, a few shades whiter than normal. “Let’s get out of here before someone comes looking for us.”
“Good idea.” Aik closed his eyes, gathering his strength. He was exhausted, worn thin by the day’s events.
Raven helped him up, and together they fled the strange cavern. His friend closed the doors behind them, and they made their way back down the long hallway.
They were almost back to their rooms when a heavy hand landed on Aik's shoulder. “Where have you two been?” Ser Kek’s gravelly voice sounded suspicious.
Aik swallowed hard. “Just walking with Raven. He needed to get out of his room —”
“It felt like the walls were closing in on me.” Raven put on his most earnest look, the one that could convince mothers to give up their young. Or men to take him to bed.
Aik’s knees went weak again, despite all that had just happened. Or maybe because of it.
Kek frowned, clearly not convinced, but having no proof that anything was amiss. “The Queen wants to see you. Come with me.” The man set off toward the residential wing, clearly expecting them to follow. “I’m watching you two.”
Aik shot Raven a look, but his friend just shrugged. It was all out in the open, at least. And the frightening compulsion seemed to be done with him for now.
Aik shuddered. We’ll talk more about it later. Maybe I’ll finally tell you how I really feel. Aik rolled his eyes. And maybe aur will fly.
Iihil. In his head, he could still see that strange skull leering at him.
Come home.
18
Survey
Silya ran her hands across the bright green and gold ixhide mounted on the wall of her mother’s study, thrilling to the feel of the long thin hairs between her fingers.
“I shot that one myself.” Tri’Aya came up behind her, putting a hand on her shoulder.
Silya gently shrugged it off. “It must have been beautiful when it was alive.” She stepped backward to get a better look. “Where did you … find it?” She hated hunting. Even when Tri’Aya had taken her out to shoot mud moles and skerit for practice, she’d disliked it. Seeing the little things bleed out, their purple blood spilling onto the grass, broke her heart.
“In the Red Flights, far east of here. In ce’faine country.”
Silya winced. “Did you see one of the cheff?”
Tri’Aya’s eyes grew misty. “Once.”
Silya waited for more, but her mother was uncharacteristically silent. Things were good between them at the moment and Silya didn’t want to ruin it, so she didn’t push. Who knows how long this détente will last?
A strangely youthful portrait of Tri’Aya’s face stared at Silya from another wall. She’d looked at it for hours as a teenager, wondering how that apparently sweet young woman had turned into her mother.
A low rumble shook the room. Silya braced herself against the wall and the ix fur, shooting an alarmed look at Tri’Aya. The tremor scooted the heavy flopwood desk a few centimeters across the stone tile floors before subsiding.
“Strange times.” Her mother looked as uneasy as Silya felt.
“Indeed.” She glanced at the door. “The others should be here soon. Then we can talk about what I came for.” It felt good to speak to her mother as an equal, not the scared little girl she’d once been.
As if they’d been summoned, the two sisters arrived. Sister Dor entered first, giving the study a quick once-over and dismissing it from her mind. “Is there any word back from the Temple?”
Tri’Aya shook her head. “I’ll let you know as soon as the reply comes.”
Sister Tela took her time, examining the heavy oak desk, the matched paintings of Heaven’s Reach on the wall behind it, and finally the two bookshelves that were filled with leather-bound books. Her eyes lit up. “May I?”
Tri’Aya nodded. “Be my guest.”
Sister Tela poured over the titles, humming a cheery tune.
“Who else are we expecting?”
“Desla, Raven and Aik, if Raven’s feeling better. I asked Ser Kek to round them up.”
“Bit strange for a city guard to be traveling with you.” Tri’Aya wrinkled her nose.
“Everything’s strange these days.” Silya knew that look. The man had caught her mother’s interest. She ought to tell him to run, before Tri’Aya got her hooks into him — the sergeant was twenty years younger than she was. Then again, maybe her interest in Ser Kek would keep her mother off her back, but Silya felt a strange resistance to the idea.
Her mother snorted. “True enough.”
That simple agreement surprised her.
She was about to ask what other strange things Tri’Aya had seen of late when Raven and Aik arrived, escorted by the sergeant.
“Here you go, mim. I’ll leave you to your meeting.” He shoved the two inside as if they were adolescent delinquents, which wasn’t far from the truth. Raven looked paler than usual.
Silya glared at them. What were you two up to? She wished mind reading was one of her new abilities. “Ser Kek?”
The man stopped in midstride. “Yes, mim?”
“Please stay. I’d like your opinion on these … matters.” He was street-smart in a way none of the rest of them were, and his observations might be valuable.
The man looked surprised. “Of course, mim.” He slipped into the room and took a place behind the others, towering above everyone but Aik.
It has nothing to do with Tri’Aya’s feelings. Or my own. “Raven, are you feeling all right? I brought some fexin, and I’m sure Tri’Aya has something if you’re still a bit queasy —”
“I’m fine, Sil’Aya.” He glared at Aik, who looked away.
What’s that all about? And how did the little thief manage to make saying her name sound like an insult? She grumbled under her breath. Men
“Sorry I’m late. I was in the bath.” Desla’s golden hair lay flat on her scalp. “I came as quickly as I could.”
It was good to see the initiate wasn’t hung up on her looks. “Let’s get started.” She pulled the Menagerie and Queen Jas’Aya’s journal out of the carry sack she’d retrieved from her room and set them on the desk. “Two days ago, Aik came to me, asking for my help. He told me that something had happened to Raven.” She glanced at him. “Can you tell Tri’Aya what happened?”
Raven looked nervously over his shoulder at Ser Kek.
Silya met the sergeant’s gaze with the full authority of the Hencha Queen. “Sergeant, I’m invoking Temple sanctuary over what’s said and shown here tonight. Nothing that is disclosed can be used against anyone in this room.” She paused for effect. “Am I clear?”
Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Sister Dor nodding approvingly.
The guard growled. “Yes, mim.”
Even Tri’Aya looked at her with respect.
“Thank you. Now Raven, please tell us what happened.” She kept her voice firm but kind, pleased that things were off to a good start.
Raven bit his lip.
Aik reached out and squeezed his hand, and he found his voice. “I was walking down Grindell Lane. It was late in the afternoon, and I was about ready to head back to the lair for the day.”
Ser Kek glared at him, but kept silent.
“I heard the rumble of something approaching. I jumped out of the street and turned to see the sea master’s carriage. It’s very distinctive, with the carved blue waves on either side —”
Silya cut him off. “We’ve seen it. Move along.” Raven loved to spin a story.
“She got out at the guild hall. She was talking with someone. I think it was a guard —”
“Councillor Nes’Hoya.” Kek’s eyes were all but burning a hole in Raven’s back, his voice a low growl.
“Sure?” Raven squirmed under that gaze.
Silya hid her smile. She couldn’t help but enjoy his discomfort, just a little.
“Go on.” Desla put a hand on Raven’s shoulder encouragingly.
He bobbed his head gratefully. “This cloth-wrapped package was on the carriage's seat. I thought it might be worth something. It was a hungry week, and I needed the money, so I …” he glanced back at Kek.
Aik squeezed his hand again.
The three of you seem to have become fast friends. Silya wasn’t sure how she felt about that.
“I took it.” He squirmed under her gaze. “I didn’t plan to. But it called to me. I had to have it —”
Ser Kek slipped the loop of rope off his waist and stepped forward. “Rav’Orn, you’re under arrest for the theft of personal property. You have the right to an advocate —”
Raven twisted out of Aik’s grasp and backed away, looking around the den wildly for an escape route.
Desla threw herself between them.
“Ser Kek!” Silya slammed her fist down on the desk, and her voice cut through the room like a knife. Everyone went silent, heads turned toward her, except for Sister Tela, who was absorbed in a book.
The guard froze, his expression hard and his lips set in a grim line. “Yes, mim?”
“What part of Temple sanctuary don’t you understand?”
The poor man looked confused. “Mim, this man just admitted to committing a crime. And not just any crime. A high crime against one of the leaders of Gullton. The sea master has already agreed to press charges —”
“Enough.” This time the flames came when she called them, running up and down her arms in a blaze of force. “I am the Hencha Queen, and I declare this man off limits from your justice for as long as this crisis lasts. Am I understood?” She could hear the hencha singing in her ears, the weight of their combined consciousness filling her with power. It would be easy to become addicted to that feeling.
Ser Kek didn’t break a sweat. She had to give him credit for that. “Yes, mim. Understood.” He backed away, leaning against the wall.
Raven was grinning.
“And you.” Silya let the fire die away and turned her ire on him. “This doesn’t let you off the hook either, Mas Orn. You took something valuable that wasn’t yours, and I assure you there will be repercussions.”
Raven went pale, and neither man seemed happy. They glared at each other like a couple cornered eircats.
“Am I clear?” Only then did she notice the look of approval on Tri’Aya’s face.
“Yes mim.” Raven pulled his gaze away from the sergeant to stare at the ground, looking every bit the recalcitrant five-year-old.
“Sergeant?”
“Yes, mim.” His icy gaze stayed locked on Raven. “Once this is over, though …”
“Cross that bridge when we get there.” She immediately regretted that turn of phrase.
“If it’s still standing.” Raven looked up, his usual swagger back.
Silya rolled her eyes. There was no taking the gully rat out of the thief. “What happened when you opened the package?”
“I took it back to my lair, in the tunnels under the city. There was a silver box inside. And inside that, an egg …”
Ser Kek growled. “That’s a lie. That box was filled with croners for the treasury.”
Aik stepped between them, frowning. “No, it’s true. There was no money, just an egg.”
“You’re treading on thin ice. If you helped this thief, I could get you thrown out of the Guard.” He glanced at Silya. “Sanctuary or no sanctuary.”
“Sergeant.” Silya’s voice was ice. Men were maddening.
“Sorry, mim.” The man stepped back again, frowning. “I don’t believe him, though. The sea master was clear about what was in that box.”
Raven peeled off one of his gloves. “Do you believe this?” He held up his right arm.
Silya gasped, and she wasn’t the only one. Raven’s forearm was fully transformed now. It was beautiful — covered in smooth pearlescent scales — but it didn’t look human.
Raven spat. “That damned beast —”
“Verent,” Aik supplied helpfully.
“That beast cracked its shell, then forced its way down my throat. Now I have this to remember it by.”
“You’re very brave, Raven.” Desla was staring at Raven’s arm too.
“May I see?” Silya’s mother pushed past her to look at Raven’s arm. “Hmmm. The craftwork is exquisite. Still, I know a fake when I see one.” She pried at one of the scales.
“Owww!” Raven pulled his arm away.
“See? Fake.” Tri’Aya held up the liberated scale.
Anger burned through Silya, replacing the momentary warmth she’d felt for her mother. Tri’Aya thought she knew everything, but she didn’t know this. “You all right, Raven?”
Raven held up his arm, and Tri’Aya gasped. The place where she’d pried off the scale was healing, the missing scale regrowing over the raw skin.
Silya grasped Raven’s wrist, forcing it under Tri’Aya’s gaze. “If that’s a fake, why is he bleeding purple?”
Her mother staggered back, catching herself against her desk. She stared at Raven’s arm. “Lo’Oss protect us.” She made the infinity sign across her chest.
Tri’Aya suddenly looked a decade older, lines carved on her face, her lip trembling. Then she said something Silya had only heard her say a handful of times in her entire life. “I’m sorry.”
Silya’s mouth dropped open. “You’re what?”
Raven bobbed his head again. “It’s fine, mim.”
That surprised Silya more than her mother’s apology.
“It’s not right. Mim … Silya, she hurt him.” Desla rubbed Raven’s arm where the scale was already growing back.
Silya forged ahead. “You’re all right, Raven?”
He nodded. “See? All better.”
Stranger and stranger. “I didn’t see the egg, or the verent, though Aik showed me some of the egg shards. But I was there when a horde of inthym showed up, merged, and led us to safety after the first quake.”
“What do you mean, merged?” Tri’Aya was still staring at Raven, as if a cephlant had suddenly appeared in her study, tusks and all.
“Just that. There were a hundred of them, and then there was one.” Silya took a deep breath, collecting her thoughts. “We came to you because you’ve seen as much of the rest of the world as anyone here, if not more. Something's happening. I can feel it. But I don’t have a clue what it is.”
Tri’Aya had regained her composure. She paced back and forth in front of her desk. “So we have a new Hencha Queen. A couple strange occurrences with the local fauna. And two quakes, one strong enough to knock down the Old Bridge.”
Raven piped up. “And Aik —”
Aik elbowed Raven in the ribs. Hard.
