Sunny Side Up, page 21
“Ugh,” I sighed. Dragons were so enigmatic. Constantly talking in riddles. Eondian—explain it to me.
The explanation is simple. Lean into the bond. Do not let worry rule your thoughts.
Easier said than done, I mumbled.
I mulled his words over in my mind as we continued to fly. Maybe I was overthinking things. If the council found Arthur innocent, I could do nothing to change the outcome.
I considered Sydney’s desire to go to college. That would not be an easy road after little experience with traditional education. She’d struggle. The expense wasn’t a concern, but she’d be in for long hours and years of schooling.
No more than you, Eondian added.
Snorting, I reached forward and scratched an itch above his eye ridge.
He went on, extra chatty today, Why do you worry? Perhaps what you see are your own fearssss, your own weaknessesss.
TWENTY-FOUR
Sydney
The trial had gone on for several tense weeks. I tried my best to avoid what was happening, but it was difficult with the mountain packed full of people only here to watch and be entertained by the horrible thing that happened to me. The only saving grace was that those outside the Temple weren't privy to the actual memories of my abduction. However, photos of my jail and bruises were part of the official physical evidence. One showed the bruising across my ribs beneath my pulled-up hoodie. Another was of my arm that showed a bruise in the shape of fingers—I didn't even remember that one. Then one of my hip, which was black and blue with a matching circular purple mark where Emrick had injected me. Another showed off my swollen, bruised, and cracked knuckles, but the worst photo was the one of my face. I didn't even recognize myself. My expression made me look haunted and broken, which I clearly was in that bathroom when Taya had taken the photograph. My naturally wavy hair was a dull tangle around my head, and green eyes looked listlessly out of a pale face streaked with dirt and tears. One side of my face was puffy and dark, with dried blood along my cheekbone.
Taya told me they were shown for the trial that day. Like a dummy, I asked to see them and regretted it instantly. I just wanted to make sure I'd been decent, and they weren't showing anything too personal, but I hadn't expected the way they made me feel. The girl in those pictures wasn't me—well, it was—but it wasn't me now. I'd had to work through some crazy shit to get where I was today. Thank god for Babushka Anna! Every afternoon, we sat in the living room. She'd knit, and we'd talk in Russian. Our conversations and her wisdom were healing me—well, that and Ashe. My bondmate never pushed and never judged. Instead, he held me when I cried and reminded me that he loved me and I was safe now.
However, tomorrow I'd join Ashe and Evgeni in the Temple for Arthur's testimony. My grandfather would answer questions about his memories and possibly be asked to share more. I knew from Ashe that Emrick refused to cooperate and was mind-swept. A mind sweep was challenging to do, so it was either performed by a High Prime or several strong Primes. They would tap the person's brain like a keg and forcefully retrieve specific information. Arthur had done it to me once, and I still shivered at the thought. Would they do that to Arthur, or would he give up his memories voluntarily?
Stuck in my thoughts about tomorrow and Arthur's testimony, I followed Taya through the maze of passages that made up the Briony base.
All of a sudden, a glamorous blond wyvern woman stepped into my path. "Hello, I know who you are, but I'd like to introduce myself," she said with a toothy smile. "I'm Lainey Moorhead. I work for the Dragonborn Daily."
I hadn't thought much about the Dragonborn Daily since last spring. Back then, Olivia, Logan, Nate, and I had searched through heaps of microfiche for information on my mother. They'd all been of the Dragonborn Daily newspaper. I hadn't thought about it as something that was still ongoing.
Taya pressed herself between us, "Lainey? You must be new, right?"
The blond nodded, confirming Taya's suspicions.
"Well, there's a ban from approaching Sydney. It was put in place nearly a year ago," my guard explained.
This was news to me.
"But, I thought that now that she's…."
Taya interrupted the reporter, "No. The ban is still in place. Your colleagues know it, and now you do too." Lainey looked as though she might argue, but my guard continued, "If you leave now, I won't report you. If I see you approach Sydney again, then I will."
The reporter shook her head, her voice coming out in a whine, "But, we're related."
"It doesn't matter. We're all related." Taya turned away and began dragging me into the residential tunnel.
I turned to sneak a quick peek at my supposed relative before turning back to my guard. "She must be related to Calla."
My guard snorted. "She is. She's like your aunt's niece or something like that."
Calla wasn't my aunt if that's who she was talking about. "So, the Dragonborn Daily. Tell me about it. Can I see it? Is it still printed?"
"Weirdly, it actually is. Do you really want to see it?"
I nodded and followed Taya back to the room. After a quick stop at the commissary, Taya handed me the paper. The main headline read, PL Lambert to Testify Tomorrow. Above that were small boxes with other headlines – The Trial of the Century continues. Who is Lyra James—Female Prime or Fraud? Tensions escalate amidst Outcry for PL Lambert to step down. Are we looking at another Black Sunday? The Mundane Menace—Why aren't we doing more to protect ourselves?
I glanced down at other articles, my breath freezing in my chest as I read them. "Why is there nothing about the dragon realm?" I breathed, flipping through the entire newspaper, the ink staining my fingers. "There's nothing! Why is there nothing?"
"Shhh! You can't talk about it in public," she hissed.
I looked up and around the empty hall. "No one's around."
"You never know. Anyway, why would the dragon world be in the paper? It's all classified." She shook her head as she led me down a secondary hallway.
"That's dumb," I muttered.
Opening the news back up, I began skimming the interior articles, clenching my eyes shut when I realized that many had to do with me. There was a photo of Ashe and me from the first day. Taken in the giant dining room, Ashe smiled widely while I clung to his hand, my eyes a bit too wide.
"Gah!" I spat. Skimming the short article, I let out a silent laugh. "Whoever wrote this literally knows nothing about the bond of High Primes." I showed her the black and white photo of us.
She frowned as waves of jealousy wafted off her. Taya had a dumb crush on him, but she was crushing on many guys, in all fairness.
After completing the Tetrad, I found that I could hear other people's surface thoughts if I opened my mind. It was kind of a superpower until I realized that most people's stream of consciousness was either boring or made up of things you didn't want to know ANYTHING about—like my guard's crush on Ashe. Ugh! It was stupid and honestly meant nothing. I knew that, but still.
Taya also had a massive crush on Durand. Sure my uncle was… kind of cute in an up-tight, military way, but ugh. Durand? He was like thirty!
I wanted to ask her about it, but I knew my questions wouldn't go down well. So, instead, I kept my mouth firmly shut.
My thoughts of the reporter lingered in my mind as we returned to our empty bedroom. The space was stuffy from being closed up, so I walked over to the dragon ledge doors and pulled them open. The breeze that fluttered the curtains was arctic, but I'd rather suffer the cold than be smelling Luke's cologne he used to cover up his BO.
Dragonborn didn't use all the strong deodorant soaps that mundane people did, so even if we all bathed regularly, our small, shared room still stunk. Besides, Luke and Ashe were either off running, exercising, or sitting in a packed room watching the trial.
I flopped down on the bed and groaned, "I wanna go home."
Taya asked, leaning against the wall, and sighed, "Evgeni's?"
"Yeah."
She nodded and fell into a chair, flipping through the newspaper. Taya wore her black camo uniform with an American flag and red dragon insignia. Ashe had a similar outfit, but he usually wore a more formal one he called his service uniform. It consisted of a black button-up with his name and a stripe of colors over the pocket.
I closed my eyes and tried to sleep, but only thought about tomorrow. I worried that my grandfather would be able to wriggle out of it. After all, he didn't have any direct involvement with my abduction.
I wish you were here, Aaraeth, I told my dragon.
Soon, impatient one. The hatchlings are still in need of me, she replied.
Sometime, while laying there in worry, I'd fallen asleep, because I was awakened by Taya tapping the bed. "Come on, you wanted to meet Ashe after today's session ended, didn't you?"
I nodded and pulled myself to my feet. After using the bathroom and checking my appearance in the mirror, we left the silent bedroom that was our sanctuary.
Pulling my mental shields into place, I followed my guard through the winding stone tunnels and archways.
Whenever I walked through the residential corridor, it reminded me of a parking garage with its wide slanting corkscrew shape. There was a parking garage in The Hague like this. George and I had stayed there and walked around the Parliament buildings. Now, the man who raised me was on the run. I'd seen him once since I'd been to Rytys, and that was it. We still emailed, but our messages had thinned over the last few months. George was an emotionally closed person. He'd never, ever talk about anything remotely upsetting or emotional, so after my abduction, our correspondence had been about the weather and how everyone was doing—always fine – and pleasant things like what kind of vegetable was in season. He never spoke about where he was or what he was actually doing.
At least I'd reconnected with Olivia until she'd gone back to the Academy. Although the temptation to tell her about Rytys and the other Dragonborn was crazy intense, I refused to endanger my bond with Aaraeth.
By the time we'd arrived at the Council chamber, my heart was racing—not from our quick pace here, but from possibly seeing my attackers. I wiped my damp hands on the fabric of my jeans and waited outside the Temple.
Unable to watch the chamber doors, I turned my back on them. When I felt Ashe's presence, I spun to greet him.
"Hey," he breathed, taking my hand.
"How was it today?"
Raising a brow, Ashe breathed a sigh out his nose. "I need to tell you something, but not here and not in our room."
Questions bloomed in my mind like spring flowers, popping up one after the other. My curiosity must've spilled into him because he squeezed my hand.
"Taya, you can take off. I've got this," he told my guard before turning to me. "This way," he whispered, leading me through the ornately painted and carved corridors and into a more utilitarian space.
Where are we going? I asked.
To the alcove, the one where I took you that first time you were here in Briony. It's a place we can talk without being listened to or overheard.
What? I asked. Why don't we go to our room?
I'm not convinced our room is completely private.
I raised my eyebrows. "Oh?"
He nodded. "Yeah."
Reaching back, he threaded his fingers with mine and led me through a stone-lined hallway until we reached the old spiral staircase. Each stair was carved into the stone. Some steps had been patched because of wear. My fingers grazed the thin metal railing that followed the wall as I walked. The space was dark, with only the sporadic glow basket giving off just enough orange light to navigate with.
The occasional drip from the ceiling and our footsteps were the only sounds.
The memory of this place hung heavy on me. This was the stairwell where Ashe had taken me after breaking up with me. I felt so confused and so conflicted and angry. He'd kissed me– passionately, desperately. Then moments later, claimed he needed to keep his distance.
Picking up on my emotions, Ashe looked back at me and squeezed my hand.
The passage went on as if it were a treadmill with no destination. When my Harrow Prime finally stopped and opened the door, relief washed through me. I followed him out onto the ledge and shivered.
This was a natural alcove, but it wasn't used as a dragon ledge because of the low ceiling. Dragons needed space to perch, and although a person could stand here, it wasn't comfortable.
Ashe automatically reached up to brace his hand against the roof that sat just inches above his head.
"Maybe we shouldn't have come up here," he said as the wind swirled my hair around my face.
"It's okay. At least it's private, right?" I tugged my wayward locks into a ponytail. "What did you want to tell me about?"
Closing the space, he leaned forward and brushed a gentle kiss on my lips before pulling me farther into the cave. Then he lowered himself to sit on the ground. I followed his movement, sitting cross-legged as we both looked out into the valley. Trembling from the cold, I pulled my coat tighter around my body.
"Okay." His voice was quiet as if talking too loud in this alcove would echo. "Arthur has refused to be mind swept because he's the PL, and the council has agreed."
I sucked in a breath. "What? Why?"
"Well, he claims that he knows classified and dangerous information that could be harmful if shared. So, he'll only be answering questions tomorrow." Ashe leaned forward, wiping the grit from the floor off his hands before he continued. "Not only that, but he was brazenly using compulsion. It was disgusting. It felt like a decaying, dead thing when it touched me, but I think Evgeni and I were able to counteract most of it."
"What was he trying to do?" I examined Ashe's profile as he stared out at the valley.
"The same old thing, trying to make everyone believe that he's innocent, and this is all an Elibera conspiracy."
Grunting, I rested my head in my hands. "Is that it?"
He paused, his mind churning with indecision.
"What? Tell me." I asked, tugging on his arm so that he'd meet my gaze.
He heaved out a sigh. "Well, it's probably nothing, and normally, I'd just keep it to myself, but I've been wondering what you might think about this."
"What is it?" I tugged on his arm, trying to make him look at me.
"It's about Evgeni," he said, meeting my gaze. "However, I could be wrong, so keep what I say deep in the vault. Can you do that?"
I nodded and waited, but before Ashe had a chance to speak, the door burst open.
To my horror, Arthur ducked into the cavern, along with several of his personal guards. They shuffled in, stooping and touching the ceiling.
We jumped to our feet to take on the unexpected threat.
"Arthur, what do you want?" Ashe growled.
My grandfather ignored my bondmate and looked pointedly at me. "I wanted to talk to my granddaughter—in private."
"No, that's not going to happen," my Harrow Prime growled.
But his words didn't deter Arthur, and he moved farther into the alcove. "Very well, then stay out of our conversation." Turning to me, he frowned. "Sydney, I wanted to tell you how very sorry I am for what happened to you, but you must know that this kidnapping business is just a plot to overthrow me. I had nothing to do with it."
I honestly couldn't tell if he was lying. However, I did feel his thick cloud of compulsion that accompanied it.
Ashe stepped between us. "Okay, you've said your piece, now please leave."
My grandfather narrowed his eyes. "I'm not finished with my granddaughter." He circled us to meet my eye, but Ashe moved to block him. Compulsion fanned out from him again with punishing precision, but it didn't affect me. A bark of sardonic laughter erupted from the older man before he spoke again, "Well, she can still listen. Sydney dear, I need you to tell the council…."
"No," I told him, my voice sounding weak. Standing clear of Ashe, I looked at him and raised my chin. "No," I said, loud and defiant.
The four soldiers filling the room had backed us up against the far wall where the ceiling sloped downward.
"Arthur, you need to leave," Ashe's voice came out in steely tones.
"Sydney," my grandfather entreated. "There are reasons beyond your understanding here. We can work with the other Dragonborn. Gabrielle said you could donate your eggs. This is important. It's your duty."
Ashe growled low in his throat, and I huffed out an erratic laugh, moving to face Arthur. Sputtering, I blinked my eyes rapidly, "My duty? My duty! How dare you! How dare you come here and say something like that after everything that's happened! You were supposed to protect me! You were supposed to keep me safe! Wasn't that important enough for you?" I scoffed, my mouth hanging open in furious bewilderment. How dare put this blame on me! "What about your duty, Arthur? Why haven't you done your duty?"
"Sydney, you will do as I say. You will be obedient." Arthur's face went stony, and his men lurched forward without visible command.
Ashe pushed me back as a knife appeared in his hand. At the same time, I felt my bondmate lash out with his own compulsion, but it didn't seem to faze the guards. "Arthur, tell your men to back down!" he shouted.
Ashe blocked a punch from one guard and kicked at another who lunged from the other side. A third guard slammed his fist into Ashe's kidneys, making pain lash through our connection, but my mate continued to fight in the cramped place. Slashing out with one hand, he slashed his knife across one soldier's forearm, splattering me with blood. A split second later, he struck out with his other hand to block, but failed to avoid the third man's punch to his face.
There were too many enemies, and the space was too tight for Ashe to defend us.
My Harrow Prime continued to fight, but we were losing ground. As Arthur's men continued to push forward, we found ourselves on the lip of the alcove. I glanced over the edge and gulped. The valley floor below, although not vertical, had to be a hundred meters away.
I wasn't sure how to help. As I watched the men come after my mate with savage efficiency, I didn't know what to do. Ashe's knife was kicked out of his hand, and it skittered across the ground. I wanted to go after it, but panic welled inside me, and I froze in indecision, not wanting to make things worse for us. If we got separated, I could fall into Arthur's hands and probably end up locked up somewhere.
