Spark the Fire
Page 37
Lamprophyre exchanged glances with Rokshan, who was thinking a true prophecy? Khadar? Sooner think a dog might speak for Jiwanyil than him.
Movement brought her gaze back to Khadar, whose head twitched. It twitched again, this time bringing his shoulders with it. Then he was jerking helplessly like a fish on a line, and Rokshan dove past the king to grab him, but missed as Khadar’s seizure threw him forward, off the platform and into Lamprophyre’s hands. She held him tightly, frightened both of dropping him as well as of hurting him with her firm grasp. “What do I do?” she exclaimed.
“Set him down gently,” Satiya said. The queen had left her seat and stood at the edge of the platform, watching her son convulse. Lamprophyre did so and stepped back, afraid Khadar might strike her and hurt himself in his thrashing. But the seizure had already begun to pass, and after only a beat or two, Khadar lay limp and unconscious at her feet.
“Send for Ishay,” Ekanath said. He hurried down the stairs and knelt beside Khadar. “And send to the Archprelate’s palace. They need to know of a new prophecy.”
“Prophecy?” Lamprophyre said. “That was a prophecy? Are they all so dramatic?”
“This was mild,” Satiya said. “We saw the Second Ecclesiast bleed from the ears after delivering the prophecy that sent our people north.”
Lamprophyre stepped back to allow Khadar’s parents more room. “He’s waking up,” she said, before realizing she’d known that from hearing Khadar’s thoughts. But no one paid her any attention. Khadar blinked, and his eyes were their usual brown.
“Lie still,” Satiya said, putting a hand to his forehead. “You were possessed of a prophecy.”
“I—what?” Khadar’s eyes were wide and confused. Lamprophyre, listening in, heard him think not possible, it’s a lie and me, why me, I’ve never heard Jiwanyil’s voice but once in my life. She drew in an outraged breath to denounce him as a fraud—how dare he pretend to religious authority and challenge her faith? But Rokshan put a hand atop hers, startling her, and she caught herself before once again almost revealing her ability.
“You won’t remember,” Ekanath said. “But no one present will ever forget. Now we must pass these words on to the Archprelate and the other ecclesiasts for their interpretation.”
“The skies will burn,” Rokshan murmured. “Remember, Lamprophyre?”
“No—” Lamprophyre began, then shook her head. “That rock sniffer, Mendesk. It was part of his prophecy. So were dragons.”
“What are you saying, Lamprophyre?” Hyaloclast asked.
Lamprophyre shook her head again. “It’s nothing. A coincidence.” If it wasn’t coincidence, Rokshan could tell the ecclesiasts about it, not her. It wasn’t her religion, after all. But the idea that Rokshan’s faith had now pointed three times to her people made her uncomfortable, as if her skin were the wrong size and someone might expect her to step out of it. It was harder to dismiss human beliefs when she’d seen evidence that their God really did speak to them—if that’s what it had been.
Then Ishay was pushing past her and kneeling beside Khadar, examining his eyes and touching his throat and the backs of his hands. “Prophecy?” he said. “I see no ill effects. It’s perfectly natural for an ecclesiast to have such a reaction. Help him up.”
Khadar got heavily to his feet with Ishay and Rokshan’s help, but when they let go of him, he took two steps and had to throw out his hands to keep his balance, grabbing Ishay’s shoulder and making the healer stagger. “Perhaps not quite no ill effects,” Ishay said in a humorous tone. “I’ll escort the Fifth Ecclesiast to where he can rest.”
“Quite a dramatic ending to this meeting,” Ekanath said when Khadar and Ishay had disappeared around the corner of the palace. “If you’ll join us, your majesty?”
“I’d like a word with the ambassador first, if you don’t mind,” Hyaloclast said.
Rokshan waited with Lamprophyre as the rest of the group, dragons and humans, passed beyond the platform to where Lamprophyre could smell the aroma of steak wafting on the breeze. When it was just the three of them, Hyaloclast said, “I would ask the young prince to leave, but you’ll just tell him everything I’m about to say later, so I see no point in wasting my breath.”
Rokshan smiled. Lamprophyre said, “He’s very discreet.”
“He’s kept your secret, so I imagine he is.” Hyaloclast smiled at Lamprophyre’s dismay. “Don’t think I don’t know you haven’t told any of these humans that dragons can hear thoughts. You’re too intelligent not to keep that secret, and too close to this young man not to have shared it with him. But I wanted to ask about the human who made such an extraordinary display. Why does he challenge our religion?”
“Khadar is—he has high rank in the human religion, which is different from ours.” Lamprophyre felt unexpectedly uncomfortable telling the dragon queen this, as if she somehow owed it to Rokshan not to cast doubts on his faith. “They believe there’s a god of dragons that’s not Mother Stone, for one, and when I told Khadar that, he became angry. He thinks I want to take power from him by tricking humans away from their true religion. But I haven’t, aside from saying we’ve never heard of their dragon god.”
“I’m afraid my brother likes having power over people,” Rokshan said, “and he uses his calling to gain more of it. I’m stunned that he was possessed of a prophecy. I would have sworn he faked his way into the ranks of the ecclesiasts.”
“He thought he did,” Lamprophyre said, remembering Khadar’s thoughts. “Are you sure he wasn’t faking now?”
“Positive. I’ve seen other prophecies delivered, and they all take the speaker in that way, more or less.”
“That is unimportant, at least to dragons,” Hyaloclast said. “What concerns me is what he said last. ‘The skies will burn.’ It sounds as if you’ve heard that before.”
“Someone else received a prophecy containing those words, yes,” Rokshan said. “It’s a strange coincidence.”
“Or not,” Hyaloclast said. “Those words are passed on from dragon queen to dragon queen, to be held in confidence against a future day in which they will come true. I never thought to hear them on a human’s lips.” She looked off past the platform. “It seems we have more in common than I thought.”
“But why tell us?” Lamprophyre said. “If it’s supposed to be confidential?”
Hyaloclast returned her attention to Lamprophyre. “Because I have a feeling something is coming,” she said. “Something dragons and humans will face together. And if that something is as dire as my instincts tell me, confidentiality will not matter. Here in Tanajital, you will be first to know if any more of these ecclesiasts receive such prophecies, and you will tell me what you learn.”
More secrets. Lamprophyre’s heart felt leaden. “All right,” she said.
Hyaloclast laughed. “This is not like my last instructions, Lamprophyre. I see no reason to conceal my interest, though I expect you not to speak of it casually. I intend to search our memories for anything that might shed light on those words, and I will share what I learn with you in exchange. I know too little of humans to judge how useful they might be in this search, but I choose to act as if their knowledge is valuable. And as our fates seem intertwined, keeping secrets might be fatal in the long run. Just…be discreet. Not all humans are our allies.”
“I can do that, Hyaloclast.” Relief washed over her. She hadn’t realized how wearying it was to keep the dragon queen’s secrets until she no longer had to do so.
“Excellent. Now, what is that delicious smell? Is that cow? You may be right about that being something humans can do for dragons.” Hyaloclast clasped Lamprophyre’s hand briefly and walked away.
“I don’t know about you,” Rokshan said when the dragon queen was out of earshot, “but I’ve had about all I can take of mysterious revelations for one day. Can we agree to talk of nothing but trivialities until tomorrow?”
“That’s acceptable,” Lamprophyre said. “Do you think this will make Kha
dar more insufferable, or less?”
“Since it’s not possible for him to be more insufferable, I’ll go with the latter.” Rokshan strolled beside Lamprophyre as she crossed the training ground to where the food had been arranged under canopies, two of them very large and tall. “But I think maybe we both need more religious instruction.”
Lamprophyre made a face. “I’d rather be a heathen like Dharan.”
“I mean because it sounds like Khadar’s isn’t the only prophecy along those lines. I wonder if we could track down other ecclesiasts who’ve been possessed of that one. I know they’re supposed to record all prophecies in the Hall of Visions—that’s in the Archprelate’s palace—and I think they let people look at them. For a fee.”
“Which means selling more stone. And I still haven’t gotten Manishi’s kyanite.” Lamprophyre sighed. “This is coming awfully close to non-trivial, and it’s going to spoil my appetite for that delicious steak I smell. Let’s eat, and then I want you to meet Flint. Maybe we can convince him to race us around the city. Unless you’d rather walk.”
Rokshan laughed. “Walk?” he said. “With you, I’ll always choose to fly.”
About the Author
In addition to the Dragons of Mother Stone series, Melissa McShane is the author of many other fantasy novels, including the novels of Tremontane, the first of which is Servant of the Crown; the Extraordinaries series, beginning with Burning Bright; and The Book of Secrets, first book in The Last Oracle series.
She lives in the shelter of the mountains out West with her husband, three children and a niece, and three very needy cats. She wrote reviews and critical essays for many years before turning to fiction, which is much more fun than anyone ought to be allowed to have. You can visit her at her website www.melissamcshanewrites.com for more information on other books and upcoming releases.
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Also by Melissa McShane
THE DRAGONS OF MOTHER STONE
Spark the Fire
Faith in Flames (forthcoming)
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THE CROWN OF TREMONTANE
Servant of the Crown
Exile of the Crown
Rider of the Crown
Agent of the Crown
Voyager of the Crown
Tales of the Crown
* * *
THE SAGA OF WILLOW NORTH
Pretender to the Crown
Guardian of the Crown
Champion of the Crown
* * *
THE HEIRS OF WILLOW NORTH
Ally of the Crown
Stranger to the Crown
Scholar of the Crown
* * *
THE EXTRAORDINARIES
Burning Bright
Wondering Sight
Abounding Might
Whispering Twilight
Liberating Fight
Beguiling Birthright (forthcoming)
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THE LAST ORACLE
The Book of Secrets
The Book of Peril
The Book of Mayhem
The Book of Lies
The Book of Betrayal
The Book of Havoc
The Book of Harmony
The Book of War
The Book of Destiny
* * *
COMPANY OF STRANGERS
Company of Strangers
Stone of Inheritance
Mortal Rites
Shifting Loyalties
Sands of Memory
Call of Wizardry
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THE CONVERGENCE TRILOGY
The Summoned Mage
The Wandering Mage
The Unconquered Mage
* * *
THE BOOKS OF DALANINE
The Smoke-Scented Girl
The God-Touched Man
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Emissary
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Warts and All: A Fairy Tale Collection
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The View from Castle Always