“I was far-sighted when I made you my blood-sister,” she said with a laugh.
“I thought I earned that.”
She shrugged. “It’s all the same.”
I followed her gaze as it drifted upward to the statue towering over us.
“We will always revere the Dark Prince and the choice he made to save us all,” she said.
“He’s bound to our Chosen One forever.”
She smiled. “Exactly. As you and I are bonded. You won’t forget that, will you?”
I swallowed. I knew that with Jalla every word counted. “You saw how I burned Vanika. You saw how I retrieved the Pipe of Wings.”
“My victories,” Jalla said, baring her teeth.
“My sacrifice.”
“What of it?” Her bright eyes were hard as rocks.
“If my nation is threatened, what won’t I do to keep it safe?”
Her eyebrows rose. “I’ve always been a personable prince. I like people. I bring them together. I create alliances. Is this not so?”
I felt my own eyebrows rising. Was she kidding?
“And so, Jalla, the Winged Prince of Baojang, will triumph again.”
“And how do you expect that I’ll do that for you this time?” My tone was drier than I’d meant it to be and the black gaze she shot in my direction told me it bit at her.
“By making an oath with me this day that we are blood-sisters and blood-nations. Today, we drenched this mud in the blood of our people, fighting side by side. Today, we drove off the Ifrit horde – our Dark Prince and your Chosen One. Today, we become family and we swear an oath of peace that will last as long as we both draw breath.”
I blinked. Jalla wanted peace? Jalla wanted an ally? Was this the same Jalla who watched indifferently as men fell to their deaths? Was this the same Jalla who had been measuring my nation for her cities and armies?
The same Jalla who is a brilliant strategist and politician? That Jalla? The same Jalla who is honorable in her own way? I rather think so, yes.
“Well?” Jalla asked, her fists moving to her hips.
“Are you still marrying Renn?” I asked.
She looked taken aback but she grinned. “I think so.”
“Good. Then yes, you have my oath.”
“And you have mine.” She grinned so wide that she looked more like a wolf than a human. “And I will send you Renn as my ambassador after we are wed. I can see you like him.”
I felt the blood draining from my face under the masked crown. My eyes must be as wide as saucers.
“I jest.” Jalla’s laugh bit through my panic, but then her expression hardened. “But if you try to take advantage of us, don’t think I won’t do it.”
“Understood,” I said with a wry tone. There was Jalla for you. Promises and gifts – and a little threat to remind you who was boss.
“I always liked you, Amel. I’ll visit from time to time, so we can play cards.”
She took my hand in the ancient gesture of treaty-making and then she was striding back to Ahummal, chastising Renn for not being ready quick enough, and waving merrily as she leapt into the air.
I would never get used to Jalla. She was like a hurricane in human form.
A shame. She certainly seems to like you.
If you called that ‘like.’
No, really, she likes you.
At least I didn’t have to lead Baojang. I would never understand those people.
Now, seven days later, I was saying goodbye to another friend – a real friend.
“Hubric,” I said as I joined him on the balcony.
He bowed, almost by instinct.
“You don’t need to do that.” My voice still sounded too loud in the mask.
“I do need to do it, Dominar. Some things have changed.”
I touched my purple scarf – the one Hubric had given me so long ago. I knew it was precious the day he gave it to me – but not that it would be this precious. There was so little that I could keep of my old life.
“I said you were ready the day I gave you that,” Hubric said. “I just didn’t know how much you were ready for. If I could have handpicked a Dominar ... well.”
I felt my cheeks heating behind the mask. “I have to ask you for something.”
“I’m your man.” He looked proud to say it.
“The Lightbringers – without them, without their help and their safehouses and their supplies – we would never have succeeded. Before you go off and do your own thing – I need you to deliver a series of messages for me.” I pulled the cylinders out of my pocket, each perfect and white. There was a time when all I wanted to do was carry these. Now, I never would again. Reluctantly, I passed them to him. “And I hope that while you deliver these, you’ll take the time to check on your network – help those who survived. You have all my authority and resources.”
He smiled. “I’d hoped you’d think that way.”
“These messages are the top priority. They will help restore order in our sky cities and give them hope. You understand?”
“That I’ll have to put off personal plans until after I deliver these? Yes, I understand.”
“Did you have personal plans?” I asked gently.
“I want to honor Haskell. And I have a promise to keep.”
I smiled. I wanted to take off the mask, but I couldn’t – not here in public.
“If anyone can be depended on to keep their promises – you can.”
“You were my favorite apprentice, Amel Leafbrought,” he said with red-rimmed eyes. “The best I ever trained. Purple to the core. Truth, loyalty, faithfulness. Stubborn and with a mind of your own. Difficult-“
“Hey!”
“I’m glad it’s you sitting on that throne. Tell that old dog that he’s got a good life by the fire now. Tell him not to bother bellyaching about it – we all knew he always wanted the life of ease.”
Tell Hubric he’s a rotten-toothed foot eater.
Hubric laughed as if he could hear Raolcan himself.
“Tell Raolcan that Kyrowat says there are worse things to eat than feet.”
Tell him that he would know, not me.
I coughed, barely covering a laugh. “I think you two might want to talk in person. You have so many sweet things to say to each other.”
Hubric smiled, but now he was tearful. “Keep making me proud, apprentice.”
“Stay alive, Hubric,” I said, throwing his old advice back at him. I wouldn’t see him much after this. We both knew that. But I hoped I’d still see him sometimes. I’d grown to depend on Hubric. “And come see me from time to time. There’s a message in there for you, too. Read it when you have a moment.”
He smiled and then coughed again, as if he couldn’t trust his own voice. Instead, he waved briskly and then hopped over the edge of the balcony like a much younger man might. I’d been a Dragon Rider long enough that I didn’t worry. I just glanced casually over the side of the balcony, just in time to see him land lightly on his old mount and dart away.
You’re never too old as long as you can fly.
My dragon joined me on the balcony and we looked out over the sky city and to the plains and the mountains beyond. Dominion City was strange to me – more foreign than Baojang had been – and my new role as the ultimate ruler not just of this city but of the whole nation, was even stranger.
What’s in Hubric’s message?
I was making him a part of my spy network. Never again would our enemies conspire against us without us knowing about it.
Hubric? A spy? The man is soaked in truth.
Then who better to spot a lie?
I watched the bustle below for a moment. All across the Dominion, the same sights would be seen as people fought and struggled to rebuild what we had lost. I wondered if back on their farm somewhere my family was doing the same thing. I wondered if they ever thought of me. They would never guess where I was now. I could hardly believe it myself. I wasn’t made for this.
; Don’t worry – I was. I’ll be here for every meeting and order, every edict and decision. I’ll help you.
Then you’ll get out of shape because you won’t be flying.
Oh, I didn’t mean here exactly. That would be boring. No, as soon as order is restored in this city, I think you should make a tour of the Dominion. Visit the land. See to the rebuilding. Visit Haz’drazen as promised. And maybe break in that dashing new Captain of the Dragoons you acquired.
As if on cue, my Captain of the Dragoons came striding out onto the balcony, the noon light glinting on his brand new armor and off a helm almost as shiny as my own masked crown.
I thought only Silver Dragon Riders were charged with the protection of the Dominar.
He insisted.
And that worked? It never seems to work for me.
I pulled the mask off my face. I wasn’t supposed to. Not here in public. But I could never keep it on when Leng was around.
I can’t keep my lunch down when Ahlskibi is around. He struts like the smallest rooster in a barnyard. Purples just don’t look imposing next to Silvers. I tried to tell him, but he’s too puffed up to listen.
Leng grinned sheepishly in his shiny new armor and held out a silver crutch, inlaid with gold dragons.
“I know you said nothing ornate,” he said, offering it in exchange for my old battered crutch. “But I thought that maybe it would do for now while they repair the old one. I was certain that you wouldn’t want it replaced, only repaired. Was I right?”
“Hubric gave it to me,” I said with a smile. “How did you know I’d want to keep it?”
“Because you have the good sense not to throw away something useful or exchange something beloved for something more ornate.” He looked around stealthily before taking the last step toward me. Raolcan slid across the doorway to the throne room, blocking the view to the balcony completely. “And because I know that a woman as faithful,” here he kissed my forehead, “as smart,” and my cheek, “and as magnificent,” a quick kiss to the lips, “as you would want it that way.”
“You won’t leave me, Leng?”
He looked down at his shiny armor and back to me. “Would I have let them fit me for this silly get up if I was planning to leave?”
He pulled me close, kissing me gently, as his fingers found his davari on my finger. When we broke apart he deftly slid a second ring on the same finger – a simple circlet of pure gold.
“What is that?”
“The davari marked a promise made. This davara marks a promise kept. I-”
I never heard what he said next. I launched myself forward, nearly knocking him off his feet with my kiss. He could talk later.
All this kissing makes me ill. I swear I’m thinner. Gaunt even.
I didn’t even care if Raolcan mocked us.
I’m losing my touch. But it’s worth it, spider. It’s worth it.
He sang something, giving us our mental privacy, a dragon lullaby, I thought. But in the song, he’d incorporated the prophecy that we both knew for sure and certain was about him.
He loses half the sun to save the world.
His crown he lays aside to choose one star, from a sky of stars.
One part, one place, one role: to be a mountain and an anchor in the storm.
Hope for the hopebringer, light for the lightbringer, wings for the lame.
He was hope and light just like the prophecies had promised ... and I couldn’t have asked for a better dragon.
And to think – I could have chosen Starie Atrelan.
Enough.
Or what was that guy’s name? Daedru Tevish?
We’re a bit busy here ...
Sure, brush your dragon off. Don’t even stop to think how lucky you are that I chose you.
I was lucky.
Especially now that I have a recommendation ...
Anything. Just give me a moment of privacy.
I’d like to pick the first location we travel to.
Sure, sure.
I’m going to remind you that you agreed to that. Are you still kissing? That can’t be healthy. You’re probably spreading germs.
Go eat feet.
No gratitude. That’s humans for you. No gratitude at all.
THE END
DRAGON CHAMELEON
AMEL AND RAOLCAN MIGHT have found a happy ending, but the Dominion still has problems to be solved. What will they do about the dwindling magic, the nations that banded together against the Dominion and the tenuous bond with Haz’drazen? Find out in DRAGON CHAMELEON: ROGUE’S QUEST, the next season of Dragon School.
DRAGON CHAMELEON: ROGUE’S QUEST
It's great to be a spy. Trust me. Who wouldn't want to leave everything, get pushed around by a haughty dragon, and do it all without fame or glory?
It takes a special kind of magic to hide in plain sight.
I've been hiding all my life but now I'm doing it for my country.
My partner in crime? A chameleon dragon who takes things way too seriously.
They keep telling me that the world hangs in the balance, but I try not to take things like explosions, spies, and illicit magic too seriously.
After all, I get to ride a dragon! That is ... when she lets me.
DRAGON CHAMELEON: ROGUE is episode one of a brand new series set in the world of DRAGON SCHOOL. It's the perfect beginning for readers new to this fantasy world but still contains hidden gems for long-time fans.
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December 20-25
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Behind the Scenes:
USA Today bestselling author, Sarah K. L. Wilson loves spinning a yarn and if it paints a magical new world, twists something old into something reborn, or makes your heart pound with excitement ... all the better! Sarah hails from the rocky Canadian Shield in Northern Ontario -
learning patience and tenacity from the long months of icy cold - where she lives with her husband and two small boys. You might find her building fires in her woodstove and wishing she had a dragon handy to light them for her.
Sarah would like to thank Harold Trammel, Eugenia Kollia, and Sarah Brown for their incredible work in beta reading and proofreading this book. Without their big hearts and passion for stories, this book would not be the same.
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Dragon School Reading Order:
Dragon School: First Flight
Dragon School: Initiate
Dragon School: The Dark Prince
Dragon School: The Ruby Isles
Dragon School: Sworn
Dragon School: Dusk Covenant
Dragon School: First Message
Dragon School: Warring Promises
Dragon School: Prince of Dragons
Dragon School: Dark Night
Dragon School: Bright Hopes
Dragon School: Mark of Loyalty
Dragon School: Dire Quest
Dragon School: Ancient Allies
Dragon School: Pipe of Wings
Dragon School: Dragon Pipe
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Dragon School: Dust of Death
Dragon School: Troubled War
Dragon School: Bitter Darkness
Dragon School: Starie Night
Dragon School: Ascendant Light
First Flight Page 7