Keepers of the Crown

by Lydia Redwine

  Surrounding the outside, stone-laid area, were massive doors of crossed bars. Beyond, Riah assumed were where the dragons dwelled. Arria crept past the four of these openings. “They are not here just yet,” she said softly. “They must be in the mountain caverns.”

  The girl passed Riah and mounted a huge boulder extending from the wall of the fortress into the yard.

  “What are you doing?” Riah called.

  “Climbing, you idiot,” she shouted down at him. With a grin, she added, “If you won’t climb, ask Gamgee politely if he will lift youup himself.” Riah glancedin Gamgee’s direction. The roc appeared to be wearing an annoyed, daring expression.

  “I’ll climb,” Riah decided. Gamgee seemed to approve. The boulder was not difficult to mount. Arria grinned down at him.

  Once he had reached the top of a boulder and sat beside her, Arris said, “Alright, summon them.” She gazed with squinted eyes out over the mountains to the north. Riah’s lips parted. She glanced at him expectantly after a moment of silence. “Well?”

  Riah stuttered. “You don’t know how to summon them, do you?” Smoldering, he shook his head. Riah clenched his jaw against her exasperatedsigh. “I don’tlikesinging,” shemuttered. Riah was about to ask what she meant before he was distracted by her movements to pull one black and one white rock from the pouch swinging at her side. She held one clutched in each of her palms and closed her eyes. Arria began to utter foreign words in a tune which was somewhat pleasant to listen to. Her voice was clear; not perfect, but tolerable nonetheless.

  As she continued to sing, Riah realized he knew the meaning of some of the words. His memory flashed back to the time when Leviathan had required, he read stacks of volumes regarding the Infernal Speech.

  Riah forgot the words as his eyes were diverted to the flat rocks in her palms. Twisted, curving lines began to appear in an iridescent shade of blue which glowed from the rock’s surface.

  The song cut off without warning, and Arria opened her eyes. The rocks remained glowing, but there was no sign of the dragons.

  That is…until black blurs appeared from far away, drawing closer.

  Riah’s heart pounded as the creatures drew closer. There had to be at least seven of them. Arria’s lips twitched into an uncontrolled grin. “They are so powerful it makes them transfixing sometimes. But they will yield to you, and to you only if you succeed.”

  Riah did not look at her as he asked, “Was it difficult getting the rocs to yield to you?”

  Arria sighed and leaned against the exterior wall of the fortress. “They do not yield, exactly. They are my friends. Sometimes they never listen. There are days when Gamgee disappears altogether.” As if he had heard her words, Gamgee glanced upward from his position in the keep below.

  Riah continued to watch the approaching dragons as he seated himself beside the girl. “Here, take these.” She placed the rocks in his palms. “They are yours now. Before Leviathan returns, I will teach you the song.”

  They sat in silence for a moment beforeRiahasked, “How many of them are there?”

  “Seven grown-up ones. Or nearly fully grown. They have several younger ones which are probably inside thekeep below.”

  The dragons were quite close now; close enough for Riah to drink in their features. The two leading were the largest of the seven. The remaining five were smaller. The colors of their scales and enormous wings were more brilliant that Riah had ever seen. One was a rich reddish brown while four others ranged from soft grays flecked with blue to vague purples fading to black. The two biggest stood out even further with their colored scales and wings. The first which was a shade of off white flecked with lilac spots had the most purple eyes imaginable. The white dragon landed in the keep with a bellow of its wings. Wind rushed up and around Riah. He then heard among the wind a shrieking and then a scraping of claws. Gamgee flew out, feathers fluttering behind him.

  Arria was laughing as the roc took to the skies. “Zoka is her name. She is their leader and, for most of them, like a mother,” she said as the dragon turned its stare to Riah who still heldtheglowingrocks in his hands. “Sheknows whoyouareand what you have come to become,” Arria whispered.

  Riah held the dragon’s stare, sensing that this creature could read into the very depths of his soul. And as he looked into those purple eyes and saw the stars, he did not think he could ever paint them just as they were. Riah pointed towards the dragon to her right; a younger one which was entirely black. Black as night and mighty. Power rippled in waves from its very wings. His eyes were rings of gold. “What is this one called?”

  “That is for you to decide,” Arria replied. She tilted her headandlookedcuriouslyat Riah.“HowmuchdidLeviathan tell you about the dragons?”

  Riah shrugged. “Not enough. He likes to leave things out.”

  Arria laughed. “Yes, yes he does.” She motioned towards the creatures gathered in the keep below. “A new dragon joins them when a new lord comes to the fortress. The new dragon always becomes the Dragon Lord’s personal transport and most trusted ally.” Arria motioned to Zoka. “She was the first. Where she or any of them come from, I don’t know. I assume there is something inside the fortress that would tell you.”

  Riah could not tear his eyes from the black dragon which was not returning his gaze. The black dragon stood with alertness in his eyes, wings, and pricked ears at the mountains beyond. “A watch dragon of some sort,” Riah thought. He tore his gaze from the black dragon andslippedit to thegirl. “Howdo you know all of this?”

  Arria returned his gaze and with a shrug said, “I’m curious enough.”

  “And the others?” Riah motioned to the dragons. “What are their names?”

  Arria smiled slightly. “Ask them yourselves.” Before Riah could stop her, Arria leaped off the boulder to where Gamgee had returned “I will await you in the keep.”

  “Ask them?” Riah muttered in exasperation.

  The dragons paid him no mind when his feet hit the stone floor. All except Zoka, the oldest one, looked away. Riah slowly approached the one colored a deep reddish-brown. His palms were sweaty as he curled his fingers into them. He scratched at the back of his neck to mask the immense pounding in his chest. The dragon’s eyes flickered with playful amusement.

  He would not get the answers he wanted.

  Riah returned his attention to the others. The white dragon called Zoka nudged the black dragon, and together they flew from the landing. To where they were flying, Riah did not know. He watched as they soared towards the mountains. He was pleased that the remaining four did not budge. Riah made to approach them but they cast glances over him before shuffling away. Into the depths of the keep.

  Riah huffed a sigh. “Great. What a wonderful start.” Another part of him protested. “At least they didn’t eat you.”

  Riah reentered the fortress alone. He found Arria leaning

  against t he front door’s frame with the roc at her side. “I would appreciate,” Riah began testily. “If you would keep your pet outside.”

  Arria turned. “But why? This fortress is in enough disarray as it is. Gamgee will not bring it any harm. Unless you irritate him.” Riah glanced towards the bird who was turned from him, refusing to acknowledge him. “Why haven't you cleaned anything?”

  “I was...exhausted last night when I came in,” Riah said without much effort. Arria’s brows rose. “Have you eaten anything?” Riah shook his head simultaneous the growling of his stomach. When the girl began to mount the curving stairs to the second level, Riah said, “Where do you think you’re going?”

  “To find a chamber,” she replied lightly. “I will be exploring the fortress for the remainder of the day. You needn’t bother tocomeandfindme.” Shesmiled. “Iwillbequitealright.”

  “I don’t doubt that,” Riah said without cheer. “But…since you’re training me, shouldn’t we eat somethinglater? We should get to know one another.”

  Arria gazed at him quizzically. “Should we?” Riah n
odded. “Why wouldn’t you want to get to know me?”

  Arria tilted her head and narrowed her eyes. “I suppose that can be arranged. I will join you, then. If you can find any food.” With her last statement, she fluttered up the stairs and disappeared from sight within the maze of chambers above.

  Riah glanced after her. With a shake of his head, he made his way back to the gallery. “She is…odd, to say the least.” But he could not deny she was talented and that the bird did respect her. He wondered how she had come to be marked.

  Riah returned to the gallery and set to work on making it look decent. If he was going to paint here often, he would require a pleasant workspace.

  In the course of an hour had arranged all of his painting supplies upon a lengthy table running along the wall of the gallery. Dust was still laden over the furniture, the hearth, and the parted curtains, but he had hung his mother’s portrait upon the wall which satisfied him.

  When he prepared to leave the gallery, he turned to gaze upon it. Riah swallowed, knowing in his heart that making this gallery his own ended his title as Gnosi’s prince at last. Even if he was to fail the remainder of the trials, he was leaving his past behind with every stroke of his brush.

  As he closed the gallery door behind him, his heart tremored with one last thought: tonight, he would have to paint one more person.

  “But first,” he muttered to distract himself, “some food.”

  Riah found, upon entering the dust-laden dining hall, that

  Arria had started a fire in an enormous hearth, had polished the lengthy table, and had prepared some sort of meal. She was laying a silver spoon beside the bowl set at the head of the table as she said cheerily, “Leviathan will send servants to you once you pass the Trials. They will cook for you if that is your choice.” She glanced up at him. “But I for one...like to cook for myself. Since I am the guest, I should not be the one cooking, but you do not seem to have such an ability.”

  “No…” Riah replied absentmindedly. Whileshehadbeen speaking, Riah allowed his eyes to roam the dim dining hall with hands in his pockets. Upon hearing about cooking, he jerked his head, half expecting to find Saffira but found that something inside of him was sinking instead.

  He shoved the thought of her down as his heart prickled. Walking towards Arria, he eyed the food she had laid out: stew on a bed of rice, steaming soup that smelled of parsley, a smaller platter of baked fruits assembled with cinnamon atop them, and lastly, a sparkling goblet of wine. Arria fluttered her hand towards the chair situated at the head of the table. “For you of course, and I brought the wine from my own cellar. I do not drink it much.”

  With these words, she plunked a bottle of whiskey beside her own plate. Riah took his seat without objecting to the fact that she seated herself at his right. “Where did you come from?” Arria asked him as they began consuming the stew.

  “Mirabelle.”

  Arria tilted her head. “Where the other one is from then. Did you live by the sea?”

  “No, my home was in Gnosi, the northernmost realm.” Arria returnedher attention to her meal. “Iknewnothing

  of Mirabelle before I met Leviathan.”

  Riah took a bite before inquiring, “Where are you from?” “The south,” she said almost too quickly.

  “How far south?”

  Arria hesitated, her bottle halfway between the table and her mouth. Finally, with a dull sounding voice, she said dismissively, “The Woodlands.”

  Riah nearly droppedhis fork. “YouareoneoftheFerox?” “Surprised?” Arria shoved a spoonful of food into her mouth.

  “Yes, actually,” Riah said, shakinghis headin disbelief. “I thought your people despised the notion of leaving the woodlands.”

  Arria’s shrug was too casual. “And perhaps I am not like my people.” She drank again. Riah was silent.

  “So... why exactly are you here?” Arria asked as she reached for the platter of baked fruit.

  Riah rose a brow. “I could ask you the same question.” Slowly, deliberately, he pulled a piece of meat from his fork with his teeth and into his mouth.

  Arria’s reply was something Riah did not expect. He did not expect her to utter her words in a cold tone. “I am here because it brings freedom. My father was overbearing and had promised to sell me off to some clan in the desert as...well...a slave.”

  “For your body?” Riah inquired with a tone ofincredulity threaded in his voice.

  Arria glaredat him. “Hardly. Aplankofwoodwouldhave been more appealing than me at the time.” She paused to take another bite. Riah eyed her. She didn’t look like a plank of wood now, that was for certain. “No the slavery I was to be sold into was a situation in which I would have tested poisons. Taste everything for the chief of the clan before he ate. I would also be the one they beat when interrogating others. The one they would use as an example of what they could do.”

  Riah was rather appalled. “But you got away.”

  Arria nodded. “Ran the day before I was to be sent off. I haven't returned since.” Silence passed between them. “What about you? Why are you here?”

  “To make my life worth living. You have read the histories I presume and have thus discovered the great power of the Shadow Bearers and of the Shedim. I want to be as such…”

  Arria blinked. “So, you are not content remaining human, then?”

  “Humans are fragile, weak. Inferior. Those of higher power could smite me down in an instant. I want to be the one with the ability to destroy. Not the one being destroyed.”

  “Interesting,” Arria mused.

  “Do you not want the same thing?” Riah demanded.

  Arria turned her gaze slowly towards him. She pinned him with a stare. “I have already gained what you seek, but I never sought it for the same reason. Not exactly. I do not wish to be more than human for the sake of not being human. I want to be more powerful than those who would oppress me. Than those who would trade me as if I were a piece of cattle or throw me to the desert like chaff in the wind.”

  “Well then...we do have quite a lot in common,” Riah replied brusquely.

  “Do we?” Arria returned. “Leviathan called you a prince and an heir. He did not say you came from oppression.” Riah stilled, her words sinking into him like lead. He felt heavy, then, and could not form a response. Arria was shaking her head. “I wanted to know more beyond what I was taught in my homeland. We were not told of the outside world. Here…” she looked up from her foodwith a glazed, absent expression. “Ican learn what lies beyond this realm.” She pinned her gaze to Riah. “And your reason is what everyone has said before they failed. So, I would think of a real reason before you’re in too far.”

  Sixteen

  “We’regoing hunting,” Fiera said the next morning when she

  burst into Caleb’s room. He looked up from where he was sprawled on his bed. “Fi, I just laid down, and there is nothing to hunt,” he whined. She tossed his bow and quiver of arrows to him anyway. “Okay, I’m coming,” he grumbled. They left the confines of the now empty castle and slipped into the forest. Fiera cast a glance over her shoulder at the castle. The guests from the last night had gone an hour ago after a hearty breakfast. Once they had reached a part of the forest where Fiera thought they were well out of earshot she whispered, “We spoke to Ilea last night. We haven’t discovered anything about Mirabelle’s magic.”

  Caleb nodded gravely. “But we already knowwho stole it, don’t we?” The question hung like a dagger in the air. They all knew. Even Joel knew. But saying her name meant Fiera facing her worst fear. “We won’t go into Mingroth.”

  Silence passed between them as they both scanned the trees for resting wildlife. None was to be found. “Why did you kiss me, Caleb?” Fiera blurted without realizing she had decided it was a prudent idea to ask such a question.

  Caleb turned slowly. He gazed at Fiera and then shrugged slightly. She breathed deeply, soaking him in. She imagined his warm lips on hers again. She thought about th
e cut that hurt but was now healed. “I-I suppose I believed I would lose you, for a moment at least. The poison...it killed Riah and Jezz.”

  Fiera was certain her heart was melting in her chest. Her stomach fluttered. “Why am I feeling this way?” she rebuked herself. “But you didn’t really believe I woulddie, did you? Ifyou had, you would have left me there. You are practical. You would have not wasted your time. You would”

  Caleb cut her off. “You’re right. I couldn’t bear the thought of you dying, not when there was a chance, I could save you.” He spoke as though he were angry, but all Fiera saw were wavering eyes.

  She laughed roughly. “Don’t get riled up. I believe you. And besides, I was stabbed in the leg, Caleb.” She smiled as she passed him, deciding for now to drop the subject.

  “Actually,” Caleb said from behind her, “I only saved you because I had a debt to repay. You saved me once, remember?”

  Fiera nodded. “Yes, on our journey to Imber Fel. I slew the beast who almost tore into your skull. But that does not explain why you kissed me.”

  “Oh, shut up, Fiera. You can’t ask me to deny that I find you attractive mind and body alike. ”

  She ceased her steps and glanced sideways at him. “How long... exactly?”

  Caleb smiled. “Three months.”

  “Only three months?” she exclaimed.

  “I was only flirting like some desperate idiot before. And for that, I apologize.” Caleb was smiling broadly.

  Fiera relaxed. She gazed at him for what seemed too long and finally smiled. “Why haven’t you said anything?”

  Caleb shrugged. “I think you still need more time. Your sister died less than a year ago, and you participated in your first battle not too long after. I just believe that…an us isn’t good for the time being even if you wanted it.”