I’m not sure yet. We’ve only just met.
At least you’re honest.
I am extremely honest.
Chapter 9
Kaika woke up in far less pain than she had been in when she had fallen asleep. Technically, she may have passed out rather than fallen asleep, because she did not remember much of the precarious climb down the cliff where she had bumped along, strapped to a big soldier’s back. She didn’t remember anything of what had happened after that. Now, she lay on a thin blanket, with stones and tufts of grass prodding her back. Given that her back did not hurt beyond that mild discomfort, she found the experience wonderful.
A familiar face leaned over, peering into her eyes, probably checking to see if they were still rolled back into her head.
“I’m awake,” Kaika rasped, remembering the last time she had woken with Sardelle leaning over her. That had also involved being healed, back at General Zirkander’s mother’s house, less than a month earlier. Kaika needed to stop getting grievously injured, and she probably needed to buy Sardelle a gift. Too bad she was horrible at shopping—and even worse at gift-giving. She had a vague notion that flowers were often purchased for such occasions, but that seemed inadequate thanks for the removal of a bullet. Maybe Sardelle would like a kitten.
“Good,” Sardelle said, touching her shoulder, extra healing energy flowing from her fingers. She knelt in the grass at Kaika’s side, the outline of a flier just visible parked behind her. “King Angulus was most distressed when Ridge and General Ort talked him into climbing back up to the cavern instead of gnawing on his knuckles while he paced around and watched me work.”
A flush of warmth spread through Kaika’s body that had nothing to do with “healing energy.” The words brought a rush of memories back to her, especially of Angulus confessing to her under the desk and then of sharing that kiss on the ledge.
“He’s a good king,” Kaika murmured, not certain if she should mention anything else. A king probably had to keep liaisons with common women secret. “Concerned about his subjects.”
Sardelle’s eyes crinkled at the corners. “Yes, Jaxi has been telling me about his concern.”
“Jaxi? Your sword?”
“Yes. She pretends extreme disinterest when it comes to the romantic lives of human beings, yet she’s usually the first to know about courting activities.”
Kaika’s cheeks warmed even more. How was she supposed to keep secrets from a nosy sword?
“He’s not—I mean, we’re not courting.” Hells, it had only been a few hours since he’d confessed that he was interested in her.
“No? Hm.”
What was that Hm supposed to mean? Sardelle’s face didn’t give away anything. Even in the middle of a castle incursion gone crazy, she wore that same serene expression, so who knew what she was thinking? The way she kept gazing down at Kaika made it seem like she expected a response.
“We might have sex,” Kaika admitted. “That’s all.”
“Are you sure? I don’t know him well, but he seems like a man who might be seeking something more substantial than bedroom acrobatics.”
More substantial than sex? Like... a relationship? Something that continued on and on and involved people living together? Unless one counted the shared barracks at officer training school, Kaika had never successfully lived with anyone, not even her own family. It was so stifling, with the same people around all the time.
“You needn’t look so alarmed,” Sardelle said. “I don’t think he’s going to propose to you on your first date.”
No. No, he wouldn’t. He couldn’t. Because he was the king, and she couldn’t be a queen—seven gods, that was a terrifying thought. They couldn’t live together, either, because he had to sleep in the castle. That was a rule for kings, wasn’t it? And she would be busy on missions. He’d promised she could go on missions again.
After reasoning through this bit of logic, the feeling of panic that had arisen in her breast faded. She laid her head back, gazing thoughtfully up at the clouds in the late morning sky. Maybe a relationship where she and Angulus had their own places and their own lives could be interesting. She could go on missions, and he could do his kingly things, and then they could get together when they were both in town and boink like bunnies. She smiled, again thinking of their kiss on the ledge. It had been impressively steamy considering she had been in such pain. She also thought of the way Angulus had bested Seeker in that fight. And how, when that final earthquake had come, he had lifted her up as if she were a child’s size instead of a gangly six feet, then charged out of the cavern with her amid falling rocks. That had been very manly. And sexy.
“You can probably figure it out as you go along,” Sardelle said.
Reminded that she had company, Kaika wiped the silly smile off her face.
“Yeah.” She shrugged as if it didn’t matter much. “That could be fun.”
An eagle soared down from the mountain, coasting across the valley toward the trees on the far side. It reminded her of the dragon and the fact that more than courting had been going on in that cavern.
“Has our new buddy been back?” Kaika asked.
“The dragon?” A troubled crease marred Sardelle’s brow, a breaking of the serenity. “No.”
“That’s good, isn’t it?”
“Better to know where a rogue dragon is than not.”
“Rogue?” Kaika murmured to herself, testing the word in her mouth. She hadn’t been privy to the entire exchange Angulus had shared with the dragon, but rogue seemed to fit. Mostly, she had been busy with the detonator, but she remembered the creature scraping through her mind, making her brain hurt as he seemed to read her thoughts. After that touch, she’d been oddly sympathetic toward him. She’d even told Angulus to free the dragon so he wouldn’t be in pain. That wasn’t like her. Oh, she might be sympathetic toward some small hurt animal, but not to a potential enemy with the power to crush her with a thought.
“We’ll find out for certain soon,” Sardelle said. “Jaxi is up there with Ridge and Angulus, and she’ll share what she learns with me.”
Kaika remembered the plaque, the language old and indecipherable. What did it contain? A warning?
The more she thought about their encounter with the dragon, the more she thought that nothing good would come from letting it go.
* * *
The cavern was a mess, with fallen rock and broken formations strewn everywhere. General Ort alternated between frowning at the dragon statues and frowning at the dead Cofah agents as he picked a route through the interior. He shook his head, made some notes on a pad, then disappeared into the small tunnel that led back into the research facility. The scientists and soldiers were supposed to be cutting their way back in through the main passage, so they could clean up and check on the projects. Zirkander had found Angulus’s hand-selected researchers when he had been scouting for the secondary exit. They had, indeed, fled due to the earthquakes, deciding to wait for help to arrive before risking themselves further.
After Ort left, Angulus and Zirkander were alone in the cavern, with the general leaning against a column and looking at the big plaque next to the statues. He was also holding Sardelle’s sword—that was his job, apparently, since Sardelle had stayed on the valley floor to heal Kaika’s wound. Angulus had ordered the soldiers that had been brought along to stay with them. He hadn’t wanted more people than necessary to know about this cavern. It might prove even more future-changing than the weapons facility, so he had only invited Zirkander and Ort to join him in here. The sword had invited herself along.
A noisy snort sounded in his head. As if any of your people would have a clue as to how to interpret this chamber and that plaque.
Sire, Angulus thought back.
Pardon?
It’s my title. My subjects use it.
I’m not your subject. I am the mind and soul of a powerful sorceress who lived centuries before your parents ever contemplated getting randy and producing y
ou.
Angulus rubbed his brow, wondering why he was arguing with a sword. After being awake all night, he felt crabby and punchy. He should have dropped the conversation, but he had a petty urge to get in the last word.
Sardelle is a powerful sorceress, and she calls me Sire.
Yes, but that’s because she wants to be in your good graces, so you’ll let her keep sleeping with her soul snozzle. I don’t want to sleep with any of your subjects, so there’s no need for such extreme politeness.
Her what?
Her soul snozzle. Ridge.
“Zirkander, did you know that sword has a nickname for you?” Angulus asked.
Zirkander looked startled enough to drop the sword. “She’s talking to you?”
“Yes.”
Judging by the expression on Zirkander’s face, he didn’t know whether to share his condolences or ask for details. “She’s supposed to be looking at that plaque, not sharing embarrassing nicknames.” He walked closer to the wall, drew the blade, and waved it at the plaque in big arcs.
“So you did know,” Angulus said, tickled despite his weariness.
It wasn’t clear whether Zirkander’s baleful expression was for Angulus or the sword. Perhaps both.
Quit waving me around like a fly swatter, Ridge. I have news for you two.
Angulus raised his brows.
“Yes?” Zirkander returned the blade to its scabbard.
I can’t read the contents of that plaque, but Sardelle can, so she’s been translating.
Angulus glanced in the direction of the exit, half expecting Sardelle to be standing there.
Through me, Jaxi clarified.
“All the way down in the valley?”
Yes. Ridge, you should tell your people to read up on soulblades and links between them and their handlers, so I don’t have to explain how everything works every time we bring a new sheep into the fold.
“Jaxi,” Ridge said slowly, “did you just call the king a sheep?”
“It’s not as bad as what she calls you. What does the sign say, Jaxi?” Addressing his question to the scabbard in Zirkander’s hands was exceedingly weird.
These dragons were imprisoned here between 1403 and 702 Before Dominion. They were criminals, as judged by the humans and other dragons of the time. Murderers of their own kind and of the humans that the dragons of the period had an alliance with—the tribes who lived here before Iskandia united.
“Criminals?” Angulus mouthed, looking toward the cavern entrance, though he could not see the sky that Morishtomaric had flown off into, not from here. “Are you saying I released a murderer?”
According to the plaque, yes. That one was... Morishtomaric. One of several of this band of... there’s not an equivalent in the modern tongue. Something like pirates. They killed and pillaged all across the world, enslaving humans and lesser dragons.
Angulus walked to the column Zirkander had been leaning against and used it to brace himself. He needed the support. “Any idea what the Cofah sorceress wanted with him? Or them?”
He couldn’t trust the vision the dragon had shown to him. He wagered it was a half-truth at best. Still, it seemed plausible that the sorceress had, indeed, come and tried to enlist the dragons’ aid. If Morishtomaric hadn’t been willing to give it, she might have decided it was better to kill them all, to ensure that the Iskandians couldn’t have the dragons as allies, either. She might have left her two men behind, giving them that suicide mission to ensure that none of the scientists or soldiers found their way here to do exactly as Kaika had done. It was amazing that her men would have agreed to that. Could she have some mental powers to force people to do her will? Or could she manipulate them, as Morishtomaric had manipulated Angulus?
I wasn’t here, Jaxi said, and the other dragons aren’t talking.
“Maybe we should have let the bombs go off.” Angulus eyed the explosives. One had toppled to the ground, but none of them had gone off during that last earthquake. Perhaps it would have been better if they had. “Why were the dragons imprisoned if they were so evil? Why didn’t the people of that time kill them?”
They’re gold dragons, Jaxi said.
“So?” Angulus shrugged at Zirkander who shrugged back.
Golds were the most powerful and the natural rulers. Many humans considered them gods. You still have a dragon god in your pantheon. To kill them would have been blasphemous.
“So they’ve been here in this mountainside for thousands of years. Forgotten.”
“Not entirely forgotten,” Zirkander said. “That sorceress remembered they were here.”
It’s possible there were texts about the prison in her time, that it was even general knowledge to sorcerers back then, but that it’s since been forgotten. I’d never heard about the place, nor had Sardelle. We didn’t even sense the presence of the dragons as we were flying up. The carapaces muffle their auras. For all intents and purposes, those dragons are dead. Until the prison is deactivated, and then they’re not. Jaxi offered a mental shrug. I don’t understand the magic. It’s as long forgotten as the dragons.
“So we have a criminal dragon and a Cofah sorceress roaming the country,” Angulus said. “Captain Kaika’s next assignment may be within our borders, rather than overseas.” He would have to think about what kind of team he could send with her to even the odds. Explosives alone wouldn’t be a match for either a dragon or a sorceress.
“She won’t be returning to instructing my young pilots in the ways of being pulverized by grumpy ground troops?” Zirkander asked.
“She’s not grumpy. She’s... wrongfully placed.”
“I can’t imagine what that’s like.” Zirkander’s expression twisted into one of wry regret, but he recovered soon and tapped the sword scabbard. “Jaxi’s seen enough. She’s given Sardelle the names of the dragons listed, so she can do some research on them if that’s what you want.” Zirkander stuck a hand in his pocket and regarded the remaining statues. “Do you think it might be better to go ahead and finish what the Cofah started?”
“Blow up the cavern?”
“We don’t want someone else coming along to let out a bunch of criminals, do we?”
“This cavern’s location is not fortuitous. With our weapons research facility so close, we don’t want explosions going off next door.”
“Maybe the facility should be moved. Since at least one Cofah got away, one who now knows where it is.”
“I’ll consider it,” Angulus said.
The Dandelion facility should be moved, but would blowing up the cavern—and the statues within it—be the best option? If Angulus could make a deal with those dragons, such creatures could go a long way toward evening the odds against the empire. He just didn’t know what leverage he could use to keep them in line or, more likely, what reward he could offer to entice them. He certainly hadn’t been successful in dealing with Morishtomaric.
“I’ll talk to the council,” Angulus added, “and I want Sardelle’s research on the dragons before condemning them to death. I also want to see what this Morishtomaric does.”
“Hopefully he doesn’t eat a small city.”
Angulus nodded bleakly. If the dragon did, it would be on his head.
“Let’s go, Zirkander.” Angulus headed for the exit. “I want to make sure Kaika is comfortable.”
“Now that you and Jaxi are friends, she’ll probably give you advice on that.”
“On making people comfortable?”
“On finding mutual comfort with them.”
“Getting advice on comfort from a sword sounds appalling.” Angulus was glad that Kaika did not come with a sentient sword or a magical background. Her passion for explosives seemed quite tame in comparison.
“It takes some getting used to.”
“Is the advice ever apt?”
My advice is always apt, Jaxi butted in. You don’t exist for hundreds of years without gaining some wisdom.
“Yes,” Zirkander said, “I understand she’s
read hundreds of romance novels.”
“Ah.”
Epilogue
Kaika sat cross-legged at the top of the convex hangar roof, the harbor spread out below with the sea and the sunset visible beyond the breakwater. The army fort lay tucked at the base of the butte, with the city sprawling miles to the north and east beyond it. The castle rose upon its rocky hill at the other end of the harbor. From up here, she and her companion had a view of the entire capital.
“A perfect place for a picnic dinner,” Kaika announced, patting the basket sitting on the roof beside her. Angulus sat on the other side of it, eyeing the roof’s slope where it steepened, eventually dropping three stories to the runway that the fliers used to take off from the butte. Tiger Squadron was up in the air over the harbor now, practicing battle maneuvers, the buzz of their engines competing with the roar of the ocean. “We can watch the air show from up close, and this will be quite the sight when they come in to land.”
Angulus lifted a hand toward the bodyguards milling below—one was frowning disapprovingly up at him. “The view is stunning,” he said, “but my guards seem to be concerned with my elevation. They’ve been extra assiduous in their duties since they heard that I was trapped by rockfalls and almost blown up without them.”
“So long as they don’t come up here. I want to show you that I can, indeed, enjoy a quiet, sedate dinner without finding it boring.” Kaika wanted to do more than have dinner, especially now that there wasn’t a bullet lodged in her back, nestled perilously close to her spine. Fortunately, thanks to Sardelle, her recovery hadn’t taken long, and she would be returning to duty soon, but not, she hoped, before she and Angulus had some private, bodyguard-free time together.
“I’m not sure this qualifies as sedate.” Angulus pointed toward the breakwater and a trail across the top of the massive black boulders protecting the harbor from the ocean. “We’re higher than those seagulls.”
“They’re clearly chubby underachievers. Looks like someone’s been feeding them bread.” Kaika turned her gaze toward the sky, to the fliers and beyond. She kept expecting to look up and see that dragon sailing around. “Speaking of feeding, have there been any reports about our oldest Iskandian criminal?”
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