The Queen of Rhodia

by Effie Calvin

  “We should bring her back to Birsgen with us!” suggested Mireille one day, with Etheriet hanging off her back like some sort of oversized bat. “I’ll take care of her!”

  “I don’t think Releth would like that,” said Esofi.

  “Take her. I do not care,” called Releth from the other side of the clearing, not lifting her head from its resting place on her front claws.

  “Yes!” Mireille gathered Etheriet into her arms. “I will take you home and feed you biscuits every day until you are perfectly round.”

  “Is her mother in Dia Asteria?” asked Adale. From what she could see, Releth was raising the hatchling, albeit reluctantly.

  “Yes,” said Releth. “And we are all better for it.”

  Adale bit back a laugh. The dragons’ brutally straightforward natures never ceased to surprise her. “You didn’t like her?”

  “Mairmet chose death over her hatchling. There is nothing to like.”

  “What happened?”

  “Let’s not speak of the dead,” interrupted Ivanedi. “Especially when we have nothing meaningful to say.”

  Adale did not know that it was possible for a dragon to roll her eyes, but Releth somehow managed it.

  Esofi was very serious about learning the dragons’ language, training her mouth to make the strange, harsh sounds and filling pages and pages with notes to study when she returned home. Carinth sat and listened to these lessons, sometimes, though he remained as silent as ever no matter how Esofi coaxed him to try.

  Adale thought the dragon’s language sounded like something worth learning, but she could hardly be expected to study when there were miles of wilderness in every direction.

  Luckily, Elyne was equally restless. And so, accompanied by a few adolescent dragons, they left to explore the area.

  The eldest of their companions was named Byreth. Her scales were somewhere between brown and grey, rendering her nearly invisible when she was among the trees. Next was Zievem, who always did the exact opposite of whatever Byreth commanded. Then finally there was Mosi, who was about twice Carinth’s size and followed Elyne everywhere.

  Zievem and Byreth chased each other through the trees, tackling and nipping at each other. Sometimes one would claw their way midway up a tree and then spring from it, wings unfurling to catch the wind and give them more distance for a pounce. By contrast, Mosi stayed near to Adale and Elyne’s heels.

  None of the dragons spoke Ieflarian very well, but Elyne understood their language perfectly and translated when needed. In lieu of wings, she waved her arms up and down to convey her points. It looked more than a little silly, but Elyne insisted it was crucial. Adale wanted to ask the older two dragons questions about themselves because Mosi did not speak yet, but they were far more interested in their game.

  Adale reflected on how Esofi was probably right to not want a settlement on the Isles. As nice as it would be to have a real place to stay, it wasn’t worth the risk to the very fragile peace between their races.

  Then Zievem lunged for Byreth, but Byreth was too fast for him, leaping aside at the last moment. Adale had just enough time to cross her arms in front of her face before Zievem collided with her.

  The world spun out of control as Adale was knocked off her feet and into the air. But instead of landing on the ground, Adale tumbled down a ravine. As roots and branches flew past her face, Adale tried desperately to grab hold of something.

  Then, a moment later, she hit the ground.

  All was silent for a moment. Distantly, through treetops that seemed to be a mile away, she could see the sky.

  “Adale?” called Elyne from somewhere far above. “Are you dead?”

  Adale spat out a mouthful of dried leaves. “I don’t think so,” she said. She felt as though she must have a few dozen new bruises, and she was not ready to move quite yet, but none of her limbs were twisted or, worse, numb.

  “Zievem says he’s very sorry! And Byreth is too.” Elyne paused. “Yes, you are—it was just as much your fault—Adale, just stay where you are! We’ll be down in a moment.”

  Adale had landed in the middle of dense brush. She wished she’d brought a sword, instead of just her knife. It would be so satisfying to swing it like a farmer’s scythe and clear all the branches away.

  Cautiously, Adale got back to her feet and pushed her way through the brush. After a few minutes, she came to an open patch of dirt where she could sit and catch her breath while she waited for Elyne and the dragons to find her. As she sat, she examined the new cuts on her arms and wondered if Elyne could heal them well enough that Esofi might never find out about this.

  Movement caught her eye, and Adale looked around, hoping Elyne had found her already. But it wasn’t Elyne or another dragon. It was actually something quite small, only just bigger than a housecat.

  A fox? she wondered, catching a little flash of red. Then the thing came nearer, and Adale realized it was a very, very small gryphon.

  From what she knew of their coloration, the one in front of her was male, but it was not quite fully grown yet. Bright red feathers were still coming in among the dull colors of childhood.

  “Oh,” said Adale. “Hello. Are you lost too?”

  If the gryphon understood her words, he did nothing to show it. Adale knew the gryphons were intelligent. But maybe this one was not old enough to speak yet. Or maybe he just didn’t speak her language? If he’d lived his entire life on the Isles, he’d have no reason to.

  “Adale?”

  Elyne’s voice brought her back to reality. Adale turned but could still no sign of her. “I’m over here,” she called, trying her best to keep her voice soft so the gryphon would not startle. “I found a baby gryphon.”

  “Be careful! The parents are probably not far away.”

  The gryphon did not hiss at Adale or fluff up his feathers in a warning. But when she reached her hand out in his direction, he got to his feet and shuffled further away, toward the dark trees.

  “All right, fine,” said Adale. “I’ll be right here if you change your mind.”

  The young gryphon chirred, a surprisingly loud sound considering his size. Adale raised her eyebrows, wondering what this meant. Then something rippled in the trees behind him and an adult gryphon, this one female, stepped out of the trees. Her long talons dug into the dirt, and she stared at Adale with dark, hungry eyes.

  “Elyne…?” called Adale, but it came out pitifully weak.

  Then the mother gryphon screamed and lunged for her. Adale scrambled backward, only barely missing those awful talons as they struck the ground. Half-stumbling, she darted behind the nearest tree, heart racing, knowing it would only delay the gryphons for a moment. “ELYNE?” she yelled.

  The gryphon rounded the tree, and Adale had just enough time to marvel at the size of her beak before a blast of violet light struck her in the face. She screeched in displeasure, and Adale felt the sound deep in her bones.

  Not far away stood Elyne, her hands bright with magic. But instead of fleeing, the gryphon appeared to square her shoulders and opened her beak.

  This time it was not just sound that emerged from her mouth. A wave of sparkling magic, mahogany-red in color, caught Elyne directly in the chest.

  “Elyne!” cried Adale. But Elyne only took a few steps backward to right herself. Then she opened her mouth and screamed at the gryphon. The sound was simultaneously hoarse and shrill, the sound dipping and rising like a wordless song. The gryphon’s dark eyes narrowed, and she screamed back, only for Elyne to cut her off with a shriek of her own.

  The gryphon cried out again, but now she sounded plaintive, almost pitiful. Elyne replied with another shriek, and the gryphon turned around and spread her wings wide. Within a moment, she had vanished into the woods, her offspring hurrying after her.

  “What did you say to her?” marveled Adale.

  “Told her I knew her mother.” Elyne massaged her throat with her fingers and coughed. “I’m going to feel that tomorrow. Are you a
ll right?”

  “Yes, I think so,” said Adale. “I’ve—I’ve never seen anything like that before. Is it normal for gryphons to shout magic?”

  “Yes. It’s much easier than trying to use those bird talons.” Elyne held up her hands and curled her fingers awkwardly to demonstrate. “In any case, don’t take it personally. They were only hungry.”

  “Oh yes, that’s fine, then,” Adale rolled her eyes. “How long is it going to take us to get back?”

  Zievem and Byreth came shuffling through the trees with what appeared to be expressions of guilt on their face. But Adale held her arms out wide to show that she was unharmed. Still, there was no more play-fighting that day until they returned to the flight.

  Elyne could heal the worst of the cuts, but there was no way Esofi would miss the damage to her hair and clothes, nor the bruise forming on the side of her face.

  When they finally made it back to Esofi and the rest of the flight, Adale braced herself for Esofi’s horrified reaction. But Esofi wasn’t sitting on the stones, talking with some of the elder dragons. Instead, she was standing in the middle of the clearing, speaking to a uniformed courier.

  “Is everything all right?” asked Adale, hurrying up. “Esofi, what’s happened?”

  “Everything is fine! We’ve had a letter from your parents.”

  “They caught the assassin?”

  “No, it’s not about that. It’s my mother. They say…she has left Birsgen. She is returning to Rhodia.”

  Adale’s mouth fell open in shock. “What?”

  “I know, I can hardly believe it myself.” Esofi shook her head, though she was still smiling. “But look, it has their seal.”

  “Well…” Adale was not sure what to say. Certainly she was delighted—but this all seemed wrong. Too easy. She took the letter from Esofi, her eyes falling to her parents’ signatures at the bottom, followed by their seal, and then a lattice drawn in ink so that no forgeries could be added on as a post-script. “Are they asking us to come home?”

  “They said we can if we want, but that wasn’t the agreement.” Esofi reached forward and picked a leaf out of Adale’s hair. “What happened to you?”

  “I fell down a hill,” said Adale. “But it wasn’t my fault.”

  AS THE DAYS passed, Adale found herself thinking less and less of home. She knew Esofi still worried about Lisette, and Adale herself was still suspicious of Gaelle’s apparent concession, but things were going well. There had been no hostility from any dragons in the flight, and they’d even had a few visitors from the smaller islands, lone dragons who preferred silence and solitude over the noise and chaos of a flight. Some wanted to see Esofi and comment on how they expected her to be taller, but most were interested in Carinth and his magic.

  Because of this, Carinth was becoming very adept at summoning the blue light to his hands. He never tried to throw it, or shape it, and Esofi said that was probably a good thing, at his age.

  Every night, back on the ship, Esofi told Adale a little more about her family. Not all the stories were concerning, like being taken up to the mountains to fight dragons at an extremely young age. Some were merely annoying, like Esofi being instructed not to accept requests for dances since she was already engaged.

  One particular night, Esofi was in the middle of describing how Gaelle had insisted the entire court come outside to observe a lunar eclipse in the middle of a terrible snowstorm—and the fight that had ensued when King Alain’s mother, Esofi’s paternal grandmother, announced to the entire gathering that Gaelle was a religious fanatic and she was going back to bed. This might have passed, for Grandmother Adrienne was very old and sometimes forgot where she was, but then her son had followed her inside.

  “They didn’t speak for months,” Esofi confided. “At the time, I wondered if they ever would again.”

  Adale could not imagine her parents going so long without speaking to each other. “Didn’t the Temple of Pemele try to help?” she asked.

  “I’m not sure. I was quite young at the time, and it wasn’t the sort of thing children were told about. I just remember how there were always servants running between them to relay messages, even when they were in the same room.”

  “Can you imagine what they’d do if we went that long without speaking to each other?” asked Adale. “Archpriestess Tofa would be climbing in through our window. No, wait, she wouldn’t need to. My parents would let her in through the front door.”

  Esofi giggled. “With her bag full of all those things!”

  “That is her solution to everything, isn’t it?” agreed Adale.

  “If we did fight that badly, I think I’d rather have a priestess of Pemele as a mediator,” said Esofi. “No disrespect to Dayluue, but…there are some problems that passion alone cannot fix.”

  “I don’t think I could go months without speaking to you,” said Adale. “I’m not sure I’m capable of staying angry that long.”

  “I wrote to Albion, when it first happened,” said Esofi. “I remember, I wanted so much for us to promise we’d never fight like that. But I never sent the letter, I threw it in the fire.”

  “Why?” asked Adale.

  “I’m not sure,” Esofi admitted. “Maybe, in a way, I thought it would be bad luck. Tempting fate, I suppose. Who knows? I was young.”

  There was a knock at the door, and Adale frowned, irritated at the interruption. Esofi looked confused as well, for it was quite late in the evening.

  “Yes?” called Esofi.

  “It’s me,” came Orsina’s voice from the other side of the door. “I apologize for disturbing you, but Ivanedi has come to the ship.”

  “What?” began Esofi, but Adale was already on her feet and pulling the door open. Orsina stood there, still fully dressed in her armor.

  “I’m sorry for the intrusion,” Orsina began.

  “No, no, it’s fine,” said Esofi, pulling a heavy dressing-gown on over her nightgown. “Ivanedi is here?”

  “Yes. He gave the crew a terrible fright. He wishes to speak to you.”

  Esofi all but ran past Orsina, and Adale followed her up. When they arrived above, much of the crew was gathered toward one side of the ship, all staring down into the water. Adale and Esofi pushed their way through the group to peer over the edge.

  Adale had not thought a dragon would be capable of swimming, but Ivanedi managed it. His long neck kept his head well above water, but his body was submerged, and his feet were churning endlessly to keep him afloat.

  “Ivanedi?” asked Esofi. “What’s wrong?”

  “I apologize for alarming you, but I have just received strange news,” Ivanedi said. “It seems that another ship has been visiting the minor isles, in secret.”

  “Pirates?” asked Adale. But what did the dragons have that pirates might be interested in? Unless they were hoping to find hoards of gold and jewels, like in ancient legends.

  “No,” said Ivanedi. “No. I am told it was…a delegation. Not unlike your own. They have come on behalf of the nation of Rhodia.”

  “Oh no,” said Adale.

  Esofi covered her eyes. “I should have known…I was a fool to think she’d just leave.”

  “But how did she know we were here?” Adale asked. “We left in secret.”

  “She may not have followed you,” said Ivanedi. “Queen Gaelle of Rhodia has been claiming that, through her, Talcia will grant us our magic once more. But she will only do so if we agree to a formal alliance with her country.”

  Esofi sputtered. “She—what?”

  “Tell them all she’s lying!” Adale cried. “She got lucky with Carinth, maybe, and she might be good at teaching children how to fight. But she doesn’t have the power to give anyone their magic!”

  “What could she be thinking?” whispered Esofi. “She must know they’ll turn on her once they realize she’s lied. Or does she truly believe her own words?”

  “Is it possible she’s telling the truth?” asked Ivanedi.

  �
��No!” Adale cried.

  “Wait,” said Esofi. “Maybe.”

  “Esofi!”

  Esofi shook her head, an expression of determination on her face. “Like it or not, Talcia may have spoken to my mother. It’s unlikely, but not impossible.”

  Adale turned back to Ivanedi. “Has she done anything to prove her claims yet?”

  “No. As a result, there is no consensus on a course of action.”

  Esofi chewed her lower lip. “Well…perhaps we ought to just leave her to it. If she’s telling the truth, we have no right to stop her. And if she’s not, she’ll have to deal with the consequences of her actions sooner or later.”

  “You think she’ll leave the rest of the world alone if she’s got her own army of dragons?” demanded Adale. “You think she’ll just go home and sit in her palace drinking tea for the rest of her life?”

  Esofi stared at Adale.

  “We’ve got to stop her,” said Adale. “Or she’ll make Emperor Ionnes look like a child playing with toy soldiers.”

  “What do you propose we do, then?”

  “We need to prove she’s lying,” asserted Adale. “I refuse to believe Talcia spoke to her, unless it was to tell her to stop making everyone miserable. She’s the opposite of everything Talcia wants the dragons to be. She’s jealous and angry and cruel. Saying she knows how to get the dragons’ magic back makes no sense, given everything we know about why they lost it to begin with.”

  Secretly, Adale did not feel as confident as her words sounded. She had no idea how they might go about proving Gaelle was a liar. But there was no way she was telling the truth. Yes, Talcia had granted Brandt and Svana magic, but that was different. This was…beyond all reason.

  “Did you wish to confront her?” asked Ivanedi. “If you did, we expect she will come to us tomorrow, to deliver her claims to the flight.”

  “Do we want to confront her?” Adale looked at Esofi. But for once, Esofi just stared back at her helplessly. “All right, we’ll come back to that one later. Ivanedi, what else can you tell us?”

  “I have not seen her for myself, yet. My understanding is that she has been visiting the outermost islands. The dragons who saw her ship mistook her at first for the map-makers here, and so they did not attack. When she began making her claims, news spread throughout the outer isles. It only reached us within the hour.”