by Effie Calvin
“Are you dragons or not?” cried Gaelle. “What do you care for a weak shadow of a goddess when I can offer you true power?”
“It was not so long ago that we followed one who promised us the same thing,” said Ivanedi.
“I don’t particularly care whether you believe me or not,” said Gaelle. “Those who come with me to Rhodia will be rewarded.”
“Drethet has supported you since your arrival on our islands,” said Ivanedi, nodding to the pale brown dragon, who narrowed his eyes suspiciously. “Grant him magic, and I will give you my support.”
Gaelle laughed, but the sound was brittle. “What makes you think I want your support?”
“Etheriet is young. It is not impossible to believe that Talcia saw her innocence and granted her magic when she was hatched, as a gesture of goodwill after Zethe’s death,” said Ivanedi. “But we all know that Drethet is not blessed. If you can give him magic, none will be able to oppose you. My entire flight will follow you. Regardless of what you have done here today.”
“And when I grant him magic, you’ll think up another reason why it shouldn’t count,” retorted Gaelle. “And then you’ll expect me to grant magic to another. And another. Do you think I am a fool?”
“If you can’t do it, just say so,” said Adale.
“You shut up!” snarled Gaelle. “No mortal is more favored by Talcia than I!”
“Maybe once. Maybe when you were young. But Esofi’s got just as much magic as you do, and she’s the one who was given Carinth. I don’t think you’re anyone’s favorite anymore.” Adale tried not to sound too giddy.
Gaelle looked at Drethet and his ears lifted eagerly, in the exact same way that Carinth’s did when he saw someone eating something. He believed in her wholeheartedly, Adale realized, and her heart sank in her chest. He was going to be so hurt, so disappointed…
Unless Gaelle managed to succeed.
She couldn’t. It was impossible.
And yet…Adale could not unthink that thought.
“Give me your claw,” Gaelle said to Drethet.
Drethet’s hand was massive compared to Gaelle, almost comically so. He curled his digits in the same way Etheriet had, and Adale held her breath. Gaelle stood there frowning at him, at his palm.
Waiting.
The silence went on, and on, and on.
“Try harder,” Gaelle growled at Drethet.
“I am—”
“Idiot!” Gaelle dropped both hands to her side. “You are unworthy.”
“But…” It was strange to hear such a magnificent creature sound so plaintive. “I…I did try.”
“Evidently not!”
Adale exhaled loudly, unable to hold her breath for any longer. “I think it’s time for us to leave.”
“Then go!” cried Gaelle. “Go back to chasing after serving-maids and drinking yourself into a stupor!”
“Don’t you realize you’ve lost?” asked Adale. “You’ve not been chosen by Talcia for anything.”
“That’s impossible,” said Gaelle with such perfect certainty that for a moment, despite everything, Adale believed her.
Elyne was right, she realized. Gaelle really did believe what she was saying. Adale was not sure if this was better or worse than her just being an outright liar. In a strange way, it made Adale hate her just a little bit less. It was actually rather sad.
“You,” said Gaelle, pointing to another dragon. “Perhaps you are worthy. Come forward.”
When the next dragon stepped forward, Adale realized it was Byreth, the adolescent dragon who had been partially responsible for her encounter with the gryphons. Unlike Drethet, she looked uncertain, even worried. Adale tried to give her a comforting smile.
This time, Gaelle only tried for a few minutes before snarling at Byreth that she was unworthy. The moment Gaelle released her claw, Byreth turned and ran behind another, much larger dragon who glared at Gaelle like she was thinking of flicking her off the mountaintop.
The discontented murmuring was starting up again, and Adale could see real panic in Gaelle’s face now. One of the dragons stepped away from the gathering and launched himself into the sky, apparently deciding he’d had enough excitement for the day. After him, a few others followed suit.
“Let’s go,” Adale said to Orsina. “Esofi’s probably worrying.”
“You do not wish to stay?”
“No.” Adale turned and began to walk toward the path that would take them back to the ocean. “There is nothing more to see.”
Chapter Twelve
ESOFI
“It should have been me,” said Esofi. “I should have been the one to face her.”
She regretted the words as soon as she spoke them—they sounded so terribly ungrateful. But Adale just laughed.
“You don’t have to do everything yourself, you know,” said Adale, pulling her close for an embrace. “Besides, I like knowing I’m not completely useless.”
Adale had come to her immediately upon arriving back at the Courser, smiling broadly and claiming that the matter was settled. Esofi sat, Carinth in her lap, and listened as Adale explained what had transpired on the mountain. Orsina stood silently, only nodding occasionally for confirmation when Adale looked in her direction.
“I know. I know. I just…” Esofi wasn’t sure how to describe what she was feeling. It was an oddly hollow sensation, as though something was missing. “And Elyne will be well?”
“When her body is killed, her consciousness returns to her plane in Asterium.” Orsina gestured vaguely upward. “She just needs time to…pull herself together…before she can reform on Inthya.”
“How much time?” asked Esofi, thinking of childhood stories that always ended with chaos gods being banished to Asterium for decades or even centuries.
“She was not locked into her body, so it should not be too long. It depends on how much magic she has in reserve and how recently she last received prayers.”
“It seems too easy,” sighed Esofi. “I…I can’t help but worry she won’t give up so quickly.”
“You think she’ll try the gryphons instead?” asked Adale.
“Perhaps.” Esofi stroked Carinth’s head absently. “She’s not used to losing.”
“The gryphons already have magic,” Orsina reminded them. “She has nothing to entice them with.”
“Yes! That’s right!” Adale’s face lit in a smile. “We don’t have anything to worry about.”
Esofi forced a smile for Adale’s sake, but a knock at the door saved her from having to come up with a reply. Mireille leapt to her feet and answered it.
One of the Courser’s crew was standing there, and panic rose in Esofi’s throat. But he was smiling neutrally, obviously untroubled. She forced herself to be calm, to breathe.
“A courier has arrived for Princess Esofi,” he reported.
“Now what?” asked Adale.
“I’ll be there in a moment,” said Esofi, setting Carinth down on the ground and brushing at her skirt.
The courier waiting for them above was a rare male one, and he bowed deeply as the princesses approached. In his hand, he held a letter sealed in crimson ink. “I’ve a message for Princess Esofi,” he said.
Esofi took the letter from the courier and broke the seal.
“It’s from your parents,” she reported. “…now ask you to return to Ieflaria…as agreed as a condition of your departure…upon the arrest of the assassin that attempted to poison…”
“They caught them?” Adale tried to grab the letter from Esofi’s hands, but Esofi held it tightly. “Who was it?”
“It does not say.” Esofi turned over the page over to make sure she had not missed something, but the reverse side was blank.
“Well, that’s infuriating,” said Adale. She looked over at the courier. “Do you know who’s been arrested? There’s got to be some gossip, they can’t keep something like this a secret for long.”
“I do not know her name,” said the courier, �
�but a priestess from the Temple of Talcia has been arrested.”
“What?” Esofi shook her head. “That can’t be right.”
“Which priestess?” asked Adale.
“I do not know, Crown Princess.”
“There must have been some kind of mistake. I know every one of those women personally,” said Esofi.
“I will agree that it doesn’t seem right,” Adale said slowly. “But…you did go to the temple the day it happened?”
“You can’t believe this is true!” cried Esofi.
“I’m not saying I do. Just that…it’s not completely impossible.”
“Of course it is! Perhaps you’d like to accuse the cat next. This is clearly just a trick to get me to come home.” Esofi glared at the courier, even though she knew he was not responsible for the deception. “You may tell their Majesties that I will honor my agreement and return to Birsgen when the true assassin is caught, and not a moment sooner. And you may also tell them I will not hear such slander against the Temple of Talcia.”
“If…that is what you wish, Princess,” said the courier, looking to Adale for confirmation.
“Are you sure about this, Esofi?”
“Yes!”
Adale sighed. “All right, but I’m not taking the blame for this one. You be sure to tell their majesties that Princess Esofi was the one who refused to come home, not me.”
“WHY AREN’T YOU happy?” Esofi whispered to her reflection.
Turn and fight.
But the fight was over. Gaelle was disgraced. She would not terrorize the world with an army of dragons. There was nothing left for her in Ieflaria or on the Isles. There was nothing left for her to do but return home.
Turn and fight.
She should have felt relief, light and joyful. But dread churned in her stomach. This was not the end. Gaelle did not lose, she was incapable of it. This was only a temporary setback, and when she returned, she would be even angrier…
They should have left her to her lies. The dragons would have worked it out for themselves eventually. Besides, Gaelle was only going to use them to fight elves, not people…
Probably.
It was barely midday, but Esofi found herself crawling into bed and pulling the covers over her face. Very nearly accustomed to the soft but constant rocking of the ship, she drifted in and out of awareness for a time, thinking of the priestesses at Birsgen and wondering which of them might have been arrested.
Maybe Asta? She was loud and sometimes brash. No doubt there was someone in Birsgen who wanted her out of the way—one of the other temples, perhaps. The more she thought about it, the more likely it seemed. A simple investigation would reveal the truth of the matter. She would compose a formal letter to their majesties…once her energy returned to her.
Esofi was mentally composing what she would say when the door opened.
“Esofi?” called Adale, cautiously.
Esofi made a soft noise to let Adale know that she was awake.
“Elyne is back,” reported Adale. “She tried to manifest on the ship, but she missed, and they had to pull her out of the ocean.”
“I should go thank her,” said Esofi, not moving.
“She died protecting me, technically. I think she gets a medal.” Adale came and sat beside her. “Are you going to be all right?”
“I don’t even know why I’m not,” admitted Esofi. “I wish I could just stop thinking.”
Adale pressed her hand to Esofi’s back, running it up and down her spine. “I don’t blame you,” she said. “And…I’m sorry.”
“For what?” Esofi rolled over and rubbed some sleep from her eyes.
“Just…” Adale struggled for words. “Everything.”
“None of this was your fault.”
“Yes, but I’m still sorry.”
“You were right, you know,” said Esofi. “I could face the Emperor, but I couldn’t face her. Isn’t that ridiculous?”
“Well…I think not wanting to fight one’s mother is not a terribly uncommon thing.”
Esofi laughed, and for a moment, she felt like herself again. Adale leaned over to kiss her neck.
“Were you going to get up, or should I take my boots off?” asked Adale.
“Oh, I have no idea.” Esofi shook her head. “I should get up.”
“Only if you want to. There’s nothing that needs to be done.” Adale paused. “My parents are going to be upset.”
“Well, serves them right.”
“And I’m sure they’ll find some way to turn it around so it’s my fault instead of yours.” But Adale was smiling. Being in trouble with her parents was such a common occurrence it did not really bother her. “But do you really think they arrested a priestess just to trick you into coming home?”
It sounded ridiculous when she put it that way. “No, I just…it has to be a mistake.”
“I hope you’re right,” said Adale. “Not that I want this to go on any longer. I just know how badly it would hurt you if it turns out to be true.”
“It can’t be. It makes no sense.” Esofi shook her head. “Never mind. I’m done thinking about it until they uncover the real culprit.”
“I wonder what the dragons are doing now.” When Esofi did not respond, Adale added, “We can go visit them tomorrow. Carinth was very upset he didn’t get to see Etheriet today, and she was disappointed when she saw I hadn’t brought him.”
“It must be difficult to have nobody her own age on the island,” mused Esofi. “We’ll go tomorrow. I need to make sure Gaelle is truly gone regardless.”
WHEN THEY ARRIVED on the beach the next morning, a dragon was waiting for them. But it wasn’t Ivanedi. It was Releth. She paced back and forth across the stones, tail sweeping from side to side anxiously, as she waited for the rowboat to meet the land.
“Releth?” called Esofi, as soon as they were near enough to be heard over the roar of the ocean.
“Etheriet is gone. I cannot find her,” Releth’s claws clicked on the stones. “Have you seen her?”
“No, we’re sorry,” said Adale. “When did you see her last?”
“Yesterday. Last night. I could not find her when I woke. I thought perhaps she had gone to your ship, to see Carinth…”
“Maybe she tried to. Would she have strayed off the path?” asked Adale.
“No,” said Esofi. Her voice felt strange, like it was coming from somewhere far away. “Gaelle took her.”
“What?” asked Adale.
“Gaelle took Etheriet.” When had she stopped calling her Mother? Esofi was not sure. Perhaps it did not matter. “She couldn’t have Carinth, so she decided to take Etheriet instead.”
“I will kill her,” Releth said flatly. “I will sink her ship and—”
“No!” cried Esofi. “She’ll kill you!”
“Better than leaving Etheriet in her hands!”
“I’ll get her back!” Esofi cried. “I swear I will! But it’s my fault she has no mother. I can’t be responsible for her having no sister, either.”
“What are you talking about?” Adale asked.
“I’m not a fool! I know why Ivanedi did not wish to speak of Mairmet!” Esofi looked from Adale to Releth. “Am I wrong?”
“You would take the blame for the setting of the sun!” cried Releth. “Do you even feel true guilt, or do you just believe that you are the only one among us capable of making her own decisions? Not even Zethe would have compelled Mairmet to fly into danger when she was caring for a hatchling. Her hatred of Men was greater than her love for her daughter.”
Esofi’s mouth moved, but no sound came out.
“Releth, we’ll get Etheriet back for you,” Adale said. “I swear. But if you come with us, you’ll give us away. Even if she doesn’t kill you, she’ll see you coming from miles away.”
Releth huffed in annoyance but sat down on her hind legs, wings drooping. “If you fail, I will go after her myself.”
“If we fail, we’ll probably be dead
, so nobody will be around to stop you,” said Adale.
Esofi wanted to chastise Adale for saying such a thing, but part of her knew she was right. Gaelle wasn’t going to let them walk away again, not after what had happened yesterday. The realization was awful, but also…strangely freeing, in a way she could not articulate.
“She’s almost certainly on her way back to Rhodia,” murmured Esofi.
“If that’s the case, she’s probably planning to stop in Valenleht for supplies before they attempt to cross the Summer Strait,” said Adale. “Or maybe a smaller port town, if she’s afraid we’ll follow her.”
“Did any other dragons go with her?” asked Esofi.
“No,” said Releth. “Not after what happened yesterday.”
“We’ll go now,” said Esofi. “There’s no time to waste. If we tell the authorities to delay her in Valenleht—I only hope the courier can outfly her.”
“I can get myself to Valenleht,” volunteered Elyne. “Or at least, near enough. I can deliver a letter to the harbormaster, or whoever else you’d like.”
“Are you certain? What if you…miss again?”
“The ship was moving,” said Elyne hotly.
“It’s worth a try,” said Adale. “Should we send her to some of the other towns as well? In case Gaelle decides to be sneaky about it?”
“Not too many, every jump takes magic,” cautioned Elyne. “If I run out, I won’t be able to get back to you.”
“Are we certain she will take the same route home?” asked Orsina. “Might she attempt the Winter Strait?”
“No, not so near to midwinter—” Esofi began, but then she stopped. “Gods, I hope not.”
The Winter Strait was dangerous at any time of year, but not more so than in the colder months, when massive mountains of glittering ice could tear through wooden hulls like paper. The Summer Strait was a warzone, and it was still preferable to the Winter. Would Gaelle attempt it, for the sake of shaking any pursuers?
“If she does go north, where would she stop for supplies?” asked Elyne.
“I don’t know, probably…” Adale looked at Esofi, realization in her face.
“…Fenstell,” Esofi completed. Fenstell, home to a small battalion of mages who were more loyal to Rhodia than Ieflaria. Why would Gaelle risk bringing Etheriet anywhere else? “That’s where she’s going. I know it.”