by Sarah Dalton
Brother Raphael’s wounds, however, were serious, and Serena found herself staring at the door, counting the seconds until she could escape. When at last the surgeons were finished, she wrapped a shawl around herself rather than take the time to change, and hurried toward the other surgical room.
To her surprise, there was not the crush of doctors she would have expected. Instead, Luca was sitting alongside Brother Raphael with the round-faced young man Serena had met on her walk with Carolina. They spoke in low tones, and Nico looked almost grey in the face.
“Have they not seen him yet?” Serena demanded as she strode closer.
Both men stood.
“Are you well?” Luca asked her.
“I am perfectly fine,” Serena said impatiently. “Brother Raphael—”
“I did what I could.” Nico sounded miserable. “I was able to close all of the wounds and cleanse his body of infection. There was something nasty in those claws. But he has lost a lot of blood. I am not sure….” When he saw the look on Serena’s face, his voice trailed off.
“Nico is Menti,” Luca explained. “He has been trained for years in how to heal battle wounds. He did a better job than any surgeon could have done.”
Serena stood rigid, staring at Nico. He had used magic to heal Brother Raphael? She wondered what the brother would think of that, and then had the strange idea that he would approve of using any talent at all for the purposes of healing. He would probably ask Nico to come with them into the city from now on, to see if he could heal the people in the hospitals.
If he survived.
Serena took a seat next to the bed where the Brother lay. His face was far too pale, and his chest moved shallowly. They had stripped him of his robes, and she could see the bruises on his skin where the monsters had beaten him.
“You must think I am crazy,” she told Luca. “But I swear to you, they were monsters. It was like they were half-snake. Maybe they were Menti.”
“No Menti changes halfway,” Nico objected. He sank back into his chair, and she saw what the healing had cost him. “Whatever they looked like—that is what they are.”
“That is impossible.” Serena did not want to be hurtful, especially when Nico had clearly almost killed himself to keep Brother Raphael alive, but the man was talking nonsense. “What could they be? A human cannot mate with….” She swallowed, repulsed by the idea.
“They might be Ulezi,” Nico said after a long pause. He glanced at Luca. “When dragons mated with humans, there were the shifters, like Stefan. But there were also the Ulezi. They’re monsters, like your sister says. They’re what the people on the coast tell their children about to make them behave themselves. It’s said none of them will rest until all the dragons have died, and they’ll kill anyone who gets in their way.”
“Then, why attack Reva?” Serena demanded. “She is just a noblewoman.” Luca swallowed and looked away, and Serena’s eyes narrowed. “What? What is it you are not telling me?”
“Reva is a dragon shifter,” Luca explained. “She found out after her husband was killed. She was held in the Gardens of Anios,” he added in a whisper. “She is furious at me for not closing them.”
Serena stared at him. For a moment, she had no words for him. She, too, had been angry when she heard that he was keeping the slave camps open, but how much worse would it be if she had been imprisoned in one herself?
She could see his pain, however. He was here, making sure Brother Raphael was well, and he must have been going half-mad waiting for them to come back from the city. Slowly, she reached out a hand across Brother Raphael’s body, and Luca clasped it. There was desperation in the strength of his grip.
“We will find her,” Serena promised him. “They were dragging Reva and Carlia away. If they simply meant to kill them, that would have been easy enough to do.”
Nico was frowning now. “None of the legends say anything about the Ulezi keeping dragons alive for any reason. They say the Ulezi want all the dragons dead.”
Serena glared at him. “Legends do not know everything,” she said flatly. “I am sure there are stories of our history that are missing important facts. Who can say what? What matters is that we have no reason to believe Reva and Carlia are dead.”
Nico opened his mouth again to argue, saw Serena’s face, and rightly deduced that she was prepared to brain him with the chamber pot rather than let him speak further. He closed his mouth again and nodded. “Ah,” he said awkwardly. “Yes.”
It would do.
“Nico, could my sister and I have a few moments alone?” Luca said. “Thank you for all you have done for Brother Raphael. You must rest now.”
“Of course.” Nico stood and had to brace himself on the chair when he swayed. He gave a tiny bow to Serena, as if he was afraid he would tip over if he bent any farther. “I’m sorry I could not fix your wounds as well, Your Highness.”
“Do not apologise.” Serena smiled. “My wounds will heal as they are. I am glad you tended to Brother Raphael first.”
As Nico left, she looked down at Brother Raphael’s face and felt tears pricking at her eyes. The fight had been unwinnable. Why had he charged in? She knew the answer, of course: it was not in his nature to stand by while innocent people were hurt. Still, she felt a raging sense of unfairness. She liked Reva; she always had. Still, a small part of her wished that Raphael had kept himself safe. They would be no worse off now.
“How are you?” Luca had come to sit next to Serena. He reached out his hand again. “I was worried for you when you went into the city, but I never thought something like this could happen.” He swallowed hard.
“No one could have seen this coming,” Serena protested. “Luca, I do not like this. Mount Zean erupting, dragons returning, these monsters…. When we were little, Matias and I would play dragonslayer and pretend we were fighting off all sorts of mythical creatures. Sometimes we played at being dragon kings, too. I thought I wanted to be part of those myths, but I do not like any of this. The peasants are calling for the rebirth of Anios. What if it happens?”
“It’s not going to.” Luca smiled as he took her hand. “The dragons have always been around, Serena. We just did not know they were still there. Sam and Carlia have had their powers for years. Reva learned about her powers months ago, and so did Stefan—and Mount Zean did not erupt then. None of this is new. Nothing about the world is going to change so much that gods can be reborn, surely.”
Serena bent her head into her hand, still trying to keep the tears at bay. “I feel crazy. I just wonder…. With Stefan being what he was, with you being what you are, where does it end? I saw monsters today, Luca, something out of a nightmare. They abducted Reva and Carlia.”
“The soldiers are searching for them.” Luca’s voice was tight with fear, but he spoke clearly, and for the first time, Serena saw the king he could someday be: a man who cared fiercely for his people and was prepared to do everything in his power to help them. He saw her looking and gave her a self-conscious smile. “What is it?”
“You are a good man, Luca,” Serena said. “I am sorry for believing the lies they told about you.”
“Serena.” To her surprise, he looked miserable all of a sudden. “I did kill Matias. I did not mean to, but I did. That was my powers.”
Serena went rigid. When Luca returned as a Menti and told her that Stefan also had powers, she had assumed that the accusations laid at Luca’s door were truly Stefan’s fault. After all, Luca had not sought power when he returned. It was clear that he was not taking the throne out of ambition.
Still, to have lost control so much that he had killed his own brother….
Then she looked at Luca’s face and saw the horror there. All of it was plain to see in his expression. He had not had any volition over what had happened.
“It was the first moment my powers came to me,” he said. His voice was strangled.
“You do not need to tell me,” Serena said. “I believe you. You would not kill Matias
knowingly. If you tell me that you killed him, I will believe you, but I will never believe that you murdered him.”
He clasped her hand again, and now he seemed to be young, a child once more.
“I wish he was still here,” Luca whispered. “I am not meant for it, Serena. You are more suited to this.”
Serena could not speak for a long moment, she was so bitter. Yes, she wanted to say. I should be on the throne. I would have been a good heir. But the words stuck in her mouth and would not go past her lips. Since she had met Brother Raphael, she had begun to wonder if it was truly the throne she sought, or just her father’s approval—just his understanding that Serena had as much intelligence and aptitude as any of his sons.
She would rather be able to devote herself to a cause, such as curing the plague, than be stuck in the council chambers all day, being bothered by courtiers and generals and petitioners. She did not truly envy Luca his job.
“Just because we give you good advice does not mean we would be better rulers than you,” she said finally. “It is easier to give advice than it is to make the decisions.”
He nodded gratefully. “I feel like every decision is between two bad choices,” he told her honestly. “Beggar the country by paying wages for everyone in Reyalon, or keep the money in the treasury and risk riots. I thought your suggestion was so sensible, and it seemed like the right thing to do and now I do not know….”
“You will make the right decision,” Serena said quietly, then released a little laugh. “I do not think we will have the proposal to you in short order, though.”
Luca responded with a laugh that sounded almost like a sob. He reached an arm around her to pull her close. “I do not need more papers to read, anyway.”
They sat for a long moment, watching Raphael’s chest rise and fall.
“What do you want?” Luca asked her after a while.
“Hmm?” Serena had been nearly asleep. The exhaustion of the past several hours was catching up with her.
“Do you want to be married?” Luca asked her. “Do you want to leave Reyalon, or stay?”
Serena could think of nothing to say to this for a moment. “I never thought I would have a say,” she admitted. “I am a princess, Luca. I always expected to be married for an alliance.”
“That was when Father was king,” Luca said. “I do not want to bargain you and Alberto and Carolina away. I do not want to treat people like that.”
“Luca.” Serena laughed again. At the thought of being married to someone she did not know and did not love, her heart seized up, but she knew her duty. “You have to. That is what royal children are for. You cannot change the rules because you want to be nice.”
Luca’s expression turned stony. “First you say I must make the choices, then you do not like them when I do,” he said angrily. “You are as bad as the rest of them, pulling me in all different directions. I will be the type of king who makes my own decisions, Serena, not one who is told what I can and cannot do.”
“But you were just saying that you thought everyone else—”
“Everyone else thinks that!” Luca’s voice was ugly. “I know they do. Lord Tinian wants Estala to be nothing more than a part of Xantos. Brother Axil still thinks I am a child. You go into the city and make pretty speeches.”
“I did not mean to make a speech.”
“Oh, it happened by accident?”
“Brother Raphael found me there and told people who I was. I was not going to tell them.”
“Of course not,” he snapped. “It just happened. It just happened that you made the alliance with Tinian so he could threaten me with it when I was still in the Gold Port. It just happened that you made a speech that no one in the city will shut up about. I am sure any number of things will just happen where you are concerned. Where all of you are concerned.”
He stood up so quickly that his chair tipped over, and then he was gone, striding from the room as Serena stared after him, biting her lip.
Reva
Reva woke in a panic, attempting to flail her bound hands. As she went still and allowed herself to breathe, she recognised the bite of iron manacles on her ankles. She was in darkness, and from the suffocating heat she knew her head was covered. There was cloth stuffed in her mouth that muffled her screams. Even though she knew no one could hear her, she could not stop herself from screaming. She was trapped here, unable to move, and her throat was parched.
When a heavy blow landed on her arm, she rolled away and curled into a ball. The blows kept coming, along with the hiss of the Ulezi. The wooden floor beneath her was jouncing and rattling. It took a moment for her to realise that this must be a cart of some kind.
“Carlia!” The word was muffled, but she called out anyway. Carlia had been bleeding so much during the fight. Was she still alive?
Another muffled cry came back, and then the blows returned. But Reva did not care. She shuffled across the floor of the cart, dragging herself on her elbows, until she and Carlia collided. Their bound hands clasped desperately.
Is Sam here? Reva did not dare say that even through the gag. If the Ulezi had not found him, she was not about to tell them that they had missed one of the dragons.
She and Carlia did not speak, so the Ulezi seemed not to care if they clung to one another. There was silence in the cart for what felt like hours, and Reva could feel her elbows beginning to scrape and bruise against the rough wooden surface. She and Carlia pushed themselves up and huddled next to each other until at last the vehicle drew to a halt.
At the welcome touch of cool night air, she knew a door had been opened. Soon, clawed hands hauled her out. Her hood was wrenched away from her face, and the Ulezi pointed to an area in the clearing and hissed, indicating for her and Carlia to do their business.
Or, at least, that was what Reva did. Part of her, the part that had been reared in a castle, wanted to find someplace private, but she had been shut up in the cart for so long that she did not care. She especially did not care if she was rude to the Ulezi. They were monsters. They did not deserve for her to behave like a lady. She did her business as neatly as she could with her hands bound and then stumbled up and waited.
The Ulezi had built a small fire, and they sat around it, warming their hands. It was such a normal sort of scene that it was almost ridiculous. Reva let herself be led over to a rock, and she sat across from Carlia. Their eyes met as the gags were removed from their mouths. A quick assessment of the situation told Reva that there were too many Ulezi to fight. Beyond that, she was exhausted and bruised from the kidnapping. Reva could tell that Carlia thought the same from the way her shoulders slumped in defeat.
Then Reva thought of Brother Raphael, and her stomach twisted. He was surely dead by now, and she wished he had not intervened on her behalf. He could never have fought the Ulezi. The Ulezi were strong and fast enough to take on trained warriors. The thought of the brave Brother dying in an attempt to save her made her want to vomit.
But she did not. She pulled herself together and ate the unappetising food given to them by the Ulezi. She had to keep her strength up if she was going to get herself and Carlia out of this situation. At the edge of the clearing, one of the Ulezi was watering an exhausted horse as well. She watched the animal shy away from the monster, as if it sensed the creature’s malevolence.
Finally, Reva asked, “Where are you taking us?”
The Ulezi hissed.
She did not care. Wherever they were going, she was sure it was nowhere good. She glared at them. “Why are we still alive?”
“Reva,” Carlia whispered in fear.
“No, I want to know.” Even though she was afraid the answer was that something worse than death was coming. What if the Ulezi wanted to turn Reva and Carlia into Ulezi themselves? What if they were forced to hunt Sam down?
One of the Ulezi hissed again, but it met Reva’s eyes and forced an image into her mind: a man in a strange, small room. It was a tent, Reva realised. He was seated i
n a tent, at a table that had a map of Xantos and Estala on it. He had been laying markers on the map, planning a war of some sort. He wore a mask and a cloak, but he did not wear gloves, and she could see that one of his hands was horribly scarred.
“You are taking us to this man?” Reva asked the Ulezi.
It hissed at her again. It almost sounded sulky. It wanted to kill her—it made sure she knew that. It wanted to sink its teeth into her throat and rip her to pieces. When she shuddered at the image, it smiled, revealing its sharp teeth. Saliva dribbled down its chin. This was a beast made to hunt her. It wanted to see her dead.
Reva knew that whoever this man was, he wanted her dead as well. Otherwise, the Ulezi would never have consented to bring her to him. He was clearly not Ulezi, however, and that made no sense to her. Did the Ulezi follow a human master?
The Lord will drink your blood, the Ulezi said in her mind. It startled her, for she had not known that it could speak in words, only in images. He thinks he will take your power, and then we will find the rest of you and he will drink their blood too. When only he is left, we will kill him.
He would drink her blood. She knew someone else who liked to do that. Someone else the Ulezi would want dead. Someone who had duelled a fire mage and might bear scars on his body. She swallowed, feeling icy dread in the pit of her stomach.
“Reva?” Carlia whispered. “Where are they taking us?”
“To see Stefan,” Reva whispered. “He has a new name, and he no longer wears a crown, but it is him, Carlia—and he has made a bargain with them so they will not kill him.”
She met Carlia’s eyes and saw the other girl’s fear, but Reva was suddenly unafraid. She was facing Stefan, yes, but this was simply earlier than she had thought she would. She had always known that she would face him in the end.
She had a chance to kill him now.