by Resa Nelson
She then pounced onto the man’s chest to pin him down. “You will be chained up at the stables and work there until I feel like seeing you in court. I suggest you spend your time working hard and thinking about how you should be punished.”
Frayka’s favorite royal guard rushed toward her with a small army of guards at his heels.
“My empress!” Jojen said. Although his face twisted in distress, he failed to disguise the anger in his voice. He aimed a wooden weapon similar to GranGran’s cane at the attacker’s face. “My empress, I beg you to get away from that man at once and let us guards do our job of guarding you.”
For a moment, Frayka felt sorry for Ti because it was unlikely the previous empress could have had this much fun with the guard who deserved to be everyone’s favorite. Frayka smiled and stood up. “Come now, Jojen. Let others have some fun, too. Don’t be greedy.”
Jojen glared at Frayka while several other guards hoisted the attacker to his feet. “The usual?”
Frayka nodded. “Working in the stables until trial will do this one good.”
A handful of guards hauled the offender toward the royal complex, while Jojen and his other guards stayed behind. Aware of the crowd gathering around them, Jojen lowered his voice. “My empress, please. Have pity. Incidents like this make my men look like fools for not knowing where you are.”
Frayka faced him squarely and gestured for Jojen to come closer. “That is not the intent. Our people need to know their empress can protect herself. How else can I convince them that they can learn to fight on their own behalf?”
She paused and remembered an incident between herself and Jojen a year ago in the mountains. “And if our people learn how to fight for themselves, they can also save the life of a guard in trouble.”
Jojen’s posture sagged, and he lowered his voice even more. “Is it necessary for my empress to keep reminding me that she saved my life? Does my empress enjoy torturing her guards?”
Frayka gave him her sweetest smile. “Only my favorite guard.” Her voice softened. “But I will consider giving truthful information about my plans for each day instead of evading the guards—if they hang back and give me the chance to show how an empress can protect herself from attackers.”
Jojen returned her smile with relief. “Agreed. May I accompany my empress now?”
“Of course.” When Frayka turned away from Jojen, she blanched when she saw another man rush from behind GranGran with a scythe raised above his head.
Before Frayka could shout a warning, GranGran turned and slammed her cane across the man’s face, knocking him unconscious. When he crumpled to the ground, more guards picked him up and carried him toward the royal complex.
Frayka winked at Jojen. “That’s my GranGran.”
Jojen nodded. “She will undoubtedly outlive us all.”
Frayka then joined GranGran and TeaTree as they walked into the park to enjoy the morning exercise among hundreds of citizens of Zangcheen. Frayka caught a glimpse of Ling Lu in the crowd. Along with her mother, Ling now lived in Zangcheen. The memory of Ling bringing Dagby to Empress Ti still made Frayka twitch with anger, but she reminded herself that if she could forgive Ti, she could forgive Ling as well.
But if Ling ever does anything to place my daughter in peril again, she had better hope for the dragon gods to help her—because I won’t.
Frayka missed the black sand beaches and towering waterfalls of her home in Blackstone in the Land of Ice. She missed its dramatic landscapes and the deep rifts that made the land appear as if it were coming apart at the seams. She missed her father’s sheep and her mother’s cooking. She missed the comfort and familiarity of home.
At the same time, she gained a new understanding for all the tales her father told about the old days and the way that Northlanders loved adventure.
In a peculiar way, becoming more of a Far Easterner made Frayka feel more authentic as a Northlander.
Frayka settled into the rhythm of the gentle exercise, thankful for this peaceful time of day when she could shut out the responsibilities ahead of her and feel at one with nature.
* * *
Later that day, Frayka sat on her throne in the courtroom and remembered GranGran’s advice.
Throughout history, the emperor spent most of his day in court because the country is riddled with so many laws.
If you take time in changing those laws, you will give your citizens time to adjust to these changes. And as you change the laws, there will be less and less need for people to come to court.
Frayka would never forget her first case. She’d questioned the royal magicians Tao Chu and Asu Chu about Tao’s advice to Empress Ti to steal the blood of infants for her self-preservation and Asu’s role in killing those children. The courtroom had been crowded that day, and the citizens of Zangcheen lined the wall separating their city from the royal complex, anxious to hear the verdict.
That day saw the first change in law. Frayka denounced the need for royal magicians, found Tao and Asu Chu guilty of murder, and banished them from the mortal realm.
She appreciated her good fortune in having spent eight months of her life with the dragon god of earth. Wendill agreed to take the magicians into his realm, where they would labor in his gardens, thus ensuring good crops for all Far Easterners, including the ones whose lives they had ruined by killing their infants.
Frayka warned Tao and Asu that their magic would not work inside the dragon’s realm. She further warned them that if they ever attempted to do anything other than obey the dragon god of earth that his garden would destroy them. Roots would reach up from the ground and grasp their ankles, pulling them below ground where they would suffocate.
Wendill agreed that once Tao and Asu entered his realm, he would lock the Gate of Earth forever. His promise saddened Frayka, but she comforted herself in knowing that every time she ate a meal or touched a flower or sank her hands into the good earth beneath her feet that Wendill would be with her in spirit.
Today, Frayka squirmed impatiently at the petty cases presented to her. The current case of one man insisting that the flowers from the tree planted in his neighbor’s yard littered his own pushed her to the limit. Before the man could complete his complaint, she interrupted him. “This is nonsense,” Frayka said. “I would be happy if flowers landed in my yard. How can you complain about such a thing?”
When the man began to answer, Frayka cut him off. “Stop talking!” she said. “And listen instead. You have a choice. Talk to your neighbor and figure out a solution.”
The man looked at Frayka in astonishment. He pointed at his neighbor, who sat on the opposite side of the aisle. “But the laws say he should be punished! The laws say he should be whipped for this offense!”
Pushed beyond her limits, Frayka stood and pointed at the complaining man. “That law changes today. It’s a stupid law. The guards at the door will record your name and complaint. If you ever come to my court with such a petty complaint again, my guards will turn you away.”
For the rest of the day, Frayka struggled to keep her composure while hearing similar cases. She kept thinking about GranGran’s advice to change the laws slowly because too much change would overwhelm people. By the time the final case came before Frayka, she felt cross-eyed and muddle-headed. However, once the accuser began to speak, Frayka’s attention sharpened.
“My mother insults my father,” said a boy who looked to be in his late teens.
Frayka straightened her posture. “How so?”
The boy’s mouth trembled and he made a brave effort to hold back his tears. “My father died last week. And yesterday my mother dared to smile.”
When Frayka failed to respond, the boy raised his voice as if to make her understand. “My father is dead, and my mother smiled. She must be punished for failing to honor him.” The boy jabbed an accusing finger at the woman seated next to him.
I’ve already changed one law today. I shouldn’t change another so soon.
Fr
ayka debated with herself about how to proceed. “Do you think she should be boiled to death?”
The boy raised his chin as if his complaint had been validated. “Yes. That is the correct punishment.”
Frayka folded her forearms across her knees when she leaned forward. “Your own mother? You want to see her boiled alive?”
The boy stood fast. “Yes.”
“How heartless,” Frayka said. “How sad to see a child hold such disregard for the woman who raised him. Who clothed him. Who fed him. Who loved him.”
The boy’s face shifted with confusion. “But the law says…”
“How convenient the law has been for you,” Frayka said. “How easy it has been to hurt other people because you know you can. Because you know the law is on your side.”
“It is,” the boy said in a faltering voice. “The law is the law.”
“This law is cruel and makes no sense,” Frayka said. “It will not change today, but it will change.”
The boy’s mother shuddered.
Still confused, the boy said, “So you will punish her today?”
“Yes,” Frayka said. She considered the boy and his mother, and an idea occurred to her.
For the first time in Frayka’s life, she saw how a small and silly lie could help a nation. She felt the need to scare this boy so he wouldn’t harm his mother or look the other way if others tried to harm her in retaliation of Frayka’s judgment today.
The mother would recognize the silliness of Frayka’s small lie, but the lie might scare her son into acting as he should. Frayka said, “But it makes even less sense to use a punishment for a law that will change. So, I pronounce a different punishment to be used until the day the law is changed.”
“You won’t boil her?” The disappointment in the boy’s voice was chilling.
“No,” Frayka said. She felt so amused by her silly idea that she struggled not to laugh out loud. “Instead, I will follow her in spirit. Walk by her side. Watch her. I will be like a ghost and always be with her.”
The mother looked at Frayka with bright eyes. She, too, appeared to keep from laughing.
Frayka’s voice brightened. “Until, of course, the day the law changes. And then she won’t need to be punished anymore.”
Tears spilled from the boy’s eyes. “Why not?”
Frayka let her voice deepen and harden. “Because the day the law changes, no woman will be required to mourn her husband.”
The boy’s mother stared at Frayka in disbelief.
“That’s not fair!” the boy protested. “That can’t be right!”
“Fine,” Frayka said. “You have just challenged your empress. You know what happens next. I know the guards explained it to you when you came into this Hall of Justice.”
Now the boy stared at Frayka in disbelief.
Because his was the final case of the day, only the boy, his mother, and their family sat in the courtroom.
Frayka stood and gestured for them to follow her as she walked out of the courtroom, through the hallways, and outside toward the royal palace. She shouted at the red tile rooftop where Ti now resided. “Imperial Dragon!”
The dragon napping on the roof of the royal palace lifted her head.
As large as a small Northlander boat, the dragon appeared to be solid, although her body was as light as air. Green and black scales, reminiscent of the earth, covered her body. Her sharp, curved claws looked like frozen water. Fire flamed in her eyes.
The dragon Ti hurled her body from the rooftop and landed in front of Frayka on cat-like paws.
Frayka gestured toward the boy, his mother, and their family. “This boy charges his mother with the crime of dishonoring his father because she smiled a week after his death. He further complains because I will change this law and, in the meantime, offered to have my spirit follow his mother like a ghost until the day I change the law.”
The dragon Ti flicked a tongue made of flame at the boy, who cowered in response.
“That’s a very good question,” Frayka said to the dragon Ti, even though no one had heard the dragon speak. “I don’t plan to simply change that law. I plan to abolish it. The new law will make it clear that if a man does anything that harms or insults his wife that she has the power to end their marriage at once. Their home will become her property, and her husband will have to find a new home. Their children will stay with their mother—as long as she has proven herself to be a good and kind parent. Otherwise, the children will choose their father or another family member to replace their mother. Half of whatever the husband owns will become the property of his wife. If a man wants to be married, he must learn to respect his wife or suffer the consequences.”
The dragon Ti pawed at the ground, and her icy claws left deep grooves in the ground.
“I’m so pleased you agree with me,” Frayka said.
The boy’s voice cracked when he spoke. “The dragon didn’t say anything.”
The dragon Ti lowered her body to the ground and stalked toward the boy as if hunting him.
The boy shrieked and tried to hide behind his mother.
His mother, however, took her son by the shoulders and shoved him toward the dragon.
The dragon Ti opened her jaws and hissed, ready to bite.
“Alright!” the boy shouted. “I accept the punishment. I agree with the Empress Frayka.”
The boy’s mother smiled first at the dragon Ti and then at Frayka.
“Fine,” Frayka said. She wagged a warning finger at the boy’s mother. “Remember that my spirit will be with you like a ghost. I’ll be watching you.”
The boy’s mother took on a most serious expression and bowed. “I understand. Thank you, my empress.”
The dragon Ti paced while watching the boy, his mother, and their family walk away toward the gate opening up to the city of Zangcheen.
Frayka remembered the day that she sentenced Tao and Asu to the realm of the dragon god of earth. Even then, Ti had agreed with Frayka’s decision, despite the protests and pleas from the magicians before they left the Far East forever.
“Well done, Imperial Dragon,” Frayka said. “Well done.”
After a brief glance at Frayka, the dragon Ti leapt back up on top of the red tile rooftop of the royal palace. Instead of going back to sleep, the dragon paced back and forth across the rooftop, looking out across the city of Zangcheen and the Wulong Province beyond it.
We’ve wanted the same thing all this time. For the laws to change and our people to be safe from the temptation to harm each other.
Frayka looked forward to meeting other Northlanders if they did exist. She looked forward to the rebuilding of the Northlands, Midlands, and Southlands. She looked forward to the day when the Far East would exchange goods and ideas with them.
But for now, she looked forward to having dinner with her husband and holding her daughter in her arms, knowing that her child and future children would be free and happy in the land of their ancestors.
* * *
You have just completed the Dragon Gods series.
To learn more about this series and how it fits into the Dragon Cycle, turn the page.
About the Dragon Cycle
The Dragon Cycle began with one short story that was published in the early 1990s. Because fan response was so strong, I decided to expand the story into a novel (The Dragonslayer’s Sword). But while I was writing that book, I realized the story and the world were much larger than I’d first imagined.
That’s why one short story grew into a total of 16 books – four series of four books each. When you read the Dragon Cycle from beginning to end, it tells one gigantic story. It’s an epic story of four generations that takes place in six countries, the mortal realm, and the realms of gods.
My goal is that if you want to read just one book or just one series, you’ll enjoy it. But my long-term goal has been to offer a gigantic story that will be satisfying for everyone who loves reading long series.
Recommended
Reading Order
The reading order that I recommend depends on whether you like spoilers or surprises.
For people who like to be surprised, who like mysteries, or who like TV series like Lost, this is the recommended reading order:
The Dragonslayer series:
Book 1: The Dragonslayer’s Sword
Book 2: The Iron Maiden
Book 3: The Stone of Darkness
Book 4: The Dragon’s Egg
The Dragonfly series:
Book 1: Dragonfly
Book 2: Dragonfly in the Land of Ice
Book 3: Dragonfly in the Land of Swamp Dragons
Book 4: Dragonfly in the Land of Sleeping Giants
The Dragon Gods series:
Book 1: Gate of Air
Book 2: Gate of Earth
Book 3: Gate of Fire
Book 4: Gate of Water
The Dragon Seed series:
Book 1: Berserk
Book 2: The Dragonslayer’s Heart
Book 3: The Dragonslayer’s Curse
Book 4: The Dragonslayer’s Fate
The Dragon Cycle is like the image of the dragon eating its own tail on the cover of The Dragonslayer’s Fate. By the time you finish this final book in the Dragon Cycle, you will gain a different perspective of all the characters in the previous books. You can then re-read the entire Dragon Cycle and have a different experience.
For people who like spoilers, this is the recommended reading order:
The Dragon Seed series:
Book 1: Berserk
Book 2: The Dragonslayer’s Heart
Book 3: The Dragonslayer’s Curse
Book 4: The Dragonslayer’s Fate
The Dragonslayer series:
Book 1: The Dragonslayer’s Sword
Book 2: The Iron Maiden