Vixen

by Finley Aaron

  “You claim to be in love with my daughter?” Dad plants his hands on his hips and leans into Ion’s face.

  “Yes.” Ion doesn’t flinch, though he’s chained to the wall and Dad is acting like a total bully right now.

  “You want to marry her?”

  Ion glances my way. His gaze sweeps over me with an affection that borders on reverence. “More than anything.”

  Dad leans back and grins. “Destroy the yagi operation, and you can marry Zilpha.”

  CHAPTER SIXTEEN

  For a few seconds, the room is completely silent. Dad is still standing close enough to Ion that I can see them both clearly in one glance. Dad looks pretty pleased with himself. If I’m at all surprised by his proposal, it’s that it’s unusually generous.

  I mean, I’ve always known Dad hates Ion. And after the conversation we’ve had so far, I’ve come to appreciate how complicated their mutual antagonism really is. Dad blames Ion for his parents’ deaths, for trying to steal Mom away from him and, oh yeah, for trying to kill him.

  So there’s baggage between the two of them. Big baggage.

  But it’s a brilliant plan, if you think about it. Dad’s biggest reason for hating Ion stems from his assumption that Ion is the enemy, working for Eudora, in league with the yagi, who were created to kill us all.

  If Ion destroys the yagi, that will prove his allegiance is not to Eudora or the yagi. It will prove he’s actually willing to be on our side, truly and sincerely.

  Furthermore, it solves the ever-present conundrum of who I’m supposed to marry, since dragons are all but extinct (unless you believe Ion’s theories that there might be more dragons out there somewhere—but I don’t think my dad knows about those theories, and right now is not the time to tell him).

  So I can’t help thinking this is a brilliant solution. And even though he’s been acting like a bully for most of this exchange, I’m willing to forgive my dad all that if it turns out I can marry Ion, who will be a hero to dragons everywhere for destroying the yagi-making operation.

  But even while I’m thinking all these things, and Dad is beaming with the brilliance of his proposal, I can’t help thinking Ion looks pale.

  Like, maybe he’s about to pass out, kind of pale.

  Ion makes a move to take his hair back out of its tie, like he’s done before when he might be nervous, except the chains around his wrists limit his movement, and he stops. “That is a very generous offer,” Ion concedes.

  Is it just me, or does his voice sound dry?

  “Can I get you some water?” I ask.

  “Yes, please.”

  I grab the vessel Ion drank from earlier, and I try not to look at it too closely as I fill it with water and then hold it for him to drink.

  “Thank you.”

  “Well, Ion?” Dad’s not beaming quite so brightly anymore. “Which do you choose?”

  “I love Zilpha.” For all the water Ion drank, he still sounds raspy, maybe even a little breathless. “My only hesitations about marrying her have been that you would not approve, and of course, where would we raise a family since I live where there are so many yagi? Your solution would overcome my every concern.”

  “Yes.” Dad grins. “It is a good idea. I am surprised you have not yet accepted the challenge.”

  “I accept. I gladly accept. Whatever it takes, I will do it—but you must know, there are certain obstacles.”

  “Besides the yagi themselves?” My dad asks.

  “There is the fact that I have no idea where the source of the yagi is located, what it looks like, or how to destroy it.”

  “Where it’s located? In Eudora’s fortress somewhere, of course.”

  “Having observed her fortress carefully for several decades, I am not at all convinced of that.” Ion winces as my dad leans close again, his expression angry.

  I don’t think Ion is making excuses or playing for time, here. My sister-in-law Nia reported that, in all the time she was held prisoner by Eudora, she never saw the yagi-making operation. She never even had a clue where it might be hidden.

  Her observations fit with Ion’s.

  But my Dad doesn’t blink at the complication. “You must find it and destroy it, or there will be no marriage. It doesn’t matter to me where it is or how difficult it is for you to find it.”

  “Indeed.” Ion nods. “I will find it. I’ll do whatever it takes, but there is also this. Eudora told me long ago that her yagi are trained by scent—that she has trained them to leave me alone so long as I don’t attack them.”

  My heart all but stops beating.

  I knew there must be some reason for Ion’s hesitation—a bigger obstacle than simply not knowing where the yagi operation might be found.

  And here it is.

  Ion breathes out a regretful huff of air and admits, “I fought the yagi when they attacked Zilpha. I killed a dozen of them less than two miles from Eudora’s castle. I can’t imagine she would fail to notice, or choose to overlook that.”

  Dad scowls. “What are you saying?”

  “I don’t believe I’m any safer from them than anyone else is, not any more. I’ve lost my immunity. They’ll attack me the same as they would any other dragon.”

  “Hmm.” Dad muses softly. I can see he’s weighing the implications of Ion’s announcement. When he speaks, his voice is soft. “Still, it’s a good idea. The dragon world needs rid of the yagi. You’re as likely to accomplish that feat as anyone else. And I can’t allow you to marry my daughter until you’ve proven your allegiance. So the deal stands. If you want to marry Zilpha, you must destroy the yagi operation.”

  His words move from musing to resolute as he speaks, and he ends with a determined flourish, stomping one foot for effect.

  “But, Dad!” Before he can spend one more second entrenching himself in his decision, I point out, “Ion doesn’t have any more immunity than anyone else. You said yourself already, trying to destroy the source of the yagi would be suicide.”

  “What other option is there? He said already, it’s a brilliant plan.” Dad shakes his head. He looks exhausted. “He has to prove his allegiance, Zilpha. This man tried to kill me. Everything I know of him says he cannot be trusted. I will not give my daughter in marriage to a man who works for the enemy.”

  Dad heads for the door. “I’m going to call your mother and find out how things are going with Zhi. I will be right outside. Don’t try anything.”

  That last bit was directed mostly as Ion, with a final little eyebrow-twitch in my direction. Dad closes the door behind him as he steps out.

  I immediately scoot closer to Ion. “You look like you’re freezing. Are you okay?”

  “I am freezing. And still hungry. And so glad you’re here.” He looks on me with weary eyes full of affection. “I can’t believe your father offered—it is a generous offer—a fantastic idea, really. If only he’d offered before…”

  Ion doesn’t say the words, but I know what he’s thinking. Before. Before I went walking like an idiot through a yagi-infested area, got myself attacked, de-dragonized and nearly killed, and, in a particularly horrific twist, lost Ion his yagi immunity.

  I hand him a chunk of mutton with an apology. “This is all my fault. If I’d have just—” I choke up a little, then.

  “Just what?” Ion tears into the mutton. “What would you have done? Not come to visit me in the first place? Don’t regret that, please.”

  “Don’t you regret it?”

  “How could I?” He swallows. “Meeting you has been daylight after an eternal night. You are my every hope and my only comfort. I regret that you were attacked by the yagi, but I would not have undone your visit. Not for anything.”

  I’m holding out another chunk of meat, and he chews down several mouthfuls before I speak again. “Do you really think you can destroy the yagi operation?”

  Ion’s still chewing.

  So I continue, analyzing what little we know. “When Ed destroyed the water yagi operati
on, we at least knew where to find it. The spies had footage, and it was out at a lake, away from Eudora. And he still almost died.”

  “We don’t know enough to even hazard a guess. I’ll have to first find out where it is and how to disable it before I can come up with a plan for destroying it.”

  “Do you think you’ll succeed?”

  Dad reenters the room in time to hear my question. “He’s not going to make points for pretending to try. He either succeeds, or he goes back in this dungeon.”

  “No,” Ion corrects my father. “I will succeed, or die trying.”

  I don’t even want to think about the latter possibility. Besides, the way Ion and Dad are glaring at each other right now, I’m pretty sure either of them would gladly tackle the other at the slightest provocation. I change the subject. “Any news about Zhi?”

  “Your mother has only been there long enough to assess the situation. Zhi is having difficulty because she’s stuck in human form, and the egg is too big to come out unless she changes.”

  I’m instantly alarmed, not just because attempting to lay an egg as a human sounds horrifically painful, but also because I’m confused. Zhi is stuck in human form? And so am I. “Why can’t she change?”

  “That’s what your mother is trying to figure out.” He crosses his arms. “I told her of our agreement.”

  Though I’m still curious about Zhi’s problem, it’s obvious Dad can’t tell me anything more. So I ask, “What did she say?”

  “She was impressed with my plan and encouraged us to waste no time moving forward with it. The sooner the yagi cease to exist, the sooner this world will be a safe place for our grandchildren. So,” he turns to Ion and uncrosses his arms. “When will you be ready to leave?”

  “Ion has barely slept.” If my voice is screeching slightly with incredulity, who can blame me? “If you keep him in this cold dungeon any longer, he’ll catch his death of cold, and who will destroy the yagi then?”

  “Are you suggesting I let him go free?”

  “You can keep him under guard, or whatever makes you feel better about it, but he needs sleep. Lots of sleep, and probably more food. Also, clean water. I really don’t think that’s too much to ask, considering that he’s going to be one of the greatest heroes in dragon history, not to mention your future son-in-law, if he pulls this off.”

  “If he pulls this off.” Dad counters, but nonetheless reaches for his keys.

  “Don’t weaken him before you send him in. It’s in your best interest for him to succeed. Let him get his strength back, at least.”

  “Point taken. I’ll call my guards.”

  In less than two minutes, the guards arrive and unlock Ion’s chains from the walls, linking them instead to heavy shot balls. Then the guards each lead Ion out into the daylight.

  We all blink at the brightness of the sunshine.

  “The guest cottage.” Dad points to the tiny dwelling. “It’s secure, but comfortable.” Dad gives the security guys specific instructions, mostly about keeping an eye on Ion and calling Dad immediately if anything seems the slightest bit suspicious, and not, under any circumstances, removing the shackles from his wrists and ankles. Then I hand the pan of mutton to one of the security guys, and the men lead Ion away.

  “I’m kind of impressed, Dad. That was good of you.”

  “I’m not evil. He’s the evil one.” Dad turns toward the house, and we both walk together up the hill toward the main entrance.

  “Ion’s not evil.”

  “He hasn’t proven that to me yet.”

  I pinch my eyes shut, physically resisting the urge to argue with my father. I know from experience if I try to convince my dad, he’ll only oppose me more strongly. Rather than debate him, I ask the question I’ve been wondering about for a while (mostly because I’m curious how it might factor in a possible escape plan). “Do you really expect those shackles to hold him? What if he decides to change into a dragon and burst his bonds?”

  We reach the house, and Dad holds the door open for me. “He can’t change into a dragon as long as the shackles are on him.”

  I trip over the threshold.

  Dad catches me by my elbow before I hit the floor. “Are you okay?”

  “Yeah.” I brush at imaginary dirt on my knees and suck in several deep breaths, trying to recover from my surprise at my dad’s revelation. “I’m fine. Just tired.” I excuse my clumsiness, then ask the question I can’t hold back, “What do you mean about the shackles? Surely if Ion wanted to change, they’d bust open—”

  “They’re magnetized iron.” Dad states simply, as though this explains everything.

  “Magnetized iron?” I’m furiously trying to recall everything I know about magnets. We did a unit on magnets in my earth science class my freshman year of high school in the US. Our studies consisted mostly of running around the classroom with magnets, holding them to various items to see if they would stick, and then making a chart of the results.

  Doorknob: yes.

  Door: no.

  Faucet: yes.

  Countertop: no.

  I got an “A” on the project, but for some reason, my knowledge of magnetism now feels inadequate.

  Dad launches into a long explanation as we head for the kitchen. “Iron is an important element for both humans and dragons. In humans, if you don’t have enough iron, you get anemic. But if you get too much, it can kill you.”

  I nod, understanding everything so far. I’ve seen bottles of vitamins with that warning label, about how overdose of iron-containing products is a leading cause of fatal poisoning in young children.

  “In dragons,” Dad continues, “iron is even more important. It plays a role in our dragon form. Iron is part of why our scales are armored, and why our horns and talons are so strong. If you don’t have enough iron in your system, you can’t turn into a dragon at all. That happened to your mother after she laid the eggs for you three girls. You sapped her iron reserves. She couldn’t take the form of a dragon for several weeks.”

  We’ve reached the kitchen, and I stop in my tracks. “You said Zhi was having trouble turning into a dragon. Do you think her egg—”

  Dad snaps his fingers and cuts off my words. “Her egg may have sapped her iron reserves, and now she doesn’t have enough iron in her body to change, not even to lay it.” He pulls out his phone. “I’m going to tell your mother to check her iron.”

  For a second, I’m tempted to ask Dad to wait, to explain to me the rest about the shackles. But what if Zhi’s problem really is iron deficiency? The sooner they fix the problem, the sooner she’ll get her egg laid. We don’t want her becoming so exhausted she can’t recover.

  While Dad’s on the phone, I stick my head in the fridge and rummage around. I didn’t eat nearly as much mutton as I would have liked. After several days recovering from my injuries, I’m still crazy hungry.

  Maybe my iron reserves are low, too.

  Granted, I know the reason I can’t change is because of the yagi’s neurotoxin, but nobody really understands why that functions the way it does. Maybe it zaps the body’s iron supplies, or alters them so the body can’t use them, or something. Maybe, if I can just get enough iron in my system, it will override the neurotoxin. I pull a carton of eggs from the fridge. Eggs have iron, right?

  Iron: 4% daily value.

  Per egg? Seriously? I would have to eat more than two dozen of them just to get the daily value a regular human needs.

  I’m pretty sure dragon iron needs are higher than that of humans. Isn’t meat supposed to be a good source of iron? That might be part of the reason why dragons eat so much of the stuff.

  I shove the eggs back into the fridge just as Dad ends the call with Mom.

  “Your mother thinks we might be on to something. She said Zhi looks pale. She’s going to test her iron levels.”

  “Then what? Have her eat a bunch of iron-rich foods?”

  “That’s what your mother did we she was anemic. That, and take i
ron pills.”

  “What foods are high in iron, anyway?” I go back to rummaging through the fridge, but most of our foods are locally grown and don’t have labels. In fact, the only reason the eggs had a label is because we reuse the cartons from store-bought eggs for the eggs our chickens lay. I close the fridge door in frustration.

  Dad starts listing foods. “Duck liver. Goose liver. Chicken liver—really, most kinds of liver.”

  I check the remnants of the other roast goat that’s still in the pan we left behind. No sign of the liver. It was probably removed when the goats were gutted prior to cooking.

  Dad’s been rummaging in the back of a cabinet. He tosses me a bottle. “I found the iron pills.”

  “You’ve been keeping these in a cabinet? I thought they could be lethal.”

  “To humans. Not to dragons. You could eat that whole bottle and probably be okay.”

  “These are over twenty years old. Think they’re still good?”

  Dad’s eating the goat carcass again. “They’re iron. It’s stable. You can fly them over to your mother if she calls.”

  “Mind if I take a few?”

  His mouth full of mutton, Dad only shrugs.

  I turn to the sink for a glass of water and keep my back to Dad while I swallow a goodly handful of the pills. I can only assume he knows what he’s talking about with the high dosage for dragons. Then I tighten the lid back in place and set the bottle on the counter near my dad. “I’m tired. I’m going to bed. If Mom calls, you can fly the pills over to her.”

  “You look tired.” Dad studies my face for a few seconds. “Go get your sleep.”

  I shuffle off to my room and fall into bed with an exhaustion that belies the energy I felt earlier. When I awake next and find my bleary-eyed way back to the kitchen, the goat pan is gone and so is my father.

  In their place I find a note.

  Went with Ion to destroy the yagi. Don’t attempt to follow us.

  Love, Dad

  PS—there’s a chicken in the fridge

  CHAPTER SEVENTEEN