Dragon Count

by Kendal Davis

  Nobody could have expected that.

  To be sure, I still didn’t believe it might be happening.

  I was as shocked as she was that he would openly admit that my presence might be good for Elter. Even yesterday, this man would have been incapable of such an admission. I couldn’t help it. Although his arrogance sometimes made me want to get home as soon as possible, there were moments in which I thought I understood him. I squeezed his hand.

  The tingle that came from his fingers holding mine made my heart lurch with desire. His firm grip was powerful, yet gentle at the same time. What would it be like to feel him holding me like that all night long?

  Laurel’s amused voice broke through my fantasy. She didn’t even need magic to guess what I was thinking, I was sure. She said, in her melodious, confident voice, “I did not use my magic to bring these off-worlders here. But I am glad that somebody did.”

  “Why?” Indigo’s question was like steel.

  “Because it has altered you. Dragons are immortal beings, unaffected by the ravages of time. Yet you are capable of change; I must believe that. Your father was a strong ruler, a worthy Count. But you, Count Indigo, can be so much more, if you allow yourself to learn from others.”

  “And was that why this happened?” he scoffed. “It was meant to be a learning experience?” I saw that he was weighing her idea, however much he might pretend that it was silly.

  Laurel was deadly serious. “No. That was not at all what this was meant to be. It was an attack on your Countship. And though it was not I who did it, I can tell you that the one who seeks to destroy you purchased my herbs to mask any appearance of his own involvement. With my help, he was able to leave no trace of his dragon touch on the aura of your portal.”

  Indigo stood from his seat, suffused with anger. His chair clattered backward. His blue eyes blazed and his hands clenched at his sides. So much power seemed to amass itself in the air around him that I wondered if we were still safe in his presence. My hand, alone now, on the table, was small and bereft without his around it. “A dragon did this?”

  Laurel nodded. “And I can lead you to him.”

  Chapter 10: Indigo

  The hedge witch, Laurel, was opaque to me, her closed mind blocking me from reading her. I was accustomed to being able to read the thoughts of any peasant, whenever I wanted. Most of the time, I had no desire to do so. They were dull creatures, whose short lives held little interest to me. It was not until they were consumed by dragonkind for their powerful, raw emotions, that we wanted anything to do with them.

  Perhaps it was because we knew we were going to sacrifice these creatures that we avoided them so desperately. In all the years I’d lived within this system, I had never questioned why it was that I believed so fervently that the peasants were beneath me. They were short-lived, true. But so was Olivia, and she was all I could think about. Her alluring life essence was the focal point of my existence now.

  A jagged edge of panic threatened to cut into my line of thought. Olivia was mortal. She faced destruction sooner, rather than later, in the ritual of our counting ceremony. At my hands. The fear that built in me at that thought was unbearable.

  I was a dragon. I knew no fear.

  “Tell me, small Laurel.” My voice had grown deeper, resonating within the modest shop until it was almost a trumpeting roar. If I had to, I would change into my dragon form here and now. “I need answers, and I will have them.”

  Laurel stood slowly from her chair. She trembled slightly, but she managed to meet my eyes. The glow about her body brightened until it would have been impossible for anybody to miss. “Sir, it is one of your Guardsmen.”

  “No,” I whispered. My Guards were the most trusted cadre in my stronghold. Their honor in serving me was inviolable. Or so I had thought. “Which one?” I grated out.

  Laurel bit her lip. “The terms of the contract prevent me from naming him.”

  Olivia lifted her chin. “It’s all right. You must remember that Indigo is a fair ruler of his House. When he says that he stands for honor, he means it. In his own way,” she added ruefully.

  “No, I don’t refer to a promise made in honor, although that is a powerful thing. This is a magical contract, which mean that I am literally unable to say the words that would reveal this dragon to you,” Laurel answered. “But I can tell you this. I sold him a charm, and I instructed him to wear it at the ceremony. It is a golden brooch in the shape of a knot, with an herbal mixture within. He will have it with him when he executes his plan. Whatever he does that damages your rule, this brooch will be part of it.”

  I looked searchingly at her. “You planned for this? Did you know that I would come to you and ask that you reveal the traitor in my court?”

  “No,” she said sadly. Without warning, her eyes filled with unshed tears. “I hoped, I will admit that. But we in the town do not expect you to speak with us. We know better than to think that you see us as worthy of conversation. I made this one small plan, thinking that if I placed a charm with him, then you might discover him. And I hoped that your sense of honor would require that you solve this problem before committing yourself to your first counting ceremony.”

  “You were right,” Olivia breathed. “He could not go through with it.” She paused to rethink what she had just said. “At least, he has not been able to do it yet.”

  “That’s enough,” I almost shouted at them both. “You speak of much that you are not capable of understanding. When you are dragons, I will ask you for advice on my affairs. Until that day, which will never happen, you may keep your women’s opinions to yourself.”

  Olivia glared at me from narrowed eyes, and I understood that I had hurt her feelings. Or made her angry. Or both. Human women were far too complicated. I was tired of listening, of remaining in one place, when I had problems to solve.

  “Goodbye, hedge witch,” I spoke firmly. “We will talk another time. There is still the matter of your own illegal magic to sort out. You will need to hope that I show mercy when we meet again.” I stepped out of the shop, ducking through the low doorway. These peasant buildings were not sized to accommodate dragon bodies. Even in the form of a man, I was too tall to fit in here.

  My dragon self was straining to be let out, to fly free. I needed to put distance between this place and myself. The drama of the peasantry was straining my own sense of well-being.

  A sense of worry nagged at the back of my mind. What if these women were right? What if it was my own innate sense of honor that was preventing me from finishing the ceremony? If I was shying away from my duty merely because I lusted after Olivia, that would never do. That was bad enough.

  But if I was holding back from performing my duty as Count because I no longer believed in the division between peasants and dragons, then I would end up turning my world upside down.

  Olivia stood in the doorway, looking unsure if she even wanted to accompany me. Doubt clouded her eyes. I could not comfort her. Instead of trying, I allowed my dragon to be free. I needed to stretch my wings and leave this tiresome place.

  The dry, desert air around me shimmered with power as I let it flow from me, through me. I could feel the heat that filled the center of my soul and then brimmed over, splashing outside my man’s form and swirling like a storm. Within that fire, my body changed. It grew stronger and bolder. I became hotter, scaled, and winged. I threw my blue, spiny head back on my sinuous neck and trumpeted to the sky.

  I was a dragon.

  Always.

  Before I unfurled my wings to take flight, I ventured into Olivia’s mind. I would give her one chance. If she was angry at me for being myself, I would leave her here, and the Guards could collect her and bring her to me. There was nothing I could do about the differences between us if she judged me for who I was in my heart.

  When I touched her mind, though, I found no censure. She knew well that I could do no more than my best as I struggled with the new ideas coalescing in my mind. She believed in me
, supported me.

  She found my dragon form magnificent.

  Do you? I murmured in her mind.

  Olivia spoke aloud, although she did not need to. “I will go where you go, my Count. Let me help. We will find answers together.”

  I extended my wingtip to her, moving slowly so as not to risk harming her. Once she was on my back, I leapt into the air. She held on better than the last time. Even so, I would catch her if she fell.

  While still in the air, I sent a mental command to my Council of Guards to meet me in the Great Hall. Only at the round table of our House could I find the solutions I needed.

  I was prepared, I was sure of it. There was a traitor in my midst, and I was certain that Laurel had been correct. This was not a plot to teach an old dragon new tricks. No, this was an attack meant to bring me down. If it was known that I had lost control of the portal, and any dragon could use it at will, then I would be a laughingstock of a Count.

  Worse yet, if I flouted our age-old traditions because I was besotted with a beautiful woman, my Countship would be worthless. Our House government would teeter into ruin.

  Who would profit from that ruin?

  I racked my brain as we flew, assessing the various threats posed by other Houses. As Olivia had said, in the surprising way that she had of reaching out and capturing wisdom as if it existed in the air all around her, the political ramifications for House Rubellus wanting to destabilize my power were obvious. They shared a border with us. No doubt they would be happy to claim some of our land for themselves.

  I knew that Olivia wanted the traitor to be a dragon, not one of the townspeople.

  She wanted to be right.

  I hoped she would be. I would root out the traitor, dispatch the danger that he posed to me, and then I would have the chance to congratulate her on her wisdom. Several parts of my body were ready and willing to help with letting her know I appreciated her. I longed to feel her skin sliding against mine, as I thanked her with hands, my mouth, and my cock for her service to Elter.

  And so it was that I touched down on the stone mountaintop, took the form of a man again and strode confidently into my own Great Hall, into the room where my father the Count had conducted business for thousands of years before retiring. I knew what I would see. It would be House Rubellus that was my enemy, as surely as I now donned the blue cloak of my own House.

  My fingers pressed into the unyielding tabletop as I looked at my trusted advisors, assembled and ready to serve me. I searched their faces, wondering if I should have anticipated this betrayal. No member of House Caeruleus would let his honor slip aside like that. Without honor, we were nothing.

  Lies, deceit, subterfuge, these were courses of action that had no place in my House. It was not our way. It was an inviolable truth on which my life rested.

  The golden knot of Laurel’s herbal charm glittered in the midday sunlight that streamed into the hall. I saw it, but not where I expected to find it.

  It shone like a beacon of everything that I had ever misunderstood about my world, as if it existed solely to illuminate my own copious errors of judgment.

  For it rested on the blue cloaked shoulder of the man who was my cousin, my Captain, and my best friend.

  Cobalt was the traitor in my House.

  Chapter 11: Olivia

  I trailed a step behind Indigo as walked briskly into his Great Hall. He was a big man, but he moved with a fine grace, whether he was in the shape of a dragon or a man. His long legs outpaced mine, so that I had to hurry to catch up.

  I understood that he was eager to resolve this matter as quickly as he could. If he could prove that the laws of his House had been broken to bring us here from the sparkling waters off the coast of Roatán, then he would have time to send us back before performing his official counting ceremony. It made sense to me that he had to complete each part of the process in order.

  If I allowed myself to stop and think about it, I would have to reckon with the sense of loss that was already building in me at the thought of leaving him. Perhaps that was why he was in such a hurry himself. Slowing down would mean that we would both have to face the fact that separation was the only thing that would save my life.

  By the time I’d come through the door, a few steps behind him, Indigo was already at the large round table, ready to face his assembled Guards. I heard Kat hiss at me under her breath, and I moved gratefully to join her and the other two humans in a corner of the room. We all stood together, as still and quiet as possible. It was as if the dragons had thought it pointless to offer us chairs while they decided our fate.

  That was fine with me. I was too tense, too full of pent-up energy, to rest quietly in any chair now. I wanted to pace, but there was no room in our little corner to do so. For a moment, I hopped on the balls of my feet, watching the assembly, but Kat touched my hand to indicate that I should not draw attention to us.

  She was quite right. Since I had been here, I had enjoyed the special privilege of being Indigo’s personal guest. More accurately, I had pretended that such a position was mine. The truth was darker than that. We were not here by invitation, or by our own choice. We were hostages to somebody’s ambition, and we would be served up to fulfill it at the cost of our own lives.

  I leaned forward, trying to be as inconspicuous as I could. Indigo would find out whose plan had hijacked our boat and brought us here. He would sort this all out.

  Did he have my interests at heart?

  I peeked at David and Andres from the corner of my eye. They both seemed to be handling this as well as one could have expected. David was smiling softly at something as he watched the table of Guardsmen. He always had something on his mind, keeping him from being fully present in the real world. He had been a gifted researcher for that reason, committed to holding theories in limbo in his mind, never forgetting one, until he could formulate proof.

  Andres looked young, even after I’d spent the day in the town, where most of the adult peasants were his age. He might have thought that twenty was an age of maturity at home, but here, with so many new things confronting him, his inexperience showed. He was disconcerted, unsure what was going to happen to us next. But he was healthy and safe, and with his sister. Kat stood close enough to him that she could touch his shoulder periodically to reassure them both.

  I hated seeing my friends and colleagues in this dire situation. I was the leader of our research trip; or at least I had been back when we were on a small boat on the sea on our own planet. This was my responsibility. I was going to keep them all safe, no matter what I had to do to achieve that.

  All at once, however, I realized that the hush in the room did not represent a triumph for Indigo. I stole a look at my blue dragon shapeshifter, now gloriously handsome in his human form. He was shifting his weight on his feet as he stared without speaking at his cousin Cobalt. The knot-shaped brooch that Laurel had described shone brightly from the blue fabric of Cobalt’s cloak. Confusion surged within me.

  After what seemed like an hour, but was in reality only a moment, Indigo spoke. “Cobalt, I have reason to believe that you are the traitor in our midst.”

  Cobalt started visibly at the accusation. He lifted his chin with honest pride. “Sir, you know that is not true. My life has been spent in service to House Caeruleus. I would no sooner break our laws than you would.”

  Indigo’s momentum wavered, but he pressed on. Was I the only person here who knew how close he was to rejecting the counting ceremony and breaking the law he held so dear? “Cobalt, I trusted you.” His face twisted briefly with a poignant pain, then set in anger. “You have betrayed the trust I gave you in making you my Captain of the Guards. You have been my oldest friend, as well as my blood. Now you would throw all that away to try to destroy my government?”

  Cobalt returned his Count’s glare, but he chose not to speak again.

  Into the silence fell the harsh voice of Brick, the arrogant Guardsmen in a red cloak. He was the dragon that I had notic
ed at my first glimpse of this council yesterday, and then again at the ceremonial platform in the town. His suavity this morning had seemed to cover some suppressed energy, some oily vengefulness. Now that I watched him, I was sure of it.

  Indigo might not be able to prove it, but the cause of his trouble was not within his own House. This plot was the work of House Rubellus, the red-cloaked dragon men. I would bet my life on it.

  It looked like I was going to do just that.

  Brick’s snide, lofty tones filled the hall. “Cobalt, have you nothing to say for yourself? I know what Indigo has discovered. It clearly indicates that you are the dragon who illegally operated the portal.”

  “How do you know what proof I have?” Indigo turned to Brick in disbelief.

  “I have Guardsmen in red mingling with the peasants right now. They have spoken with the dreadful creature who runs that herb shop. She calls herself a hedge witch, but her powers are pathetic. I can feel her attempt at a spell coming from the piece of jewelry that your cousin Cobalt is wearing. Can you not all feel it?” He gestured around the table, receiving nods in return.

  Cobalt plucked ineffectively at the pin. “This? It was a present...I know nothing of a spell attached to it. It was merely part of a gift basket that was left for me at my door in honor of the ceremony today.” His voice trailed off as he realized that his cause was hopeless. He had been perfectly framed.

  Brick went on smoothly. “My Count, you have only to look at him to understand his motive in betraying you. You know that Cobalt is your heir here. You have favored him for far too long, holding a treacherous serpent close to you, only to find that he has struck at you.”

  “My heir?” Indigo scoffed at this idea. He was recovering his wits, but too late. “We do not follow such traditions amongst dragons. That is a peasant notion. We are immortal! There is no transfer of property after death, as they have down in the village.” His dragon pride recoiled from such an idea.