“We’ll deal with them as they come,” said Sir Godefrey. “I’ve added men to the defenses of Redfall. Now that Sir Chestmire has agreed to take care of our eastern lands we can keep more of our men here, but who knows if they will be enough. We could petition the king for a battalion of troops. Although I already know what he would say to that.”
Lyric chuckled. “The king couldn’t leave Redfall fast enough once he realized I had won.”
“Yes. The king had plans, and a marriage between Sibylle and any of the young nobles of the kingdom would’ve helped those plans, and I suspect he had particular nobles in mind. Your victory squashed those plans and now the king will have dragons on his plate as well. I’m afraid you are not high on the king’s list of most popular people right now.”
“Well too bad for the king,” said Sibylle. “You are top of my list.”
“Mine as well,” said Sir Godefrey. “I think you will find that most who witnessed the tournament feel the same. Talon Horne, like his father, is not someone many wanted to gain power and influence. A marriage between Sibylle and Talon would’ve made the Hornes the most powerful family outside of the king. The fact that your victory prevented that was not lost on the nobles.”
“So, no one will help us if the Sacred Blood come?” Lyric wasn’t thinking of himself, but of Sibylle, Sir Robert Godefrey and everyone else that called Redfall estates home, along with Celine and the Vastel family.
“No. I don’t think we can rely on anyone but ourselves,” said Sir Godefrey. “And to be frank, there is little we can do to prepare other than be vigilant. The Sacred Blood may never come, or it could be years and years. To my knowledge there haven’t been any Sacred Blood on Droll in many years. Droll was never a Sacred Blood stronghold, and they returned to their own lands after the war. I cannot say how strong they are, or how well organized they are, only that they will consider you an enemy.”
It sucked that he had enemies, men that didn’t know him at all yet wanted him dead, but having enemies was something Lyric was used to. From the moment he’d been born he had always been different and people had shown him distrust and hatred all his life. From the orphanage to living on the streets, Lyric had always relied on himself to survive. It was only when he met Azina Vastel that his life changed. Now he had friends, family, and people he trusted and respected. Although the new life didn’t come without cost. He was now a target for nobles bitter about his fast rise to power, and those who hated dragonbloods. It was not fair, but truth be told Lyric wouldn’t change it. As dark and unknown as his future might be life was so much better now than it had been in Winport. While there were times when he missed the simplicity of his old life, he couldn’t imagine going back to the streets.
“What are you thinking, Lyric?” asked Sibylle. “You looked lost in thought for a moment there.”
Lyric smiled. “I was thinking about my days in Winport. I was a crippled orphan. Every day was dangerous. I faced starvation and beatings every day. I was defenseless and alone. I am glad for it.”
Sibylle frowned. “You are glad you were a street rat? I don’t understand.”
“Yes. I am glad. If I hadn’t been who I was I wouldn’t appreciate what I have now. I would worry about the king, and I would worry about the Sacred Blood. But really, they are no different than the other street kids that would beat me. I’ve known danger my whole life. Now is the only time I’ve had friends and people that cared for me. It makes me realize that everything I have now is worth the risk. I don’t care who wants to hurt me, having you all in my life is the best thing that ever happened to me.”
Sibylle choked up as she thought about what Lyric was saying. Dropping her staff, Sibylle grabbed Lyric and hugged him tight. “And you are the best thing that has happened to me. Without you I would hate my life.”
“I can’t say you are the best thing to happen to me,” said Sir Godefrey with a wink. “But I will admit you winning the tournament was a far better outcome than Talon Horne winning. Now enough with all this hugging and holding hands. I still have a few tricks to try. Sibylle and I will beat you yet.”
Lyric laughed at the gruff Sir Godefrey. “Alright.” Lyric picked up Sibylle’s staff and handed it to her. He then took a defensive position. “This time I am going to go fast.”
“Oh by the gods,” said Sibylle. “Now you’ve done it Robert.”
7
Using the warm currents above Partha, Caritha sailed across the afternoon sky. It was a cloudy day, but she was flying above the thick grey and white clouds. She was above the desolate lands of the eastern coastline, lands sparsely inhabited by humans, but she still preferred to fly above the clouds when she could. Dealing with humans was a problem they had yet to have to deal with, but would come sooner or later, and until then she wanted as little contact with them as possible.
Sadly, that wasn’t going to be an option much longer. She had already imprinted on a human. It was a strange and uncomfortable event. She’d been flying west when she felt the change. It had been night time, so Caritha felt comfortable flying closer to find out what she was being drawn to. Caritha watched the attack from the skies. Many men attacked the castle, and only a few exited on the run.
Caritha didn’t know what the men did inside the castle, but it caused the human she had imprinted on a great deal of pain. Caritha could feel the pain and anger that her human felt. Then she could feel the magic she used against her enemies; dragon magic. Caritha felt satisfaction that her new bond to the human had helped the woman survive the attack, but the rage and anger emanating from the woman was troubling.
Then a couple days later, Caritha felt the woman using dragon magic. Again, she felt the anger and rage. It was now effecting her own moods. Which was a big problem.
When they had left the magically hidden isle to return to the land of humans, Apophis had given her a special mission. She was to keep an eye on the young dragons located on some of the smaller isles located around Partha, but more importantly she was to keep tabs on Nelarth. The black-red dragon was not a fan of living in harmony with the humans. If Nelarth had his way, humans would be dragons’ slaves like they had been thousands of years ago. Caritha shook her head as she thought of Nelarth. The dragon had been actively fighting during the dragon war and had been frustrated and bitter when they agreed to retreat to the magical isle for a hundred years. Nelarth never could admit that humans were as smart as dragons and could be just as dangerous.
Now Caritha had a real problem. She was supposed to be keeping a close eye on Nelarth, but now that she had a dragonblood human that was going to change everything. Dragonbloods were the key to communicating with humans. For centuries dragonbloods had been kings and or special emissaries to kings, keeping communications open between the two species. Bonding with a dragonblood was a great honor and responsibility. Caritha was happy to have the bond. However, her human was filled with rage, anger, and magical powers. Caritha needed guidance.
That was the purpose of her mission today. Ogrom, while not necessarily a young dragon, was one of the ones under Caritha’s supervision. Ogrom was a somewhat wild and tempestuous dragon. He had agreed to supervision, his other option had been to stay on the magical isle they had called home, but he’d wanted to have his own isle. Apophis had agreed when Ogrom volunteered to be supervised. Ogrom wasn’t a bad dragon, but he had a temper and had gotten into several fights with dragons that teased him for being a lowly green. Single colored dragons had fewer magical powers than two color dragons and some used that as an excuse to lord it over their single colored brethren. Ogrom had beaten more than one of the haughty dragons into submission, proving that he was just as strong and dangerous as any other dragon. Caritha admired Ogrom’s pride and unwillingness to be pushed around by anyone, but he’d been in too many fights and was easily provoked. Apophis had worried what would happen if a human insulted or attacked him. Apophis wanted peace, and renegade dragons, even nice ones like Ogrom, could ruin everything.
&
nbsp; So far Ogrom was behaving exemplary. His isle was small and had no human habitants and he’d been avoiding any ships that sailed near his home.
Caritha tilted her wings as she approached Ogrom’s isle. She spotted the green dragon on the beach. He had a small whale’s carcass pulled up on the beach and was chewing on his meal.
With a thump, Caritha landed beside Ogrom.
“Hello Mistress. How are you today?” asked Ogrom as he filled his mouth with another bite of whale.
Caritha rolled her eyes. Ogrom had a crush on her and while he hadn’t suggested being her broodmate, he called her mistress and pretended her visits to his isle were social and not mandatory. “Still insist on calling me mistress? Does that mean you will do my bidding?” asked Caritha.
“Of course, Mistress. I serve at your pleasure. If you hadn’t agreed to keep an eye on me, Apophis would’ve made me stay with her or on the isle. This is far better than being stuck babysitting younglings or staying behind. I had explored every nook of that isle and am so glad to have a new territory to call my own. It is a beautiful isle and has plenty of delicious varieties of food that we didn’t have before. These whales are incredible. You should try it.”
Caritha eyed the carcass. She knew whales were one of the most dangerous sea creatures to eat. Bigger and stronger than sharks, whales could bite the head off a dragon that didn’t time its attack perfectly. Caritha liked to hunt but eating whales was asking for trouble. “I will keep that in mind. Now, I do need you to do something for me. I need you to go to Apophis with a message for me. Tell her I have started to bond with a human and need assistance.”
Ogrom burped and nodded his head. “Anything Mistress. I will leave right away.”
“Be careful and avoid flying over any human settlements,” said Caritha. The last thing they needed was a crazy headstrong and volatile dragon like Ogrom bonding. Especially if the other humans were as emotional as hers was.
Ogrom took one last bite of whale and lifted his body, springing off the ground and with a couple of flaps of his wings was off.
Caritha admired the green dragon is it flew towards Droll. Greens might not have a great magic, or be as big as white, gold and black dragons, but Ogrom was still above average in size and no dragon flew as fast. Ogrom was probably the fastest dragon and one of the toughest. He would’ve made a good protector if it wasn’t for his anger issues.
Caritha took another look at the whale Ogrom had been eating. It wasn’t like any Caritha had seen before. Its head was huge and had three rows of sharp teeth that were bigger than any dragons. Caritha shook her head when she spotted a dragon scale caught in the whale’s mouth. It was green. Ogrom was one crazy dragon. She turned to take another look at his isle and noticed a pile of bones further up the beach. Ogrom had a shelter made of whale bones. Again, she shook her head. Perhaps he wasn’t as crazy as she had thought before. That or even crazier.
Now that Ogrom was on his way to Apophis, Caritha headed north
8
It had been a few days since Lyric had last been to Middale. He’d taken time to start learning about Redfall estates and the lands of the Lamar family. The estate was only a small fraction of their lands and the Lamar family had many business ventures to care for.
Most of the family income came from their trading business. The Lamar lands were strategically placed in the middle of Droll and they facilitated much of the trade between the different regions of Droll. Between getting a crash course in the family business, and spending time with Sibylle riding around the estate, Lyric hadn’t had time to go to Middale, or to visit Celine. He still hadn’t seen her since his wedding night when Sibylle had arranged for them to have time together.
Now that all the visiting nobles and support staff were gone, Middale was back to normal. The small village wasn’t as bustling and busy without all the added people and Lyric was glad to see it back to normal. As he headed towards the bar to visit with Blair, Lyric spotted Celine in the market. She was bartering with a trader who’d set up shop for the day in the local market.
“Celine!” said Lyric as he approached her.
Celine looked over at Lyric and gave him a curt nod. “Hello, Lyric,” she said before turning back and continuing her conversation with the trader. When she finished selling the trader her goods she took her basket and started heading out of Middale.
Lyric frowned. Why was she being so strange and cool towards him? He took a couple quick steps until he was walking beside her then slowed to match her pace. “How are you?” asked Lyric. “I was hoping to run into you today. I missed you last time I came to your house.”
“I went to the coast. My life doesn’t revolve around you, you know,” said Celine.
“I know that,” said Lyric. “I just meant that I missed you. I’m glad to see you now.”
“You shouldn’t miss me. You should be spending time with your wife.”
“That’s not fair Celine.”
They were now out of the village and on the road. Celine stopped and turned to him. “Life is not fair, Lyric. But we deal with what we are given and move on. Don’t you understand, we can’t be together in public. It looks bad and it isn’t fair to Sibylle, or her family.”
“But that isn’t right. We’re just talking.”
“Like it or not Lyric you are now a noble. That means you are associated with the king. Aside from the fact that you are a married man and shouldn’t be walking alone with your old girlfriend, you are a noble dragonblood talking to a witch. The king barely tolerates witches, and if he thought I was trying to influence you, I could be punished.”
“But you all are my family. Azina brought me to Middale,” said Lyric in protest. “Why wouldn’t I talk with you?”
Celine gave an exasperated sigh. “Because appearances matter to nobles. I know Sibylle is nice and doesn’t say this to you so I am going to. It is dangerous for everyone if we are friends. Now that everyone knows you are dragonblood they will be watching everything you do and say. You have to protect yourself.”
“I don’t care what anyone says about me.”
“But you do care about me and Sibylle. We are the ones that will be hurt, Lyric. That is why we can’t do this anymore. I don’t blame you for winning the tournament. You did the right thing. But now we must deal with the consequences. Perhaps if it had just been the tournament it would be different, but now that everyone knows you are dragonblood it changes everything.”
Celine turned and started to walk home. Lyric grabbed her hand. “Wait. What about in secret? Surely, we can be friends still.”
“And then what? Sneak around to visit? Can you imagine the scandal if someone found us out? No, Lyric. It has to be this way.” Celine put her second hand on top of Lyric’s. “I know you hate this, and I do too. However, there is more at stake than just our feelings. You have a destiny, Lyric. Dragons are back and you will be a big part of that. You need to focus on that and not me. You are dragonblood. It is time you started acting like it.”
“What does that even mean?” asked Lyric. “I don’t know what it means to be dragonblood, and if means abandoning my friends and family I’m not sure I am willing to do it.”
Celine sighed and gently pushed Lyric’s hand away. “I’ll tell Azina to meet you at Blair’s tomorrow. You can talk to her about what it means to be dragonblood, but I would prefer if you didn’t come to the house for a while. And give us warning when you do come to visit so I can make sure I am somewhere else. This is for the best, Lyric. Trust me.”
Celine started to walk home. Lyric just stood on the road watching her. He didn’t know what to say. He could only ever care for her, and the idea of never talking to her again made his heart hurt. Surely, she was wrong. There had to be a way.
Lyric lowered his head and started back towards Redfall estates. He no longer felt like talking to anyone.
…
Walking out of the bar, Jamison spotted Lyric. He frowned and instinctively flexed his right hand
. He’d broken his wrist and several knuckles fighting the foreign bastard. But as much as he would like to physically smash the boy, Jamison had been there for the final day of the tournament. He’d seen how Lyric had handled Talon Horne. Jamison didn’t understand much about dragons, but any idiot could see that Lyric could use dragon magic. He moved faster than he had only a day before. Blair and Sir Godefrey might have given their pet foreigner the skills he used to get to the final matches, but it was dragon magic that made Lyric truly dangerous.
But there was more than one way to gain his revenge against Lyric. And she was at the market bargaining with a trader. As soon as Jamison realized Lyric was heading towards Celine he smiled and stepped around the corner of the bar so he was out of sight.
Jamison watched as Celine coolly acknowledged Lyric then continued taking to the trader. Damn it, thought Jamison. Celine is too smart to talk to him in public. When Celine turned, and started walking out of the village Jamison was disappointed. Even the slightest bit of flirting or touching might’ve been enough to take to Talon Horne and get his reward. With the money Talon had promised him, Jamison intended to leave Middale. His shame from being beaten by a skinny little foreigner had tainted the place for him.
As Lyric started to follow Celine, Jamison’s heart started to pound. He silently cheered Lyric on. Yes, follow her into the woods. Jamison scrabbled around the back of the pub and headed up a trail he knew that ran parallel to the road. He could spy on them as they walked up the road.
Jamison quickly slipped into the woods, the trail was close enough to the road that he could see through the trees just enough to know where Lyric and Celine were walking. This wasn’t the first time he’d used the trail to follow Celine out of town.
When Celine stopped on the road, Jamison carefully moved closer. He slipped behind a tree, where he had an excellent view of the two. He was still too far to hear what was being said, but when Lyric grabbed Celine’s hand he had all he needed. When Celine gently put her hand on top of Lyric’s Jamison knew he had seen enough. He slipped further back into the woods and made his way back to the village. He needed to pack for a trip to the capital.
Dragon Magic: Lyric's Curse 2 (Dragonblood Sagas Book 4) Page 5