by K. E. Young
After breakfast, Mero pulled me out to the practice yard, a sly grin on his face. "I have a surprise for you, my love."
"You've suddenly gained a few additional skills and you want to beat the crap out of me?"
He laughed aloud. "No, but I do get to teach you something."
"Oh, please tell me you're teaching me how to dance. I've never learned."
Mero stopped cold and looked at me oddly. "You're joking aren't you? How is it you don't know how to dance?"
Giving him my best expression of wide-eyed innocence, I said, "I kept missing the lessons because they interfered with arms practice. I do recall telling you I just wasn't girly enough to satisfy my mother. That was part of it." There was no need to inform him that the dance lessons in question were ballet and wouldn't have applied here anyway.
Mero tried valiantly to contain his grin and failed. He pulled me in tight and laughed helplessly. "Oh Kendra, I am so glad the Goddess brought you to me. Your humor is my salvation I think." He released me and spun on his heel.
I loved his laugh. It always made me smile in return. "So what did you want to teach me?"
As he turned back towards the practice yard, he called out over his shoulder. "Dragons have wings, my sweet. They aren't there just to look decorative."
A flying lesson! My dragon perked up and I skipped after Mero, humming happily. He led me out to the edge of the yard where it dropped off.
We changed to our dragon forms and he nuzzled me a moment before speaking. "I've said this before but I'll remind you. Your dragon already knows how to do this. It's instinctive. I cannot tell you how to fly. You simply have to do it. You tell your dragon side where you want to go and the dragon will take care of how to get there. As you gain more experience, you'll gain more control. In time, you and your dragon will be seamless."
My dragon was practically bouncing with anticipation. She wanted to fly! It made listening to Mero difficult.
"I will fly out ahead of you. I want you to extend your wings and focus on following me, then step off the edge. Let your instincts take over. You'll be clumsy and awkward at first since it's your first time, but you'll pick it up quickly. We're doing it here because even if your instincts don't take over, the air currents in this area mean you can safely glide to a landing without getting hurt as long as you keep your wings extended. Okay?"
I nodded. Given my dragon's reaction to the idea of flying, I doubted that there would be a problem. Mero turned and launched himself off the cliff. My dragon's excitement was infectious and I could feel the yearning to follow. I spread my wings and laughingly acquiesced to her demands as I leaped over the edge.
The sensation of the wind against the membranes of my wings was exhilarating, the warmth of the sun on my back, the sheer freedom. I could feel my dragon's happiness as if she had come home at last. Mero was right. She already knew what to do. I pumped my wings in an effort to catch him. I lost height until I figured out how to hold my wings but it wasn't enough to worry me. Then the fact my back end didn't know what to do distracted me. When it became clear that I wouldn't crash, I relaxed, my spine uncurled, and my rear straightened out. Then it took a while to figure out what my tail should to be doing. By this time, I had lost significant altitude and Mero wasn't in sight anymore. I figured if I could get higher I might be able to spot him better so I headed straight up. When I felt I had gone high enough, I began circling.
The palace and city spread out below me. There was no sign of Mero. I looked above me but still couldn't see him so I looked further afield. I was getting a little anxious so I called out to him in my mind. "Mero?"
"I'm right behind you my love. I wanted to make sure I could catch you if anything happened." He pulled up alongside where I could see him. "I shouldn't have worried. You were meant to fly."
He gave me a toothy grin and peeled off. For the next hour we played follow the leader over the palace, through the mountains, and down to the shore where we got our claws wet playing with the surf, and I accidently caught a fish. Most of it anyway. I had a little nibble out of curiosity and discovered that sushi is much better without the bones.
Eventually, we returned to the palace and I learned the dubious joys of landing. I was unsatisfied with my performance so I took off again and tried it a second time. This time I did much better so I let it go and changed back to human form.
Dantalion was there, laughing at me. "You enjoy landing so much you wanted to do it again?"
I stuck my tongue out at him. "No, I thought I could do better if I tried it again, and I did."
He smiled at me ruefully. "Ah. I think I see how you got so good at fighting. Never satisfied with 'good enough' are you?"
"Of course not. As I told you that first day, there is always someone better. Always. However, that being said, the better you get, the less chance there is of actually meeting them." I grinned at his bark of laughter. "So, how are our guests this morning? Did they rest well?"
"From what I understand, they did. I didn't ask specifically though. Nurian is quite interested in them. I've seen his men watching them and his friends have gone so far as to engage them in conversation. I informed them that there is a small issue of treason ongoing, and we're letting it go until we've identified all of the parties involved and located the pobat extract. They promised to keep their eyes and ears open. Pobat would be a threat to the Emperor so they have an interest in helping."
He paused. "They're all Emperor's Guard by the way, not Kelan's men. You impressed them with your graciousness and your ferocity. They've been talking to the other warriors about you."
"Oh dear, they'll learn all about my deplorable habit of whacking people who try to touch Mero and think poorly of me."
Dantalion was having a hard time keeping his laughter under control by now. "Well, you would think they would learn not to touch him by now. It's not as if your reputation is a secret. Mero has never encouraged them."
"Maybe they're just so out of practice in thinking that they're incapable of learning? No, that doesn't excuse Halara does it?"
Dantalion sobered. "Halara is an exception in many ways. I checked on her this morning. The guards Geran posted are… uneasy. She's killed others besides Kors. Whenever the sedative wears off, she raves. She seems to have broken all ties with reality. One guard said he has never met a person so purely evil. They have a new respect for and understanding of Mero. I have a clerk sitting watch with them now. He's recording everything she says. I should have posted one earlier."
"If she's raving she'll eventually repeat herself if prompted by a name or reference to a specific incident. I wonder what Harad sees when he looks at her."
He nodded. "Perhaps we'll try that later if she doesn't repeat. Harad sees nothing. We found that out the first time she visited. She has a natural block of some kind so he sees nothing you or I wouldn't see. The dragons don't either. How is Mero?"
I looked at my mate speaking intently with a couple of warriors on the other side of the practice yard. "He was in shock when we went to bed last night. I poured liqueur down his throat and talked to him for a while and he settled. He got more sleep than I did and he could laugh this morning. I'll admit that I've been playing the clown today just to make him laugh. He needs it. I'm hoping the flight finished the cure."
A look of enlightenment graced his features. "I thought you were in rather high spirits there."
My lips tightened as I fought not to growl. "I would like nothing better than to hunt her down and peel her skin off in tiny strips for what she's done, but I can't, so I settle for doing what I can to clean up her mess."
"And you do it well, sister. Mero's a lucky man."
My shoulders relaxed and I grinned. "Yes, he is."
We both laughed, throwing off the sober mood and moved to join Mero.
It turned out that Mero was talking about the training schedule. With the merged households, we would need to set up multiple sessions so as not to overload the practice yard. Adding th
e Drakkeni contingent later today would make the problem worse. In the end, we broke the time into twice as many slots as there were dragonlords plus half a dozen extra slots and assigned them. Since Geran and I both had extra men we each got three time slots while everyone else got two. This left slots available for guests or those who wanted extra training time.
We also decided that expanding the practice yard was necessary. An old stable no longer in use sat on the other side of the archery range. We discussed plans to demolish it and move the range to its place. That would allow us to move the wooden wall between the practice yard and the range, expanding the yard.
With the prospective schedules and changes planned, we chatted about what else we needed to deal with over the next few days. Something about the stables tickled at my memory. It was distracting. I kept glancing at the stables hoping that the thought would present itself. It wasn't until Mero and Dantalion moved to the subject of the search for Nurian's poison that thoughts crystalized.
"Mero, how could Nurian poison the water supply for the entire palace at once?"
"Vall built the palace on the ruins of the Goddess's temple. It had a huge cistern fed by an underground river, which was still intact, so they made use of it. There's also a drain at the bottom to clear out sediment and keep the water fresh. Once a year, someone goes down to the cavern at the foot of the cliff where the drain access is to clear out the sediment. The overflow and drain empty into the river. It would take the flow through that drain weeks to dilute the water in the cistern enough to render the poison harmless."
"How is the water accessed?"
"Well, the cistern underlies most of the palace. All you need is a well where you need it. Why are you asking?"
I thought it over as the thoughts gelled. "Keth need water." Mero and Dantalion looked blankly at me for a moment before turning to the stable. "Has anyone checked it?"
Mero tipped his head. "I'm not sure. Surely, someone would have. As a hiding spot, it's too obvious." He paused for a few heartbeats. "It can't hurt to check though." We wandered over to the stable and looked it over.
The door was chained shut but when I checked the lock, I found the shackle rusted through. I pulled it off and flung it into the dirt. It was clear no one had touched the lock in years.
Time had coated the interior with dust and cobwebs. Bird droppings and old nests coated the rafters. There was still the scent of manure in the air, peeking through the dust. Openings near the tops of the walls let in a little light but it was clear there wasn't anything here. We checked the stalls and found nothing. There wasn't even disturbed dirt to indicate a buried cache. At the end of the stable was a well capped by an old cracked millstone with a stone and mortar stopper in the center hole. The mortar sealing the edges of the millstone to the well was intact.
Dantalion sighed. "It was a good thought. I didn't even know there was a well in here and it does appear that no one had checked it."
Mero sneezed. "The Arboren closed them up because they didn't like the smell. We saw no reason to open them again. Why do you need keth when you can turn into a dragon? Besides, the Arboren were right. Keth manure stinks."
I chuckled at the disgust in his voice. "How many other bits of this place have gone unused since then? As a descendant of the old king, Nurian might have knowledge that even the Arboren didn't have. Like the secret passages. What was added after the palace was built that we know nothing about?"
Mero sighed. "I had one of my men check that the passages were intact but asked him to focus on the tunnels leading out of the palace. He confirmed the exits were one-way. You can leave, but not enter. The rest of the passages… I know he checked a few going between the exit tunnels, but I doubt he examined the entire network. At least one goes near Nurian's quarters as I recall."
He stopped, deep in thought for a moment. "When he arrived at court he demanded that the existing occupant of those quarters move. He said they had been his grandfather's and he was fond of the old man. I thought he was just an arrogant little gulo and discounted it. Now I'm not so sure." He grinned at me. "Want to go exploring?"
"Yes!" I paused. "Uh, Mero? He checked that the exits were one way. What if someone inside opened it to someone waiting outside? Did he check for signs of use? And what's a gulo?"
He swore vociferously and wiped at the dust on his face. "I don't know! I was distracted at the time by my new chosen and a dislocated knee. Koris took his report. It answered my primary concerns at the time so I didn't think to check closer. Demon spit!"
Dantalion chuckled. "Was this before or after the party?"
"Before."
Dantalion gripped Mero's shoulder. "Well, considering your dragon was busy imprinting at the time you shouldn't get too upset. Let's go check the passages closest to Nurian's quarters and see what we can find. Kendra, a gulo is a smallish animal about the length of your arm. They have a vicious temper, eat carrion, and smell bad."
As we left the stable, I looked sidelong at Mero and muttered, "There you go, thinking with the little head again." Mero burst out in gales of laughter in response, laughing all the harder when he caught Dantalion's mystified look. I just gave him an innocent smile.
We went to Mero's office for the maps I had made, and some candles. After consulting the map, Mero led us back down to the ground floor and into a small salon. I lit a candle, making sure the coast was clear as he opened a hidden door in the corner of the room and ducked through. I followed with Dantalion close on my heels.
He lit a candle of his own from mine and looked around as we walked. "Odd to see the other side this way," he whispered, looking closely at the ladder carved shallowly into the side of a doorjamb. The narrow branch passage continuing over the doorway and down again on the other side. We bypassed that branch and continued. The wall this passage ran through appeared to run down the center between two sets of rooms. Eventually, we came to a place where several passages joined. One of those was high on the wall, accessed by another ladder. Mentally I dubbed it the crossroads.
Mero chose a passage that made a turn around a corner then over another doorway. This passage jogged back and forth with more of the overpasses with which to contend. There were a couple more side passages but mostly there were niches with doorways into apartments in this wing.
Mero whispered over his shoulder. "This is the wing that the nobles call home. We could have entered here but someone would have noticed us. I don't want Nurian to know we were here. His quarters are near the end of the wing."
I looked down, holding my candle low to examine the ground. The stonework wasn't as dusty as it had been in either the library passage or where we had entered. "Less dust," I whispered.
Mero expression was grim as he nodded. "Ever since the turning. Someone's been using these. I doubt my man came this way since there aren't any entrances to the escape tunnels in this section of passages."
We passed a few more overpasses before Mero slowed and motioned us to silence. We crept along, careful not to make noise. I presumed we were close to Nurian's rooms. Sure enough, Mero led us to an entrance and motioned me closer. My candle revealed a handle on the inside of the hidden door polished from use with well-maintained latches and freshly oiled hinges.
The floor was free from dust here so I followed the dustless trail. Bent in half at the waist I inched down to where it joined the passage from which we arrived. I couldn't tell from the dust which direction Nurian used most so I chose the way we hadn't traveled yet. About twenty feet further down the passage, I saw it. If I hadn't been looking so closely, I might have missed it. A stone at the bottom of the wall that was unmortared. The dustless trail stopped there.
I knelt and handed my candle to Mero. When I pushed at the unmortared stone, it slid back about six inches exposing a handle. Pulling the handle up, I heard a click, and a section of the wall swung a fraction, so I pushed on it and it swung back like a cat door. I looked back at Mero to get his reaction and saw an alarmed expression. At my questi
oning look, he whispered, "that's not on the map." I nodded and took back the candle before pushing through the swinging door.
On the other side was a tiny landing with the stone I had pushed poking through, the back of it hollowed out with the sides resting in grooves lined with ball bearings. From the position, if I pushed the stone back in place, it would expose the handle on this side. An ingenious way of keeping the door secret, and latched, while making it openable from either side. When Mero and Dantalion had eased through, I slid the stone back in place, hiding our discovery of Nurian's secret.
The landing we stood on topped a steep, narrow staircase that led down into darkness. Dantalion led this time, his sword drawn. Mero carried his candle so he would be unencumbered. The stairs led down about fifty feet, occasionally changing direction. It got cold and I smelled wet stone. Shortly after that, I heard rushing water.
We came out into a cave where an underground river poured out of a gap near the ceiling into a pool. A low wall defined the edge of the pool within the cavern with the largest mass of the pool extending through a slot in the wall of the cavern. The pool edge included a rectangular spillway where excess water poured into a short channel that left the cavern through the opposite wall.
We were standing on a low-walled balcony that jutted into the cavern midway up the wall. On the end of the balcony over the pool were a dozen and a half small barrels the size of my head.
"The entrance to the cistern I presume?"
"And the poison my love."
"Of course. I just figured that part was so obvious I didn't need to mention it."
Mero pulled me close and muffled his laughter in my hair before kissing my ear.
I went to explore the rest of the balcony as Mero and Dantalion inspected the casks. I made two discoveries. The first was a continuation of the stairway and the second was that the balcony and guard wall was broken at the end near the spillway. The remains of a doorway filled with rubble stood at the end of the balcony just above the break. Leaning over the edge of the broken balcony, I found a rock shelf about six feet down.