'Thank you,' Chart said seriously, holding up the disc. 'Means so much...to Mother. And to...me.' He took a deep breath. 'Master told me...to tell you...something...' He stopped, swallowing convulsively, '...when...he died.'
'Tell me what?' I squatted down awkwardly beside him. Had the master told Chart that he loved me? Did Chart know what I really was? If he did know the truth, he had kept his counsel well.
'He used...to...come to kitchen...at night...when he...couldn't sleep...to talk to me. Needed to...talk to...someone.' He licked his lips, preparing for another long sentence. 'He was...sorry Thought...it...was for the...best. But sorry...for hurting you...so bad. Thought...he had...killed...you.'
'Killed me? What do you mean?'
'When he...had your...hip broken. You nearly...died. Don't...you remember?'
'I lad my hip broken?'
What was Chart talking about? It was an accident. I was hit by a horse and cart. Run down in a street soon after my master had taken me from the salt farm.
Something deep and denied held me still. Dim images were slowly sharpening into an awful truth. There had been no horse and cart. No accident. I felt a terrible certainty building inside me. The memory of a bitter taste and heavy limbs, a big man with a tattoo across his face and a hammer in his hand. And pain. So much pain.
'Why?' I croaked. 'Why?' I grabbed Chart's arm. 'Did he tell you why?'
Chart cowered back into the chair. 'No.'
But I knew why. He crippled me to hide Eona. He had made me untouchable. To make money. To get power. His betrayal crashed through me like the hammer smashing my bones.
He took away my body My wholeness. I tried to stand, but all my strength was surging into another place. Into rage. My hip throbbed with old agony. I fell onto my hands and knees, crawling away from Chart, away from the pain.
'I...thought...you knew.'
'Knew?' I screamed.
Chart's terror registered somewhere in me, but it was too small against my fury My head hit the edge of a shelf and I pulled myself upright. In front of me were his scrolls. His precious scrolls. All lovingly stacked.
I pulled a box out of its slot and threw it at the wall. The crack of splitting wood and slithering parchment shrieked through my blood. The second box hit the desk, skittering pens and ink blocks onto the floor. One after the other, I flung the boxes at the back walls. The clattering crash drove me along the shelves, throwing faster and faster, the noise stoking the rage inside me. Chart cowered in the chair, whimpering. I heard the door snap open.
'Lord Eon!'
¦ '
I turned, panting, my arm raised to throw
Rilla was standing in the doorway holding a tray of wine cups, her eyes wide with shock.
'What arc you doing?'
Couldn't she sec? I was destroying him. 1 was hurting him.
But he was already dead.
I let go of the box in my hand. It hit the floor, smashing open, the parchment uncurling in a hiss of release. Through a blur of tears, I saw Rilla come towards me. And then, for the first time since my master's death, I felt all my sorrow and rage roll into a racking sob.
CHAPTER 16
I hunched over the small oil lamp beside my bed and dug my finger and thumb into the leather pouch, pinching up a generous dose of the Sun drug. Outside, the sounds of my palace staff preparing for the Daikiko journey carried across the pre-dawn quiet: the clip of horse hooves on stone flags, the creaking of cartwheels, and Ryko's voice ordering his men to check the load straps. It would soon be time to leave.
I dropped the drug into the bowl of ghost-maker's tea that Rilla had left with my breakfast.
For a moment the powder floated on the top, then broke apart and dissolved into the murky liquid. I tied off the pouch and pushed it into the pocket of my travelling tunic alongside the precious ruby compass.
The Sun drug was my last resort. With only a slim hope of deciphering the folio in time for the test, it was the only other way I could think to forge a quick connection with the Mirror Dragon. Ryko had said it kindled the Sun energy in the Shadow Men, rebuilding their manliness and fighting spirit. Surely it would stoke the Sun energy in me too.
1 eyed the steaming tea. Of course, there was no guarantee it would help me contact my dragon. And there was a very big possibility it might turn me into a raging madman like Lord Ido. Or I could descend into sullen despair and crashing head pain like Dillon. Maybe the ghost maker's tea would just cancel its effect.The other alternative —death by poisoning — was like a cold stone of possiblity lodged in my gut.
I picked up the bowl and inhaled the bitter steam. An image of my master's dying face, twisted and contorted, shivered through me. Such a terrible way to die.
Yesterday I had cried myself dry in Rilla's arms, but 1 could not forgive my master's betrayal.
Not yet. Even after Rilla had cut through my self-pity with one of her hard truths — that my lame leg helped me hide my sex — I still could not find any forgiveness. Perhaps one day I would, but for now the energy of anger was far better than the lethargy of grief.
I looked down into the cup. The tea had turned very dark, its surface reflecting the shadowy planes of my face. Surely one dose would not kill me; it had not killed Dillon or Ryko. I bowed to the altar in the corner and raised the bowl to my lips. May my ancestors protect me, I prayed and tipped the vessel back, coughing over the last bitter mouthful.
I put the cup on the tray and sat for a moment trying to feel the drug in my body I knew it was too soon, but now that it was finally taken, I wanted to know if it had worked. A soft clap outside the bedchamber door roused me from my inner search.
'Enter.'
Rilla hurried in, carrying a long travelling coat over her arm. 'Ryko says we are ready to go when you are, my lord.' She shook out the garment and held it open for me.
'Thank you.' I stood and pushed my arms into the wide sleeves. 'Is Chart settled in?'
Rilla beamed. 'Yes, he is.' She gave the stiff neckband of the coat one last smoothing then dug around in her skirt pocket. 'He wanted me to give you this.'
I unfolded the small scrap of parchment. There was one character scratched on its surface in wavering black ink: sorry.
I smiled. 'Is he writing already?'
'He and Lon worked on it all last night.'
'You must tell him that he has nothing to be sorry about. He was just doing as the master asked.'
'I'll tell him.' She touched my arm. 'You have done so much for us. Thank you.'
'You have done as much for me.' I paced across the room, suddenly overwhelmed by a feeling of dread. 'But there is something else I would ask of you, Rilla.'
'Of course. Anything.'
'If I ever tell you to go, will you take Chart and leave the city as fast as you can? No questions. Just go somewhere safe. Like the islands. Will you do that?'
'But I wouldn't leave —'
I held up my hand. 'No. Promise me you'll go. It's important.'
She nodded, but her face was troubled. 'Do you think it will come to that?'
'I don't know. I hope your free status will protect you. But if it doesn't, then you'll need to move swiftly And you'll need money' I waved her over to the doorway. 'Come with me, quickly'
I led her into the dressing room. My candidate ceremony uniform was stored neatly on a low shelf in the clothes press. I pulled it out and slid my fingers along the hem until they found hard metal.
'Chart gave me this in case I had to run away Do you remember?'
She nodded. A Tiger. He showed me when he found it.'
I took her hand and closed it over the silk-covered coin. 'Now it is yours. It will keep you and Chart for a few months if things go bad.'
Rilla took my hand. 'But what about you? Won't you need it to get away?'
I didn't answer. Her hold tightened for a moment and then she turned towards the sewing tools. We both knew that if she and Chart had to run, then it was already too late for me.
; The courtyard of the Ox Dragon Hall was a noisy melee of people hauling luggage, hitching oxen to carts and leading horses. My driver called my name over and over again, gradually clearing a pathway through the crowded square and manoeuvring the carriage up to the front entrance of the hall.
A servant approached us and bowed. 'Lord Tyron sends his compliments, my lord, and asks for your forbearance. He will be with you soon.' The man offered a goblet of wine on a tray, but I waved it away. My taster was in a cart at the rear of the line. I sat back in the opulent carriage seat and watched an outrider struggle to calm a skittish horse. I knew how the animal felt.
Finally, Lord Tyron emerged from the hall. I shifted across to make room for him as he climbed into the carriage, his weight rocking the well-sprung cabin.
'So, the Prince has lent you his own cart, hey?' he asked jovially, but the tone was at odds with the anxiety on his face. The suspension straps beneath us creaked and swung as he settled beside me. 'No one can be in doubt of your allegiance now.'
'I don't think anyone has ever been in doubt of my allegiance,' I said.
Lord Tyron nodded. 'Nor of mine.' He rubbed at his forehead. 'My apologies for sending away all your messengers. We could not risk giving Ido any reason to stop the test.'
'Lord Ido doesn't want to stop the test,' I said. 'He expects me to fail, and he's probably right.
Do you really think I can learn how to control the King Monsoon in two days?'
Tyron sighed. 'It takes an apprentice the whole twelve years of study to manage his own dragon's power. And the same time to prepare for his year as Ascendant.' He patted my shoulder. 'But then, you can see all of the twelve dragons. If anyone can do it, you can.'
I smiled weakly at him. He pulled back the opulent silk curtaining and watched the rest of his entourage move into position behind us. Now was my chance to show him the compass without any interruption. I pulled it out of my pocket, my excitement so intense I could not even form a prayer.
'Lord Tyron...'
He turned back to me.
I held up the pouch and fumbled with the drawstring. 'I wanted to show you this. The Prince returned it to me with the other Mirror Dragon treasures.'
The ties came loose. The compass dropped into my palm and I felt the pearls around my arm shiver.
'Oh, my, what a beauty' Tyron breathed. He looked at me for permission then picked up the compass, stroking his thick forefinger across the ruby centre. 'Magnificent.'
I leaned closer. 'Do you recognise the writing, Lord Tyron? Can you read it?'
Squinting, he examined the etched rings around the compass.
'The animal pictures and the cardinal points are the same,' he finally said, 'but I've never seen this other writing before. It must be very old.'
The disappointment was like a blow to my chest. I closed my eyes. Even a Dragoneye could not read the folio. Its secrets were locked away from me forever. There was no way of decoding it. But I still had one chance left — the Sun drug. But what if it didn't work?
'Lord Eon.'
I opened my eyes. Tyron was looking over the compass at me. His face was grey
'Is this the only compass you have?' he whispered. 'But of course it is — there would have been no more made after the Mirror Dragon was lost.'
I realised why he looked so appalled. Every compass was specific to its particular dragon, the secret information on it
handed down from Dragoncye to apprentice, and set into a new instrument for the trainee, But I could not read my inherited compass, there was no Dragoneye to teach me its mysteries, and I could not use another Dragoneye's instrument to direct my heast's power. In all of my frenzied attempts to read the folio, such a catastrophe had not even occurred to me.
Tyron wearily pressed his fingers into the hollows of his eyes. Among those who travel to Daikiko, I can only think of Ido who has an interest in old writings. But we cannot show it to him. If he knows you cannot read your compass, he will use it as evidence to stop you taking your place on the Council.'
'He will know at the test,' I said shrilly 'He will know when I don't use it.'
Tyron passed the compass back to me, briefly closing my hand in a reassuring grip.
'No, you won't need it for the test. Ido will have already made the Ascendant calculations for the ley lines. You can use those, and I will teach you the rudiments of focusing your power through the ruby'
'But the calculations will be for the Ascendant Rat Dragon. How can I use them?'
Tyron chewed at his top lip. 'You're the Co-Ascendant. I'm hoping they'll be the same. Or at least close.'
'What do you mean you hope they'll be the same?' I demanded. 'Don't you know?'
He shook his head. 'No one knows what will happen tomorrow. No one knows what this Co-Ascendancy means. We don't know if you have the same doubled powers as Lord Ido, or if the double power is split between you. We just don't know.'
I stared at him. 'You don't know how to help me pass this test, do you?'
He gripped my shoulder and shook it. 'Right now we need to concentrate on teaching you how to control your power. First
things first.' He leaned out of the carriage and yelled, 'Hollin! (Jet over here.'
The lanky apprentice strode up to the side of the carriage. 'Yes, my lord.' He saw me half hidden behind the bulk of his master and bowed. 'Greetings, Lord Eon.'
'Hollin, I've decided you'll ride with us,' Tyron ordered. 'Give your apologies to Lady Dela —tell her that Lord Eon has need of you. Then tell Ridley to take your place in the lady's cart.'
The young man's face brightened: no back-breaking ox-cart journey for him. He hurried away
'Hollin can remember his early apprentice days more clearly than I can,' Tyron said. 'He can quickly take you through the basics. Then we can get on to the task of how to direct the King Monsoon.'
It was a long day of relentless information, roads lined with bowing peasants, and searing heat. The cabin of the carriage reeked with our sweat and the silk fans that we waved made no impression on the mind-numbing temperature. It was almost impossible to concentrate on Hollin's earnest voice as he tried to explain the give and take between dragon and Dragoneye.
'Do you remember the moment of union, Lord Eon?' he asked, then smiled sheepishly. 'Of course you do. Every Dragoneye remembers that moment. Cast your mind back to the feeling of being in two places at once. Of being dragon and man at the same time.'
I nodded, trying to hide my panic. I had not felt a sensation of being in two places at once.
Only the rush of power from the Mirror Dragon. And then, later, from the Rat Dragon. But I could not explain that to the two men in front of me — it would mean admitting I had never made the full union with my beast. I squeezed the Sun-drug pouch in my pocket. Perhaps my chance of connecting with the Mirror Dragon would be stronger if I took more than one pinch per day.
'The key is in the balance,' Hollin continued. 'It takes a long time to recognise when you are giving too much I lua and not
taking enough power.' He wiped the sweat from his top lip and looked at his master. 'I low do we explain the balance?'
It was like that all the way to the first sleep stop: one step forwards towards enlightenment and then (wo steps back as my lack of experience blocked the way.
As was custom, the Dragoneyes and their servants were lodged in houses deferentially vacated by local landowners. I was so tired that I knew nothing from the moment I entered my borrowed bedchamber to when Rilla woke me the following morning with a cup of the ghost-maker's tea. When she left the room to collect my aired clothes, I dumped two large pinches of the Sun drug into the earthenware cup and drank it in one gulp.
The small bedchamber was airless. Rilla had laid out a cotton robe for me and I wrapped it around myself as I clambered off the raised pallet and headed for the shuttered window.
Overnight, Hollin's coaching seemed to have become a jumble of unrelated nonsense; all I could remember was
him explaining how to draw power from a ley line and then Lord Tyron urging him to move on to the next subject. And there was another day of hurried instruction to come. I feared that very little of their teaching was going to stay with me.
I pushed open the shutters and looked into the compact inner courtyard of the house. The landowner was rich enough to afford a small pleasure garden along the nearby wall, and Lady Dela was walking its short, winding path. Now that the official mourning period was over, she wore a blue travelling gown with a strip of memorial red pinned to her sleeve. She turned as though my gaze had called her and dropped gracefully to one knee, politely averting her eyes from my lack of propriety. I pulled the robe tighter around me and held my hand up in greeting.
'Lady Dela. I hoped you passed the night comfortably'
'I did, thank you.' She rose from her bow and I saw that her face was once again carefully painted into femininity. 'Would it
be possible to speak to you before we continue our journey, my lord? There are some protocol matters to discuss.'
'Of course.'
'After the breakfast of gratitude?'
I nodded and drew back inside the room. According to tradition, the visiting lord thanked his host by eating with him and his sons at the formal morning meal.
Compared to what I had experienced in the last few weeks, the fare was simple and sparse: a rice porridge with four condiments, raw eggs broken into a hot fragrant soup, fried soy curd and a finely milled wheat bread. As I dripped sweetener over the pale mush of rice, it occurred to me that I would have once considered this a feast. The landowner reminded me of a brown dog that used to skulk around the salt farm — always anxious to belly-up and please.
He was so overwhelmed by sharing his table with a Dragoneye lord that he bowed three or four times to every remark I made, and was only able to manage one complete statement during the whole meal.
'Your sacred pact to protect us and our land brings us all much comfort, my lord.'
His sons — three smaller versions of himself — nodded vigorously their eyes never leaving me as they silently spooned up their soup. I looked down at my own bowl, my hunger suddenly gone. This was not just about my own survival; the whole land now relied on me to manipulate the earth forces and bring the luck of a good harvest. I fingered the pouch in my pocket. Could I risk another pinch of Sun drug? Three in the space of an hour was probably too much — it would be more sensible to leave it until the evening meal and space out the doses.
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