Eon - 01 Eon

by Alison Goodman

  'The sad news overwhelmed me. But your courage and power have secured the Council. His Majesty was right — you were sent by the gods to bring the Prince to the throne.'

  I could not bear the stinging lash of gratitude in her voice. 'I was not sent by anyone,' I said harshly.

  Lady Dela blinked with surprise. 'I'm...I am sorry, my lord.'

  Rilla cleared her throat. 'Can I offer you some wine, or water, my lord?'

  'No, I want nothing.'

  Hesitantly, Lady Dela held out the compass again. 'It was good fortune that this was found and returned,' she said, ignoring my rudeness. 'I know it is an essential tool for your art. And it is very beautiful.' She brushed her linger over the inscribed face.

  I did not want to touch it. 'Just put it somewhere,' I said, waving her hand away.

  But she was not listening. All her attention was on the compass. 'I know this,' she said, tracing an engraved character with her fingertip. 'It means Heaven. This is an old form of Woman Script.' Her finger skipped across to another character. 'Truth. This one is Truth.' She looked up at me. 'Why is a Dragoneye tool written in Woman Script?'

  I could not move. A thousand lies were collapsing within me, the roar in my ears drowning out everything except two words: Woman Script.

  'What does it say?' I whispered.

  Lady Dela stared at me.

  'What does it say?' I screamed.

  She flinched back into the seat.

  Out of the corner of my eye, I saw the driver look around at us. Rilla was staring at me, her face hollowed with shock.

  I forced my voice into a lower tone. 'Tell me what it says.'

  Lady Dela licked her lips, her eyes darting back to the compass. Slowly, she moved her finger around the innermost circle. 'It says the Mirror Dragon is,' she paused, her eyes widening, 'the Mirror Dragon is the Queen of the heavens.' Her hand covered her mouth. 'By the gods, a female dragon.'

  My dragon was female. The truth of it flooded through me; a cascade of wonder and hope and horror. She had chosen me and I had driven her away

  Lady Dela met my stricken gaze. 'You didn't know? How could you not know?'

  'She's the Queen?' Rilla said. 'Of course, it makes sense —'

  I flung myself across the narrow space, slamming her against the carriage wall.

  'I )o not say it,' I screamed, my forearm across her chest. 'Do not say it.'

  The driver turned around again. 'My lord, what is it? Shall I stop?'

  'Keep driving,' I yelled.

  Rilla panted beneath me. 'I will not say it. I promise. I promise.'

  'What can't she say, Lord Eon?' Lady Dela pulled at my arm, her man's strength dragging me back into my seat. 'What makes sense?'

  I snatched at the gold disc but she jerked it away, the confusion in her face hardening into comprehension. 'You're not Moon Shadow, are you?'

  I struggled to free my other arm, but her grip tightened. Are you a girl?'

  Her fierce eyes held mine, but I could not say it. I must not say it.

  Are you?' she shrieked. It was not anger in her voice. It was terror.

  'Yes,' I whispered.

  She rocked back, dropping my arm as though it was diseased. 'Sweet gods, a girl. In the Dragoneye Council. Do you know what they will do when they find out?'

  I nodded.

  'But you have the Mirror Dragon's power,' she said quickly 'She chose you because you are a girl, didn't she? Surely they will see that and —'

  I could not keep the truth out of my eyes.

  Lady Dela paled. 'You do have her power, don't you?' she asked, her voice rising into desperation. 'Tell me you have the dragon's power.'

  'No,'

  She closed her eyes and moaned, the terrible sound thinning into a ragged prayer. 'Merciful gods of heaven, may our deaths be swift and painless.'

  'But you moved the King Monsoon,' Killa said

  I looked away from her crumpled face. Ido moved it, He took my power and made everyone think I was directing the Dragoneyes. He said he would tell the Council I was a girl if I didn't do what he said. They will kill me, Rilla.' I reached out to her, pleading for her understanding, but she did not move. 'He said he'd give you and Chart to his men if I tried to get help.'

  Lady Dela gave a low, strangled cry: 'So we don't have the Council. We don't have anything.'

  She covered her face with her hands.

  Rilla leaned closer. 'How could Ido take your power if you don't have any? I saw the red book. There was power there. I saw the pearls move by themselves.'

  'I don't have the Mirror Dragon's power,' I said. 'I didn't unite with him...with her properly during the ceremony. But I can call on Lord Ido's dragon. I don't know how. That was the power he took.'

  Lady Dela lifted her head. 'Why didn't you unite properly with your dragon?'

  'I don't know. I felt her in the arena — we communed, I swear it. But afterwards she started to slip away' I paused, the awful loss closing my throat. 'And now she's gone.'

  Rilla straightened in her seat and brushed down her dress, trying to reclaim some composure.

  'Maybe she didn't like you pretending to be a boy' she said tartly.

  I gaped at her, a tumble of connections falling into line. 'The Sun drug.'

  Her eyes met mine and widened. 'The ghost-maker's tea.'

  Lady Dela frowned. 'What?'

  'Before the ceremony, my master gave me a tea to take every morning. It stopped my...' I could not say it.

  'It slops the Moon days,' Rilla said quickly. 'And the Sun drug is taken by l he Shadow Men to keep their maleness.'

  LAdy Dela nodded. 'Ryko takes it.' She eyed me narrowly. 'You mean, you took it?'

  'I thought it would help me join withrny dragon,' I said defensively 'Ido takes it to strengthen his bond with the Rat Dragon.' I licked my lips, suddenly recognising another connection. 'I think the Mirror Dragon faded from me faster after I took the Sun drug.'

  'Could it be the female dragon is called by female energy?' Lady Dela whispered.

  Her words caught at my breath, their truth resonating through me. The Mirror Dragon was called by female energy, and I had done everything to quell it within myself.

  'So if you stop taking this tea and drug, you will be able to commune with the Mirror Dragon,'

  she said. 'Am I right?'

  I bowed my head. 'There is another problem.'

  Lady Dela and Rilla waited, their bodies tensing.

  'I don't have my dragon's name. I can't call her power without her name.' The grim irony of what I was about to say warped my mouth into a wry smile. 'And the only place I could possibly find her name is in the red folio.'

  'The one you and Ryko stole from Lord Ido?' Lady Dela asked.

  I nodded. And the one he stole back a few hours ago.' The echo of his brutal control still lingered in my body. I could not bear to think of it. Instead, I tipped back my head and gritted my teeth, trying to stop the burn of tears. 'The folio is written in Woman Script too. You could have read it to me.' I swallowed. 'I could have had her name.'

  Rilla touched my knee. The small gesture made it harder to hold back my grief.

  Lady Dela frowned into the distance. 'But that means there is still a chance for you to claim her power.'The hard-headed courtier in her had reasserted itself. 'We must get the red folio back.'

  Hope burst through me. If I had my dragon, Ido would not be able to come near me. 'We've got it from him once,' I said quickly 'We could do it again.'

  She held up her hand.'But first,you must warn the new Emperor that he cannot rely on your power Or the Council's support.'

  'No.' I shook my head. 'No, he will kill me. We must find the red folio first.'

  She eyed me coldly. 'It is your duty to tell him,' she said. And if you do not, you will die anyway Ryko will kill you if you betray the Emperor again.' She looked out of the carriage at the dark figure of the islander riding ahead of us. As it is, I'll have trouble stopping him from cutting your throat when he
learns of your lies.' She sighed. 'His faith in you was enormous.

  As was mine.'

  For a moment, I imagined Ryko's face when he found out the truth. I shuddered; not only from fear, but from the knowledge of how deeply my betrayal would wound him.

  Lady Dela sat back. 'We must all pray to the gods that the Emperor does not have you killed immediately Let us hope you have time to tell him there's still a chance to claim the Mirror Dragon's power.'

  'It is a very small chance,' I said.

  'You should hold on to it as hard as you can,' Lady Dela said flatly 'It means your life.'

  We sat for a moment, each of us silenced by the terrible possibilities that lay before us.

  'Well,' Lady Dela finally said, 'I must tell Ryko.' She rose from her seat, swaying with the carriage's motion, and poked the driver's back. 'Pull up, man.' She looked back to me. 'Do not come out. Do not even show your face.' She smoothed her hair and I saw her hand was trembling. 'This is going to kill him.'

  The carriage slowed and came to a juddering stop. Immediately, Ryko pulled up his own horse. Lady Dela gave me one last reproachful look then stepped down from the cabin, hurrying to deflect Ryko's approach.

  Rilla stalled to unpack boxes from the food basket. 'You may as well eat something. It will probably be a while before we move on again.'

  1 craned a look over the driver's shoulder. Ryko had dismounted and given his reins to his second-in-command, who had been riding at the front with him. As Lady Dela approached, the islander bowed, his head angled questioningly. She motioned him further along the deserted road, and as they walked away from us their voices became lost in the clattering calls of roosting birds. Suddenly Ryko stiffened and stepped back from Lady Dela. He turned to the carriage, his fists clenched. Even though I could not see his face clearly in the dusk light, his fury crossed the distance between us. Lady Dela grabbed his arm, and it was not a woman's hold. I watched him turn back to her, the tense lines of his body showing his fight for control.

  'I am sorry,' I whispered.

  'You should have told me,' Rilla said. She opened another box — full of silvery poached eel

  — and placed it on the seat next to me. 'Maybe I could have helped.'

  'How?' I asked. 'Do you have the dragon's name written on your forehead?'

  Instantly, I regretted my sarcasm. At least she was talking to me. 'I'm sorry' I said. 'You're right. I should have told you.'

  'More to the point, you should have told the master,' Rilla said.

  'I thought I could find the name before anyone realised I had no power. Before he realised.

  And then he died.'

  Rilla sighed. 'Well, that's all history now.' She stacked the lacquered lids, placing them back into the basket. Then, folding her hands in her lap, she sat for a moment staring out into the new darkness.

  'So,' she met my gaze, 'is it time, Lord Eon?'

  I turned away from her quiet dignity. 'I'm not your lord any more, Rilla.'

  'Oh, yes, you are,' she said, her sharp tone pulling me back to face her. 'You have to be Lord Eon fot us all. For me, for Chart, for those two out there. And for the new Emperor.' She lifted her chin. 'I ask you again, Lord Eon. Is it time?'

  'Yes,' I finally said, 'Take Chart and get as far away as you can.'

  Lady Dela returned to the carriage — her grim face forestalling our questions — and we resumed our journey. Ryko kept his distance, riding ahead, stiff and straight in the saddle. I watched for a while, but he did not look back. Even when we changed horses, he kept well away, his eyes averted from me.

  As the night deepened into the spirit hours, I managed to eat some of Rilla's food while Lady Dela tersely explained the Imperial ghost watch. I tried to concentrate on my part in the elaborate rituals and ignore the unspoken dread that hung between us: that I would probably not live long enough to practise them.

  Although my mind was past any point of rest, my drained body could hold out no longer; after the third and final horse change, I slept. Occasionally I was jolted awake by a rough piece of road and looked out to see the figure of Ryko still riding at the front. After the long hours of travelling, his body should have been bowed with fatigue, but I could see no change in his tense vigilance. Perhaps he was fuelled by his rage. Perhaps hate.

  I was glad to return to the oblivion of sleep.

  The calls of roadside hawkers finally pulled me out of my exhaustion and I awoke, huddled in the corner of the carriage, just as we approached the city gates. Lady Dela was sprawled asleep in the opposite corner, the harsh lines of her face softened by slumber. Rilla was already hunting through the basket for refreshment, her hair and gown smoothed into her usual neatness.

  'Something to break your fast,' she said softly, passing me a small woven dish containing a shelled hardboiled egg and a few

  pickled vegetables. At least I would not have to wash it down with the foul mix of Sun drug and ghost-maker's tea. 1 was done with both drugs.

  'It is not much of a last meal,' I said, attempting a smile.

  She ignored the comment, carefully shelling another egg. 'When we arrive at the apartments I will prepare the cleansing bath as Lady Dela instructed.' Her voice was low. 'No doubt the protocol officers will have sent the proper herbs. Then, while you are washing, I will air the Story Robe. It is a good thought on Lady Dela's part for you to wear it.'

  'You should just go.'

  She shook her head. After you are prepared for the ghost watch.'

  I was humbled by her dogged loyalty. 'Thank you,' I whispered. 'But after that, promise me you will go.'

  Beside me, Lady Dela stirred. She wiped her mouth, squinting in the morning light.

  'I did not expect to sleep.' She looked out at the line of carts and foot travellers waiting to enter the city on the common dirt road below our paved carriageway. 'We have arrived, then.'

  As we drew up to the city gates, Ryko rode back towards us. I sat up, my fingers tightening around the wicker dish, but he manoeuvred his horse alongside Lady Dela's side of the cabin.

  'I will leave you now, lady' he said.

  She nodded. 'Good luck.'

  'Leave?' I said. 'Why are you leaving? We have to get the red folio back.'

  Ryko finally looked at me and the hardness in his eyes stilled my breath. 'I must warn the Resistance to be ready' He pulled on the reins, his horse snorting at the brutal turn. 'But don't be concerned for your safety, Lord Eon. I will be back to guard you, as is my duty' His voice was bitter. 'T always do my duty'

  And when have I not done my duly?' I muttered, but he was already gone.

  CHAPTER 19

  The special blend of sweet herbs and frangipani petals floated on the surface of the water and clung to my shoulders in velvety clumps. Rilla had prepared the ritual cleansing bath and left me to wash myself, hurrying back to the dressing room to ready the Story Robe and her escape. I sank further into the soft warmth of the large soaking pool and breathed in the damp fragrance, massaging my strained wrist. I had already scrubbed my body as hard as I could, but the touch of Ido was still on my skin and in the aching strain of my hand and hip.

  He must never take my body again. I would rather die.

  I stopped kneading my hand, shocked by the dark whisper that had pushed itself into my mind.

  Was I really ready to die?

  I licked my lips, the sweet bath herbs reawakening the vanilla-orange heat of his mouth on mine. I should run. Escape with Rilla and Chart into the islands. This struggle for the throne was not my fight. I had been pushed into the centre of it by everyone around me: my poor master, the Emperor, the Prince,

  Lady Dela, Kyko. Even Rilla and Chart. They all expected me to bring victory. But it was not my fight.

  I sighed. That was not true. It was my fight now. I lived or died by the Pearl Emperor's hold on the throne. And the lives of too many good people depended on my courage to face the wrath of the young Emperor and win his support. Or, if things went badly, the courage t
o welcome his sword into my body and stop Ido from bringing Sethon to the throne. And stop his mad ambition to create the String of Pearls.

  The memory of the Prince's swift punishment of Teacher Prahn over the missing red folio made me shiver. That had been a small mistake by an old man. And there was the young noble who had accidentally hit him on the practice field. I'd heard the Prince had broken three of his ribs. What would he do to me? A girl who had tricked him and betrayed him, who had promised him power and mutual survival, all the while knowing it was a lie. I prayed the small hope I had to offer would be enough to stop his sword hand.

  Ido had been right, I could not welcome death. Not while there was still hope.

  Yet I did not even know if the Mirror Dragon was still waiting for me. For a moment, the wonder of her pushed back my fear. A female dragon: what an astonishing revelation for the Council. It made me wonder how they had lost all knowledge of her and the female Dragoneyes. It seemed too complete to be an accident of time. But even if it had been deliberate all those generations ago, they could not deny the only female dragon now. And surely, if I made a true union with her, the Council would have to accept me too.

  A fine plan, except I could no longer sense her; I did not even see her outline on the Dragoneye dais. Was it just that last double dose of drugs in my body, or was it some terrible failing in me? Perhaps I did not have any hope to offer the new Emperor, after all. Maybe the Mirror I )ragon was truly gone.

  I knew I should reach into my Hua and see if she was still there and at least bring the knowledg- of her continued presence to the Emperor. But what if Ido sensed me in the energy world and took me again? I shuddered. He had said it only happened when I communed with the Rat Dragon. Yet I would be a fool to trust his word. What if he was lying? What if he could now take me whenever 1 entered the pathways of Hua?

  I found myself backed up against the edge of the bath, the tiled wall a solid mooring in the churn of my thoughts. I had to take the chance. So far, all I had offered the Prince was lies. If I wanted to survive, I had to take the new Emperor the truth. I had to take him the hope of the Mirror Dragon.