by Lea Doué
“That looks painful,” Gram muttered, no doubt watching Keir’s agonizing change into a man.
Once they reached the beach, Mel sank to her knees in the sand and Gram slid off her back. They sat side by side on a piece of driftwood. Gram unabashedly watched Keir getting dressed, while Mel watched the waves.
“You can look now,” Gram said in a teasing tone.
Baz and Keir walked towards them, but before anyone could speak, Jak trilled a warning.
A rock dragon appeared at the top of the slope. Just one, and it carried two men. One black-haired and one blond. Tharius and… Orin!
Mel stood, shaking with the realization of what they’d all done and the many ways it could have gone wrong. She might never have seen Orin again.
The rock dragon flung itself down the slope and half slid its way to the beach. Orin jumped off as soon as it stopped. He ran straight up to Mel and grabbed her up in a hug, lifting her from the ground.
“Tharius guessed I wouldn’t stay behind and doubled back for me. I understand why you did it, but I’ve never been so angry and so scared in my entire life. Please don’t ever run away from me like that again.”
She wrapped her arms around him and rubbed her cheek against his shoulder. “I don’t plan to.” She sighed deeply… and then someone yanked him away from her. She staggered backward.
Baz glared at Orin, his face stormy and blotchy. Keir sat next to Gram on the driftwood and put his face in his hands, oblivious to the drama in front of him.
“What’s wrong with you?” Baz shoved Orin’s shoulder.
Orin turned to her. “You didn’t tell him?”
“There hasn’t been time.”
“Tell me what?”
She took her gloves off and tucked them into her belt. “I’m not Vanda. Tharius loaned me his ring so I could disguise myself. You were right to want to keep Vanda away from your father. She’s waiting back at the cave.”
Baz stared and blinked, likely revisiting all the things he’d said when he thought he was speaking to Vanda.
“I’m so sorry. We couldn’t tell you because you had to believe you were freeing your red dragon girl for it to work.” She studied her arms and then looked at Orin. “I’m afraid I didn’t change back, though. I hope you don’t mind too much.”
Orin grinned and then chuckled. “You might want to try using the ring again before you get too comfortable with your new face.”
Heat rose up her neck into her cheeks and spread downward to her chest. Grinning sheepishly, she twisted the ring and said her name as Tharius had instructed. She blinked and then wiggled her own fingers in front of her face. She touched her lips, stroked her braid, ran her hands along her daggers. She blew out a breath.
She’d never been happier to be herself.
Orin glanced at Baz. “Do you mind now?”
Baz held up his hands, shook his head, and took a step back. “She’s all yours.”
Orin took her face in his hands and planted a firm kiss on her lips. He slid an arm around her waist, and they turned to face everyone.
Tharius sat on his dragon, watching silently, though his gaze kept straying to Gram. Had he ever seen another sorcerer before, other than the one who’d trained him? Gram wasn’t truly considered a sorcerer anymore.
“Wait.” Mel glanced up the cliff. “Gram said there were soldiers on the way.”
As if on cue, three quads of soldiers on rock dragons appeared at the top of the hill. At their head rode King Lotario. He led the way down and stopped a few yards from his son, the soldiers fanning out behind him.
Baz stepped forward. “Father.”
“Sebastian,” the king sneered.
Baz stood up straighter and spoke in a strong, clear voice. “You are relieved of duty, sir.”
His father scoffed. “Don’t be ridiculous. You seem to have broken this barrier, but you’ve taken something of mine, and I expect you to return it. We’ll discuss wedding plans afterward.” His gaze flicked to Mel before returning to Baz.
“I’ve broken this barrier with the help of my friends. The woman I have freed may go wherever she likes.” He paused. “And I’ll make my own wedding arrangements.”
King Lotario’s grip on the reins tightened.
Before his father could respond, Baz nodded to the soldiers behind him. “Escort my father to the tower and make him comfortable. I’ll join you shortly with further orders.”
“Further orders?” Anger grated in his voice. “Who do you think you are? You do as I say, boy.”
He probably shouldn’t have said that.
Baz took several large steps backward and the dragon soldiers closed in around the king. These were the men who had declared allegiance to Baz in the forest. The king must have assumed they were regular reinforcements.
“I will not do as you say. Not anymore. Not since you took it into your own hands to try to destroy the people I care about and doom your own kingdom to isolation in the process. You’re no longer fit to rule.”
Baz turned his back and walked to the water, ignoring his father’s angry shouts and the clash of metal as the soldiers disarmed him. The man had enough dignity to stay seated on his dragon, though, rather than forcing them to bind him like a common criminal.
Mel joined Baz and watched the waves toss around the sunlight. “I’m sorry it had to end this way.”
“So am I.” He sighed. “Although, I’m free to marry Vanda now. If she’ll have me. At the very least, I’ve finally kept my promise to keep Gram safe.”
“Speaking of promises.” She glanced at Tharius.
He flourished a hand and dipped his head in acknowledgment. His gaze bored into Mel, as if willing her to remember their contract.
She certainly hadn’t forgotten.
“I have a promise to keep, and I want to fetch Vanda, but first…” she turned back towards the others, “…can anyone explain why Keir stayed a dragon even after the barrier was broken?”
“What do you mean?” Orin asked. “He’s still under the curse?”
“Apparently. I mean, the barrier disappeared, but he didn’t change until the sun came up.”
Everyone looked at Tharius again, but Gram spoke. “Neither you nor Vanda are his red dragon girl.”
They shifted their gazes to Keir, but he didn’t respond.
“So… it can still be broken?” Baz said. “If he finds his red dragon girl?”
Gram scratched her nose. “There was always a chance it wouldn’t work for him. Such a sloppy job.”
Tharius blurted, “And just how did you manage to break a hole in such a sloppy job?” He kept his face carefully composed, but he clearly longed to learn Gram’s secrets.
Gram leaned around Keir to look at Tharius, eyeing him up and down. “You’d like to know that, wouldn’t you? You’d like to know a lot of things.” She stood, grunting, and Baz rushed over to lend an arm. “I dare say you’re well used to not getting what you want.”
Tharius pursed his lips, his hands tightening into fists around the dragon’s reins. His gaze bored into her back as she walked off.
“I could use a hot cup of tea,” she mumbled.
“Let me carry you on my back like Mel did,” Baz offered.
She waved him off. “No, no, no. I’ll not have the prince and soon-to-be king of Mazereon carting me around like a pack horse. Especially when there’s another strapping young man who can offer me his arm.”
Baz froze in his step when she said soon-to-be king. His gaze strayed up the hill as if seeking the distant tower. Determination and fear shone in his eyes. The reality of his future role was only beginning to sink in.
Orin took a tentative step forward, but Gram shook her head. “Thank you, young man, but I’m referring to the moping one who’s in premature despair about ever finding a girl to fall in love with him.” She stared at Keir, finally clearing her throat to get his attention.
He glanced up, doing a double take before seeming to really see her. His eye
s focused. “Yes, of course.” Gram accepted his offered arm and the two of them walked up the slope without a word.
Baz shook himself a moment later and followed.
Mel turned to face Orin and took his hands in hers. “You should go with them. I need to collect Vanda and True and the dragons. And I’ve made a promise to Tharius.”
“Yes. He told me.” Orin frowned and glanced over his shoulder at the sorcerer.
“I’m not running off. We’ll catch up with you at the tower as soon as I take care of this business. And then I’ve got a proposition for you.”
He mirrored her grin, but his eyes still held concern. “Go on, then. You’ve got until noon before I send a search party.”
Her heart fluttered knowing he trusted her. That he knew she would come back to him. She kissed him, and then turned to Tharius. Her eyes narrowed at his smug expression.
“Hold on a second.” She ran towards the Burnt River until the heat baked her skin like the hottest summer day. She pulled the ring off her finger and hurled it into the lava, half expecting it to explode, but it just sank and disappeared. No one else should ever be tempted to use it again.
Orin laughed and waved, and then he climbed the slope to join the others.
Tharius pursed his lips, clearly annoyed rather than angry. He held out a hand when she approached, and she climbed up into the saddle behind him. Once they were well underway, she pinched his arm.
He flinched. “Ow!”
“Gloating doesn’t suit you, and I never promised to return the ring.”
He chuckled and then fell silent.
Exhaustion pulled at her limbs, and she put her arms loosely around Tharius’s waist, leaning into him and letting herself rest while she could. Compared to all the turbulence she’d experienced during the night, the rock dragon’s gait felt like swinging in a hammock. She pushed aside thoughts of what Tharius might ask for later and dozed until they reached the cave.
Vanda waited at the entrance, arms wrapped around her stomach and eyes pinched with worry. True stood at her feet, with Hunter and Fleet on either side. Jade circled overhead. When she spotted Mel, she glided down and landed on her shoulder, wrapping her tail around her neck in a death grip and whacking Tharius in the back of the head in the process.
Mel loosened Jade’s tail and slid off the rock dragon before it had completely stopped. She ran to Vanda and hugged her, disrupting all three dragons, who took to the air and then found perches on the rocks above the cave mouth.
“We did it! The barrier is down! Everyone’s safe, including Gram, and King Lotario is no longer a threat.” She filled her in on everything that had happened. Tears filled both their eyes when she spoke of Keir.
While Vanda packed up their few belongings that had been left behind, Mel fished out some food from the supply basket.
“I’m starving.” She turned to Tharius. “You want anything?”
He eyed the basket with interest but said nothing.
“Here.” She tossed him an apple and bit into another one. She tucked a few strips of dried meat into her belt and threw the remainder of the supply to the rock dragon, who licked it up and then settled on the ground.
She sat and leaned against the basket. True joined her with a welcome hwonk, nestled down next to her hip, and laid her head in her lap. Vanda handed her a water skin and sat down. After taking a few big gulps, Mel tossed it over to Tharius. She sighed. She’d never be ready to hear what he had to say.
“Now can you tell me what it is you want?” she asked.
“Yes, but I’d rather we didn’t have an audience.” He nodded towards Vanda.
Mel wrinkled her nose. “Sorry, Vanda. Would you mind?”
She stood and brushed off her leggings. “I’ll wait at the shore. Yell if you need me.”
“I shouldn’t be long.”
True twitched in her sleep.
Mel gently moved the goose’s head off her lap and stood. She put her hands on her hips, waiting for Vanda to get out of hearing range. “Let’s get this over with. I’ve got a long walk to the tower.”
He shuffled his feet, glancing around at the trees and the dragons perched on the rocks. “Remember that what I want will cause harm to no one.”
“So you say.”
He looked her in the eyes, holding her gaze without blinking. “I want you to hand the goose to me, take your dragons, and get out of my sight.”
She blinked. If he’d actually asked for her firstborn child, she would have been less shocked. He wanted True? She glanced back and forth between him and the sleeping goose. “You’ve got to be joking.”
She studied his face.
He continued to stare, his expression still serious. He wasn’t joking.
She couldn’t let him take True! “Ask for something else! You can’t take her. She’s… she’s like family.”
Tharius grinned, but it didn’t reach his eyes. “Indeed.”
“No. You can’t have her. I don’t care what happens to me.” Tears welled in her eyes. “Besides, she’s not mine to give. You need to talk to Orin, and you know he’ll say the same thing.”
“Your Highness—”
“No!” She wouldn’t listen to him try to appeal to her better nature, her sense of fair play and honor. She paced, and the food she’d eaten threatened to come back up. How could she have gotten herself into this? She’d made the deal, and now she had to follow through. She wouldn’t risk his retaliation if she broke the contract—it might have more far-reaching consequences than she could imagine.
She would have to give him True.
Orin’s heart would break. He would be angry with her. Furious. He might not ever want to see her again, and that thought hurt even more than handing True over to Tharius. She would lose them both.
“Don’t think you have to persuade me or manipulate me. I’ll give you the goose…” She choked on the words. “…because I know what it means to keep my word. And not because there’s an or else if I don’t.” Though that couldn’t be ignored.
She stopped pacing, and silent tears streamed down her cheeks. Jade landed on a shoulder, and Fleet took the other. Hunter swooped down and clung to her braid, dangling like a monkey from a vine. They wouldn’t understand True’s absence. Most messenger dragons never knew their mothers, but these dragons were special. Did Tharius know what he was asking?
“When you’re ready,” he said softly, “you can hand her to me.”
That seemed very specific. Hand her to him, rather than just sneak off and let the poor bird sleep, none the wiser. True would know who had betrayed her. Mel wiped her nose on her sleeve, and then picked True up gently. The goose woke and blinked sleepily at her dragons, seeming pleased to see them on Mel’s shoulders. Mel walked to Tharius and handed True over to him, refusing to look him in the eyes.
True grumbled but didn’t resist.
“You won’t harm her?”
“You have my word… but you will never see her again.”
Mel wiped her eyes, kissed True on the head, and fled into the forest. True cried loudly. Repeatedly. She made anguished noises Mel had never heard before. Mel ran while True’s babies chirped their confusion. She commanded them to stay and held the two on her shoulders by the leg to ensure they obeyed. True’s sorrow increased in volume… and then it stopped.
Mel’s heart pounded, and she ran, tears blurring her eyes.
What had Tharius done?
What had she done?
Chapter Twenty-One
Mel stopped running when she reached Vanda at the lake shore. She wiped her eyes with the back of her hand.
Tharius hadn’t been worth trusting after all. Second chances weren’t for everyone.
“What’s wrong?” Vanda asked.
She explained in a choking voice while coaxing Fleet off her hair and handing him to Vanda.
Vanda frowned. “As hard as that was, you do realize it could have been a whole lot worse, right?”
Mel sniffled
and nodded. “I’ve seen what he’s capable of—I’ve been on the receiving end of it. Remember? But how can I let myself be relieved that all he asked for was True?” She hiccupped and swallowed, fighting back tears. “I thought he would ask for something I could get him as a princess. Information, maps, treasure, access to a royal library, passage on a ship.”
Vanda gave her a quick hug.
She needed to move, to do something. “Let’s go. Can you run?”
“Of course.”
Mel led the way, jogging along the shoreline, and Vanda kept pace easily. She liked Vanda and Baz. If Orin didn’t want to hang around after this, she might ask to stay with them. She could still carry out her messenger-dragons-for-all plan by herself.
Jade and Hunter launched off her shoulders and Fleet joined them. They flew lazy circles and loops overhead, enjoying the outing. Tonight, they would look for True again, and they would miss her.
What did Tharius want with True? He didn’t want just any goose, or he’d have gotten one long ago. No doubt he had to wait to ask for her until he knew Mel would hand her over. He’d built up Mel’s trust on purpose so that when she was desperate, she would make a blind bargain with him just as she’d done. How stupid could she be?
She stopped running and sank into the tall grass at the shore’s edge. She put her head in her hands and sobbed, panting and crying and making a mess of herself. Vanda sat beside her and rubbed her back. When her tears let up, Vanda pressed a piece of red cloth into her hand. Mel turned it over, recognizing the black dragons embroidered on the edges.
She frowned and glanced at Vanda.
“Go ahead. It’s about time it was put to good use.”
Mel wiped her face. Sniffling, she wet the cloth in the lake and washed up. The dragons followed her example, splashing in the shallows. She walked further away from their muddy play and took a long drink. Heaving a big sigh, she rinsed out the cloth and sat back in the grass.
“I’m sorry,” Vanda said.
“Me, too.” She handed the scarf remnant back to Vanda, who tucked it into her belt.
They sat in silence, listening to a breeze shush through the grass and the dragons kicking up waves. A couple of tree hopper dragons ran to the end of a branch on an old maple tree, chittered at them, threw handfuls of leaves, and disappeared into the canopy. With the barrier down, dragons were back to displaying normal behavior.