Blood of Dragons

by Jack Campbell

  “You’re the only man I’ve got,” Kira said. She kissed him, keeping it quick since she suspected her breath was as bad as that of the dragon she had killed in Ihris. “And I couldn’t be prouder of him.”

  Jason laughed, shaking his head. “We are both mental cases. Do you know that? But as long as we’re both happy I guess that’s all right. I sure wish I’d had a father like yours.”

  “I’m willing to share, Jason. Uncle Calu thinks a lot of you, too.”

  “Do you realize that we’re all at sea but finding ourselves at the same time?”

  “Is that another Urth thing? Jason, sometimes I wish you’d just talk like a normal person.” Kira flinched. “Oh no. That’s what Mother says to Father sometimes when he’s going all Mage on her. I’m turning into my mother. It’s like a curse I can’t fight.”

  “I’m okay with that as long as you don’t turn into my mother.”

  She hit him. But not very hard.

  * * *

  Kira took over steering the boat so that Jason could sleep some more. He resumed steering again a little before sunset. Unhappy with the amount of food and water available to them, Kira baited the hook with hardtack and managed to catch a decent-sized fish before night fell.

  She looked at the fish, then at Jason. “You’re the guy who eats raw fish. Do you want to do this?”

  “No,” Jason said, shaking his head quickly. “On Earth, I’d get a plate of sushi or sashimi that someone else had prepared. I have no idea how to do it myself.”

  “I don’t enjoy gutting fish,” Kira told him. “You owe me.”

  The Imperial dagger wasn’t made for this kind of work, but Kira’s sailor knife was. Knowing that unpleasant tasks didn’t get any easier with delay, she closed the wooden chest, laid the fish flat on it, and slit open the belly from gills to tail. “We really ought to eat the guts, too.”

  “No, thank you,” Jason said.

  “How about the eyes? Good source of liquid.”

  “No.”

  “We may not have a choice next time if our water gives out.” Scooping out the innards with her bare hand, Kira tossed them overboard, quickly rinsing off her hand and the fish in the sea beside the boat.

  She brought the fish back to the chest, scaled it, then pulled the fish apart to separate the flesh from the bones. “My Aunt Bev loves fishing. She loves doing this. There are a lot of things I admire about Aunt Bev, but she can have cleaning fish.”

  Kira offered Jason a chunk of raw fish on the knife blade. “Here. I made dinner, so you can wash the dishes.”

  “There aren’t any dishes,” Jason said, reluctantly putting the fish in his mouth and chewing slowly.

  “Somebody is going to have to clean off the top of that chest.”

  When they had haggled off all the flesh they could, Kira set aside the fish head and tail to use as bait the next day. She settled back, resting. The sailboat cut steadily through the sea, its sail billowed out on the boom, rolling gently as it rode the broad swells marching across the Sea of Bakre. She gazed at Jason as he steered the boat, seeing the wind ruffle his hair, the small movements as he adjusted course to steer as close to north as the wind made possible. It was enormously comforting to see Jason like that, to know she wasn’t alone, to know that his skills complemented hers, to know how much he would do for her.

  It was almost possible to pretend they were sailing off of Tiae, that in a little while they’d come around and head for the dock, that her mother and father would be waiting, they’d have a nice meal, they’d talk about what they’d all done today and maybe get her parents to reminisce about their adventures in the old days, and when the sun set she’d kiss Jason good night and go to bed, knowing he was in the guest room. There had been weeks like that in the last six months, when Jason had visited from Danalee, and Kira wondered if she would always look back on those days as a special, golden time.

  Of course there had always been worries, because her parents had a world to keep an eye on and too many people wanted to hurt them, or their child. And when it became widely known that Jason of Urth was spending a lot of time with Kira he got added to the list of those in danger. She had felt guilty about that, and about not being able to know that she returned his feelings. Jason, wisely, hadn’t pressed it, but Kira had wondered what she was waiting for.

  That time was past. The thread that was there and wasn’t there glowed in the dark between them. It was strange to think that Jason couldn’t see it or sense it at all. “Every person sees the world differently,” her father had told Kira. “Each may view the same thing, yet what they see is not the same, if only in very small ways. And what each of us sees may change. Something familiar may take on new meaning. Is it not amazing to live in such a dream as this?”

  It was amazing, Kira thought as she looked at Jason, recalling her first impressions of the sullen, unhappy boy from Urth. Amazing and wonderful, despite the ugliness that some people tried to use to paint the world. They were far from safe, the Imperials might already be searching for them, but for the moment she was surrounded by beauty again. “Hey, Jason.”

  “What?”

  “Did I tell you that I love you?”

  His smile was all the answer she needed.

  * * *

  “Sir Mage, we have word of your daughter.” The ambassador from the Free Cities, Beran of Palla, radiated eagerness as he stood at the door to the suite of rooms that Dorcastle had made available to Alain and Mari.

  “Come in,” Alain urged as he led Beran to the main room, where one wall was adorned by an ornate map of the world. “Mari!”

  She came immediately at the unusual urgency in his voice. “What is it?”

  Beran crossed the room to point at the map. “There was an accident in the Sharr Isles a few days ago. In the harbor of Caer Lyn. The Imperial Gray Squadron had stopped there to take on coal. That evening, Prince Maxim’s flagship caught fire.”

  “It was damaged?” Mari asked.

  “It was destroyed, Lady,” Beran said. “The Imperials have tried to keep any information from leaving the Sharr Isles, but the Free Cities embassy finally got a message out. Their report says that fire is a small word for the conflagration that overcame Maxim’s flagship, which caused the ship’s ammunition to explode. By morning only a burned-out wreck remained of that Imperial warship.”

  “That sounds like Kira could have been involved,” Mari said, her face lit with hope.

  Beran smiled. “We know that she was involved. A confidential source, someone we believe is highly placed in the Imperial court, sent word to the embassy of the Free Cities in Caer Lyn that Lady Kira of Dematr was aboard that ship before the fires began and escaped before they engulfed the ship.”

  “Where is she?” Alain said.

  “I cannot tell you with certainty. You know the degree of Imperial control of the Sharr Isles,” Beran said. “Your daughter must have known that even if she had reached one of the friendly embassies the Imperials would come after her. We were told she had a sailboat. It has not been found. She must have left the harbor.”

  Mari took quick steps to gaze at the map. “The winds are from the west at this time of year, right? Kira must have gone north toward the Free Cities. That’s the only path that would have offered her any hope.”

  “That is the bad news,” Beran said. “Prince Maxim must have somehow learned that your daughter was still alive and had escaped in a boat. Well after the accident, the remaining four ships of the Gray Squadron hastily departed Caer Lyn and were last seen turning north and spreading out in a search line.”

  “Are the Free Cities sending ships to search for Kira?” Alain asked.

  “Orders have gone out, Sir Mage. But our information is days old. By the time our ships leave Marida and Kelsi and reach the coast to the east, your daughter will very likely have already reached the coast herself. And, if our estimates are right, Prince Maxim’s ships have a decent chance of catching her before she can do so. It depends on t
he winds and how well she uses them.”

  “She’s alone?” Mari said, despairing. “Kira can’t stay awake for days making sure she’s making best use of the wind.”

  “She may not be alone, Lady,” Beran added. “There was something else in the report. The morning after Lady Kira escaped and Prince Maxim’s flagship burned, a wrecked sailboat was found on the rocks outside the harbor. Our embassy was able to discover that the boat had registry information indicating it had come from Gullhaven.”

  “Jason’s with her?” Mari grabbed Alain’s hand, smiling. “Jason’s with her!”

  He nodded to her, feeling himself smiling as well.

  “Lady Mari, Sir Mage,” Beran said, “I feel obligated to point out that Jason of Urth may have reached Caer Lyn but failed to meet up with your daughter. The Imperials have searched the island for him without result, but that does not mean—”

  Alain held out one hand. “We understand. Some time ago, my foresight showed them together, in what now seems a situation soon to take place. They were being pursued through mountainous terrain. Kira is surely sailing for the Free Cities, but will most likely come ashore at some place where the Northern Ramparts meet the Sea of Bakre.”

  “That is reassuring, as well as grounds for us acting as quickly as possible. There is one thing more,” Beran added. “An unarmed Imperial yacht with Princess Sabrin and a few of her followers aboard was also in the harbor of Caer Lyn. The sailors under Maxim’s command forcibly searched the yacht after his flagship was destroyed, apparently seeking your daughter. Sabrin’s yacht stayed at Caer Lyn until Maxim’s ships had departed, then left, last seen steering east toward Landfall.”

  “What’s Sabrin up to?” Mari wondered. “She’s no friend of Maxim’s. I know that much. Could Sabrin be the source of the Free Cities’ information, Beran?”

  “We suspect so,” Beran said. “Maxim clearly thought that she might have aided your daughter’s escape. He may have been right.”

  “If Sabrin helped Kira, she would have done it knowing not only how much that would hurt Maxim but also how much it would indebt me to her. Alain, we should go to Marida,” Mari added, then paused, staring at the map. “If your vision six months ago showed what will happen soon, what might already be happening, Kira and Jason will come ashore in the territory of the Free Cities.”

  “I must point out,” Alain said, “that more recent visions other Mages have had contradict the one I had six months ago. Conditions may have changed. Kira and Jason may not make it ashore.”

  Mari gazed at him, then nodded once. “Fine. You've told me that foresight often requires some stake in the outcome, some emotional tie to who or what is shown. I intend working from the vision that came to Master of Mages Alain, the father of Kira, who has the strongest ties and, I believe, the clearest vision of Kira's possible futures. I believe that she and Jason will get ashore in the Northern Ramparts. What will Prince Maxim do?”

  “Prince Maxim,” Beran said, “is known for his temper and his refusal to ever admit defeat. He carries inside him always the knowledge that you defeated his father at Dorcastle, and has clawed his way to the position of crown prince of the Empire by promising to avenge that failure.”

  “My vision showed Kira and Jason being pursued,” Alain said again.

  “Which means Maxim will land forces in the territory of the Free Cities,” Mari said. “An invasion. How many forces would he employ? How far would Maxim go?”

  “There are two Imperial legions facing the Northern Ramparts,” Beran said. His face reflected sudden worry. “The last I heard they were conducting training in the plains west of Umburan. If ordered into action, they could respond immediately. Would Maxim go that far?”

  “From what we saw of him in Tiaesun,” Alain said, “Maxim would.”

  Beran faced Mari, his voice and bearing taking on a grim formality. “If the Empire invades lands of the Free Cities, will the daughter stand with us?”

  “Of course she will,” Mari said. “The Free Cities will not be alone if it comes to that. I will work to marshal every state in the West to stand with you. Syndar probably won't answer, and Ringhmon can't be counted on for anything except double-dealing, but I'm sure the rest will support you against the Empire.”

  “Thank you,” Beran said, bowing toward her. “In truth, I believe that when the people learn that the Empire has attacked your family directly, they will rally to you and demand war.”

  Mari exhaled slowly. “The people…yes. The Empire against every state in the West. If Kira stays out of Maxim’s reach and he calls in those legions, this could explode into a major war within days. We can’t go to Marida, Alain,” she said, her voice full of pain.

  “Kira needs us,” Alain objected, surprised at Mari’s words.

  “The world needs us. President in Chief Julan is coming here. President of State Jane is already here. The ambassadors of the Western Alliance and Tiae should arrive tomorrow. Beran, if the Free Cities want my opinion, I would recommend that they begin mobilizing their full military strength immediately. I think it is very likely that Imperial forces will enter their territory soon, if they haven't already.” Mari looked at Alain. He could read the pleading in them. Pleading for understanding. “I’ll handle things here. You go to Marida, Alain.”

  “My place is with you,” Alain said. “We are a team. That is what the daughter of Jules has always told me.”

  “The mother of Kira wants you in Marida.” Mari looked away, her mouth tight.

  “Lady,” Beran said, “I promise you that if your daughter is on her way to the territory of the Free Cities, we will ensure her safety. I know that patrols were already being prepared to be sent out in search of her. And I will recommend to the Free Cities that they do as you advise and begin immediate preparations for war.”

  “I will stay here,” Alain said, the four words among the hardest he had ever spoken. “By the time I could reach Marida it would be too late to make a difference. I will send word to the Mages in the Free Cities who can be counted on, and to our friends. They will search for Kira, and aid her.”

  “Her mother and father should be in the forefront of that,” Mari said, “instead of being stuck in Dorcastle trying to keep this situation from turning into a bloodbath. What did Jason call those big wars on Urth? A World War?”

  Alain nodded, reluctantly accepting the truth of what Mari had said earlier. “It could dwarf the losses at Dorcastle twenty years ago. Yet what could we do in Marida that those already there cannot?”

  “Not a thing,” Mari whispered. “Not a blasted thing. But we might be able to save a lot of lives by staying here. Thank you, Beran. May I share your information with the Bakre Confederation?”

  “Of course, Lady.”

  “Then if you will excuse me,” Mari said, turning and walking into the next room, closing the door securely behind her.

  Beran nodded to Alain. “I should go as well. I must pass on the daughter’s advice to the Free Cities.”

  The ambassador from the Free Cities had barely closed the door when Alain heard Mari’s scream of rage and frustration, not completely muffled by the closed door and the pillow she must be screaming into. After that came the sound of her fist striking a wall, over and over.

  Alain looked at the wall nearest him, pulled out his long knife, and with all of his strength half buried the blade in the wood with the fury of his own sense of helplessness, the sound of the blow filling the air about him as if mocking his own powerlessness. Then he went in to Mari to offer what comfort he could to his wife and a mother who had to place the needs of countless others over the fate of her own daughter.

  That was their hope, he realized as Mari came into his arms. “It is Kira,” he murmured. “She will rise to any challenge. She is your daughter.”

  “And yours,” Mari whispered.

  “We have taught her to be strong. To never give up. And she believes in herself now. She knows she is our daughter in spirit as well as name
.”

  “Can she handle this kind of thing, Alain? Can anyone?”

  “She is not alone. Just as you and I survived because we had each other, my vision showed that she has Jason. You are right. It must happen as I saw it.” He did not want to even consider the possibility that it would not, that Kira and Jason's boat might be caught before they could reach the coast to the north that offered their only chance of refuge.

  * * *

  With the right winds and a large ship, the journey from the Sharr Isles to the northern edge of the Sea of Bakre could be done in three or four days. In a small sailboat, tacking with a wind from the east, Kira guessed that it would take them six days. After the tension of the first day, the next four days passed without incident except for occasional sightings of masts and sails in the distance. In every case, those sailing ships went onward and below the horizon without taking notice of the small boat. Kira and Jason had alternated time on the tiller, and he had hooked another fish during one of his off times, allowing them to choke down more raw fish. Kira had eyed their dwindling supply of water grimly, then closed her eyes and popped one of the fish eyes into her mouth, trying to swallow it whole.

  Jason, shuddering, did the same with the second eye.

  The fifth night had been clear, both a blessing in ensuring the seas stayed calm enough not to menace a small boat among big waves, and a source of worry since clear nights would aid any search for them by the Imperials. Kira had looked up at the stars as she steered through the last of the night before dawn, thinking about the other worlds where humanity had placed colonies. She knew the names. Places like Brahma and Osiris and Amaterasu. But that was all anyone on Dematr knew. Earth had refused to tell them anything else, “protecting” her world from “cultural disruption.” And none of the other colonized worlds had been willing to break that embargo of knowledge. “We’re not children,” she said to the stars, whispering to make sure she didn’t awaken Jason. “And we’re not animals in a zoo. We defeated the Great Guilds and can finally make our own decisions. And we will, no matter what you do to try to fence us in.”