by Zara Quentin
Jade pursed her lips. “Is that it?”
Kyssa’s eyes narrowed and she crossed her arms, regarding Jade for a moment.
“There’s been a disturbance on Premye.”
Jade focused. “Premye?” she repeated. “What’s on Premye? It’s an old-world backwater. No civilisation. Nothing to trade.”
Kyssa shrugged. “Beats me. But a few Travellers have been there lately.”
“Maybe someone found something worth trading and the locals are getting upset?” Jade asked, thinking aloud. It wouldn’t be the first time. Taraqan companies like Gariq Industries were always looking for new worlds and new treasures. Still, Jade hadn’t heard of local people on Premye. As far as Jade knew, Premye was virtually uninhabited.
“My thoughts exactly,” Kyssa said, a smug note in her voice. “Make sure Magnus knows where the information came from, all right?”
“Of course,” Jade said. “When there’s an opening, I’ll recommend you for—”
“Yeah, thanks.” Kyssa cut her off, and her cheeks reddened.
There was a pause and Jade used the silence to listen for Papa, but heard nothing. Kyssa gave her a strange look and Jade cleared her throat. “I’m due at the Tax Office. I’d better go.”
Kyssa fell in beside her. “I’ll come. I still have to sign the Portal Record anyway.”
“You didn’t do that already? I thought that was the first thing you’re supposed to do?”
“There was a line.” Kyssa gave Jade a sideways glance then laughed at her expression. “Don’t worry. I’ll do it. I’ve got nothing to hide.” She flipped the Chip into the air and caught it. “Then I’ll buy you a drink and tell you some stories that’ll cheer you up.”
Make me jealous rather, Jade thought.
* * *
The Inner Ring was a narrow, dark hallway bounded on both sides with offices assigned to civic administration. There were no windows and in the absence of natural light, shadows flickered and bounced from the lit torches spaced along the stone walls. For tradition’s sake, there was no electricity in the Temple, so they made do with more archaic methods of lighting.
Jade wrapped her arms around her chest, absentmindedly rubbing the goosebumps along her arms as she continued along the Inner Ring with Kyssa. As they moved off, Jade looked towards where she’d heard Papa, but saw nothing and heard no one.
A jab at her ribs made her turn to see Kyssa looking pointedly at her.
“Well?” Kyssa asked.
Jade blinked.
“What is going on with you today?” Kyssa sounded exasperated. “What’s the latest?” Kyssa raised her eyebrows, “You know, with Axel?”
“Oh, right.” Jade’s cheeks warmed as she remembered her conversation with Kyssa over a glass of golden ale a couple of weeks ago, when she’d confessed her feelings for Papa’s assistant, Axel. She knew she should never have said anything. Kyssa would never let this go, not until she knew everything.
Not that there was much to tell.
Jade shook her head. “Nothing.” She lengthened her stride, turning the corner to see the Tax Office at the end of the hall.
“Oh, it’s nothing now? That’s not what you said at the Inn the other night. Come on, it’s me! Spill.”
Jade’s chest tightened as though the air was being squeezed out of her. She darted sideways as Kyssa threatened to poke her in her ticklish spot again.
“He’s pretty cute,” Kyssa said, her face breaking out into a teasing smile. Jade heard the humour in her friend’s voice and her heart gave a little flip. “I mean, considering. He must take after his mother.”
Jade frowned. Axel had always been cagey about his family. Did Kyssa know them? Jade opened her mouth to ask, but Kyssa cut her off.
“Do your parents know about your new boyfriend?”
“He’s not my boyfriend,” Jade said, her face was aflame now. “But… I don’t know. Axel just gets me.”
Kyssa laughed. “Yeah, right. You two have nothing in common.”
“We do!”
“Whatever.” Kyssa rolled her eyes, but there was a teasing smile on her face. “You should make a move on him.”
Her stomach twisted. “I don’t know…”
“Come on! Someone like him should be grateful for attention from someone like you.”
Jade’s smile faltered, and her mouth felt suddenly dry. She didn’t like the sudden turn this conversation had taken.
“He works for Papa,” she muttered, staring at a point down the hallway.
“So does half of Taraqa—except me, of course.” She didn’t even smile this time. “Anyway, slumming it with him would be a bit of fun for you. It’s not as if it would ever get serious.” Kyssa wiggled her eyebrows and laughed, but something heavy had settled in Jade’s stomach.
“He’s my friend,” Jade said, her voice quiet.
“Right.” A strange look came over Kyssa’s face.
Jade didn’t stop until they came to two offices next to each other. One was the Tax Office and the other was the Office of Portal Records. Jade turned to enter the Tax Office when a booming voice echoed in the hallway.
“Little Jay!”
Uncle Zorman was striding towards her. His wings—mottled with black, white and grey scaling over their struts—framed his handsome face and broad shoulders. He cut a similar picture to Papa in looks, though without the greying hair at his temples that marked Papa’s face. Their personalities, though, were very different—Papa was quiet and serious while Zorman was outgoing. Her uncle knew everyone, and they all owed him a favour. Still, for all their differences, both shared the determination that had built Gariq Industries into one of the most successful Taraqan companies.
As usual, Zorman dominated the hall—Jade wasn’t sure whether it was because of the force of his extrovert personality or his tall stature.
“Uncle Z!” As Head of Acquisitions at Gariq Industries, Zorman was always off-world and by the look of his dirt-smeared clothing, he’d just come back from another trip. “Anything interesting?” She pointed to the bulge of the satchel slung across his chest.
Zorman grinned, opening the bag. Then his eyes slid towards Kyssa, who stood at her shoulder. “Shouldn’t you be reporting to your superiors, Flying Officer?”
Kyssa scowled and turned abruptly towards the door to the Office of Portal Records. Jade couldn’t suppress a sense of satisfaction at the envy on Kyssa’s face. Kyssa was rarely jealous of her Taraqa-bound life, and it felt good for a change. Zorman watched Kyssa as she disappeared, then he leaned closer to Jade to share a secret.
“Look at this.” Zorman drew a small metal object out of his bag and held it up.
“What is it?” Jade looked at the tiny object with interest. It was some kind of metal stick with wings.
“On Earth, they call it a dragonfly. They really exist, but this is a metal replica. Watch.” Zorman held up the dragonfly in one hand, stretching his arms out so they almost touched the hallway walls on either side. His other palm held a small metal cube.
The little dragonfly hummed, its wings fluttering so fast Jade could barely see them. Zorman let go of the insect and it whizzed toward his outstretched hand and came to rest on the cube.
“See? They’re amazing, the Earthens. Inventive.”
“You said they were violent and unpredictable.”
“Sure, they’re always killing each other for some reason or another. Half of them are barely civilised. But their technology is very interesting.” Zorman tucked the dragonfly back into his bag. “Imagine what a thoroughly superior race like ours could do, building on their technology. Mark my words, Little Jay; I’m going to do something Taraqans have never managed before.”
“What?”
“Wait and see. It’ll change the Dragonverse, I’m sure of it.”
“What else have you brought back?” Jade asked. Zorman’s bag was too bulky for one tiny item.
Zorman pulled out something larger and held it up. A rectangle of wo
od carved into a scene. Jade could barely resist the temptation to run her fingers over the finish. So textured and detailed. Clearly a master carver had shaped it.
“It’s exquisite.” She leaned closer to make out the picture in the flickering light. A Dragon-God protecting something aflame.
“Isn’t it beautiful? It’ll fetch a nice price at auction. Maybe a record.”
“Papa will be pleased,” Jade said. “Has he seen it?”
At the mention of her father, Zorman’s smile faltered, then he shrugged, and nothing was amiss. He slipped the carving back into his bag and, as he opened the satchel, she caught a flash of something else inside. Then Zorman pulled the bag closed.
“That’s it. Pretty good haul, if I do say so myself.”
Jade was about to point out the other object when she heard footsteps. She turned to see Axel approaching and her breath hitched at the sight of him. His wings curved to tuck in behind his shoulders and the bright bronze scales over his wings accentuated the warm brown of his eyes. The black tattoo on his shoulder was visible at the edge of his shirt sleeve. One thumb hooked into the pocket of the blue pants he always wore. Jeans, he’d told her once.
Axel’s other hand clasped tightly over the bag slung across his chest and Jade remembered that he had also been off-world, although as Papa’s First Assistant he wasn’t usually tasked with acquisitions.
Axel approached, deep in thought. Her heart pounded in her chest—so loud she thought Zorman must hear it too. Then Axel looked up, and stopped in his tracks, surprised. His eyes lit up. Jade’s chest tightened, and a smile spread across her face.
Then his smile faltered and something else flickered across his face. Regret?
Jade swallowed, trying to keep her feelings in check. Axel started walking again, more slowly now, towards her.
“Hi,” he said, his eyes fixed on her face. Jade was caught; drawn into them.
“Hi.” Jade’s heart beat a little faster. She gave Axel a lopsided smile and saw the corner of his mouth turn up in return. Then his eyes flicked to take in Zorman, standing next to her. The smile fell from Axel’s face. He cleared his throat.
“Can I get past?” Axel asked. His hands tightened around his bag.
Jade pressing herself against the stone wall, its cold surface a counter to the warmth spreading through her. Zorman didn’t move. His eyes narrowed as he looked at Axel, and Jade saw dislike on his face.
Axel brushed Zorman’s shoulder as he passed and Zorman jerked his arm away, grimacing like he’d tasted something disgusting.
“I’m free later,” Axel said, pausing next to Jade. Her skin tingled where his arm brushed hers. “Want to hang out?”
Jade’s mouth went dry. She swallowed, unable to find words to reply.
“Or not,” Axel looked down, breaking eye contact. “If you’re busy.”
“I’m not,” Jade said in a rush. Her heart thundered.
Axel’s eyes lit up again. “Later, then.”
When Jade tore her eyes away from Axel’s retreating figure, Zorman was watching her with a strange expression.
“I’d better get going,” Jade said, turning towards the Tax Office.
Zorman’s head jerked a nod. “Me too.” He leaned forward to kiss her cheek. “Give my love to your beautiful mother, Little Jay.”
Jade barely registered his words as she threw one last glance over her shoulder to see Axel turn the corner and disappear. Then she let go of her breath in a rush and pushed on the door to the Tax Office.
* * *
The afternoon sun filtered through the gnarled trees that defied gravity to grow at all angles out of the steep rocky walls of Vertin Gorge. Carved into the upper cliff walls was Ingresston. Atop the cliffs, the Temple stood, and above that, the Portal.
In the depths of the gorge, wind rustled the leaves, water rushed over rocks, and nesting birds chirruped in the trees. This cool, green sanctuary seemed like another world. The cliff walls bowed above her, leaving only a strip of blue sky streaked with wispy clouds. Jade crouched down to dip her hand into Blood River, which carved its route through these rocks to pour into the Western Sea.
Jade was mesmerised by the play of the light on the water as it danced between the speckled shadows cast by the trees. The cold water soon numbed her fingers. She shivered, wiping her hand dry on the light fabric of her loose-fitting pants.
Slightly upstream, Axel landed effortlessly on a rock, slightly upstream from her. He folded his bronze wings at his back and ran a hand over his short black hair as he cast a look around. She didn’t alert him to her presence; she just kept watching him. The clouds above them moved and a shaft of sunlight bathed his figure in light, edging his silhouette in gold.
He was a bronze statue, all perfection and symmetry. He turned, and Jade’s eye was drawn to the only thing that threw out that balance: the tattoo on his left shoulder—round, with strange shapes marked inside.
The light shifted again, and his face was cast in shadow. Jade stood, and her breath caught as he smiled at her. He spread his wings and lifted himself over the water to land next to her.
He reached out, as though to pull her towards him. Then, at the last moment, he dropped his hands to his sides. “Good to see you.”
“You too,” Jade said. “I haven’t seen you in a couple of days.”
“Did you miss me?” Axel raised an eyebrow and the corner of his mouth curved upwards.
Jade averted her eyes, the flush in her cheeks betraying her.
“I missed you.” Axel murmured. When Jade dared to look at him again, he was pulling at a thread in his shirt, bravado gone. Then he cleared his throat, reached underneath his shirt and pulled out a knife. Deftly, he tossed it into the air, and it turned hilt over blade, rising and dropping back until he caught the blade in his fingers. Axel offered the hilt to Jade. “Shall we?”
Jade accepted the knife and their fingers brushed, sparking a momentary glow where their skin touched. As he withdrew his hand, the sensation was replaced by the weight of the knife.
“Do you remember what we talked about last time?” Jade cast her mind back to other afternoons spent in Axel’s company. He’d been teaching her to throw a knife, but most of their time had been spent lazing on the riverbank, talking.
She grinned. “You were making me jealous with your tales of the Dragonverse. I think we were up to the time you tripped backwards over unrefined fire crystals and burned a hole in your trousers.”
Axel’s eyes twinkled. “Luckily I’ve got the reflexes of a sphinx.”
Jade laughed. “Or you’d have some very painful scars.”
“Ouch.” Axel winced in mock pain, then looked pointedly at the knife Jade held in her hand. “I was asking if you remember the throwing action I taught you last time. It just takes practice,” he reminded her. “I know you can do it.”
Jade looked up into his eyes and smiled hesitantly, gripping the hilt of the knife. You can do it, his eyes told her. He came to stand next to her, and Jade breathed in his familiar scent—mint and cedarwood. She felt a warmth along her skin where their bodies almost touched.
So close.
“What am I aiming at?” Jade asked.
“Look, there.” He pointed across the river, where something moved. It was a gyenell—a small, squat-nosed rodent scratching around in the dirt, looking for the little burrowing insects it fed on. Jade gave an almost imperceptible nod and Axel gave her space. She crouched, moving slowly. Gyenells frighted easily and moved fast. Jade needed to be silent and precise.
She focused, took aim and, with a quick flick of her wrist, threw the knife as Axel had showed her.
“Bullseye!” Axel shouted behind her, his voice bouncing off the cliffs around them. “That’s talent. It took me ages to throw a knife like that. You’re a natural.”
Jade’s throat tightened as Axel held her gaze. He stepped towards her and put an arm around her shoulders, pulling her close. Jade glowed—hyper-aware of the places their
bodies touched. She felt his warmth through her shirt where the side of her chest pressed against him and where his arm folded around her shoulders. He was so close. Close enough that she could reach up and fold her arms around his neck. Close enough to kiss.
Her heartbeat thundered in her ears as Jade turned her body to face him. Before she knew what she was doing, she found herself tilting her face up towards his. Her eyelids fluttered closed and her lips parted slightly, willing him to meet her in the middle—to close the space with a kiss.
The air hummed with expectation.
A long moment passed.
Then Axel cleared his throat, dropped his arm from around her shoulders and stepped away. Cold air rushed into the void between them. Jade’s eyes flew open as she tumbled forward, overbalancing, and spread her wings to catch herself before she went face first into the water. She stared at Axel then quickly averted her eyes, a flush spreading over her face.
She couldn’t believe it. She’d tried to kiss Axel. Kiss him.
Worse, he’d rejected her.
Jade wanted to crawl under the nearest rock. Why had she done it? Of course, she liked him. Really liked him. She’d had a crush on him since the start of her apprenticeship. Over the last few months of shadowing her father, Axel had become one of her closest friends. More and more, Jade felt like Axel was one of the few people who actually understood her.
Silence lengthened between them. Jade tried to remember what they’d been talking about before she’d been so stupid.
Knife skills. Right.
“Not that I’m ever likely to use it,” Jade mumbled, wanting to dunk her face in the cold water to wash the redness from her cheeks. “Not stuck here on Taraqa running errands for Papa.”
Axel shrugged, avoiding her look. “The Force doesn’t value knife throwing anyway. It’s all bow and arrow for them—that’s the only way to kill a Yrax.”
“I would have thought any way to kill a Yrax is the right way.” Jade managed a half-smile.
“You and me both. But the fact that I’m better with knives betrays my… status.” Axel looked down at his hands, the skin around his eyes tightening. He turned away, leapt into the air and flew across the river to retrieve his knife and the dead gyenell. Watching him, Jade wondered why he never spoke about his family. She knew they were poor, and he’d worked his way up from nothing, without the aid of the connections that money brought. Jade admired him for it. She didn’t understand why others thought it made him somehow lesser. Whatever it was, she knew Axel felt their criticism deeply, even if he pretended not to care.