Spellkeeper

by Courtney Privett

  “That doesn't mean it's entirely false. Those ideas came from somewhere.” Shan coughed and removed the egg from his pocket. It was hot, too hot, and he wondered if it had left a burn mark on his skin. He set the egg on the table and leaned on his elbows to watch it. It wobbled and rolled toward the edge. He stuck his arm out to keep it from toppling to the floor.

  “That looks like it's about to hatch,” Marita said, an eyebrow raised. She reached out and gingerly touched the small end of the egg. “Wow, that's hot.”

  “I know. I think it burned me.” He set the egg back in the center of the table, then reached onto a nearby shelf and picked up a basket. He dumped the apples within on the floor, scooped up the egg, and set it inside. “There. It can roll around in there all it wants.”

  “Move it closer to you. It needs to see you first when it decides to hatch.”

  “I don't want it to. I want it to see you.”

  Marita narrowed her eyes and scrunched her freckled nose. “I don't want to be dragonbound. Why would you want that for me?”

  “You said yourself that coppers are pets.”

  “But they still bind.”

  Shan rested his hands on either side of the basket. “How about this? We set the basket in the middle and let it pick on its own which direction to face when it pops out of its shell.”

  “No.” A faint smile touched Marita's face as she looked away. “When I told you I wanted to have a pet, I thought maybe a rabbit or a cat. Or even a hedgehog. Not a dragon.”

  “I don't want a dragon, either. Maybe I should set it out on the balcony and its wild mother up in the tower will come get it.”

  “Or it will freeze to death while crying for help,” Marita said, shaking her head. “It's a baby, Shan. Be kind to it.”

  “I don't want to hurt it,” he whispered. He stood and slowly walked around the table to rest his hands on Marita's shoulders. He leaned down to kiss her cheek. “Lumin hurt because of me. Separation, wings snipped, death. I hurt people, Marita. Not by choice, but by circumstance. I'm afraid I'd hurt this little dragon as well.”

  She reached up to hold his hand. “Is that why you don't want to be a father? You're afraid something you do will lead to your child being hurt?”

  He closed his eyes and winced as the click, click, click of the egg became a steady rhythm and grew louder. “I just never had it in my mind that I'd have kids when I grew up. I wanted to be a University Master, a professor of geology. Not that being a Master meant I wouldn't have a family, and I do like children, but I never felt like that life was for me. And then everything happened and I decided I didn't want a child to suffer because of what I've become. And I didn't want to just walk away like my own father did because that always hurt. It still hurts. I love him, but our relationship will never be normal and I'm intractably jealous that my sisters will grow up knowing and being loved by him.”

  “I'm sorry you were coerced into this,” Marita said, a bitter note in her voice. “We should have discussed this before we married.”

  “Didn't have much of a choice about that either, did we? Nylian trapped you into marrying me. It was either that or you'd be sent back to Jadeshire. It's a cruel world where I am the better option.”

  Marita stroked his jaw as she watched the egg roll laps around the basket. “I love you.”

  “I know you do, but I still feel horrible that you got stuck with me.” He held her hand to his lips and kissed it. “I'm so sorry.”

  “Don't be. I chose you. From the day I met you in North Juniper, before I even knew your name, I knew I'd spend the rest of my life with you. I knew you were the one my divinations had revealed. I wish you'd accept that.” She sighed and tilted her head to rest on Shan's forearm. “What do you think would happen if it saw both of us at the same time?”

  “I don't know. Do you want to try that?”

  “No, but I don't want to fight about it anymore. Look, it's starting to crack. Let's go sit on the bed with it and see what happens.”

  “Okay.” He couldn't think of any other options. He couldn't abandon a newborn dragon to fend for itself, and maybe this way it would bind to Marita instead of him. “Let's try that.”

  Marita picked up the basket and pulled Shan into the bedroom. They arranged the pillows, then sat with their heads together and the basket resting on a pillow over their laps.

  The tiny crack grew and the clicking became louder.

  “I wish I hadn't taken those eggs from Aes,” he whispered.

  “Serida and Lumin had a destiny, and you needed to be the one to initiate it. Lumin's death was horrific, but maybe Serida needed to bind to Tessen to set everything else in motion. He might never have found out what he was without her.” Marita wove her fingers between Shan's. His paralyzed fingers didn't seem to bother her, but she was always careful not to hold them too tightly.

  “And by coercing him into binding with her, I took everything from him. You saw what Daelis wrote. He was miserable before he disappeared. I'm sure he still is. I did that to him. I destroyed my little brother's life.”

  “He was born an empath. You didn't hurt him, not like you think you did.” Marita squeezed his hand. “And you won't hurt our baby. You'll blame yourself for anything that might go wrong in its life, but you won't be the cause of it.”

  “I wish I could believe you.”

  Crack!

  A tiny copper and gold eye peeked out of the broken shell. Claws the size of pinpoints tore at the fissure and the second eye came into view.

  “Peep?” The dragon pushed upward, breaking the top of the shell with its crested head. Her crested head. If she'd been male she would have had horns instead of crests. She was tiny, smaller than a mouse, and the membranes of her wings were so delicate they were nearly transparent.

  And Shan felt nothing.

  “Peep?” The dragon tilted her head and stared at Marita. “Peep?”

  “Hello, little one,” she said with a smile. She carefully ran a fingertip along the dragon's copper neck and side. “You are so tiny. What are we going to do with you so you don't get hurt? I don't want to put you in a cage, but we might have to.”

  “Ragan carried Cadriel in his pocket. He was only a touch bigger than this one. I'd suggest that for you two, and maybe a cozy little cage for when you can't carry her. She'll grow quickly and reach her full size at two years.” Relief washed over Shan. It worked. The hatchling bound to Marita instead of him, just as he'd hoped.

  “When I can't . . . oh.” Marita pursed her lips as she set her palm before the dragon. The tiny creature sniffed at her fingers, then clumsily scrambled onto her hand. She held it closer to her face so they could get a better look at each other. “It didn't bind with you? Shit.”

  Shan shrugged. “She. See the crests? She's a little girl. And no. She was looking at both of us, but only bound with you. She chose you, and I think that's a good thing.”

  “Damn it, Shannon.” The dragon curled up into a tight ball, but kept her eyes open and fixed on Marita. “What am I supposed to do with her now?”

  “Love her. Name her. Protect her. I couldn't protect Lumin. That's why I couldn't trust myself with her. I trust you, though. And look at her . . . she's far cuter than any hedgehog.”

  “I happen to adore hedgehogs.” Marita smiled, then sighed as the dragon closed her eyes. “I have no idea what to name her. The only things that pop into my head are names I'm considering for the baby. What would you name her?”

  “The baby or the dragon?” Shan asked.

  “Either.”

  Shan studied the hatchling's tiny copper scales and diaphanous wings. “Tessa or Rinan for the baby. A three-quarter elf is still considered a half-elf, so we don't have to mess with elven naming conventions unless you want to. We could honor my mother with a boy's name or my brother with a girl's. Or we could create something from Nell and Arrin—my grandparents' names—or incorporate letters from Sylleth. No, we don't need to go that route. Mixing together family names i
s too elven. As for the dragon, my first thought is Rayna.”

  “Rayna.” The dragon opened one eye and huffed as Marita tested the name. “Yes, she looks like a Rayna. And Lumin looked like a Lumin. You're good at naming things. Maybe we should hold off on picking names for this baby until we see what it looks like.”

  “I may cry if it comes out looking like the Lightborn side of the family.”

  “You'll cry anyway, but not for that reason.” Marita rested her head on his shoulder and lowered the dragon to her lap. Rayna squirmed off her palm and rested her tiny head on Marita's belly. A tear fell from Marita's eye as she ran her finger along the ridges of the dragon's back. “Sometimes we find we love things we never thought we wanted. And then we regret that we never wanted them at all. It's the fear of change, I think, and dread of the unknown.”

  “I'm afraid I'm going to be shit as a father,” Shan whispered.

  “You're going to be amazing.” She kissed her fingertips, then gently touched them to Rayna's side. “Just wait. You'll see.”

  21

  Benny

  Auberline stretched before them, a mass of dirty streets and stucco buildings worn by wind and age. The port city's residents were primarily human, but like all Bacran realm capitals, it was overseen by elves.

  “Do you know where we're going?” Elsin asked after they avoided the bulk of the city to head south along the harbor.

  “Yep.” Mordegan clicked his tongue several times, then bowed toward a cluster of giggling women. They beckoned him closer, but he shook his head and kept walking.

  “I believe everyone in the Azure Realm knows where Berra Autumngold lives,” Radamar said.

  Elsin paused, then glanced at the docked ships. “Berra Autumngold . . . The Pirate Queen of Auberline? Benny, your mother is the Pirate Queen?”

  Benny laughed, then cornered Elsin against a stack of crates. He was only a hand or so taller than her, so all she had to do to look him in the eye was rock onto her toes. “Okay, first of all, she's a privateer, not a pirate. She'll get pissed if you call her a pirate. And the two of you wield the same title—Captain. She's Captain Autumngold to you unless she chooses something more familiar. Third, she is employed by the Duchess of the Azure Realm in about the same capacity as my father worked for the Goldtrees, except it's no secret and she's damned proud of it. And she'd better be here because she promised Radamar she wouldn't take Radella out on her ship unless we didn't come for her by the time she was of age.”

  “You trust the word of a pirate?”

  Benny bared her teeth, then smacked Elsin's arm. “Privateer. And she's my mother, so yes. We're in Auberline now. Why don't you and Juna fly off to the sanctuary?”

  “I'm not going anywhere until my employer's daughter returns with my nephew.” Now it was Elsin's turn to growl.

  “Captain, I don't think your nephew is coming here. The girl, likely. Go ahead and wait for her if you want, but for the sake of not inciting every god who's ever graced Bacra, don't call my mom a pirate.”

  Elsin's nose twitched as he rubbed his black beard. He was an attractive man, and Benny might have been drawn to him if he didn't already have a wife and handful of children waiting for him at the sanctuary. She was surprised he wasn't more eager to return home, but maybe he was more afraid of his sister's wrath than his wife's.

  “Sorry.” Benny took a step backward and let her shoulders droop. “I haven't seen her in a long time and we didn't part on pleasant terms. She wanted me to join her and I wanted to stay with my dad. I'm her only child and she didn't take it well. I said things to her that I regret. I think we both did.” She held up her left arm and tucked her elbow against her stomach. Her hand ached and what was left of her little finger throbbed. It hurt, but thanks to a salve that Iefyr had made, it was free of infection.

  Elsin's bright blue eyes regarded her with curiosity. The color was unsettling, and highly unusual for a Jade Realm human of otherwise obvious Auran ancestry. “She's already forgiven you.”

  “How would you know?” Benny asked. She winced as the throb rose to a pounding roar.

  “Because nineteen years ago I was exiled for assaulting Daelis Goldtree. Before I was escorted out of my home realm, I told my parents to sard off, that they were stupid if they couldn't see who Shan's father was, and they were even more stupid for making Rin take that job as a Goldtree scribe. I told them it was their fault she ended up pregnant and they were horrible for not holding him accountable, especially for abandoning her and their baby. And therefore, it was their fault I punched that irresponsible tart of an elf in the face and got myself exiled. They were furious with me when I left, but two years ago I was allowed to return and they embraced me and welcomed me home. They never brought up the words I spoke to them when I was an angry twenty-one year old trying to defend his little sister's honor. It didn't matter to them anymore. Whatever words you spoke to your mother won't matter when she sees you safe in front of her.”

  “Damn it, Elsin,” Benny scoffed. “I'm not safe. I'm covered in spells and missing a finger, and now I have to tell her I've come to claim my daughter only to take her away so the sarding gods-damned High King doesn't find us. I'm in much bigger trouble than I would have been if I'd become a sailor. She's going to throw that in my face.”

  “I don't know her, but I don't think she will.” Elsin grasped her elbow and led her away from the crates.

  Benny wanted to believe him, but she wasn't sure. Would Berra forgive Benny for calling her a meddling, razor-handed, bitchfaced sea cow the last time they spoke? Berra had left Jadeshire without another word, and Benny was kidnapped a month later. She looked down at her mangled left hand and said, “Shit. I can't even talk to her properly now. She uses that finger in her name sign.”

  Mordegan, who was now next to her, shrugged, then signed, «You can call her meddling sea cow instead. That's all right hand.»

  «She'll love that, Dad,» Benny returned as best she could with one hand. It hurt too much to use her left hand at all for the moment.

  “I think I may have some communication problems here,” Elsin muttered.

  Mordegan smirked. “You're in the Pirate Queen's territory now, Sylleth. Try to keep up.”

  Benny left confused Elsin with Mordegan and Juna, and jogged ahead to catch up with Radamar, Iefyr, and Auna. The water lapping against the sea wall stank of fish and pitch, but it was a familiar smell, and one she was surprised to realize she'd missed.

  She slowed down as she reached the two men. They walked so close to each other that she had to shove them apart to link arms with both of them.

  “Have you been here before?” Iefyr asked. He breathed deeply and smiled. He had grown up in the seaside orc town of Tidegarden, and Benny assumed this part of Auberline reminded him of home.

  “Yes, many times,” Benny replied. “My mother sailed a regular course between Auberline and Jadeshire, and that's how she met my father. They worked together sometimes to break up smuggling rings.” She looked down the shore and nodded at a magnificent three-masted ship docked at a private pier. Its masts were backlit by stars and the waning moon. “That's Brezva's Grace, named for the Goddess of the Sea herself. I was born on that ship, somewhere south of the Sandstone Realm. Mom was on her way to Jadeshire, so my father met me for the first time not long after. Once I was weaned, she sailed to Jadeshire twice a year—once to drop me off, and once to pick me up. I split my childhood between Jadeshire, Auberline, and the Grace.”

  “I feel like I should have known that. You weren't always in the city when I was.”

  “I was a kid. I wouldn't expect you to have noticed or cared where I went.” She stepped around a frayed net. “Dad had the same arrangement with Ragan's mom. Half the year with one parent, half with the other. It worked for us, and Mom changed her schedule to make sure my time overlapped with Ragan's.”

  “Were your parents never together?” Iefyr asked. “I mean, you're only eight years younger than me, so you must have been elev
en or twelve when I met you, and I think he was already with Belda then.”

  “No. They were quite fond of each other, but they were never a couple. I think Dad might have been the only man my mother was ever with. She prefers women. She had a ship wedding when I was five, to her first mate. Urzal Bladestorm.”

  “That's an orcan name,” Iefyr said, smiling.

  “She's a South Isle orc,” Radamar said. “They're still married. I met her briefly when I brought Radella here.” His arm twitched, then trembled against Benny's. “We made it, Benny. We're about to see our girl again.”

  Benny's heart accelerated. “We are. I don't think she'll remember me. She might remember you a little, but not me.”

  “If she doesn't know you right away, give her time.”

  Benny drew Radamar and Iefyr to a halt just before a stone gatehouse. “I want this so much and it's all I've thought about for two and a half years, but I'm scared.”

  Radamar turned to face her. He touched her face, then kissed her. “This is righting a wrong. You never should have been taken from her.”

  “Hey! No loitering on the Captain's path!” A guard glared at them from inside the gatehouse. “Move along.”

  Radamar dug in his pocket, then pulled a gold coin from a pouch. He set it on the ledge before the guard's window. “I have been granted access, with conditions. The woman with me is the Captain's daughter, Belinda Vale. Benny. I am Radamar Nightshadow. We are expected.”

  The guard took the coin and held it to the light. “Yeah, you've got yourself a Captain's coin.” He narrowed his eyes and scrutinized Benny. “You look like your mum, lass. Same hair, same eyes, same nose. Yeah, I recognize you, all grown up. This lot with you?” He pointed a small dagger toward Iefyr, then tapped it three times against the security bars to indicate Mordegan, Juna, and Elsin.

  Benny searched her memory for the guard's name. “Good evening, Sepp. Yeah, they're all with me.” She cocked her head and smiled at Mordegan. “That's my dad. The others are friends who helped me find my way home. Will you let us in, or do you need to get permission from my mother first?”