“I don’t suppose you can tell whose,” Cas said.
“Nobody I’m familiar with, I don’t think. So that rules out Tylie. And Phelistoth and Bhrava Saruth, I suppose, though I don’t think a dragon made this.”
“What is it?” Kaika peered at Sardelle’s finger.
“At the microscopic level, it’s similar in makeup to a spider web.”
“Microscope?” Kaika glanced around the lab, as if looking for a piece of equipment Sardelle had employed.
“Sorry, I didn’t mean to imply that I’d used one. As I healer, I’m used to seeing, in a manner of speaking, things at the cellular level.”
“Uh, what does that mean?” Kaika looked at Cas.
Cas could only shrug back, vaguely remembering reading about onion cells in a biology book as a student.
“That it’s unlikely I would have blamed Tolemek’s kidnapping on fishermen.” Sardelle rubbed the substance she’d scraped up between her fingers, then had to use force to pull her fingers apart. “It’s sticky and bonds quickly. Like a fast-acting glue.”
“Does it seem like Dakrovian magic?” Cas doubted the pirates, or whoever was after Tolemek, had originated on that continent, but maybe there was a reason they’d chosen it for their bomb shopping.
“Hm.” Sardelle’s eyes grew distant. “I believe it does, actually. It seems like the work of a shaman, but there’s another element… a mundane science element in the construction of the matrix. To be honest, it seems like the kind of thing Tolemek would make.”
“But you know it’s not something he made, right?” Kaika asked. “That’s what you said.”
“It doesn’t have his signature embedded in it, no.”
“Can I get a sample of that?” Bitinger eyed Sardelle warily as he came over with tweezers and a fresh test tube. He made sure to keep Kaika between him and Sardelle. “I can have the army’s science lab analyze it.”
A bemused expression crossed Sardelle’s face, and Cas expected her to point out that she had just analyzed it. Instead, she stepped to the side and gestured toward the floor. “There’s more stuck to that tile down there.”
“Ah.”
Bitinger walked around Kaika and to Sardelle’s side of the broken work table. He looked down at the tile, but hesitated, glancing from her to the floor. Not wanting to get too close to her?
“I don’t bite,” Sardelle said dryly, though her eyes looked more hurt than amused as she took a couple of steps back.
“Not at all?” Kaika asked. “Doesn’t the general find that disappointing?”
Cas didn’t expect Sardelle, who always came across as being serene and even regal, to respond to the joke.
However, she arched an eyebrow and said, “I do nibble occasionally.”
“Sounds sedate,” Kaika said. “Zirkander’s tastes are much mellower than I imagined.”
Sardelle’s cheeks grew pink again.
“Do you imagine him often?” Cas asked, more to deflect Kaika’s attention from Sardelle than because she wanted to know.
“Oh, frequently. Or I used to, I should say. Now, I have another robust man to imagine naked and sweaty.”
Bitinger cleared his throat. He was down on the floor scraping at the substance with his tweezers.
“Did you want to chime in on the conversation, Captain?” Kaika asked. “What do you prefer? Biting? Nibbling? Full-on gnashing of teeth and howling at the moon in ecstasy?”
Bitinger lurched to his feet, his cheeks far redder than Sardelle’s had been, though he lacked her appealing glow.
“I’m done collecting evidence,” he said, capping his test tube and backing toward the door. Quickly. “I’ll report my findings to my superiors, and, uh, maybe they’ll inform you.”
He disappeared from view, and the sound of rapid footfalls announced his hasty retreat.
“I bet he doesn’t even wrinkle the sheets,” Kaika said.
“In the throes of passion?” Cas asked.
“Ever.”
“I don’t expect his laboratory to find anything more than I did,” Sardelle said, “though it’s possible an analysis of the non-magical ingredients would be helpful. Still, even if we find out more about the substance, it won’t necessarily give us any clues as to where Tolemek is now. Or what his kidnappers wanted. Him? Or something from his lab?” She looked toward the destroyed vault. “Or both?”
“What does he store in there?” Kaika pointed at the vault and looked at Cas.
“I’m not sure exactly. I’ve seen it open before, but I only know there were a bunch of vials, bottles, small bags, and a few boxes in there. He mentioned that he keeps valuable ingredients in there.”
“Extremely valuable?” Kaika asked. “Anything rare that people would have trouble acquiring on their own?”
Cas spread her arms. “I wish I knew.”
“While I see it as possible that someone raided his lab for ingredients,” Sardelle said, “they wouldn’t have needed to take him with them if all they wanted were alchemical goodies.”
“Unless he witnessed the theft when he wasn’t meant to,” Kaika said. “Didn’t you say it happened late at night, Ahn?”
Cas nodded. “After I left, at least. That was evening.”
“Maybe they stumbled upon him when they hadn’t expected him and had to take him with them when they left, to be sure he couldn’t identify them to the authorities.”
“We’re just guessing,” Sardelle said.
“Yeah,” Kaika said, “that’s what you do when you don’t have many clues.”
“The clues we do have point to this being someone, or a team of someones, who aren’t from Iskandia. Which implies they came via boat or aircraft. I think we should begin our search in the harbor and at the commercial dirigible field. Let’s find out if any foreign craft were there yesterday or are possibly still there. Also, if any of our local ships, air or water, left the country, last night or today. It would have been harder for kidnappers to board an Iskandian ship while dragging along an unwilling victim—especially one as recognizable as Tolemek—but I’m sure it’s possible. Still, looking for ships of suspicious origins seems our best bet.”
Cas found herself nodding as Sardelle spoke. This was the best lead she had so far.
“Will you help me check the harbor, Sardelle?” she asked, knowing Sardelle could use her magic to sense inside of a ship without going aboard. If Tolemek was anywhere in the harbor, maybe she would recognize his aura, or whatever it was called, from afar.
Sardelle hesitated, and Cas remembered she was busy planning her wedding and teaching Tylie and who knew what else.
“Yes, of course.” Sardelle nodded firmly.
“If you need any assistance with the wedding preparations, I would be happy to help after we find Tolemek,” Cas offered, feeling she should offer some of her time since she was asking for Sardelle’s.
“Thank you, but that’s not necessary.” Her tone turned dry. “Unless you want to go dress shopping with me.”
“Not looking forward to that, eh?” Kaika smirked. “I know I wouldn’t be, not for a floofy wedding dress. Slinky and sexy dresses designed to make men drool are more fun to try on.”
“I don’t mind the idea of shopping for a dress, floofy or otherwise. It’s more that Ridge wants me to take his cousin Lilah along. Which would normally be fine—she and I actually have quite a bit in common—but he wants me to play the role of spy and find out if Lilah and Therrik are getting along well. Ridge doesn’t seem to be able to conceive that someone who doesn’t appreciate his mouth could be good to a woman.”
“Therrik doesn’t appreciate a lot,” Kaika said, “but he’s got this notion of himself as being noble and honorable, so he’s all right with women. And Lilah is pretty fearless, from what I observed, and doesn’t mind standing up to him. And I think he likes that about her.”
“I told Ridge as much. I don’t know why he can’t go visit her himself if he wants to see how she’s doing.”
/> “He’s probably afraid he’ll run into Therrik at her flat.” Kaika grinned. “Naked.”
Cas cleared her throat and pointed toward the hallway. “Maybe we should go to the harbor now. Before it gets dark.”
“Of course,” Sardelle said again and nodded for Cas to lead the way out.
Kaika thumped Sardelle on the shoulder. “Let me know if you need help dress shopping.”
The offer surprised Cas—and Sardelle, as well, judging by the startled look she tossed Kaika. Cas wouldn’t have guessed Kaika even owned a dress. Though she did go on undercover missions. Presumably, she dressed as a lady on some of them, especially in the countries where women rarely wore trousers. And maybe she liked to put on slinky things when she went to that brothel she favored. Had she stopped going there since she started seeing the king? Cas hoped so.
“You’re welcome to come,” Sardelle said. “And you, too, Cas.”
“I just want to see how Lilah’s doing,” Kaika said.
“Ah, that’s right. You were her bodyguard up at the mines earlier this summer.”
“Yup, I got to watch that romance blossom.” Kaika grinned. “But if you want help picking out a dress, I can do that too. I’m great at finding outfits that make it easy to keep hidden daggers a secret.”
“I wasn’t planning to take a dagger to my wedding.”
“No? Well, surely you’re not going without your sword.” Kaika pointed at Jaxi’s scabbard as they descended the steps.
“That is true,” Sardelle said. “Jaxi is not an accessory I can leave behind.”
“Should make for an interesting night when you and the general consummate the marriage. And here I thought he’d be bored by the nibbling.”
Cas quickened her pace as they left the building, eager to find Tolemek. And also eager to not hear about General Zirkander being nibbled.
5
Ridge felt silly taking a flier to his mother’s house a mere fifteen miles north of the city, but he piloted it out over the coast, telling himself he was looking for sign of Tolemek’s kidnappers while he was aloft. Of course, he had no idea if the kidnappers were local or foreign or likely to be airborne or not, but he liked to eye the coastline near the capital now and then, regardless. If there was trouble coming, he wanted to spot it before it spotted him. And what had started with the kidnapping of one man could certainly escalate to more.
Mate of my high priestess! a perky voice sounded in Ridge’s mind, the power of the words making him wince.
Good evening, Bhrava Saruth. Ridge twisted his neck and spotted the gold dragon flying up the coast behind him. Anticipating what Bhrava Saruth wanted, Ridge opened with an update on the temple. It shouldn’t be long now. The king asked to see the final drawings, but I believe he’s going to approve the use of that island.
Excellent. Are you going off to engage in battle? Do you need the assistance of a powerful and mighty god?
I’m going to see my mom.
She who hatched you? I have met her before, yes? She wears the colorful clothing and beaded adornments that I like, but she does not believe in dragons.
That’s her, but she believes in dragons now. I assume. She tripped over Phelistoth sunning himself in the yard this morning. I understand she found the experience alarming.
I also find it alarming when I trip over Phelistoth. For a silver dragon, he is extremely haughty.
Yes. Ridge spotted the familiar village where his mother lived and turned inland, heading for the field where he’d landed before when his somewhat AWOL squadron had been hiding out at her house.
He will never be a god.
Of that I have no doubt.
Is your intent to familiarize your mother with dragons now that she knows we exist? Bhrava Saruth asked. Perhaps you should introduce her to me. I am most appealing, far more so than that silver dragon, and an excellent representation of my kind. And I am a god!
Ridge wondered if Bhrava Saruth ever found it odd to identify as a dragon and a god. One would think being a deity and being… anything else would be mutually exclusive.
I’m going to talk to her about magic, Ridge thought. She didn’t believe in that, either, and then she saw Tylie levitating rocks through the house.
Ridge didn’t know why he was explaining all of this to the dragon. Or why Bhrava Saruth was following him.
I can also be of assistance there, mate of my high priestess. I know all there is to know about magic.
That’s really not necessary, Ridge thought. I know how important your time is, how many of your followers seek you out in the evenings.
This is often true, but the voluptuous lady who was to come worship me tonight did not show up. Can you imagine the audacity? When I used my powers to locate her, I found her rutting with abandon with some grime-covered human male. She forgot all about me.
You were stood up.
Is that what it’s called? It’s most deplorable.
Yes. Ridge flew low over houses and fields, eliciting a few vocal complaints from horses and cows below, then activated his thrusters. He had to select his spot carefully since what had been a fallow field that spring when he’d used it was now covered in squash vines and fruits. He found a wide path and set down as Bhrava Saruth landed right behind him. His taloned feet touched down without doing damage to the vegetation.
Had I known you intended to travel, Bhrava Saruth said, I could have given you a ride, so you needn’t have brought that clunky flying machine.
Accustomed to the dragon’s opinions on fliers, Ridge didn’t bristle at the comment. Much.
“Unless you want all the farmers around here to start screaming and lunging for guns, you may wish to change forms.” Ridge climbed out of his cockpit and dropped into the dirt.
“Like this, Ridgewalker?” Bhrava Saruth skipped out of the squash patch, wearing loose cotton trousers, a tunic with a deep V that revealed half his chest, and all manner of beaded bracelets and necklaces clattering as he moved. As he skipped. How was it that he attracted so many women in that form? At least he wasn’t wearing that weird dress again.
“Yes. You might still alarm the farmers, but I doubt they’ll reach for weapons.”
Ridge headed toward the highway, wondering how to ditch his tagalong. Though maybe Bhrava Saruth could be useful, in case his mother had retreated to her home and was in a state of denial. The dragon could certainly demonstrate some magic to prove it existed.
And then Ridge could shoo him away. Even though he believed his mother would come to accept Sardelle’s occupation, he did think they might have to have a serious conversation about it. It was hard to discuss anything seriously with a dragon god along.
“It is a glorious evening,” Bhrava Saruth announced. He’d stopped skipping, but he spread his arms toward the clear sky as he walked alongside Ridge.
“Do I have you to thank for that? Because if you can control weather, Sardelle and I would appreciate a sunny day for our wedding.”
“No. I am a very powerful god, but I do not attempt to meddle with weather. That can have unforeseen consequences.” Bhrava Saruth clapped him on the back. “But I am positive your wedding will be divine.”
“Because you’ll be there?”
“Indeed so.”
“You’re in a good mood for someone who was stood up tonight.”
“Because I see in your mind that you truly intend to make sure my temple is built. I am most pleased.”
“Glad to hear it.” Ridge turned down the street that led to his mother’s house, remembering that spring when he’d led Sardelle and his rain-soaked team this way. And also remembering how delighted Mom had been when he introduced Sardelle.
A nervous strand of doubt entered his gut as the house came into sight. What if he was wrong and Mom couldn’t learn to accept Sardelle’s occupation? He’d spoken the truth to Sardelle, as he’d believed it, but now that Mom had actually found out, and he had to talk to her about it… it was hard not to have a few tiny doubts.
“I don’t suppose you know anything about Tolemek and the people who broke into his lab last night?” Ridge asked Bhrava Saruth, both to distract his mind from the impending talk and also because it would be helpful if the dragon somehow did know. Who knew—maybe his divine self had been flying over the city and noticed it happening.
“Who?”
“Dr. Tolemek Targoson. You’ve met him a few times at our house.”
Bhrava Saruth scratched his jaw. “Has he ever brought me tarts?”
“I don’t think so.”
“Rubbed my belly as a dragon or a ferret?”
“Not that I know of.”
“Then I don’t remember him.”
Ridge snorted and started to describe Tolemek, but he felt a slight tickle in his mind. Bhrava Saruth rooting through his thoughts?
“Ah, yes,” Bhrava Saruth said. “The shaggy-headed brother of Phelistoth’s rider. No, I know nothing of him or where he resides. Perhaps if he brought me offerings occasionally, he would be more in my awareness.”
“I’ll tell him to change his ways and start sending baked goods as soon as I see him again.”
“Excellent.”
So much for divine notice.
Ridge turned onto the walkway to his mother’s stucco cottage. Bhrava Saruth paused to tear a few lavender stalks from bushes. He raised them to his nose to sniff, then looked down at his chest. Looking for someplace to tuck them? Between one eye blink and the next, a pocket formed. He tucked the purple flowers inside.
“It would have been useful if you’d waited thirty seconds to do that,” Ridge said, reaching for the doorknob.
“What?”
“Never mind.”
He started to open the door without knocking, since there was a rule that sons could simply walk into their parents’ houses, but he had better give her some warning since he had arrived with a guest.
He knocked and called, “Mom?”
“In here, Ridgewalker.” She sounded like she was in the living room.
“Are you decent? I have company.”
“Decent?” The door opened, revealing Mom in sandals and a paint-spattered smock. “Do you think I run naked around the house all the time when you’re not here?” She peered past him to Bhrava Saruth, not looking particularly abashed by her quasi-public comment. Her voice sounded hoarse. Ridge hoped she hadn’t been crying or terribly distraught by her morning experience.
Oaths (Dragon Blood, Book 8) Page 8