by Rain Oxford
I snorted just as Rojan was making a rude comment about Emiko being the queen of something other than dragons. “You may be the queen of this little island of dragons, but I know the culture. We do not belong in huge communities. We are territorial. We are protective of our things and our clutches.”
That reminds me, Rojan said. We need a pile of gems and gold. Dylan said Earth dragons all got gold and jewels.
That’s fine by me, I answered.
And a cave to put them---
We are not living in a cave.
What about just a winter vacation home cave? Like, we just go there when it’s really cold at the cabin…
“What kind of dragon are you?” I asked Emiko, focusing on the colors in her hair.
She ran her fingers through hair. “Is it not obvious? My father was a water dragon, and my mother was a desert dragon.”
“That’s an unusual combination.”
“I guess I was the result of a night of forbidden passion. I was kept a secret until my father died. My mother would never tell me who my father was until his death.”
“Then how did you become such a pain if you were not raised as a princess?”
She smiled. “I had planned since I was five to become queen by any means necessary. I grew up having to fight for what I deserved.” She dropped her fake smile. “Now, I need help and you are the only one left to help me. All dragons will suffer if this poison isn’t stopped, you included.”
Oh, she had a serious side… This I could work with. “I will find out who is poisoning your people and with what. I will keep you alive, but you will do as I say.”
“I am the queen.”
“You are a queen. You’re not my queen,” I said.
Her grin should have been a warning. She lifted her right leg over my lap with a fancy little move and went from sitting beside me on the bed to in my lap, facing me. As I was sitting on the edge of the bed, she could have fallen, so I instinctively put my hands on her waist to hold her close… and damn, she felt good in my hands.
Rojan purred.
“I could be your queen. Every queen needs a king,” she said. She tried to make it sound tempting, but she was too young to be asking a near stranger to be her mate.
I growled, causing her to frown. “Is it the king part that you hate?”
It should have been, but surprisingly, it was not my first thought. “I am too old for you,” I said. She gaped. While I was only twenty-seven years old, Rojan was well over three thousand. Besides that, I couldn’t possibly let her think she had a chance with me because I could never let her get close. I was not a dragon or a sago. My inability to shift was a huge handicap if someone found out I had blood of the most powerful dragon that ever lived running through my veins. Anyone who ever thought of hunting dragons would want that blood.
Divina has even asked for a sample to use in her magic. I would have let her because she is a god and wouldn’t have hurt me, but Dylan told her no.
I stood, guiding her down so she didn’t fall. I couldn’t bring myself to let her go, though. She smelled good. It was so confusing because I could smell that she was conceited, selfish, malicious, devious, and looking for trouble, but at the same time, there was an underlying scent that made me and Rojan want to hold her closer.
She was small. Without her heels on she would only come up to my chin. Since the only women I really spent any time with were Vivian, Divina, and recently Meri, I was used to tall women. Emiko’s size was more pleasing, but she looked so delicate. She had an aura that she needed to be protected and coddled… then she would do something irritating or bad and I had the urge to correct her.
“Let’s go take a look at this island,” I said. She took my hand from her waist and turned to pull me out of the room. I removed my hand from hers because she needed to be trained not to take things I didn’t offer. It didn’t faze her.
The tour was swift, for her island was small. The modest cabins looked cozy and peaceful until I realized most of them were empty. The dirt pathways were meant to be bustling with people, or dragons in person form, doing their duties. No talking, laughing, arguing, not even animals… it was too quiet. This wasn’t the quiet of the late night, when people were happy and safe in their beds. This was the quiet that all kings and kingdoms feared; this was the quiet that came from fear. It was the fear of moving, speaking, and even breathing. There was death here.
We saw a couple of dragons peeking out their windows. Most were too afraid to even look outside. These were dragons; we are supposed to be afraid of nothing. The only sago were two adult men, two women, and three younger boys milling about the island, all doing random chores. Even though this poison had supposedly no effect on sago, their lack of any fear made me suspicious.
I found nothing else suspicious. There were no dead animals around or weird looking plants growing. I didn’t even smell anything suspicious. Rojan agreed that he saw nothing worth a second look. Nobody gave their queen so much as a mutinous glare.
Just as the clouds were becoming thick enough to block the moonlight, an ominous sense fell over the little island, and the air became charged. While the feeling could have been a warning of danger coming, it felt too familiar. It felt like the void was about to open.
Nothing happened.
After another scan of the island, Emiko begged to break for dinner. There was still plenty of food left over from when the cooks bailed… or died. I scented the food thoroughly before using magic to analyze it. There was no foreign plant matter that I could detect, and though it may have been undetectable to the dragon’s nose, I trusted my power as a wizard.
I made a mental note not to let Dylan eat anything here, just in case.
We ate in peace. At least for the moment, Emiko was content to put food in her mouth and ceased her chatter. It really wasn’t the whining that irritated me, or the bragging, it was the smooth sound of her light voice. She was soft-spoken, even if she spoke never ending. She had the tendency to use crass and elegant words in the same sentence. Even though she tried to hide it, she had been taught proper language and etiquette.
Sure, the fish was a little dry and the bread was a little… hard, but I was hungry and my stomach could take it. I should have been happy with the quiet, but I wanted to understand Emiko better.
“You said you were always determined to be queen here. Why? Was your mother poor? Did she push you to be better?” I asked. She paused with food nearly in her mouth as if she couldn’t believe I would ask such a question.
“My mother was not particularly well off or poor, but she was of a good blood line. Everyone aspires to rule; I was born with the talent. It was never about attaining what was owed to me, I just always knew what I wanted and that was to be better, richer, and more powerful.”
“Not everyone wants to rule a kingdom. There’s betrayal, war, taxing issues, the hatred of all the people, pressure to have an heir, to never show weakness… Captivity. You can’t go anywhere without guards because everyone is out to kill you and take your kingdom. The king is blamed for everything bad that happens to anyone.” I don’t know how Nila can manage an entire world.
Some people crave power and don’t care what they have to deal with to get that power. For some, having a horde of guards makes them feel safe.
That is not---
I know, Rojan interrupted. I agree that that kind of life is for neither of us. We both need freedom. For the most part, it is a dragon thing. However, you cannot deny that some crave such supremacy. Some people even feel that keeping a kingdom of people alive and happy is their duty. They feel pride over leading people successfully.
He was right, but I only ever saw the pressure to be just like my father. “Dragons were not meant to be ruled,” I said aloud. “Did anything odd start happening before the poison began? Did anyone threaten you?”
“Threaten me? Why would anyone want to threaten me?”
“You tell me. It took less than a minute for you to infuriate me; s
urely you have irritated someone enough to poison you. Has anyone openly threatened you?”
“Other than your father’s adviser and yourself, no. Everyone else knows their place.” She ate for a minute before smiling. “I am afraid the maids have fled the kingdom, so I hope you are willing to share my chambers.”
I was fifteen hours ahead of my time, so while it was only a few hours since I woke, it was late into the night. “You can go to sleep. I need to contact my father to see if he’s discovered anything.” I couldn’t go myself because Emiko needed to be protected. “Send one of your remaining servants to him.”
She frowned. “Why not shift and fly over there yourself?”
“That is not your concern. Is there a person or dragon here you trust well enough to send them after some information?”
“I trust my people. It is your people I distrust.”
“You refer to my father’s people. I have nothing to do with the Ishte kingdom.”
“Your family name is not Ishte? You are not heir to that throne?”
“My family name is Yatunus. I was born and raised to be king, but I left, abandoning the throne and the future in which I would reign. I never earned the Ishte name, but I have a new family that finds me worthy of them.”
“A sago family.” She sighed and sat back in her seat. “You speak with the words of a nobleman, but the fire of a dragon. I can feel that you are a dragon, but you also smell sago. It is confusing. My senses are better in person form than any dragon I have ever met, until you. You appear to have every sense as strong as in your true form, and that you can shift just your eyes and teeth is amazing. It reminds me of the old stories my mother used to tell me of dragons and sago having offspring together.”
There are dragon fairytales? I asked Rojan
He laughed. Of course there are. We are not animals. We have stories, legends, and fears just as sago do. Our culture is different than sago culture, but we do have one. It is reasonable you would have trouble grasping it because you still believe that you are sago and I am dragon. You are not sago. We are both sago and dragon. You have two cultures, but you were only taught one. Now you see the young queen as a person even though you smell her as a dragon. She is not like us; she is a full dragon. Nothing about her except for her appearance is sago.
What would she do if she knew I wasn’t a full dragon and couldn’t shift?
It is dragon culture to protect our bloodline. If she knew you were related to me and unable to shift, she would try to kill us. You must be careful. We are magical and powerful beings, but most of us have no magical abilities in person form. We cannot use our fire, yield magic, or partially shift. We also have much weaker senses. Emiko is dangerous to us if she does indeed have better senses than most. In that case, we should not face her as a dragon.
You should tell Ron and Sammy the dragon fairytales. “Never mind stories. Send one of your servants to my father to ask him if he has any new information about the poison or an antidote,” I said.
She stood with an odd expression, as if she couldn’t believe she was obeying me. Beside the door was a rope, which she pulled, and a bell sounded throughout the castle. Within a few minutes, a middle aged sago man arrived, dressed in ragged servant’s clothes.
“Go to the Ishte kingdom, now, and ask Ishte-mor if he has any information on the poison. And send Kita-do to draw me a bath,” she said.
He bowed to her and left. I followed Emiko back her bedroom, where I sat on her bed to wait. Just as she was unstrapping her shoes, an older, kind woman arrived with a gentle knock and bucket full of water. She was sago and I smelled no malicious intention or hatred in her. It took many trips for the woman to bring enough water to fill Emiko’s tub. Electricity and indoor water systems were far too great a convenience to be neglected as they were.
“Are you going to give me privacy?”
A quick scan of the water with my magic showed no detectable plant matter or other kind of poison. “And let someone assassinate you while you bathe?” I asked. “If someone intentionally poisoned you and saw that they failed, they might act more rashly.”
She laughed. “And you think I cannot defend myself if I am undressed.”
“I wouldn’t want to risk it,” I insisted.
“Suit yourself.” She pulled the straps of her dress down and let it fall to the floor. She wore no undergarments.
Her skin was flawless and her body could not have been more perfect. For a moment, I thought of Divina, not because Divina was more beautiful, but because it required a god to make beauty like that. When I remembered to exhale, it was with smoke.
Rojan? No answer. Rojan, she is magic, yes?
No, I think blessed is a better word. And I think we are damned. Whatever you do, you must not see her in dragon form. I think I am too old a soul for that.
Don’t be creepy. Age doesn’t matter when you are immortal.
Does it not? Coming from a sago young enough to risk ogling a Noquodi’s lover, that is a comfort.
Did you insult me? Meri is gorgeous.
Rojan grunted at my weak excuse.
I turned to look out the window and saw the ocean and beach below, where the servant Emiko had sent was preparing a ship. With him was a little boy, about Ron’s age. He was too young to be a servant, but I guess that the children of servants had nowhere to go before they were old enough to be in school. At the very least, he shouldn’t have been at sea.
I turned back to Emiko. With her hands on the rim of the tub, she lifted her left leg and I barely heard her gasp over my choking. She lowered her leg and stuck her hand in the water. “What’s wrong?” I asked.
“It is cold,” she moaned.
“You said your father was a water dragon; you had to have inherited a resistance to the cold,” I said, approaching her. She was producing a lot of heat, but she couldn’t use her dragon fire in person form and had no power over nominal magic. I stuck my hand in the water to find it lukewarm.
She glanced at me. “I am resistant to the cold, but that doesn’t mean I like it.”
I let my fire flow into the water until it was nearly boiling. Instead of freaking out that I could use my fire, she gave me a true smile before settling herself inside the tub. I had to turn away before she saw the effect she had on me. “I think I will wait outside after all.”
“As you wish. There is a library across from my room.”
“I will enjoy it then, but leave the door open. If you need help, I will hear you. Sleep well.” I left without looking back at her. The library was small, but full of old books and several comfortable chairs in front of a fireplace. I lit the fire and picked a book to read.
An hour into the book, I got up to check on Emiko, only to find her asleep in her bed, looking lovely and innocent beyond imagine. I returned to the library to finish the book.
* * *
Vretial was sitting on the large boulder under the apple tree with Dylan standing before him. Dylan looked perfectly normal, but I felt he was injured. Vretial spoke first, but they both spoke in Enochian, which I couldn’t understand. This didn’t feel real, so I knew it had to be a dream or something similar, but it couldn’t have been mine, because it would have been in English. However, if it was Dylan’s dream or memory, why was I hearing Enochian?
Perhaps Vretial was blocking me and everyone else from listening in. That would explain why, when Dylan had temporary amnesia and he remembered his childhood visit from the god, he could only understand Enochian. But what was the point in me seeing if I couldn’t understand? From what Dylan told me about the memory, Vretial said nothing helpful at all. This time I heard the names of Rojan, the boys, and myself.
Wake up. Rojan’s voice tore me from the state and I blinked at the dying fire.
I glanced around for any sign of danger, but there was none. How did I fall asleep?
Dylan must be sleeping very deeply, for you slept several hours. Remember when Ron was psychically visited by Vretial, it affected Sammy.
Perhaps that is the same for you and Dylan. Your mental bond is getting stronger the more you share your magic.
Does that affect you?
I cannot be sure yet. However, Dylan has heard me a few times. You two share dreams and since you share my memories, he can see our dreams of flying. I am a part of you, so I see what you do.
Do you have any idea what they were saying?
I am sorry, but I do not speak Enochian. I think you should ask your questions to Vretial. There is someone in the castle, coming closer.
I inhaled lightly. It was the servant of Emiko’s, and he smelled scared. I peered into Emiko’s room to see her still sleeping peacefully, so I shut the door and turned to wait for the man to find me. He did so, and sneered, insulted to face me instead of his queen.
“What did you find out?” I asked.
“Where is Kaori-mor?”
“She is safe. What did you find out?” I asked with a harsher tone. He wouldn’t be allowed to dismiss me.
He looked unsure, but I knew it was about what lie to tell and not whether he should tell me. “The king, Ishte-mor has nothing to report. He was unable to find any---” His words were cut off as I pinned him to the wall with one hand around his neck. It was always a better show of strength to restrain a man using one hand.
“It is not wise or healthy to lie to a dragon,” I growled. I let my fire seep out, not enough to burn him but enough to be extremely uncomfortable to anyone who wasn’t a dragon.
“I am not---”
I tightened my grip. “I can smell your lie!” I yelled.
He must know dragons normally have dampened senses in person form. Rojan took over, letting my eyes and claws shift. “I am the most powerful dragon you have ever faced and you will do well to remember what you are; dinner.” He let the tips of our claws sink into the man’s skin until small drops of blood spilled down the collar of his already stained shirt. “Now, I think you have an answer for me.” Rojan settled back and I loosened my grip enough to let him breathe.
“He said there was a cure if you could get it to the victim in time.”