‘Listen to me and do what I say,’ Luca said, and as he directed A Ahmud Ki the dragon egg slowly rose into the night.
‘Where are we going?’ Meg asked.
‘The breeze is carrying us west,’ said Luca. ‘We were lucky it brought us to you in the first place. Jon almost expected too much. I told him the breeze had to be right.’
‘What made the explosions?’ she asked.
‘Simple old-fashioned chemical magic,’ A Ahmud Ki explained. ‘The old human kings used it to frighten their enemies. The Aelendyell used it as pretend magic. These people make fireworks from it. Luca got me the ingredients.’
‘I’ve found my daughter,’ Meg announced. ‘Do you know where Ridge is?’
‘No,’ Luca answered.
‘It doesn’t matter,’ she said calmly. ‘I do. Put me down and I’ll get there myself.’
‘And your son?’ A Ahmud Ki asked.
‘No,’ she said. ‘I have to keep looking for him.’
‘Do you know where to look?’
‘No.’
‘Then I wouldn’t be looking for him yet—not for a while,’ A Ahmud Ki advised. ‘After this little escape you’ll have every Peacekeeper in Andrak searching for you. Better if you disappear with your daughter for a while and then, when interest in you has died down, come back for your son.’
Meg wanted to tell him that he had no idea what it would feel like to lose a son or to be a mother so close to finding him, but she knew he couldn’t possibly understand. He’d never had children. He hadn’t ever mentioned that fact, but it was obvious in everything about him. ‘I want to go to Ridge,’ she said. ‘Put me down.’
‘We’ll fly there,’ said A Ahmud Ki. ‘Tell us which way.’
‘I can’t stop the bleeding,’ Luca complained, feeling his numbed left arm with his right hand.
‘Give me your arm,’ Meg said, moving to the injured dragoneer’s side. She gently explored the wound with her fingers and then wrapped her hands around Luca’s arm. Whisper curled against her feet.
The breeze waned as the rising sun gilded the eastern mountains so they were forced to use the cranks that drove the tiny windwheels to steer the dragon egg towards Ridge, making their progress slow and difficult, until Meg silently and discreetly conjured the breeze to strengthen out of her desperation to reach her daughter. She knew the risk. She could manipulate the weather, but she couldn’t control it once it was in motion so she hoped the breeze would not become more powerful than the dragon egg could handle. ‘That’s some luck,’ said Luca, feeling the breeze strengthen. He flexed his healed arm and stared at Meg suspiciously. ‘I still don’t understand what you did,’ he admitted.
‘Simple healing,’ she replied, scratching Whisper’s ears as she nestled in the crook of her arm.
Luca looked at the snoozing rat and shook his head. He wanted adventure, but already it was taking a shape he couldn’t have dreamed. The beautiful woman with the black rat was a fascinating enigma. He’d never had a wound from a peacemaker—in fact he’d never seen one—but his arm already felt normal, as if he’d never been shot in the first place. ‘I haven’t flown this far west,’ he said, gazing at the Great Dylan Ranges, and he released an expertly measured burst of flame from the burner.
‘There!’ Meg cried, pointing. ‘Land there!’ She stared excitedly at the squares of grain fields, the line of trees bordering the tiny creek and the green roofs of the farm buildings, wondering if Emma knew she was coming.
Luca precisely steered his fragile craft and as they descended on a grassy patch near the farmhouse the people within—a man, a woman and two children—emerged to stare with curiosity at the unusual event of a dragon egg landing on their property. The farm dogs barked protectively as they warily backed towards their owners, startled by the oddity in the sky.
When the basket touched down, Meg climbed out and strode towards the family. Recognising her mother, Emma broke from the group and ran for her and they embraced fervently. ‘I promised you I would be back,’ Meg said in her native tongue and showered kisses on the top of her daughter’s head while she drank in the aroma of the girl’s hair. She looked up at the man and woman. ‘You know who I am,’ she said in Andrak, trying to keep her voice calm despite the turbulent emotion pounding through her spirit. ‘Thank you for giving my daughter a home. I hope you understand why I came back.’ She squeezed Emma tight. ‘One day I will return to thank you properly.’ As she shepherded Emma towards the waiting basket, the man started towards them. ‘Don’t do anything foolish,’ Meg warned.
He faltered and stopped. ‘You won’t get away,’ he threatened, but she heard impotency beneath his threat and felt sorry for him.
‘Look after the boy,’ she said. ‘If his mother is still alive in Shess she would beg you to love him.’ The man silently nodded slowly, accepting that there was nothing he could do to stop Meg leaving with Emma, and he embraced his wife and the boy as they joined him.
Meg lifted Emma into the basket with A Ahmud Ki’s assistance and Luca fired the burner. ‘There’s a rat!’ Emma squealed.
‘Her name is Whisper,’ A Ahmud Ki explained as he lifted Whisper for Emma to touch, but he was surprised when the girl laughed and took the rat from him.
‘She grew up with Whisper,’ said Meg. A Ahmud Ki smiled and nodded as Emma hugged her childhood pet.
‘Hang on!’ Luca warned as the dragon egg lifted from the ground, the basket swaying gently. ‘I’m scared,’ Emma said, pressing against her mother and closing her eyes.
Meg encircled her daughter, her tears glistening in the sunlight. ‘Don’t be scared,’ she crooned. ‘I’m here.’
As the dragon egg gained altitude A Ahmud Ki pointed at a troop of Peacekeepers galloping out of Ridge along the road towards the farm. ‘They’re quick!’ he noted, astonished at how speedily news of what was happening had apparently reached the town.
‘Not quick enough,’ Luca replied with a cheeky grin and he fired a fresh burst of flame, lifting them towards the clouds and freedom.
The blue haze glimmered between the saplings in the dark grove. She met his gaze and asked, ‘Are you sure this is what you want?’
He smiled disarmingly. ‘I understand the secret of the amber,’ he said. ‘For so long I was seeking something that was an illusion, and yet all the time I had what I needed with me. This world is not my world. There’s no magic here any more—not our magic. What I need to find has to be hidden somewhere in Se’Treya and I have to find where Mareg hid it.’
‘Are you sure he’s hidden it there?’ she asked.
He shrugged. ‘I don’t know for certain. I just feel it.’
‘And if you do find what you’re seeking?’
He smiled grimly. ‘I don’t know. I won’t know until I find it. Things have—things have changed. I’ve seen so many different things. Not just here but in your world—in Western Shess. I don’t know.’ He looked at her as if he was pleading for her to understand.
She nodded slowly and glanced over her shoulder. Luca and Emma were outside the grove in the early morning sunlight, waiting beside the dragon egg. She took A Ahmud Ki’s hands and the tingle of energy made her shiver, but she kept hold and said, ‘I followed my dreams and feelings to come here for my children. I understand how you feel. I owe you so much for travelling with me.’
He shook his head and met her gaze with sad grey eyes. ‘I came here for my own selfish reasons, Meg. It was—’ Again he struggled for the words, and she could see that it pained him. ‘It was convenience,’ he said softly, as if he didn’t want the words to hurt her. He swallowed and added, ‘I need to feel the power in my veins again, the power I feel teasing me when I touch you like this. I could never live as a mortal, not in this world—not in any world. I was never meant to be ordinary.’
‘You aren’t ordinary,’ she told him, but as she stared into his eyes she saw the shimmer of red energy shifting through their depths and remembered the moment in Westport when she glimpsed w
hat he must have been before his cruel imprisonment in Se’Treya. ‘But you were this Amuchki the Andraks speak about, weren’t you?’
He forced a short chuckle and shook his head again. ‘Not their Amuchki. From what I understand he was a fool—something to make stories about and to scare children with.’ Then his face became serious. ‘I might have been a Dragonlord had the world been different back then. Here, in your world, except when I touch you like this, I’m an ordinary man, not even truly like any of you because of my dead Aelendyell heritage. In Se’Treya who knows what I might be? I have to go back to find my destiny. Perhaps it isn’t even there, but if I don’t return I’ll never know the truth.’ He sighed and squeezed her hands. ‘I—I wish I could stay.’ He met her gaze and held it, bathing in her green eyes. ‘If—’ he started, but hesitated, and his brow creased as if he was struggling.
‘I know the way there,’ she said softly, and she leaned towards him. Their lips met and the kiss made their bodies thrill with so much sparkling energy that when they parted they stared at each other for a long time, unable to speak and unwilling to look away, both caught in a maelstrom of emotion.
‘Goodbye, Meg,’ he finally whispered. ‘I do love you,’ but before she could reply he turned and strode into the blue haze. The portal sparked and vanished.
The face of the first mountain loomed ahead, sunlight sparkling on the snow. ‘You know how dangerous this will be,’ Luca said, grinning eagerly. ‘Only two dragoneers have ever successfully made this crossing and they followed the Central Pass.’
Meg glanced at Emma before she looked back at Luca with a deliberately wicked smile, ‘They didn’t fly with me.’
Luca raised an eyebrow, but when he saw that she was serious he laughed and fired a long burst from the burner, the hot air lifting the dragon egg by degrees. ‘Western Andrak it is!’ he cried and he kept laughing as the dragon egg rose above the first mountain, the thrill of adventure coursing through his blood.
Emma stared at the mountains with wonder, holding her mother’s hand as if she never intended to release it.
‘Where are we going?’ she asked, looking up.
‘To find a new home,’ Meg said, and squeezed her daughter’s hand as reassurance.
‘And Treasure?’
‘One day soon,’ she promised. ‘First, we need to be safe. Then we can find him and bring him home.’
A soft nose nuzzled Emma’s ankle and Whisper sat up. Emma lifted the rat and Whisper climbed onto the girl’s shoulder making Emma giggle. ‘She’s clever,’ she said, looking up at Meg.
‘Very clever,’ Meg replied, encircling her daughter with her left arm and scratching Whisper’s left ear. Emma pressed against her mother and together they gazed at the snow and grey rock and stunted trees sweeping beneath them. As the dragon egg drifted into the Great Dylan Ranges, the morning sun warm on their backs, the past receding quickly, Meg touched her lips with her right hand, still feeling A Ahmud Ki’s gentle pressure and the echo of the thrill of energy that they shared and wished that he would find his destiny. Only then, she knew, would his restless spirit find peace. Hope, she decided, feeling the warmth of her daughter’s hand, hope drives us all.
CHAPTER FIFTY-SIX
Rees!’ the shopkeeper called across the street to the dark-haired woman and her daughter. ‘Rees Feond!’ Meg turned her head. ‘I’ve got some of that material you were asking for!’ the shopkeeper yelled.
‘We’d better go see what Mister Ealdraca has,’ Meg said to Emma as she waved to the balding, bespectacled man.
‘Can I go to the stables, please?’ Emma asked eagerly, and when her mother hesitated she pleaded, green eyes wide, ‘Please?’
Meg laughed. ‘You can see Windrider if you want.’
‘Thanks, Mum,’ Emma said and she ran towards the stone facade of the Marella stables in the main street. Meg watched her daughter until she reached the entrance where a young blond boy Emma’s age named Ian greeted her and the two headed inside where Ian’s father, Mykel Wynthrop, had a light grey mare that Emma loved to feed and curry.
In Bryon Ealdraca’s Marella Emporium, Meg examined the blue cotton material she had ordered to make a new dress for Emma and paid for it, along with thread and needles. ‘How is the job?’ Bryon asked from behind his rimless eyeglasses as he packaged her purchases.
‘Good,’ she replied.
‘Missus Tunbridge expects a solid day’s work but she’s kind at heart,’ Bryon remarked. He handed the package to Meg and produced a green candy cane. ‘For that fine young lady of yours,’ he said, grinning.
Meg accepted the gift, telling the shopkeeper that as always he was too kind, and headed for the screen door. Before she reached it, it swung open and three Western Andrak Peacekeepers in light blue uniforms entered. Meg bowed her head and stepped aside. ‘Sorry, missus,’ a Peacekeeper apologised as the three men passed her on their way towards Bryon. With a quick glance at the men, Meg stepped outside, heart racing wildly.
‘What do you think they want?’ Meg whirled to face two women who were a little older than herself. ‘Oh, sorry, Rees,’ said the shorter of the women. ‘I didn’t mean to frighten you.’
Meg blushed and laughed nervously and the women laughed with her. ‘I was thinking of other things,’ she explained quickly, trying to calm her nerves.
‘What have you bought?’ the taller woman inquired, and the conversation quickly settled into the mundane, and although she wanted to get away from the shopfront to find Emma, Meg was obliged to chat with the women who had adopted her as a friend since her arrival in Marella.
The taller, reddish-haired woman, Letta Olderson, and the shorter one, Dyan Trapper, worked in Tunbridge’s factory where Meg had found employment and they’d made her welcome from the start, inviting Emma and her to their homes to share meals and introducing her to other people. They had sympathy for the dark-haired young woman and child who’d come west in search of a husband and father gone to the Ranu war. ‘You’re not the first,’ Letta told Meg, smiling at Dyan, and Dyan related her personal tale of how she had done the same ten years earlier, until she accepted that her young husband was never returning and remarried a Marella farmer.
‘Sometimes,’ Dyan said, ‘the past has to be let go so that we can get on with living.’ And so they adopted her into their circle.
Their small talk was interrupted when the Peacekeepers emerged from Ealdraca’s shop and chorused, ‘Ladies,’ as they passed and headed for their horses. The shop door creaked again and Bryon joined the women.
‘What was that about?’ Dyan asked.
‘They’re looking for a tall red-haired woman who killed several people in Central Andrak,’ he answered, watching the Peacekeepers mount. ‘Apparently she uses magic and flew over the Great Dylan Ranges in a dragon egg about two months ago. She has long hair and travels with two men, one of whom has features like a Lendel.’
Dyan and Letta burst out laughing and Bryon, who couldn’t contain his mirth any longer, laughed with them, leaving Meg bewildered. ‘What’s so funny?’ she ventured, wondering what she had missed.
Letta caught her breath and stared at her, saying, ‘Didn’t you hear that? She uses magic?’ and she started giggling again.
‘As if anyone is going to believe that,’ said Dyan between fits of laughter. ‘And a Lendel? They’re chasing fairy folk now?’
‘We pay good taxes for idiots like that to chase gossip,’ Letta complained.
Bryon looked Meg up and down and snorted. ‘Well if we gave this one long red hair and a couple of male companions we could collect the reward.’ He kept a serious expression only a moment before it melted into laughter when he saw the horror on Meg’s face. ‘Oh, my,’ he gasped. ‘I think she thinks we’d do that.’ The women laughed with him at her and she made a pitiful attempt to smile, but inside her confusion churned her stomach and all she wanted was to collect Emma and go home.
It was Luca’s idea for her to cut and dye her hair and to take the
Andrak name—a combination of the woman’s name, Rees, who guided her to finding Emma, and of his own surname, Feond. ‘As much as I would love to stay with you,’ he told her as he prepared to leave her outside of Marella early one morning, several days after they crossed the Great Dylan Ranges, ‘you’re better off travelling into the town alone, with Emma. The Central Andrak Peacekeepers will keep searching for you, but you have time on your side. The bureaucratic procedures they have to go through to get the assistance of the Western Andrak Peacekeepers will hold them up long enough for you to get settled and establish your new identity.’
‘What about Emma’s name? What will we call her?’
Luca smiled. ‘Foreign names aren’t unusual any more. Keep it.’ He smiled at Emma. ‘It will be less confusing for her, but you will have to teach her only to speak Andrak. That will be the hardest part. You’re lucky that you can speak the language. Say you came from Crossing. It’s a town as far to the east as you can go in Andrak, on the border with Targa, and no one from here would have travelled there. It’s safe to say that you’ve travelled this far in search of your husband who’s gone to the front lines of the war. Plenty of women have done that.’
‘And papers of authority?’ she asked.
‘You were robbed on the road and everything was stolen. You’ll get sympathy and they’ll probably take you in with Emma,’ he told her. He winked and added, ‘Just don’t flash the rat around, all right? The rat rules are everywhere—legacy of the plague years ago. Everyone thought rats spread the disease and even though it’s not proven it’s still believed.’
‘But you don’t believe it?’ she asked.
Luca laughed, his white teeth glowing, and replied, ‘You haven’t seen me exactly cuddling the rat, have you?’
So she entered the town of Marella situated on a rolling plain, a full day’s travel west of a large city Luca told her was called Claarn, and the townspeople took in the abandoned wife and her child and cared for them until Meg was able to find employment and rent accommodation. Meg Farmer, foreign spy and murderess, vanished from the Andrak landscape as effectively as the magical spirit she was vaunted to be, while Rees Feond and her daughter Emma were warmly embraced by the Marella community.
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