A Bitter Brew

by Greg Curtis

  Meanwhile at his mother's table, another dozen people sat facing them, their backs to the audience and him as they stared at the ruined Great Hall. Half of them were of Val's people, taking up the cause of the Queen of Dragons while their world considered whether or not to join the Empire. The other half were his people. The gifted. There for much the same reason, but also because his mother wanted to expand her business concerns into the Empire. Politics, power and wealth – it was an unholy trinity he thought.

  And seated right in the middle of them was Simone, and since she had her back to him so he couldn't see her face, he couldn't even imagine what she must be thinking as the negotiations dragged on.

  Meanwhile his mother held the floor between the two tables, arguing the case for Simone​ Like the others she too was dressed as though she was heading to a gala. Or she had been. But she'd turned around to stare at him as he floated up. She had an annoyed look on her face. And when he finally released the spell of haste and could hear her, he knew she wasn't happy. In fact she was demanding to know what he thought he was doing.

  “Sorry Mother, Simone. It seems that these knaves were bargaining in bad faith.” He jumped down again, winced a little, and approached the Senate representatives as they sat at their table. All of them he noticed, were strangely silent. Their mouths hung open but no words escaped them. The audience had also fallen silent. But he knew that the people could hear every word because of a spell of far speech that had been placed on the negotiations.

  “Do tell me,” Hendrick asked them, “just when were you planning on telling your people that the reason you've been stalling these negotiations is because you own the mine where the eggs were hidden? And that you would rather let another million people die than lose a single ounce of gold from the profits you planned to make selling the black stones?”

  They didn't answer him. He suspected that as they sat there staring in horror at the wagon loaded down with eggs, they knew their lives were forfeit. Either at the hands of Dibella – or those of their own people.

  “Don't bother answering. I brought the proof.” He spun on his heels to face his mother and Simone.

  “Simone – Dibella – the deal is done. You will provide the locations of the black stones they can mine and a promise of peace. In return here are your eggs once again returned to you. That is on your honour.”

  Simone – the young Simone again, not the one he was used to – wasn't listening to him though. She gave a sort of off hand wave which could have meant anything, before she ran over to the wagon and climbed on to it. And then she started hugging her eggs and crying. Could dragons cry? Until then Hendrick wouldn't have thought so. Not even their magical projections. But maybe if Simone could cry, then Dibella could too. After all they were the same person. And if they could cry then maybe they weren't completely different to mortals. Whether that was good or bad, he wasn't sure.

  “Hendrick!” His mother raised her voice a little as she approached him. She looked more than a little worried. “Do you know what you've done?!”

  “Taken a gamble that Dibella is more Simone than Erohilm. That the caring mother will win out over the vengeful harridan. And it had to be done. Because these people were never going to give up the eggs. Hell, I followed Darnial Marn all the way from here to the mine. And sooner or later Dibella would have gotten angry, and hostilities would have resumed.”

  “And what is Marda doing here? On the other side?” He had to ask. Even with everything else that was happening, he had to know.

  “In theory? Providing counsel.” His mother clearly didn't believe that. But she didn't have time to worry about it though. “You just rolled the dice on this?”

  “He was right to do it.” Val spoke up from his seat at the table. “It's a rare thing! It's probably the blood loss talking! But he's right. If they are corrupt, then the negotiations never had a chance. And that's exactly what Dibella said happened every time she tried this before.”

  Hendrick's mother sighed. “And it explains why they grabbed Marda.” She sighed again. “Marnie could you do something about Hendrick’s injury please.” She managed to look worried. “I think we're going to need him when Dibella shows up in person.”

  “People,” she turned to face the people massed on the concourse, her voice carrying, thanks to spell used for the negotiations. “Those of you with homes nearby might want to go to them. Others, I suggest taking a little shelter might be in order. And for the love of Tarius, no one please even think of attacking the Queen of Dragons when she arrives. This has to be peaceful.”

  Her words seemed to have an effect on the crowd, and finally he could hear them stirring. Shuffling around, some of the delegates were looking at one another and muttering. And then they started to take their leave. Which was wise Hendrick thought. The members of the Senate meanwhile were still sitting there in stony silence. The same silence Hendrick imagined the condemned knew as they waited for the hangman to arrive.

  At least no one was panicking. Or even running. And though that was probably only because the Dragon Queen wasn't in sight yet, he was grateful. He was grateful too when he felt some sort of healing warmth flowing into his back. Even if Marnie was only able to staunch the blood flow with her spells, it would help. And for once she wasn't accusing him of some terrible affront or bone headed fecklessness. Probably because she, like the rest of them, was too worried about what was coming to think about such things.

  They had to wait a while for the Queen to arrive. Long enough for most of the crowd to disperse. And for the members of the Senate to finally come to their senses and flee as well. Hendrick watched them leave. He understood their sudden haste. If anyone was going to be first on Dibella's list of people to kill it would be them.

  Marda fled with them. But she wasn't completely welcome. He watched as she tried to get on one of the waiting wagons, and was unceremoniously told to get off by a guard. After that she took to her heels and disappeared into the thinning crowd.

  In the end though that only left himself, Val and the delegates to face Dibella alone. That didn't seem right, since none of them were even members of the Empire. On the other hand, the dragon queen had no hatred of them – he hoped.

  He spent the time as they waited, explaining what he'd done and what he'd found, and for once no one interrupted him. But whether anyone was actually listening he didn't know. Everyone's eyes were on the sky as they waited for the Queen to arrive, and he could see a few quietly muttering prayers. He thought about doing the same.

  He forgot about that though when he heard the distant crack of thunder and realised the Dragon Queen had finally come. In fact he forgot about fairly much everything. It was all he could do just to remain upright. Looking around he knew that the others were the same. Knees quaking, hearts pounding, cold sweat forming. It wasn't an easy thing to face death and to know that there was absolutely nothing you could do to stop it.

  Yet when it came, it wasn't as Hendrick had expected. It was quick. Staggeringly quick. He looked up and saw the Queen coming for them at frightening speed. Growing so quickly that his eyes simply couldn't keep up with her. And then she was on them, huge and glorious and so large that she blotted out the sky. The entire sky! There was a blur, a shadow of lightning as she seemed to reach down, and then a heartbeat later she was gone and he was left staring at empty sky.

  It took him a few moments to realise what had happened. That she'd already streaked past them.

  He turned, disbelieving the evidence of his own eyes, and discovered that she was already at least a league behind them, and climbing high into the sky, a glorious sight with the late afternoon sun striking her scales, making her sparkle all the colours of the rainbow. Barely a few heartbeats later there was another crack of thunder and flash of light and she was gone. How could she fly that fast he wondered? How could anything?

  “Vitanna's blessing!” He turned back to see that things had changed. The floating carriage was gone, carried off by Dibella as he'd
expected. His mother had found a seat, her legs finally having given up trying to keep her standing. Tyrollan and Marnie were deep in what looked like a passionate embrace – when had that happened he wondered? Val was still standing, staring at the sky in what could only be wonder. And Simone was gone too. In her place Erohilm had shown up. But they were all the same dragon.

  “Thank you!” She walked up to Hendrick's mother and embraced her as though they were old friends.

  And when he thought about it, Hendrick realised, they were in a way. She was Simone as much as she was either Erohilm or Dibella. It was just difficult to accept that three very different people, one of them a dragon, could all be the same person.

  “I loved sharing a household with you. And your war with Marda was beautiful! Such masterful attacks and dodges. And when they brought her here for the last I thought it was fitting that you should finally strike her down.”

  “For those worthless curs, but mostly for you, I give you three portals to three of my old lairs.” She nodded at the ground behind them.

  Hendrick turned to see the three portals sitting there, ready for use. It surprised him that he hadn't felt any spell being cast. When he turned back it was to find that the Dragon Queen was standing right in front of him.

  “And you, be good to your mother. Honour her. Learn from her. You have so much to learn! And maybe in time if you do you can finally become the dragon you were meant to be. As my sister's son I would welcome you as one of my suitors.”

  “Ahh!?” Hendrick was robbed of his speech by that and so he just stood there like a fool with his mouth hanging open. But that was probably for the best as he would only have said the wrong thing. Because the very thought made him want to cringe.

  “And you two,” she turned to Marnie and Tyrollan, “I wish you fertility and healthy children.”

  “As for you Valendacious Di Molena of the Third Chord, you may tell your people that I have been much impressed by them. You give me hope that the mortal races may yet rise above their barbarian ways.”

  “I shall, and thank you.” Val managed a proper bow. “It has been an honour and I shall write many books about you.”

  With that she was gone and the rest of them were left standing there, alone in front of the Great Hall. Three of them at least were wondering what they should do now. The other two were busy exploring one another's bodies in the way that lovers did, and probably only thinking about where they should do what they planned on doing next.

  Meanwhile the people who had remained behind to watch what happened, were starting to come out from behind whatever shelter they had been able to find. Most of them were looking as confused and shocked as Hendrick felt. And he had to wonder, just how much had they heard? Because there was one part of what Erohilm had said that he dearly wished nobody had heard – including himself.

  “Well that was unexpected.” Val wandered over to him.

  Hendrick thought about it and came to a somewhat different conclusion. “Actually no. Tyrollan and Marnie get blessed. You get praised. My mother gets truly lauded. While I go out, chase down the eggs, get stabbed bringing them back, give them to the Dragon Queen, and get told to honour my mother!”

  “No that was exactly what I expected. Because it's as I have always said, there is absolutely no justice in this world!”

  “Really? Because you know, she did offer to mate with you! I'd say that that was a pretty big sacrifice on her part! And when are you going to get an offer like that again?!” He emphasised the “you” and started laughing, his trunk shaking around like a snake on a twig.

  Which only went to prove what he'd said, Hendrick thought. There was no justice and no sympathy either!

  Chapter Fifty Six

  Colmenster was a nice little city. The streets were neat and tidy. The houses, both big and small, were kept in good order. And the people seemed happy enough as they went about their business. Like all the cities in the realm it had its flags flying proudly. Not just from the guard towers, but most of the other buildings. The red and gold was everywhere as Styrion was about to be welcomed into the Empire. Or was that Malthas was about to be welcomed back into the fold? Hendrick wasn't sure. The city even had little common areas where children could play while their mothers watched over them. Hendrick decided as he sat on a bench outside the nearby alehouse, that he liked that most of all. It was good to see children playing. Especially these children. It was after all the first time he had ever seen them. And it would be the last.

  As he was thinking that a shadow fell across him, catching him by surprise. Hendrick looked up to see a red haired woman standing in front of him.

  “You're looking remarkably healthy for a dead woman!”

  Actually though, he wasn't really that surprised that Sana was alive. There had been no body after all. Just a report. And he'd always thought it was a touch suspicious. Or perhaps convenient was a better word. Because the moment she had been officially announced as dead, she had also stopped being hunted. Which meant she could return to Styrion. He'd thought about pretending to be dead himself. On the other hand, he was somewhat surprised to see her standing in front of him.

  “And you're looking remarkably overdressed for a sunny spring day.” Sana flashed him a polite if somewhat distant smile and sat down beside him.

  Hendrick understood that distance between them. Things were never going to be close between them. He had after all ripped an arm and a leg off her, and though he had saved her life, he doubted she would ever forget that. He wouldn't. It was a memory that still shamed him. And he guessed judging from her expression, she was similarly conflicted about what had happened.

  “So why the hood and the pilgrim staff?” she asked.

  “Mostly so I don't scare the children.” He'd worked hard for the past six months, meditating constantly as he practised his spells, and his markings had faded a lot. But still, he had a sparkling grey eye and lines that ran over one side of his face. People stared at him. Worse than that, they recognised him. He didn't want to be recognised. And no one paid any attention to a priest.

  “You don't seem that frightening. But also, you don't look to be dressed for the occasion.”

  “You think I'm going to the ceremony?!”

  “You're not?” She sounded surprised. “But you're here in Colmenster. I assumed it was because you were going to escort your mother to the ceremony. That was how I found you.”

  “Hardly!” He laughed quietly. “She can escort herself, and she'd probably prefer it. I just say the wrong things and get in the way.” After all, this was business for her. His mother was determined not just to make the family business thrive, but he suspected, to become the wealthiest woman in the realm. Maybe any realm. And she might just do it if she didn't have an afflicted son getting in the way.

  But most of all he simply didn't want to go. He understood that it was an important day for the realm when Styrion was joining the Empire. But it wasn't that to him. It was a disaster.

  “Then why are you here?”

  “You see those three mop haired tykes playing by the swing?” He nodded in their direction but didn't point.

  “Yes?”

  “They're my nieces and nephew. I promised myself a long time ago that I'd at least see them once. And today when my mother, brother and sister in law are all off attending the celebrations and signing deals, it seemed like the perfect day. After all, the nanny doesn't know who I am. Nor does anyone else. I'm just a strange priest sitting on a bench, enjoying the sun. So no one ever has to find out.”

  “But you won't actually go and see them? Introduce yourself?”

  “No. I wouldn't be welcome. Times may be changing, our people may be able to trade on their gifts a little and enter Council Chambers, but as far as my family is concerned I'm still afflicted. I always will be.”

  “That's sad.”

  Sana didn't mean that the situation was sad, he knew. She meant that he was sad. But that didn't bother him too much. She might
even be right. But he still didn't want anything to do with his family. It might have taken him nearly thirty years to realise that, but he had finally learnt his lesson. It was enough to see his nieces and nephew from a distance this one time and offer up a few prayers to the gods that they didn't become anything like their grandmother.

  “Do you see your family much?” In his defence he thought he should point that out.

  “How can I? I'm dead remember!” Then her face fell a little. “Besides, they don't want to see me either. I'm like you, afflicted.”

  “You're still the only child though, aren't you?” That should make a difference he thought. His fate had been sealed because he had an older brother.

  “They've found a cousin I believe. She’s changed her name. And so the Mirrion lineage continues.” She shrugged, unhappily.