Dragons of Wild (Upon Dragon's Breath Trilogy Book 1)

by Ava Richardson

  He knew that one day I might face hard choices just as he had. But I, too, had trusted the wrong friends.

  I had trusted Vic when I should not have. I had allowed Saffron to talk me into returning to Torvald when I knew better. And right now…well, right now King Enric was planning something and I did not know what it was, but it could not bode well for Torvald.

  But what could I do?

  I’d fallen into a trap. I was as doomed as my father had been.

  Had he been held here? Had he faced this dark place and knew his life would be over soon.

  I thought about all the things I might have done if my life had taken a different turn. If House Daris had never fallen on bad times. I could have started building new opportunities for the poorest to work and helped to rebuild the city. If House Daris had been rich, we might have funded new farms and grain mills. We could have sacrificed some of the family profits from trade to help the city, which in turn would have brought even more trade to the city.

  Remembering my time hiding in Monger’s Lane, I knew the entire city was teetering on the edge of collapse. It wouldn’t be long before the streets ran with fire and blood if the king kept up this level of oppression. Was he was holding a month-long fair to make everyone feel better for a time?

  Closing my eyes, I knew I had made a mistake with Vic. I had expected the best of him. Was I now thinking that of the king?

  If I were Enric, what would I do if I faced a capital ready to fall apart? What would I do if I faced people ready to be done with my rule?

  Thinking back to how the king had swept Master Julian from the chamber, I realized the king would do the same to anything else that he viewed as standing in his path to power.

  Cold swept into me, chilling me to my heart.

  This fair—it was as much a trap as Vic had set for me in House Daris.

  The king was luring people into the city—what he had planned for them I did not know. But suddenly I knew I had to escape. I had to warn the city. I had to stop a looming disaster—or Torvald would be no more.

  Staring into the darkness, the harsh reality of the dungeon cell hit me hard. I might never escape. I might die with my city.

  Longing settled deep inside me—oh, what would I trade to be on the road with Saffron and Jaydra and no bigger a problem than where would we sleep?

  But that life was done. Somehow I had to warn Torvald that its king meant them as much harm as he meant me.

  The king’s gardens were nothing like the islands where I had grown up, but it was still agreeable to get out in the fresh air. I needed to think and plan—and find Bower. So far, I had not been able to do any of those things. Caitlyn, the girl who had first brought me breakfast seemed to be my personal maid. I also had to wonder if she was perhaps a spy for the king.

  It was my second day in the palace and the first time I had been allowed outside. Anywhere I went, Caitlyn followed like a skinny shadow. She had at least brought with her a covered basket of fresh rolls and tiny bottles of ginger and lemon beer. I’d already discovered the palace was huge—it would take far too long to search everywhere for Bower. My tower room had a staircase that led to the Rose Hall, the place where the king had shown me some of what the Maddox magic could do. I had thought at first that the Rose Hall had to take up most of the palace, it was so grand. Walking around today, I had realized that my tower and the gigantic Rose Hall were only one part of a structure that had to be ten times larger.

  And I was still waiting to learn something about magic—and still wanting to leave as soon as I could. But I was worried.

  Everywhere in the palace I saw images of just how much the people had been taught to fear and hate dragons. Paintings showed knights slaying dragons. The servants all used sayings that cast dragons as dangerous.

  “Evil winds blow cold from a dragon’s maw,” Caitlyn had told me last night. I’d told her that a dragon’s breath was hot, and that had gotten us into an argument over how no one’s supposed to know anything about dragons.

  Looked up at the dark ruins on the ridgeline near the palace, I asked her now, “Is that the volcano? The one that was said to be a home for dragons? I could see how it would make a good den, those high rocky walls, and lots of heat from below.”

  “My lady!” Caitlyn was staring at me, her eyes huge.

  “What is it?” I asked. I turned to walk down yet another gravel path. All of the paths seemed to be graveled. Why did they do that when they had a perfectly good lawn to walk on instead?

  “Dragons, ma’am. You’re never supposed to talk about them like you know anything about ‘em. It’s against the king’s wishes and the king is great and terrible!” Her voice had gone high and the words tumbled out almost too fast to follow.

  “You mentioned dragons last night in that ridiculous saying of yours—cold winds from a dragon’s mouth.”

  “That’s different. We’re allowed to say things like that. Just not things like—”

  “Like how dragons live, or that they might have families, or that they might actually not be nothing but claws and fangs?” Her mouth opened and closed. I almost laughed, but it wasn’t funny. Shaking my head, I told her, “Don’t fret, Caitlyn. I won’t tell anyone we had this conversation if you don’t. I just think it odd that folks go on blaming everything on the ghosts of dragons? Why not blame this garden for not having trees to shelter us from the prevailing wind? Why not learn about dragons?”

  “But King Enric is great and terrible, and he says—”

  “What do you think? That’s what matters.”

  She shook her head and shifted her basket to the other arm.

  I would probably never get anywhere with Caitlyn. She was too deeply entrenched in the king’s service and unable to believe he might be mistaken in any way. Was everyone like that? If so it was going to be even more difficult to find Bower.

  Looking around, I decided the king’s gardens weren’t really gardens. Not in the sense I understood. A garden was meant to provide food and herbs. I’d seen dozens of gardens on my travels, and they’d been all sorts of sizes, but they’d always had more than grass and gravel in them.

  We turned a corner and strode into yet another garden.

  This one at least had tall hedges with flowers on them. They made a line next to a fountain that bubbled up clear water. Other trees or bushes had been chopped into different shapes like a triangle or a cube. It all seemed a little too tame to me.

  I was used to thick vines with lush flowers, tall grasses that waved in the wind, scattering their seeds at random, and a hundred different types of trees. For a moment, I wanted nothing more than to be back on the islands, wandering one of paths made by the villages, or a broad path made by dragons, or climbing up into a tress to pick melons.

  Looking around, I wanted nothing more than to run over and climb a wall—but I noticed that no vines had been planted near the tall walls that surrounded the palace. No trees were planted anywhere near to the walls—there would be no escape unless I could fly away.

  And I can’t do that unless Enric teaches me how.

  I gave a snort of disgust. A cough behind us answered. I turned and King Enric stepped out from a gap in the hedge, flanked by two Iron Guards. I hadn’t heard them approach, but considering the magic I had seen yesterday, I shouldn’t be surprised that the king knew how to manipulate sounds as well as sights.

  “Lady Saffron.” Enric inclined his head, waved away his guards and sent Caitlyn away with a glance. She gave a curtsy and turned to flee, her feet crunching on the gravel path.

  I glanced sideways at Enric and gave a start.

  For the briefest of moments, I glimpsed deep, sunken eyes, yellowed skin with each vein and tendon clearly visible. I blinked and looked at the king and the image vanished. King Enric stood before me, dazzling in golden robes that fanned out at the sleeves and covered him to his ankles. Jewels that I had learned were called diamonds glittered on a golden chains hung around his neck.

 
Was something wrong with me that I’d seen anything else other than the king?

  “My lady?” The king stepped closer and frowned. “Are you well? You look as if you have been out in the sun too long? You must have a care for your wellbeing.”

  “King Enric,” I stammered and brushed a hand over my forehead to wipe away the sweat that had gathered. I tried a curtsey—Caitlyn had tried to teach me one this morning.

  “Please, no need for that. We are family after all… and, I hope we can be friends as well.”

  Suddenly, I wanted more than anything to be his friend. He smiled and I started to smile back, but…

  Bower.

  “Bower,” I said. I took a step away from Enric. “You said he would be safe. But where is he? I haven’t seen him, and you said he was going to be taken to the dungeons, and I need to know if he is safe before...” I let the words trail off.

  Before what?

  I didn’t have an answer to that question.

  A shadow seemed to darken the king’s eyes. He winced slightly as if he’d been stuck with a thorn. “I had hoped I wouldn’t have to break this news to you at once. Not after your terrible ordeal in travelling here, and your magic backfiring and your confusion and all.”

  “What confusion? Did something happen? What is wrong with Bower? Is he safe?” My heart began to thud against my chest.

  “Bower of House Daris has gone…no, no, not dead. You need not look so stricken. I sent me guards to offer him a pardon. Such a shame. I had rather hoped he would stay and, perhaps eventually, come to take his place again and regain my favor.”

  “Why did he go? Where? It doesn’t make any sense to me.” I bit down on the words that Bower would not abandon me. I had not known him long, but I knew that about him.

  The king gestured for me to walk with him. “I think that I might have made things worse. You see, I fear that the reason he didn’t bring you straight to me when you first came to the city was that he was actually afraid I would be angry with him. Just think, Saffron, if Bower had announced he had found my last living relative. How could I have been angry at his petty criminal activities? You see, I knew of his reading habits. But I let it slide. They were, after all, just a few books. It all seemed so harmless.”

  I found myself nodding even though I didn’t want to.

  The king shook his head and let out a long breath. “However, I fear the young man has too much hate in him to ever want to understand me. I gave him the choice to join you, but he wouldn’t take it. He said that he would rather die—so very dramatic, these young people. And, of course, by what he said, he has not known you long enough to claim a deep friendship, now has he?” The king raised his eyebrows, and I shook my head. “What could I do? The young man forced my hand. His other choice was to leave the city.”

  “He left Torvald?” I said my throat tight. Torvald was his home. This could not be right.

  The king nodded and gave another sigh. “Just as he did once before. He left. Ran off yet again rather than just talk to me, his king!” Enric pinched the bridge of his nose as if it was all too frustrating and silly to bear thinking about.

  He did leave before… And he told me when I first met him that he would never be able to take me back here, but I forced him.

  I stared down at the grass and kicked at it with my boot.

  Maybe everything the king had just said was true—and Bower had never intended to stay here at all.

  But he left me.

  The thought rang in my mind. Bower left me, just as my father and mother had left me. I was left to fend for myself.

  Angry coiled in my belly, hot and clawing at me. For a moment, I wanted to release my magic at Bower. I had thought him my friend, but he made his hatred of King Enric more important. Now I had no one to help me—except Enric.

  “I am sorry, Saffron. Perhaps in time he will see the error of his ways. Maybe then he will come back to us. Especially when he sees what you have become under my tutelage.”

  I looked up, excitement stirring inside me, blotting out the anger. “When do we start? You said you would teach me to control my magic.”

  “Patience, child. I will teach you to use the power within our blood. The Maddox power.” Enric grinned. “Together we will rule the world as it was always meant to be. We will remake Torvald. The prophecy will come true. And you will be my dragon queen.” reaching out a hand, Enric stroked a finger down my cheek.

  I tried not to shudder. His touch chilled me. I turned away from him and it happened again—I saw the face of an old man, his nose huge with age, his teeth yellowed and long, his sunken eyes glittering in a winkled and lined face. A few pale hairs stood up on his bald and age-spotted head. His neck seemed lined and thick.

  Pulling back, I faced him. But now he once again had dark hair and an unlined face. I blinked. What had I seen? Had it been the real Enric leaking out, or simply an illusion he had cast out for a moment as a test, part of him starting to teach me magic?

  “My lady?” Enric frowned. “Have I gone too far, too fast? You are not accustomed to any attention, I know.”

  The truth slammed into me. This was not a test to start teaching me anything. No, he had been using his magic on me, to fool me into thinking he was young and handsome when he was in fact far older than me.

  Heart hammering, I knew I could not let him know that I had seen past his illusion. I needed to use him the way he was trying to use me. He was trying to make me forget Bower—trying to make me lean only on him. So I would act as if I had nothing better to do than to learn about magic.

  Turning away, I shook my head. “I need time to think. Time to adjust to all the changes. It will be easier when I know more magic…and know more about my blood.”

  And know where Bower really is.

  “Of course, my lady, of course.” Enric’s voice changed and he said, his tone suddenly imperious, “It has turned cold out here. There is a chill from the mountain.” He clapped his hands and two Iron Guards stepped from behind the hedges to his side. “Please see the lady back to her tower.”

  I opened my mouth to complain, but closed it again. Enric needed to think I was under his spell—he needed to think I could be made to agree to anything. I smiled and rubbed my arms, even though the sun still felt warm to me. “It is chill. I will go back.”

  His eyes narrowed but his mouth curved up. “Please do not take too long with your decision, my lady.”

  I turned away, but I had heard the threat under his words.

  It was quite possible that my time was now as short as the little time that Torvald had left to it—and I still had not discovered where Bower was being kept.

  17

  From the Horse’s Mouth

  Bower?

  The dream was one I’d had before and I curled up tighter. I didn’t want to wake up just yet. I was dreaming of having fallen asleep in my study, stretched out in my most comfortable chair, a warm fire crackling, the room smelling of leather and pages. Only a moment more here—that was all I wanted. I needed to forget just for a short time every terrible thing that had happened or would be happening soon.

  Bower!

  The voice poked at me, like a thought in my head that wasn’t mine, as insistent as a nagging conscience. Someone had invaded the sanctuary of my study. When I looked, however, I only saw s pristine shelves with books intact and in perfect order. Did cook want me? Or father? Was he alive still?

  Foolish Bower, wake and look up.

  The voice echoed in my mind, forcing me out of my chair. A wind whipped through the study, carrying off the books, snuffing the fire and leaving me cold and shivering.

  All gone—my books are all gone.

  Not gone—here. Look and wake.

  What? What is that up there?

  I glanced up and saw a small gap near the ceiling of the study. The books had fallen off the shelves, leaving a tiny strip of tired light that leaked in. I wanted to stay in my chair, not go back into the cold. I wanted to be comfort
able again. Gripping the chair arms, I tried to hold onto the dream. I was not going to climb the wall of bookshelves to reach a gap that a voice in my head kept telling me had appeared.

  This time a hot, snorting, growling breath tickled the back of my neck.

  I woke to the sound of roaring wind—only it wasn’t a wind, but a hot, fiery breath that shook my dream, scattering it like the torn pages of my books.

  Blinking, my eyes hurting from the flare of light, I tried to shout out a caution to have a care. I couldn’t get a word out past the roaring and growling. More and more of the grey, watery spilled into the cell. I covered my head with my arms and wondered if I would die now.

  The smoke in my cell began to lift, but it had set me to coughing and spluttering. I pried opened my eyes and squinted up at the light that was falling from the small grate far above and directly into my eyes. I was cold and stiff, but it seemed to me that fire had awakened me.

  Was that even possible?

  The light wobbled above me. A shadow moved and came back. Someone or something was up there. I heard digging noises and then something pounded on an iron grate.

  Was that a horse?

  A sensation almost like a headache buzzed behind my ears—a pressure more than a pain. It faded almost at once. Oddly, it seemed to be coming not from within me. It wasn’t due to the battering I’d had, but seemed to be coming from the horse that was moving about near the grate.

  “Jaydra?” I asked. What else could it be, other than a dragon disguised as a horse. I almost laughed at that absurd idea.

  The digging paused. After another shuffling and a stream of soil that trickled down into my cell, the eye of a large horse appeared. An unusual eye, flecked with an almost luminescent gold and silver.

  “Jaydra, it is you!”

  Once again the buzzing pressure behind my eyes intensified. It was almost as if…

  No, that can’t be.

  Was Jaydra trying to communicate with me—was that her mind just about knocking on me? I didn’t quite understand it, but Saffron had insisted she could talk to the dragon. I knew the two of them had a special bond. I had certainly caught Saffron speaking aloud to what seemed like no one, but could Jaydra establish a link with me?