Dragon-Ridden

by White, T. A.

  “I thought this was your room,” she said confused.

  “It would have been too cramped with all the people you brought back with you so I figured it’d be best to get another room.”

  She blew out a breath not even wanting to think about how much that cost. This place wasn’t like the Crow’s Nest where a room could be rented for a short time at a moments notice. This place was more for permanent lodging and wouldn’t necessarily have an available room. She peeked up at Ryu who watched her with unblinking eyes. Once again, his actions left her with more questions than answers.

  “Your old friend’s with them too.”

  Friend? Oh, that’s right. Night and Dewdrop had rescued Tempest while making their escape. She’d been so consumed with her own concerns earlier that she’d never figured out why. She shrugged. There was time for that later. Right now she was starved. Right on cue her stomach growled. Loudly.

  She blushed furiously when Ryu laughed and handed her a plate of cold meat and bread. She attacked it with gusto. “I can’t believe how hungry I am,” she said with a full mouth.

  “I can,” Ryu said studying her. She tried to slow down, but her stomach rumbled again. She gave up trying to be civilized, instead cramming it in and swallowing before even tasting it. “You were unconscious all of yesterday and part of this morning.”

  She looked woefully at her empty plate and gave serious consideration to licking it clean. With a sigh she set it aside. At least some of her hunger had been taken care of. She could wait until she got something a little more substantial to eat.

  Ryu handed her a turnover, one with meat and potatoes in it. She snatched it from him and munched on it as well.

  “You spent a lot of energy healing, yesterday,” he said. “You’ll be a little shaky until you replenish it.”

  She paused in her snack and then twisted from side to side. “My back doesn’t hurt.” She tried to look over her shoulder but couldn’t really see anything. She tried to reach around her to touch what should have been a wound but only felt unblemished skin.

  Ryu caught her arm and pulled it down. “We had a healer in yesterday to work on you.”

  “I couldn’t feel any scars,” she said in awe. “That must’ve been some healing.”

  He inclined his head. “Indeed.”

  An awkward silence fell between them. Awkward on Tate’s part anyway. Ryu seemed content to sit and watch.

  Tate plucked at her shirtsleeve. Thank goodness someone had had enough sense to make sure she had a shirt while she was sleeping.

  A thought occurred to her. “Shouldn’t you be heading back to your place now that I’m awake?”

  He shook his head. “The healer said that somebody would need to keep an eye on you until you felt better.” He handed her a glass of water. “Here, you need to drink plenty of liquids to replace some of the blood you lost.”

  He poured a glass of water and passed it to her. She drank gratefully, the liquid soothing against her dry throat. She finished the glass and reached for another.

  “Let that one settle,” he advised.

  Tate slumped back in bed now that her immediate needs had been addressed. It was a relief to be out of the tunnels. She hadn’t realized how much it bothered her to be down there until she no longer had to deal with the constant state of nervousness.

  Ryu leaned forward and took hold of her arm. She lifted her head and raised an eyebrow at him in question. She tried to jerk out of his hold when he started to peal her sleeve back, but he held her firmly in place.

  “What are you doing? Let go.” She could only watch in helplessness as he finished exposing her arm and the dragon. It peered up at him in curiosity with its tongue flicking in and out in curiosity. The thing uncurled and pranced down Tate’s arm to her wrist to bat playfully against Ryu’s fingers. He rubbed one finger along her back and the resulting silent purr of the beast vibrated against Tate’s skin.

  She jerked away sharply. His fingers slid off her wrist slowly, letting her know she gained her freedom only because he let her. The dragon flicked its tail and wound its way back to its perch on her upper arm. The sleeve fell down hiding it quickly from sight.

  “This changes things,” Ryu said, staring at her arm.

  “What do you mean?” Tate asked sharply.

  A knock came at the door before he could respond. Ryu answered it, preventing Tate from asking any more questions. She narrowed her eyes at his back. This wasn’t over. She’d get answers out of him eventually.

  There was a quiet murmur of voices as Dewdrop and Ryu talked.

  Tate pointed at Ryu. “I’m not done with you. I want answers.”

  “You’re so suspicious of everything,” he said with a cheeky grin.

  “Can you blame me? You sent me on what was supposed to be a relatively easy information gathering run. All I had to do was watch them and then report back. Instead the very people I was supposedly helping sold me out to two separate criminals, Night Lords, no less.” She slapped the bed jostling one of the cubs. “Furthermore, it seems like all of them are convinced I have something that I don’t and seem willing to do whatever it takes to get it back. They’re not too picky on how they do it, either.”

  She threw the covers back and swung her legs out of bed, wanting to stand while she shouted at him. Seeing that she had no pants on, she quickly pulled the covers over her again.

  “Here’s the part I find simply fascinating. It was you who set all this up.” Ryu’s face was impassive as she railed at him, and Dewdrop looked like he was trying to fade into the woodwork. “So, yes, Ryu, to answer your question I am extremely suspicious of everything at this point because it seems that everybody has been keeping secrets and using me to further their own agenda. Including you.”

  Whew. She hadn’t really meant to say all that, but once she started, she hadn’t really been able to stop. He kept acting like her suspicion was unwarranted, but in her mind, he’d done nothing to prove it wasn’t.

  “Um, maybe I should just-“ Dewdrop turned to make an exit.

  “Don’t you go anywhere, Dewdrop! I have a lot of questions for you.” Tate folded her arms.

  There was another knock on the door, forestalling any further questions. With a hint of relief, Dewdrop answered. Tate bit her tongue in frustration at the interruption.

  Night and, to Tate’s shock, Tempest filed in to the room.

  The twin cubs yowled and ran to the edge of the bed before leaping off it towards their father. Night placed a paw on each, licking them when they tried to hook their claws into his fur and climb. They bounced around him as he stretched out along the floor purring softly to the two. Once he was settled, they cuddled against his chest and nuzzled him.

  Tempest shuffled over to the chair Ryu indicated, holding himself gingerly as if he were in pain. He’d aged considerably since Umi and Kadien had sold Tate out to Lucius. The pain lines around his eyes and mouth made him look considerably older, but there was a loss of innocence about him that Tate recognized. He held himself like someone who had lost the ideals upon which his world was founded. It made her uncomfortable knowing that; however unwittingly, she’d been part of making that happen. Once gone, that innocence of faith wasn’t easily restored.

  Ryu nudged Tate over so he could sit beside her on the bed. She went, not because she trusted him, but because she was still the tiniest bit afraid of him. She wouldn’t let that stop her from getting answers, but it did mean she would treat him with caution.

  Tempest eased himself slowly into the chair, grimacing in discomfort.

  “What happened to you?” Tate asked.

  “The Red Lady happened,” Dewdrop said from his post against the wall.

  Tate turned back to Tempest. “Is that true?”

  He nodded, unable to look at her.

  She glanced at Ryu, but he was focused on Tempest with an all-consuming intensity. Curious.

  “Why isn’t he fully healed like me?” she asked Ryu.

&nbs
p; His jaw tightened, but he didn’t answer.

  Shamefaced, it was Tempest who responded. “When he found out what my l-… Umi had done in trading you to the Night Lord, he refused to let the healer treat any but the life threatening injuries.”

  Hmm. Tate twisted to look up into Ryu’s face, staring as if the answers to his actions were written there. He finally turned to meet her eyes. He flicked her on the forehead, saying, “I thought you wanted answers.”

  “I do,” she said, rubbing the stinging spot.

  “Well you won’t get them staring at me.”

  Tate rolled her eyes. He was right though. Much as she hated to admit it. Unless she’d developed amazing powers of suggestion, she wouldn’t get anything if she’d didn’t start asking the right questions.

  She got lost in thought while staring at Tempest trying to figure out the right question. She held up a hand to Ryu. “Do not flick me again.”

  He settled back down, letting her think.

  “Why were you at the Red Lady’s mercy?” she finally asked.

  There was a long pause while Tempest stared at the floor. She thought he wasn’t going to answer her question until he finally lifted his head. “She had never had a Kairi in her collection so Umi traded me for services rendered.”

  Tate nodded thoughtfully. She’d suspected as much, but she needed him to confirm it. How helpful he was would depend on how bad Umi’s betrayal had been.

  “Because she didn’t have the key,” Tate said slowly, thinking back over what she’d overheard. She felt Ryu’s sudden interest but ignored him.

  Tempest closed his eyes but nodded.

  “What is this key?” Tate asked. Since everybody assumed she had it, she needed to know exactly what it was.

  The answer, when it came, came from an unexpected quarter. “It was supposed to be the hairpin me and Tom stole.”

  Tate looked at Dewdrop and then at Tempest who nodded. That sounded right.

  “It was, and it wasn’t,” Tempest finally said. “The hairpin was simply the form that carried it. In reality, it’s the piece of magic held in the pearl that everybody wants.”

  Ryu leaned forward. “Oriade’s tear. You brought Oriade’s tear here? To Aurelia?” Ryu was off the bed and pacing.

  “What’s Oriade’s tear?” Tate asked keeping an eye on Ryu.

  Tempest hung his head and rubbed his hand. Tate shifted uneasily. This was going to be bad.

  “Tempest? What is Oriade’s tear?” Tate asked again.

  “Outsiders aren’t supposed to know,” he whispered. “I could be charged with treason.”

  “Treason,” Ryu mocked. “You’ve already committed treason by taking it out of the sea palace. Why stop there? You might as well keep going.”

  Tate waited knowing nothing she said would persuade him to give up his secrets. Asking a man to betray his loyalties wasn’t something to be done lightly, but Tate needed answers if she was to find a way out of this mess.

  He seemed to come to a decision and raised his head with a resolved expression. “To understand what Oriade’s key is and can do, you have to first understand a little bit of history about my people.” He paused and cleared his throat. “During the second race war, two lovers rose quickly through the ranks. One possessed an incredibly powerful ability to affect water on a massive scale, but that power was unpredictable and unmanageable. He could use it, barely, but only at great cost to himself and others. His love, however, had the ability to channel that power and return it to him in a useable form. Her help allowed him to wield his power freely and without regard to consequences. Together, the two were unstoppable, massacring army after army by manipulating the water in their enemies’ own bodies. They could also controlled the sea routes by making the sea impassable to any but their allies.”

  Tempest stopped speaking long enough to take a sip of water. The lovers sounded impressive, but Tate couldn’t quite figure out how they fit into the current stream of events.

  “After the massacre of the city Imala’s children, Oriade realized that they had become like the very people they had been fighting against. She believed the lack of consequences over their power’s use was corrupting her people. Turning them into monsters. She tried to talk with her leaders, including her lover, but they refused to listen, only seeing what they could create. She decided that to create balance in the world and save the principles of her people that she would have to leave. Knowing she was the key to victory, Kathos, Oriade’s love, had her chained and imprisoned somewhere where they could still access her abilities. Upon hearing her cries for help the gods and goddesses who had saved us so long ago took notice of what was happening in the world below. They agreed with Oriade that the killing was ripping the world apart, pitting brother against brother and father against son. Whole generations were lost in battle. So, they struck Kathos with a deadly disease killing him before letting the disease move on to his army. Those infected had their powers stolen and sealed as penance for their sins. Oriade, upon hearing of her love’s death and her friends’ plight, wept and begged the gods to take her powers too. Her tears coalesced into a single pearl that contained all of her abilities, putting them out of reach of those who would abuse them.” Tempest took another sip of water to sooth a dry throat.

  Tate regarded him skeptically. “That’s it? That’s what everybody wants? A tear some woman cried?”

  “It’s not just any tear,” Ryu said tiredly.

  Tate looked at Ryu. “Is that what I was supposed to get back?”

  “No, no you weren’t. You were supposed to be tracking the fulcrum.” He said tightly.

  “What’s that?” Dewdrop asked.

  “An item containing all of the powers that the Gods had sealed,” Ryu said.

  “After the war had ended, the Kairi were left with two items: the fulcrum and its key. The Aurelian Empire feared that if it left the artifacts with the Kairi they would be able to resurrect the power of Oriade and Kathos given enough time. The Kairi thought that if Aurelia had both, they would do the same.” Tempest leaned back in his chair. “So as part of the treaty the key was given to the Kairi to be kept in their sea palace and the fulcrum was to be kept in the empire.”

  “Wait, I thought Umi said her family’s guards had been killed in the fulcrum’s theft,” Tate said.

  Ryu nodded. “You are correct. The Kairi feared we would be able to find a way to unlock the fulcrum, so several of their guards along with the Aurelian guards remained with it at all times.” To Tempest, he said, “Tell me your mistress didn’t orchestrate the abduction of the fulcrum. We know she stole Oriade’s key, did she steal the fulcrum as well?” Crossing to Tempest, he pulled him from his seat, asking in a deadly voice, “Is that why she traveled here?”

  Tate started to get out of the bed, heedless of her undressed state. They wouldn’t get any answers if Ryu ended up choking Tempest into unconsciousness. She settled back down when Tempest held out a hand stopping her.

  Gravely, he told Ryu, “I don’t know if she orchestrated the event or simply took advantage of it. Either way she does not hold the interests of the Kairi in her heart anymore. She wants power and doesn’t care about the cost.”

  “Is it possible she has it and just says she doesn’t?” Tate asked.

  Tempest thought over her question before shaking his head. “It’s possible but highly unlikely. Her shock when the Red Lady pronounced the tear a fake was genuine as was her anger. I don’t think her acting is that good.”

  Maybe. But- “Well, her acting was good enough to fool the three of us. Ryu and I have experience spotting deception. I, at least, totally fell for her innocent act.”

  She’d walked right into the double cross not even suspecting what was about to happen. It was a heavy blow to her pride.

  “Still.” Tempest looked like he disagreed. “It would serve no purpose to pretend it was lost. Her final objective is not the key. That was simply what she was willing to trade to get what she wanted.”
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br />   It was Dewdrop who asked what was on all their minds. “If she doesn’t have it, who does?”

  They all looked at Tempest, who having spent the most time with Umi and the key, would have the most knowledge.

  He shrugged helplessly. “We don’t know. We’d assumed that either the original thief, or Tate had taken it and swapped it with the original.”

  Tate became the sudden focus of attention. She blinked back at them. “Well, I don’t have it.” She sighed. Under suspicion once more. “The time in the market place was the first time I’d seen the hairpin, and I didn’t exactly have time to substitute it for an identical one.”

  Ryu considered her thoughtfully. “Older objects like this one often have a mind of their own. It’s possible that the magic inside detached and reattached to something of yours.” He spoke to Tempest as he talked through his theory. “Powerful items tend to develop a sentience after awhile. If it felt threatened it might have sought sanctuary somewhere else.”

  Tempest nodded. “Yes. I’ve heard of such instances as well.”

  Tate didn’t like where this was going. “That doesn’t mean I have it.” She folded her arms across her chest. “I’m not the only one who had hold of it, you know.”

  “What were you wearing that day?” Ryu asked, ignoring her. He didn’t wait for an answer. Instead, he went through the satchel she had left with him before going off with Umi. He pulled out several pieces of clothes and piled them on the floor.

  Tate sputtered. “Hey! Stop that.”

  It was too late. He held up the shirt and pants she’d worn that first morning and inspected each item carefully, running his hands along the cloth. “Nothing,” he said in disgust, throwing them back into the pile.

  Tate folded her arms. “I told you.”

  “What else were you wearing?” he asked.

  “A belt,” Dewdrop said snapping his fingers.

  Ryu nodded and off he went, searching for her belt and anything else she might have been wearing. Tate fell back on the bed. Nobody listened to her so why bother protesting?