They all nodded, and I felt another ripple of anxiety among them.
Something about all this seemed strange, but I didn’t feel overly troubled. It seemed that I had a good life. I was one of the best warriors in the army, and I could absorb magic from the crystal and help heal my comrades from their wounds. They were all very grateful. Emiri made up her bed beside me every night and gave me an eager look. “When we return home, we’ll be wed.” Her long black hair was the only thing that seemed very familiar to me.
I was frustrated sometimes, because my mind seemed a little dulled.
“You’re always like that,” Emiri said, putting her arms around my neck. “You’re our big lug. Don’t try too hard and hurt yourself.”
She smelled very sweet and had a face to match, and I nodded, but something continued to nag at me. I couldn’t place it. It kept me up at night sometimes. I would wake up in a panic, not knowing where I was, and everyone around me seemed like a stranger. But then I would calm down, and look at the sleeping faces and the ashes of the fire. I had always liked camps, especially small ones like this. After a day of travel, there was nothing better than crashing onto a bedroll and having a good rest surrounded by friends and the caverns of faintly glittering crystal.
And the oldest one of our party, Igru the bard, had a little flute and would sometimes play mournful tunes as we settled into our beds. The music was beautiful and I remembered a few of the songs, which helped settle my troubled thoughts.
We reached Gemuru castle after several long days of travel through some fairly tight caves. It was guarded heavily.
“Wait here,” Goru said. “I’ll go in first and explain to the queen what happened.”
Emiri squeezed his hand in a comforting gesture. Tough as he was, he looked like he expected punishment.
He turned and went through the gates. I saw him whispering something to the guard. The doors opened and shut behind him. No one said anything. Emiri paced and then gave me a wan smile.
“Is the queen so angry that she would hurt Goru?” I asked.
“No no,” Igru said. “The queen will be happy with what was accomplished once it’s explained, I’m sure. We gathered some important intelligence.”
“And we can be wed,” Emiri said.
It must have been over an hour before the doors opened again. Some soldiers came out and said, “The queen will see you now.”
Emiri was trembling. I took her hand. She smiled at me gratefully. I used to be more shy with her, I thought.
We were led into a courtyard, where crates were being loaded onto boats lined up in the canal that flowed just behind the castle, and into the hall and then the throne room. The room was faintly hazy with mist. The queen sat on her throne, with an empty throne beside her where the king had been. However, just behind her was a dark, bearded man wearing long robes and a necklace of heavy stones. Courtiers were gathered around, and two scantily clad young women were crouched nearby as the queen’s wine bearers. There were also rock dragons, all of them in dragon form. Emiri looked a little surprised to see them.
I felt a sense of deep foreboding as Queen Izeria rose to her feet and stepped down from the dais. She was an older woman, quite beautiful, but she looked bitter and cruel. All the courtiers seemed to be shying back against the walls as if afraid of her wrath.
This is the queen? This is the woman who took me in?
“Tanu,” she said, looking up at my height. She seemed a little in awe, but angry too. “Tanu… you’ve come home.”
“Tanu,” the man in robes said. “It’s been too long. Is it true you’ve lost your memory?”
“Yes. It seems so.”
The queen was trembling, just like Emiri.
“Why is everyone trembling?” I asked. “What’s happening?”
“We thought we’d lost you. We thought they had you. The high dragons have wanted to take you from us since you were a child. Do you remember your uncle Rothair?”
“It’s all right,” Rothair said. “I’ve been gone a long time. You might not remember me even if you had your memories. We’re just glad you’re back where you belong. The time is almost upon us to take the northern gate, and we need you, Tanu. You’re the best we’ve got. You are…truly a magnificent specimen.”
Izeria looked at him, and she seemed a little upset about something, but he gave her a firm look back. Her lips pursed. “Yes, here, sit down, and have a drink. We’ll feast tonight.”
She wanted me to sit in the throne beside her. I didn’t care for that. Everyone was looking at me, and they all seemed too quiet. I didn’t feel like I belonged here. Emiri sat at my feet and poured my wine for me, which surprised me. It didn’t seem right for my future wife to be sitting there like a slave. But she seemed accustomed to it.
“We need more mist,” Izeria told one of the attendants.
Before long, vents opened in the floor and more mist piped in, and I felt sleepy and relaxed. I drank the wine. “This might be too much…I feel drugged…” I chuckled. “I’m a high dragon, you know, I don’t have the mu— the…munity…”
“I know, Tanu. But you’ve had a long journey and you must be tired, and I just want you to relax until such a time as we need you to fight.”
“What was done to you was shameful,” Rothair said from behind me. “If you could remember, you would be furious. Maybe it’s a blessing that they have taken your memories from you at least for now. I’m sure you’ll remember things before long. The high dragons have brutalized our people for hundreds of years. We have been barred from their palaces, their courts, shunned in every corner of the realm. But you’re different. You’re one of us. And we love you.”
“Yes… we do,” Izeria said. “And you will marry Emiri tomorrow. But first, there is other business. Bring in the prisoner Morhu Zayi.” She nodded at a man in black leathers.
One of the slave girls reacted to this immediately, standing up and throwing herself into a crouch in front of the queen. “No, please! Please, your majesty, give me one more chance to make up for my father’s sins! Please, I’ll do any—”
One of the guards struck her.
Izeria frowned. “I’m sorry, girl. You had a chance and failed. Your father is a traitor and a price must be paid. But, you know, I will give him a second chance once he has paid his penance.”
“What is happening?” I asked, a sick feeling sweeping through me.
“The girl’s father sent a message to a high dragon village warning of an attack. I’m sure you will understand how dangerous that is for my soldiers. My father taught me a soft ruler loses more men. And now…you will have to learn as well.”
The man was dragged into the room in chains. The servant girl was dragged off the dais, tears flowing down her cheeks. She gave me a stricken look.
I didn’t know exactly what was going to happen, but the sick feeling in my gut grew stronger and I could hardly stay seated. It didn’t seem at all right that I should. I itched to draw my sword and defend the poor man. He looked dirty and bedraggled, like he’d been stewing in the prisons for some time, but he looked at his daughter and choked out, “It’s all right, Ijaru…” He looked frightened.
Izeria gave me a careful, sideways glance. I felt like she was testing me. I wondered what would happen if I challenged her.
Some of the guards were watching me too. So was Emiri, her eyes huge and worried.
For a moment I had the strange feeling that none of these people knew me any more than I knew them. But the mist helped to steady my nerves.
Drums started to pound, their beat seeming to reset my own heart. Two of the guards held the man down while another one rolled out a blood-stained stone.
They’re going to behead him?
No, they strapped his arm down. Ijaru was screaming, held back by the guards, but her struggling was so strong that two men had a hard time keeping all her limbs contained. Her father was sobbing her name, trying his best to console her but failing, as the man in black swung
an axe.
As he lifted his arms, I felt the entire scene rush in on me and I had to stand up. My hand flew to the hilt of my sword. The influence of the mist made my movements a little sluggish. A shout caught in my throat. Izeria and Rothair were not watching the punishment; they watched me, and I suddenly knew that if I did anything, my fate might not be any better. Emiri’s hand flew to my knee and her nails turned to claws, digging into me past the leathers.
“Gyaaah!” The hand was severed. The man’s scream was high enough to break glass. Ijaru passed out at the sight. Blood pooled on the floor.
I sank into my chair on shuddering knees as my breakfast rose up in my throat, even though blood and gore weren’t strange sights to me. I swallowed, feeling choked.
All around me, the mist dragons clapped their hands and jeered, “Traitor! Traitor! Traitor!” as the man was led away, still screaming, and one of the soldiers picked up Ijaru’s body, her bare legs and tail dangling off his back.
Later, Izeria showed me to my quarters personally. It was a very small, windowless room—rather cell-like, really.
“I didn’t think you were squeamish, Tanu,” she said. “You really must have had quite a shock. Personally, it brings me the slightest bit of pleasure to see a man like that in pain. Because of what he did, you might have lost dozens of your friends and comrades in arms. He warned our enemy that our men were coming. That’s despicable.”
“Yes…I understand that. It’s necessary. I’ve just never had a taste for it.” This conversation, like Emiri’s beautiful hair, gave me one of the rare sparks of recognition.
“You don’t have to like it,” Izeria said. “But…you must recognize its necessity, or you are not worthy of your position.” She looked me up and down. “You are truly a strong specimen. You might think you’re invincible and so you can be benevolent. Not all of us have that luxury.”
“I don’t think I’m invincible. No one is invincible,” I said, but maybe there was some truth in that. Maybe that was why some people, who were not as physically strong, had more of an aggressive approach…
“We’re leaving for the north tomorrow,” Izeria said. She whispered, “You’re not the one I wanted… It’s not just about strength, you know. It’s about giving me a chance to make up for my mistakes. I don’t know how to be a mother.”
“I don’t understand what you mean.”
“No, you wouldn’t!” she snapped at me. “Just…get a good night’s rest. I’m going to put mists into your room that will help get your head on straight.”
“I don’t need any mists.”
“They will help immensely,” she said. “There is a chamber pot under the bed.”
“What the hell?” I lunged after her as she rushed out the door and slammed it shut. She was ready for that. I heard a key turn in the lock. “Hey!” I ran to the door and tried to push it open before she could lock me in. The door was heavy and bolted solid. Come to think of it, I’d never seen such a heavy door except on a treasure room. I looked around. The bed was a little too short for my body. The walls were undecorated. It was too small a room for me to turn into a dragon at all.
It’s not in the dungeon, and yet, it’s a prison cell…locked from the outside…
There was no trace of my own scent here.
“Hey!” I pounded the door with my fist.
Vents opened in the floor and now a mist so thick that I started choking on it flowed into the room. I started feeling woozy, swaying toward the bed.
No one is invincible…
Chapter Seven
Oszin
In the morning, Izeria flung open the door of my cell. She was carrying a switch and she grabbed my shirt. “I’m angry,” she said. “You know what you are? You’re my whipping boy. Stay right here. There’s a guard right out there, and if you fight back, I’ll have him beat the shit out of you, understand?”
This was so bewildering at first that I didn’t even respond. Then she started striking me with the switch. My shirt barely blunted the blows. She struck me over and over and I grit my teeth as I realized what was happening.
I belonged to her. I was a slave. She could beat me, any time she wanted, without consequence.
Suddenly I grabbed her arm.
She froze, breathing hard.
“Don’t touch me,” she said.
“What is this?” I asked.
Saying that seemed to break a little of her murderous rage. She just wanted to strike something, I guess. What a mess of a queen, I thought. She’s really very weak, if we could just cut her off from power. Wounded animals could be the most dangerous of all, before they drop dead.
“Seron is here,” she said. “They gave the dahna mist to the blind king’s dog.” Well, she didn’t quite say ‘dog’, because there were no dogs here, but that was how in translated in my mind.
“Dog?” I almost laughed. “That’s how you think of him?”
“I know he’s the true king of the high dragons now,” she said. “But to me, he will always be the blind king’s dog. And seeing him now, yes, it’s really remarkable that he’s killed so many of our men. He could barely handle the sight of a man losing his hand.”
My stomach plunged. Ijaru’s father…? Oh, no.
It wasn’t really my fault, I’d just gotten thrown into this, but if I’d slept with Ijaru, this wouldn’t have happened.
But the one who thrust a young girl—and me—into that horrible choice was the woman standing before me, frowning, running her fingers up and down the stiff leather switch.
“You look upset,” I said. “What reason do you have to be upset? You’re the sole queen. That’s what you wanted, isn’t it? The northern gate is in your grasp. You even have Seron. Your hated ‘blind king’ must be devastated. So you ought to at least be enjoying yourself.”
“I wanted—Ezeru!” She struck me again. My back felt wet. I must be bleeding. I hardly felt the pain, not yet anyway. It would hit me soon, of course.
“But I have Seron,” she said. “And do you know what I’ve done to him? I gave him a special concoction. It turns your greatest love into your greatest hatred. If he sees your queen, he will kill her.”
I swallowed back my rage. I knew this was what she wanted from me.
“I’ll make a deal with you, boy,” she said. “I’m going to let you out of here in the morning.”
“Why?”
“Because we have to move. And I don’t have much space in the boats for prisoners. I don’t have enough chains either. So you’re going to walk free among us, but you have a big mouth. If you leave, I will kill Seron. Got it? And if you speak to Seron, I’ll rip your tongue out.”
She stormed out, slamming the door shut, my shirt sticking to the blood on my back. I bunched up the worn out furs on my bed, trying to put pressure on the wounds. It wasn’t the best night I’d ever spent, but in the morning, she held to her promise. A woman came and bandaged my wounds and gave me a new shirt, and told me I could go to watch the wedding.
“A wedding? The morning before you leave? That’s odd.”
She nodded. She was a weary, hard-looking woman. Not many of the mist dragons had joy in their eyes.
As I walked out of the dungeon and into the soft haze of the meeting hall, a wedding ceremony was already in progress. The dragons all seemed to be wearing their traveling clothes, even the bride and groom, but at the end of the room before the altar, where candles and incense burned in profusion, was Seron holding the hands of a mist dragon girl.
She was beaming. I guess she had been chosen to marry Ezeru, and now she was handed Seron instead. I’m sure it seemed like a better bargain to her. Ezeru was strange in ways that Seron wasn’t.
But Seron wasn’t the Seron I knew. He had been drugged, his face lacking any of its usual emotions—the dry humor he used with Aurek, the passionate way he looked at Himika. There was a muted fury in his eyes, barely restrained. He looked like he wanted to break out of the room. Was he planning to escape? But thos
e weren’t Seron’s eyes. Seron was calm under pressure. He had seen lots of battles and wasn’t going to lose himself to rage that easily. Besides that, he didn’t seem angry at Izeria. I knew Seron was as loyal as I was. He would never betray my Moth, and she would forgive him for marrying this mist dragon girl while under a spell, but he would never forgive himself.
Damnit.
I wondered if Izeria could be telling the truth. If she really could twist Seron’s love for Himika into hatred.
If he saw her, he would remember her. No one could hate Himika. I couldn’t imagine otherwise.
Was there anything at all I could do to stop it? Why put me in this position? I was still kind of jealous of Seron. For a human, I was strong, but I wasn’t Seron. I never would be. And I had to share my girl with her.
Still, I knew what a good man he was, and how horrified he would be if he got his right mind back.
The queen and Rothair were watching over the proceedings carefully. It seemed like they were studying Seron for any signs of rebellion. I’d never seen such a joyless wedding. Only the bride seemed happy. The guests were all just kind of muted.
Seron repeated the vows, his voice emotionless. I would never have recognized it as his. “I…Tanu…guard you with my body unto death. From this day forward, I am the earth and you are the core. As the core of the earth gives heat to our world, so you will bring the fire of life to our union. From this day forward, I am yours, and never again shall I lay a hand on another woman.”
The vows were the same as Aurekdel had spoken to Himika.
“I, Emiri, accept your hand in marriage, your devotion and protection. I embrace your home and family as my own. As you shall guard me, I shall guard our children.”
“These words have been spoken over the sacred sword of Gemuru, the blade Agarnu, and are now binding before the court.”
Izeria’s eyes flicked to me and she smiled a little. It wasn’t like wedding vows were a spell, but I got the idea. She felt she’d won the day.
The Kingdoms of Sky and Shadow Box Set Page 61