“No…I mean, you did and you will…”
“Don’t pretend. I am not afraid. I die helping you, King Ezeru. Rock dragons are so happy to have king. You could choose to be with high dragons. You are a strong dragon that high dragon women want to mate with, and even beautiful queen. But you love us and protect us. Rock dragons are…honored. I die with my king and my love. Nuru will have my child and my child have better life.”
“I promise that they will.” I swallowed. “I am one of you, and I always will be. I will always fight for our people. It is my honor to use the gifts Izeria gave me to stop rock dragons from being tricked and turned into slaves.”
“Don’t be sad. Take care…of my Nuru.”
“Aknu…goodbye,” Nuru said, with more quiet acceptance than I think any human woman would have. “I love you.”
“I love you, Nuru.” He shut his eyes and his hand slowly went limp in mine. His face was very peaceful.
I started crying, although I managed to keep it silent. I kept holding his hand.
I led them here to fight for me, and Seron…
The sight of Seron’s face as he refused to heal Aknu was seared into my brain, but I knew what was really behind it. That was not Seron.
“I will kill Izeria,” I rasped, mostly to myself. “I swear to it, here and now.”
Nuru looked at me and blinked. Then she nodded solemnly. “You can do it.”
I laughed drily. “I’ll avenge him.”
I don’t think she knew the word ‘avenge’, but she seemed to understand my emotion. Then she looked back at Aknu. “My beautiful love…I see you again in baby’s face.” She kissed his forehead.
I finally broke away from my fallen friend, feeling sick—but not just from his death. I was thinking of my own beloved girl, and her child, and my own dread over having a rock dragon for a child. To Nuru, Aknu was beautiful and so was her baby. The rock dragons did think of the high dragons as being even more beautiful, but to them it seemed the stuff of gods, and they still loved their own children just the same. I just couldn’t seem to shake the sense that I had given Himika tainted, animal blood.
Aknu, I thought, was a little like me. He had a little high dragon blood, just enough to set him apart from the others—just enough that he understood he wasn’t their equal. Aknu and I couldn’t communicate on the same level. He wouldn’t understand half the things that troubled me.
“But you were my brother,” I whispered. “My friend.”
We buried him in the rock, and the rock dragons sang for him as I shaped a marker for the spot. Then we had to move on. The rock dragons were subdued, but they understood the urgency. They didn’t mourn for long. They had the preservation instincts of any herd.
I, too, had to keep moving. I had to remember what I was fighting for, and who was waiting for me.
We reached the mouth of the caverns safely, and now all we had to do was rush home. But as we came back out into the world of open sky and sun, before we could reach the northern outpost where the human army was waiting, there was a rumble behind us.
The mist dragons were in pursuit. Seron was leading them. They must have known another way around my rock wall.
I had seen the look in Seron’s eyes. Determined. I wondered if Izeria had ordered this.
I had a feeling something else was driving him. And here, Seron was definitely a match for me, particularly because he was willing to kill us, and we really didn’t want to kill him.
I twisted my neck back to look at Oszin, who was still clinging to my back.
“We shouldn’t engage him here,” Oszin said. “Let the army try and capture him!”
Behind us, on the far edge of the valley, Seron let out a battle shout that echoed across the rocky hills.
“Run!” I told my dragons.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Himika
“We’ve spotted him!” A scout rushed in during our breakfast.
“Ezeru?” I cried, shooting out of my chair, stumbling a little on the hem of my own dress. Forrest, rather reflexively, shot a hand backwards and steadied me.
Ezeru was gone a day past what he said.
Of course, this was no surprise. I knew he couldn’t hold to that promise. Anything might happen. But he’d come close, I thought. Only a day late. He must have good news.
“Did you see Oszin or Seron?” I asked.
“It looked like he might be carrying a human,” the scout said.
“No Seron, then…,” Aurek said.
We all left the table, rushing upstairs to look out from the top balcony. I was at the balcony staring north so often that I was carrying a spyglass with me at all times. “I think that is Oszin. Oh—thank gods! But I don’t see Seron…well, it doesn’t necessarily mean bad news. He was just there to get in and get out.”
“Yes,” Aurek said.
“I’d say it’s excellent news,” Forrest said. “If he’s back quickly and he even has Oszin, he didn’t run into trouble. We knew getting Seron back from the mist dragons might be tough.”
“Well, if they’re coming back, we need to get ready to welcome them,” Phoebe said. “We need to get together a feast! Hey, Mom!” she shouted downstairs.
“I hear you!” Phoebe’s mom shouted back.
“What about a parade?” Gilbert asked.
“Well, let’s not get ahead of ourselves,” Forrest said. “What if they have bad news?”
“If it isn’t too bad, we could have a small parade tomorrow,” Rin said. “Getting Oszin back is already a prize. He killed King Dvaro, so that warrants a hero’s welcome either way. Wouldn’t you say?” He looked at me. I was still watching through my spyglass. For some reason I still felt terribly anxious, but I tried to smile.
“Sure. That sounds like a great honor, and he deserves it.”
They all ended up heading downstairs and leaving us alone up there. Aurek put a hand on my shoulder. “It’s chilly,” he said, with the extra concern in his voice that I got from everyone as my pregnancy was starting to get so obvious.
“I’m dressed so warmly that I’m sweating,” I said. “It’s fine, I—I’m looking out at the mountains.”
“The visibility is good here, isn’t it?” Aurek asked.
“Mmhmm. There’s a wide road,” I said. “And all the trees have already lost a lot of their leaves, with swathes of open land as well. So I can see pretty far with the spyglass… That definitely looks like them.” I watched the black shape until it got close enough that I could see the man clinging to the dragon’s back. I needed to see for myself that Oszin was there. Then I lowered the spyglass for a moment, so I could see beyond Ezeru and the little black and gray rock dragons running with him.
Now I saw something else in the distance. I focused in on it. Something glittered, bluish—no, purplish even.
I know that color.
My breath released in small puffs in the northern air. “Aurek, I—I think Seron is behind them.”
“Behind them?”
“Far behind them. Like he’s—chasing them. There are other dragons with him. I think they could be mist dragons.” I clutched my belly. This seemed to confirm our very worst fears. “Could the mist actually make Seron want to fight with Ezeru and Oszin?”
Aurek gripped the balcony. “It could. If a mist dragon is very resourceful and good at blending several mists together, they might do almost anything. And we know…Izeria is a sorceress unparalleled. I don’t think anyone else could have made Ezeru so powerful.”
“Oh!” I said, terrified almost to the point of getting annoyed. “Well, I thought you might say something at least vaguely reassuring to a pregnant woman!”
He laughed. “I wouldn’t lie to you.”
“Ezeru has two mist dragons with him as well,” I observed. “But they’re clearly part of his group, not enemies. They’re running with the rock dragons. One limping.”
“They’d better be real defectors this time,” Aurek said.
I looked at
Seron again, now close enough that I could see his face. He was in dragon form now, so it wasn’t quite the face I knew well anyway. I just couldn’t imagine him attacking us. But the way he was running after Ezeru—
If Aurek believed it, it had to be true.
We heard warning horns go off. The scouts must have confirmed the sight. Forrest ran back up to the balcony and looked out.
“I guess the feast is postponed, huh?” he said.
“It’s Seron,” Aurek said.
“We won’t kill him. The ice dragons can freeze him and maybe Ezeru can hold his feet down. If he’s hostile.”
I could tell Forrest was trying to be reassuring, but he kept looking outward anxiously. “You two, just hold tight,” he said.
“If I could only look into Seron’s eyes, and speak to him, and touch him…,” I said. “I just can’t imagine he wouldn’t remember me. I don’t believe it. No matter what you say.”
“I don’t believe it either,” Aurek said, in a softer voice. He suddenly put a hand on my shoulder. “Wait here, my gem. Keep watch and shout if anything changes. I’ll be right back.”
“Where are you going?”
“I want my sword.”
I lifted the spyglass back to my face, watching them slowly move closer.
Downstairs, I heard the commotion of everyone preparing for an attack. Forrest rode down the cobblestone path on his horse, and a moment later Rin popped out to the balcony and told me he was heading out but not to worry. He rode out too, and now the household was mostly women. Little Rina started crying. The restless feeling inside me built. I was left behind here, to watch in the distance, uselessly.
I’m the one who could save him. Maybe the only one. And if there is any other person who could save him, it would be Aurek. But here we both are…
Was I imagining it, or was Seron catching up to Ezeru and Oszin?
“Faster…faster…!” I clenched the railing. My hands were numb, while the babies were fluttering inside me like they knew something was wrong.
And then, Seron took flight.
I didn’t make a sound. I whirled back into the house, down the hall to our bedroom. Aurek held his sword in one hand and my sword Irhonda in the other. “I promised you I wouldn’t fight,” he said. “That I wouldn’t leave you.”
I took a shuddering breath. “I—I want to go to him, Aurek.”
He handed me the weapons. “That’s my queen.”
Chapter Twenty-Three
Himika
Aurek stripped off his clothes, quickly in the bitter cold, wrapping up a flask and tying it all up with a thin rope.
“Oh, dear. That old neighbor lady is watching you,” I said.
“Well, something for her to enjoy. Step back.” He turned into a dragon, fitting awkwardly on the small balcony, and bit the rope in his jaw to carry the clothes.
“Is that flask some of my tea?” I asked.
“Yes.”
“You brewed it when I wasn’t around?”
“And mixed it with whiskey so it would keep. I’ve been waiting for the right moment. Climb on.”
I belted the swords to my waist, a little disconcerted that he had clearly prepared for this even after he promised he wouldn’t fight. On the other hand, I was glad because we didn’t have time to waste.
“Eek…don’t take off yet.” He got as low to the ground as possible, but I still struggled to climb on and get a good hold while maneuvering around my pregnancy with the heavy weight of the swords, especially Aurek’s. Thank goodness I wasn’t any farther along.
“Okay…I think I’m ready. Go easy on me.”
He carefully climbed onto the roof of the house. Phoebe came running out. “Himika! King Aurek! Oh my gods—don’t—!”
Aurek spread his wings and took off. I was so focused on clutching the ridges of his back and gripping his body between my legs that I couldn’t even look at Phoebe.
“Don’t worry!” Aurek cried.
“I suppose the king and queen aren’t supposed to just go flying off.”
“If it’s to save the true king, then…it’s allowed,” he said. “Tell me where Seron is,” Aurek said.
I pressed my foot against his scales to the right. “He’s circling around over there…”
Seron certainly saw us. He hovered in the sky, waiting. I had to admit he looked very menacing. I glanced down and saw Ezeru and Oszin on the road beyond, and I had some misgivings. I told them not to get killed, and they’d kept their promise, so if I got killed along with the babies, that would really be…
I huffed, shaking it off. “We’re going the right direction. Just stay the course.”
Below us, the ground was a sea of trees, some bare and some clinging to their fall colors, against a light snow cover. Up here, it was so cold that my teeth were chattering. I could feel Aurek’s unfettered joy in the way he soared over the land. I heard Ezeru let out a roar of dismay and warning below us, to my left side, as we left the town behind.
As we got closer, Seron dove toward the ground, disappearing under the trees. His dragon body vanished.
“Aurek, he turned human!” I exclaimed.
“He’s waiting for us,” Aurek said. “Maybe he wants to talk.”
“He’s in the clearing…start to lower a little…just a little…”
Aurek let out a bark, sending an echo along the ground. “Tell me where the tree line ends.”
“Okay. Almost…” I saw Seron standing in a field, dressed and holding a sword.
He really doesn’t look like Seron…
“Careful…there are some big rocks and an old collapsed barn just to your right. Okay. Seron’s standing ahead of you.”
“King Aurekdel!” Seron shouted.
“So he is,” Aurek said. His feet hit the ground, spraying up snow. He folded his wings and lifted his head, waiting for me to climb down.
I did, under Seron’s steel gaze.
Oh, gods. This was a mistake after all.
It’s true. It’s really true. That isn’t my Seron.
I pushed my nerves away. No, I just had to snap him out of it. “Seron,” I said.
“My name is Tanu.”
“Tanu! That’s some name she gave you. Queen Izeria is trying to—”
“Enough out of you, girl,” he said, turning to Aurekdel, who had just transformed back and slipped on his robe. “Pick up your sword.”
“Seron…you don’t remember me at all? I’m not ‘girl’. I’m Himika. I’m your mate. I’m pregnant and—”
Aurekdel quietly fastened the clasps of his robe and tugged on his boots. Then he held out his hand. I gave him his sword. Seron still wasn’t even looking at me.
“Seron!” I sobbed. It was like he didn’t even hear me or see me, not even the pregnancy that I knew he wanted more than anyone.
Seron held out his blade. “I am here for one thing. To kill you, the impostor king.”
Chapter Twenty-Four
Aurekdel
I took a long swig of the tea as I heard Himika sound like she was about to cry. Hearing that—the fear she was trying to hold back—propelled me forward, blade meeting blade as my senses exploded.
I felt Seron’s pulse charging through him, the tension in his entire body. “Seron, you’re stronger than this.”
“You…,” he said. “You…Aurek… You…took my life from me.”
He swung again, and I barely managed to keep up. I could feel the strength in him as our blades met again. “I never wanted to. You know that.”
“When we were boys…she used to…tell me to do the chores. We got back to the palace and I was your servant. You told me to—to find lizards for you. To figure out where you left your toys. I had to stand behind you. For twenty years, I stood behind you, doing whatever you asked of me, and when we went to the treasure room, they didn’t let me touch the swords!”
“So you do remember!” I cried.
“I remember…yeah. Yeah, that I remember.”
I heard a smidgen of the man I knew in that slightly sarcastic tone—but what I felt was not a sparring partner. It was an enemy. He was on the attack and I really had to defend, or that sword of his would slice right through me. I didn’t even have armor.
“Ugh—” I barely parried his attack. He had me completely on the defense, and I wasn’t sure how I could get the upper hand. “Seron—you’re my brother.”
He slashed toward my legs. I felt his muscles move, dodging. I was getting the hang of this. Maybe—shit, he snapped out his free arm and grabbed my clothes. “Brother? I’m your servant. Everyone follows your whims. What about the priestess? You forced them to do what you wanted. Everyone does what you want. And even now, you wear the crown on your head.”
“You are the king, Seron.”
“And you hate it. Admit how much you hate letting me wear the crown! Admit that you think you’re the superior ruler! You like me fighting for you.”
“I was the one who went before the court and told them to accept you as the king,” I growled. “If you remember this much, surely you remember that.”
I heard him panting hard. Seron didn’t get tired this fast. No, this was a different kind of strain. “But…Izeria…saved me,” he said.
“You know that isn’t true. How did she save you? What has she done for you?”
He yelled with rage and came at me again. I parried once, twice, his strength rattling through me. The tea was already wearing off, damnit, I need another swig. I dove out of the way.
“Seron!” It seemed like Himika threw a rock at him.
That bought me a second to take another drink. I wasn’t sure if I could down the whole thing at once and get the same effect—I’d never tested it and I was afraid to try. I stuck to smaller doses. I almost dropped the flask trying to cap it before Seron ran toward me again.
He grabbed my clothes; I kicked him and spun back around to slash my sword at his legs.
From the way he roared at me, I realized I must have actually drawn blood. It happened so fast, and I had no time to savor that success.
The Kingdoms of Sky and Shadow Box Set Page 72