by Viola Grace
He frowned. “If you are LeeHee’s daughter, you are my grandchild.”
“How do we find out if that is true?”
“There is a seer in town. He can see the truth.”
“Great. When can we see him? Oh, and what is your name?”
The elder crossed his arms over his chest. He might be pushing seventy, but he was in fairly fit shape. “You don’t speak to me with respect.”
“You don’t speak to me with it either. I give what I get.” She cocked her head. One of the men behind their father smiled slightly as if he had heard her phrase before.
He turned to the side. “Merrick, call Linder. Tell him that we have LeeHee’s daughter here. He will trip over himself to get here.”
Trin waited, and then, she looked at Meadra. “So, should I head into town to check records or something?”
The elder turned around. “You are staying here until I say otherwise. Your mother put generations of effort into jeopardy with her infatuation.”
She sighed and loosened her coat, exposing the human marking at the base of her neck.
The family took a deep breath in shock, and Meadra walked up to touch the marking. “You are pure human?”
“Yeah. I was marked as a teen. It is just safer that I was considered an endangered species. The ports and cities are fine, but the dark alleys can be dangerous for someone like me.”
Her grandfather looked at the mark and hissed, “Human? That is impossible.”
“Impossible or not, here I am.”
Meadra looked from Trin to her elder, and she took Trin’s hand. “Let’s get you some more lemonade. We grow the lemons here.”
Trin walked with her toward the house, but Meadra veered off and walked around the building and through a small gap in a hedge. Trin wanted to stop and stare, but she had to keep going. Her dream garden was arrayed before her in neat rows and permanent greenhouses.
“Wow. This is amazing.”
“This is why people still deal with the valley. We have created a microclimate that grows fruits and vegetation from around the world for tisanes and herbal medicines.” Meadra kept walking, and she led Trin to the second of the glass-paned greenhouses.
Inside, Meadra leaned toward her and whispered, “You have to leave.”
Trin cocked her head. “I just got here.”
“It isn’t safe. If you are truly nothing but a human, you are as good as dead.”
“Why?”
Meadra quickly looked back toward the home and whispered, “This valley exists to manufacture dragons. If you are a human, the plan has failed. They can’t have you live if anyone learns of your situation.”
“Wow. That is rather harsh.” She asked a question that had been nagging at her. “Where is my grandmother?”
“She died birthing me. I wasn’t even supposed to exist, but LeeHee left, and they needed another girl for the program.”
The door to the greenhouse opened, and one of the brothers was standing there. “Why did you run off with our guest?”
Trin smiled. “I showed an interest in the lemons. Meadra wanted to show me the greenhouses before the light faded.”
The brother frowned. “That seems likely. Why would you have an interest in the greenhouses?”
“I have a partner in a business, and we sell coffee and tea. I always wondered why I had such a fascination with teas of all kinds, and now, I guess it was in the blood.” She smiled.
“You have a tea store?”
She reached into one of the pockets of her coat and handed him a card. “We have three coffee and three tea shops. We are working on expanding.”
He looked at her in surprise. “You weren’t lying.”
“No. I don’t lie. It wastes time.”
He nodded. “I am your uncle, Rainer. My wife, Leda, was the one holding the pitcher.”
“I am glad to meet you, Uncle Rainer.”
He grinned. “It is definitely interesting to meet you. Your cousins will be at the morning meal so you can meet the herd then.”
Meadra chuckled. “Each of your four uncles has three children. It makes for very loud breakfasts.”
Rainer inclined his head. “The seer is on the way. He didn’t hesitate when he learned who it was.”
Meadra sighed. “Of course not. We will be right there.”
Trin murmured the moment he was gone, “What is wrong with the seer?”
“He was your mother’s fiancé, and now, he is mine. I am not just her sister, I am her clone. Someone had to keep the pattern going, so my mother was forced into a late pregnancy. She didn’t make it.”
With that echoing in her mind, Trin had to join her estranged family as they prepared to greet the seer. This was even more messed up than she had imagined.
They have surrounded you. The dragon growled.
I am aware of it.
Let me at them. I will tear them apart.
They are our family. We need to hear them out. Remaining calm while all the hair on her body was standing on end was difficult.
What will our mate think?
Well, I am due to make my calls in just over an hour. I will hint to him then.
That was all that she was allowed to say to herself. They had made it to the farmhouse, and she was ushered inside, and Meadra sat next to her on a loveseat.
One of the women brought in a tea service, but Trin was the only recipient of a cup. The rest of the family were seated with their spouses, and the elder frowned at her with flickers of softness in his expression.
She sat with the tea in her cup; the scent brought her the hints of a sedative and the brightest of summer apples. It was not a blend she favoured.
She broke the silence with, “Well, this explains my fascination for tea.”
Her uncles jolted. Rainer looked at her with narrowed eyes. “Are you sure you didn’t know about us before you arrived?”
Trin quirked her lips. “I knew the name Anders and my mother’s name. That is it. I still don’t know who he is.” She gestured to the elder. “The tea is the best part of this visit so far.”
Meadra chuckled.
A knock at the door stopped her aunt’s laugh in mid-sound.
Trin’s grandfather went to the door, and he spoke with the man who had just arrived.
Meadra was vibrating with so much tension that the loveseat was humming. Trin gave her a quick glance, and the tension that her body was emitting was not on her face. Her face appeared placid.
The man that followed Trin’s grandfather into the room was only younger than the elder Anders by a handful of years.
The seer was bent with rumpled clothing. He came toward Trin and grabbed for her hand, so she dumped the drugged tea on him.
He hissed and pulled his hand back. “Be careful!”
“Why? No one touches me without my consent.” She rose to her feet.
He looked her in the eye, and then, he glanced at her grandfather. “Eamon, how am I supposed to read her if I can’t touch her?”
Trin snapped her fingers in front of the seer’s face. “You are supposed to ask. I swear. The Delarm Valley is the rudest place I have ever been.”
She looked around at the shocked faces. “I need to make a call.”
With long strides, she was out the door and down the porch steps in seconds. She checked her com and was unsurprised to see a lack of signal. That was fine. Ystine was able to generate what she needed; Trin just needed a moment away.
“Ystine, fire up. This place is crazy.”
The velo was where she left her, and she swung onto the seat, and her companion helped her make her escape.
“I am guessing that your reunion was tense.” The voice was amused as she followed the path through the farm and down to the township beyond.
“You could say that. They wanted a seer to check to make sure that I was LeeHee’s daughter.”
“So, now we are running?”
“You saw the barriers at the front gate?”
“Yup.”
“So, what is the plan?”
Trin glanced skyward and saw the dragons above them. “I am working on it.”
Chapter Ten
Three quick calls calmed Creata and Brenner. But Brommin was sent into a frenzy.
“Get out of there now, Trin. Shift and fly out if you have to.”
“I think that my aunt needs my help.”
“You have known her for five minutes.” He was muttering.
“I know, but I get the feeling that having her with me is important. I don’t want to leave without her.”
She leaned as they swung around a fencepost and Ystine drove across a field.
The thudding of landing dragons ahead of her sent Ystine into a sharp spin.
“You have to get out of there. We have documents about a cult in that area.”
“I can confirm that there are a lot of muddy dragons around here. There are four in front of me, so I have to change directions. I will call you in two hours if everything goes right.”
“Wait, don’t hang—”
She put her complete focus into driving Ystine through the gap in the dragons. Her uncles stepped back in reflex as the velo roared at them, and she passed through their blockade without trouble.
She was moving with a plan, and that plan got clearer as the signal went out and lesser dragons rose from the village. Nearly fifty dragons were tracking her movements as she looked around. She found what she was looking for and pulled her invisibility over herself while heading for a ridge in the middle of the field.
Ystine whispered in the helmet, “What is going on?”
“I am hiding us. I didn’t know if I could hide you as well, and I am really glad I can. Now hush, I have to concentrate.”
She drove them to the top of the ridge, and then, she waited.
The dragons formed a slow twister over her head, but she focused on the invisibility and remained still. Males. Every single flying dragon there was a man. Not one female was in search of her, and that was weird. Females were much better hunters. Farmers would know that.
Trin looked back toward the Anders’ home, and it was alive with light. She made a quiet call and sighed when the answer was yes.
Trin set Ystine loose, and they flew off the ridge, invisibility gone, and Trin’s focus was on getting Meadra. There was something in Meadra’s eyes that made Trin want to protect her. Clone of her mother or not, Meadra was family.
The dragons were still swirling over the ridge and hadn’t decided on what to do.
Trin focused on heading back to the farm. She pulled in front of the steps, and Meadra was standing there with her sisters-in-law. “Do you want to stay here?”
Meadra’s eyes grew wide. “No.”
“Get on.”
Her aunt scrambled off the steps before her in-laws could catch her. When Trin felt arms around her waist, she sped away from the farm.
“Turn left!” Meadra shouted it.
Trin followed her order and the three that followed. A tiny, broken shed was leaning against a tree.
“Stop here. I will get my bags.”
Trin blinked behind her visor and watched as Meadra sprinted to the shed. She was out in ten seconds with a backpack and a shoulder bag. It was ten seconds too long. The dragons were nearly on them.
Trin got off Ystine and fastened her helmet to the paniers. “Hang on to your bags tight. This is going to be a little rough. I don’t normally carry cargo or passengers.”
Meadra stared. “What?”
Trin backed up a few steps, and she shifted. Her crystalline-clear body stretched and swelled until she was at her full size. She roared loud and long, scattering the dragons in every direction.
With careful motions, she picked up Meadra, and when she was secure, her right claw picked up Ystine. Her wings pulsed in the air, and she took off, knocking the few dragons who had returned to the area.
She held Meadra against her chest, and as soon as she had gained enough altitude, she went invisible. Her destination was firm in her mind. She was heading to Breaker City.
Trin got to the coastline and flew along the waterline. The journey that had taken the velo ten hours was accomplished by air in one.
She saw the signal from the air and flew toward the roof of Apraxa’s home. In the first pass, she set Ystine down in the yard, and in the second pass, she set Meadra down carefully and then settled on the roof before shifting back to human.
Apraxa was staring. “You are a...”
“Crystal dragon. I know.”
Apraxa shook her head, but Meadra muttered it from the floor of the rooftop. “Diamond dragon. You are what they have been trying for.”
Trin moved to Meadra’s side and held her bluish fingers. The altitude that their travel required was not comfortable for most humans.
Apraxa was staring. “Did you say diamond dragon?”
Meadra nodded. “We were told about it. Eleven generations of dragons and humans with the most magic that could be found. One generation mates with humans and the next are born dragons. Girls are produced to mate with the dragons, and they carry the line within them. They wanted to create a male diamond dragon, but the odds were nearly impossible.”
Apraxa lifted Meadra in her arms and carried her into the house.
“I will be right there. I have to put Ystine away.” She shifted into her warrior form and walked to the edge of the roof, jumping off and gliding to land next to her velocipede.
With a grunt, she pulled her companion upright, and she patted the seat. “Well done, Ystine. You only screamed twice.”
“I was not expecting to be flown across the continent,” Ystine grumbled her disgust in her particular tone of voice.
Trin grinned and pushed her vehicle toward the warehouse. The wide door sensed her approach and slid open to allow her to place Ystine in her safe little energy shield. “I promise to wash you in the morning.”
“Thank you. It was interesting to watch you tonight. I didn’t know that I had cloaking properties.”
Trin patted the seat and grabbed the bags out of the paniers. “You don’t. I do.”
She slung her bag over her shoulder and headed toward the house in the back corner while the huge door clanged shut and locked.
It was time to get a nice, relaxing shower and take care of her aunt.
Wrapped in one of Apraxa’s robes, Trin walked to the living room where Meadra was sitting with a strangely familiar mug between her hands.
Apraxa was sitting there quietly, and Meadra paused to wipe tears from her eyes.
“Meadra, is something wrong?” Trin walked up to her and sat beside her.
“I didn’t actually think I would get free. I was getting married in two days when I turn twenty-four. I didn’t want him touching me.”
Apraxa cocked her head. “Him?”
Trin answered, “The seer. He was originally my mother’s fiancé, but she got out as well.”
“Oh. Ew.” She wrinkled her nose.
Trin nodded. “Oh, did you get hold of Brommin?”
“Yes, he didn’t want to take my call until I explained what you were doing. He should be here within the hour.”
Trin nodded. “Excellent. I am not that good at this sort of thing. Hey, is that a sample mug?”
Apraxa laughed at the redirected topic. “Yes. He was so happy about how it turned out he wanted to get your final approval before the full run.”
“Oh. Are there others?”
Apraxa got up and left the room.
Meadra clutched Trin’s arm. “Can we trust her?”
“Apraxa? Yes. She is an old friend and trading partner. Half the city is terrified of her. No one is getting in here without her knowledge.”
“But you trust her to know about the valley?”
Trin nodded. “I do. She
has what she needs and is not currying favour with the dragons of the capital.”
Meadra sighed and set her mug down before grabbing for her bags. “I have something here I think you will like. I found them when I was a child.”
Trin didn’t know what to expect, but the bound collection of books wasn’t it. “Uh. Thank you.”
“They are LeeHee’s diaries. They were hidden under a floorboard in my room.” Meadra paused. “Which, I suppose, was her room.”
Trin looked at the stack and slowly reached out to take them. “You kept them?”
“As soon as I could find a safe place for them, I moved them, but when I knew I had to leave, I made sure that they were set to come with me. The senator needs to know what is going on there.”
Trin nodded and ran her fingers over the mismatched diaries and journals in her hands. “He does. I am not even sure what was happening there, but even at a glance, it wasn’t good.”
Meadra shuddered. “No, it was not.”
Apraxa returned with a box in her arms. “Here you go, Trin. The family was very proud of the samples.”
Trin blinked. “How did you know I would be back?”
“I guessed.” Apraxa winked.
Trin scowled. “You are too clever for your own good.”
“I know. Now, take a look at these designs. She really outdid herself.”
Trin set the books down, patted Meadra on the shoulder, and then, she dove into the box, hands first.
The first thing she pulled out was another seasonal mug that depicted spring instead of the autumn that Meadra was holding.
The delicate, pale wisps of petals blew across the surface of the glossy ceramic. Trin turned the cup over and over, and there was no flaw or bubble in the cup or the glaze. “This is lovely.”
“Their ceramics shop is a bit of a recent start, but I brought you there for a reason. Their talents and passions lie in the ceramics and not the import and blending of tea. You can help them reach the capital, and from there, the world.”
Trin nodded, but she was cradling her new favourite teapot in her hands. It was smooth with a wide belly and graceful handle. The design was several gradations of blue and grey, working up to an ecru and blue sky with curls of snowflakes swirling through them. “This is amazing. It is exactly what I was looking for.”