by Avril Sabine
“You can’t have it if it doesn’t match what you already own,” the guard warned when Adalric started to step forward.
“What if she makes a run for it?” Adalric asked. “How will we find her?”
“I’ll stand as her warranty. Would I risk my stables and dragon for someone I think will run?” Hanun asked.
“Will that be sufficient?” the guard asked Adalric.
“I gain his stable and dragon if the girl doesn’t show up at the courts within the hour?” A look of calculation crossed Adalric’s face.
“Yes,” the guard confirmed.
“Then I’ll expect you to escort me to the courts,” Edana told the guard.
“It will be my pleasure.” The guard gave a slight bow.
Fen stepped forward, with a linen napkin from the table, and took the bowl from Edana. He wiped it clean and tucked the napkin into his belt pouch. “Our insurance in case something should happen.” He looked first at the guard and then at Adalric. He turned to Hanun. “You escort her to the courts. I’ll keep watch on things here. With all this bad blood we wouldn’t want to leave ourselves vulnerable.” Fen stared at Hanun and hoped he’d understand and support him.
“Sensible. And of course I should be the one to go. I need to protect my investment.” Hanun turned to Edana. “Come then, my dear. Let’s sort this out.”
The guard escorted Hanun and Edana to the courts.
Before he left to follow them, Adalric glared at Fen. “You’ve made yourself an enemy this day.”
Fen smiled. “I made myself an enemy a long time before this.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“The moment I officially owned my dragon you wanted him. I never planned to give him up. We’ve always been enemies.”
Adalric growled before he stormed from the room. As soon as he was confident everyone had left the house, Fen called the servants. He made certain they knew to lock the place up and let no one in. Once everything was secure, Fen walked to River’s pen.
“Will she be fine?” Fen leaned against River for comfort.
“I will show you what happens. Through Edana’s own eyes.”
“You can do that?”
“If Edana will allow it.” There was a moment of silence. “She will allow it. She says she could do with the advice.”
Chapter Twenty-Seven
They joined Edana as she stood before the judge, the truthsayer at his side, while Adalric explained at the top of his voice what the problem was.
“Enough!” The judge bellowed loud enough to be heard over Adalric. “You girl, what is your name?”
“Answer him true,” River warned. “The truthsayer will test for honesty.”
“Edana Lenita Behira Yileen Renarlo con Crinitie,” Edana answered.
“See. I told you this is my daughter,” Adalric said.
“Enough.” The judge glared at Adalric in annoyance. “Any more outbursts and you may leave my courts and I’ll find in favour of the girl.”
Adalric glared at him.
“Understood?” the judge asked.
“Yes, Your Honour,” Adalric snapped.
“Now, girl. You give your name as this man’s daughter. Are you not here to prove you aren’t his daughter? You’d best not be wasting my time.”
“No, Your Honour. This man claims me as his daughter and has brought the birth blood to prove it. His wizard tested me and it came up negative. The blood says I’m not his daughter,” Edana said, prompted by River and Fen.
“How can this be possible?” the judge asked.
Edana shrugged. She knew there was no verbal answer she could give without a lie being detected.
The judge turned to Adalric. “What happened to your daughter? Why does this one not match?”
“This is my daughter. The wizard must have cheated. There’s no other answer. I want the test done again,” Adalric demanded.
The judge nodded and a wizard stepped forward. The same procedure as before was done again. The wizard looked between all the parties before he stepped close to the judge. They whispered between themselves before the judge turned to glare at Adalric.
“Did you or any of your people cause the death of your birth child?” the judge demanded.
“No!”
“Send for his wife,” the judge told one of his men. With a nod the man left.
“What’s the meaning of this? My daughter’s here before you.” Adalric pointed towards Edana.
The judge looked around the room solemnly. “I don’t know who this girl is, but her blood shows she’s not your daughter. I can only think foul play was involved.”
There was a bellow from Adalric and he threw himself at Hanun. Guards pulled him away and held him as he strained to attack his brother.
“This is something he’s cooked up. Ask him what he knows,” Adalric snarled, still trying to reach Hanun.
“You’ll be fined for this outburst in my court,” the judge said to Adalric. He turned towards Hanun. “What do you know about this?”
“I always thought her my niece. I was as amazed as you the first time I saw that test come up negative,” Hanun said.
“My blood shows me not to be his daughter? Does this mean I can freely leave his house?” Edana asked.
“No!” Adalric shouted.
“The fine will be increased.” The judge shot a glare at Adalric before he turned to Edana. “The birth blood shows he has no claim on you. Have you anywhere to go?”
“Yes, thank you,” Edana said.
The judge nodded. “We cannot have a young woman who’s been raised in the upper classes fend for herself. You’d have no skills with which to earn your living.”
“She’s my daughter,” Adalric argued.
The courtroom doors opened and guards escorted Edana’s mother, Behira, inside. She looked as perfectly made up as ever and her face showed no emotion.
“State your name please,” the judge said when Behira reached the front of the courtroom.
“Behira Carlea Girra Crinitie con Eladorro.”
“And who is this young woman here?” The judge pointed to Edana.
“My daughter, Edana Lenita Behira Yileen Renarlo con Crinitie.”
“The blood test shows otherwise. According to the blood test this is not the child you gave birth to. Have you or any of your people or have you asked anyone to cause the death of the child you gave birth to, dispose of the child you gave birth to or in any way have you rid yourself of the child you gave birth to either deliberately or accidentally?”
The first sign of emotion appeared on Behira’s face. It was shock. “No.”
The judge stared at them thoughtfully. “This young woman is now her own person. She will have to choose a new family name. There is no offspring to be registered to Behira and Adalric. The child will be listed dead. This is my final ruling.”
Adalric began to shout and Behira looked dazed for a moment before she started to wail. The judge had them escorted from the courtroom before he turned to Edana.
“You may keep your given names if you wish, but you will need to choose a new family name.”
“I don’t know what to choose,” Edana said softly.
“We need a name to register you. You’ll be listed as an orphan,” the judge explained.
“I’d be honoured if you’d take my name, Edana,” Hanun said.
“Well, I guess,” Edana said uncertainly.
“It is a good choice. If there is any doubt in your father’s mind he will wash his hands of you for that choice alone,” River told Edana.
“Yes. Carson it will be,” Edana said more firmly.
“Do you wish to be listed as Hanun’s adopted daughter?” the judge asked.
Edana shook her head. “No. I wish to be my own person.”
“Orphan it is then,” the judge said.
A clerk entered the information into the record books and made a copy for Edana.
Once outside the courtrooms, Hanun h
ugged her. “I don’t know what happened in there, but welcome to my home.”
“Thank you. We should head back to Fen and River.”
“A celebration tonight,” Hanun said heartily.
Edana laughed. “It looks that way. Especially with River going to the next level of races.”
“I nearly forgot about that in all the excitement,” Hanun said. “Well, I’ve a party to plan. Better get moving.”
Fen was relieved to see everything turn out well. He was disorientated when River broke the link with Edana. His surroundings were hazy and he could barely focus on anything in the pen.
Mouse burst into the pen. The door hit the wall and flew back towards him. He jumped out of the way in time. “The eggs are hatching.”
“Eggs?” Fen tried to gather his scattered thoughts.
“Pearl’s eggs. River and Pearl’s eggs. One of them has cracks in it. I checked on them like you told me to do every four hours. It’s got cracks,” Mouse said.
Fen staggered to his feet, River nudged him in the back when he would have stumbled. “Do you want to come River?”
“I will wait.”
“Come on,” Mouse said impatiently.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
With each step he took, Fen started to feel better. By the time they reached the room where the eggs were kept, he felt like himself. He stood in front of the four eggs gathered around a heat stone. One of them had a crack in it. A scratching sound came from inside and it rocked slightly.
Mouse pointed at the egg. “See. It’s hatching.”
Fen moved closer and hovered over the egg as he watched it rock harder. The crack widened. Fen had to stop himself from helping.
“I just heard,” Edana said breathlessly as she ran into the room. “I haven’t missed it, have I?”
Fen glanced over at her. “Congratulations on your new identity.”
Edana grinned. “Yes, but I nearly missed this.” She pointed to the egg that rocked again. “I can’t wait till it hatches. River’s first baby.”
“Don’t go getting mushy,” Fen said. “We’re selling them, remember?”
“Surely not the first one.”
Fen shrugged. “I don’t know. We have no dragons to breed them with. We only have the parents.”
“I’m getting too old for this.” Hanun came into the room, also out of breath.
Edana grinned at him. “Isn’t it exciting? Why don’t Pearl and River want to be here to greet their new baby?”
“They need to see humans. They must understand you will be the ones they answer to,” River thought to both of them.
“Oh, I never thought of that. They aren’t really their parents’ children. They belong to those who’ll sell them,” Edana said.
“They’re dragons, not humans. You talk as if they were slaves,” Hanun said.
“Hush Edana. It is our punishment for the sins of our fathers. Those that attacked humans are cursed to forever serve them.”
“That’s so unfair,” Edana wailed.
“Edana,” Fen warned.
“What?”
“Stop talking to yourself,” Fen glanced over at Hanun.
“Sorry. Oh, look.” Edana pointed at the egg. “It’s going to split right open.”
Edana had no sooner finished speaking than a large piece of the egg cracked with a grating pop and fell to the surface the eggs rested on. A head pushed up through the hole and was soon followed by shoulders. The dragon let out a squawk, as it looked around at the people who stared speechless at it.
“It’s… it’s,” Edana couldn’t finish.
Mouse helped her with an explosive, “Red.”
The egg tipped over and the dragon tumbled out and moved awkwardly to the edge.
“Oh, you’re so adorable,” Edana crooned as she swept the dragon into her arms. She yelped, nearly dropping the dragon. “It bit me!”
Fen laughed as Edana put the dragon near the eggshell. “Maybe it’s hungry.”
“I’ll get food.” Mouse scurried away.
“She. Her mother calls her Carmine,” River told Edana and Fen.
“How appropriate,” Edana said.
“What?” Hanun asked.
“Oh.” Edana looked over at Fen who grinned at her discomfit. “We should call her Carmine. Don’t you think that’s appropriate?”
“Excellent name,” Hanun agreed.
“Nice save,” Fen whispered as he moved near Edana before he leaned in for a closer look at Carmine. “Has anyone ever heard of a dragon being born coloured?” He looked between Edana and Hanun. Both shook their heads.
“Not that I’d really know. Most of my knowledge comes from books,” Hanun said.
“My father’s stables had thousands of babies born there during my life and not one of them was coloured at birth. I should know with the amount of time I spent in the stables. I could tell you about every lineage of every dragon he ever had and the colours of the offspring and the average time it took them to change,” Edana said.
“I don’t think we should let this get about. Who knows what it could mean,” Fen said.
Hanun nodded thoughtfully. “We don’t want people prying into our business.”
“Master.” A servant rapped on the door.
Fen shook his head and quickly made sure his body blocked all view of the dragon before Hanun opened the door and stepped out.
“Master. There’s a crazy woman outside looking for Mistress Edana,” the servant said.
Fen looked over at Edana who shrugged. “I’ll come with you. As soon as Mouse returns.”
Edana nodded. They both slipped out of the room.
“You heard?” Hanun asked.
Edana nodded. “I can’t imagine who it’d be.”
“Probably your mother,” Hanun said.
“My mother is as far as one can get from a crazy woman,” Edana protested.
“The typical stone statue,” Fen said in agreement.
“I’ve got the food.” Mouse joined them. “What you all doing?” He looked at each of them.
“I’m leaving you in charge, Mouse. The only ones allowed to enter are Hanun, Edana or myself. Is that understood?” Fen asked.
Mouse stood taller. “Not even a lizard’ll get past me.”
Fen nodded and followed Hanun as he made his way to the front door. Edana at his side.
Fen glanced towards her. “Whoever it is can’t take you from here. We made sure of that today.”
“I know. And thank you.”
“It was as much your doing as mine. Besides, now we’re even.” Fen grinned fleetingly.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Hanun reached the front door first. “Madame Crinitie con Eladorro.”
“Madame. Not for much longer,” Behira spat.
Edana ran forward. “Mother.”
“Don’t call me that. Don’t ever call me that again. How could you?” Behira demanded.
“How could I what?”
“You’ve given Adalric grounds for divorce. You’re no longer his heir. That means I didn’t provide him with an heir during the first five years of our marriage. He can divorce me. I’ll have nothing. The pittance the law says he is to provide me with is a laugh,” Behira yelled.
“He’s divorcing you?” Edana took a step back from Behira.
“Of course he is. What did you expect? That he’d still call you heir after you threw our parenting in our face. Since you no longer want us as your parents, you can no longer inherit the stables.” Behira laughed bitterly. “How naïve are you?”
Edana shook her head. “I didn’t think he’d let me inherit, but-”
“There are no buts. If he hasn’t an heir then he must get one. I’m too old. He needs a younger bride,” Behira said. “Oh, what’s to become of me? I’m in disgrace. Not even my family want me back.”
“Surely-” Edana began.
“Nothing. I’ll have nothing. Do you know how many years I had to put up with him? I spent my lif
e as little more than his slave, expecting to be kept like a queen till my death. And now I find you aren’t his heir. Why? Why did you tell him? You could have inherited the stables.”
“No, I couldn’t. I wasn’t the son he wanted. A son of mine would have inherited the stables. I wasn’t staying there to be ruled by a husband so my son could have the stables.”
“You’re mad!” Behira shouted.
Edana shook her head. “No. I’m just not you. I can’t be someone I’m not. I have to live my life by my terms.”
“As a pauper? You have nothing now,” Behira yelled.
“She has friends. True friends who’ll be there for her no matter what she has to go through.” Fen stepped forward to stand by Edana’s side. “That’s worth more than gold.”
“Another fool. What would you know about having no money?” Behira demanded.
Fen laughed bitterly. “More than you could imagine, Madame. And with good friends I was able to move far from poverty.”
“She’s not without wealth,” Hanun said. “She has a choice of four dragons that are now hatching. She won’t be dependant on anyone. She can make her own way in the world. On her own terms.”
“Hanun, you don’t have to,” Edana protested.
Hanun smiled. “I won’t have my niece a pauper.”
Behira laughed crazily. “But she’s not your niece. You were there. Didn’t you understand?”
Hanun shrugged. “Blood doesn’t matter. I can see with my own two eyes she’s my niece. What does a stupid test matter to me?”
“Oh everything. Simply everything.” Behira turned to glare at Edana. “I never knew you hated me this much. I would’ve smothered you at birth and had another child if I had known how you’d turn out.”
Edana started to take another step back from the anger directed at her. Fen dropped an arm around her shoulders and moved closer. She took a deep breath. “I never hated you. How can you hate a person you don’t know? I knew my father better than I knew you. All you were was the woman who brought me out to show off at suitable times and yelled at me for being an inconvenience at others. I learned to stay out of your way. So I never knew you. I feel sorry for you, but I don’t hate you.”