Of Dragon Warrens and Other Traps

by Shannon McGee

  My heart lurched. “And why do you think that?”

  “Because, they would never have allowed you to come here, especially not alone.”

  “And why is that?”

  “I will not dance with you in the hallway, Taryn. Come in if you want answers or go away. It makes no difference to me.” She began to turn away, as though preparing to shut the door.

  That little pull tugged at me to follow her, but I knew I’d have done so even without it. Cursing, I hurried past the threshold. As she closed the door behind us, the compulsion dissolved away as though it had never been.

  I quickly surveyed the room. It was bigger than the one Aella and I were staying in, closer in size to Aedith’s, but still larger than hers, and much lusher. The bed was twice the size of my own, covered in throw pillows, with a gauzy canopy. The floors were covered in velvet rugs. All the wood and the metal in the room glimmered in the light that streamed through the large windows, as though freshly polished. There was even room for a settee against the wall opposite from the bed.

  Benjamin sat on the settee. I wasn’t surprised by that, or to see that he was dressed in the same clothing as the servant she’d had with her at the river—minus the head wrapping. It made sense now. Michael wasn’t here, but that didn’t surprise me either. If he had stayed with the lady, then she wouldn’t have needed someone else who could easily identify me. How furious Benjamin must have been when he realized he had been lied to.

  What did surprise me was that he did not spring up immediately upon seeing me. In fact, he did not even seem to register that I was there at all. Instead, he stared at the wall next to my head with a dazed expression. Besides the clothes he wore, he looked much the same as he ever had. He wasn’t even tan, which I guessed came from being wrapped up all the time. That made sense too. It wasn’t as though Lady Famai had been about to risk me recognizing him.

  “I apologize for Benjamin. I have decided not to renew his service,” Lady Famai said, still behind me. I spun to look at her, and she shrugged. “He was working himself up over his termination and causing a disturbance, so I quieted him.”

  “Is he all right?” Benjamin might not care much for me, but I’d been good friends with his daughter, and before everything had happened last year, I had respected him. I did not want to have to send word home to Beth that her father was dead.

  “He is fine. He will awaken in an hour and feel as though he lost track of time. It does not hurt him, and it serves him right for becoming so aggressive.” She moved past me, walking to her bedside table where a fan laid. She picked it up, opening it gently as she sank onto the bed. The fan was the same gray as her obi, with navy stripes. The colors blurred together as she began to wave it.

  “I thought you didn’t have a great amount of magic. I thought you could barely light a candle.”

  “It is a charm that Gabriel made for me. He is good at laying charms on simple objects. Benjamin wears it, and I can activate as needed.”

  “And he knows about it?” I asked, thinking of how sneakily I had been given such a charm.

  “He believes the necklace is a part of his uniform. A way of assuring he will be allowed to see me, even if I am taking a meal in a place he ordinarily would not be allowed in. Which is also true.”

  She hadn’t really answered my question, and the idea made me queasy. How often had she done this to him on the road from Nophgrin?

  Lady Famai cleared her throat. “Now, what can I do for you?”

  I swallowed. It wasn’t as though there was anything I could do about it either way at the moment. I was here. This was happening. I just had to hope that she really couldn’t cast a stunning spell on her own and not make eye contact with her in the meantime.

  Not that she needed magic to be frightening. Now that she was here in front of me, looking resplendent and composed, I was acutely aware of just how dingy and undignified I must have seemed by comparison. All the questions I had rehearsed scattered in my head like minnows, and she tilted her head in an almost mocking question at my silence.

  I tossed the handkerchief to the floor between us. “I want the truth,” I said, trying to sound braver than I felt.

  The fan stilled. “And what do you think the truth is?”

  “Well, to start, I think you know my brother,” I said. “I think you rescued him last year, somehow.”

  The fan started to move again. “Why would I do that?”

  She wanted me to say it, and I couldn’t think of a better way to get the information I had come for. “Because Master Noland of Oswell told you to. I know that you work for him—or with him. I just don’t understand why.”

  The fingers of one of Lady Famai’s hands came to gently touch her lips as she gazed out the window, her eyes thoughtful. “You know, Gabriel did not believe you would figure so much out on your own. Anya did, but Anya always believes the best in people.”

  “Why would you help someone like him?” I knew there was a pleading tone in my voice, but I couldn’t help that. “Don’t you know what he’s like?”

  “On the contrary. I know better than most what he is like,” she said sternly. “You are familiar with how I came to be wed to my dear Ralph, are you not?” When I nodded, unsure of how else to respond, she smiled, clearly having seen the movement from the corner of her eye, since she still did not look at me. “Bards love to focus on the love I found—who could blame them? It is a terribly romantic story. But they start too late. They always begin their tales with my mother’s death.”

  I shifted, trying to find a standing position that took some of the weight off of my right arm. My shoulder was beginning to throb, as though the pull of gravity, now that I was standing for so long, was more than it was able to handle. At least Lady Famai was consistent. She didn’t really need my input now that she was talking, and she continued, blithely unaware of my discomfort.

  “What they don’t spend enough time on is how, when I was young, my father promised me the world—anything I wanted. I was happy to take it. The responsibility of the world never frightened me as it does some people. I found it exciting. He taught me how to get what I wanted from my enemies—as well as my friends. Then, my mother became ill, and then she died. My father never truly looked at me the same after that. He remarried, and my world grew smaller and smaller. I endeavored to stay in his good graces, tried to convince him that I was still the most suitable heir to his estates, but as you know, that only served to anger my stepmother. She would have had me marry a man more than twice my age if it meant I was out of the way of her children and their line to the throne. Lord Bohai of the House of Eels,” she gave a hollow laugh. “But what could I do?”

  It felt strange and a little churlish to be standing so far back, in the entryway as she told her story. I was also acutely aware that at any moment Cahaya could return with the lady’s mages, and I didn’t like the idea of them coming upon me by surprise. Carefully, I moved a little farther into the room, so at least my back could be against a wall. It helped take some of the pressure off my shoulder. The settee probably would have been better for that purpose, but I could not bring myself to sit next to the motionless Benjamin. Lady Famai looked at me then, the movement drawing her attention, and she smiled.

  “That was when Ralph arrived. Despite my doubts, Soaryph must have been watching over me all along.” There was a true earnestness in her words. From what I knew of her, I’d expected that part of the tale the bards told to be a lie, but the lady seemed to really believe that the god of love had aided her. “His father had recently passed, and he was taking it very hard. An old friend of his father had suggested a trip to take his mind off things. They were hunting perytons, and everyone knows that the best place to hunt them in all the continent is in Elyria, so he brought Ralph to us.”

  My stomach churned. I’d had a light breakfast of an apple and a cup of tea, but it felt as though they were fermenting in my gut. “Master Noland?” I didn’t really need to ask. I knew I was right.
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  She nodded. “Exactly so. The moment he saw the two of us together he knew we would be a match. When we had become better acquainted, he told me so. I was then forced to reveal my horrible predicament—how I was already engaged to someone I did not love. I still remember how indignant he became on my behalf. It was quite thrilling. He told me to focus on Sir Ralph, and that he would take care of the rest. I didn’t know if I could believe him. For a stranger to care so much for someone they have just met… But he was true to his word. By the end of their visit, Ralph was besotted, my parents had been convinced, and I was free.”

  “But free to do what?” I asked impatiently. “If you’re happy with Sir Ralph, why are you still taking orders from Master Noland?”

  “My dear,” Lady Famai chided, “there is no if. I love Ralph, but he is,” she puckered her lips as she groped for the right words, “he is only a first step. His favor could turn someday, and I would be right back to where I started before I met him. Master Noland helped me see that.”

  “So, this is just about power?” She already had so much, could she really crave more this badly?

  “No,” she said firmly. “It is not just about power. It is also about having the power to lift up those who come to me for help. Young girls like Cahaya, who would be lost to poverty and marriages of convenience. With Master Noland’s resources and direction, I can help them and myself from ever being in such a position again.”

  “But you have to know that he uses those children that you ‘help,’” I protested. “The King’s Snakes—”

  The lady cut me off, “Suadelah and her team are perfectly happy with the life they live. It is much better than the one we saved them from.”

  “But you’re sending mercenaries after them. That was you, wasn’t it? You’re the one who demanded they be found?”

  “A test only. No harm will come to them.”

  “Is that what you think?” I couldn’t help but feel a touch rankled by the confidence with which she dismissed the threat my company posed.

  “They are not so ungrateful for the benevolence they have been shown that they would fail us in their first true test of skill.”

  Of course. My irritation stoked even higher. She would send trained fighters and mages after her students, and if they were injured or killed, it would be their fault for not training hard enough. How convenient. I supposed if they died, Master Noland and the lady would just hope the next set did better.

  “What do they even need to be so strong for? To steal more coin for you and Master Noland?” I asked.

  “Taryn, you must know that we are not after money.” Now she looked disappointed in me.

  “Then what? Why are you doing all of this?”

  “It is as I told you. We are providing these children with opportunities they would otherwise never have. We are giving them a chance to change the world.”

  “But how?” It took all my self-control to keep from shouting at her as we talked in circles.

  She shook her head. “That information is reserved for those who are dedicated to the cause we serve, and I do not believe you are ready to serve. Or am I wrong?”

  “You should let Cahaya go back to her mother,” I said, instead of answering. “She’s just a little girl, and whatever you think, messing with people lives the way you do is wrong.”

  “Selfish girl.” She might have slapped me for how stunned I was at her words. “What do you think her life is like here in Dabsqin? Do you think she gets three meals a day? Do you think her mother can send her to the capital for schooling? Or will she work in the shop when she gets tall enough to reach the higher shelves? What of when her mother becomes too old to work? What sort of savings do you think they have put away? You think you’re being so kind to Cahaya, but what becomes of her when you leave?”

  “I don’t…”

  “That is right, you did not think about that, did you? You would rob her of a chance to become a skilled mage because it makes you uncomfortable.” She shook her head sadly. “And then you would accuse me of being in the wrong.”

  If I could have screamed at that moment I would have. Even if Master Noland had helped Lady Famai, as a noblewoman, she had been on equal footing with him the whole time. I, as a commoner who had lived through Master Noland’s meddling, had the unique position of knowing just how wrong what they were doing was. Regardless of what she was giving Cahaya, and even her family, what she would end up taking was so much costlier.

  She didn’t want to hear that though. Whatever these nobles were up to, Lady Famai was so entrenched in her own self-righteousness she would not take kindly to me spitting on the idea of joining her or pressing that what they were doing was bad. Instead, I changed tactics.

  “And what about Benjamin? You used him,” I accused. There was no reason to mince around it. “You lied to him, and you used him to get to me, taking him away from his family. And now this?” I gestured to his blank stare. “You have to know that this isn’t right.”

  “Would you rather I be true to my word? Do you want me to wrap you in a neat bundle and put you in a cart for him to take back to Nophgrin?”

  Hearing her say my home town out loud was surreal, and so was the casual curiosity with which she asked that question. “No,” I muttered. “What I want is to be left alone.”

  “My dear, you must know that is a dream you must let go of.”

  “Why?” I lost control for a moment, and the word came out louder than I had intended. I looked nervously at Benjamin, but he had not even flinched.

  “Because you have been given power, and there is a cost. You are part of something much bigger than yourself now. We must leave nothing to chance.”

  “But I didn’t ask for it. It was something Michael did.”

  She shrugged, her soft clothing rustling with the movement. “You are one and the same.”

  I forced myself to take a breath, drawing the air deeply in and then out slowly through my nose. Perhaps those comparisons would always hurt. I could not let that distract me.

  Despite the fear of what she could do to me, I knew I had to make one more attempt at reasoning with her. Not just for my sake, but for Cahaya’s and for Benjamin’s as well. I met her eyes squarely. “What you’re doing is wrong. You call what I have a gift, and you praise yourself for giving these children opportunities, but a gift doesn’t come with a cost, and an opportunity with hidden obligations to obey you at any cost is a trap. Begging your pardon, lady, but it is. It’s plain wrong.”

  The lady made a noise which, from a less noble person, might have been considered a scoff. “Your naivety is showing. Everything has a price, and I am giving these children their best chance at making something of themselves in the world. Those in our care are lucky to have been selected, and they know it.”

  I heard the door handle jiggle, and instinctively I pivoted so I could better see it and the lady. When the door swung open, Cahaya preceded Anya and Gabriel, entering the room with a jaunty bounce in her step.

  She looked so pleased, leading the two adults, her head held high. I knew I could believe Lady Famai when she said the child felt lucky to be here. She hadn’t been kidnapped or coerced. That was only because she didn’t know what was in store for her though. This happiness would fade. They would twist her into someone who her own mother wouldn’t recognize. Just like they had Michael.

  This was different though. Hope stirred in my chest. Unlike with Michael, here I had a head start. Perhaps I could talk to her mother, convince her somehow of what I knew, and retrieve her child. Surely Lady Famai could not deny a mother’s claim to her child—not without making a scene.

  “My lady,” Gabriel said with a small bow when they had cleared the doorway, “Cahaya said you had need of us.”

  Lady Famai had been watching me intently. At her mage’s inquiry, she inclined her head and began to wave her fan again, idly now. “Yes, thank you for coming so quickly. Miss Taryn was on her way out. Were you not?”

  Thoug
h it pained me to do so, I made my own bow. It was awkward. I was much more accustomed to curtsying, but the formalities couldn’t be ignored, even when the noble in question was clearly a snake in disguise. “Yes, my lady. Thank you for your time.”

  Turning to leave, I held my breath as I passed the mages. I could not feel their magic, not in the same way as I had when my own power had been unbound, but they still frightened me. I had no doubt that was why she had sent for them—to bully me into leaving once she tired of speaking to me.

  At the door, I paused, steeling myself before turning back. “Lady Famai?”

  Her eyebrows darted up in a show of brief surprise. “Yes?”

  “You should let Benjamin go home. His family misses him. They need him.”

  She looked to Anya and Gabriel, a small smile on her lips. “Oh, I don’t know.” She tapped her fan against her lips, in exaggerated consideration. “Shall we make a bargain?”

  Oh, I did not like the sound of that. I swallowed hard. “That depends on the bargain.”

  “Cahaya, come here.” When the child obeyed, Lady Famai smoothed a few stray hairs back from her face. “How would you like to go on a ride down by the river today?”

  Cahaya squealed with delight, though she quickly stifled the noise, and sank into a deep, albeit wiggly, curtsy. “Yes, lady! Thank you, lady! I mean, please, lady!”

  Lady Famai’s smile was indulgent, even affectionate. I tried to refrain from scowling; it wouldn’t do to frighten Cahaya with my anger. It was good that the lady wasn’t cruel to her, and yet, I couldn’t help but resent Lady Famai’s kindness toward the child. It wasn’t fair that despite what I knew—which was that she was rotten at her core—she could seem so kind on the surface. It was one of the things that would make it so much harder to convince anyone that the child was in danger.

  Lady Famai was still addressing Cahaya as I silently fumed. “We are hiring a new manservant today, my dear child,” she said. “Someone who has a bit more knowledge of the eastern steppe, I think. The earl’s steward will have the names of those who are suitable for such a role. When my interviews for the position have concluded, we will go down to the river for a picnic. I would like you to go saddle the horse so we may leave promptly when my business with Miss Taryn is complete.”