by Sever Bronny
He nodded glumly and she let go, bringing her hands together in her lap. Her head dropped, raven hair falling around her like a curtain, obscuring her face. “Someone almost died for me too on this quest. And for all we know, Ulfric could have died in an iron room after being put to the question.”
Augum said nothing, merely kept staring at the pommel of his blade.
“We are on a sacred quest,” Leera went on in a gentle voice. “I tell myself that he knew what he was getting into. Same with Naoki. We are attempting to do the impossible so that we can save not just our kingdom, but all the kingdoms.”
He placed an arm around her waist and drew her closer. Her head rested on his shoulder as one hand pressed against his chest.
“You need to acknowledge what I said, Aug. You searched for the sword of your ancestor not knowing that the dragon would come. Maxine loves to lay blame, one of the reasons she’s a terrible leader. Don’t carry a stone in your heart that shouldn’t be there.”
“My sweet princess,” he whispered, feeling hollow and spent.
Leera looked up, her dark eyes moist, sharp brows soft. “There is only so much we can each do. We’re not perfect, you know.” She prodded him in the stomach, repeating, “We’re not perfect. Naoki gave her life for more than just us. For more than just … a sword.”
He swallowed, trying to comprehend it all, but he was emotionally exhausted. And there was also a shadow of the anger he had felt when facing the warlock who had betrayed his mercy. His blood started racing thinking about it. How dare the man break his word after his life had honorably been spared.
He recalled that moment in the war when he had renounced his father in the old way. He recalled feeling free from the burden of the man’s kinship, his soul finally having a chance at peace. Yet it was now evident to him that he had paid a price for reaccepting the man as his father. He had never felt such rage before. It was more than rage—it was raw bloodlust. He was sure his father had felt that bloodlust, had bathed in it, had used it to great effect.
“Aug?”
“Hmm?”
“A shadow came over your face just then. You all right, love?”
He kept his dark thoughts to himself. He could control the rage. Had to control it. “I’m fine.”
She stared at him. “If you say so. Anyway, I said the others are shaken but all right. Everyone’s getting ready for a late supper. Esha is resting in a healing sleep, so everything’s on hold for a little while.” She nodded at his foot. “Apparently what you did with your toes is considered a feat of legend.”
He scoffed.
“What, it is! My brave prince.” She watched him with a smile before nudging him with her shoulder. “So how does it feel to have been fixed up by the highest-degree healing warlock in all of Sithesia?”
“Ning did it?”
“Aye, that she did,” Leera replied with a pirate accent and a smart head bob. “Though you should have heard her grumbling about the inconvenience of being taken away from her—” She threw up air quotes. “—precious work. It’s as if saving one of the kingdom’s heroes should bow to—” She flicked a hand at a nearby table of jars. “—whatever the hell all that is.”
“Research.”
Now it was Leera’s turn to scoff. “Research, right. I could stick a leaf in a jar and call it research too.” She rubbed her face with a hand. “Ugh, I’m sorry. I’m just grumpy. It feels like … it feels like we can’t gain our stride with this quest.” She shrugged. “But then … nobody said this was going to be easy, did they?”
Augum, recalling The Grizzly’s warning that the quest could take longer than he anticipated, absently nodded.
She perked up. “Ooh, would you like a back massage? Would that help?”
“Oh, yes.”
She smirked. “Oh, yes?”
“Oh, yes please.”
She adjusted to sit cross-legged behind him on the cot and began massaging his shoulders. He moaned with pleasure and melted into her arms.
“Sit up straight, my lord,” she whispered, giving him a kiss on the ear.
“Yes, my lady.” For a while he enjoyed the sensation of her fingers lovingly rubbing the soreness from his muscles. No words were exchanged. Occasionally she’d hit a tender spot and he’d wince, and she’d rub that spot until it felt better. Her fingers pushed thoughts of guilt and fear aside, replacing them with love and warmth and pleasure as sweet as nectar. At the end of it, she wrapped her arms around him and pressed him to herself, and the pair sighed contentedly.
“Your turn,” he said, and they switched places.
“Mmm,” she toned, then wilted beneath his fingers like a flower.
“Sit up straight, my lady,” he whispered into her ear, mirroring what she had done and even giving that ear a kiss.
“Yes, my lord,” she replied with a soft snicker.
He explored her upper and lower back, shoulders and arms and hands and fingers, working the soreness out, taking his time doing it. Whenever she melted back to her hunch, he gently pressed a hand to the base of her back while holding her shoulder to straighten her out. “Sorry,” she’d mutter, and he’d resume, and the hunch would inevitably creep back in and he’d repeat the maneuver. He tried not to think that he was massaging his future wife. He tried not to think about wanting so much more.
At last, when she was almost asleep and his hands were sore, he evenly rubbed the whole of her back one last time then entwined his arms around her and drew her to him.
“Mmm,” she toned again, and pressed his hands, laced around her belly, to herself. The pair lay back on the cot in that position, draped in silence and enjoying each other’s embrace.
Time stopped. The silence deepened. He could feel her heart slowly beating. Her eyes were closed as she tumbled, one breath at a time, toward a nap.
Augum allowed his thoughts to drift and, studying the ornate ceiling, found a panel depicting a bunch of knights riding out over a drawbridge from a castle. “You know what I long for?” he whispered.
She groggily opened her eyes.
Augum pointed. “That panel.”
She examined it. “Now that would be a dream.” She perked up. “All right, picture this—” and she moved to sit cross-legged beside him on the cot as he lay there. Then she closed her eyes and straightened her back. “Dragon Augum Arinthian standing on the terrace—”
“Ooh, Dragon, nice touch,” he said, lacing his fingers behind his head.
“On the terrace of his castle—”
“Our castle.”
“Our castle,” she corrected, a corner of her mouth curving upward slyly. “A castle once more named Castle Arinthian because the Von Edgeworths had most unceremoniously been kicked out. A castle full of mouse-hunters—”
“You mean cats?”
She briefly flashed him an Obviously look.
“And what am I doing on this terrace, Dragoon Jones?”
She gently whapped him with the back of her hand. “Hush and let your girl finish. So Augum stands on the terrace awaiting the arrival of his beloved, Dragon Leera Arinthian—” She opened one eye to steal a peek at him as his cheeks burned fiercely. “—and his sister-in-war, possibly by then named Dragon Bridget Hroljassen—”
“Really getting ahead of ourselves, aren’t we?”
“Didn’t I tell you to hush?” She adjusted her spectacles and closed her eyes again. “Although I more see him taking her name rather than the other way around.” She held up a finger. “Correction, Dragon Bridget Burns. Anyway, Dragon Arinthian—” She opened an eye again. “Or would you prefer Stone?”
“Haven’t … haven’t thought about it before.”
“Let’s go with Arinthian, just for fun.” She winked and closed her eyes again, her finger dancing with each point. “So Dragon Arinthian awaits his beloved’s return—”
“Dragon Arinthian awaits Dragon Arinthian? How would that work?”
The finger froze. “I … I have no idea.” She whappe
d him with the back of her hand again. “Would you stop interrupting already! Yeesh. So as I was saying, Dragon Augum Arinthian—” One eye fleetingly opened in annoyance at him. “—awaits the return of his beloved, Dragon Leera Arinthian, and their longtime friend, Dragon Burns—or whatever. Finally, his heart leaps as he sees them on the horizon—” She flapped her arms like wings. “—riding on their dragons.”
“Naturally.”
“I mean, I don’t know how it’d work, but let’s say we’re riding them.”
“Okay.”
“And it’s safe and fun and, and, and a sight to behold, yeah.”
“Okay.”
“And the famous and stunningly beautiful girls are on their way back from the academy … or some place of equal import.”
“Right.”
“Anyway, they, uh, park their dragons somewhere.”
“Park them like wagons?”
“Yeah. Maybe, like, in a stable or something.”
“Would have to be a big stable.”
“Obviously—”
“So what’s the occasion?”
A rigid finger rose in warning.
“Sorry.”
“The occasion is … a banquet. Yes, a banquet. A big banquet for everyone they know. Which means all their friends are there—everyone they like, that is.”
“We’d be taking a break from our Arcaner duties then. From the running of the order.” The thought made him long to read the Arcaner codex.
“Exactly, because, uh, because there’s an event.”
“What sort of event?”
She thought about it a moment. “A wedding. Yeah, it’ll be a wedding.” Her finger shot skyward. “I hereby declare that it shall be Bridget’s wedding—because obviously we’ll have already married by then.”
Augum nodded along, cheeks re-flaring. “Naturally.”
“And, and, and all the kings and queens and princes and princesses from all the other kingdoms will make an appearance and shower us with gifts of thanks for saving their kingdoms.” Her head bounced as she nodded. “Yeah. Lots of gifts. For everybody, not just the bride and groom.”
“Uh, that’s not how—”
“Hush, you! And, and, and—”
He studied her as she spoke, enjoying her animated face, her expressive and sharp eyebrows, the freckles sprinkled across her cheeks like stars, her light spectacles that made her appear cute and brilliant.
“—then Bridget and Olaf get married and we throw a huge party and then whoever wants to has loads of kids and the kids play with each other and with the cats and dogs—dogs from Bridget’s side, mind you—and they’ll all grow up together and attend the academy and everybody lives happily ever after.” She noticed him staring, grabbed his chin and turned his head away. “Stop gawking.”
“Stop gawking at my stunningly beautiful girl?”
“Yes.” Then she sighed longingly. “At least, that’s what I imagine the future to be.” She absently chewed on her knuckle. “In a future that is unknowable. A future we have yet to earn.”
“I really thought we had earned that future after the Legion war.”
“Me too. Me too …”
“Nothing’s ever that easy.”
“Nothing’s ever that easy.”
Tallow candles flickered as a comfortable silence passed between them.
“Do you think there will be time for a memorial ceremony tomorrow?” he asked.
“I doubt it.”
Another silence. “I’m sorry Ulfric got captured.”
She slowly nodded. “And I’m sorry about Naoki.”
He sat up, hooked his arm around her neck and gently brought her head to his lips, vividly recalling Naoki’s final look. “She died so that I could hold you again. And for that, I will forever be grateful to her.”
Leera looked at him. “Oh, Aug …” She pressed herself closer and softly kissed him, continuing until a gentle knock came at the door.
“Come in!” they chorused.
The door opened and in walked Bridget, closing the door behind her.
Leera spread her arms, singing, “Well, well, well, the bride-to-be.”
Bridget strolled over, arms wrapped around herself. Her hair was long and shiny, evidently washed. “Sorry?”
“Nothing, just idle amusements.”
Bridget sat down beside Augum on the cot so that the girls flanked him. “It’s been a long day.”
“Got that right,” Augum muttered, feeling like an old man.
“How are you feeling?”
“I’m okay.” He gripped the sheath that held Burden’s Edge, wanting to hear Bridget’s appraisal of the situation.
“Ollie told me what Maxine said back there in the blizzard,” Bridget continued. “It’s more than just a sword, Augum. It’s much more than just a sword. It’s an ideal, like the code of honor. Ideals are important. People sacrifice themselves for ideals. Ideals change lives, change history. We saw that in the last war. Naoki accepted the premise of the quest because The Grizzly made it plain to her upon signing up, as he had made it plain to all of us, not just the protectors. The dangers we face are more than real … they’re final. And you couldn’t have possibly known Katrina would find us, let alone that quickly. You couldn’t.”
Her words were a soothing balm and he breathed easier after hearing them. “Thank you,” he whispered.
“You’re welcome.” She nodded down at his foot. “So you really did it, huh?”
“No choice.”
“You know that’s a feat of—”
“Save it.”
“I’m only saying, it’s a known trial of character to cut off one’s own flesh to—”
“Bridge—”
“All right, all right.” She sighed.
He rubbed his face. “I learned something about Orion—the siege engine amplifies arcanery the same way the scions did.”
The girls gawked at him.
“That’s … that’s a frightening thought,” Bridget said.
“And if Orion works like a scion,” he went on, “then I suspect she’s still tuning to it, learning how to use it, how to cast spells through it.”
For a time, they sat there thinking about the repercussions, for it meant that Katrina would be doubly motivated to advance her arcanery. And she was already lethal.
Bridget’s fingers fiddled together. “It’s, uh, been suggested that I should train with you on Teleport.”
He glanced between the girls. “Oh?”
“Well, you did slice off your own toes, mister,” Leera noted. “Something I wish I hadn’t seen.” Her face twisted with revulsion. “Really, really wish I hadn’t seen.”
He looked to Bridget. “When?”
“After supper, and after a memorial ceremony for Naoki, which Klines offered to host on our behalf.”
He nodded and sighed. “I could use the help,” he admitted, though felt a prickle of shame in doing so.
“Good to hear,” Bridget said. “And then we’re going to hit the library. Senior Arcaneologist Ning suggested we look for an alternate way into Ley in case Esha does not actually know how to get there.”
Augum nodded again, then elbowed Leera. “And I’m sorry that you had to see that.”
She glanced down at his foot. “Not as sorry as you are to have done it.”
“I’m not sorry, actually—it needed to be done.” He wiggled his remaining toes at her.
“Ew, get away, you freak.”
“Lee—”
“I was jesting, Bridge. Really, do you seriously think I’d act that way toward my future husband?”
One of Bridget’s brows rose as she looked between the two of them.
“We were just, uh, talking about the future, that’s all,” Augum said.
“Don’t rush things, you two. There’s a lot of work to do.”
Leera rolled her eyes. “No one’s rushing, Bridge.” Then she smirked. “How’s Ollie, anyway?”
“Washing up and
readying for supper. And on that note—” Bridget stood. “We should join the others. Move it, lovebirds.”
Leera scoffed but stood alongside Augum, who threw on his new turnshoes and tested his foot out by walking a few steps.
“How’s it feeling?” Leera asked.
“Surprisingly fine, actually.” All he felt was the dull ache, but luckily his balance was unaffected.
The pair trailed after Bridget, who was still holding herself. “Gosh, I don’t know why they have to keep it so cold in here,” she muttered.
“I bet it helps healing or something,” Leera said. “Or whatever weird experiments they perform in here.”
Bridget placed a hand against the door. “Huh. You know, I think you might be right about that.”
As they slipped out of the room, Augum recalled the wondrous sight of being above the clouds. “By the way, you’ll never believe what I saw …”
Discipline Your Mind
“Impetus peragro!” Augum incanted, and felt his body get yanked. He briefly hurtled through the pitch-black arcane ether, the sensation akin to tumbling end over end. One simply got used to it with training and learned to control the accompanying nausea. But it wasn’t the nausea Augum had a problem with but rather his lack of self-confidence in casting the spell. Once more he saw a pig trough and felt his bones smash into a wall. Once more he feared he had hit his ceiling.
He appeared over a stretch of murky water, still hurtling in the direction of his target. His three-toed foot caught the surface of the water and instantly flipped his body. He somersaulted along the surface for about ten feet before violently plowing into the icy pool with a big splash.
After gaining his bearings, he popped his head above the water, dizzy and coughing and frozen to the bone. He slapped the water with a palm. “Damn it!” At least he was wide awake now.