Dragon's Heir, page 43
Of course, as I quickly learned, managing a flight of dragons this big was a tricky business, and not all of them could or even should fly at the speed that Ben and his wings usually did. I began to understand a bit why they seemed to like flying in a V formation, like birds. More than just the practicality of gifting their downbeats to help support the ones behind them, it provided a clear sense of direction to the whole group and kept them from getting in each other’s way. At this height and with their size…a simple bump or stray wing could be deadly. Especially to the amón on board.
If simply flying together was a skill, getting a flight this big safely through a sungate was a masterful one. To my surprise, the violet dragon that had led the way this whole time—Eskala’s rightwing, carrying her himself judging from the lone figure on his back—and his flankers pulled off and began rising and circling hundreds of feet above the sungate. Most of the other dragons did the same, but at a lower level than him, forming two stacked circles. The only exceptions were a purple and a red dragon who went through immediately, one right after the other.
At some direction I didn’t hear or see, other dragons began breaking away from the lower ring when they reached the front of the gate and dove through, one by one. After about half of them were gone, the dragon carrying us began adjusting their wings as we came around the turn. By then, I had fully tightened my straps and was leaning forward in the saddle, ready as I would ever be.
Though I might somehow be comfortable enough on drakáback to nod off…I didn’t think I was ever going to get used to the moment of stillness as the dragon carrying me turned…then dove for the wall of fire.
My way is so much better, I thought as cramps clenched in my abdomen.
And that was the last thought I had time for before we plunged through the light and were squeezed like toothpaste through the darkness of the void, then spat back out on the other side.
As always, I was panting slightly and had to shake my head and blink rapidly to clear my vision of spots. I didn’t get a good look at our surroundings until we were circling lazily above them in yet another ring.
Then I gaped.
Olsdak…was an island. A gorgeous, tropical island that was mostly mountain but still had long strips of pure white sand, on which crowds of people were already frolicking or basking. (Figures that dramá would be into sunbathing, and quite a few of them in the nude.)
The water around the island was crystalline, and deeper out, the purest blue I had ever seen. Dragons dove into and swam around in the water with abandon, and one playful tousle between a blue and an orange deep out into the ocean caused a minor tsunami on a beach that had people yelping, running for cover, and shouting at them.
Few trees dotted the slopes, but what ones that were there were bedecked in strings of glowing blue lights and tinkling wind chimes that sent a sweet music all the way up to me. The trees often sheltered beautifully carved pergolas, benches, fountains, or gardens, with ornamented paths carved into the rock to lead from one to the next.
This didn’t look at all like what I’d come to think of as a hold. It looked like an exotic (and terribly expensive) resort.
I realized I had begun to think of all dramá as being serious, deadly, and hard-working—that their lives were far too dangerous for relaxation, play, and beauty for its own sake.
That could genuinely be the case for some regions and clans, but that didn’t have to be the same everywhere. My last seven days of near constant danger and skirting the outskirts of civilization…may have skewed my perception of their kind as a whole. Just a bit.
I didn’t get nearly long enough of a chance to examine the dramá paradise below before it was our turn to land. After only a few passes, the emerald dragon banked and glided toward the one of the smallest of the landing circles carved from and built out of the mountainside. Though it was one of the highest landing pads, it was small enough that only a few drakón could be on it at once, hence why we had had to wait a bit for our turn. And the others were going to have to wait even longer, since there were four of us amón who needed to dismount.
The moment the green dragon touched down and drew in their wings, people were rushing in with a ladder. As I had suspected, two attendants were required to handle the ladder, and another had to climb up the rungs to pull the rest of the collapsed length up high enough to reach the hooks in the saddle. Kade, already out of his seat, helped hook the ladder in place, and then he gestured for me to go first.
Feeling foolish for just sitting there watching the ladder operation instead of working on my buckles, I fumbled with them as quickly as I could, but haste and self-consciousness slowed me down enough that another healer got out of her saddle and laughingly helped me out. Hopefully none of the dragons overhead that weren’t part of my escort noticed a silly healer among the elites who needed an unusual amount of assistance.
Kade once again helped me get going on the top rungs of the ladder before letting me go. I descended as quickly as I thought was safe, and by the time I’d reached the bottom, my cheeks were cooling.
“So,” a handsome, dark-skinned, gold-uniformed drakón Peacegrowth said, coming up to me with a smile, “you’re my newest assistant, are you?”
“Er,” I said brilliantly, freezing up. Did he honestly think.…
He laughed. Don’t you worry, Heir Sarah. I know who you are. But this is part of the act. We’re still being watched, remember?
Right. Of course.
“Yes,” I said, nodding with what hopefully looked like confidence. “I am.”
“Excellent,” he said, gesturing ahead. “I am Edrik, the head healer of the Crown entourage to the Moonfair. Let me help you get settled.”
I followed Edrik off the landing pad and through the elaborately carved arch into the mountain.
He paused in the shadow of the inner threshold, safely out of sight of the dragons in the sky behind us, and gestured grandly to the bustling court inside.
“Welcome, Heir Sarah Lind, to the King’s Wing of Olsdak Hold.”
I gaped once again. I had assumed from the court’s size and grandeur that it was the central hub of the Hold.
It must have been hundreds of feet wide, with a tiered fountain sporting spewing dragon heads in the center. The floor was inlaid with a scale-style patchwork of normal stone tiles and glossy sapphire ones that reminded me suspiciously of actual scales. All the many archways leading from the central court were draped with gauzy blue curtains that were tied back just enough to not get obnoxious but still be allowed to undulate mesmerizingly in the gusts of wind coming from the landing pad and from the simple passage of people hurrying about. More gauze strung in wide, rippling streamers from every corner to meet in the center just behind a bright, glowing crystal chandelier, creating the overall impression of looking up at a sun from underwater. Large pots of lush tropical plants with enormous flowers sat in every nook, filling the fresh air with heady sweetness. Carved stone benches inlaid with more glossy sapphire material were everywhere, with velvety seats and plump, inviting cushions.
“This…is just a single wing?” I breathed.
“You should see the Lady’s Wing,” Edrik said with a chuckle as he led me across the court. “It’s smaller, but even more elaborate. The Starkissed like to show off for others, but everyone knows they save the best for their own.”
“I have a hard time imagining that,” I said frankly as I gawked.
“Trust me,” he said with a crooked smile. “But I have no complaints about the facilities. The healer’s suite here is superb.”
He gestured toward some other arch. “If you ever need healing, go find one of us. We are setting up in that direction.”
“Should I be help—”
“Flame, no,” Edrik said with a chuckle. “That is kind of you to offer, Heir Sarah, but as long as you are within the King’s Wing, there’s no need to keep up the pretense of being a healer. No one will be permitted inside that isn’t already aware of who you are and hasn’t sworn a blood oath to protect you.”
I swallowed. A blood oath? I hadn’t asked for that level of extremity. Of course…I hadn’t asked for any of this.
“Speaking of suites,” he said as he led me through a different arch. “This hall is full of the personal suites for the most important Crown guests. Leftwing Eskala will be in there.”
He pointed to one of the first sets of elaborate doors, inlaid once again with sapphire. One of the double doors was open and attendants were rushing in and out to get ready for her.
“I’m surprised she didn’t get here before me,” I said.
“It’s traditional for a leader of a flight to be one of the last to go through a sungate,” Edrik explained. “To direct the passage through and ensure all her people get to safety before her.”
Ah. That explained a bit of what Kor had meant by the highest ranking going last—not out of a show of importance (or at least not for the good ones) but rather as a show of service and protection. I liked that.
Edrik continued. “And, even if she’s through by now, she’ll have to greet the Lady Starkissed at the main landing circle and go through all that ceremony before making her way here. You’re lucky to be such a ‘lowly assistant’ to have skipped all those ashes and gone straight to the Royal landing.”
I felt intense relief at my near miss. Though the sun was still bright and high outside at Olsdak, I was at the end of what had been a very long, full, exhausting day, and I was desperately craving some quiet and solitude before a deep slumber.
Edrik pointed to another set of doors, these even larger and more ornate. “The Heir’s Suite. Heir Koriben will stay there, of course, once he arrives tomorrow.”
“Do you know exactly when?” I asked, trying to hide my eagerness as I activated my watch. “In how many hours—deken, I mean?”
He smiled broadly at me, so I was certain I hadn’t fooled him. “Oh, he’ll get here at first light, I imagine. Even if he wished to come sooner, he has to wait for day here for the sungate here to become active again. So…let me see…that would be about seventeen deken.”
I couldn’t help a sigh. So long.… More than a full revolution of my watch, which was now at only a couple Ythra hours of sunlight remaining.
“An interesting device you have there,” Edrik commented curiously.
“Thanks. I can’t…tell the time like you people can. So an…artificer—” I hoped I remembered the right word in Drona. “—made me this a couple days ago.”
“Hmm,” Edrik said thoughtfully. “I wonder.… Something that precise and convenient might be useful in my practice.…”
“Her name is Alya,” I said quickly, eager to recommend her. “She’s a Brightflare in the First Flight of Goldek Gate.”
I was rather impressed with myself that I’d remembered that much detail, let alone in Drona.
“She said she was going to file a patent, then release the design to the public. I’m sure she would be happy to send you the schematics then.”
“I’m no artificer,” Edrick chuckled as we stopped in front of the final set of doors, the ones at the end of the hall, which were wide open. “But I’m sure I can commission one. So, thank you for that information. But here we are: your rooms.”
“My rooms?” I said, peering inside.
It was like a miniature version of the central court, complete with a smaller fountain—except even more opulence, gauze, and plushness. I started to think that my “special” room back in my hold wasn’t so over the top, after all.
Edrick smiled broadly. “The King specifically requested that you be given his suite in his absence. And these would be some of your attendants now.”
My head was spinning. The King’s suite? Some of?
Two dark brown young women in gold uniforms with blue trim—one blue-haired drakón and one black-haired amón—approached me with welcoming smiles.
“Heir Sarah Lind,” the young amón said as they both put their hands over their hearts. “It is with great delight that we welcome you to the King’s Suite of Olsdak Hold. I am Vadya, and I will be the head of your staff during your stay with us.”
Staff, I thought, feeling faint. I have staff.
Given how much I just wanted to be alone right now, that wasn’t a good thing.
I plastered on as sincere and thankful a smile as I could manage. “Wonderful. Thank you both for…um.…”
They both laughed.
“That’s good enough for us,” the drakón said with a wink as she hooked her arm in mine to lead me inside. She waved back at the healer flirtatiously. “Thanks, Edrik! See you at dinner!”
“See you, Fenra,” Edrik said with a grin. His smile softened at my look over my shoulder of minor panic. “Don’t worry. You’re in good hands with these sisters. Mischief makers though they are.”
“Ah, Edrik,” Vadya said with a pout as she slowly closed the doors. “You wound us. When have we ever caused any mischief?”
“And been caught?” Edrik said dryly. “Never. That’s precisely the point.”
The only answer he got was their burst of laughter as Vadya closed the door in his face.
“You’re going to have to make him pay for that one tonight,” Vadya told her sister with a wink. Now that Edrik had pointed it out, I saw the clear resemblance between the two of them that Fenra’s drakón height and coloring had momentarily concealed.
Fenra folded her arms and smirked. “And why should I? I think it was perhaps the highest compliment he’s ever paid me. In fact, I’m jealous that he included you in it.”
“You’re together, I’m assuming?” I said. Then, in case that didn’t translate well, I added. “A couple, I mean.”
Fenra laughed and threw back her luxurious curls of blue hair to show her right ear, which displayed an emerald earring. “Betrothed, actually. Just last week.”
I was suddenly very interested.
Trying not to show it, I asked casually, “Congratulations! So…since you know I’m knew here, perhaps you can explain this to me. Earrings indicate an engagement?”
That would explain why I had seen so many dramá by now wearing earrings, even though they often seemed to clash with their demeanors or uniforms. And why none of my drakón wore any.
“One does, yes,” Fenra said, pulling her hair back even further to show her other ear, which was bare.
Ah. That also explained why Edrik had been wearing only one sapphire. I couldn’t help but notice, because of his short hair, but I’d thought little of it at the time given all the many other distractions around me.
The drakón let her hair fall back. “He’ll give me the other one as part of our heartbinding, just as I will to him.”
“Um.… Heartbinding. Is that a wedding?”
“‘Wedding’?” Vadya curiously repeated the word in English.
“The ceremony that ends a betrothal and makes it a marriage, a permanent union.”
“Oh, yes, that,” Fenra said with a chuckle. “Heartbinding, yes.”
“Why do you call it that?” I asked intently.
They blinked and looked at each other, then back at me. “Because it binds our hearts together.”
Right. Obviously. How silly of me to ask.
I felt there was a bit more to it than that, but I was drooping at this point, and I doubted I could press this much further while pretending merely idle curiosity.
Vadya, being the proper majordomo that she was, noticed.
“Ah, Sarah, don’t let us addith chat your ear off. From what Kor told us, I assume that you’ll be wanting some quiet and rest now?”
I nearly sagged with relief, not even caring that Kor had been revealing things about me to complete strangers. “Goodness, yes.”
“Would you prefer to bathe now or in the morning?”
I smiled ruefully. “I think I’d fall asleep if I took a bath now. So…later?”
“That’s just fine,” she said, putting an arm around me to lead me on. So, it wasn’t just Ben and Kor—dramá really were touchy people.
As we passed one arch, she pointed. “The bathing room is that way, should you wish to use it when none of us are around to direct you. But someone should be awake and ready to assist you at all times. We’re aware that you can be a bit more…active at night.”
“There’s no need for anyone to stay up for me,” I protested.
“Oh, there is,” Fenra said firmly. “We’re not just here to wait on you, Sarah. We’re also the innermost layer in your defense.”
“Oh,” I said with a blink.
“It’s not easy to become a Royal attendant,” Vadya said with a casual wink, obviously trying to lighten the mood. “We had to be trained in everything from serving tables to mending broken bones to spearing assailants. Very exciting, never a dull moment, eh Fenra?”
“It’s why we did it,” Fenra said, flashing her perfect drakón teeth in a feral smile. “You can’t imagine how excited we were to be given this assignment—the first of our very own. Other than Eskala, there hasn’t been a female member of the Crown to serve since the Queen’s death, and Eskala doesn’t see nearly enough action.”
As the two led me into a lush bedroom, Vadya groaned. “We were being groomed to serve Ben’s consort, but of course, he took his sweet time finding one. We thought we’d never get anyone but Eskala.”
“But now that’s all changing, thanks to you,” Fenra said with a significant wink.
My cheeks grew warm. “We’re not.…”
Goodness gracious, had half the Realms known how Ben felt before I did? Something told me the answer was yes. Of all the bits of gossip Kor kept reporting, he’d left this tidbit out.…
Probably for good reason. Ben might have dug himself a hole from sheer embarrassment and never come out. And I might have been there right along with him.
Both Starkissed sisters looked at me with eyes too wide with innocence.
“Oh, we were talking just about you gracing us with your Royal presence, of course,” Vadya said. “Nothing of more…significance than that.”
