Dragonborn (The Jade Lee Romantic Fantasies, Book 1) (36 page)

This isn't working! she thought, even though she knew the reason was in her own paranoid psyche.

You do not trust me,
the egg said.

I do not trust easily.

No answer; but then, Natiya did not expect one. Instead, she focused her efforts on smells again, trying to narrow her attention back down to the scents. She identified the flowery odor and decided to focus exclusively on that—forgetting to shut her eyes. So when the egg took control of her vision, she once again panicked, regaining control while she slammed her eyes closed. At least she had not been standing that time.

This is going to take forever!

No answer from the egg, nothing but a silent wall of patience while Natiya struggled to release her presence in her own body again. And again. And again.

And again.

She could not do it. She just could not give up control of her body. Not even though she wished it.

Couldn't there be a compromise here?

Of course.

Natiya did her best not to smack the egg as she struggled to find a middle ground. Could you tell me where the exit is?

In the bathing chamber between the plant and the window.

Natiya walked to the specified place, pleased that she would be out of view of any guard who chose to look in on her.

Here?

Yes.

At least it hadn't said, "Of course."

What do I do now?

Press the eyelet pattern in the tiling.

Natiya did as the egg bade, and immediately a door slid open in the wall, revealing a stairway just wide enough for her to carefully ease her way inside. A lever blocked her path, and so she pushed it up, silently sliding the door closed behind her... and abruptly engulfing her in total blackness.

Can you see in the dark? Natiya asked.

If you let me.

That meant allowing herself to be blinded by the swirling currents of... what was it she would see?

Thoughts. Emotions. Power. Energy.

Of course, Natiya thought back with obvious sarcasm. None of this made any sense to her, but naturally the egg did not choose to explain. It remained silent, waiting for Natiya to release her vision to it. At least she was becoming more practiced. And since she was blinded by the darkness anyway, it was easier to allow the egg to take over her vision.

Swirling currents of energy appeared before her, and she worked hard not to focus on it. It was making her nauseated. Instead, she thought about descending the stairs one slow step at a time.

You will have to tell me when I'm about to run into something.

No answer. Apparently, she wasn't about to run into something. She was, however, stepping in things. Dirt. Wet dirt. Yuck. She didn't truly want to know more. No one had used this passageway for a long time.

Rashad does, but not often. And not since you came
, the egg informed her.

Where does it lead?

To the Coral.

It was a good thing Natiya was already walking extremely carefully, because this information would have made her stumble. As it was, she stopped cold, trying to understand what the egg was saying.

The Coral? A Coral dragon?

Of course.

The one bonded to Rashad's sister?

Yes.

But where is she?

At the other end of this tunnel.

Of course, Natiya thought crossly as she at last made it down to the bottom of the steps, ending in a tunnel that ran off to either side. The egg instructed her to turn right, which she did. And then she began another long trek through a passageway that was exactly like the stairway: narrow, wet and with a musky scent that made her nose itch. As she slowly waddled through a sea of colors and light—moving mostly by touch—she wondered if Dag Racho had learned how to use his dragon's sight, or if this was something she alone had discovered.

He knows. But he will not relinquish control to the Copper.

Well, that made sense, and frankly Natiya didn't blame him. This flow of energy lines was disconcerting to say the least, but she hoped she would be able to understand them given time. If only she had thought to speak to the egg this way earlier. But there was nothing she could do about it now, except to use what time she had.

She continued to travel slowly along the tunnel. Superimposing what she knew of the castle and the city, she guessed that these stairs led well beneath the ground, deep under the castle. Which meant this tunnel ran directly to the Emperor's mountain.

Of course it does, she told herself irritably. Where else could one hide a mature dragon except inside a mountain? In the distance, from back inside the castle, Natiya thought she heard a man's hoarse cry. Had her absence been discovered? Most likely. The guards never went more than thirty beats without checking on her.

Though her body was beginning to tire, Natiya picked up her pace. She needed to get away, though what she was going to do once she got into the mountain, she hadn't a clue. How much of an escape was it when one ran from a guarded bedroom into the center of the garrison for the entire army? Well, she wouldn't be any worse off, and she did suddenly have an urgent need to see the Coral.

Or was that the egg's need?

She slowed a moment, trying to sort out her thoughts. Now that she realized the egg had its own goals and desires, she needed to be a great deal clearer about who wanted what. And though she was very curious about exactly how Dag Racho had kept his sister secretly interned for nearly a hundred cycles, she didn't recognize the burning desire that seemed to pulse through her.

Are you creating this desire? Natiya asked.

I am magnifying your interest.

Why?

The Copper and I have been trying to revive the Coral.

Revive her?

She does not respond. We wish you to touch her. Through you, we can break the magic that restrains her.

You couldn't just ask me? You have to manipulate my desires?

I cannot ask. And I am not manipulating, I am only magnifying.

But you choose what you wish to magnify, don't you?

The egg's answer came with great reluctance.
I have some choices in this matter.

Natiya thought so. Indeed, she was beginning to believe the dragons were a great deal more manipulative than their humans ever imagined. Which led to another question.
 

What will the Coral do when she wakes?

What she is required to do.

And what is that?

No answer; not that she expected one. But once this was all over, Natiya decided, she and her egg were going to have a serious heart-to-heart. In the meantime, she was still in control of her body. So if the egg wanted to wake the Coral, it would have to ante up some information. Otherwise, she was going to just bypass the other dragon, figuring that one enemy was better than two.

She is not an enemy.

Natiya smiled, though her thoughts remained grim. She is not your enemy, she said clearly to the egg. I don't know yet if she's my enemy or not.

We are not your enemies.

Then why are you here?

The egg took a long time to answer, and Natiya had the distinct impression it was working to phrase its response carefully.

We study you. We are scientists, like your parents. We search for the perfect human.

Scientists? Perfect human?

Yes.

That wasn't the complete answer; Natiya was sure of it.

If you are just scientists studying us, why won't you tell me what the Coral will do when she wakes?

She has been asleep for a long time. We do not know what she thinks.

You said "required.' That the Coral will do what she is "required" to do. What is that?

She is required to report her experiences.

To whom?

To me.

Because you are the Queen?

Of course.

And then what?

And then I will decide.

She will take your direction?

Hesitation. And then,
Of course.

So, Natiya realized, the Queen wasn't entirely sure of her authority.

Of course I am
, the egg respond hotly.
I am their Queen.

"You haven't even been born yet," Natiya snapped out loud. She didn't know how things worked in the dragon world, but in the human world, adults rarely listened to children. The egg didn't respond, but Natiya got the distinct impression it didn't think of itself like a child. After all, the egg had been conscious at least since Natiya began incubating it over ten cycles ago. Apparently, it felt as if it had command of the dragons beneath her.

You are sure the Coral will take direction from you? She will not kill you? Or me?

She will not harm her Queen.

There was no hesitation in the egg about that, and so Natiya decided to trust it.

I will help you wake the Coral, she told it.

Typically, there was no thanks from the egg. Neither was there any acknowledgment of Natiya's cooperation. Merely a silence that was beginning to seriously irritate her. All these years, all these cycles of loneliness, Natiya could have had a friend, a companion during the long nights of secrecy. But the egg had been silent all that time—an observer instead of a participant.

A scientist
, the egg asserted.

A spy, Natiya countered.

I have not harmed you.

You haven't helped me either.

Natiya felt her irritation begin to boil into anger. She wasn't entirely sure why she was becoming so furious. So much information had hit her so quickly, she wasn't sure she was even thinking rationally. She only knew that she was angry as never before, including the moment when her parents had been killed. Back then she could rail at Dag Racho, hate him with all the pain in her young heart. But now... now she learned that someone—something—had been sitting in her mind all this time, watching, learning—judging—and never once helping.

You chose this when you first picked me up and pressed me to your belly.

Natiya felt her hands clench into fists against the damp walls. It was true, she had chosen this. And yet, she was absolutely furious.

"I have been so alone," she whispered, her voice echoing back at her in eerie hisses.

Such was the life you chose.

And as Natiya at last came to the door that would lead her inside Dag Racho's mountain, she finally saw the truth, bare and unadulterated as only the cold voice of her egg could make it. She'd chosen this life. She'd chosen to seclude herself and live in secrecy when she could have had friends. She'd chosen to go with Kiril because she wanted to know what he knew about the egg. She'd chosen to fight Dag Racho rather than accept the easy life he offered. Indeed, she'd chosen everything about her current situation, and so she could hardly complain about it. In that moment, she made her decision.
 

I will help you wake the Coral. And then you will tell me how to separate from you, how to separate all of the bonded people from their dragons. Then human and dragon will go their separate ways. Can we do this? Will you do this?

There was a long moment as the egg considered Natiya's decision. Only then did it respond.

It can be done. But there is a cost.

This time, Natiya got to say the obvious:

"Of course."

Chapter 16

Kiril pulled on his uniform, cursing Dag Racho's symbol and red colors even as he thanked the Father that he had stored one at Sabina's place.

"It still fits," she commented as he buttoned the collar. "Not bad, considering how many cycles you've had it here."

"Prison food has been excellent for my physique," he drawled, knowing he was lying. True, he had lost weight, so there was ample room in the uniform. But he had also lost strength and speed—something he might very well need in the coming days.