Rage of the Dragon (25 page)

Skylan looked blank, completely stunned, as though he’d been hit by a lightning bolt. Aylaen felt a surge of laughter bubble up inside her. She worked to suppress her mirth, fearing if she once started laughing, she would end up in tears.

She put her hand on his arm. “Skylan, please do this, for my sake.”

Skylan gave her a withering look. “You want me to go stand with your other ‘menfolk’!”

“Skylan, please!” said Aylaen.

“We have to get the torque back and get out of here,” said Skylan.

Wearing that obstinate look she knew all too well, he turned on his heel and went to stand with Acronis and Farinn. Skylan faced the Queen, his chin jutting out, his arms crossed over his chest. The rage in his eyes could have set the sea boiling.

Aylaen was sweating. She felt drained and exhausted and tried to think what to say. The Queen regarded her thoughtfully, then gestured to a servant who brought forth a box made of seashells studded with gemstones. The Queen opened the box. Aylaen saw the glint of gold, the Vektan Torque. The Queen was about to draw the Torque from the box when Commander Neda entered the throne room.

“I need to speak to Your Majesty,” she said. “The matter is urgent.”

The Queen beckoned Neda to come forward. The commander spoke to her in low tones. The Queen’s jaw set. Her mouth tightened.

“They come in peace?” she asked.

Commander Neda whispered.

“They will be permitted to enter,” said the Queen.

By her expression, the commander did not like this decision. She hesitated a moment, seeming to hope the Queen would change her mind. The Queen had no more to say on the matter, however. Commander Neda saluted and walked off. The Queen shut the box and handed it back to the servant.

“Leave us,” she said. The servant and the box and the Vektan Torque disappeared.

The Queen’s gaze went back to Aylaen and lingered on her. Aylaen had the unsettling feeling that whatever dire news the commander had brought had something to do with them.

A delegation of five women entered the throne room. They bowed to the Queen, who inclined her head with cold politeness. Aylaen felt her stomach clench. The women wore armor bearing an all-too familiar insignia, that of a serpent biting its own tail: the symbol of Aelon. Aylaen cast a sidelong glance at Skylan. His blue eyes were fixed on the armor. He stood braced, tense, his hand reaching unconsciously for the sword that he had lost when the ship sank beneath him.

The leader of the delegation stepped forward. “We come to Queen Magali of the City of the First Daughter with a message from her cousin, Queen Thais of the City of the Fourth Daughter.”

“The delegation from my cousin, the Queen of the City of Fourth Daughter, is welcome,” said the Queen in a frozen tone that indicated quite the opposite. “What message do you bear from my cousin?”

The leader glanced at Aylaen. “Queen Thais commends you on the capture of these land walkers. You are undoubtedly aware that they are dangerous people, wanted criminals. We have come to relieve you of the burden of their care. Give them to us and we will see to it that they are returned to the city of Sinaria and given into the custody of Priest-General Raegar.”

Aylaen turned to Skylan in shock. He looked at her and shook his head. His fist clenched.

“You claim these people are dangerous,” the Queen was saying to the Fourth Daughter’s delegate. “What charges are leveled against them?”

“The woman is an evil sorceress who summoned a dragon that destroyed much of the city of Sinaria and killed many hundreds of its citizens.”

“Raegar is a lying bastard!” Skylan shouted, forgetting he was supposed to remain silent.

The Queen cast him an angry glance and then looked to Aylaen. “I warn you, Madame. If you cannot keep these menfolk of yours under control, I will have them removed!”

“I will speak to him, Your Majesty,” Aylaen said.

She walked across the floor, conscious that all the women were staring at her. Aylaen was flushed and hot with embarrassment and anger, fear, and confusion. To make matters worse, Skylan was regarding her as though she were the enemy. Aylaen came to stand before him and spoke in a low voice.

“If we were standing in the shield wall, I would obey your commands. I would not argue with you or make you look small because you are Chief and we would be fighting for our lives. For now, Skylan, these people take me for the Chief. We are fighting for our lives.”

Skylan’s mouth tightened. A muscle in his jaw twitched. He kept his arms crossed and did not look at her.

“I have often put my trust in you, Skylan,” Aylaen said, resting her hand on his arm. “Today, you need to put your trust in me.”

Skylan’s blue-eyed gaze softened. He gave a small nod and said quietly, “I am here if you need me.”

Aylaen sighed and turned back to face the Queen.

“Skylan speaks the truth, Your Majesty. I did not summon the Vektia dragon.”

“She has the artifact she used to summon the dragon in her possession,” the leader of the delegation stated. “The artifact is a bone from a dragon.”

The Queen’s cool gaze went to Aylaen.

“Is this true?”

Queen Magali had seen the Vektan Torque. She had held it in her hand. She knew about the Dragon Kahg. Aylaen guessed that the Queen knew she had been holding the bone of a dragon in her hands. Aylaen would not lie, but she could not tell all the truth.

“I did not summon the dragon, Your Majesty,” Aylaen repeated. “I used the blessed sword of the goddess, Vindrash, to destroy it.”

“You see, Your Majesty, she does not deny she has the artifact,” said the delegate. “These dragon bones are dangerous. This woman is dangerous, as are her heathen gods. You put your own realm at risk by allowing her to remain here. Give her and her savage men to us, Your Majesty, to be returned to Sinaria.”

The Queen sat in silence for long moments, seeming to consider. Aylaen held her breath. She did not dare look at Skylan, but she could sense his presence, strong and reassuring, and she was comforted.

“I need to study this matter, take it under consideration,” said Queen Magali at last. “Thank my cousin, Queen Thais of the City of the Fourth Daughter, and tell her that I will send her my answer in a fortnight.”

“My Queen will be not be pleased with the delay,” said the delegate, glowering.

“I am sorry to incur my cousin’s displeasure,” said Queen Magali calmly. “But if these prisoners are as dangerous as you claim, I could not in good conscience hand them over to endanger your people. My commander will escort you out,” said the Queen, nodding to Neda.

Bowing stiffly, the delegation stalked off, accompanied by Commander Neda and her guards.

The Queen again sat silently on her throne, absorbed in her thoughts. Her unfocused gaze found Skylan. A new thought seemed to come to her.

She eyed him steadily and then asked, “Are you, by any chance, the one known as Torval’s Fish Knife?”

CHAPTER

24

Skylan gaped, his jaw going slack. “No one knows about that! I never told anyone!”

He looked back at the Queen, his voice hardening. “What do you mean, Your Majesty? How do you know me by a name given to me by the gods?”

The Queen sighed deeply. “I must think about this.”

Without another word, she rose and walked away, leaving them to stare after her in astonishment.

“Wait!” Skylan called. “You can’t just walk out! What about the torque—”

But he was talking to no one. The Queen had left the throne room. Swearing, Skylan ran his hand through his hair in frustration.

“Do you know what is going on?” he asked Aylaen.

She shook her head. Seeing guards approaching them, Skylan rounded on them.

“You’re not taking me back to that dungeon!” he said.

“You are to be given quarters in the palace, near your Queen,” said the guard.

“My Queen,” Skylan repeated, smiling at Aylaen. He fell into step beside her, the guards leading the way. “I behaved like a rampaging boar. I am sorry. It’s just … this is all so strange and I feel so helpless. At least our ship is safe. If we could reach it, we could escape—”

“Not without the Vektan Torque,” said Aylaen.

“That’s right,” said Skylan, brooding. “I forgot.”

“So why are you called Torval’s Fish Knife?” said Aylaen.

Skylan gave a shame-faced smile. “Back on the Dragon Isles, I once asked Vindrash arrogantly if Torval thought of me as his sword. The goddess laughed at me and said I wasn’t a sword. I was nothing more than a knife Torval used to gut his fish.”

Aylaen smiled. “You were insulted.”

“I was then,” said Skylan. He added somberly, “I’ve learned a lot since.”

“But not how to hold your tongue,” Aylaen said, grinning.

Skylan shook his head morosely. “I do not understand these people.”

“I remember where I’ve heard that about the fish knife,” said Aylaen. “When we were in the Temple with Garn’s spirit, Vindrash said she was going to bet Torval’s fish knife against her shining sword. I had no idea what she was talking about.”

“You, of course,” said Skylan.

Aylaen blinked at him, startled. “Be serious.”

Skylan took hold of her hand. “I am serious. You are her ‘shining sword.’ The blessed sword of Vindrash.”

“I fear my blade is dull and blunted,” said Aylaen with a sigh.

“And I am a broken fish knife,” said Skylan. “You spoke to the Queen before I arrived. What did you talk about? Why doesn’t she set us free? Why is she keeping us here?”

“She accused us of invading her realm by the command of Aelon,” said Aylaen. “I told her we followed the Old Gods. She said she was a priestess, but she did not say of which god. I do not think, from what we have seen, that she worships Aelon.”

They were climbing the spiral stairs and both paused to look out one of the many windows. The sun was starting to sink. The lagoon’s blue glow was touched with pinks and oranges. Glints of mica sparkled. Aquins walked along the far shore or strolled on the paths that wound up the cliff side or sailed upon the shining water in boats or swam with flashing strokes that sent ripples spreading.

Their guards did not hasten them, but stopped when they stopped. Farinn had charmed one of his guards, a young woman who looked to be in her mid-twenties, who could not seem to take her eyes off him. Acronis was talking volubly with his two guards, asking questions about their lives, their city. His guards were smiling, glad that he was taking an interest in their people.

“The Legate is an unusual man,” said Aylaen, following Skylan’s gaze. “We were his slaves with reason to hate him and he made us love him. And now he has endeared himself to his captors.”

“Acronis is a fair and honest man,” said Skylan. “He opens himself to new ideas. That’s why Raegar and his priest friends hated him. They could not tell him what to think.”

“So Raegar is Priest-General now,” said Aylaen. “That will make Treia happy.”

“And the first thing he does is come after us,” said Skylan. He scratched his chin, puzzled. “How did he know we were alive and where to find us?”

“Aelon’s priests have many ways to communicate with each other and he has spies and followers everywhere, even below the sea. They must have passed on the information.”

“So why don’t you think this Queen worships Aelon?”

“When Queen Magali spoke Aelon’s name, she sounded as though she had bitten into a rotten apple. She seemed to want to spit it out.”

“You trust her?” Skylan asked, regarding her with a slight frown.

“I trust her and I like her,” said Aylaen. “I think she is fair and she is honest. What is more important, our gods trust her, Skylan. How else could she know about you and Torval?”

Skylan shook his head, not convinced.

“Our gods are fighting the battle in heaven,” Aylaen said earnestly. “They are battered and bloodied, but they fight on and they are helping us as best they can. Perhaps we were brought here for a reason.”

“So we were nearly drowned and then killed by a kraken for a reason,” Skylan said.

“Everything we do is for a reason,” said Aylaen. “Perhaps you were brought here so that you can learn to care for babies.”

Skylan was about to protest indiginantly, and then saw her smile. He took hold of her hand.

“It is good to see you happy again.”

The palace was quiet. From outside came the sound of the water lapping on the shore. The tranquility of this lovely realm seeped into both of them. Aylaen drew near Skylan.

“Come to my bed tonight,” Aylaen whispered.

Skylan’s body stiffened. He swallowed and stared out the window and then, clearing his throat, he said quietly, “No. Not until we are wed. Our son will be Chief of Chiefs. He must be born in honor. When you are my wife, I will come to your bed.”

“Then let us wed here,” said Aylaen.

Skylan was astonished.

“The Queen can marry us.” Aylaen seemed pleased with her idea. “She is a priestess. She can wed us.”

“Right before she sends us to Raegar,” said Skylan with a grim smile.

“I do not think she will do that … Oh, Skylan, listen to me. I feel like our wyrds are like balls of yarn rushing down a hill, unwinding as they go. We will reach our end far too fast. Because I did not know my own heart, I have already missed too many moments of joy with you. I would not miss any more.”

Pain darkened Skylan’s eyes. Aylaen’s voice faltered. “If … if you want to wed me…”

The pain was gone, replaced by almost blinding joy.

“I have made so many mistakes in my life,” Skylan said. “Loving you is the only thing I got right. I will speak to the Queen tomorrow.”

“No,” said Aylaen. “
I
will speak to the Queen.”

Skylan laughed. One of the guards ordered them to keep moving. They had been standing there long enough. Arms twined around each other, Aylaen and Skylan continued slowly up the stairs. Acronis and his guards followed, still talking companionably. Farinn, conscious of the admiring gaze of the young woman, lost his footing, tripped, and stumbled. She was at his side to steady him. Blushing and self-conscious, he did not know where to look and tripped again.