Traitor (32 page)

I gave Mavrik’s ears another scratch just to calm him down. “No. He’s just not happy about what your people did to me. You know, the whole torturing and trying to behead me business.”

“Oh.” He glanced between Mavrik and me like he wasn’t sure what to say.

I laughed. “Relax. It’ll be fine. Here, hand over your bag and let’s get going. We’re wasting time.”

Kiran reluctantly surrendered his belongings—all except for his bow and quiver, which he kept slung over his shoulder. He cautiously hedged toward Mavrik and waited while I buckled down his things to the saddle.

“I’ve never been so close to a dragon before,” I heard him mutter as I slipped my hands into my riding gauntlets and climbed into the saddle.

“Well, now you get to ride on one.”

He wrinkled his nose when I offered to help him up as though I’d insulted his ego somehow. In the end, though, he needed it in order to get up into the saddle.

I quickly showed him where to sit and hold on. The whole time, I noticed his hands were shaking. He still looked flushed and nervous. It made me smirk. I remembered the first time I had been in a dragon saddle. I’d been a nervous wreck, too.

Too bad the worst part was yet to come.

“Don’t lean against the pull of his speed,” I warned as I buckled myself in. I checked one more time to make sure Kiran was hanging on tight.

We took off into the early morning sky like a streak of blue lightning. Mavrik poured on the speed and broke the low-lying cloud cover until we soared above the clouds. Overhead, the twilight sky was still dark purple and dotted with glittering stars. Below, the clouds looked like milky cotton for as far as I could see in every direction.

I planned for us to stay above the clouds, hidden from anyone on the ground below, until we reached the Stonegap Mountains. There, we could keep close to the rock faces and mountain peaks, winding our way down to Mithangol. Hopefully no one would see us. We could stop somewhere high on the cliffs and make a camp just long enough to let Mavrik rest. It was too far for him to fly it all in one stretch, especially with two passengers.

All during our trip, I couldn’t keep my gaze from wandering to the east, toward the rising of the sun and the royal city of Halfax. There, all the way across the kingdom, was my enemy. He was enthroned behind halls of stone, protected by the same brothers in arms I had trained with. Just the thought of my graduation ceremony when I had knelt at his feet and swore an oath to him made my blood boil. It made me feel absolutely sick. I’d been right there, standing within arm’s reach of him. I could have ended it then. I could have set things right.

I wouldn’t let that chance slip by me again.

A new day was dawning.

Mithangol appeared like a cluster of warm lights tucked into the steep canyons between the mountains. It was late in the afternoon the next day when I finally spotted it. The sight filled me with anxiety and adrenaline.

I’d always been careful when approaching my hometown. I didn’t want to advertise my coming and going, or the fact that I had a dragon. Now more than ever, I took care to approach from the rural side of the city and circle at a high altitude until it was dark enough to land without being spotted.

As we wheeled in broad patterns over the city, I sensed the presence of someone else following us—two someones, actually. Nova and Icarus joined us in formation, flying off our wing and roaring in greeting. They were a welcome sight, even though both their saddles were empty. Mavrik sent me mental images of my family home as explanation. The windows were lit and there was smoke rising from the chimney. I had company.

My messages had worked.

I sent both dragons away so they wouldn’t interfere with our landing. Then I let Mavrik make his descent. I was trying to stay calm. I didn’t want to seem unsteady or like I was second-guessing myself. But my heart was pounding and my hands were sweating. As much as I wanted to be reunited with my friends, namely with Beckah and Felix, the fear of how I would be received almost made me want to turn around and run.

Would they be happy to see me? Relieved? Angry?

Mavrik flared his wings and touched down gracefully on the front lawn of my home. He let out a rumbling growl, which I interpreted as a complaint about flying so long with Kiran’s extra weight.

I patted his neck roughly. “Good work, buddy. You’ve definitely earned some dinner, but try to stay close by in case we have to leave suddenly.”

He chirped in agreement.

I helped Kiran dismount first. He’d taken his first dragon ride pretty well. Better than I’d expected he would, anyway. He hadn’t thrown up—which was good. He just looked a bit pasty in the face as he wobbled away from Mavrik and waited to catch the bags I tossed down to him.

No sooner had my feet hit the ground than the front door of my house opened. Light spilled out of the doorway, and I could see the silhouettes of people crowding to look out at us.

All of a sudden, one of them broke loose and began running straight toward me.

Beckah was barefoot, wearing only a thin white nightgown and a robe, both of which were falling off her shoulders as she sprinted over the grass. Her long dark hair blew around her wildly in the night air. As she came closer, I could see the tears streaming down her cheeks.

I dropped everything to rip off my gauntlets.

“Jaevid!” She screamed my name a few seconds before I caught her in my arms. Without all her armor on, she felt much softer. She felt fragile.

I squeezed her tightly and kissed her. It didn’t matter that anyone saw. I was so glad just to see her.

The others were coming outside now. The sight of so many familiar faces standing around me was overwhelming.

Then I saw Felix. He had stopped short, looking at me as though he couldn’t decide if he wanted to hit me or hug me. Beside him, I noticed his wing end, Lieutenant Prax, had come along as well. Sile and his wife were lingering on the front porch, watching with somber expressions. Next to them were a few other members of Emerald Flight—my comrades from Northwatch. They all stood by in silence, staring at me with mixed expressions of awe and suspicion.

Then I noticed the shape of someone else still standing in the doorway. It made me hesitate and pull away from Beckah slightly. I just had to be sure my eyes weren’t fooling me.

They weren’t.

Roland looked so different. The last glimpse I’d had of him had been years ago now, before I’d started my training to be a dragonrider. We’d both been children. Now we were both soldiers. And the war had changed us both.

He was bigger than I remembered. Granted, we were about the same height now, but he was far more muscular than I was. He had a short, dark beard and one of his arms was bandaged all the way to the shoulder and fixed against his chest in a sling. He was still wearing his casual infantry uniform and there was a sword belted to his hip.

When our eyes met, he nodded to me slightly. He’d never been one to say anything unless it was absolutely necessary.

“We all had the same dream.” Beckah’s voice was hushed. I felt her reach down to take my hand and squeeze it tightly. “We dreamt of you. You said you were coming here and that we should come to meet you. Please, tell us what’s going on. We all thought you were dead. That was three months ago. Where on earth have you been?”

I turned slightly and directed my gaze to where Kiran was standing beside Mavrik, holding both of our bags, and eyeing my crowd of friends warily. Everyone else looked with me. I knew Felix and Beckah might recognize him. They had met briefly before, a long time ago, during the scuffle with some slavers during my fledgling year.

The others, however, were strangers to Kiran. And not all of them were going to be thrilled to see a gray elf standing in the front yard.

“I guess you could say I got sidetracked.” I wasn’t sure where to begin. There was so much to tell, I needed to collect my thoughts before I started explaining things.

Beckah squeezed my hand again as if to get my attention. Looking down into her soft green eyes, I felt guilt rush over my body like a cold tide. She seemed restless and her face was thinner, like she hadn’t been eating enough. That one look from her could bring me to my knees. I knew that I’d hurt her. She’d been living with the assumption that I was dead. Now I was back and she had no way of knowing what I’d been through just to be standing there.

“I’m sorry, Beckah.” I tried to keep my voice low enough that only she would hear.

Felix apparently did, though.

Before I knew what was happening, he punched me across the mouth. It knocked the breath right out of me. Beckah screamed and immediately put herself between us. I stumbled back and rubbed my throbbing jaw.

“No! Sorry doesn’t cut it! Not this time,” he shouted and just kept coming, fists balled up for another attack.

“What are you doing? Have you lost your mind?” Beckah stormed up to him and shoved him back.

Felix had a crazed look in his eyes. “You don’t get to do this to me—to any of us. I buried you, you selfish idiot. Buried you on my family’s estate grounds. I’ve had to walk past that headstone for three months! And now you just show up like nothing ever happened?”

I didn’t know what to say. From where I was standing, I could see that he was biting back tears. His face was bright red and he looked like he wanted to take another swing at me just to get the point across.

I almost wanted him to. He was right. I’d never really stopped to consider what all of this must be doing to him, or what he’d been forced to deal with when I was presumed dead.

“Felix, you have to let me explain,” I tried to reason with him. “I never meant for any of this to happen. But it had to. I know it doesn’t make any sense to you right now. Please just hear me out.”

He was panting and his eyes were blazing with anger. Even so, I kept walking toward him. He could hit me again if he wanted. If that’s what it took for him to forgive me, I was willing to take it.

I gently coaxed Beckah out of my way so we could meet face-to-face, eye-to-eye. “For a while, I was worried you hadn’t survived the battle, either.”

“I’m a much better rider than you are, idiot,” he growled sulkily. “Of course I wouldn’t die.”

I chanced a smirk and stretched out a hand to him. “And you really think a little stroll through Luntharda would be enough to kill me?”

His eyes narrowed for a moment, like he was still making up his mind about whether or not to forgive me for disappearing. At last, he grasped my hand and yanked me into a gruff, brotherly hug. “I didn’t know what to think. I still don’t. Where on earth did you find
him
?”

All eyes were on Kiran again.

He’d dared to inch a bit closer to us, still holding all our luggage and dressed like a traditional gray elf warrior. His presence obviously had my dragonrider brothers from Emerald Flight on edge. They were glaring at him relentlessly.

“And what about Jace?” Prax spoke up in a hopeful tone. I suppose he was thinking that if I had survived, then maybe Jace had, too.

“It’s a long story, too long to tell while standing in the front yard.” I took Beckah’s hand again and nodded toward the house. “Let’s go in.”

Everyone started shifting toward the front door—everyone including Kiran. He was about to cross the threshold into my living room when a few of my dragonrider comrades stepped into his path. I could sense the tension in the air. This was about to turn into a fight.

“What is this creature doing here?” one of them demanded. He had his hand resting on the pommel of his sword.

Kiran didn’t respond. To his credit, he didn’t even look intimidated. Maybe he knew better than to do anything to instigate a brawl on my front porch.

The members of Emerald Flight, however, didn’t seem to have that same respect for my house.

“Stand down,” I snarled at them. I flexed a bit of my power, just enough to make every wooden board and beam in the house shudder.

Everyone stopped. They stared at me, and most of them looked shocked and unnerved. Even Sile was regarding me with a much more apprehensive expression. He was sticking awfully close to his wife and baby, as though he didn’t quite trust me anymore.

“This is my home. You’ll respect my wishes in it. Now move aside and let him enter.” I slowly panned my gaze over them, silently daring them to challenge me on this.

Not one of them did.

They stepped aside and let Kiran in without another word.

“So when do you tell us what this is all about?” Felix asked impatiently.

“Yes,” Prax agreed. “You’ve brought us all here, plus that pointy-eared friend, what is it you want from us?”

Slowly, I let my gaze travel around the room once again. I met the eyes of my comrades, of Sile and his wife, of my half-brother Roland, of Felix and Beckah, and of Kiran. One by one, I studied them and found myself silently begging Paligno for strength and wisdom.

The time had come.

“I’ve asked you all here because something must be done; something that on the surface will be extremely difficult to understand. Many of you will find it heinous. You won’t want any part of it. But if you’ll listen, maybe I can explain to you why there is no other choice.”