CHAPTER TEN
THIS SPHINX JUST WANTED to save the world. Not too challenging a goal.
From Ozora’s personal journal.
There was no chance I would forgive him for stealing wild animals from their homes, then or now. Let alone sail away with him to live some wave-frolicking fantasy but, Fraser’s reaction to Cleobah’s announcement was puzzling.
Instead of scoffing or sneering, his coppery face went slack, and those blue eyes I’d once loved to gaze into held something like shock. He recovered fast, stiffening his features and voice with derision. “So?”
Cleobah flipped her wings, resettling them on her flanks, and stood, circling between me and Fraser, then behind me again.
This time, she shoved me as she stalked past, a firm push with the leading edge of her wing that sent me a couple steps toward him.
“Tell her.” Once more she resumed her seat facing us, and slid her glance between him and me, as if waiting to see our reaction.
“Tell her what you were really doing with the hippocamps.”
There it was again, that look on Fraser’s face, regret or something like it.
I was confused. How would telling me his plans change my mind?
What sunset sailing? What was the sphinx talking about?
For half a moment, I wished I’d ignored Gordon back then and run to Fraser, demanded he explain what I saw on his ship.
But I didn’t. The hurt in his eyes even five years after still cut surprisingly deep when younger me meant to break him. Now, that pain twisted my heart, causing an echoing ache.
In all the intervening years, I didn’t harbor any doubts, had only congratulated myself for stopping his plot, sure that I’d saved those hippocamps from his hunt. Their salvation was worth Fraser’s pain and loss of his ship.
Now, seeing those emotions flash across his face every time the sphinx said anything about hippocamps or the night I torched Skirmisher brought on an uncomfortable twisting in my belly.
I looked away. If I didn’t look, I couldn’t see. I was probably imagining it anyway, or wishfully thinking of a time when I’d been much younger and so in love. Fraser with a heart? Impossible. I had to be imagining it because whenever our eyes actually met, only disdain stared back at me.
“Might help if you two had an actual conversation about what happened that night.” Cleobah’s dry comment jerked me back to the present. Taenya spoke up, pulling everyone’s attention to her.
“Can we please talk this over without all of us trying to kill each other? Somewhere we can sit, not stand in the sun with you in a cage?” Taenya sounded very much like an exhausted parent.
“Maybe you two could kiss and make up? Shake hands, spit in the dirt, whatever it takes?” Her emerald gaze swept over Fraser, a jumble of regret and rage.
“We’ve all got baggage, yes, but this is bigger than our squabbles. ”
Silence followed Taenya’s dire pronouncement, rippling outward in large, heavy waves, like a boulder dropped into a lake.
It stretched out as the sun rose higher, and a single line of sweat trickled between my shoulder blades.
Fraser’s expression remained shuttered, and he crossed his arms again, then stared down at the dirt, kicking at a clump of grass with the toe of his boot.
Like he didn’t want to look at me anymore.
Cleobah groaned and walked around the magical dome to the far side, away from Taenya and me.
“Hey, Fraser, come over here,” she said with a jerk of her head that set her curls to bouncing. “This is just for you.”
His gaze wandered over the confines of his cage, taking in the lines and bars that held him prisoner before he shifted to studying Cassyrra, lying in the field but watching every move he made.
“Well, what the hell? If it’ll make you happy and get me out of here. Talk to me, kitty.” He spun on his heel and turned his back to us, taking the few steps to the back side of the dome. Cleobah sat close enough that she could practically whisper in Fraser’s ear if he bent close enough.
He didn’t put his head that close, but she spoke low, and I couldn’t make out what was said. At one point, his fists clenched at his side, and he straightened abruptly, spinning to stare accusingly at me.
“Hey, hey, lover boy, listen,” Cleobah barked. Much to my surprise, Fraser obeyed, turning once more to the sphinx. Gradually, his fists opened, and the muscles of his shoulders and back relaxed.
Cleobah paced from behind the dome to rejoin us. “He’s agreed to play nice.”
Taenya jerked her thumb over her shoulder at Cassyrra.
“Tell her, not me. She’s the one holding those spells in place.
” The dragon dropped her head, snaking it across the grass to rest next to Taenya, turning so one eye could focus on Fraser.
A trill warbled from her throat, and Taenya laughed, genuine this time, without the flavor of sarcasm.
“She wants to know what you said to convince him,” Taenya said to Cleobah. The sphinx shook her head. She stood next to the dome and Fraser, whose back was still to us.
“That’s for us to know and him to tell,” she said.
Fraser grunted like he’d tripped, a look of surprise instead of fury on his face as he turned to Cleobah.
“What?” she exclaimed when she saw his shocked expression.
“A deal’s a deal. I promised, and sphinxes cannot be forsworn.
” She swept one wing forward and waved it gently, swaying the tip at Taenya and me.
“However, you should make them a promise, too, if you want to get out of that cage.”
Taenya snickered and said, “Cassyrra suggests we all promise not to kill each other as a good place to start.”
A look bounced between Fraser, Taenya, Cleobah, and me. None of us wanted to be the first to say it, and the awkwardness of the silence dragged.
“Will you release my men?” Fraser finally spoke up. “A show of good faith to get us started. I promise to not attack you, and you promise not to have your dragon cook us.”
He spoke calmly, but his eyes were unreadable. Cassyrra growled, making the air vibrate. Her tongue dragged across teeth like short swords, making a wet, scraping sound I’d not soon forget. Taenya glanced between the dragon and Cleobah, who gave a slight nod.
“She’s faster than you think,” Taenya reminded him. “Don’t get any funny ideas.”
His aquamarine gaze was sharp enough to slice, but he jerked his chin in agreement, and the numinous netting dissolved around everyone.
“Steady men. Set the bolt down,” Fraser commanded as the crew jumped, seeing that the dragon was on the ground and we’d added a sphinx.
“Sir!” one of them yelped.
“Stow it!” he barked. “What did I say?” The men immediately set down the bolt and snapped to attention. “You.” He pointed to one. “Go tell the cook he now needs to serve three. Wait.” He swiveled to point at Cleobah and asked, “Four? Are you dining? I know we can’t serve the dragon.”
Cleobah shook her head, her sides vibrating as she said, “You don’t have what either of us would want. Just feed you three.”
Fraser pointed back at the male he’d singled out. “You heard her. What are you waiting for?” The poor guy hustled away as if Cassyrra were chasing him. Fraser ordered the other males to the keep for a larger table and more chairs. They ran just as fast as their crewmates.
Listen, no one is brave when a dragon is staring at them like they’re a snack and lets a few licks of bright blue flame play around her scaly lips.
“I wasn’t expecting so many, but you’re in luck.
The keep is occupied, and will share if needed.
” Fraser said, his eyes tracking his men as they disappeared through the door of the keep.
“Don’t think I believe you or your ludicrous stories.
” Once his men were out of sight, he faced us.
“This is a truce. Nobody gets dead here. We all agree?”
Taenya and I again traded glances and spoke at the same time.
“Agreed.”
“Was that so difficult?” Cleobah asked with forced brightness. Fraser snarled wordlessly and stalked away from us, heading past the tents toward a stand of trees.
“Where are you going?” I shouted at his back.
“I was counting on the ballista to take care of my problems but, now I’m honoring this truce.
” He turned, walking backward, but did not stop.
“That doesn’t mean you can question me. We have agreed to not kill each other, and I’ll hear what you have to say, that’s it.
” He pivoted and yelled over his shoulder, “Meet you in that tent in a few minutes.” One arm jabbed at the largest tent, an open-sided pavilion, and he gave Cassyrra a wide berth as he passed her.
I flashed a rude gesture he didn’t see because he disappeared behind the cook’s tent.
“Not helping, my dear. You should remember who gave you the information that led you to torch his ship,” Cleobah murmured. She could move with surprising stealth for a creature of her size. It was unnerving to see how close she stood to my elbow.
Ignoring the sphinx, I grabbed Taenya’s arm.
“That man cannot be trusted,” I said. Urgently, quietly. “He just tried to kill Cassyrra, and now you’re going to, what? Sit and eat with him?” Shock crept in, raising my voice.
“How is trust lost or gained?” Cleobah asked.
Her question startled me, and I half-spun toward the sphinx. She angled her head to meet my eyes. “Do you know it so well?”
“She does that,” Taenya said, jerking her chin toward Cleobah.
“Random non sequitur questions or statements. Sort of her thing. Kinda looks really old for a second at times, too.” Detaching my hand from her arm, she added, “Believe me, trust is the last thing Fraser Connell gets from me. But I trust Cassyrra.”
Just saying her name changed Taenya’s whole being, and she softened when her gaze rested on the dragon. Truly, seeing her in the bright light of day only drove home Cassyrra’s magnificence.
Before, I saw nothing but deep and velvety darkness that blended into the night.
In the bright sunlight, her scaled and armored hide was a purplish blue so dark, it bordered on black.
Golden rays slid over her massive form, sparking iridescent rainbows and more.
The bright light revealed a subtle pattern flowing over her flanks and shoulders in muted sapphire and violet.
Whorls and lines, slashes, and splashes of color painted a lovely but barely visible tapestry across the vast mural of her frame; intricate sigils that had burned with her numinous energies during the battle.
Across the translucent sky-blue expanse of her wings, this pattern flipped to inky indigo.
Nothing I’d ever read about dragons came close to reality. Were they all incredible beauty and vast intelligence in a massive, deadly form?
“And Cassyrra trusts Cleobah.” Taenya interrupted my musing. There was a softness in her gaze that seemed to say she understood how I felt being this close to such a powerful creature.
“And Cleobah says, let’s go.” The sphinx swished her tail and walked away, breaking the moment and reminding me we were there to convince Fraser to help us.
“Listen, I honestly do not think I can be around him.” My feet were sealed to the ground, unable to take another step.
I wanted to argue more, to stop us from allying with the man who broke my heart.
There had to be some way to convey how bad this idea was.
“I want to be Cassyrra’s apprentice, but.
.. Just not with him.” I pointed emphatically at the air between the tents Fraser had disappeared into, my words disjointed, reflecting my inner turmoil.
Taenya rubbed her eyes, as if trying to wipe away things she’d seen.
“It’s not like this is easy for me, either.
” Her words struggled to reach my ears. She dropped her hands, her emerald eyes hard as stone.
“I absolutely wanted to kill that man, but I have Cassyrra in my head telling me I need to look past his dubious history.” Cassyrra uttered a sharp chirrup.
Taenya snorted and wrinkled her nose. “That I still need to hear his side, she says. As if knowing why he killed Prince Bart matters.” She shook her head, her expression rueful.
“The bond is not always a joy. It’s a whole other personality with opinions you can’t ignore.
” Tilting her head and gesturing, Taenya indicated we should follow Cleobah.
“Worse, she’s usually right.” She drew her hand along Cassyrra’s muzzle as we passed, a casually affectionate touch that told the truth behind Taenya’s seeming complaint.
Cassyrra moved as we walked so that she was near the biggest tent and could be part of our discussion.
Her accompanying sigh as we stepped under the canopy pushed the long blades of grass surrounding her outward in a ripple.
She’d placed her head close to where Fraser had settled in a carved and padded chair at a table.
Set for one.
That asshole. I fumed. He really had expected us to perish. The sharp words of complaint that rose to my lips about the seating died as several folks came scurrying into the tent, carrying a bigger table and more chairs.
I pressed my lips together and held the sharp words I had for Fraser Connell. He was honoring the truce, such as it was, so I couldn’t snap
This is nicer than I expected. Even if originally it was just for him. Looking around at what Fraser and his men had set up made me wonder if he carried such furnishings on his ship or had plundered the keep.
Cleobah reclined on a double layer of thick rugs, her hips to one side and forelegs stretched out.
I half-expected her to purr like a cat in front of a fire.
She slow-blinked as I ducked under the rolled-up side and strode across the rugs that covered the ground under the tent to the table.
The thought of spending time around Fraser churned my stomach, but I wanted what Taenya and Cassyrra were offering, so I pulled out a chair and sat.
Cleobah crossed her forepaws and looked at each of us. “We’re all going to have a cozy chat.” The smile on her gleaming face outshone the sun, in sharp contrast to the darkness gathered in her eyes like a warning.