Chapter 37 An Uncomfortable Truth #2
My dragon raised his head again, extended his wings and took his full height.
For a moment, I was taken aback, as Kgosi seemed to swell before my eyes and I was reminded that he humbled himself and rarely asserted the authority available to him.
I was humbled, watching my dragon’s deep pride and power as he raised his head and his wings and roared towards those mountains, so loudly he shook the earth under our feet.
I clapped my hands over my ears, but my heart sang.
Kgosi’s grief sloughed off like a rain-jacket discarded in the sun.
Every ounce of authority he’d ever possessed hummed in him. I was awed.
Then he turned his head to look down at me, I felt the surge in the bond, him urging me forward. ‘Because I am a threat to him—as are you.’
‘I’m no threat to a throne.’
Kgosi pinned me to the earth with a look.
‘In the hearts of the men who follow, you are. And you restrict his freedom to pursue the darker sides of his ambition. With me at your side, you threaten the hearts of dragons, as well. It would seem your king seeks a path that he knows you and I would resist—and with us go the furies, and Furyknights. If he removes us… well, you can see what occurred here in Fyrehold when leadership among dragons is lacking.’
I looked around at the disused buildings and pastures. ‘What is going on here?’
Kgosi shook his head. ‘I do not know. Yet, I cannot help but wonder if the Fyrehold king plays a role in the bigger picture. If Alexi wants you and I removed, and he has planned to fill the void, perhaps our barriers here are not borne of fear, but simple strategy. Perhaps…’ But he trailed off. Because we didn’t know.
I cursed. Because every question we could answer, only raised more in its wake.
I’d never felt more certain of my purpose, and less certain of its outcome. I was… helpless.
There was no feeling I abhorred more.
I’d just turned back to Kgosi, about to plead for some insight, some wisdom his greater strength and knowledge and age might offer, when Kgosi’s head snapped around and back up, towards the sky.
‘She comes,’ he breathed in my head. ‘My mate comes—carrying yours… and we will have our answers, it seems.’
I read the missive with shaking hands, eyes darting back and forth from the scrawled words to the hastily folded pages from my pocket that Voski had provided, checking and double-checking the coded scribbles indicating how each paragraph should be read.
My heart sinking further and further towards my toes.
With symbols for reversal of intent only, the first paragraph read…
I am pleased to report that the lady in question continues her practice of admirable discretion and has given no sign of stepping beyond her assigned veil. She is impressive. None here suspect her to be other than what she appears. She remains out of reach and unhindered.
Reversing the intent of those sentiments made my blood cold.
She is indiscreet.
She has stepped beyond her given role.
She is a fool who has raised suspicion.
She is under my control.
And yet… the end of the paragraph had also been marked, a hurried slash that looked like nothing more than the slip of an ink-pen, but the codes revealed meant that a paragraph marked in that way should reverse the subject, rather than the intent.
Uncertain I was sure how to read those sentences I moved to the next, hoping for greater clues.
The rest of the missive read as any carefully worded intelligence message might.
Ensure she carries the Creator’s light. Her service will be remembered. Watch for news of my success.
If I’d read that paragraph from a trusted Shadowfang Furyknight on mission, I would have scratched my head. The first two sentences offered opposing sentiments and would have appeared to refer to different people.
Carrying the Creator’s light was code for a Furyknight who’d comported themselves with honor or skill above and beyond what was expected of their rank.
It was a way for a superior officer to send word back that, after performance in the field, a squad member should be recognized with promotion or trusted with greater responsibility.
So, if an officer was killed in the field, those underneath him who returned safely were recognized appropriately.
And yet, service will be remembered was how we honored the death of a brother in arms.
I almost missed the mark at the end of the paragraph, because on first glance, it looked like the final s in success was a looping letter that had been extended when it was hastily written. I had to look up the little swoop in the codes… which only left me more baffled.
Next to that little looping curve on the key was written, As above, so below.
There were no further scribbles or blots, so I had to read the last paragraph as I would in any intelligence report.
With the victory imminent, your instruction will be observed in whole. Unless you advise otherwise (and with great haste) I shall proceed in calm assurance that our designs endure unchanged.
I ride the wind of the Creator’s breath, and with His abundant blessings,
Your Servant
My stomach turned at the use of the Shadowfang codes. That last sentence was simple assurance a dragon legion was returning home intact and unharmed. But this man had no right to speak of the Creator as if he walked in His light. And something about the previous lines niggled.
Once again, I faced conflicting sentiments, and this time, even with the codes in place, a confusing mix of signals.
As above, so below.
What could that mean? And why was it placed at the center of the message?
Next to me, Bren read the pages, a small v between her brows. When she looked up at me, I wasn’t sure what to say. She didn’t know what I’d learned about the possible assassination plans. I didn’t want to worry her if my interpretation of the message Voski had found was wrong.
But I didn’t believe it was. And if she’d learned of such a thing I would have wanted her to share it with me.
Without a word, I removed the other message from my other pocket and handed it to her.
Bren frowned harder when she saw the paper in my hand, then looked up at me with a question.
“Donavyn… what’s wrong?”
“Voski found one more message—this one comes from the king himself,” I said gruffly. “There’s more than one way to read it. Maybe you’ll see something in it that we missed.” I clawed a hand through my hair and gestured towards the paper. “Read that, then we can discuss both.”
I felt the jolt of nerves in her and hated that I was too cowardly to just tell her what I believed we were reading—but it was wise practice to allow fresh eyes at a problem without direction, to see if they saw the same things.
And in those seconds before her face fell into grief and fear, I prayed… prayed that she would see something I hadn’t. That she’d find a different piece of this puzzle.
But then she looked up at me with tears in her eyes. “They’re talking about you?”
“I think so,” I said harshly. “At least, in one version. If it was a simple Shadowfang code, it would be more straightforward—about you. But that makes no sense. The queen wanted you here. Why would she call you back? So… I think… I think it’s the second one,” I ended gruffly. “And Voski agrees.”
She blew out a breath and shook her head. I felt her recoil in the bond—not from me, but from what she was thinking. I put a hand to her back. “We will figure this out—”
“What does that as above, so below code mean?”
“On Ruin’s message? I don’t know. I don’t see how that changes—”
“No, here. It’s on the king’s message as well.”
I frowned and leaned over her shoulder to look where she was pointing.
Sure enough, at the last s in citizens, that tiny, additional swoop. I hadn’t even noticed because it was subtle compared to the other scribble codes.
I frowned and took the paper from her. “But… this is your writing.”
“You said to copy everything, even the mistakes. Except, it wasn’t an error, was it? It was a symbol.”
She was right. And now we’d seen it twice—and we still didn’t know what it meant.
Fuck.
“I need to talk to Voski and Gil. They know the Shadowfang codes. I need them to look at both of these,” I said quietly.
Bren looked up at me, her forehead furrowed. “Donavyn… you can’t risk—”
“I won’t. I’m not. Bren, we have to get to the bottom of this.
We think we know his timeframe, right? That’s why I need you to go to Hanson.
I need you to find a way to get his clarity: Is the timeframe he’s so stuck on set by himself, or Ruin?
Because I think Hanson is a tool in Ruin’s hands, not the other way around.
I think… I think he’s been deceived—made to believe that Ruin’s handing him dragons for money, so he’d bring Ruin into Fyrehold. ”
“But if Ruin’s told him the truth—”
“Hanson doesn’t strike me as the kind of character willing to play second string to a younger man, Furyknight, or otherwise.
But… follow your gut. Pursue whatever leads appear.
But find out who set that fucking deadline!
And take at least one of your brothers with you.
I’m still not clear on Ruin’s instructions for you.
We’re not risking that he’s planning to take you or… or anything. We need you on Hanson.”
“But we’ll risk you?”
“We aren’t. I know what to watch for now. And I’m doing everything in my power to thwart it.”
“But—”
I met her eyes with the glare of a General, not a mate, though my heart squeezed at the fear in her. “No buts. This is why we came here. This is what we’re here for.”
Yet, rather than shrinking from my disapproval, her expression cleared and her chin rose. “No, it’s not.”
“Excuse me?”
“Donavyn, we came here to protect the king. But the king is targeting you? Can’t you see what this means?
There’s no war. There’s no subterfuge between Draeventhall and Fyrehold.
This is Alexi’s scheme. He is the danger.
I’m not protecting him for one more moment—not if he’s targeting you and trying to bring down Kgosi.
Imagine what he must be intending if that’s the barrier he seeks to remove? Have you thought about that?”
I nodded sadly. “I have. I know—”
“Then… then we don’t have to do any of this. We don’t need to protect this man for one minute longer. We leave. We get out of here, and we go warn the others—”
“Who, Bren? Who do we warn? He’s the king.
Whether we agree with his intentions or not, he has the right to kill me if he chooses it.
I will fight. I will not surrender. But the other men…
they’ll have to choose between obedience to their king, and all-out revolt.
Don’t underestimate that there are plenty of men—probably including Furyknights—who will hold their noses and fly to win a conquering war for a king.
They’ll be promised riches, and power, and applause… who, exactly, are you going to warn?”
Her lips thinned and she raised her chin. “I don’t know about the others. But I know my brothers are good. And I’m guessing there are other good Furyknights too. You’ve been leading them all to honor. And the citizens? The people like my parents? They won’t want this!”
“Bren—”
“No, Donavyn, don’t give me that pitying look. I’m not being na?ve. I’m telling you… either we leave here and raise the alarm in Vosgaarde, or we just leave, period. I’m not fighting one more second for that man!”
“I’m not asking you to,” I said, my heart swelling with pride at her courage and resolve.
“I’m asking you to fight for me. We have to know.
We have to figure it out. We can’t change the course of anything with empty assumptions and personal vendettas.
We have to have proof. Please go. You know I despise Hanson and what he wants from you.
But I can’t deny that he’s our best clue now.
Find out what he knows. Use whatever means you believe are necessary.
Just… take brothers with you. Stay safe.
Come back to me. We’ll figure this out together. I promise.”