Chapter Fifteen
Night found my new friend and me camped in a less sacred place.
Off the main road, the carriages were wedged between the trees, the horses settled in a group, and our tents spread around a central fire.
We were well hidden and secure. Still, the King posted three knights to take the first shift of guarding the camp.
The rest of his King's Guard sat around the fire with us.
The topic was, of course, Chief Nahel and the Crimson Feathers.
Each Dragon knight offered a report of his experience to the Dragon King, recounting the battle in as much detail as possible. Sir Foxren had fared better than His Majesty and didn't need a song to recover. Still, he'd been granted a reprieve from guard duty for the entire night.
“The blade was strange,” Sir Foxren said.
“It was Nahel who injured you?” the Dragon King asked.
“Yes, sire. I saw him standing just outside the camp, watching. So, I attacked him. He barely struck me as he darted past, but when I tried to follow, I couldn't.”
“It was the same with me. I lost control of my body.”
“But you roused yourself,” I said. “Even with that great wound in your back and your paralysis, you defended me.”
“Yes, because it was you.”
Sir Vanoak cleared his throat.
“Van?” Raventar lifted an eyebrow at the knight.
“It wasn't just the blade that was unusual, Your Majesty.” Vanoak looked around at the nodding knights. “Those warriors were altered by magic. It was obvious.”
“Indeed.” The King had my hand in his and pulled it further onto his lap, bringing me closer as well. Only when my shoulder pressed against his did he ease up.
Flushing, I looked from Vanoak to the King. “It's the same magic.”
“What do you mean?” Raventar turned my hand over and spread my fingers so he could rub his thumb over my palm.
Shuddering, I tried to focus. “Um, the blade. Nahel said it was made with silk magic. Somehow, he's discovered Bara's secret.”
“Perhaps Bara shared it with him,” Sir Lohawk said.
I shook my head. “Bara didn't share. His only partner lived across the channel in Rushao, and she's dead now. Nahel either stole the information or figured it out by experimenting with the ribbons he bought from Bara.”
“Experimenting,” the King murmured. “Experiments mean failures.”
“The warriors weren't healthy,” I whispered.
“No, they weren't. They were resilient but not well.” Raventar shared a grim look with me. “He's experimenting on his own men.”
“I didn't see any ribbons on the warriors.” Vanoak looked at the other knights. “Did any of you see them?”
They shook their heads.
“The scars!” I leaned forward. “They all had strange scars as thin as thread around their necks.”
“Silk thread.” The King narrowed his eyes. “He's embedded it in their flesh. But how does enslaving silk turn men into those things?”
“It probably wasn't enslaving magic,” I said.
“In Bara's notes, he mentioned using the marrow of different races to gain their magic.
He used Eljaffna for the slave ribbons, and Raltven for invisibility cloaks.
And he had just started using Neraky bone marrow to make water-breathing masks.
If Nahel had taken it further, he could have found a way to—I don't know—magnify the resilience of his warriors? Perhaps make them immune to pain?”
“What race would give him such magic with their marrow?” The King scowled, his stare turning inward.
I shrugged. “A powerful race.” I paused, remembering the feel of my attacker's skin. “They were cold.”
“A race from a cold climate, then?” Sir Foxren asked.
“In Tabaa, that's limited.” The King stared off into the dark forest. “Perhaps a mountain race.”
“The Ricarri?” Vanoak suggested. “They'd have strength to offer.”
“And metal magic,” I said.
“Metal magic would give them the ability to control metal, that’s all,” Foxren said.
“Wait.” I drew my hand away from the King as thoughts bombarded me. “We're thinking of them as if they're using a tool, when they could be the tool. The silk is inside them and so is the magic.”
“Metal magic resides in Ricarri.” Sir Lohawk shrugged. “It doesn't turn them into blue-veined monsters.”
“But the Ricarri were born with that magic.” The King sat up straighter. “What happens when you put metal magic into an Okon?”
“Metal meets air,” I murmured. “They have Air Magic as we do.”
“The combination is what creates those creatures.” The King crossed his arms and stared into the fire. “Metal and air. I think Nahel is playing with forces he doesn't understand. The combination may seem benign, but magic is a tricky thing. Even the same elemental magic can differ between races.”
“Like Lelurra and Okon.” I nodded. “Their god gave them a different version of the Air Magic that we possess.”
“Mix the magic of gods, and you get monsters.” The Dragon King shifted his stare around the fire. “If we don't stop him soon, he could infect the entire kingdom.”
I didn't want that either, but my concern was more personal than the King's.
Nahel formed in my mind, his smile taunting and his wings spread like a conqueror's.
I killed Bara to be free, but like a weed, another popped up to take his place.
It was as if Bara were hunting me from the grave. Punishing me for daring to be happy.
I stood up abruptly. “Excuse me.”
“Eliel?” Raventar called after me.
“Just a moment, if you please, Your Majesty.” I stumbled through the dark. It wasn't my vision that hindered me, but my fear. It was back, clawing at my chest again. Damn it, I thought I was past this.
Gasping, I braced myself against the rough trunk of a tree. The Dragon King had won the first battle, but just barely. Nahel would recover and make more weapons. He would return wiser, knowing how the Dragons fought. In short, even the King couldn't protect me from him.
“Eliel.” Warm hands slid over my wings.
I flinched. “Can't I have even a minute to myself?”
The hands fell away, but only so the King could come around my side and slip between me and the tree. “No, not when you're hurting.” He eased me gently into his arms. “Not when you're afraid. I won't leave you to face this darkness alone.”
I crumpled into his arms. “Raven, it's beginning again. I will never be free.”
“That's just fear.” One hand slipped up my chest to grip my chin and hold me so that our gazes locked.
“Look into my eyes and see the truth. See that I will not fail you again. Know that you are safe with me. No matter how many monsters he makes, Nahel will never have you.” His thumb brushed over my lips. “You are my foundling.”
“I can't belong to another man.”
“Yes, you can. But this time, this man will belong to you in return. We protect each other, Eliel. That is how we conquer men like Bara and Nahel. They cannot touch us when we are united.”
“We are united,” I whispered and rose on my toes to kiss him.
With his lips and tongue and hard body, the Dragon King vanquished my fear.
It would return, just like Nahel, but I'd be prepared for both of them.
Nahel may have learned things about us, but we had learned more about him.
As I rose into Raven's kiss, I rose also into his confidence. I let him carry me into his resolve.
We were united in friendship and something more. Nothing Nahel did would change that.