Chapter 24
Noah held Portia close. She was staring in open amazement at the great dragon in human form.
Noah was only just recovering from that revelation himself, the experience of having been carried aloft shaking him to the core if he was honest. But he was here, back on Starling Island, and she was safe.
That was the most important thing. With Gilden on their side, it had to all work out, didn’t it?
He was still probably in deep trouble, but if she was safe, that was nothing.
Virginia Moorland was not giving up so easily.
‘What is the meaning of this?’ she snarled, her outrage turning her face that unpleasant shade of purple. ‘You’re a dragon? You cannot take this seriously, captain. This… this thing isn’t even human.’
It was the wrong thing to say. The captain’s face had taken on a blank, official cast.
‘My lord ambassador, I’m happy to hear your evidence. Please—’
‘You can’t be serious!’ Virginia went on. ‘You’ll take evidence from an animal?’
This time, the look the captain shot her was colder still. ‘Lady Virginia, please be silent.’ He nodded to two of his men who moved towards her meaningfully. ‘The ambassador is an honoured guest in our court and the king has made it clear that his word is not to be doubted.’
‘Well,’ said Gilden, giving a preen which Jade would have been proud of.
Noah couldn’t stop staring at him, this great dragon who wore a human appearance like something out of his grandfather’s old stories.
‘That is good to hear. After all that has happened since yesterday, I will have so much to report back to our court, don’t you think? At least the king still honours me.’
He grinned at Virginia, baring all his teeth in a more draconic way than ever before, some of the sheen of humanity wearing thin. She recoiled, her renewed confidence faltering.
‘Before she assaulted me yesterday,’ he continued as if nothing had happened, ‘with a weighted net that many have sought to outlaw in the keeping of teacup dragons no less, Lady Moorland publicly accused Lady Portia Starling unjustly and without actual evidence of the intent to commit a heinous crime. It transpires that the truth is even worse. Dr Turner?’
Noah drew in a breath to steady himself before speaking.
‘She enchanted me, first to force information from me with a truth spell, and then in an effort to make me poison the teacup dragons from the Starling sanctuary so they could not compete in the show. That’s where the Dewsalt came from.
She made me take it. Then she told me to forget everything she’d done. ’
‘This is ridiculous,’ Virginia interrupted.
‘He was working for me. When he had nothing for me, and I refused to pay him, he obviously decided to ruin me instead. Blackmail or… or… revenge, I don’t know.
He’ll do anything to get the money he wants.
They’ve probably offered to pay him more.
He’s a mercenary to the core. He’ll say whatever he’s told to say. ’
And he had been working for her. Even if she didn’t have proof of that… but he didn’t have any proof otherwise, did he? Who was going to end up ruined here?
‘One doesn’t tend to announce blackmail in public though,’ Portia said, her fingers threading with Noah’s.
She squeezed his hand in reassurance. ‘You’re trying to twist what happened again.
I was there. I saw you, heard everything you said.
You used magic to force him to obey you, and then to forget what you had ordered him to do.
It’s expressly against every law relating to magic we have. It’s the worst kind of assault.’
Virginia sneered at her. ‘And what does it matter what either of you say, Starling? A discredited scholar and her pet veterinarian from Alincourt of all places? He doesn’t even have Academy training and not a scrap of magic to his name.
He’s no one and you’re an exile from the court.
Who will believe a word either of you says? ’
A horrible silence hung over the terrace.
‘Well, I do,’ said the ambassador.
‘So do I,’ August chimed in.
‘And me,’ Milo added.
‘And so does the king,’ Iris finished. ‘You forget the innate magical abilities of the great dragons, Virginia dear. Our little teacups carry a trace of it, Jade more than most as we all saw. But someone like Gilden? Magic leaves traces everywhere. It’s messy.
Always had been. And when people use it, well…
Gilden will be able to follow it back to you from the remnants left behind on the bottle.
Not to mention back to whoever made the wretched substance. ’
Captain Zacarius cleared his throat uncomfortably.
‘My lord ambassador,’ he said. ‘Unfortunately, the bottle was destroyed in the scuffle when Dr Turner was apprehended.’
Noah’s heart fell. The bottle was the only thing that might link Virginia to what happened, that might incriminate her. Otherwise, it was just his word against hers. He looked from one face to the next. They all realised that.
Without the bottle, what evidence of her evil doings did they have?
The captain went on. ‘If you would present any further evidence, any of you, I am happy to hear it. I would much prefer to have this sorted out quickly.’ He sounded so fed up.
‘So that’s it?’ Virginia smiled, that horrible triumphant smile she’d worn when she had him locked in her spell. ‘That’s not evidence, but hearsay. You cannot arrest me on suspicion of using magic. What tangible proof do you have?’
She had a point there, Noah realised. They could show anyone what happened, but she could always claim it was an illusion. A lie.
‘In the interests of diplomacy,’ said Portia, ‘in a time when we are trying to reopen relations with Elanholm, who do you think the king will believe, tangible proof or not? We may not have enough to arrest you, but you will never be able to show your face at court again. I’m going to make sure everyone knows what you did, and what you tried to do.
’ She took a step forward. ‘If you try to ruin his reputation, I’ll leave yours in shreds. ’
‘You can try, Portia,’ she said poisonously. ‘Now, I suggest you give me back my dragon and—’
‘Absolutely not,’ Noah interrupted. ‘You have no business with Jade or any other living creature. You ought to be banned from keeping so much as a potted plant.’
But she just stood there, unrepentant. ‘I think you’ll find, Dr Turner, that I can obtain and keep whatever I want to. I have more contacts than you will ever know and there is not a single thing you will ever be able to do about that.’
Something in her arrogance tugged at the back of his mind. Contacts… why did she need special contacts? He turned to the captain of the guards.
‘Wait, those papers… can I see them? The ownership papers she produced.’
As Virginia protested and raged, the papers were brought out and Noah spread them out on the table in the sitting room, studying them carefully. Jade’s formal name was there, and she was identified as a fenland, with her sire and dam clearly marked. One of Harvey’s brood… except…
‘The dates can’t be right. She’s younger than this.’
Jade danced around on the edge of the table and Portia tried to calm her, lifting her onto her shoulder and stroking her gently. Gilden joined Noah, peering over the papers, as did Iris.
‘That isn’t her dam,’ the older woman said solemnly. ‘Can’t be. He sold that poor old lady last year, to Barnaby. He’s still trying to nurse her back to some semblance of health.’
‘This whole thing is a tissue of lies,’ Noah told them. ‘There’s no way these are Jade’s papers.’
‘I knew something didn’t add up with her,’ Gilden said. ‘Her bond with Portia, her magical connection… she was born wild, wasn’t she? Up on the borders of Elanholm I suspect, trapped and trafficked and—’
Before anyone could move, Virginia shoved Portia aside and seized the tiny dragon. Her meaty hands closed around the long slender neck.
Jade let out a cry of pain, flapping desperately, tail lashing through the air. The other teacup dragons screamed, taking to the air in panic.
‘I will be leaving,’ Virginia announced. ‘And if any of you try to follow me, I’ll throttle the beast, do you understand me?’
Where she thought she could go or how she planned to get off the island, Noah didn’t know. It didn’t really matter. The woman was desperate and she was going to hurt Jade the way she was holding her, whether she meant to or not.
Before he could do anything, Portia grabbed Virginia’s shoulder, spinning her around, and punched her in the face with all her might. Virginia dropped like a stone, releasing Jade, who fluttered up to Portia, squawking, complaining, and crying in relief.
Portia shook her hand out. She was breathing hard, her chest heaving as she stared down at her foe with murder in her eyes.
‘Don’t you ever touch my dragon again,’ she snarled.
‘Portia!’ August exclaimed, horrified.
She turned on him. ‘What? You’re the one who taught me to throw a punch. And she deserved it. Well, Captain, are you going to arrest me for assault this time?’
Captain Zacarius wisely took a step back. ‘I think not, Lady Portia. I’m not that foolish.’
The royal guards took the dazed Lady Moorland into custody and headed back to the ship, ready to return to the capital to begin charges of illegal animal trafficking.
Coupled with the events at the show and the evidence they could present, she was in a lot of trouble.
Noah couldn’t bring himself to care. All he could do was gaze at Portia who was still cradling the teacup dragon who had wound her tail and half her body around her arm in return.
Nothing was going to separate the two of them again, and quite rightly. They belonged together.
Portia’s righteous fury had made her the most beautiful being he had ever seen in his life.
She had saved him from being used by a monster.
Had he carried out Moorland’s plan to poison the dragons at the show, whether they were the Starling Island dragons or any others, he would have been ruined.
It would have devastated him, mind and soul, to betray his calling in such a way.
Noah had always thought he was meant to be the one doing the rescuing, but then, along came Portia Starling.
Iris and Gilden were gathering together all the other teacup dragons, which whirled around him in delight.
In no time he was greeting each of them by name, the names Iris had given them and others, names in dragontongue which sounded more like music than anything Noah had ever heard.
He ought to be helping, he knew that – he ought to be asking a million questions and finding out everything he possibly could – but he didn’t want to leave Portia and Jade.
After a while Portia relinquished the dragon to him, and Jade uncoiled herself, letting him check her throat and neck, extend each delicate wing carefully, listen to her heartbeat and her breathing. Though she was clearly shaken and afraid, she didn’t seem to have suffered any damage.
‘Some of your elixir might help perk her up but otherwise, I think she’s all right,’ he said at last, stroking under her chin just the way she liked. ‘She had a horrible fright. That’s all. But it’s over now.’
Portia sat on the settee, her feet curled under her. Her hand looked like it was going to bruise. There had to be something he could do about that, a cold compress or something. He took her hand, examining it. He didn’t want to let it go.
‘Thank you,’ she said softly.
‘What for?’
‘She would have got away with it if you hadn’t seen the papers. She would have just done it again. Gone back to her life and continued on stealing and abusing helpless teacup dragons and…’ She ran out of steam, finishing on a sigh.
He smiled softly. ‘I think I should be the one thanking you given everything that happened. Portia… I never set out to spy on the sanctuary or…’
‘I know that. I heard, remember? Her truth spell was so powerful and you still didn’t tell her about the elixir or…
or anything really. It was clever, the way you managed it.
’ Her eyes lowered a little, those long eyelashes that fascinated him so brushing her skin and when she looked up again, he lost the ability to breathe.
She was beautiful, and brave and dear lord when she had thrown that punch…
‘If I may have a word, Dr Turner?’ said Ambassador Gilden. ‘I would appreciate a moment before I leave. I’m going back to Tesh to report on this before the captain arrives with his prisoner. Better to have everything ready. I also want to make sure none of her associates make a break for it.’
Noah reluctantly let Portia go and got to his feet.
‘Percival Harvey for example. I can give you a list of people to check if you’d like.’
‘Iris has already done so but let us crosscheck to make sure we don’t miss anyone. But I wanted to talk to you, about what Lady Moorland had promised you. Access to Elanholm.’
Oh, that. His heart sank. Of course, that would be impossible now. The ambassador had seen the damage that interaction with humankind did to the teacup dragons. He would never allow them entry into the realm of dragonkind now, would he? Especially not Noah. Not after this.
‘I understand,’ Noah said, his voice sombre.
‘Really?’ Surprised amusement flickered through his silvery eyes.
‘I don’t believe you do. Not looking like that.
’ Gilden laughed. ‘You showed great fortitude and loyalty. We have always appreciated that. Should you wish to visit Elanholm, to see for yourself the realm as it should be seen, you would be most welcome. You are a defender of dragonkind, young man, even our smallest cousins, and perhaps that is more important than anything else. When you protect the least of us, you invite the respect of all.’
He slipped a signet ring from his finger.
It was engraved with the profile of a dragon, with a diamond for the eye.
Gilden placed it into Noah’s hand and closed his fingers over it.
He held still for a moment and Noah heard the words of dragontongue again, drifting around him, through him, magical, beautiful, the sound of his childhood dreams.
‘There,’ said the ambassador. ‘You will be known and you will be welcomed and you will be allowed to see what others cannot. The kingdom of the great dragons is still there, though we may disguise ourselves to walk among you. And you would be our honoured guest when you choose to visit.’ He looked up at Portia then and smiled.
Jade lifted her head expectantly. ‘All of you. Now, if you will excuse me, I should be going. My thanks, my friends. I am certain we will meet again. If nothing else when I visit here. Iris is most insistent and I am eager to see how her work here progresses. This really is the most magical place.’
On that, Noah had to agree.