Eighteen
Ariadnne
It wasn’t enough.
The dead invaders had been dragged to the edge of the plateau, a feast for the carrion birds, while the Guild’s dead were collected reverently. Lucile closed Han’s eyes, crossing his hands over his sword. They said words.
But it wasn’t enough.
When the sun rose, the firedrakes would shift and use their flames to immolate the corpses, rendering them to ash. A token for each of them would be collected and brought to the Guild burial grounds overlooking the cliff.
But they would still be dead.
Ariadnne stood silently while the company said their goodbyes to their youngest knight.
Even though she hadn’t been close to Han, she was restless.
Her draconic side struggled to come to terms with the loss.
It was an inherent part of her to be protective of anyone deemed as hers, and Han had been hers.
Both Regulus’ and Lucius’ handlers had worked to calm the firedrakes, persuading them to sit and eat by the fire.
Neither varan would leave their companies to go back to the main tent, but then they had each suffered worse losses than Ariadnne.
Despite her frustrations with the males, she knew they held their companies close.
They had been with most of their knights longer than Ariadnne had been alive.
Melixanthe was already abed, dosed by the healer to rest and mend.
Without her calming presence, Ariadnne found herself pacing the length of the camp under the watchful eyes of her company.
Her skin glowed silver in the moonlight, her dragon’s scales shifting under the surface and none of her knights dared to comfort her.
So many humans lay dead behind them, and now this.
So much death. She’d never get used to it.
She moved to the edge of the plateau—fists balled—and closed her eyes, revelling in her sense of the drop before her, the wind that ruffled her hair. It helped.
Soft footsteps approached. A hand softly touched her arm, and some of Ariadnne’s tension ebbed as though she had stepped into the eye of a storm.
Without thinking, Ariadnne turned, reaching for Nieve and drawing her close. She buried her head in the knight’s neck, breathing in her snowy scent. It was the only thing that felt right, Nieve the only being who saw her as more than a weapon or tool, something Ariadnne sorely needed.
‘I hate all this killing, this death. I can’t stand it, can’t stand losing people,’ she ground into Nieve’s hair.
‘It’s okay,’ Nieve murmured. She tilted Ariadnne’s chin with a finger, but Ariadnne jerked back, acutely aware of her team’s curiosity. Needing distance between them.
‘I’m sorry about Han,’ Nieve said softly, barely missing a beat.
Ariadnne sighed and closed her eyes. ‘I’ve trained and fought with him for five years. He was the youngest to make it to my team; a talented warrior.’
‘I’m sorry. I’ve lost some good people in my time too, and some from my old company tonight. I can’t say it ever gets easier.’ Pain etched her porcelain features.
Ariadnne fell silent, realising that she’d been a fool for even considering that Nieve could wish Melixanthe harm. She was too good a person.
‘I was scared for you, too,’ she murmured. ‘You don’t know how hard it was not to shift and rip that brute in half.’
Nieve huffed a laugh. ‘You never need to worry. I can fend for myself.’
Ariadnne growled in response and Nieve lifted her hands in surrender. ‘But I’ll admit, I secretly enjoy you wanting to defend me like this.’ She cocked her head. ‘You know, I get such a strong sense of your dragon when you’re roused. It’s right there beneath the surface, isn’t it?’
‘Always.’ Ariadnne shifted. ‘It can be tricky sometimes though… it…she… makes me volatile. I can be hard to be around when she’s riled...’ She trailed off. Her whole life she’d apologised for her dragon. It was tiring.
‘It only makes you more interesting.’
Oh—Ariadnne hadn’t expected that.
Nieve fidgeted, as if words were pressing on her tongue.
‘Ariadnne. There’s something I need to share with you. About th—’
A voice interrupted before she could finish.
‘I’ve been looking for you.’ Lucius appeared beside them and Ariadnne tensed.
‘Lucius,’ she replied, wary.
Nieve placed a hand on her arm. ‘Hi,’ she added, her gaze softening. ‘I’m so sorry for your loss, Lucius.’
‘Thank you.’ He paused, shifting his feet. ‘It was a blow. Especially after you…’ His eyes met Nieves. ‘You know this means we need you back. We miss you. Sol misses you.’
A low growl escaped Ariadnne’s throat. ‘Don’t pressure her,’ she warned.
‘I’m not.’ Lucius bristled, turning back to Nieve.
‘My company is in shreds. I wouldn’t say this if I didn’t mean it, but we need you. I need you.’ He gave her a laden look. ‘Please.’
Ariadnne’s growl deepened. Nieve looked at her with a strange, burning intensity.
‘I can’t…’
‘Why?’ Lucius demanded. ‘You tell Melixanthe you made a mistake, and we’ll take you back with open arms.’
Nieve’s face crumpled. ‘Lucius… Gods, Lucius, I’m sorry. I don’t want either of you to hurt, but Melixanthe asked me to be with Ariadnne, and I mean to stay.’
With a low snarl, Lucius made to step forwards and Ariadnne’s chest rumbled as she stepped into his path, blocking Nieve from his view.
‘She said no, Lucius.’ Her lip lifted, showing enough canine that Lucius took a step back.
‘Fine!’ he snapped, then his eyes widened as he realised who he was speaking to. ‘Shards… I’m sorry, but you must understand—’
‘She said no.’
The varan’s chest deflated. He tried to step forwards again, towards Ariadnne this time, but her snarl drove him back. With a last glance between them, he turned and limped back to his handler, metaphorical tail between his legs.
‘They could cause trouble for you,’ Ariadnne said, watching the two confer, Sol storming off in a temper.
‘I can handle it.’
Sadness lined Nieve’s eyes, and Ariadnne brushed the back of her hand with her own.
‘You shouldn’t have to.’
When Nieve left to rejoin their company, for appearances sake, Ariadnne remained restless. Even after everyone settled and drifted off, she hovered at the edge of the plateau, watching.
Nieve featured heavily in her thoughts, along with a curl of worry for Melixanthe.
Sol must have seen the danger to her handler.
The more she played the scene over the easier it was to convince herself that Sol chose to rush to Lucius’ aid rather than warn her, but Lucius had been more than capable of handling himself. The whole thing made her uneasy.
Eventually, the sun crept higher and the air lost its night chill. Han was still dead and people stirred. Melixanthe was one of the first to get up, and as soon as she realised Ariadnne wasn’t in the tent, came out to find her. She flexed her shoulder tentatively as she walked.
‘Been out here all night?’
Ariadnne nodded, then gestured to her wounded shoulder.
‘How is it?’
‘It’s been better.’ Melixanthe’s laugh was bitter. ‘But it’s already pretty good, thank the gods for healers. They’ve done a great job.’
‘Good.’ Ariadnne paused as she took in the faint lines creasing the corners of Melixanthe’s eyes.
She didn’t usually notice the marks of age on her face, but this morning they were clear.
‘Melixanthe, I’m worried.’ The words escaped before Ariadnne could consider them.
Melixanthe turned to her, and Ariadnne gushed on, ‘Your injury shouldn’t have happened. ’
Melixanthe raised her eyebrows. ‘How so?’
‘Sol saw the threat, but he turned away instead of warning you.’
‘Sol?’ Melixanthe gaped. ‘Oh no, Sol wouldn’t do that.’
‘I think he did. There are other things—’
‘No. I trust him, Ariadnne. It’s easy to see things in the heat of battle and make assumptions.’ She raised a brow. ‘I hope you’ve not been brooding on this all night?’
Ariadnne knew what she saw.
‘He’s really angry that you persuaded Nieve to transfer.’
‘He’s just annoyed as she was a considerable asset to his team. But he’ll get over it. If she stays, of course.’
‘If she stays? What does that mean?’
‘It means I’m still undecided on what’s best for the two of you. I’m considering this a trial period.’ She gave Ariadnne a pointed look, and Ariadnne turned back to survey the landscape.
‘She’s not a problem, Melixanthe.’
‘We’ll see when we get back to Ullieve.’ Melixanthe patted Ariadnne on the shoulder and turned to head back to camp. ‘We’ll leave after breakfast, should be back by lunch, all being well,’ she said over her shoulder.