Arana
shielded her eyes against the glare of the sun. Four blue dragons circled a
single combatant. She stared at the changing pattern of the battle. There could
be but one ending. How could the lone dragon from High Peaks
Tower
survive when he fought with no speaker? She closed her mind to the multiple
voices she heard.
One
of the creatures dove. The embattled one turned and raked his claws along his
opponent’s side. A second blue attempted to swoop from above. The besieged
whirled and caught the edge of the attacker’s wing with his foreclaws and
pulled free. The injured dragon joined the first in retreat.
Arana
began to hope. She knew nothing of battle strategy. Though she could have
spoken to the High Peaks
blue she couldn’t distract him for she had no advice to give.
Her
hopes plummeted. The remaining opposing pair dove toward the High Peaks
blue. Though her favorite twisted, he was too slow to prevent the largest of
the others from clamping teeth-filled jaws on his neck. Arana’s scream was
echoed by a piercing roar from the pens. She watched as the embattled dragon
tumbled to the rocks. She ran to the far side of the landing field. The blue’s
broken body lay on the rocks where Arana had witnessed the death of her foster
mother.
Gone,
she thought. Now all that remained of High Peaks’
lineage was one red and one green dragon. And her, but she was only a foster
child.
Arana
leaned against the wall and fought to stem her tears. The cool autumn breeze
carried the briny scent of the sea. In the distance she saw the sails of an
approaching ship. Did it carry traders or wizards? If the ship belonged to
either group, Lagon would leave the tower to bargain with them. The wizards
welcomed any chance to obtain the hide of a dragon.
She
rubbed her arms. Since the battle had ended, her services would be needed by
the dragons and the speakers. She was the only one of the slaves who had no
fear of the huge beasts. Her ability to hear and speak to the creatures allowed
her to move freely in the pens.
She
was also one of the few slaves who knew the ingredients of the antidote for the
tea made from fyrethorn berries. Most of the men suffered from headaches after
a speaking session. None of the four who had controlled the battle were like
her for she spoke to the dragons without drinking the tea.
One
after another the blues landed. Hisses and pain-filled cries filled the air. Arana
was torn between going to the beasts or the men. A keening cry rose to a
piercing shriek and vibrated through Arana’s bones. A red dragon emerged from
the doorway to the pens. Arana ran across the landing field dodging the hissing
beasts to reach the surviving red of High Peaks
Tower.
A
smaller green dragon scurried after the red. *Soothe her. She will not heed
me.*
Arana
blocked the other voices and send words of comfort to the red. As the beast’s
cries softened, Arana stroked the leathery hide. Her mouth flew open. She
sensed the presence of eggs. When had the pair mated? Somehow they had managed
to slip free from the pens for a mating flight.
*I
hid them.* Verde’s voice held laughter. *I am of their lineage and do not want
to be the last of the High Peaks
dragons.*
Arana
stood on tip-toe and stroked his neck. *When will she lay the eggs?* She
couldn’t hide the fear rippling through her thoughts. Lagon, lord of Sea
Cliff Tower
would surely destroy the eggs before they hatched.
*Soon.*
*How
can we keep Lagon from learning?*
*I
will mask her so the evil one will not know.*
Though
Arana had no idea how she could hide two dragonets or care for them, the news
brought hips. *Return to your pen. The blues are settling. I must deliver the
potion to the men and tend to the wounds of the dragons.*
Arana
crossed the landing field and strode past the entrance to the tower. She opened
the door of the stillroom. Unlike High Peaks,
the tower here was surrounded by a wall. Halls connected the various buildings
that abutted the walls.
She
filled a basket with linen, needles and ointments needed to care for the
dragons. She took a flask of water and added herbs for the antidote. Arana
carried both through the halls to the room where the speakers lay on padded
lounges.
Arana
poured the contents of the flask into a pot of hot tea. One of the slaves
filled cups and gave the liquid to the men. One by one they roused. Arana
turned toward the door.
“Dragon
slave.”
She
stiffened but turned to face the lord of Sea Cliff Tower. The man had taken away the
freedom she had earned at High Peaks
for her ability to speak to the dragons. When he had killed the lord and his
sons, Lagon had made the women of that tower into slaves. She bowed her head to
hide the hatred in her eyes. “What is your command, my lord?”
He
lifted her chin. His ice blue eyes glittered with remnants of pain. “After you
treat the beasts, you will seek me.” A cruel smile curled his thin lips.
She
nodded. “I hear and will obey, my lord.”
He
grasped her arm. “Soon you will do more.”
“As
you command.” The words nearly choked her. She pushed the door open and entered
the central hall. From there she left the tower and crossed the landing field
to the massive stone building that housed the dragons. The hisses and growls of
the four blues reached her. Where should she begin?
*I
will tell you,* Verde said.
He
directed her to the dragon with a long row of talon slashes along one flank. She
cleaned the ichor away and slathered a numbing ointment around the edge of the
wound. When she finished the creature’s roars ceased. She daubed healing salve
on the open areas and spread strips of linen over the anointed places.
She
left the first pen and entered a second and set about mending the tear on the
dragon’s wing. A finely woven cloth was placed beneath the tatters. By the time
the wing healed, the stitches would disintegrate and the cloth would drop away.
Once
the minor injuries of the other dragons had been treated, Arana left the pens. *Verde,
thank you.*
*When
they are hurt they listen to me.*
Verde sighed. *Maybe that’s why I was born green.*
*Could
be. As you mature you will learn more.* Arana repacked the basket. She wished
Verde could persuade the blues to defy their speakers.
*Arana,
no. The evil one would kill the speakers and find new ones. Or he could destroy
the dragons and sell their pelts to the wizards. As long as he lives I will not
do this.*
*I
know but I wish we could free them.* As she crossed the landing field and
walked toward the still room, a prickling moved along her spine. Her hands
formed fists. She steeled herself to face Lagon.
“Arana.”
His hand clamped on her arm.
The
basket thudded on the ground. “My lord.”
“How
fare the beasts?” He turned her to face him.
“The
wounds will heal. Two will need several weeks of rest before they can fly.”
“The High Peaks
blue was a mighty fighter. Does the red of that lineage grieve?”
Arana
nodded. “In the confusion after the flight she would have flown away but I
calmed her.”
“Don’t
dampen her spirits too greatly. I want her to rise to mate.” His gaze drilled
her. “When she does my blue will follow. With eggs of her get my dragon stock
will improve.” He shoved Arana against the wall. “On that day you will drink
the tea and fly with her.”
Arana
bit her lower lip. She couldn’t let him see how her fear verged on the edge of
terror. “What if she won’t rise?” She couldn’t let Lagon know the red was with
egg.
His
thin lips curved into a smile that held no hint of humor. “When you speak to
her she will have no choice.” He scraped a fingernail along her cheek. “You are
as ripe as the dragon. You will bear my son.” He clamped his teeth on her lower
lip.
She
winced. A sullen anger built inside. She sought to hide her repugnance toward
him. He liked his women to cower and obey his commands. In the ten years and
one of her captivity here, she’d seen ten women ordered to his bed. She’d seen
the bruises and witnessed the lashings as each one failed to produce the son he
desperately wanted.
He
caught a lock of her hair and wound it around his finger. “Hair the color of
flames. Fire is what I demand from you.” He pressed his mouth over hers. His
body touched hers and his phala remained flaccid. Once again she was spared a
mauling.
Lagon
laughed. “Soon.” He held one hand against her throat. “Let your fears grow so I
can feast on them when the dragons rise.” He released her.
Though
relief threatened to bring her to her knees, she pressed against the wall for
support. She thought of her fellow slaves. Most feared him, but one or two
lusted to be in his bed. She didn’t understand their fascination. Though
handsome, his icy blue eyes and thin lips spoke of his cruel nature.
The
blue gem in his ear was said to be a payment for the youth he’d sold to the
slavers. The boy had been from High
Peaks Tower.
Had he been the youngest son of the lord, the boy who had been her friend? Lagon
had announced Drakon’s death when the women from High Peaks
had reached Sea Cliff.
Her
eyes closed. Though she tried to form a picture of her friend, she failed. For
several years after her captivity had begun, she had dreamed of the young man
and of being rescued.
The
sound of boots against the stone floor announced Lagon’s departure. Arana
released her held breath. She returned the basket to the still room, and then
ran down the inner hall to the bathing room. There she scrubbed away the odors
of her labor and the stench of fear. She dressed. Instead of going to the rooms
where the slaves were housed she walked to the landing court. At the edge she
stared at the sea. Waves crashed against the rocks. Far below servants removed
the dragon’s hide.
The
ship she’d seen earlier had docked at the wharf in the nearby village. She
noted the green flag and knew the ship belonged to the wizards. She breathed a
sigh of relief. Their arrival meant Lagon would leave the tower once the hide
had been scraped and the curing begun. He would eagerly negotiate a sale.
