Adrina stroked the dragon's long neck. "You did that on purpose."
Tnavres grinned in a way that only dragons can.
Adrina knew what the mischievous dragon was playing at. "Graeden isn't on watch until tomorrow."
"It is tomorrow."
Adrina worked to wrap the colossal saddle in thick furs to protect it from the elements. "That may be, but you heard the Watcher."
The dragon pointed a clawed finger. "I smell him. He's there…"
Suddenly, Adrina saw Lady Adrynne in the dragon's eyes and reflexively her hands went to the mark on her stomach while her thoughts raced. How long would they be exiles in the frozen North? What good were they doing bringing aid to the sick? The sickness was still spreading. The sick were still dying.
As she put her gloves back on, she saw the mark on her right palm. The marks on stomach and palm said that she was twice indebted, that she too was a servant of the Dragon King, that one day she would share Lady Adrynne's fate.
"He's there," the dragon repeated.
"But Xith--"
"--would understand. Pining for what's lost does no good. Emel went over the palisades to Zapad and beyond--"
"--in search of answers, answers that were then needed. If he were to return, with the orb…"
Tnavres blew fire. "Emel has been gone for three years. Great Kingdom is no more. There's nothing left to save. Have you learned nothing? The orbs are not for mortal men. They are beyond you."
Adrina scowled. She'd heard enough from the dragon for one day. "Return," she commanded, opening her coat and lifting her thick shirt to reveal the mark.
Tnavres glared, then locked his jaws around Adrina's outstretched arm. As the dragon's teeth found flesh, flesh turned to stone while hot tears streaked Adrina's cheeks.
"You don't learn," the dragon hissed as he disappeared into Adrina's flesh.
As the dragon settled to his resting place within Adrina, she whispered to the empty air, "You don't listen."
She wiped away her tears, stomped her feet against the cold, then followed the path Xith had taken earlier. Her thoughts turned to her sister and the captain. She hoped they were okay but worried that they weren't. She worried too about Vilmos and Ærühn.
Don't let it be the sickness, she thought to herself, for the sickness was sweeping the Ice and taking everyone and everything with it. "But not them," Adrina beseeched the empty air. "Not them."
Chapter 2
"Wife," Emel Brodstson called out to Galia Tyr'anth as he chased after her, a glowing orb dancing between his hands.
"Defiler," Galia called back as she ran.
Ahead in a tree-shrouded hollow was a hot pool bubbling from the freshwater springs beneath it. Galia disrobed and waded into the hot waters where she was waiting when Emel reached the hollow.
The tawny-haired young brigand smiled mischievously, tossing the orb high into the air before catching it again. "Wife," he said again. "A heady word, if ever there was one."
Galia laughed and splashed him from the pool. "Were it true, my father, the king, would place your severed head on a pike and mount it on Gregortonn's walls for all to see."
Emel tossed the orb aside, jumped into the air, grabbed his knees, and plunged into the pool, clothes and all. He splashed Galia as she kissed and disrobed him.
"My love," she whispered between her kisses. "Promise, this was the last act of defiance. My father will only look the other way so long--and perhaps only does so now because of his love for this wayward daughter."
"Your father controls all the kingdoms north of the palisades and is preoccupied with his plans to invade those to the south. I doubt he has any inkling of my activities."
Galia tossed Emel's wet shirt to the side of the pool, then started working to remove his pants. "My father knows much more of you than you may think. I am his only legitimate heir. He's indulged my every wish and whim for as long as I can remember, but only to a point.
"I became a kingcat rider not so much because of my desire to serve but because my father saw my great love of those majestic animals. He wanted to teach me that what appeared wondrously beautiful and extraordinary could be deadly. That death and terrible power could be hidden within all things."
Emel pressed his lips tightly against Galia's to silence her. "I'm beyond your father's grasp," he said as he kissed his way down the line of her neck. "My men and I have disrupted supply lines, stolen weapons and armor intended for the south, and will continue to do so."
Galia pushed Emel away and kept him at arm's length. "You fool. You great fool. Have no doubt that these are acts my father has allowed, if only to unite more in common cause against the south."