Dragon Soul(44)

Rowan made a face. "I admit I'm not very much in control of fire yet."

"What did you mean when you said that May swore fealty to you?" I asked Gabriel. "That's like an oath of honor, yes?"

"In a way, yes. All dragons swear fealty to their wyvern, including  their mates. It means simply that you as a mate will put Rowan first in  your thoughts and will do your best for the sept. In turn, Rowan will  swear to protect and honor you. You are not truly considered mated until  the oath of fealty is sworn." His eyes held an obvious question.

I ignored it, trying to decide if the promises we had made each other a  couple of nights before had been sufficient to be considered an oath of  fealty. "Maybe you can tell me what this is. Rowan …  I don't know what  the verb would be-burned? Marked?-anyway, he did this to me, and we are  at a loss why he did it. Or even how." I knelt down between the two men,  and lifted the hair off the back of my neck to show the odd tattoo.

"Ah, Rowan has placed a sept mark upon you. Interesting choice of  images," Gabriel said. "The silver dragons bear the image of a hand with  a crescent moon. The sept mark is something all dragons give to their  mates and children. If you have given the oath of fealty, then you  should be able to reciprocate the mark on Rowan."

"How?" I asked.

"Breathe fire on the same spot on his neck."

I looked at Rowan. He looked back at me. "I don't know how to breathe fire," I told him.

"No, you don't. You can set fire to your feet, though."

"And I did spit out a little ball of fire at that talking dog."

"True. Would that do the trick?" Rowan asked Gabriel.

He shrugged. "It might. Or it might be a matter of Sophea practicing how  to harness your fire. No doubt she didn't have time to learn to use  Jian's before he was killed, so her abilities might be a bit stunted."  Gabriel rose. "If there are no more questions, I must go find May. She  wishes to pick out a costume for me for tomorrow's party, and although I  can think of few things I'd like to do less than prance around in a  costume, I live to make her happy."

"Actually, I do have another question. Ipy is missing. You two haven't seen her, have you?"

Rowan looked thoughtful. "I passed them this morning. They were all wearing swimsuits, so I gathered they were coming here."

"They did, but Ipy left shortly thereafter and hasn't been seen since.  And the captain"-I shot a disparaging look toward the bridge-"insists  that she's just sleeping off a hangover. But that's not like Ipy. She  takes her guard duties very seriously."

"We can have a look around," Rowan said, getting to his feet.

We made it down to the main saloon on the floor below before one of the  crewmen staggered into the room, a blanket-covered form in his arms. I  didn't have to see under the blanket to recognize what it was-a body.

"Oh, dear goddess, no," I said, my stomach twisting around on itself. "No, not Ipy. Tell me that's not Ipy!"

Another crewman followed with a second blanketed bundle, this one much  smaller. Both men looked faintly green. "Get the captain," the first one  said to the second, who promptly put down his small bundle, ran to a  wastebasket, and threw up violently and noisily.

"I don't want to know what that is, do I?" I asked Rowan, tears making my throat hurt.

He glanced at the small bundle to which I was pointing and shook his head. "Go back to the cabin."

I thought about arguing, but decided this was one time I wasn't going to  fight for equality in dealing with difficult situations.

I ran out of the room, almost mowing down May and Gilly as they were coming upstairs.         

     



 

"Come with me, both of you," I said quietly and, taking Gilly by the arm, steered her down to the cabin.

"What is it? Did you find Ipy? Is she ill?" Gilly asked when we closed  the door behind us. My throat was still aching with the need to cry …  not  cry, scream. Rail. Wail and sob and generally grieve as loudly as I  could. But I knew if I gave in, the others would as well. Control,  that's what was needed here. Compassion for the feeling of the  priestesses, yes, but I had to remain in control to ensure Mrs. P was  kept safe.

"Yes, we found her. Come along-I only want to do this once."

May looked concerned, but said nothing as we entered Mrs. P's room.  Several of the ladies were lying on makeshift pallets on the floor, one  or two reading, one playing on a tablet computer, and a couple with  eyeshades on, clearly having a nap. Mrs. P was sitting with Bunefer,  having an intricate henna tattoo applied to the back of her hand.

"Ladies-" My voice broke. I cleared it and tried again. "Ladies, I have  some very bad news. Tragic news. Ipy has been …  she's passed away."

"What?" Gilly screeched and grabbed my arm. "How can she? She's like the rest of us-immortal. She can't just die."

I tried to forget that image of the smaller second bundle. "I think …  I think someone did a grievous injury to her."

Silence filled the room for a few seconds, then I was peppered with  questions. What had happened? Where was Ipy now? How had she been  killed?

Although I expected the questions, what I didn't expect were the dry eyes and relative sense of calm.

"I … " I stopped and shook my head. "I don't want to sound callous, or  like I'm judging how you're grieving, because I know from my husband's  death that everyone grieves differently, but aren't you guys …  upset?"

"Why should we be?" Mrs. P asked as Bunefer continued inking a fanciful pattern.

"Because one of your dear sisters just died," I said, my hands on my  hips. "Great Caesar's balls, woman-one of your fellow priestesses is no  more!"

"She'll be back," Mrs. P said, giving me pause.

"She will?"

May's gaze was on nothing as she clearly thought through the situation.  At last, her eyebrows rose, and she gave a little nod. "I see. She died  in the Underworld."

"Ahh," I said, enlightenment dawning. "You mean she's in the prefect place to be …  reborn?"

"Most likely in spirit form, I'd imagine," May said, glancing at Mrs. P, who nodded.

"She should be along shortly, full of fire for what happened," Gilly  said. "I can't imagine who would be idiot enough to kill someone in the  one place where death has no meaning. Not in that way."

"Well, at least we'll find out who did it to her," I said, my mind  thinking of that smaller bundle. I shuddered despite the relatively  happy ending to the tragedy.

"Most likely so."

May and I left shortly thereafter. May's demeanor was slightly ruffled,  and she murmured something about finding Gabriel and talking to him  about the possibility of it being a demon attack. I decided to find  Rowan and demand some solace when Mrs. P poked her head out of the  bedroom and gestured toward me.

"Did you need something?" I asked, approaching her.

She caught my wrist and pinned me back to the wall with her sapphire  gaze. "You are my champion in all things, Sophea, and I appreciate that  fact. I didn't understand until now why he brought us together, but it  has been made clear to me. Do not fail me. All will be lost if you do."

"Who brought us together?" I asked, but she simply closed the door in my  face. I stared at the wood for a few seconds, then sighed, carefully  locked the cabin door behind me, and went out to find Rowan.

I badly wanted some answers and just hoped he'd be able to provide them.





Sixteen




"I like Gabriel's attitude," I told Rowan when I finally found him.

He looked first surprised, then angry. "You're my mate! You're supposed to favor me over all others!"

I laughed and licked the tip of his nose. "You're adorable when you're  enraged about something so silly. Calm down, I didn't say I liked  Gabriel-I said I liked his attitude. And by that I was referring to the  fact that he was so willing to do something that would please May. Do  you live to make me happy?"

"Of course," he said, relaxing enough to give me a look that damn near steamed my cheerleader socks.         

     



 

"Well then, since Ipy's death isn't the tragedy that I thought it would  be-and really, can we have a moment to process the fact that everyone is  just fine with her being killed and turned into a ghost?-what say we go  back to my room and I can harness your fire?" I gave him a come-hither  look. "Mrs. P said Ipy won't return in spirit form for a few hours, so  we might as well put them to good use and let me try to put this mark on  you, so we can match."

"Only if you promise to do a couple of cheers for me afterward," he said, goosing me as I sashayed past him.

I had to admit, the fire thing sounded a lot easier than it was. Rowan,  lying facedown on my bed, said patiently, "How long is this going to  take?"