Table of Contents

- Chapter One

- Chapter Two

- Chapter Three

- Chapter Four

- Chapter Five

- Chapter Six

- Chapter Seven

- Chapter Eight

- Chapter Nine

- Chapter Ten

- Chapter Eleven

- Chapter Twelve

- Chapter Thirteen

- Chapter Fourteen

- Chapter Fifteen

- Chapter Sixteen

- Chapter Seventeen

- Chapter Eighteen

Dragon School: Sworn

Dragon School, Volume 5

Sarah K. L. Wilson

Published by Sarah K. L. Wilson, 2018.

This is a work of fiction. Similarities to real people, places, or events are entirely coincidental.

DRAGON SCHOOL: SWORN

First edition. January 22, 2018.

Copyright © 2018 Sarah K. L. Wilson.

Written by Sarah K. L. Wilson.

Table of Contents

Title Page

Copyright Page

Dedication

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Twelve

Chapter Thirteen

Chapter Fourteen

Chapter Fifteen

Chapter Sixteen

Chapter Seventeen

Chapter Eighteen

Behind the Scenes:

for Nev & Leif

Chapter One

Swirling snow fell around us as we dropped to the ground, deadening sound and making everything seem other-worldly. Had I been falling through the air only a moment ago? Raolcan – my beloved dragon - spiraled gently as he lowered us, his wings wide and cupped against the air. He was careful about approaching his landing, like he was worried about his cargo of people.

The bright sky city above sparkled like a torch brandished against the night, but it also blocked out the view of the moon and stars. I felt like a massive over-ripe melon was hanging over my head and ready to drop the moment it rotted from the vine. I ducked my head and tried not to think about it.

We have worse trouble coming, Raolcan told me in my mind.

Of course, we did. We needed to find somewhere warm before we all froze and get some medical attention for Leng. I needed to see how bad things were for Savette and to see if we could help her with them. I needed to find out what happened to Lenora and help her if I could. Oh, and I needed a new crutch. I’d lost mine in our flight.

Before any of that, we will need to deal with Bellrued, Tyalmae, and Enkenay.

Who?

The dragons who will land just after we do.

His feet hit the ground and we skidded through the snow a few feet before we stopped. All I heard was the quiet of three people and a dragon breathing.

Leng stirred, pulling himself up to sit with a straight back. His words were thick with pain and exhaustion.

“We need to move before they follow. The Dusk Covenant has agents everywhere. Someone will have seen our escape and we know too much to be left alone.”

How bad were his injuries? He sounded like a man who was barely conscious.

Raolcan shuffled slightly to the side, like a nervous horse when danger was ahead. A moment later, three dragons descended, two on one side and one on the other, snow puffing up in clouds from where they landed.

“Too late,” Savette whispered. She looked so pale in the cold of the night. I shuffled out of my cloak – not warm enough by half for a dragon ride on a snowy night – and put it around her shoulders. I missed it immediately, but I bit my lip, accepting the cold. At least I had a dress. Hers was ripped to shreds.

The dragon riders who dismounted and approached could have been sisters. They were tall and lean with their long black hair styled in the dragon rider way – some braids interspersed almost randomly with bits of feather and golden talismans within their masses of tight curls. Their eyes – like those of hawks – pierced right through us.

“Three of you,” the one with two dragons said. Her scarves and dragons were emerald green while her sister’s were white. They exchanged a glance before the one in green noticed Leng. Her expression grew worried.

“What did you do, Leng? We saw the burst of magic and then you were falling through the floor onto this dragon. This isn’t Ahlskibi!”

Leng looked exhausted, his good hand clinging to Raolcan.

“He’s exhausted,” she said to her sister. “We’ll have to bring them all with us, whoever they are.” She turned to Savette and me. “I am Ephretti Oakboon and you have my word of honor that I will not betray you.”

“Ephretti Oakboon of the Green?” Savette’s voice seemed far away. “Sounds familiar.”

“It should, child. I have not fought darkness all these years for nothing. Come now, we must hurry.”

Leng nodded, tiredly, as if that settled everything and the two dragon riders returned to their dragons. I fought a shiver that made my whole body tremble.

“Who are they, Leng?”

“Friends. I sought them out before I went to the moneylender’s for Savette. We didn’t know she was there. It was only a wild hunch I was following on my own.” He turned his gaze to me, looking past Savette as she stared off toward Ephretti. “Thank you for coming for us, Amel. We could not have survived what they were doing to us. You saved our lives. Again, I am in debt to you. I owe you so many lives now that I will never be able to repay the favor.”  His expression as earnest and I found myself melting under his dark grey gaze.

“You could repay it by treating your life with value. Every time I see you, you’re risking it for something!”

He shrugged. “I’m a Dragon Rider. We hold our lives with open hands.”

It seemed like a terrible way to guard something so precious.

Should I follow these dragons, then?

What other choice did we have?

I see more dragons coming this way- Blacks. They could be friends.

Or they could be enemies. Or they could be officials. I was wary of officials. Who knew if they served the laws of the land or laws they made up to get what they wanted? It seemed our best option was going with these dragon riders.

Raolcan leapt into the sky as they rose on either side of us and I reached out an arm to steady Savette. Her blank eyes were fixed on the city above. I wished I had more arms. Leng was already slumping again, as if that brief conversation with Ephretti and then with me had taken the last of his strength. As another chill took me, I hoped they were taking us somewhere close. And somewhere out of the wind.

Chapter Two

My stomach sank as they led us back toward the sky city. Black dragons swirled around the perimeter like hornets when a rock has been thrown at their nest. The guards were certain to stop us and demand answers, certain to detain us once they learned who we were. Even while I was worrying, the Green dragons and the White surrounded Raolcan in formation, shooting up towards the center of the sky city – not far from the stem.

As we drew closer to the floor of the sky city I saw where we were headed. There was an opening above disguised in the woven floor, but a blue light waved across it like a signal. So, the Dusk Covenant weren’t the only ones with a secret basement. That, or these dragon riders were Dusk Covenant, too.

I don’t think so. The Green ones sing of honor.

And what did that mean? Anyone could sing a song.

Not a dragon. What we sing is what is at the purest core of our being.

“They killed Eeamdor,” Savette said, as if the appearance of so many dragons had brought him to mind. Her tone was filled with sorrow. “That’s what they told me. They slaughtered him in his alcove.”

I shivered. Wouldn’t I have heard about it if that were true?

If they did, they were very quiet about it and it was covered up quickly. Things like that are not routine in the coates.

“They are liars, Savette. There is no way to know if what they said was true.”

I wanted to say more, but a flare of light from across the other side of the city floor drew my attention. A green burst of light filled the sky there. Wasn’t that close to where we had dropped through the floor? It was! And that was a person falling, their hands full of green fire! Black dragons swooped toward the falling figure, orange flames flicking towards the green.

Magika Hectorus.

How could he be sure?

Dragon eyes are better than human eyes. Looks like he took the fall for what happened – literally.

Could I be so blasé about the death of a person – even a person like the Magika?

Wait until you’ve lived as long as I have.

How long did dragons live? And where was Hectorus? I’d lost sight of him in the swirling bodies of the black defenders.

“Duck your head,” Leng said, his voice raw and pained.

I pulled my gaze from the skirmish to where Raolcan grasped the edge of an opening and with a bunching burst of muscle and flipped up into the room. My head whirled with the suddenness and I gasped. Raolcan, unworried, walked slowly to an alcove. There were six dragon coates tucked into the sides of the room with that great round hole in the center. Already, a boy a little older than me was lowering a trapdoor back over the hole and the full dragon riders were dismounting. The room was deepest over the door, narrowing as they came to the edges of the room. Clearly, this was to keep it disguised from below. Did everyone in this city have one of these? Was it only a secret to outsiders like me?

I doubt it. The dragons are proud of this. It is very clever.

I was first to dismount, leaning against Raolcan as I helped Savette down. The coates were fully outfitted with everything dragons might need and beside the trap door in the middle was a staircase and a set of shelves filled with supplies. Another rack held weapons of every variety.

The Dragon Rider who had called herself Ephretti scooped a quarterstaff off of the rack as she walked towards us. Did she mean to threaten us with it? I lifted my chin defiantly. There was nothing I could do if that was her intention, so I’d better focus on what I could do. I offered my hand to help Leng down. He shook his head and dismounted on his own, but his movements were stiff and pained and he had to lean against Raolcan afterward, huffing and clutching at my friend’s side for support.

“You should let other people help you,” I whispered.

“Not now.” His eyes were on Ephretti. “Is this a safe place to talk?”

Ephretti squared herself up with us and her sister drew up alongside of her. “We can go above to talk.”

“Where were you?” Leng asked, shuffling to stand between Savette and me and the two full Dragon Riders.

“We had no idea where you were, Leng! You ran off on your own like a hot-headed fool.” She frowned, one hand on her hip like an older sister. She was probably ten years older than him. “Enough of that for now. You clearly found the girl you were looking for, but who is the other one?”

“Amel Leafbrought,” Leng said. “An Initiate. She is the one who rescued us.”

“Her?” The White dragon rider seemed shocked.

Savette leaned in to whisper to me. “They are powerful dragon riders, renowned in the community. They have the authority to demand that Leng listen to them – maybe even to demand that he obey.”

I hadn’t realized that anyone could tell a Dragon Rider what to do, other than the Dominar.

We are all under authority. Even if we don’t all acknowledge it.

Leng straightened himself up. “We should be glad she did, or Savette and I would be victims of the Dusk Covenant.”

Ephretti let loose a foul curse but Dashira threw up a hand. “Why did you go there on your own? Were you looking to stumble into trouble like a baby bear into a bees’ nest, or were you really so stupid?” She clucked her tongue. “Don’t bother answering, we are wasting time here. Your wounds need binding. You are ours now, whether you like it or not.”

What did she mean by that? I didn’t like the idea of someone else laying a claim to Leng. Especially not someone beautiful and powerful like Dashira.

And you thought he sounded crazy when he talked about keeping you safe. You’re just as bad with this jealousy thing.

“Are you going to use that quarterstaff?” Leng asked.

“Only if you said they were a threat.” Dashira threw it to him and he caught it. “You don’t look injured enough to need a crutch if that’s what you want it for.”

“It’s not for me,” Leng said, handing the quarterstaff back to me. It couldn’t replace the beautiful crutch he’d carved for me, but it would have to do.

“Enough delays,” Dashira said. “Follow me.”

I felt my face heating as we followed them. The quarterstaff was hard to lean on, much less effective than a proper crutch and I fought to keep up with the others. Ephretti and Dashira led the way, Leng following and I was last. The boy who had closed the trapdoor remained behind and I saw him blowing out the flame on his blue lantern. Who was he and could he be trusted down here with Raolcan?

I can take care of myself.

There was a murmuring from up ahead that sounded like Dashira was asking Leng a question. A moment later her exclamation surprised me as I struggled up the stairs.

“She did what? Her? No, I think I understand.”

When I finally reached the top of the stairs, everyone was staring at me.

Chapter Three

“So, you are why Tena and Javeen went running out of our meeting today,” Ephretti said to me. They were in a small room with a roaring fire in the hearth. Seats were scattered around a large bearskin rug and small tables were set up around the edges. On one side of the room a wide window was covered by thick blue curtains and on the other side were two closed doors. A strange tapestry of a man on a dragon landing among a pack of dogs hung on one wall. If I were to think of a ‘hideout’ the place I would imagine would be this room.

One more step up and I could join them in the room, but Ephretti blocked the way, hands on hips and face stern. Dashira pulled Leng to a small table with two chairs, her hands already investigating his burnt arm. Despite his wince, his eyes were on me, but Savette had eyes only for the fire. She walked quickly to it and sat on the floor, huddled in my cloak. She needed attention, not me.

“My friend needs some clothing,” I said, nodding to Savette.

Ephretti looked surprised. “But you are one of the Initiates they found loose in Vanika, aren’t you?”

I nodded. Ephretti smiled, “See, Dashira, I told you she was one of them.”

She strode across the room, flung open a chest and began to rummage inside. When she found what she was looking for, she crossed to Savette.

“Here, girl. Take these clothes and dress in the room through that door. Be quick about it or we will worry about you.” She turned to me. “And you can finish climbing the stairs and close the door behind you, or are you frozen in place?”

With a start, I leapt to obey, noting that Savette was doing the same thing. Ephretti had a voice with command in it. She was clearly the one in charge here.

“How is his arm?” she asked her sister. Leng sat slumped in his chair, grimacing as Dashira examined it. Ephretti’s words were harsh in tone, but her face was soft with compassion. She cared about Leng. I felt a stab of something painful in my chest. “You only got what you deserved going off on your own, Leng. We should have found you dead.”

“If you’d come looking right away instead of waiting for approval then it wouldn’t be so bad.” He sounded grumpy.

“Next time you come to us and ask for help, stick around long enough to get it!” Ephretti crossed her arms over her chest, her face flushed, but the easy way that Leng took her scolding told me this wasn’t the first time they’d had this conversation.

Dashira’s words were firm as if she was used to cutting off their arguments. “Enough arguing. We all did what we did for good reason. Now, Leng is wounded and we will deal with that. Was this magically wrought, Leng?”

“Yes.”

“And is it only the arm?”

“No.” He was blushing now.

“Well then, strip down and let’s see.”

He went redder, his eyes scanning the room.

“Oh, for pity’s sake! Save your blushes and strip! There’s nowhere else to do it and waiting will only make it worse. It hurts, doesn’t it?”

He grimaced. His bald head gleamed with sweat. He was clearly fighting pain. My hands wrapped around the quarterstaff worriedly. How bad was it? He began to strip off his leathers. He started with the scarves, but Dashiva grew impatient and began to help him with his buckles.

“Here, I’ll help you with your shirt.”

As she stripped it off him, I gasped. His chest and arm were a mass of bubbling, black wounds. They were bloody around the edges, but a gleaming black in the center. Dashiva clucked her tongue and then reached for his breeches.

“No need,” Leng said, warding off her hands. “All my wounds are exposed.”

“You’d better not be lying to save your dignity. Sit,” she said firmly, pushing him into the chair and examining his wounds.

His eyes locked on mine and I felt almost as if he were pleading with me. But for what?

Dignity. He wants your respect despite the fact that you always see him broken.

I didn’t realize I was moving until I’d crossed the room and taken his hand. The lines around his eyes seemed to fade as if my touch had helped.

“It takes a lot of strength to endure this pain,” I said. Why had Raolcan read his mind for me?

Your mutual misunderstandings make me squirm. It’s like watching a dragonlet flame his own tail.

Leng’s eyes were glassy, and his mouth opened, but he shut it again quickly, like he was afraid to speak in front of the other Dragon Riders. He was a lot younger than them. Did that factor into things? Grandis Elfar had said something about how ranking within the Dragon Riders depended on a lot of different factors and that it was a strict thing.

“I can tend these wounds myself. They are serious, but not mortal,” Dashiva said decisively. “First, we need to leach out the magical residue and then we can bind the wounds. It will take time and you must stay put until I am done. No resting until then, understand.”

Leng nodded meekly and Dashive crossed to a cabinet at the side of the room. The clinking of glass told me she was sorting through bottles.

“If you must be awake, then we should talk about what happened,” Ephretti said. When I looked at her, I saw her eyes fixed on my hand holding Leng’s. I let go, but his firm grip held it in place.

I looked to him questioningly, but his face was assured and certain. He didn’t plan to drop my hand and he didn’t want me dropping his. Ephretti wasn’t going to like this. I gripped his handclasp firmly. As long as he wanted to hold my hand, he could.

Savette emerged from the door, clothed in a long white dress and my dirty cloak. She held it tightly around herself. Leng’s eyes flared with concern. She didn’t look at us as she made her way back toward the fire. Whatever was wrong with Savette was serious. It wasn’t like her to act this way.

You need to talk to her. Her problem is a very serious one.

When I was done holding Leng’s hand I would help her.

Her wounds are deeper than his.

How could Raolcan know? But he’d never been wrong before.

They are wounds of the mind and spirit.

“We need to talk about what to do with these Initiates,” Ephretti said. “Also, the Castelan guard flooded that whole area. If you had anyone with you, they have been taken into custody. We need to know who knows what, so we can act. And we need to know it right now.”

Lenora! In all the confusion and excitement, I had completely forgotten about her. Was she still alive?

Chapter Four

“My friend Lenora was with me,” I said, feeling my face heat at the shame of not mentioning it before. “She’s Sworn.”

“Sworn! Running around like a pig off a tether!” Ephretti’s language was as rough as her manners. She wasn’t anything like Savette or Lenora.

Are you prejudiced now against common-born people?

My eyes widened at the thought. Was I?

“Don’t give me that goggle-eyed look, girl. None of you should have been here in this city. You should have been with your instructors. No - you should have been at Dragon School! This nonsense of carting you around with us has gone on long enough.”

“It was at the Dominar’s decree,” I said, watching her carefully. She was like a firework with the fuse lit. When would she explode?

“Glory to his reign,” she said by rote, fist to heart and then her features hardened again. “That being as it may. We can’t have you running around anymore. Not now that you’ve seen this branch of the Lightbringers. And this Lenora girl needs to be found and brought under our supervision. What color did you say she was?” She rounded on Leng before I could answer. “And you should never have brought them into this, or let them into our Order without proper authority!”

“She’s Green,” I said, forcing my words out before she moved on to another topic. “And who are the Lightbringers?”

Her mouth fell open and her gaze spun to Leng.

“I didn’t tell her.” Leng looked amused. “You just did.”

“You didn’t recruit these trainees to help you?” Her hands fell from her hips, hanging limply at her sides.

“We came for Savette,” I said, glancing at her. Savette was standing by the fire like she’d been bolted in place, her hands wringing the cloth of her cloak again and again. Could Dashira fix her like she was fixing Leng? Were wounds of the mind more difficult?

Much more difficult. I am doing what I can for her, but it is not enough.

Thank goodness for Raolcan. He always knew better than me what to do.

“We couldn’t just let them take her and do what they wanted to her. Or at least, I couldn’t,” I said. Savette’s sad gaze met mine for a second before flittering away. A ghost of a smile came and went. “I think Lenora did it out of loyalty. She says that the Leedris Castelans and the Estabis Castelans are allies.”

“And you just happened to find a fist of the Dark Covenant when the Lightbringers have been searching for the very same thing for months?” Ephretti did not look convinced. What would she do if I couldn’t convince her? Would she think I was spying on her Order?

“Leng found it.”

“We told Leng where to look.”

I hurried to clarify before she leapt off track again. “We questioned Starie Atrelan. She was with them before they took Savette and she told us where to look.”

Ephretti raised an eyebrow, but she was quiet for a moment before she spoke again. “She’s Green, you say? Then I’d better get her - and quickly.”

“And this one?” Dashira asked so quietly that I barely heard her.

“Someone worked magic on your behalf in that cellar. If they didn’t, you wouldn’t be here,” Ephretti said to me. How did she know that? I felt a stab of fear at her intelligence. She was going to know all my secrets soon. “Was it you?”

I shook my head, keeping my eyes fixed on her so that they wouldn’t accidentally look at Savette.

Ephretti turned back to Dashira. “I’ll get Hubric, too. I don’t see a way around it.”

Dashira pursed her lips, a condemning look on her face.

“He’ll know whether we tell him or not,” Ephretti said. “And this has become too complicated to handle on our own.”

“We could give them both to Tena and Javeen and let them escort the students back to their tutors.” Dashira sounded diffident.

“That option passed the moment we brought them here. They are ours now.” Ephretti’s words were harder than the look on her face. I held the staff tightly, trying to keep my hands from shaking. What were they planning to do with us?

Chapter Five

Dashira worked in silence after Ephretti left, only speaking to command me to help with holding bandages or passing her bottles from the table. When she finished, she looked Leng over with a practiced eye.

“Now, you rest until the leaching is done and then we remove these bandages and rebandage with a poultice. But I’m afraid you’ll have to stay here until Ephretti returns. I need to attend to affairs in the front room, the others are occupied. We can’t afford to have anyone see you. The lavatories are in the room where Savette changed her clothes. You may all make use of them, just stay here.”

It was clear that we were being told not to leave. My fate – whatever it would be – lay in their hands unless I chose to escape, but that would leave us all in the same place we were an hour ago in the snow. I had to hope that these Lightbringers were trustworthy and that they weren’t going to require something from me that I was unwilling to give.

Always the problem. Everyone wants something from you. The question is always whether it is something you can give.

“I’ll be back soon with food. Make yourselves comfortable.” Dashira left abruptly, her bottles still scattered on the table. I gathered them up and put them back in her cupboard. She wasn’t very tidy for someone who was involved in healing others. I’d hoped she’d done better with Leng’s wounds.

When I turned around, Leng was slumped over the table, his face pale.

“Let me help you into a better position,” I said. “Do you want to lie on the rug?”

“Please.”

I was getting a lot of practice at helping sick people up and down while using a crutch – or in this case a staff. Perhaps I could have been White after all.

Over my dead body.

I kept forgetting that the Whites were somehow in opposition to the Purples.

You will see why when you progress further. Let’s just say that they don’t see things the same way we do. There might be a reason that Leng didn’t wait for them before rushing to save Savette. Other colors aren’t as perceptive as Purples. You’ve already seen that.

“Amel?” Leng asked as I helped him get comfortable. “You know it isn’t appropriate for full Dragon Riders and trainees to have any sort of a personal relationship, right?”

I shifted uncomfortably, glancing at Savette. She was peeking out the window, hidden by the curtain. I needed to talk to her, but I should take care of this first.

“Then why are you always trying to protect me when you could really use my help?”

His eyes were half closed and a strong smell, like camphor, radiated from him. Was the medicine working? Was it drawing out the reaction in is flesh?

“You’re like a bright flame in a dark night. Like a red flower in a field of dead grass.”

I watched his eyes close, watched him turn from a tough Dragon Rider to a vulnerable young man. I sighed.

“Stop thinking of me as a flower and start realizing I can be a help to you. The world isn’t going to let me be a delicate, closely guarded thing. I don’t have a choice but to be tougher than I ever wanted to be.”

His breath came out in a gust. I was sure he was asleep.

“Just trust me,” I whispered. I shifted my position to stand and his hand shot out, catching mine. He held it firmly, but gently, his eyes still closed.

“I do trust you,” he mumbled, sleep fogging his words.

“I’m glad you’re alive,” I said.

“Glad,” he repeated. “Glad you arrived.”

As he fell asleep, his hand relaxed its grip and fell to the rug beneath him. I stole a glimpse at Savette. She wasn’t watching. I leaned over him and planted the softest, butterfly kiss on his temple. He was a confusing man. Ephretti claimed to own him. But I thought that a part of him might belong to me, and if it did, I wanted to protect it and make it stronger.

I stood, pulling myself up with the quarterstaff. It was a lot more awkward than a crutch was. Maybe if I practiced with it, it would be easier. I hobbled over to Savette, leaning against the wall beside the window.

“I didn’t want to marry that prince,” she said, still watching out the tiny sliver of space between the curtains.

“I don’t think you’ll have to now.” Should I ask her about what happened? Or would that hurt her more?

“But I didn’t want to be kidnapped, either. I didn’t want them to kill Eeamdor. You know that I am no longer a dragon rider, right?”

And yet she was so much more.

“You practiced magic back there,” I whispered. “Have you done that before?”

“When I was taken I was sure they would kill me. Some of the things they did ... I wish they had.”

I bit my lip. What did you say to that? How did I show her I cared without saying the wrong thing?

“But when I thought they were going to kill you and Leng and I would be alone with them again ...” Her voice was unsteady. She sniffed, rubbing her nose with the back of her hand. “I just couldn’t ...”

I nodded.

“I didn’t know what I was doing. Didn’t care if it killed me. I just reached out and it was there and now it feels like it’s still inside me. It’s like I’m half in another world and I have to stay there to keep it from burning me up.” Her face was haunted, like she truly was somewhere else at the same time as here.

That explains why she is half here.

“Thank you for coming for me.” Her eyes were teary when she finally looked into mine and her trembling hand found my arm. “I didn’t expect ... didn’t know ...” She cleared her throat, sniffling. “I didn’t dare hope that anyone cared enough to come for me. And then both you and Leng...”

She broke down into sobs and I pulled her into a hug. What did you do for a friend who had been through what she had?

You’re doing it. She needs support and a listening ear. Give her that and the ragged edges will start to heal. The other part, though ... that I’m not sure about.

We needed a Magika, but they were evil.

I’m pretty sure they aren’t all evil. What did the Dragon Riders call them? The Dusk Covenant?

Yes. That was it.

I think they are a faction within the Magikas. And there are probably other people involved. After all, that moneylender had to know what was going on in his building, right?

He had a good point. Who were these people? And how many of them were there?

“I wouldn’t have left you in danger, Savette. Not when you trusted me.” She shivered and I released her from the hug. “And I won’t leave you now. There has to be a way to help you with what happened. Someone who knows about all of this. We’ll find them. Does your father-”

She shook her head so suddenly that my words cut off.

Her face was hard with her words, like a wall of flint rising up to protect her. “This is all his fault. He’s the one who agreed to offer me to Baojang as a bride, and if he hadn’t, then the Dusk Covenant wouldn’t have snatched me away to replace me with one of their own or tortured me for information about my family.”

She was shaking so much now that I was afraid she’d break a bone. Hesitantly, I laid a hand on her arm.

“Let’s not talk about that now. You need to rest. Come on. Let’s sit you by the fire and find something for you to drink.”

I helped her to a place close to Leng and brought her water from a jug on the stand. A quick survey found blankets in the chest at the side of the room, and soon I had Savette wrapped in one and resting beside the fire. I laid another carefully over Leng’s sleeping form, stoked the fire and then checked on her. She was already fast asleep.

And you should be, too. Get some rest. You’re only human.

There was humor in Raolcan’s tone as if dragons were immune to the need to sleep. How did you stick your tongue out at someone mentally? I focused on a mental image of myself sticking my tongue out at him and was shocked to see one in my own mind. I jumped, dropping my blanket. Mental laughter rang through our link and I clung to the echo of it as I settled myself in for some rest.

Chapter Six

“Because you shouldn’t have that sort of friendship with a trainee, that’s why. You know as well as I do that you shouldn’t be holding her hand or gazing into her eyes.” The whisper was pitched low, but I cracked an eye open enough to see that it was Dashira. Leng’s back was to me and she was carefully scraping the black substance from wounds in his back and shoulders. He flinched every time the metal tool she was using dug into his back. “You’re a good five years older than her! And she’s in training! It’s inappropriate at best and coercive at worst. You should know better. Besides, it will be awkward for her if anyone else knows. They’ll assume you have given her more information than she should have. It seems like quite the coincidence that she stumbled on the moneylenders only hours after you did.”

“I didn’t tell her. I haven’t seen her since the Ruby Isles and that hurts, you know!”

“Hold still. I’m telling you this for your own good. I like you, Leng. You show promise. You’ve moved up in our ranks to a surprising level for one so young. Keep it up and you’ll pass Ephretti! But not if you go down this path. Pick a woman your age if you want a close friend. Ephretti, for instance, would be delighted to fill that void in your life.”

“Purples are solitary. You know that.”

“And yet here you are.”

“What does that mean?”

“It means that you need people more than you know and that you should listen to my advice. We healers study more than just the body, Leng.”

“Isn’t it enough that I’ve become a Lightbringer?”

He was one, too! Who were these people?

She laughed sarcastically. “Yes, your allegiance to us means so much when you rarely listen to our orders or advice.”

The door swung open with a crash and I barely suppressed a flinch.

“What’s the meaning of this?” the voice was almost a roar. “I give you two one simple job and you hand me a wasp’s nest!”

I sat up, warily. Savette was still fast asleep beside me, she twitched, but then settled back down. Ephretti closed the door carefully, her eyes wide and her face a mask meant to hide something – fear? Worry? In front of her a wiry man - gnarled and white-haired - stormed into the room and sat on a chair opposite to Leng. Purple scarves wound around his neck and a very wide one was slung around his hips like a loose belt. He was clean-shaven. His hair – and there was so much of it! – was in a Dragon Rider array: loose interspersed with braids. The ornaments tied into it were small bones. I thought they might be snake bones.

He carried such an air of authority, making even Ephretti jump and obey, that I found myself running hands through my own hair and smoothing my dress to look tidier.

“Magic wounds on this one. They tortured you, boy? Did you cave?”

“No.” Leng straightened, but then flinched as Dashira dug at another of his wounds.

“Good boy. And the girl? The Leedris Castelan?”

We all looked at Savette and he grunted. “Ephretti says she isn’t right in the head. Does she know what happened to her?”

“Yes,” Leng said. “She knows. They pushed her for information, too.”

“She cave?”

Leng shrugged. “Not when I was there.”

“High Castelan Lyndon Leedris is due here any day. When he arrives we can turn her over to him. She’s not our problem anymore.”

“No!” I gasped. Savette hadn’t wanted to return to her father. She blamed him for this.

“No?” He asked, raising one hoary eyebrow dramatically. “You know who I am, girl?”

I nodded.

His smile was not pleasant. “Speak up then.”

“You’re a Purple Dragon Rider.”

He barked a laugh. “I’m Hubric Duneshifter. If you don’t know me by name then Dragon School isn’t what it used to be.”

I’ve heard of him. He’s a legend. His dragon, Kyrowat, is one of the oldest bound to a rider. He is deeply respected by dragons everywhere.

“This is the trainee, isn’t it?” he barked at Ephretti. “Where are her leathers? Why is she in this dress”

I stood, pulling myself up on the quarterstaff. “I wore the dress as a disguise to sneak into the moneylender’s.”

“Ha! You move more slowly than I do. What’s with the cane?”

I felt my cheeks heat. “My leg is crippled.”

He shrugged. “We all have our troubles. Why don’t you want the High Castelan returned to her family, Initiate?”

“She needs help.” How did I convince him? Should I share her real reasons, or were those private?

“Exactly. Help she can get from her father.”

“No!” All eyes were on me. Even Leng’s. I swallowed before I spoke. “She needs magical help. She touched magic. Used it in our battle. She needs help.”

Everyone was frozen like ice had felled the room. Dashira’s metal tool fell from her hand, hitting the wood floor with a clatter. Ephretti began to back slowly away toward the trap door, her eyes fixed on Savette. Hubric’s eyes narrowed and then he burst into laughter.

“She touched magic. And no one said anything? You just wrapped her in a blanket and put her by the fire?”

He leaned over, clutching his knee as his bellows of laughter filled the room.

“It’s not funny!” Dashira cried, at the same moment that Leng spoke, his words rushing out in panic.

“I didn’t realize. Thought it was a hallucination from the pain.” His face was horrified. Why? What were they all so afraid of?

Hubric recovered himself suddenly, looking around the room with a piercing gaze. “Well, she hasn’t exploded yet, so she probably won’t. Some people – people with very, very strong wills – can manage it on their own without killing everyone around them. It looks like we are lucky. The High Castelan Savette Leedris is made of stern stuff.”

“I’ve never heard of that,” Dashira said, recovering her metal tool and taking it over to the basin to wash it.

“You doubt me because I don’t ride a White? I’ve seen it twice before,” Hubric said. “But I’ve traveled further than you poor greenhorns can imagine – and I’ve seen more than you will in your lifetimes. Some people live tame lives. That’s never been my way. We’ll bring in a Magika to help her through the early stages. That should take care of that.”

“The Magikas kidnapped her. They want to bring down the Dominion. We can’t trust them,” I said. Maybe someone would finally trust me.

Hubric fixed me with a weighing gaze, but a flicker of a smile hovered around his lips. “Not the Magikas. The Dusk Covenant. Not all Magikas are a part of that conspiracy.”

“All the ones I’ve met are.” I wasn’t willing to trust one with Savette. Not now.

His smile still wasn’t friendly. Why did he find me so laughable?

“And you’ve met all of them, have you? A common girl with a bad leg?”

I refused to answer, but I felt my face grow even hotter and my heart was racing in my chest. I wasn’t wrong. We couldn’t trust Magikas. I’d never trust them as long as I lived.

“We have one of our own in Vanika. A Lightbringer. He will help.”

“Lightbringer?” Someone had to explain this to me.

Hubric looked at Ephretti. “Maybe instead of pulling me away from important matters, you could have handled some of these basic explanations yourself. Or are they too much for you? Should I talk to Abreeda about your incompetance?”

“No, of course not.” Ephretti seemed worried. “I was busy retrieving her friend from the Blacks. They had her in custody. She’s on her way right now.”

“What did you tell them? You’ve already let too many people into our secret today.” He looked at me as if I was part of the accusation.

“She’s not my fault,” Ephretti said. “And I told them nothing except that she was my apprentice.”

“A lie?” Hubric asked.

Ephretti shifted uncomfortably.

Hubric tilted his head to one side. “The Dominar – glory to his reign - arrives tomorrow and he has decreed all Dragon Rider trainees should be elevated as soon as possible. This other girl is Green?”

“Yes.”

“Good. It’s not a lie. We raise her to Color today and you will take her on as your apprentice.”

Ephretti gasped.

“You have a problem with my order, Dragon Rider?”

Ephretti shifted, a mulish look on her face. “It’s customary to choose your own apprentice. I don’t wish to take on a girl I do not know.”

“Ha! Should have thought of that before you made this mess. You’ll take her as a penance for that alone and be glad I don’t set you something worse.”

I swallowed. I was struggling to follow the nuances of everything they were saying, but I knew that if I concentrated I could learn a lot from this. Interactions between full dragon riders who weren’t teachers wasn’t something I’d ever seen. Leng’s constant moans and sighs as Dashira dug into his wounds weren’t helping me concentrate.

“She’s Estabis Castelan.” Ephretti said, her tone neutral.

“Even better. Estabis has loyalties to the Dominar – glory to his reign - and to Leedris. We will use her well for the Lightbringers.” He turned to me, “Which, for your information, child, are a secret group, formed to fight evil, darkness, and the insidious reach of the Dusk Covenant. Even in the Dominion, we are not free from the grasp of evil and our regular defenses are being breached by spies and interlopers.”

If there was one group I wanted to see fall, it was the Dusk Covenant. Hubric stood and poured himself a cup of water from the pitcher beside the basin. He turned to Leng as quick as a cat hearing a mouse.

“Leng, I of all people, know what it is like to seek independence, but you are now paying the price for your hotheadedness. Learn from this. No other penance is necessary, but as soon as Dashira can patch you up enough to fly, you are needed. Be ready.” He turned to Dashira. “What happened to the ones she was with?”

“They gathered them up to return them to training.”

He snorted. “And what should we do with this one?”

Dashira and Ephretti exchanged a glance. Ephretti spoke, “We could return her to them.”

“She knows too much.” Hubric was watching me with eagle eyes like he could see beneath my skin to the inner workings of my mind.

“This isn’t Amel’s fault,” Leng said, but Hubric threw up a hand to silence him.

“We can’t keep her with us. She’ll hinder the cause. Leng is the only Purple here other than you,” Dashira said.

“And that is a problem because ...?” Hubric tilted his head again but Dashira only flushed an uncomplimentary shade of red. Hubric’s gaze turned to Leng who was just as red-faced. He barked a laugh as if he knew exactly why Leng couldn’t take on my education. “I haven’t taken on an apprentice in a very long time, but it seems that will be changing now.” He turned to me. “It’s unconventional to take one who is only Sworn. Usually, we wait until you are in a Color. But it isn’t unheard of. When the Dominar arrives, you will swear to him. And from now on you have the dubious privilege of being my apprentice. First order: stay here and care for that latent volcano you call a friend. I will send for you when I need you.”

He rose, slowly, as if it was as painful for him to stand as it was for me.

“Now that the mess is sorted out, I have urgent business to return to.”

“I thought you were playing cards?” Ephretti said, surprise on her face.

“Precisely.”

Chapter Seven

Ephretti and Dashiva kept out of our room as much as possible over the next hours. Their frustration was clear whenever they entered to get something from the cabinets or to bring us fresh food and water. Leng and I passed the time in idle chatter, trying not to dwell on everything that had happened. We spoke of our families, the farms we were raised on and our love for dragons. I liked him this way. Intense and focused, still, but also with his eyes shining with remembered joys and passions.

As we spoke, I tended to Savette, who had yet to wake up, bathing her hot head with water and checking that she wasn’t too warm or too cold. She mumbled constantly and I was worried to see that her hands seemed to glow faintly. Was she winning the battle against the magic within her or succumbing to it?

“If she’s made it this far, she has a chance,” Leng said from his seat in the chair. He seemed to prefer sitting up. Lying down put his wounds in contact with the floor or the blankets. They shouldn’t be keeping us in this room. Leng and Savette should have beds and be properly taken care of. “Stop frowning. Hubric will send someone for her as soon as he can.”

“He was going to play cards.” I couldn’t keep the bitterness out of my tone.

“And where do you think affairs of the nations are discussed?”

I looked away, embarrassed. What did I know about affairs of nations?

“Hubric is a powerful Dragon Rider with influence and with a mind that spins webs like a spider.”

“I can’t tell if that’s a good thing or a bad thing.”

He chuckled and I looked at him intently for the first time since we’d arrived. His chuckle vanished and he seemed to shrink from my gaze.

“Why do you do that? Why don’t you want to look at me?” I tried to keep the accusation out of my tone, but he had admitted that I saved his life. Why was he still like this when he knew that I was on his side in everything? “One minute we’re friends and the next you’re cold as a winter wind in the mountains.”

He shuffled his feet, and after long moments he looked up at me with a sheepish expression. It was like a little boy who had been caught doing something wrong.

“Every time you see me, I’m broken,” he admitted, twisting his fingers together. He looked like he’d exposed his heart and offered me a dagger. What did he think? That I judged him?

“Leng,” I said gently, hobbling to where he was. “I will always be broken. It doesn’t make me weak. When I see you hurt it doesn’t make you weak.”

“I couldn’t keep you from the grasp of the Order and it’s dangerous to be a part of it.” He picked at the table.

“I don’t need you to do that. I can chart my own course.” I tried to make my expression calm and certain.

“I couldn’t save your friend.” He met my gaze, his eyes pools of dark grey like a stormy sky.

“But, you tried.” Didn’t he realize that my affection for him wasn’t based on what he did? I liked who he was.  I liked that intense look on his face. I liked how he preferred to be alone. I liked that his face lit up when he spoke of his childhood home.

“I can’t keep you from the judgment of Dragon School, even though you don’t deserve it.”

That was a problem. I didn’t know what I was going to do about it. Grandis Elfar had said she’d throw me out of Dragon School if I left and then I’d gone ahead and done it anyway. My only hope was that if I made it to Sworn before I saw her again then maybe I could stay. Maybe I could convince Hubric to keep me. I’d have to work very hard. I’d have to persuade him I was worthy.

Leng wasn’t done, but his cheeks flushed as he spoke. “I can’t even touch you – can’t even tell you how I feel about you.”

It looked like both admitting the fact of that and admitting that it mattered to him was almost too much. Pain and longing filled his eyes in equal measure and I felt a glowing, tender spot in the center of my chest like he’d warmed something frozen in the ice.

I bent over him and kissed the top of his head. “But I can touch you.”

He looked up at me, lips parted and surprise in every feature. “You shouldn’t.”

I really shouldn’t. There was already a good chance I would be kicked out of Dragon School and if Ephretti or Dashira caught us kissing I was sure they would do whatever they could to finalize that. Plus, I wasn’t sure that I should feed into Leng’s hot and cold attitudes, but I found his courage and vulnerability enticing – his willingness to open himself to me, of all people. It was like a precious flower found in a dark forest. I didn’t want to stamp on it. I wanted to tend it and make it grow.

I leaned down, my own lips parting, leaning toward him. I pressed my lips gently to his – feeling their softness, leaning into the warmth of his embrace. He pulled back gently, smiling at me, eyes bright and gentle all at once. I wanted more. Just one kiss was not enough – not when they were so good. I leaned forward again.

He stopped me, a single finger pressed to my lips. “No more. Not yet.”

He swallowed, and I could tell he was trying to gather himself. How should I take his rejection? I felt embarrassed that I had tried to kiss him only to be prevented? He didn’t want me. I had misjudged.

He’s protecting you again.

“Wait until I can promise you everything,” he breathed. His unhurt hand reached out and clutched mine, like I could rescue him from a fall.

“I don’t need promises.” I needed him to stop being so elusive and difficult to understand.

“A kiss is a promise. Wait, and I will make you that promise when I can swear my whole self to you.”

That seemed overly extravagant. What did he mean by it?

It’s the way dragons do things. We wait until we can promise our whole selves. Would you want your mind in the mind of someone you can’t respect? Would you want to open your most vulnerable self to someone who might discard you?

I wasn’t asking for a lifelong commitment, I just wanted to connect with him – to prove I was with him.

Maybe you should be asking for one. Maybe he’s right and that’s what you deserve. He’s clearly a Purple. He’s picking up dragonish perspectives.

He could just go ahead and be human again, then. I stepped back, clenching my teeth to keep an emotional reaction off my face. I didn’t want him to see that it hurt.

He let go of my hand and I braced myself for him to swing back to coldness, but instead, he reached a hand up to my face, caressing my cheek gently and said, “You deserve more than you realize, and I will make certain that you get it.”

I gasped. Did he mean that? He stood.

“I need to go.”

“Your wounds are still open!”

He smiled, little lines forming around his eyes. “The real hurts are mending. Time to be back to things.”

He shrugged into his leather shirt - painfully, since he was still a mass of bandages - and then strode to the door. He stopped before he opened it and turned back to me, smiling despite his focused intensity.

“Trust Hubric. He can help you. And wait for me. I’ll return to you.”

He left so suddenly that I didn’t get a chance to say goodbye.

Chapter Eight

What in the world had gotten into Leng? He’d practically fled the room after admitting that he cared for me more than I’d ever expected.

That man runs deep.

And he also ran unpredictable. I wasn’t sure I liked that.

Judging by the way your heart won’t slow down, I suspect that you liked it just fine.

I was still staring at the door, completely floored when it banged open and Hubric strode through with another man in his wake.

“She’s by the fire,” Hubric said. I started to hobble toward Savette, protective instincts taking over, but he pointed a finger at me. “Stop. Let Magika Zavin do his work. What’s your name again, Initiate?”

“Amel.” I was his apprentice and he didn’t know my name? I watched the Magika carefully out of the corner of my eye. He looked too young to be doing this. His robes were a dark blue and made of a dull fabric, completely unadorned. He was nothing like the other Magikas I had seen before. Was he an imposter?

“Stop glaring at my associate, Amel. He’s far better at his work than you are at yours. Here.”

Hubric threw a sack at me and I caught it one-handed. A moment later I had to drop the bag to catch the crutch he threw my way. It glinted in the firelight and I gasped. Had he bought me a metal crutch? It seemed he had. It was bronze and engraved with a dragon around the armband. I’d never owned anything so fine in my life.

My mouth fell open but when I looked up at him to say thanks he was waving his hand dismissively. “I don’t like gratitude so don’t thank me. An apprentice shouldn’t like her master. She should feel terror at his presence.”

His tone didn’t sound at all like his words. It was a bit crusty, but more like an indulgent grandfather than the harsh master he claimed to be. Were all his harsh words just a cover for the fact that he really did care?

“Go get changed.” He motioned to the lavatory. “The Dominar – glory to his reign - arrived an hour ago and I’ve put in a word with his Hashutan to get us an audience.”

The Dominar? Really? Even though they kept saying that I needed to swear before him, I could hardly believe that they would let someone like me anywhere near him. It seemed far too incredible, more like a dream than reality.

“Stop gaping like a fish on the dock and go put on your leathers, or do you wish to be dismissed from Dragon School?”

“No, sir,” I stammered, rushing to the lavatories to dress. Maybe if I could just get sworn in by the Dominar before anyone found out, I would be allowed to stay in Dragon School. They couldn’t possibly throw me out once I’d sworn ... could they?

I think you might need to confess your plight to Hubric.

Not now. Definitely not before he’d grown to like me.

I think you’ll find that lies – even lies by omission – tend to follow you around.

But the truth could get us both killed or me demoted and Raolcan killed. It was better to wait.

Dragon Rider leathers felt very good after that dress. I’d grown accustomed to the way that the leather hugged my body, buckling in place. There was just one problem. I exited the lavatory, leaving the quarterstaff behind so I could try out the marvelous new crutch – it buckled onto my arm with a leather strap. What a brilliant idea!

“Fit correctly?” Hubric asked, his eagle eyes taking in every detail of my appearance.

“Yes, sir.”

“Master is fine.”

“But they are brown, master.”

“No point in buying you grey for a single day, is there? You swear today one way or another, and then the brown will be right. Now, let’s go. We don’t want to be absent when we are called.”

It felt wrong to leave Savette with a stranger. Should I stay? I wanted to follow Hubric, but how could I be sure she was safe?

“Oh, skies and stars girl!” Hubric’s exclamation made me startle. “You are the least trusting person I’ve ever met. Look at me.”

I looked.

“Good. Your friend is safe here. Nothing will trouble her. If she isn’t, your dragon will notice. Ask him if it’s true.”

Was it true?

Of course. So nice to meet another Purple Dragon Rider. They’re the only ones who really understand us.

“He told you he would?” Hubric asked.

I nodded.

“Then stop worrying and follow me. We need to hurry and that is not where your strength lies, is it? Even with that new crutch, we’ll have to factor in a little extra travel time.”

I stepped over to place a hand on Savette’s arm. The Magika flinched when I touched her like he was watching me put my hand in the flame.

“I’ll be back soon,” I told her. “Hold on to yourself.”

I wasn’t sure whether I should be offended by Hubric or glad that he treated me in the same brusque manner he seemed to treat everyone. At least one thing was likely: I would swear before the Dominar and then no one would be able to send me away.

Chapter Nine

Hubric was surprisingly spry for someone his age, though he walked with the bow-legged gait that all dragon riders seemed to develop. He slid through the churning crowds like a snake into its den and somehow, he created enough wake for me to follow unhindered. The crutch he’d given me fit my forearm perfectly. It was padded with sheepskin around the leather strap. Perhaps I wouldn’t lose this one – for once.

I had to focus so much on putting my crutch right that I almost stumbled right into Hubric when he stopped suddenly. We were still on the first tier, and the Castel was on the top tier, so why had he stopped?

“Seen one of these before?” he asked and I followed his gaze. We stood at the foot of a pillar. Above us, benches suspended by ropes hung from a cable. What sort of a rig was this? People sat on every bench as it carried them up to further tiers. Impossible! And yet it was right before my eyes. I hadn’t noticed it before because it was only on this street and this one had been assigned to Artis and the twins. I gaped at the contraption. It was certainly faster than walking, though who would have believed such a thing existed?

“It’s incredible.”

“Not as good as a dragon, but suits our purposes for today.” We were following a line of people to where a set of steps took you to a platform to mount on the benches. “Look lively when we get there. The lift waits for no one.”

When our turn came we climbed up onto the wooden platform and Hubric paid our fee.

“Two to a seat, jump aboard when she comes,” the attendant said. I heard a flurry of activity behind me, but I was focused on making sure I was ready to stumble onto the bench when it arrived. I didn’t want my crutch to catch in the slats between the platform’s floorboards.

Our seat arrived and Hubric leapt aboard with a cry of, “Look lively now!”

I tensed to spring forward, watching my crutch but the second I was about to leap an arm wrapped around my waist, holding me in place just long enough for the bench to move on. I saw Hubric’s surprised expression and then my chance was gone.

“I’ll pay for two – the lady and me,” a velvet voice told the attendant who touched his fist to his chest in respect. I didn’t need to turn around. I knew who held me in place. I would recognize that velvet-wrapped-steel voice anywhere.

The next bench arrived, and the iron arm released me. “Let’s take a ride Amel Leafbrought.”

I shivered in fear, but I knew he wouldn’t be alone. I stumbled forward, catching the bench and managing to twist into a seated position. I was just in time before it rocked forward again. I clutched my crutch in one hand and the arm of the bench in the other as it slowly moved up and forward. I was fighting to bring my pounding heart back to a normal pace and breathing deeply. I hadn’t asked Hubric how it was powered. What if it broke and I was stuck up here ... with him. I turned to my bench-partner.

“I didn’t know that princes sat on wooden benches.”

Prince Rakturan’s grin was as humorless and threatening - as usual.

“I didn’t know that peasant girls ran off to fight Magikas. We learn new things every day. It’s what makes being alive so exciting, am I right?”

“What are you doing here?”

“I came here to find the bride I was promised.” His eyes were hard.

I swallowed before speaking. “They gave you a new bride, I thought.”

“But I liked the old one better. And I thought I had an agent to help me find her. I guess you’ve decided to forfeit the life of your dragon after all?”

“No!”

He grabbed my wrist holding the crutch. His grip was too strong, and I moaned in pain. He let off a little, looking startled, like he hadn’t meant to hurt me, but then his lips pressed firmly together. A little muscular tick began beside his eye. The lift was fast, but not fast enough. We weren’t even halfway to our destination.

“If you want to buy his life, then the price has gone up. And this time, if you betray me, I will kill both of you.”

Chapter Ten

I shuddered at his words, but his gaze held mine and I could tell he meant every word of it.

“Can I trust her, that’s the question?” he asked, as if speaking to himself.

“Starie Atrelan?” I asked. He was beginning to sound crazy.

His eyes narrowed. “Not that wayward road. You. Can I trust you?”

“You’ve threatened me, belittled me, mocked me and manhandled me.” My voice shook with fear. He had my wrist. If he tried to fling me off this lift I would smash on the cobblestones below – or, more likely, on the heads of several people, though that would kill me just as fast. It didn’t matter that I was afraid. I needed to speak because there was no one else here to do it for me.

Judge your words carefully and speak slowly. It will help you get them right. You’re right to stand up to him.

I took Raolcan’s advice and spoke slowly, trying to control the tremble in my voice. It was all I could do to suppress my fear.

“I’d say that since none of that has achieved the results you wanted, you could certainly afford to choose a different course.”

He exhaled like he was letting go of something. He had such a personal magnetism to him that it was hard not to offer to give him whatever he wanted. I could imagine that in his home nation there were probably people who would do anything for him – and just as many who had seen him like I did and wanted nothing more to do with him. Eventually, he gathered himself and spoke in a low, dangerous tone.

“Peace between our two countries is essential to prevent the loss of many lives.” He waited as if wanting confirmation, so I nodded. After all, it was people like me who would die in a war - unimportant people. “But forces and conspiracies are at work to prevent that. I have been lied to, deceived and stolen from. Tell me you were not a part of the kidnapping of Savette Leedris. I saw you there when I stormed her captor’s lair.”

“I was there to free her.”

“You could have told me you were planning to do that in the gardens when I questioned you.”

“I’m being threatened by more people than just you, Prince.” Why did he think I would trust a man who did nothing but insult and threaten me?

He smiled triumphantly.

“I knew you were more than a common cripple.” Was I meant to be flattered by that? “I think we’ve kept enough secrets from each other. I know now that Starie Atrelan has been foisted on me by people bent on the destruction of both our nations. I know that they stole away Savette Leedris – the High Castelan most likely to help me cement peace between nations, and I know that your people are not the only ones with dark forces at work amongst you. In my own land – among my own men! – there are traitors. So, I won’t threaten this time. I will ask: help me stop a war.”

I swallowed. Should I trust him? His charm made me wary. It made me distrust my own instincts. Was my desire to agree just common sense or a desire to please this enticing prince? What should I do?

What do you have to lose?

He could kill me. Or you.

I think he already promised to do that if we didn’t agree to help. We don’t want a war and we might learn something by watching him.

“What do you expect me to be able to do?” I kept control over my expression. I didn’t want him to know that I might be willing to help – not until I learned what was at stake. Is this what Leng meant when he said that Castelans talked about important things over cards? Did they learn to bluff and read their opponents for moments like this?

Probably. Sounds like the silly kind of thing humans would do.

His grip on my wrist intensified and I blinked back tears. “Somehow, you always turn up at the heart of this, like the calm in the middle of the storm. You see things. Your presence intensifies them. I want you to listen and look and tell me what you hear and see. All of it. I want you to start by telling me where Savette Leedris is. I’ll know if you are lying.”

He would, wouldn’t he? He was holding my wrist. He could feel my pulse. We were so close that he could probably see the sweat shining on my face as I thought about lying to him. What would he do to Savette if I told him – and what would the Lightbringers do to all of us? Their building was clearly meant to be a secret.

“I don’t want her hurt,” I said.

“What makes you think I’d hurt her? Haven’t I just told you that I want to marry her?”

“Why her?” If only he could give me some reason to trust him.

“Her family is a key Castelan family.”

“So is Starie’s.” We were getting closer to the end of the lift line. I could almost see the platform.

“Her family is loyal to your Dominar.”

“There are other families loyal to our ruler.”

“The moment I met her I knew there was more to her than a pretty face.” His eyes grew liquid with a strange intensity. “There was something about her that sang to me. Together we could rule an Empire.”

Was he suggesting he was in love with her? After meeting her once? That seemed ridiculous. I’d need to watch him to see if he meant the things he said or if he just said them to get the reaction he wanted from people.

“I need to see her again,” he said.

“She’s ill,” I said, not able to meet his eyes. “She was hurt by her captors. She needs time to recover.”

He took my chin in his free hand and turned my face back to him. “When she is well again you will inform me. And today, in the Dominar’s court, the Baron Trakten will present himself on behalf of Baojang. Watch him carefully. You will report to me anything you see.”

“How?”

“I’ll be around. I’ll contact you when I’m ready.”

Our bench bumped something, and the prince released me from his grip just as it was time to leap off the moving conveyance. Rakturan half-helped, half-lifted me off the bench and onto the platform where Hubric waited with an eagle eye on us.

“You should teach your trainees how to use transportation better,” Rakturan said to him. “This one nearly missed her ride.”

Hubric inclined his head slightly, acknowledging the prince almost rudely before saying, “Follow me, Initiate.”

Chapter Eleven

If I wasn’t so troubled by Prince Rakturan I would have enjoyed being in a palace for the first time. The floors were mosaics of tiles - as large as the end of my thumb - depicting scenes from our storied history. Horses raced down the hall, chariots arcing behind them. In the wider mezzanines, dragons battled, their riders falling from their backs with gouts of flame swirling around them. The walls and arched doorways were similarly adorned but in concentric designs and scrollwork.

Hubric strode in the main door of the Castel without seeming at all nervous, as if he frequently visited Castels. He didn’t even acknowledge the guards dressed in black plate armor on either side of the entrance. There were at least twenty of them stationed on either side of the door, their leader wearing an elaborate helm shaped like the open mouth of a dragon.

I followed him as quickly as I could, glad for a firm floor under my crutch and worried about my new role as spy for Rakturan. It did not sit right with me to be engaged in subterfuge of any kind. Especially not as an informant for a nation likely to be our enemy. I wasn’t going to tell him about Savette. Not even if he was claiming to be falling for her after just one meeting. It would be so much easier if I could just be a student instead of always a pawn in a bigger game – and I had no illusions. I was no center of the storm. I was no rook or bishop. I was a pawn and nothing more.

The Castel was a busy place. Like everywhere, servants were on full display – their livery a sign of their station. But servants weren’t the only ones here. The Castel was as busy as the streets outside, but here the people were well dressed and nodded to one another as they passed as if they were all connected. Some were clearly foreign, their dress and accents like nothing I’d ever heard before. I tried not to stare. That would be rude. People were always staring at me and I knew how frustrating that was.

We were well into the Castel when the halls narrowed, and the traffic grew thinner. Hubric led me down a dark, narrow hallway that seemed to be tucked off to the side. Was it for servants? He looked carefully from side to side before grabbing me by the front of the shirt and shoving me against the wall, his face a bare inch from mine as he whispered in harsh tones.

“I took you on as an apprentice, girl. I stuck my neck out for you. What are you hiding from me?” He was surprisingly strong for such an old man. I couldn’t budge his grip.

“Nothing,” I gasped. Was that a knife he held to my ribs? I swallowed as my mouth felt suddenly dry.

“Don’t play games with me. In a few moments, you will swear to the Dominar. Then you’re my responsibility. Do you understand what that means?”

I shook my head. My breath was coming too fast. Was my new master threatening me, too?

“If you fail, I fail. If you betray the nation, I pay the price. I am you from that moment on and you are me. Tell me that you come to me without entanglements.”

That would be a lie. What should I do? Raolcan? Hubric’s eyes narrowed.

“You are asking your dragon for help answering me? You can’t just tell the truth?”

I almost choked on my gasp, it came so fast. How did he know?

“Don’t play silly games with me. I haven’t ridden a Purple dragon for sixty years without learning their ways.”

I glanced down the hall to where a maid was frozen, staring at us, a basket of laundry in her hands.

“Nothing to see here!” Hubric barked at her and then turned back to me as she rushed away. “Okay. It’s confession time, girl. This is where you bare your soul to me and we decide what to do with you.”

“How do I know I can trust you?” He didn’t feel very trustworthy with a knife to my ribs!

“There are five people in this world who care enough about you to help you. Raolcan. Leng. Savette. This Lenora girl I have yet to meet. And me. Tell me I’m wrong.”

I shook my head.

“That’s right. But none of them – no, not even your beloved dragon - can save you from whatever mess you’ve got yourself into. Except for me. And why is that, Initiate?”

“I don’t know.” I really needed important people to stop threatening me. I felt as on edge as if I was constantly walking past the Dragon coates without my crutch. Every step was one more person flaming at me as if they wanted me dead.

“Because I’m old, girl, and by now I’ve seen it all.” He eased his hold on me, but the knife was still there. I trembled at the feel of it against my leathers. “Tell me if I’m wrong: you’re afraid to trust me because you trusted Grandis Leman and he got himself killed and then you trusted Grandis Elfar and she was much less trustworthy than you imagined.” How could he know that? “In fact, I suspect that if you went to the Ruby Isles right now she would end your training immediately. Right so far?”

I gaped at him.

“I can tell by your witty repartee that I’ve nailed it again. And no wonder. We have long had suspicions about Elfar. Let’s move on. You don’t trust the Lightbringers because we are a secret society and you don’t like secrets. You didn’t ask to join, and you think the way Leng and Savette ended up being tortured by the Dusk Covenant means that we are all incompetent, or worse, evil.” Was he reading my mind? “Final problem. You are a pretty enough lass and healthy – sort of. But you are low-born, crippled, likely not capable of producing heirs, and not pretty enough to tempt a prince. Don’t get me wrong – none of those things will prevent you from being an excellent Dragon Rider. They simply leave only one reason for a man like that to single you out. Either he knows you are with us and wants information on the Lightbringers – unlikely since you only just came to us – or he wants you to spy for him. Ah. And he maneuvered you into it so you couldn’t say ‘no.’”

I swallowed as he drew the knife back and then slumped with relief as he sheathed it.

I told you he was smart.

He was reading my mind!

“Not entirely. But I’m used to reading dragon minds after all these years and some humans are enough like dragons that I can get hints from them, too. So. Now it’s time for you to trust me and stop wavering like a girl with too many beaus.”

“And if I do?”

“Then you’ll have someone to help you come out of this alive. First of all, you won’t be going back to Grandis Elfar. We’ve had concerns about her for some time. You’ll stay with me, and once you swear you’ll be my problem. I might seem harsh but there’s only one thing I care about: the truth. Give me that and I will take care of everything else.”

It sounded like a dream come true. Someone to help me figure everything out.

“Don’t get excited quite yet. Together, we’re going to fight darkness in all its forms, but especially the Dusk Covenant and I will use you as much as I need to for that end. You should know that up front. For instance, where is Leng right now?”

“He said he was going back to work.”

“I put him on a dragon headed twenty-days flight south of here an hour ago. He’s flying when most men should be laying abed for a week. Make no mistake, I’ll do the same with you if I have to and expect you to like it.”

I was supposed to be worried about that, but it wasn’t any harsher than what I’d expect of myself. If he thought he would scare me with that he’d need to try harder.

“And now the final thing. If you swear today, know this: I will use you against that prince. Oh, you’ll spy for him. And you’ll report what I tell you and then report back to me on him. Have you heard of a double agent? It means you pretend to work for one side, but you really work for the other. Most double agents end up dead sooner or later. Usually sooner. And we will use you like a sword in the hand against that pretty prince with the satin words and the pretty face. Understood?”

I nodded.

“It’s too late for you to say no. You know too much. But if you think you can’t live up to it, I know a place where you can spend your days in hiding. It would be a peasant’s life, but you’re used to that. Is that what you want?”

I shook my head.

“Then I want your vow right now. A vow of fealty to me. Apprentice to master. You know how it’s done?”

I’d never even seen someone swear to someone else before. What would Raolcan want?

I want you to be safe.

That wasn’t an option. I wanted this short, useful life Hubric was offering, but Raolcan was involved, too. I wouldn’t offer a vow if he would rather live in hiding.

I’m your dragon, either way. But if it helps, I’d rather live life flying high.

“Can you show me,” I asked. Hubric smiled - and for the first time since I met him, I thought it was a real smile. “I want the life you are offering. I’ll swear.”

“I knew you were more than you looked. Sometimes it’s the ones tempered by fire who are strongest when you really need them. Now, repeat after me. I, say your name.”

“I, Amel Leafbrought.”

“You should put your fist over your heart for this part.” He nodded when I did. “Swear fealty and full allegiance to Hubric Duneshifter, Dragon Rider of the Purple, until death takes one of us.”

I repeated his words, my heart feeling both lighter and heavier as I assumed the responsibility and received his protection all at once.

“And I swear this by my honor and the Truth which is all I have to give.”

His knife flicked out of the sheath again as I repeated his words and then he slit the end of his thumb and pressed the blood to my forehead.

“I, Hubric Duneshifter, accept your pledge, Amel Leafbrought, and I swear to protect and guide you,  shelter and provide for you, as my liegesworn until death takes one of us. I swear this by my honor and the Truth which is all I have to give.” His smile widened. “It is done. Now, let’s not keep the Dominar waiting. We have plans to make once you’ve sworn to him, too.”

Chapter Twelve

Like the city, the Castel also rose in tiers, though the back wall was sharp and straight like a mighty cliff. The Great Hall was at the uppermost tier.

“They use the Great Hall as a throne room when the Dominar is here. Provincial compared to Dominion City, but it does in a pinch,” Hubric said.

The long halls were on the outside of the tiers and they were lined with rows of open archways so that anyone walking along the halls could look out over the sky city, like a dragon from his alcove. There were no stairs. The hall simply sloped upward in a spiral, taking us up level by level, higher and closer to the center with every step.

“Hubric?” I asked.

“Master. Ironically, it’s traditional to call your master that.”

“Master?”

“Yes.”

“Is Savette’s dragon really dead?”

“How should I know? You were on the Ruby Isles. You tell me.”

“Wouldn’t she die, too?”

“It’s the other way around. Didn’t they teach you that at Dragon School?”

“Wouldn’t I have noticed dragons dying when their riders did? I saw dragon riders die and their dragons still lived.” I was getting a bit breathless, but I didn’t want to think about standing before the Dominar and asking these questions distracted me.

“They don’t just keel over. They start to rot inside. It takes a while to die that way.”

I shivered. What if that happened to Raolcan?

“Don’t die and you won’t have to worry about it.” Was that a joke?

“Why do dragons let their riders fall or die in training if it means they will die, too?”

“In the northern reaches, our borders are enforced with authority. Some of the people there do not wish to be our subjects, but their lands are important to the Dominion. We may not relinquish them. Occasionally, a young man from among them will rush at us, a weapon in hand, and be quickly killed for his rash bravery. Why does he do this if he knows full well he will die?” I was silent and he asked a second question. “Why did you go after Savette knowing you would be thrown out of Dragon School? Sometimes honor is of more value than life.”

Had Raolcan wished he could stand against his fate like that?

I chose to submit to it. And with you, it is not a burden.

I didn’t deserve him.

It’s never been about deserving. Someday, I’ll convince you of that.

“We’re here,” Hubric said, leaning in so close to me that I could smell an unfamiliar herb from his soap. “Now, protocol is a huge priority in the Dominar’s court. If you had come through the ranks at the proper rate you would already know what to do, but since you do not, you will follow my lead and obey any command. You understand?”

I nodded.

“First, we wait in the anteroom. You may speak to others there, but keep your secrets close. When we are called we will enter the throne room. Say nothing then until you are asked to speak. Remember how you swore to me? You do the same thing when called. Nothing else. You understand?”

“Yes.”

He put a hand on my shoulder. “I have confidence in you. Come on.”

A pair of guards were stationed silently on either side of the blue and white tiled arch. My mouth went dry as we passed between them and into the anteroom. It was so large that at first, I wondered if it were actually the Great Hall. A fountain was in the center of the room, a white stone dragon spewing water instead of fire.

People dressed in fine clothing stood in small groups, speaking in low tones. Hubric led me to the side of the room, out of the center of bubbling conversation. Most of the people were dressed like Castelans in sky silk dresses or sky silk short coats over fitted leather breeches. The women wore their hair loose and long and the men wore theirs short and their faces clean-shaven.

It made it easy to pick out foreigners. Around us, there were quite a few other modes of dress and styles of hair or beard to denote where these people were from. A group of men with long forked beards were watching Hubric and me with eagle eyes. I was so nervous at their presence that I didn’t notice Lenora until she took hold of my arm.

“Lenora!” I looked her over. She was unharmed – at least that I could see – and in clean, fresh leathers.

“Don’t stray too far,” Hubric whispered and I nodded as Lenora pulled me against the wall to whisper to me. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Ephretti speak to Hubric.

“I was so worried about you,” I whispered to Lenora.

“Have you really been taken on by Hubric Duneshifter?” Her eyes were wide.

“Yes, but tell me what happened to you! When Prince Rakturan stormed into the room I was afraid you were in trouble!”

She shook her head. “Hubric Duneshifter is a big deal, Amel! He doesn’t take on apprentices and he is one of the best. He must really like you. Don’t you realize what an honor it is?”

“I’m very honored, now forget that and tell me you are okay!”

She smirked. “I can take care of myself just fine. The Castelan’s dragoons stormed the building with Prince Rakturan and some of his people. They thought I was a servant and took me into custody. I would have gotten out on my own, once word got to my father, but Dragon Rider Ephretti came and took me under her wing. She’s going to mentor me into the Green. She’s not the highest ranking Green but that’s okay. She’s close to the middle and still young. She hasn’t reached the full rank she’ll get. It’s a lucky draw for me.”

“I’m glad. I was so worried about you!”

“You were worried? I was the one worried! I heard the shouting and I could see the magical flares and then nothing! They pulled a pretty girl with short hair out of there, but no one else. I thought you were dead!”

Corrigan! She was alive!

“I’m fine.” I looked around, making sure we were not being overheard. Other then the glares from the men with forked beards and oiled leather cloaks, no one was watching us. “So are Savette and Leng – sort of. We got them out of there!”

She nodded. “Good. I’ve been called here to represent my Castel before the Dominar. After that, I go with Ephretti. I’ve been so worried about you and the others that I didn’t want to come. Do you know what happened to them?”

“I heard that some other Dragon Riders gathered up Orra and Olla and Artis and took them back to the Ruby Isles.”

“I’ll miss them, but I’m glad to see you, Amel. I won’t be glad to part ways with you.”

“We might see more of each other than you think,” I said. “See how Ephretti and Hubric are talking? I think they see each other often.”

She raised her eyebrows. “Are they lovers?”

I laughed. “I doubt it.”

She looked around like I had a moment ago before whispering so quietly that I could barely hear her. “There are rumors that Ephretti is a part of a secret group of Dragon Riders, like a secret society. They have their own mysterious aims.” So, no one had told her about the Lightbringers the way they had told me. “I aim to find out more about that. If there is a secret somewhere, then Estabis Castelan needs to know it.”

I’d never understood that loyalty to a specific family that Castelans had – until now. I felt a stab of concern in me that she would share the secrets of the Lightbringers with her Castel. Was that my new vow of loyalty at work?

“How is Dragon Rider Leng?” Lenora asked, coyly.

I felt my cheeks heating. “What do you mean?”

“Don’t give me that. Every time you talk about him your eyes light up. You probably don’t even admit it to yourself, but there’s something there.”

“He’s confusing.”

“Men usually are.”

“He runs so hot and cold.”

“He should only run cold. He’s a full Dragon Rider and you’re a student. If anyone suspected he was feeling any heat for you he could get turned out of the Dragon Riders and his dragon would be killed. If he did something more – kissed you, maybe? – he could be killed. I know it sounds severe, but Dragon Riders take things really seriously. You haven’t been kissing, have you?” She looked more concerned than triumphant, which must mean she was looking out for me.

“He didn’t let me,” I admitted embarrassed to have to admit it.

“Good. Don’t try again until you’re a full Dragon Rider. The way you’re rising through the ranks it won’t be long anyway. You’ve been an Initiate for only a few weeks and look at you! You’re being sworn in today.” She smiled. “And I hate to admit it, but you actually deserve it.”

“Thank you, Lenora,” I said, but she didn’t answer, her eyes fixed on something across the room and a secretive smile on her lips. I followed her gaze to where Price Rakturan was entering the anteroom with his bodyguards. Was it him she was smiling at? I whispered, “If you think kissing a Dragon Rider is a bad idea, kissing a foreign prince is a lot worse!”

“Some deaths might be worth dying.”

She couldn’t mean that! Not about that horrifying cobra of a man!

A man in finely wrought clothing carrying a slate in his hands entered from the far door, glanced at his slate, and then made a beckoning motion to Hubric who turned to me and gave me the Dragon Rider sign for follow.

“Good luck, Amel!” Lenora said and we shared a smile before I hobbled after Hubric, trying to still the butterflies in my belly. It was time.

Amel? Spider? Something strange is going on here.

Chapter Thirteen

What was it? What was happening? I tried to keep up to Hubric while grilling Raolcan.

Savette. Something strange is going on with her.

Something to do with the Magika who was there? Hubric and I were right behind the man holding the slate now. He led us to the tall white doors - carved with roses and dragon teeth – and across the tiled mosaic of the first Dominar’s battle with Ha’drazen  - the dragon queen. There was so much to see that I could hardly take it in.

Forget the room. I’m sure it’s lovely. It won’t be so lovely if your friend explodes and takes half the city with her.

What should I do?

Swear quickly and get back here. I will keep you updated.

Probably a good idea. I glanced at Hubric. Should I tell him what was happening? The man with the slate led us through the doors and then paused just inside the room. I looked at Hubric, about to speak, but he shook his head curtly and followed the man and I did the same.

I gasped as we entered the Great Hall. It was filled with people from the far end where a throne had been set on a dais - surrounded by a half circle of open arches - to where we were at the back. A gold silk runner, embroidered with intricate patterns, ran up the center of the Hall to the feet of the Dominar. I felt drawn to look for him, but his throne was dark, the semi-circle of windows behind him backlighting him so he sat in shadow.

My mouth felt so dry that I was afraid it would stick permanently closed and my heart hammered in my chest. I was about to see the ruler of our mighty Dominion. Me! A common girl from a tiny village. How was this even possible? Hubric laid a calming hand on my arm and I pulled myself together. Honors, just like difficulties, were to be faced with courage and strength. I straightened my back and held my head high. Time to take the next step to being a full Dragon Rider. Time to swear before the Dominar that I would serve our people all my life – long or short.

“Follow the Hashutan’s assistant. He will tell us where to stand.” That must be the man with the slate.

I did exactly as Hubric told me, following the assistant step for step. He was considerate enough to walk slowly – or maybe that was how things were done here.

Behind us, I heard the door open again. On either side of us, people in the fine garb of nobility gasped. I risked a look back. Rakturan entered behind another assistant, his bodyguards behind him and behind them the men with the forked beards who had been so pleased to stare at me in the anteroom. I shivered, but they were not my concern. Not with a Dominar to swear to ahead of me and a friend in trouble across the city.

Hurry.

I hurried, my fancy new crutch propelling me forward across the golden silk banner like no other crutch I’d had before. If I was Lenora, I would probably know each of the people in the crowds on either side of me, but I didn’t envy her that. I was afraid enough of the people I did know in the room.

When we were halfway across the room, I finally was able to make out the Dominar. He sat with a scepter on his lap – a wicked looking thing with a spiked head and some sort of writing engraved on it. Was it like the writing the dragon riders had scrawled on their leathers and sometimes on their arms? I should ask what it was. I hadn’t thought to ask until now, since my time at Dragon School had been so hectic.

His garb looked military in the way it was cut, his breeches were leather and belted like dragon rider leathers, but his coat was of the segmented hard-cased style that Savette and the Dark Prince had worn at the ball. His collar was as high as theirs had been, almost obscuring the lower part of his face – except you wouldn’t have seen his face.

I had heard of the Dominar’s mask, but the stories hadn’t prepared me for what I saw now. It appeared to be wrought of iron, formed like a spiked crown at the top and coming down to cover his entire face, leaving only holes for his eyes and mouth. It took me a moment to realize that the spike effect across the top of his head were shaped of dragon wings, flaring at just the right angle to produce a crown effect. Around the holes for eyes and mouth, at least a dozen dragons were formed into complicated knots and complex battles. Likely, you could sit all day trying to figure out what wing or neck or tail belonged to what dragon. It must have been incredibly heavy – the weight of an empire on the head of one man.

Hubric gripped my arm, and I realized I had frozen in place. I collected myself and began to walk again. Now that we were getting closer to the front of the room, the people were dressed even more majestically - and more martially- than those at the back. That made sense. In Dominion society, those at the top were those who owned and defended Castels. It was not a task for those who shrunk away from violence. Was Lenora’s family there somewhere? Savette’s? The hard stares of those around me gave no clues.

Around the Dominar’s dais, his dragoons stood guard, the toughest and most skilled of his fighters. They wore heavy armor even here on guard duty, their battle staves planted before them with both hands clasping them, swords slung at their sides.

The Hashutan’s assistant led us to the front and then off to the side. He gestured to the floor and walked away. Hubric signed “wait” to me, though it wasn’t needed. I saw another group of supplicants at the other side of the room awaiting their turn before the Dominar. One of them started to move back to the space in front of the dais, but his mouth opened when the Baojang contingent ignored the Hashutan’s assistant and strode right up to the spot before the Dominar without permission.

An angry looking man with a pinched face stepped from the Dominar’s side and spoke.

“You will be considered when your turn has come, Baojang. Until then you shall wait.”

“I’m afraid we come here on a matter of life or death.” One of the men with a forked, oiled beard stepped around Rakturan to speak. His clothing was richly embroidered and golden ornaments hung from the brim of his wide hat. “And you will see us before this rabble.”

Chapter Fourteen

The crowd gasped and the Hashutan – because that must be who the pinched-faced man in brown leathers was – grew red with anger.

“You come here as supplicants. You may make no demands of us.”

I shifted my crutch nervously. This wasn’t going to be resolved quickly and every extra minute we took was another minute before I could return to Raolcan and Savette.

“Supplicants?” the bearded man asked. “The Dark Prince of Baojang is no supplicant. He comes to an equal asking for a moment of consideration.”

“There is none equal to the Dominar: Lord of Dragons, Son of the Dawn, King of the Turbulence, Battle Master of the Dominion.”

There was something subtle about the dragoons that changed. What was it? They had been motionless, holding their weapons firmly before he spoke. They had not moved, but there was a sense now that they were poised to spring on the contingent from Baojang if that was required.

“The Dark Prince of Baojang,” the forked bearded man began his own recitation of credentials, but I didn’t hear them all. Rakturan’s gaze met mine and he lifted his eyebrows as if to indicate that the man speaking was one of those I should be watching for him. Behind him, his bald guard whispered in his ear and Rakturan nodded.

“Watch yourself, girl,” Hubric whispered in my ear. I stole a glance at him to see him staring ahead. When I followed his gaze, I froze in horror. The Dominar’s dark-eyes mask was looking directly at me. He had seen Rakturan’s signal!

The Dominar stood, and everyone went silent, even the man with the forked beard. He nodded to the Havenala.

“The Dominion received Baojang in a spirit of peace,” the Hashutan said. “The Dominar will receive your plea.”

The Dominar sat again, but he tapped the head of his scepter against his open palm. Did he always communicate without saying a word?

“Baojang insists that the wedding of our prince to your High Castelan take place immediately,” the forked bearded man said.

“Have we not already promised this to you, Baron Trakten? It is why the Dominar travels so quickly to join you in the north. And yet, you are here instead. Does the prince not wish to spend time with his future bride?”

The Baron smiled in an oily fashion. “The prince’s personal wishes are immaterial. As a representative of Baojang, he must serve her needs. And we require a greater bride price than that promised.”

“Greater?” There was a gasp from the court and angry murmurs from those behind me. Even I knew that it was terribly insulting to demand more than the agreed price. “Our generosity is not sufficient? Have we not promised you peace? Have we not promised to concede the Straw Islands to you?”

“Of course, Hashutan, but we also require twenty of your dragons with riders. You have plenty to spare.” He gestured to me and Hubric.

“We are not open to renegotiations. The price is what we agreed upon.”

The Baron frowned. “I-”

“Or do you wish war between our great empires? Is Baojang so ready to see her streets run red with blood? Is she so full of youth and strength that she longs for us to swallow up her excess and grind their bones to dust?”

I shivered. His threat horrified me. The Baron opened his mouth – no doubt to make things worse! – but Rakturan placed a hand on his shoulder and shoved him aside, taking a step forward.

“There will be no renegotiation, Dark Prince,” the Hashutan said. “Not even if you ask yourself.”

“I do not ask for renegotiation,” the Prince said, his voice low and deadly. His usual flamboyant charm was gone, and instead, he was tense in his movements, his eyes narrowed as if he was thinking quickly. “I ask that you honor our original agreement.”

“Which we have promised to do.” The Hashutan’s voice held a warning. He did not like the suggestion that they were not doing as promised.

“Then you will give me High Castelan Savette Leedris as my bride?”

There was a curse from among the Baojang men, and two of them moved to either of Rakturan’s shoulders, whispering adamantly in his ears. They were not pleased with his request. Rakturan ignored them. He maintained eye-contact with the empty eyes of the Dominar’s mask almost as if they were communicating silently with only their eyes.

There was something that worried me about his men. His two bodyguards from before were not their normal selves. They shifted constantly, their eyes studying the courtiers on either side. Was I the only one who had noticed the other men had moved between them and Rakturan? There was at least a dozen of these others. They wore swords on their backs and their flowing saffron clothing was tied at wrists and elbows to keep it from hindering their movements. All of them but the Baron had about them the sort of resolved calm I had the day I joined Dragon School. Now, why did that worry me?

“No one knows the whereabouts of High Castelan Leedris,” the Hashutan said, a smug smile on his lips.

“I rather doubt that,” Prince Rakturan said loudly, turning as he spoke so that the whole room could hear him. “I saw her in this city only yesterday.”

Gasps were followed by breakouts of chatter. Around the edges of the courtiers, I saw people scurry away, off to check their own sources for information.

The Dominar rapped his scepter against the arm of the throne and the Hashutan threw an arm up in the air.

“Peace!” he said. “The Dominar has spoken. He will settle these two minor matters that are before yours, Baojang, and then he will give a ruling on this matter. Wait to the side as he deliberates.”

Rakturan bowed slightly, triumph on his face as he and his contingent moved to the side, replaced by those who had been meant to speak to the Dominar when he rudely interrupted. They were all men who escorted him. Men with face-obscuring beards. Perhaps that was why they seemed so odd to me. There wasn’t a female face in the whole group. No. That couldn’t be it. It was puzzling, and yet there was something...

I watched them, trying to puzzle it out as the people before us presented the gift of a large metal pin – the length of my arm - to the Dominar – one from the completed construction of a new sky city. Their pride was clear, and the court applauded the gift, but I couldn’t stop thinking about Rakturan. What was he doing? Why go against both his people and the Dominar to demand Savette?

I almost jumped out of my skin when Hubric took my arm again to guide me forward. It was our turn to kneel before the Dominar.

Chapter Fifteen

Are you done?

I was only just beginning! Usually, he’d know that.

I have a lot going on here.

That wasn’t good. I tried to keep my breathing regular as for the first time ever, I felt nervousness through our bond. Whatever was going on had Raolcan on edge – and it took a lot to put a dragon on edge.

I let Hubric guide me to our place before the dais and lead me into kneeling correctly before the Dominar. I held my crutch as I knelt, wondering if I looked like a miniature version of the dragoons holding their war staves. Hubric addressed the throne.

“Battle Master, your sworn servant, Dragon Rider Hubric Duneshifter of the Purple presents to you a new vassal, Initiate Amel Leafbrought. By our code we have raised her up and in our knowledge. To her hand, we have given charge of one of your mighty dragons. She comes before you to plead the opportunity to pledge her loyalty and future to your Dominion.”

I was so surprised when the Dominar spoke that I almost dropped my crutch. He hadn’t spoken to the others, but he spoke to me?

“Give your pledge.”

Hubric whispered under his breath and I repeated his words in the strongest voice I could muster, my fist to my heart.

“I, Amel Leafbrought, Initiate Dragon Rider of the Purple, and mistress of one of the Dominion’s great dragons, do swear fealty and full allegiance to the Dominar, Battle Master and Lord of Dragons, until death takes one of us. My dragon and I will fly your truth to any place we are sent, discharging our duties as is fitting for the Dominion Sky People of whom I am a part. And I swear this by my honor and the Truth, which is all I have to give.”

The Dominar stood and I felt Hubric stiffen beside me. Was this not normal? He motioned for me to approach the dais. Hubric nodded to me urgently and I scrambled up on my crutch and hurried forward. The dragoons blocked my path abruptly with their war staves crossed over my path, but the Dominar raised a hand and the staves uncrossed to let me through.

When I reached the dais the Hashutan spoke, “Approach.”

We need you back here ... now!

I couldn’t leave in the middle of the ceremony! Worry had my head buzzing and it made it hard to concentrate on the present. On wavering legs, I stepped up on the dais, and hobbled forward until I stood before the Dominar. His mask was even more intricate than I had thought from far away, and his form was impossible to see in his stiff clothing. He could be old or young, fair or ugly, possibly even male or female. In the shadows behind his mask, I couldn’t even see his eyes, but his words – spoken quietly- felt certain as the mountains.

“Rare to find one rise to the Dominion Sky People from the ashes of such adversity. I welcome you to my service and pledge to rule you with justice and truth. I will command your death only if necessary and seek your prosperity as far as it may be dependant on me.”

From his belt, he drew a knife, pricked his thumb and placed it to my forehead, just as Hubric had done. My knee shook at his touch. This was too close to the mighty for me.

As he withdrew his thumb he whispered, “Watch the Dark Prince.”

What did he mean? That I should watch him and learn, or that I should watch out for him? I wished I had the courage to ask, but my throat was so dry I couldn’t have uttered another word if I wanted to. He took a step back and I retreated, realizing my time was up. When I stepped off the dais, Hubric fell into step beside me.

“I’ve never seen the like,” he whispered, but I didn’t have time to ask what he meant as Raolcan’s words broke into my mind.

I can’t hold it back!

A boom filled the room and the Great Hall rocked like a ship on the sea. Out the wide arched windows behind the contingent from Baojang, a blue mushroom-shaped cloud rose up from Vanika, filling the sky. A screeching sound like metal being torn apart accompanied it. My heart thundered. Savette! Had her magic finally overcome her? Raolcan?

“That came from Ephretti’s house.” Hubric cursed, pulling me toward the side of the room through screaming courtiers and past the dragoons forming up around the Dominar.

Raolcan, are you alright?

There was no reply.

Chapter Sixteen

So many things happened at once that time seemed to slow. Hubric grabbed me by the scarf around my neck, pulling me toward the arched windows on the opposite side of the room from the blast. Courtiers rushed to the opposite side of the room, trying to see if they could determine what was happening across the city, while others rushed for the exits.

The Dominar stood, his Hashutan throwing up a hand for silence, but no silence came. I watched Rakutan’s bodyguards group around him, but a knot of the Baojang men formed around the Baron, and then were moving in the other direction, toward the dais. Were they so intent on the Dominar hearing their plea that they were determined to ask in the middle of a crisis like this explosion?

They seemed very sure, marching together to where the supplicants stood. The Baron moved to the head of the group and took a step forward.

“Wait a moment, Baojang. We are concerned with the commotion outside the Castel,” the Hashutan said.

“Part of the city is just gone!” One of the men close to the window called. “It’s just twisted metal around a huge rip in the structure!”

“Will the structure hold?” a woman close to me wondered.

“There are fires around the center of it,” another called.

Hubric wasn’t stopping to speculate. Now that we were at the far edge of the room, he pulled a pair of long curved knives from under his waistband. He’d had those all along? I hadn’t even noticed them before! It seemed premature to arm yourself when there was nothing to fight.

The room still rocked slightly, as if the city was swaying on its long stem. I fought a queasy feeling in my belly as I watched the Baron from Baojang walk up to the dais. As soon as he reached the dragoons, they crossed their war staves in front of him just as they had crossed them before me when I approached. As if they had given some sort of signal, the rest of his people pulled back towards Rakturan. What was their game? He couldn’t harm the Dominar with the dragoons in front of him, but why escort him up there and then pull back before he even made his plea.

The Baron looked back at Rakturan and I saw concern fill the Dark Prince’s face and then his mouth opened in horror. Before he could speak, the Baron began to shake, orange light glowing around his outline. He was a Magika? Had no one noticed that? No, wait ... Rakturan had called magical people in his kingdom diviners. He was a Diviner.

The Baron – Diviner - seemed to swell with the orange light and then with a sudden flare of light he was hidden from sight. The boom that followed filled my ears, air rushed past, knocking me into the arch behind me. I hit my head on the stone and saw stars, pain and fear filling me. I couldn’t catch a full breath and as I fell I couldn’t tell where to put my hands to catch myself.  A cloud of orange rushed outward from the explosion, filling my vision and leaving me temporarily blinded.

Amel? Amel, can you hear me?

Chapter Seventeen

I hadn’t lost my crutch. The strap still held it to my arm. I pulled myself up, slowly. My head was still spinning, a pain like a spike jabbing in and out of it. Hubric leaned against the wall beside me, a gash on the side of his head was bleeding and he seemed dazed, but he hadn’t lost his feet. He coughed, adjusting his weapons.

Was the Dominar hurt? I spun to look. He was retreating backward, his scepter held like a sword. A cluster of his dragoon guards were formed around him, but many more lay dead on the ground. There was no sign of the Baojang Baron. Whatever magic he had used had consumed him completely. Courtiers had been flung backward from the blast, and now lay, still and broken, on the mosaic floor. Screams and cries filled the room as those still alive rushed to the aid of others or fled through the main doors.

Was the threat passed? No! The other men who had accompanied Rakturan rushed toward the Dominar, weapons drawn. Rakturan yelled in a language I did not understand as five of the men in saffron turned on him and his two bodyguards. They stabbed one of them in the neck so quickly that I thought I’d imagined it before he fell to the ground. Rakturan drew his own sword, standing back to back with the remaining bodyguard as his own men pressed the attack against him.

Were any more of his people diviners? Would they call up enough magic to level those of us who had survived?

The dragoons seemed to have the same worry. They pulled a rug aside behind the throne and opened a trapdoor. The clash of steel on steel met my ears as the charge of Baojang met the wall of the Dragoons. I wouldn’t have thought that only a dozen men could be much of a threat to the Dominar, but his dragoons had suffered the brunt of the magical attack and only a handful had lived to fight and flee.

“Can you fight?” Hubric asked from beside me.

I shook my head. I could barely keep up, never mind use my one good hand to fight.

“We’ll fix that later.”

“I can fight,” Lenora said, appearing beside me with Ephretti. They were out of breath, but Ephretti had a short sword and Lenora a long dagger.

“We were at the back of the room,” Ephretti said. “We-”

There was a scream from the door and I turned to see fleeing courtiers being slaughtered at the door by men in Castel livery, a Magika in the middle of them. His hands blazed with fire. Were they coming to the rescue of the Dominar? But if they were, then why kill our own people?

“It’s the Dusk Covenant!” Ephretti said. “Where is the High Castelan of this place?”

Hubric pointed at a heap of the dead. A grey-haired man in fine clothing lay there. What should we do?

The Dominar disappeared through the trapdoor, with two of his men. One of his dragoons fell with a scream into the hole as the men of Baojang pressed the attack against those who remained. Another closed the door and they stood on it, buying the retreat of their brothers with their own lives.

From the back of the room, I heard the Magika shout, “The Dark Prince! Take him alive!”

They rushed toward Rakturan, but there was a long way from one end of the hall to the other. Rakturan’s second bodyguard was pinned to the wall with a sword through his chest, his eyes glassy. Around the pair, saffron-clad bodies lay in tumbled heaps on the ground. Rakturan had a wicked cut down one cheek and a patch of blood on the shoulder of his clothing. He glanced around him until his eyes fell on me. With a determined look, he rushed toward us. Hubric and Ephretti stepped forward, as if to take his attack on their weapons.

“Peace, peace!” he called to us. “Please, Amel Leafbrought, ask your people for peace!”

Hubric and Ephretti exchanged a glance before Hubric spoke. “Why should we trust you, Dark Prince?”

“This isn’t my doing! When they are finished killing your Dominar, they will kill me as well!”

A burst of green lightning stabbed down the long hall, missing him by inches as the Dark Covenant traitors thundered toward us. On the Dominar’s trap door, the last of his dragoons died with a groan and the men of Baojang pushed him off of it, calling to one another in their own language.

“Stop your men, if this isn’t your doing, Rakturan,” I said.

“They aren’t mine,” he said, “they are only of my nation. I can’t control what they do.”

Another lightning bolt split the air over our heads and one of the Baojang traitors gave Rakturan a mocking wave as he disappeared through the hole in the floor. My heart was pounding, my breath coming quicker. I had no way to defend myself against the horde charging toward us.

“The trapdoor!” I called. Maybe we could make it in time to flee, too.

No! The window. We come.

Raolcan! You’re alright!

Stay near the window. We are almost there!

Rakturan formed up in line with Ephretti, Lenora, and Hubric. The Dusk covenant were steps away. They were too close for the Magika to send any more lightning our way without hitting his own men, too, although that wasn’t stopping him.

A ball of fire arched over their heads, splashing on the wall beside me. I scrambled to the side so that the lingering fire wouldn’t set me ablaze.

Swords crashed as the front line of the Dusk Covenant finally met our side. I was surprised to see how capable Lenora was with her long knife. As Rakturan took a step forward to push one enemy back, another tried to dive into the space between him and Ephretti. Lenora stabbed that man quickly with her knife, before taking a smart step backward to await another opportunity.

Hold fast, we come!

Hubric fought, finding holes in his enemies’ defenses. His double knives slid in any gap in their guards, keeping their attacks at bay. One of the men in livery dove toward Lenora, but Ephretti turned his blade with ease, slipping her own between his ribs before kicking him back into the mass of bodies pressing towards us. She spun and came up in a guard position, with Lenora tucked behind her.

“Fight smart, apprentice. Don’t let them through your guard!”

The minutes were long – like every second was weighty and dense as we were slowly pressed back toward the windows. I could do nothing but watch and worry, flinching and gasping at every close moment.

Sword clashed on sword and grunt was met with cry of pain. I took one more step backward, as Hubric stepped back into me, and felt my backside hit the railing around the wide arched window. There was nowhere further to go.

“Make room for the Magika, make some space!” There was turbulence in the ranks of our enemies as they scrambled to obey. Through the press of bodies, the Magika was pushing forward. He would utterly destroy us when he came through.

Rakturan grunted as a blade found its mark in his side. He shoved himself forward, pushing his enemy aside with a powerful roar. The Magika pushed through the final rank of bodies, his hands raised with crackling lightnings. We had only two options left: stand and be destroyed by the Magika or leap to our deaths from the Great Hall.

Chapter Eighteen

Hug the window frame! All of you! Make space!

“Quick!” I called, “Hurry to the sides! Don’t block the window!”

Rakturan looked confused, but at Hubric’s authoritative nod, Ephretti pushed Lenora to one side of the large arch, pressing flat against her and Hubric dragged Rakturan to the other side. I scooted to Hubric’s side and hugged in tight to the other two. In the scramble, I heard Lenora scream. She must have been wounded as we made a space. Where are you, Raolcan? We can’t wait like this!

We didn’t have to.

A burst of white light, so hot and powerful that I feared I would be seared to the bone, stabbed through the window from the sky outside. It knocked the Magika off his feet, flinging him back into the press of bodies. An enthusiastic fighter moved to fill his place, lunging toward Hubric. Fire splashed across him, searing him and four more behind him, leaving them almost instantly dead, charred beyond recognition.

I turned to see Raolcan right behind me, hovering in the air with Savette on his back. Her eyes were white and glowing so brightly that I couldn’t look at her. Her hands glowed, too, bright as twin suns.

Told you I was coming. I’m better at showing up when needed than you are.

I felt a stab of guilt. I hadn’t been there for him. He must feel so disappointed.

I’m just teasing you. Calm down. Now, we have to hurry. There are a lot of them and you are vulnerable at this window.

Flame burst past me as he scorched another wave of fighters. My hair! He’d singed the end of it right off! I smelled it burning and patted it with my hand, watching, aghast as long chunks fell to the floor.

Raolcan darted backward as one of Ephretti’s twin dragons swooped in so close to the window that I was afraid his wing would brush Ephretti off the ledge. I shouldn’t have worried. Ephretti hoisted an injured Lenora onto his back and climbed on herself. As she worked, her dragon and Raolcan fended off attackers. What made them so crazed that they still attacked us after seeing their friends seared to a cinder?

“Amel,” Hubric called to me, snapping me out of my drifting thoughts, “Pay attention. Your friend is occupied carrying Savette so we will ride Kyrowat. He’ll be here in a moment.”

“What about Rakturan?” I asked.

Rakturan’s expression was grim and so was Hubric’s. Was Hubric planning to abandon him here?

“Who is he to us? An enemy. A traitor. Nothing more.”

I clenched my jaw. “We need to take him with us. He fought beside us!”

“To save his own skin!”

Kyrowat was already moving into place, his purple scales flashing in the sun and his eye murderous as he watched Rakturan and me. I remembered how people said purples were temperamental. Of course Raolcan wasn’t but this Kyrowat looked willing to bite me as soon as let me ride him.

Who says I’m not temperamental?

Raolcan snapped at Kyrowat, lightly, like he didn’t mean it, but the meaning was clear. I belonged to him and he wanted Kyrowat to know that.

“Fine. We’ll sort Rakturan out later.” Hubric decided all at once. “We’ll put you on Kyrowat first, Amel.”

Kyrowat inched closer so his back was right beside us and then Hubric helped to hoist me over the railing and into the saddle. He was moments behind me, but then Kyrowat was dropping away from the window and I watched the horror fill Rakturan’s eyes as he was left in the window.

I’d promised! This went against my honor! Behind him, an enemy approached. I screamed. Too late. The attacker hoisted Rakturan over the railing, sending him plummeting toward the ground.

My heart was in my throat. I couldn’t breathe. I clung to the saddle horn, eyes tearing up. And then, like a shooting star, Raolcan twisted in the air, darting downward and snatching Rakturan out of the air with his powerful jaws.

He won’t be comfortable, but he’s alive. You wanted that right?

I could have kissed him.

Savette probably will. She didn’t want him to die either.

Hubric guided Kyrowat to fly toward the rim of the city, Ephretti following with three Green dragons and Raolcan flying right behind her. I didn’t like flying without him, but we were all alive. Somehow, we were all still alive.

And I, for one, am looking forward to kisses from two lovely human women.

“Why are we heading past the city?” I asked Hubric as he set a course right through the Black patrols toward the mountains. “Shouldn’t we stay and check on Ephretti’s house?”

“The Dark Covenant is taking the city,” Hubric said. “It will be theirs by nightfall. There’s only one thing we can do now, and we’re doing it.”

I gripped Kyrowat’s saddle and tried not to be frightened by the deadly cold in his words.

Continue the story in Dragon School: Dusk Covenant

Behind the Scenes:

USA Today bestselling author, Sarah K. L. Wilson, hails from the rocky Canadian Shield in Northern Ontario where she lives with her husband and two small boys. Her interests include the outdoors, history, and philosophy. Her books are always about fantastical adventures in other worlds.

Sarah would like to thank Harold Trammel and Sarah Brown for their incredible work in beta reading and proofreading this book. Without their big hearts and passion for stories, this book would not be the same.

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