Redheart (Leland Dragon Series) (28 page)

Chapter Fifty

Kallon rose from bed. He moved slowly, having irresistibly grown accustomed, over time, to the indulgent lifestyle of the manor. He would remedy this after today. Today was his installment ceremony; he would soon begin the process of turning the ancient scrolls into a library. He would allow more access to the manor by other needful dragons. And he would live less like royalty and more like the plain and simple dragon he was.

He emerged from his sleeping chamber to the sound of hammers and chisels filling the hallway. He followed the ruckus to the manor entrance and stepped out into sunshine. There, he found Riza. She turned her graceful, crimson head over her shoulder and smiled at him.

He’d lost count of the times that smile had sent a tremor down his spine, but he added another as he gazed at her. They shared a home, a name, and a future. Life was too good to be true.

“Come look,” she said. Three artisans hovered at the manor entrance in a multi-colored heavenly host, their wings barely moving. Chisels and claws were put to stone as the three carved finishing touches into the new statue for the arch.

“It’s us. See?” The likeness of Kallon thrust his chest, and his wings, to the sky. Against him, near his belly, a second dragon with Riza’s new face emerged from a limp human body as though from a cocoon. “Isn’t it marvelous?” Riza stared at the statue and sighed.

“It is.” Kallon nuzzled his chin on top of her head. “Quick work. Will it be finished in time for the ceremony?”

“Just!” called the Green who smoothed the tip of Kallon’s statue wing. “Unless Eamon insists on dawdling with that foot!”

“I have never carved a human foot! This is not as easy as it looks!” Eamon shook his chisel at the Green.

“Riza Redheart,” said a soft voice from the steps behind them. They turned to find a young Blue with a drape of cloth over her forelegs. “My mother wants you to try the size before the service.” She smiled.

“Thank you, Amele.” Riza took the fabric with a bow of her head. “If it needs adjusting, I will bring it to your mother myself. There is a plate of braised piglets in the kitchen that you can sample for the cooks, if you like.”

Amele brightened and hurried into the manor with a giggle. Riza watched her go, and then turned to Kallon. She tilted her head and smiled. “What?”

“I wish my mother and father could have known you,” Kallon said. “You have risen to your station with grace.”

“I wish I could have known them, too,” she said.

Beside them, several statues away, an explosion of stone rocked the air and sent rubble down the steps. Gray stones collided and crashed in an avalanche to the ground. Tips of carved wings, tooth-shaped rocks, and an eye, black as onyx, were among the body parts strewn.

“All that remains of that foul traitor,” said Hale Brownwing as he climbed the steps to join them. Behind him, his daughter, Vaya, followed, her head low. “As official leader, Kallon, your first act should be to strike him completely from the record. He does not deserve even mention in our history.”

“To do that would be to remove the lesson as well. We must always remember him, so we will not repeat the mistake.”

“I suppose,” said Brownwing. “The worst irony of all is that he may never be punished for what he did.”

“There has been no sign of him?” asked Riza. A strange, secret expression came over her eyes, and Kallon followed her gaze to Vaya, who had lifted her head.

“None, nor of that coward, Whitetail, who turned him loose.” Brownwing snorted. “All we can do is spit on the corpse of Blackclaw’s statue, and be glad that is the last of him.”

Kallon watched something pass between the females he couldn’t identify. Their eyes spoke something between them, but when he touched Riza’s foreleg to draw her gaze, that moment vanished with her smile. He looked back at Vaya, who seemed pale and withdrawn, but expressionless.

“But let us not destroy a festive occasion with talk of the past!” Brownwing clapped Kallon’s shoulder. “Your father would be proud, son! This ceremony will mark the beginning of Red leadership again, as Leland has been waiting for. Though it is just a formality. You have already proven to be a leader of vision, with the plans you have for the scroll library.” He leaned toward Riza. “I had hoped, of course, that my daughter would be in your place today, but I can think of no other disappointment that has brought me such pleasure.”

A flutter of sparkles spat like a fountain into the sky from an empty place on the steps. As the glittering mist filtered to the ground, Orman Thistleby stood within it. “Did you see it?” he asked, waving his hands. “Did I sparkle?”

“You did,” said Kallon with a laugh. Riza giggled.

“By Jove, I like it! Does nothing but add drama, but if an old wizard can’t make a proper entrance, what does he have left?” Orman slapped his palms together, and the glitter was gone. “Now. When do we eat?”

“After the ceremony,” said Riza. “Then we’ll feast.”

“Well, let’s get a move on! Strike up the band! Hang the flags, carnsarn it, before I get any more feeble!”

“Oh, no. Not yet.” Kallon took the fabric from Riza and wrapped it around Orman’s shoulders. “You should all be able to manage just fine without us. Riza and I are going to begin our day the way we have begun every new day. You will have to wait.”

Orman grunted. “Plenty of time for that later.” He elbowed Brownwing and rolled his eyes. “Newlyweds.”

Kallon just laughed. Let them think what they like. He offered his paw to Riza.

Her eyes brightened. “I love this part.”

Together, they rose up straight into the sunshine. Kallon and Riza flew.

About the Author

Jackie grew up in Michigan, communing with trees when she wasn’t writing angsty teen poetry. A veteran of the USAF, she is now, among other things, a rosarian, a professional BookTaster*, and an avid believer in imagination.

Jackie’s award-winning writing ranges in length from short stories to novels; she still communes with trees between projects. She resides in Tennessee with her husband and two teens, and is working on the next book in the Leland Dragon Series.

Visit Jackie and her *BookTastings on the world wide web at

www.jackiegamber.com

If you enjoyed Jackie Gamber’s
Redheart,

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