Tears of War (26 page)

“I hatched a green. He is flying high above us right now with Maleena’s silver dragon.”

Arandrall looked at Maleena and bowed slightly to her. “It is my pleasure. Forgive my rudeness. It was a shock to hear that Mckale is a Dragon Rider.” A furrow appeared between his eyes again. “For a moment, I was sure Mckale walked in here accompanied by Emallya. You are shorter than her, but the resemblance is uncanny. And a Silver Rider as well. If I didn’t know that she lost her entire family except Bardeck by the end of the War of Fire, I would say you were her daughter.”

Maleena blushed under his scrutiny. “We have the same color of hair and eyes.”

He nodded. “I suppose that could be it.” Arandrall shook his head slightly. “To business, we have much to discuss. Please sit and tell me everything. You have visited your father I presume? If not, he will be most anxious to see you.”

Mckale nodded as they moved to a grouping of chairs at the side of the large room and sat down. “We arrived last evening and stayed the night at my father’s house. He is the one who told me of you.”

Arandrall nodded. “Yes, that makes sense. I’m surprised Emallya or Bardeck didn’t send you straight to me.”

“I think they both knew how much I wanted to see my family again,” Mckale said with a smile.

“Did your father tell you of the recent visit by Shadow Riders?” Arandrall waited for Mckale to nod. “Caused quite a stir and not in a good way. I imagine it will make Calladar’s acceptance of Galdrilene and the dragons both easier and more difficult at the same time. The Shadow Riders caused quite a few deaths and left one man physically scarred for life.”

“We heard.” Mckale said. “When my brother first heard we were Dragon Riders, he became enraged. In the end it was Maleena who convinced him.”

Arandrall’s eyebrows rose as he looked at Maleena. “And how did you accomplish that?”

She looked him in the eye and said quietly, “I showed him my own scars. I have been on the receiving end of the Shadow magic that Kaden described. Mckale too bears his own scars from such an encounter.”

“How did you come up against Shadow Riders already? I think you should start at the beginning and tell me everything that has happened in Galdrilene. I have received a few scattered messages here and there but nothing with too much information. I was hoping Emallya would make her way to Calladar soon to fill in the rather large gaps, although now that you are here I don’t have to wait.” He held up his hand. “Before we get started, let me take a moment to order refreshments and send out orders for the Council of Nine to meet in the Council chambers.” He smiled briefly at Maleena. “This is my personal residence. Meetings between the Nine take place within the walls of the fortress. We are careful to never have more than three of us together in any one place otherwise.”

Maleena nodded as he turned away and rang a bell. The servant who had brought them up came through the doors a moment later. Mckale leaned toward her as Arandrall spoke quietly with the servant. “You seem to be feeling much better today.”

She smiled at him. “I think I just needed a good night’s sleep.”

Arandrall glanced at them. “Excuse me for a moment so I can write out the orders.”

He stood and crossed the room to a heavy, polished desk and pulled out several sheets of paper. He dipped the pen in the inkwell and began to write, the sound of it scratching across the paper in quick movements loud in the quiet room. Maleena felt intense curiosity, along with an undercurrent of distrust, rolling off the servant though he kept it under tight control.

As he left with the stack of folded and sealed papers in his hand, he glanced at Maleena and she was struck by the coldness in his eyes. Had he overheard their conversation? Or was he always this way with the people who came to see Lord Arandrall?

She put the thoughts away as Arandrall resumed his position in the chair facing them. Sitting next to Mckale with his hand in hers she could sense Arandrall but nothing more. Maleena gently reached out for his mind. His servant seemed suspicious; was Arandrall sincere?

Her weave touched Arandrall’s mind, and his emotions and thoughts poured into her: intense devotion to Galdrilene and Calladar; deep worry and hope for the future; anger over the Shadow Riders; worries over the Council and their reaction; the knowledge that two others on the Council knew of Galdrilene. There was more but she pulled back quickly, the brief touch bringing an instant ache in her head.

“You should have waited until you rested a few more days before trying that. I’m sure this is not the last time you will be in the same room with this Arandrall,”
came Nydara’s sending.

“I thought it best to know sooner. His mind is much like Mckale’s. The pain will fade soon,”
she returned.

Mckale squeezed her hand and she looked into his silver eyes. Maleena heard the question in his mind but merely shook her head slightly.

Arandrall glanced between them. “Is everything alright?”

“Yes.” Mckale nodded and looked at him. “Would you like us to fill in the gaps now?”

Arandrall settled back into his chair and propped an ankle on the opposite knee. “Yes, please. We will meet with Council this afternoon. That gives you time to bring me up-to-date and for me to prepare you for the Council’s questions.”

L
oki held the weave until he no longer felt the searches of the Spirit mages flutter across the shield.

“Are sure this is a good idea?”
Merru sent.
“We did promise Vaddoc and Namir to take more responsibility.”

“And we did take more responsibility, but I have to do something else for a little while.”
Loki peered out through the thick growth of trees and ferns. He glanced back at Merru, who had his bulk pressed against the forest floor.
“You don’t have to hide like that, Merru. Someone could stand three feet from you and not see you right now. We’re only in this spot to keep someone from walking into the shield and alerting the Spirit mages.”

“I’m still unsure about the wisdom of this.”
Merru’s sending had an anxious feel to it.

Loki shrugged.
“For weeks we have done everything we were told and it is driving me insane. Day after day of lessons. I want to do something different for a while and now that I can fly with you over long distances, we can do something fun.”

“It’s a shame I can’t Slide yet. We could see what Kellinar and Shryden are up to.”

“That’s the spirit.”
Loki smiled fondly at the golden dragon.
“You may not be able to Slide, but that doesn’t mean we can’t go places.”

“Did you have someplace in mind?”
Curiosity replaced the anxiety in the dragon’s sending.

“I’ve always want to see Ardien in Boromar.”

Merru raised his head.
“You want to fly to another nation? That would be rather dangerous don’t you think?”

“It’s not like we’re going to land in the middle of the street, Merru. If we stay fairly high, you will look like a big bird to the people on the ground and we’ll get to see it, even if not too well. At least it is something to do.”

“I suppose you’re right.”
Merru stood.
“I don’t feel them searching this area anymore.”

“I don’t either.”
Loki glanced back toward the city wall but saw no one this far out. He turned back toward the gold and propped his foot on the dragon’s leg. With quick movements, he tightened the cuff of the catcher strap around his ankle. With an agile leap, he gained the saddle in a single move. In moments, he had the safety straps fastened.
“Fly as low and as fast as you can at first. I’ll hold the shield as long as I can, but it’s much harder to keep it intact when you’re flying. If the weave fails on me and anyone in the mage towers sees us, our adventure is over.”

“You only need to hold it for a few minutes.”
Merru moved through the forest, taking care not to crack his wings on any trees.
“After that I will have us around the bend in the valley and out of sight of the towers. I’m still not sure why we must sneak away. After our first flight together, we are supposed to be full Guardians and have the freedom to fly where we wish.”

“Yeah, well, I guess that doesn’t apply when you are the youngest rider ever.”
Loki couldn’t keep the sour tone from his sending. He was tired of the emphasis constantly put on his age. He may be young, but he wasn’t stupid. He had survived the streets of the Mallay for years before Kellinar took him in. Loki tried to count the years he’d spent on his own. Maybe three. He wasn’t sure how old he’d been when his parents died. He thought he was around six, but his parents hadn’t been able to count well so there was no way of knowing for sure.

Merru walked out of the trees and into a small clearing.
“Maybe you’re not.”

“Not what?”

“Not the youngest rider.”
The dragon extended his wings. The morning sunlight rippled along the length of leathery skin in a golden wave.

Loki pulled his thoughts from trying to figure his age and focused more fully on Merru.
“What in the name of the Fates are you talking about?”

“You don’t really know how old you are, and neither does anyone else. They’re sure you are at least thirteen, but you might be fourteen. Maybe you aren’t the youngest.”

Loki laughed.
“It’s possible that we are off a year on my age, but even so, there hasn’t been a rider younger than sixteen in the history of dragons in this world.”

“True. I guess we will just have to work around the unusual restrictions placed on us then,”
Merru sent.

“That is what we’re doing, my friend.”
Loki smiled as he made the sending, feeling a rush of excitement at the impending adventure. A chance to get away from everyone and all of the rules. He knew everyone was just concerned and wanted to help him be the best he could be and for that, Loki loved them. But, every now and then, he needed his freedom.

Loki sensed Merru ready to take off and grabbed the handles on the pommel of the saddle as the dragon lifted off with powerful strokes of his wings. His heart made the familiar leap as they rose above the tree tops. Diving off the edge of the caldera floor and coasting to the ground below when Merru had been younger didn’t compare to the thrill of actually flying the dragon.

Merru angled his wings and flew low and swift, the tops of the trees only a few feet beneath him. Loki didn’t have time to soak in the enjoyment of flying at that moment; every ounce of his concentration was on maintaining the shield that hid them both from view and from the searching weaves of the Spirit mages.

The stunning gold dragon raced down the valley. Loki nearly lost the weave and Merru’s anxious sending came only a moment later.
“Are you alright? I can feel the strain on you from trying to maintain the weave. Perhaps we should try this later.”

“I’m fine. Besides, how many times has Bardeck told me how useful this weave might be in battle if I could ever master it? How many times has he worked me to maintain it while moving?”