The night grew colder, and everyone huddled near the fire, warming their hands and sharing cloaks—except for Forest, who had none. I didn’t dare move nearer to the blaze, though the wind chafed my face and I shivered despite the fur lining of my cloak.
I was a pariah in the dark. Tossed aside because I was a girl.
A low, intense conversation grew among the men. I couldn’t quite hear their words, but I was certain they were talking about me. As I surreptitiously scooted a bit closer, River eased Jasper’s shirt over his head. Forest took the remaining strips of my binding and began to wrap them around Jasper’s torso.
For a brief moment, my heart warmed. But then I caught words that, a few minutes earlier, the wind had carried away.
“There’s no place for her here,” Jasper said. “I don’t even have the words to—ugh!”
“Sorry,” Forest muttered. “I need to make it tight enough to keep the bones set.”
“I’m with Jasper,” Sedge said. “What she’s done isn’t natural. What kind of girl would tell a lie like that?”
“It’s beyond the fact that she lied to us,” Jasper said. “She’s broken the law and dishonored our high king.”
“She also saved your life,” Dalen said.
“That’s not the point.”
“We’ve lost five men,” River said. “Is it worth it to condemn someone else to death?”
“I agree,” Dalen said. “We need her.”
I almost smiled. Their support meant so much.
“I say toss her into the fire and be done with it,” Sedge said.
“Lay a hand on her, and I’ll toss you in after her.” Forest’s voice. Low and menacing, like I’d never heard it before.
I held my breath. Nobody responded right away.
“Why are you so interested in saving her?” Sedge asked. “So you can take a piece of her when everyone’s asleep?”
Forest lunged so quickly that Sedge didn’t see it coming. He recovered quickly, and within seconds, they were wrestling dangerously close to the fire, with the others shouting and jumping out of the way.
I rose to my knees, desperate to see what was happening. Forest was quick, able to recover his advantage the moment he lost it, but Sedge was strong, overpowering Forest whenever he had a moment’s lead. They writhed and clawed like animals, Forest eventually gaining the upper hand and slamming Sedge’s head hard to the ground.
Jasper’s voice rose above the din. “Stop this. Stop it now.”
Dalen and River pulled on Forest while Briar and Flint pulled on Sedge, tearing them from each other and standing between them to keep them from reengaging. The commotion dwindled to silence.
“No one touches her,” Jasper said. “And no one decides what to do with her except me. She’s my responsibility. My liability.”
This was too much. “Commander.” I rose unsteadily. “I’m not your liability. Or anyone else’s. I deceived you and you’re angry, but don’t dehumanize me. Let me prove that my worth is what it has always been. Nothing has changed.”
Jasper’s words had jagged edges. “Everything has changed.” He looked away. “You’ve broken the high king’s law, and are therefore in my custody as a thief. You will not speak again unless you’re spoken to.”
I stood in the cold, stunned by his unwillingness to even consider my words. Then I folded myself onto the ground and was silent—not because I was a girl, but because Jasper was right: I’d pretended to be a boy, which made me a thief. I was at his mercy.
“How do you know she won’t call that dragon down on us while we sleep?” Sedge said.
“The dragon saved my life,” Jasper said. “Saved all of our lives. Enough of this fighting.”
“We can’t just leave her here to die,” Forest said. He was still breathing heavily.
“I’d already decided to travel behind the rest of you,” Jasper said. “I’ll stay and guard her until you return.”
Silence fell, and I guessed that everyone else was grappling with not wanting to leave Jasper behind, while knowing they had little choice.
“Nobody but Storm can wake the dragons,” Dalen said. “We need him. Her.”
“How can you know that? Believe that?” Flint asked.
“It’s in The Lament of Nuaga. I can read it to you, if you like.” He glanced at Jasper, who gave an almost-imperceptible nod.
One by one, the men sat as Dalen read Nuaga’s Lament from his scroll. I closed my eyes and let the words wash over me, so familiar now. When he finished, no one spoke.
“There’s more,” Dalen finally said. “Several verses that I never knew existed, until Storm ran off to the Archives and copied them. And they explain a lot.”
“She went where?” Jasper’s words were hollow, as though he were resigned to learning about every possible secret I’d kept.
“To the Archives, several miles west of our training camp,” Dalen said.
“You knew she was going to run off?” Flint asked.
“No, she told me about it recently.”
“Where are those verses?” Jasper asked.
Dalen dug the parchment from his pocket and read.
“Where is one not loath to answer
Brave Nuaga?
Willing sacrifice to offer,
Selfless, like T’Gonnen.
“She who knows the pain of parting
Knows its power.
Deep beneath the Hold in caverns,
Waiting to awaken.
“Through the ages, sons from fathers,
All Ylanda
Waits in safety for the Dragons
Once again to join them.
“Breath of Dragon, searing, cleansing,
Necessary.
Bear the mark and bring your boldness
To the sleeping Dragons.
“Call to them with words predestined
Over ages
In the ancient tongue of Dragons—
S’danta lo ylanda.
“If the line of kings is severed
Then the Dragons
Ever will belong to those who
Snuff Ylanda’s bloodline.
“Destined to command and lead them—
Dragon she-king,
Through her mark, the bearer’s presence
Satisfies the calling.
“Wake, O Dragons! Do not tarry!
Save your people.
Let us usher in the reign of
Loyal, brave Nuaga.”
“Killing the high king would sever the royal bloodline,” Briar offered.
“How did Tan Vey even know about the hold?” Flint asked.
“The nomads obviously know our history,” Jasper said.
Sedge threw something into the fire. “What does any of this have to do with … her?”
“She’s the one who’s answered Nuaga,” Dalen said.
“Where is one not loath to answer
Brave Nuaga?
Willing sacrifice to offer,
Selfless, like T’Gonnen.”
“There it is,” Sedge said. “She needs to die.”
“Agreed.” It was soft, but it sounded like Flint.
“How do we know she’s the one, though?” River asked. “Why would a dragon choose her over anyone else?”
“Because she was swallowing a powder every night that had dragon magic in it,” Forest said.
A cry tried to escape my throat; I choked it back.
“She told you this?” Jasper said.
“She did.”
“What powder? Why?” Jasper.
Forest glanced at me for the briefest instant. “For her own reasons. But I saw her swallowing it every night. And she told me about the dragon’s speaking to her weeks ago.”
“And you said nothing?”
“What could I say? It wasn’t my secret to give away.”
Every string of my heart knotted. Please don’t say more. Please don’t implicate yourself.
For a while, no one said anything. Someone threw a stick into the fire; Briar took a swig from his skin. It was Jasper who broke the silence.
“It seems that, if Rain has been swallowing dragon magic, she’s the only one who can do this.”
“No, she’s not.” Sedge’s voice cut through me like a hot blade. “I can do it.”
Muttering broke out, and a disbelieving laugh or two. But Sedge’s face remained serious, his eyes locked on Jasper.
“Explain,” Jasper said.
Sedge reached into his own pouch and pulled out the small bottle I’d seen once before. “Dragonsweat. I’ve been using it for at least a year now.”
More disbelieving laughter broke out, but Jasper’s face was stone. So was Forest’s.
“Dragon … sweat?”
“That’s what the old hag called it,” Sedge said. “It’s … oily. For all I know, that’s all it is. Oil.”
“What makes you think you can wake dragons with it?” Forest asked.
Sedge shrugged. “I may have had a couple of dreams. I didn’t take them seriously.”
I stared until the firelight burned my eyes. Sedge had dreamed of Nuaga?
“You’ve seen this dragon in your dreams?”
“I don’t know if it was the same dragon or not. Like I said, I didn’t take it seriously. Or maybe it’s because I only use a bit of the oil every day, to make it last. Maybe it’s not strong enough that way.”
“What’s the oil for?” Jasper asked.
For the first time since I’d known him, Sedge looked sheepish. “Courage. Strength. Stamina in bed. Things that are important to a man.”
I could hardly believe my ears. Sedge, with all his piggishness and posturing, relied on Madam S’dora’s oily potion to make him into the man he wanted to be. Which wasn’t a very nice sort of man at all.
“What will happen if you use a lot of the oil at once? Or all of it?”
“I don’t know. But I’m guessing it might be strong enough for me to wake the dragons—whatever that means.”
“It means exactly that,” Dalen said. “It’s not some sort of euphemism.”
“Are you willing to risk it, Sedge?” Jasper asked.
“No!” I cried out without thinking. “Not him!”
Several sets of eyes turned my way, including Forest’s. Jasper and Sedge did not acknowledge me.
“I’ll do it,” Sedge said, as though I hadn’t spoken.
“Nuaga hasn’t been talking to you, though, has she?” Dalen said. “You can’t just show up without understanding—”
“I’ll use the oil and she can tell me what to do. If some stupid girl can wake these dragons, I can do it.”
“You can leave at first light,” Jasper said. “Same plan as before, except you’ll be the one to lead the way.”
My spirits sagged to the ground and pulled my heart to my feet. Not only had I been bound and outcast, I had been replaced by Sedge.
“What about the girl?” Briar’s voice.
Jasper gave me a long, dispassionate look before turning his face toward the others. “If we survive this, I’ll deal with her myself.”
His words were final. Everyone else must’ve thought so, too, because no further conversation ensued. Awkwardly, I eased myself onto my side and tried to get comfortable. It was nearly impossible, though, with my hands tied behind my back. By the time I found a position that didn’t make my arm fall asleep, my cloak had shifted off my exposed shoulder, leaving me shivering again.
If only I could find a way to unknot my bound hands. I didn’t shrink from the thought of running off on my own, but it would be stupid to try with my hands tied behind my back. For a while, I tried twisting and pulling, hoping that somehow the fabric would stretch or tear. I tried until I was panting with the effort, but Sedge had done his work well; the knotted strips didn’t budge.
I gave up. Wearily, I determined I’d try once more in the morning to make Jasper see reason, though my hope of success was small.
I closed my eyes and despaired of ever falling asleep.
Rain.
Nuaga’s voice was clear as a spring-fed brook and sang through my dream like music. I stood on a windswept plain, and Nuaga’s words danced around me, echoing through clouds and off hilltops, first near, then far.
Rain. You are slipping away.
“I’m right here.” But the gale sucked the sound from my words.
I’m waiting.
I searched the sky, the ground, the hilltops, but I could not see her. Our connection was dissolving, and I couldn’t stop it. The wind spun around me like twirling skirts, like spinning wool, like a whirlpool. The earth beneath me sank, until I stood at the bottom of a basin. I reached up.
“Nuaga. Can you hear me?”
Climb, Rain. In the back, where no one can see.
“What?”
The sky grew darker and darker, until I stood in complete blackness, the storm raging above me, the last words of Nuaga carried on its tail.
… where no one can see …
I gasped myself awake. The fire had burned low, and somehow my cloak was once again wrapped around me. I felt strangely hot and my heart was racing. My mouth ached for the comfort of the powder beneath my tongue.
I lay still, breathing through the uneasiness, feeling more alone than I’d ever felt. It looked like everyone else was asleep, though I guessed that Jasper must have assigned someone to keep watch.
“Rain.”
The voice was soft—mere breath—and behind me, but I knew it right away. I twisted my head to the left and met Forest’s eyes in the low glimmer of remaining firelight.
“What are—”
He pressed his finger to my lips. “Sit up.”
He helped me do so, and a sudden swipe from his blade released me from the knotted strips. Heart pounding, I rubbed my wrists and waited while Forest bent to retrieve something.
“Here.” He handed me my breastplate. “Took me a while to find it back there.”
I took it, not fully comprehending what he wanted me to do. Nuaga’s voice still whispered in my memory, and my heart ached to hear her again.
“Is your water skin full?” Forest whispered in my ear. I nodded, and he lowered his voice further. “Now’s your chance to leave. This is third watch, which gives us about three hours until dawn.”
“Us? But—”
“Us.”
“You’re leaving your watch?”
“Yes. It’s you or them—and I choose you.”
A thrill ran up my spine. Without a word, I donned my breastplate, making sure my dagger was in the attached sheath, and arranged my cloak over it. Then I sheathed my sword, which Forest had also retrieved for me.
“You don’t have to come,” I whispered.
“I would never let you do this alone.”
He cupped his hand around my cheek, and, for a breath or two, warmth from his touch surged into my heart and lightened the darkness inside me. In the next instant, we moved quickly away from the camp and into the cover of night, the sound of our footfalls lost in the never-ending whine of the wind.
