A Storm in the Desert: Dragonlinked Chronicles Voume 3 (56 page)

After circling the plaza once, Coatl landed a few dozen feet away. Millinith stared at the young woman.

“That was spectacular and deliciously scary,” Ana said. “You can see so much from up there, Gella. I even saw the palace!” She patted Coatl on the neck. “Thank you Coatl,” she turned to Fillion, “and thank you, too.”

If you ever wish to fly again, have Master Gella let us know. We will come.

Fillion frowned. “Hey, don’t be making plans without consulting me, leather bag.” His eyes lost focus for a moment. Then he gasped and turned to Ana. “Alandra’s merciful heart. Please forgive me, I did not know.”

Three things suddenly became clear to Millinith. First, Gella wouldn’t be so nervous about
any ordinary friend being out and about
. Second, there was probably only one person in Delcimaar who knew that Gella had ridden Coatl ‘all over the world’ and why. Third, Ana was likely short for—

Eyes large, Millinith murmured, “Good gods,” and started to drop to a knee.

“Stop!” Ana held out a hand, and Millinith froze mid-kneel. “Please,” Ana said, “stand up.”

Adept Oran looked from Ana to her and back.

Millinith straightened and stood. “My la—”

“No.” Ana shook her head. “I’m Ana right now. Just . . . Ana.”

Millinith nodded. “As you wish.”

Ana turned to Coatl and smiled. “You knew right off, didn’t you?”

Dragons can sense things about people, can almost read their thoughts. Master Gella is very concerned about your safety. And you know who you are. You can change the way you look, can change your clothes, but you cannot change your thoughts or your heart so easily.

“Fascinating,” Ana said. She turned. “Dragonlinked Fillion, would you care to speak to me of all things draconic while the Guildmaster and Master Gella have a talk? It seems I have heretofore unknown people on the continent, and I would like to learn more of them. Auditor Oran? Please, join us.”

“Yes ma’am!” Fillion jogged over.

Oran walked over to them. The look on the young man’s face was that of confusion with just a touch of fear. It must be obvious to him that something important was going on.

Millinith approached Gella. “Some kind of hint would have been nice.”

“I’m sorry,” Gella said, “but she insists that we maintain the pretense. When I found out you were in the city, I figured I would meet you here to ask if Fillion could take me to the South when my people arrive at the northern end of the flats. She found out and decided that she wanted to accompany me to meet Coatl. She wanted to come as a normal person, without any of her normal retinue. Try as I might, I could do nothing to dissuade her. I actually need to get her back to the palace soon, or they’ll all be in a swivet, regardless of what she told them.” She sighed. “I should never have gone on about Coatl to her.”

Millinith glanced at High Lady Hasana—Ana. She had one hand on the dragon’s neck while listening to Fillion. Millinith’s lips crooked in a smile. “I think I like her.”

Gella grunted. “Try arguing with her when her mind is set. See how much you like her then.” She turned to Millinith. “So, would it be alright if Fillion took me to the flats? I’ll notify you on the ‘writer when I need to go.”

“As long as he has no other commitments, that should be no problem.”

“Good. I’m not sure how long it will take, but once I’ve settled affairs in the South, I would be most interested in helping you with your own problems down there in any way that I can.”

Millinith nodded. “I appreciate that.” If Enora couldn’t round up enough friends, perhaps this trump card would be of use.

+ + + + +

Fillion smiled.
They’d made it back just in time for lunch.
Once the others had dismounted, he hopped off and patted Coatl on the neck.
Good flight, big guy.

The mahogany dragon let out a rumble.

“Auditor, if you’ll follow me,” Guildmaster Millinith said, “I’ll show you to our interim office and introduce you to Dragonlinked Renata and Adept Liflin. Our Animal Craft auditor may even be there.”

Fillion watched them head off. That had been an interesting trip.
Come on, let’s tell them about our adventure.
He turned and made for the stable.

Coatl padded beside him.
The Lady thought I was amazing.

Fillion chuckled.
Yes. Yes, she did.

Kisa stood in the dragon door and greeted them with a bark.
You are back!

Coatl gave her a chirp.

Fillion laughed. “Yes we are, little one.”

I am not little anymore. I am still awake!

Gregor walked up from behind her. He smiled, squatted, and scratched her chin. “That is true, though it looked like you were getting sleepy.”

She looked like she was about to protest, but Fillion’s words caught her attention. “I have presents.”

Presents? For me?

“For you, yes, but also for Coatl and Gregor.” Fillion opened the waist pouch and removed the six small cookies.

Both dragons rumbled happily at the sight of baked goods.

Handing four to Gregor, Fillion said, “Try to at least have one? They’re really good.”

Gregor chuckled and stuck one in his mouth. “Mmm. These are good.” He bent and offered one to Kisa.

Coatl already had his large mouth open.

Fillion chuckled and tossed two cookies in. “Here you go.”

Delicious.

“I saw the guy with the Guildmaster,” Gregor said as they followed the dragons into the den. “Are the rest of the Magic Craft representatives coming via stagecoach?”

Fillion let out a breath. “He is all we’re getting.”

“What?”

“We didn’t get to speak with their guildmaster, only an adjunct. And he didn’t think we needed more. He only gave us our auditor.”

Gregor looked angry. “Is he stupid? Didn’t Millinith explain what the Order has done?”

“She did. The adjunct played it all off as if none of it was definite. Anaya wasn’t actually executed, Master Gella hasn’t yet proved the Order is involved, we don’t know that there will actually be manisi waiti—”

“Are you kidding me?” Gregor looked about to explode.

“But that’s fine.”

“How is that fine?”

“We ran into an old friend of Millinith’s, Master Enora. She’s going to see if she can’t get some sorcerers together to go with us as interested parties.”

Gregor frowned. “I hope she’s successful. I don’t trust Takatin even as far as I could throw him.”

At lunch, the other dragonlinked shared Gregor’s concern.

Willem shoved his plate away. “I don’t like it. Those bastards tried to kill Anaya and threw Aeron in gaol. We need more people to go with us in case they try something.”

“Takatin was the one who wanted to kill Anaya,” Aeron said.

“Many in the Order feel the same as he does.” Renata pushed a few peas around her plate with a fork.

“Not all of them,” Polandra said. “In fact, most of them do not.”

“The Guildmaster trusts Master Enora,” Fillion said. “We shouldn’t worry so much until we learn how many the woman can round up.”

“Fillion has a point,” Sharrah said.

Cheddar nodded. “Yeah. Let’s worry about something else.”

“What exactly are we going to do when we go back?” Jessip looked from one to another.

“The Guildmaster told Enora that we were going back when Capu Cirtis feels the time is right,” Fillion said, “when the Order is ready to listen to us. I’m assuming she meant once enough of the umeri were willing to listen. They’re the ones who vote on things, after all. That part of our plans hasn’t changed. We’ll introduce the umeri to our dragons, like we did here in the Caer with Anaya’s question and answer.”

“Assuming we can stop Takatin’s plans,” Gregor said. “Otherwise there won’t be an Order.”

“We’ll stop his plans,” Aeron said. “Part of what we need to do for that to happen is to let the people in the Order know that there are still dragons to save. We’re going to have all our dragons there, even Mia and Kisa.”

Fillion frowned. He wasn’t sure it was a good idea. “What if having that many dragons there scares people?”

“Anaya said that most of the people who came to see the ‘evil dragon’ turned out to actually like her,” Aeron said. “I’m sure a big part of that was because she was the calm, amazing dragon she normally is. We’ll talk to our dragons to be sure they’re well-behaved. Nice and mannerly.”

“Mannerly, huh?” Polandra stared at Aeron. She had one brow raised. “How is Anaya, by the way? I heard a ruckus last night, and when I stepped outside to see what it was about, I saw her tear out of the courtyard, Balam fast on her tail.”

Aeron’s cheeks flushed crimson. Fillion wondered why that was. And Willem, too, was blushing. Fillion narrowed his eyes. Had he missed something last night?

“S–She’s fine.” Aeron cleared his throat and looked around at everyone. “Perhaps it’s that the clutching room is complete, or perhaps it’s that she’s happy to have escaped from the Order, but for whatever reason, last night . . . well, she’s, ah, she’s going to be a mother.”

Fillion raised his brows. He had definitely missed something!

“Congratulations!” Sharrah leapt up, ran around the table, and wrapped her arms around Willem and Aeron.

Everyone offered well-wishes, pats on the back, and slugs on the shoulders.

“How is she doing?” Liara asked.

Aeron shrugged. “Good. She feels happy. Her and Balam have been in the den since they returned, soaking wet, last night.”

“Soaking wet?” Gregor’s brows were furrowed.

“They were in the lake,” Willem explained.

“Why were they in the lake?” Fillion said.

“That’s where they went to, ah—” Aeron cleared his throat. “Let’s just say that the lake is much less cramped than a den in the stables.”

“Dragons can hold their breath for a surprisingly long time,” Willem murmured.

“I see.” Sharrah opened her backpack and removed a notebook. She scratched away in it then looked up. “Does she know how many eggs she will lay?”

Cheddar burst out laughing. “Gods, Sharrah, always taking notes.”

“Hush,” she said and looked back at Aeron.

“No. This morning she only knew that she would lay eggs soon. Dragons, wild ones, can’t sense life, so she was unable to check her memories to know when she will be able to tell how many. We’ll have to find that out as we go. However many there are, they will be laid within about a week. That was one thing she was able to remember. How long it takes, after, you know.”

Liara chuckled. She had a wicked gleam in her eye. “It must have been interesting.”

Aeron’s face grew very flushed. “You may think you’re close to your dragon through the link, but let me tell you, when they’re . . . like that, it’s almost as if you become your dragon.”

“It was most definitely interesting.” Willem had a smile on his face, though he seemed to not want to meet anyone’s gaze directly.

“And I would be remiss,” Aeron said, “if I didn’t give you all some advice. At least those of you bonded with female dragons.” Aeron cleared his throat again. “As I said, when they get like that, the difference, the distance between you and your dragon, fades.” He glanced at Willem. “We realized that this might be something that would have to be dealt with, so we prepared.” Aeron looked at his hands resting on the table. “You do not want your shared experiences with your dragons to be bad, so if it isn’t how you and your partner normally, ah, interact, or, I guess, if you never have, you should think about, um, practicing.”

Fillion grunted. That potential issue had never occurred to him. Not that it would be a problem for him and Gregor.

Aeron stood. “Well, I need to cut out early to get ready for my CTC patrol. See you all later.” He grabbed his tray and practically ran for the bus bins.

“He’s to be commend for sharing that information,” Gregor said. “I’m embarrassed to admit that I hadn’t considered the implications of that aspect of dragon life.” He glanced at the faces around him. “And it looks like most of you hadn’t either. All the more reason to be grateful Aeron mentioned it. After all, we’re dragonlinked. We need to know everything about our companions, including how the link affects them and us under different circumstances.”

“Think well on all Aeron’s words,” Liara said. “Preparing beforehand is prudent advice. I imagine dragons could be . . . energetic.”

Willem chuckled. “Yeah.” The blond boy was staring at his plate, a faint smile on his lips. When he glanced up, however, and saw everyone looking him, the smile vanished and his cheeks turned crimson.

He grabbed his tray and said, “I, ah, should probably help get Anaya ready for the patrol.”

Fillion watched Willem rush off. With Anaya and Nenet laying eggs soon, there would be potentially up to six eggs waiting to hatch. There were only two candidates ready. He glanced at Sharrah and Cheddar. Whether or not the guild was ready, it needed to start accepting applications.