A Storm in the Desert: Dragonlinked Chronicles Voume 3 (64 page)

Guildmaster Millinith walked out of the office, interrupting Sharrah’s thoughts. The Guildmaster looked at the small gathering, smiled, and gave the same speech she gave every night to the day’s gathered applicants.

“As I mentioned in the interviews,” she said, “these applications are for a specific position, that of dragonlinked. What that means is, even should you not be approved tonight, if you still wish to be part of the guild, if your passion for dragons and helping people remains strong, you are more than welcome to re-apply when open applications are announced. After all, the guild has need of more than just dragonlinked.”

A few of the applicants looked worried. Sharrah supposed the possibility of not being approved had finally dawned on them.

“Let me add one more caveat,” the Guildmaster said. “Currently, we are looking for a specific type of dragonlinked. As such, I will first announce today’s approval. I will then announce a group of people. Those in that group can consider themselves pre-approved dragonlinked for the future.”

Now a few of the applicants looked confused. Sharrah knew what the Guildmaster was talking about. There was so much interest in becoming a dragonlinked, it was decided that the guild may as well restrict their approvals to good candidates, at least for now. And Guildmaster Millinith further asked the dragons to let her know which of the good candidates each day was the best, by whatever criteria the dragons wished. Two different dragons had monitored the interviews today, though.

“Pardon me, Guildmaster?” Renny had raised his hand.

“Yes?” She looked at him.

“When you say the future, how far do you mean?”

“A month, perhaps two,” she said. “The living quarters and, more importantly, the classrooms at the Guildhall are nearly complete. Once they are, we will be able to accommodate more accepted.”

Renny smiled. “Golden.”

“So,” Guildmaster Millinith gazed over the hopefuls, “if you are in the second group, please contact me when we announce open applications. A short interview is all that will be required and you will become accepted with an eye toward becoming dragonlinked.”

She raised three fingers. “A third caveat: As with all guilds, there will be a limit to how many accepted we can take at any one time. The pre-approved will be received in the order they return, not the order of their initial application.”

Guildmaster Millinith took a breath and let it out. “Enough talk, though. Let’s get down to business, shall we? Tonight we have two approvals: Terry and Jemma.”

The Guildmaster had to pause, as the two new accepted had both let out exclamations of happiness. Smiling, Guildmaster Millinith said, “Congratulations, you two. As for the second group, it’s Renny, Kristina—Hmm.” She put on a sly grin. “Actually, it’s the rest of you.”

She had to pause again as cheers, whoops, and sounds of excitement burst forth. “Congratulations, all of you. Tonight is the first night where everyone was approved one way or the other. Jemma and Terry bring our accepted up to eight. I think we have room for two more.”

Twelve people for four eggs. Sharrah twisted her lips into a grimace. Those weren’t the best odds. But, as Cheddar said, they would bond eventually. She sure hoped so.

She also hoped the meeting on Sulday went well. Not having to worry about manisi attempting to kill them or their dragons would be a blessing.

She squeezed Cheddar’s hand. “Hey, can you help me practice today’s new fight moves?”

“Sure. I could use some practice myself. Can’t hurt to be ready in case the Order tries to repeat its stupidity by sending another manis.”

She smiled at him. “You’re reading my mind again.”

+ + + + +

“I know my decision, but what do you think about it?”

Baronel placed the ribbon in the book, closed it, and set it on the nightstand. “All I can think about is her face.” He lay back on the pillow.

Rora chuckled. “She was fierce, determined, and passionate.”

“She practically glowed when she spoke of dragons.” He turned to her. “If she ever looks at someone that way, their heart will be lost to her forever.” He twisted his lips in a grimace. “I suppose I should have known this day would come.”

Rora nodded. “There is nothing but dragons in her room.”

“Sketches, newspaper clippings, books, announcements she took from one of the notice boards, little dragons she made from sticks and twine . . .” He shook his head. “She’s crazy for them.”

“You’re upset.”

“A little. Sad, mostly. Those self-same qualities would have made her a great Lady of the Caer. But eventually, children start to grow up, and when that happens, you have to let them find their own way.”

“Like Aeron? Anaya? And the rest?”

It had been a difficult thing to do, to let them go. “The Dragon Craft Guild was born of them and is a better place for them. It’s just that now it will take our little Korrie. But it’s as it should be, right? This way she’ll grow and become the best that she can. She’ll—”

For some reason his vision was suddenly blurry.

“Oh, dear-heart.” Rora rolled over and hugged him. “Korrie will never be more than moments from us, one portal away.”

He nodded into her shoulder.

As quickly as everyone had arrived at breakfast, Renata was certain that the girls weren’t the only ones who elected to take showers. That amazing and quick bathing method was her favorite. Time was of the essence this morning, after all. The meeting was an hour before noon. Well, at Caer Baronel time, anyway. There was much to do in preparation. That was why everyone had eaten quickly, too.

Renata dragged the brush over Xochi. She wasn’t alone in grooming her bond-mate in the first light of dawn. The dragonlinked were all scattered about the courtyard, brushing down their dragons. Even if the Guildmaster hadn’t suggested it, everyone would likely have done so anyway. They all wanted their bond-mates to look good for the meeting. Even Mia and Kisa were being attended to. Seeing them all working on their bond-mates together sent a spike of jittery excitement through her.

You seem eager.

I am. Everyone working together, working so hard for this meeting, makes me feel happy.
Xochi lifted her left wing and Renata moved under it, continuing the brush-down.
Lately we’ve all been doing things on our own: patrols, enchanting shifts, trips here and there. It feels good to all be doing something together.

Everything we all do is in the name of the guild and its purpose, so, in a sense, everything each of us does, we do together.

Renata leaned back, brows raised.
I never thought of it like that.

The slightest feeling of smugness came through the link and Xochi rumbled in satisfaction.

Renata chuckled, patted Xochi on the side, and moved to her tail, the last bit to be brushed. The precocious dragon was right. Even so, this meeting excited Renata a great deal. She wasn’t sure why.

With a last swipe, the brushing was done.
There, sweetling. All finished.

Brushing feels so good.
Xochi raised her wings and stretched, her forelegs out in front, her  rear in the air. She looked a lot like Snow when he stretched.

Jessip and Zolin seemed to be finished as well.
I’m going to see if Polandra needs help with Ikan.

Good idea. My blood-brother is the biggest of us.

When she rounded Ikan, she found Liara helping Polandra.

“Ah, good.” Renata smiled. “Ikan is a big boy. Polandra could use some help brushing him down.”

Ikan’s large eyes, gold in the morning light, turned on her. He let out a pleased rumble and blinked.
Good morning, Renata.

She smiled at him. “Good morning.”

Polandra let out a breath. It clouded in the chill air. “I’m so nervous that I might vomit.”

“Because of the meeting?” Liara asked.

“Yeah. One second I’m excited, the next, I’m terrified.” She let out another breath. “It’s driving me mad.”

“I guess I feel the same way,” Renata said. “Though I feel mostly excited.”

“Why are you terrified?” Liara brushed Ikan’s shoulder.

“I’m scared something will go wrong.” Polandra glanced at Renata then back at Ikan’s tail. She continued brushing and said, “When I first heard that Renata had left the Order, was missing, I was angry. How dare she leave. Of course, once I spoke with Isandath, everything changed. I was happy for her. She was able to leave that terrible place and save a dragon at the same time. I couldn’t wait to get away from there, too.” Eyes distant, she clutched the brush to her chest. “But now, I want to go back, I want to help the people still there, make their lives better.” She looked at Liara. “If I don’t, I feel like I’m abandoning them.”

She started brushing again. “If something bad happens at this meeting, I’m not sure we’ll get another chance at convincing the umeri.”

Renata walked back to Xochi. Helping the people left behind. Changing the Order for the better. That was it. That was what had excited her: the idea that things might get better in Bataan-Mok. But now she was scared, too. This meeting had to work.

+ + + + +

Cirtis looked up from the papers on his desk as Lonato entered the room. A glance at the chronometer revealed that it was half an hour before noon. Anais was no doubt getting ready to set out his meal.

“My apologies, Capu,” Lonato said. “I did not mean to disturb you.” He bowed and set a robe and an a’sano out. “So you may change into them, when you finish with lunch.”

The boy had a thin rope of woven cloth strips tied around his upper arm, visible through the sheer shift. It was green in color. More and more people were sporting those.

“Worry not,” Cirtis said. “I am nearly done anyway.” He looked back at the report. “Today will be a busy day.”

“That it will, Capu.”

“Has the pool been attended to?” Cirtis had the enormous hole left in Daelon’s Plaza converted into a kind of pool two days after it had been created, ordering it filled with water.

“Yes, Capu. Workers were sent out to gather the flowers. Dozens and dozens of gold poppies will float on its surface for the meeting. Though Umeron Yiska still calls the pool a waste of water.”

“Until we figure out what to do, filling it with water will keep anyone from getting injured, should they fall into it.”

Yiska was ever an issue. Though he had ceased grumbling about their failure to kill Anaya as he felt they should have, the man still found fault with everything. Oddly, he no longer voiced complaints about this afternoon’s meeting. That did not ease Cirtis’s mind, however. The acerbic old goat was up to something.

After finishing the report, he set it down and stretched. He should have Lonato talk to Umeron Kimi. He wanted to be sure she would have enough manisi on hand to stand along the barrier walls that would keep the onlookers at bay. Then, after visiting her, perhaps the boy could make a quick stop by the supply clerk to check that the large tarpaulin would be ready and installed before this afternoon. Their talks with the Dragon Craft Guild would take place in the largest courtyard, Daelon’s Plaza, in order to accommodate the eight dragons. The heavy cloth tenting would be levitated and held in place to provide a shaded seating area  for the guests.

As the boy straightened up around the room, the band of wound cloth around the his arm caught Cirtis’s eye again. “Lonato.”

The boy looked up. “Yes, Capu?”

“The cloth tied to your arm. I have seen others wearing similar. What is its significance?”

Lonato glanced at it. “Aeron wore a green robe that day. People wear these to show support for him and his dragon.”

Cirtis said, “I see. Could you prepare one for me?”

Lonato looked up and smiled. “Of course, Capu.”

Cirtis nodded. “Good. I hate to ask you to put off lunch, but once you are done with the armband, I need you to run a few errands. I want to be sure they have everything in readiness for this afternoon.”

“Yes, Capu, of course.”

After Cirtis explained who to visit and why, Lonato nodded. “I shall leave your armband with Anais when it is done, then I will run those errands for you.” The boy bowed and left.

Nervous excitement filled Cirtis. The meeting was less than two hours away. Taking a deep breath, he let it out slowly. He couldn’t wait to see more dragons. Would he be able to speak with one, as Isandath had mentioned?

+ + + + +

Takatin stared unseeing at the cup of tea in his hand. Pivin hadn’t as of yet responded to the messenger requesting a meeting. The messenger hadn’t returned, either. Was Pivin trying to compose an inquiry concerning what was happening in Bataan-Mok? That is what Takatin wanted to reassure the company representative about. Nothing should change, as far as their business relationship. The land purchase was complete after all. And Takatin’s side deal with National Transportation, with Pivin, would not be affected, even should the Corpus Order decide that they would no longer hunt dragons.

Dragons.

He recalled the previous one he saw, about forty years ago. It was the only other dragon he’d ever seen, actually. He and Hania had been part of the hunt party sent after it.

A brief twinge in his heart made him raise his brows. Even after all these years, it still hurt to think of him.

That dusty green dragon had been entirely different from the one that escaped from Daelon’s Plaza. They’d bound it with magic, forcing it to drop from the air. It’s eyes were wild and full of fear. It trembled almost uncontrollably, its wings constantly twitching. As they were working to tie it up for transport back to Bataan-Mok—in the merest instant between the release of a bind and its being tied with rope—the desperate creature had lashed out blindly with a claw.

Takatin had no idea there was that much blood in a person. Hania, hands clutched to his neck, had fallen to the ground and turned wide eyes on him. Takatin could only stare, in shock, while crimson stained the dry earth and the light went out from Hania’s eyes.

“No.” Takatin set the cup down. It was pointless to dwell on the pain of the past.

Why had this dragon, Anaya, acted so differently? She hadn’t been anxious at all. Why? Did it have something to do with being bonded? What was that, exactly? Aeron had mentioned he was bonded to her, that he could feel what she was feeling. It sounded a great deal like how he and his twin brother could sense each other, almost hear each other’s thoughts. He shoved that memory aside, too. More remembered pain.

Even though Takatin had approached with the executioner’s sword, Anaya had just sat there on the platform, watching him. She hadn’t seemed overly concerned and was as calm as she had been every other day prior. She’d just sat there, in the sun, watching the people watching her. He’d gone back again to see her one more time before that evening. She was a remarkable creature. Spying the green dragon in the sky all those years ago, watching it glide between beats of its enormous wings, he’d felt as much awe as he had observing Anaya. When it had seen them below, it had tried to flee. But the manisi were trained well and captured it.

After Hania’s death, he’d devoted himself to becoming the best manis the Order had ever seen. What an ill-advised endeavor that had been. Both for his naivete, and because the Corpus Order wasn’t worth the effort. Lies on top of lies. That’s all the Order was. This meeting, these talks with the Dragon Craft Guild, would not change that.

Takatin stood. It was time for lunch. And then the charade would begin.

+ + + + +

Fillion turned to the left, then the right, in front of the mirror. As far as he could tell, everything was snapped, strapped, and buckled as it should be. They had to look their best at the meeting. No robes this trip. No subterfuge and no disguises. They were dragonlinked and were going as dragonlinked. They were representing the guild.

The dragonlinked had spent the morning getting their dragons ready, and now that it was almost time to leave, they’d all returned to their rooms for final preparations.

He turned to the doorway to the den. “Gregor! You need to get changed. It’s almost time to go to Delcimaar.” They had to stop off at the Bureau of Guilds before continuing on to the South.

Quiet laughter came from the den and amusement through the link.

He is . . . occupied, at the moment.

Shaking his head, Fillion walked to the doorway. “Come on, Gregor, you have to—” One look into the den and laughter burst from his lips.

Gregor, only partly visible, was on the floor of the den, Kisa on top of him. Quiet chuckles came from under her. “Let me up, you silly girl.”

Kisa turned sad eyes on Fillion.
I think I might be too big to sit in his lap anymore.

Fillion said, “Yes, sweetling. Seeing as you’re as big as him now, yeah.” He gestured to her. “Come on, let him up. He has to change. And we just brushed y’all down. You’re going to get dusty and dirty again if you keep playing on the floor.”

Accepting Fillion’s hand to help him up, Gregor stood. “I am rescued. My knight in leather armor has come to save his prince.”

Chuckling, Fillion shoved him toward the bedroom. “Get to it. We’ve only got ten minutes before we leave.”

The smile faded from his lips. Gregor had received a letter this morning from his father. Lord Eldin and Lady Lora—along with his sister, Elise—were coming to visit. They’d be here in two weeks or so. Fillion frowned, then shook his head. No. He shouldn’t prejudge. Maybe Gregor’s mother and sister were nice. He was amazing, after all. Perhaps he’d gotten it from his mother’s side of the family.

Fillion grabbed the saddle from the stand and set it over Coatl’s shoulders. Between buckling the front and rear cinches, he checked the sit of the saddle making sure it was proper, and then double-checked the cinches after to be sure they were buckled securely.

Walking past Kisa—she and Snow sat next to each other, chirping—he grabbed his bo and placed it in the pocket on the side of the saddle. Gregor’s bo he tied onto its back. He hoped with all his might it wouldn’t come to that, but he wasn’t taking any chances.

“We’ll see you in the yard,” he called as he led Coatl and Kisa outside.

The courtyard was completely full. Aeron and Anaya, Willem and Balam, Liara and Mia, Jessip and Zolin, Renata and Xochi, and Polandra and Ikan—they all stood about, chatting, yawning (Renata shook her head at Jessip), and checking over their gear. Sharrah and Cheddar stood near Aeron, talking with him. They were not going. There were only six dragons who could carry people, and Master Enora’s message to the Guildmaster had mentioned more than four sorcerers. Guildmaster Millinith wanted to only have three people per dragon, if possible.