Blood of Dragons

Lecter’s blue dragon had neared the far shore. He arched his body, bending his head and shorter front legs down toward his suddenly dangling back feet, touched the ground with all four feet, wings wide, and for one instant, his landing was graceful. Then his speed betrayed him, and he tumbled in a somersault, wings still open. A mixed chorus of cheers, groans and a few hoots of laughter met his clumsy landing. But Lecter gave a wild shout of joy and leapt into the air. He spun, froggy grin wide to confront those who had laughed, demanding, ‘And can your dragons do better?’ He spotted Davvie and caught his lover in a crushing hug.

A moment later, his foster-brother and Sylve had engulfed them both in a wild embrace. Then, to Tat’s astonishment, Harrikin plucked Sylve free, spun her once and then, as he landed her, kissed her deeply. The gathering keepers were shouting joyously as they converged on them.

‘It all changes,’ Alise murmured quietly. She watched them embrace, saw them caught up in the mob of their friends, and then turned back to Tats. ‘That’s five now. Five dragons in Kelsingra.’

‘Ten left here,’ Tats agreed. Then he added, as he saw that Harrikin and Sylve still held one another, oblivious to the whooping crowd around them, ‘It has changed. What do you think of it?’

‘Do you believe what I think matters to them?’ Alise asked him. The words could have sounded sour, but her question was sincere.

Tats was silent for a moment. ‘I think it does,’ he said at last. ‘I think it matters to all of us. You know so much of the past. Sometimes, I think you can see more clearly what may become of us …’ He faltered as he realized his words might seem unkind.

‘Because I am not one of you. Because I only observe,’ she spoke the words for him. As he nodded dumbly, embarrassed, she laughed aloud. ‘It does give me a perspective that perhaps you lack.’

She gestured at Sylve and Harrikin. Hand in hand, they stood beside Lecter. The other keepers surrounded them, laughing and rejoicing. Davvie was with Lecter, and they, too, held hands. ‘In Trehaug or Bingtown, that would be scandal. There, they would already be outcasts. Here, when you look aside when they kiss, it is not in disgust but to grant them privacy.’

Tats’s attention drifted. He noticed Rapskal moving through the clustered keepers to stand by Thymara. He said something to her, and she laughed. Then he set his hand to her back, his fingers light on the mounded fabric of the Elderling garb that concealed her wings. Thymara gave a wriggle like a shiver and twitched out of his reach, but no offence showed on her face.

Tats looked away from them and back to Alise. ‘Or perhaps we look aside in envy,’ he said, surprising himself with his honesty.

‘It is hard for loneliness to gaze on happiness,’ Alise admitted, and Tats realized that she thought his remark had been directed at her.

‘At least, you know your loneliness will end soon,’ he pointed out.

She rewarded him with a smile. ‘It will. And eventually, so will yours.’

He could not find a smile to answer hers. ‘How can you seem so sure of that?’

She cocked her head and looked at him. ‘It is as you said. I have a different perspective. But if I tell you what I foresee, you may not like the answer.’

‘I’m ready to hear it,’ he assured her, wondering if he was.

She gazed over the gathered keepers and across the river. On the far side, he could just make out both dragons through the falling rain and mist. Ranculos had emerged far downstream of Sestican but was working his way along the riverbank. Sestican was a small blue figure making his slow way up one of the city’s main streets. To the dragon baths, Tats suspected. Soaking in hot water was almost all the earthbound dragons spoke of any more. He let his gaze wander to the dragons on the near shore. They stared with longing. Mercor’s neck was stretched toward Kelsingra as if sheer will could lift him there. Silver Spit and squat Relpda stood to one side, heads cocked like puzzled children. The other dragons were arrayed in a fan behind Mercor. Blue-black Kalo towered large over Jerd’s small queen Veras. Baliper and Arbuc stayed a safe distance from the short-tempered black drake as they gazed longingly at the far shore. Tinder, the sole lavender dragon now developing tracery of royal blue on his wings, stood beside the two oranges, Dortean and Skrim. The last two dragons reminded Tats very much of their owners, Kase and Boxter. They always seemed to be in proximity to one another. Alise’s measured words broke into his thoughts.

‘You are young, even by Rain Wild standards. By Elderling count, my studies tell me your life has barely begun. You have not decades, but lifetimes before you. And I suspect that as Kelsingra comes back to life and its population grows, you will have many young women to choose from. You will find someone, eventually. Or possibly several someones, over the course of your many years.’

He stared at her, shocked into silence by such a prospect.