Alison Goodman: Eona: The Last Dragoneye

Lord Ido.

“He was in my mind again!” My voice was a dry croak. I struggled up on my elbows. “Ido was in my mind!”

And Dillon, too, for a moment. I was sure of it, although the image of him was not clear. I could still feel his terror.

Ryko moved toward me. He was favoring his right side. “What do you mean, my lady?”

“Ido drove back the other dragons.” An echo of our mind union shuddered through me, doubling the pain in my head. So much power.

“Lord Ido was not in the village, my lady.”

“No, he was in my mind again.” Ryko winced as I clutched his arm. “He was in my mind. I had to let him. Do you see? I had to let him or we would have died or—”

“What do you mean, in your mind?” Ryko pulled away, the sudden distrust in his voice silencing me. “Surely Ido is dead.”

“No.” I closed my eyes, once again feeling the weight of iron shackles and the raw agony of flogged skin. “Sethon holds him prisoner. I saw through his eyes. I think he’s dying.” I felt a small surge of pity.

Ryko grunted. “A just end.”

“Only if he could die twenty times over,” I said quickly. Ido did not deserve my pity.

I sat up into a wave of dizziness and flung out a hand, finding an anchor against the wooden side-panel.

“Ryko, is she awake? Is she all right?” It was Dela’s voice, calling from outside the cart.

A large front hatch slid open to show the laboring rumps of two harnessed oxen. A familiar figure was walking alongside, guiding the beasts: Solly, his bulbous features made even more grotesque by scabbed cuts and grazes. He smiled and bowed, then Dela leaned in and blocked my view. She was no longer disguised as a fisherman. Instead, she wore the black cap and blue high-collared robe of a successful merchant.

“Are you all right, Eona?” She scanned my face. “We thought you would never come back to your senses. How do you feel?”

I licked my lips, suddenly aware of the dry need in my body. “Thirsty. And sick,” I said. “My head hurts. How long has it been?”

She glanced at Ryko, the moment heavy with warning. “Two days,” she said.

“Two days?” I searched their faces. “Truly?”

They both nodded, but neither volunteered more, their uneasy silence broken only by the creaking cart and Solly’s voice urging the oxen onward. Ryko held out a ceramic water flask, his face set into harsh lines.

I unplugged the vessel and sipped. The cool water soothed my throat, but my stomach churned at the tiny amount of liquid. I had not felt this ill since the imperial banquet, a lifetime ago.

I handed back the flask, fighting the urge to vomit. “Someone is going to have to tell me what happened.”

“Do you not remember?” Dela eyed me anxiously. “You were healing Ryko — and then everything exploded. Huge rains and winds ripped apart the whole house. The whole cliff.”

“And the village,” Ryko said tightly.

Dela glared at him.

“She has to know,” he said.

Foreboding settled in my chest. “Know what? Tell me, now!”

Ryko straightened, meeting my order. “Thirty-six villagers were killed. Nearly eighty were hurt.” He bowed his head. “To save me.”

My throat was dry again. “Thirty-six?”

So many people dead because I could not control my power. Because I had recklessly called my dragon, although I knew I did not have the skill.

“May the gods forgive me,” I whispered. Yet even if they did, how could I forgive myself?

Ryko made an awkward bow, lurching with the cart’s motion. “My lady, do not be uneasy. It is true you healed me at great cost, but the fault is not yours. The gods will know those lives were not taken by you.” He turned to Dela. “It was Ido. He invaded my lady’s mind while she was healing me.”

Dela gasped. “Ido caused all that destruction? Was he after your power again?”

I hesitated. How easy it would be to blame all those deaths on Ido and slip out from under the heavy yoke of guilt. But I could not lie to my friends again, or to myself. If there was one thing I had learned from the last few weeks, it was that such lies could be deadly.

“No,” I said. “Ido saved us all. When I tried to heal Ryko, I was nearly torn apart by the ten bereft dragons.”

They both looked at me blankly.

“It is what I call the beasts of the slain Dragoneyes. I think they are trying to unite with their queen, although I do not know why. Lord Ido and his dragon forced them back.”

Ryko’s eyes narrowed. “That does not sound like Ido. His every breath is governed by self-interest. If what you say is true, he must have some dark reason for helping you.”

I let the jibe at my truthfulness pass — Ryko had every right to mistrust me. He had been the most devastated by my lies. Although in my defense, the biggest lie — my male masquerade — had been forced upon me by my master. Perhaps one day Ryko would forgive me. For now, I would shoulder his disillusion.

“All I know is that he drove away the ten dragons, and without him we would not have survived.”

“Where is Ido?” Dela asked. “I don’t understand. How could he drive away—”

“Begging your pardon.” It was Solly’s gruff voice.

The cart bounced — another weight climbing aboard — then the resistance fighter peered in beside Lady Dela.

“Ryko, there’s a troop of soldiers coming up behind,” he said with urgency. “Looks like a mountain patrol. They’ve seen us, too. You haven’t got time to get out.” He gave a quick bow to me, then retreated from view.

Ryko frowned. “A troop so high up in the mountains? I hope His Majesty is secure.” He glanced across at me. “We go to retrieve the Pearl Emperor.”

For a moment, relief stole my breath. “He is alive, then?”

“As far as we know,” Dela said. “Ryko says there is a safe place just past the next village. If all has gone well, he should be there.”

She ducked away from the hatch. A worried nod on her return corroborated Solly’s report. “They are coming up very fast, Ryko,” she added. “You need to get into the box.” She grasped my shoulder. “You and I are husband and wife. I am taking you to the Moon Lady Waters for healing. Understand?”

“Does the army know we are in this area?” I asked.

“No, it’s probably just a regular scout party. We’ve got through all the checkpoints so far. Just remember you are my sick wife.” She shut the hatch.

Ryko had already lifted the edge of my straw pallet and was pulling up the planks of the floor.

“What are you doing?”

“Hiding.” He lifted another plank and exposed a hidden compartment. “Sethon is looking for a boy lord, a Contraire, and an islander. You two can switch your identities, but I can’t get any smaller or change my skin.”

“Are you really going to fit in there?” It was a very small space with a carpet of straw dust and a long cloth bundle wedged to one side.

“Here, hold this,” he said, handing me the bundle.

As soon as I touched the rough cotton, I knew it held Kinra’s swords; their familiar jolt of anger seared through me, intensifying the pain in my head. The black pearls around my arm clicked, as if greeting the blades that had also once belonged to my Dragoneye ancestress. I burrowed my hand into the folds of the bundle, exposing the moonstone and jade studded hilts, and the top of a familiar leather pouch; my Dragoneye compass. Beside me, Ryko slid into the cart recess, contorting his big body to fit the shallow space. He held out his hands for the swords. I rewrapped the cloth and returned them, feeling the tug of their power. At least some of the Mirror Dragon treasures were safe. I felt for my waist pouch; the long, thin shapes within reassured me that my ancestors’ death plaques were also safe.