Terah Edun - Sworn To Transfer

And then the woman’s eyes flashed, and Ciardis could see the flecks of gold floating in the green. She sucked in a breath as the memory came back. The memory of speaking to the dragon on the storm-tossed ship deck just a few days ago. The woman’s voice had the same accent that had echoed in Ciardis’s head when she first met the Sahalian Ambassador.

Feeling foolish but having to know if she was right, Ciardis tentatively said, “Ambassador Sedaris?”

“Who else would I be?”

“Your mother had very much the same look of stupefied surprise on her face when she met her first dragon,” said the duke of Carne.

“So Lady Weathervane, how are you enjoying the festivities?” the dragon ambassador questioned with a hint of a hiss on the tip of her tongue.

“It’s very well received,” said Ciardis politely as she brought her drink up to her mouth and hastily took a gulp. Very well received indeed, if you counted a dragon in human form. When had that happened? Could they all do that?

Ciardis felt a wave of vertigo sweep over her as the dragon standing before her spoke into her mind again. “ You are an interesting child . And yes, all of my race can transform.”

Speaking aloud, the woman smiled and said, “I admire a curious mind. Particularly by one who flatters me,” she said.

Ciardis could hear a tone of affection in the dragon’s voice. No, affection wasn’t it...it was more of a possessive overtone? The ambassador had only been here for a few days, really, but she had already turned the palace on its head. Ciardis had heard of the shouting matches between the ambassador and the emperor. She had heard that the ambassador had emerged victorious in them all. Drowning out the human courtiers in her anger and contempt with her voice alone. Until now, Ciardis had assumed it had been the dragon roaring that had cowed the courtiers.

Now, as she looked into the golden-flecked green eyes of the woman standing before her, she had to wonder if it was dragon in human form that had cowed the courtiers.

“Of course it was,” said the woman smugly. “I am Sedaris. I don’t need my birth form to cow you mere mortals.”

She felt the weirdest sensations when speaking with the woman. It was like being connected to Sebastian but more intense. It was if she was falling into the dragon’s feelings. She could feel the vast depths of her pride in being a dragon, her disgust with the overpowering smell of the human perfumes around her, and a small core inside of her that was filled with worry.

“What?” said Ciardis, feeling for that core, trying to navigate through the thick layers of memories slowly consuming her vision. If she could just see what made the dragon so upset, perhaps she could help Prince Heir Sebastian and get the people in the forest some help.

The dragon gave her gentle push out of her mind. Gentle for a dragon. Harsh for a human. Ciardis was pushed back into her body so abruptly that she stumbled and would have fallen if it weren’t for the duke’s quick arm out to catch her.

“My dear, are you well?” he questioned solicitously.

As he leaned over her he tightened his grip on her arm as he looked into her eyes. His eyes sharpened, and just for a moment, she saw a flash of surprise, perhaps even fear. “Of course I am.” His lips tightened into a thin line. He visibly got a hold of himself and made sure to steady her with a solicitous hand on her back.

The brittle smile on his face didn’t escape Ciardis’s notice. She flashed back to the dragon’s overwhelming mental presence – it had been as if she had been drowning in the mind and magic of Ambassador Sedaris. Perhaps the Duke had felt that?

“ We will speak later, sarin,” was the last thing Ciardis heard from the dragon.

As the duke watched the dragon glide away, he slowly walked Ciardis over to a nearby bench to rest. His eyes opened wide in surprise and worry as he heard the Ambassador call Ciardis “ Sarin ” while she walked away.

“I’m too old for this nonsense,” whispered the duke as he helped Ciardis settle down on the couch. He put a sight and sound shield up around them just in case.

He looked straight in her eyes. The serious expression on his face told Ciardis she wasn’t going to like what he was going to say.

“What nonsense?” she questioned groggily as she took a sip of wine, hoping to shock herself out of whatever this was.

The duke grabbed his own glass and knocked back a shot of whiskey before he answered her question.

“A sarin . She called you her sarin ,” he said, “Being a sarin , in essence a representative and companion to the dragon, would turn the Imperial courts on its head. This would be a problem if any human became a sarin – they were generally troublesome figures even if powerless. But a Weathervane? It would be catastrophic.”

“And?”

“Do you know what a sarin is? It’s Sahalian for ‘companion,’ but not just any companion. A bond mate and representative of the dragon.”

“I’m sure you’re mistaken,” Ciardis said politely. “We just met. Why would she pick me for such an important position?”

“It’s not a position so much as a lifestyle,” he said as he took a second shot of whiskey.

He looked over his shoulder and back down to her, “There’s a chance the dragon will forget. It’s best that you do as well. Nothing good can come of this.”

Ciardis lifted a chin and glared, “I don’t even know what this is. But as long as it’s not going to bite me in the ass I will happily forget about it.”

Staring into his empty glass miserably, the Duke looked like he wanted to get drunk at his own party.

“You know your mother—Lily—was always getting into trouble. Just like you. But when she met a dragon and he tried to claim her even she knew to run,” the duke said in a mumble.

“Wait, sir,” Ciardis said while grasping his forearm urgently. “You said my mother was running from a dragon? When?”

He looked at her and said with a barely concealed bitterness. “Why child...right before she disappeared.”

Ciardis stared at him, uncomprehending, for a moment. It upset her that her mother had been running from something. Running from a dragon even more so.

“Well?” said the slightly drunk duke. Ciardis didn’t reply. She was weighing his words. He might have been a tad drunk, but she heard truth in them. The question was what to do about it. The dragon calling her a sarin could be pushed off as a mistake, but her mother’s disappearance was different. She needed to know more. Why had she truly left the courts?

“I want to know more,” said Ciardis quietly. “I want to know everything about why my mother left court and I want to know now.”

“Then you’re talking with the wrong person,” said the Duchess of Carne. She had quietly entered her husband’s protective shield and stood looking down at Ciardis with a sad smile on her face.

“Come with me, Ciardis Weathervane,” she said. “It’s time someone told you the truth.”

With a backwards glance as she followed the duchess, Ciardis caught sight of Prince Sebastian as he was preparing to leave. She’d have to catch him up on the events pertaining to the Duke of Cinnis another day.

Miles away on the road to the home of the kith , the Weather Mage was riding at a breakneck pace on a stallion built for long distances. Beside him, astride a horse of similar merit, rode the person the Weather Mage internally referred to as “the Shadow Mage.” Externally whenever he addressed the mage, he called him “Master.” He did it reluctantly. But he had learned swiftly in the few days they’d been together that the man would tolerate nothing less than absolute subservience.