Prince of Spies (8 page)

But what about you? What will you eat?

The dragon beneath her chuckled smokily.
Leave that to me, sweetheart.

Dragons are hunters, you know. I’ll find game and supply you with fresh
meat at the same time. And I can cook it as well.

Again came the smoky chuckle and she had to laugh too.
You certainly
are handy to have around, Nico.

I’m glad you think so.

They chatted as she munched on the apple and a lovely, ripe pear.

Do you know how far we are from the border?

A day more at least. I’m trying to cut a little northwest,
Nico told her as he banked on a gust of wind. She absolutely loved the feeling of flying, being buffeted by the air currents and swimming among the stars.
We have a
good chance of connecting with some of the dragons and knights from the
Border Lair if we can get close enough. Still, I’m concerned Lucan may
have already sent word to the border region and we might find it hard to get
across.

Hard, in what way?

The armies that have attacked Draconia from both the north and east over
the past months have been armed with dragon killing weapons. Giant
crossbows designed to fling diamond-bladed bolts up into the air. Diamond
is about the only thing that can slice through dragon scale with ease. We
lost a few dragons during the fighting, and my brother Roland almost died
when three bolts hit

him. Those weapons are nothing to fool with and they have a lot of
them. I’d prefer not to fly anywhere near them if we can help it.

Riki thought back on the many things she’d heard Lucan rant about and some of it began to make sense.

Lucan was supplying Salomar with diamond blades. I remember him
saying that more than once.

Thankfully, Salomar’s dead. But you’re right about the diamond blades.

Salomar used them against our forces when he tried to invade from the
north. Your sister was instrumental in foiling his plans. She’s quite a
woman.

Lana?
Riki felt a pang for the girl who had been her other half—torn from her brutally when they’d been stolen from their mother.
Will you tell me
about her? What is she doing now?

Right about now, she’s learning how to be Queen of Draconia. She
married my brother Roland a few months back.

Lana is the queen?

Yes, sweetheart. And she mother-bonded with a wild Ice Dragon named
Tor when he was just hatched from the shell. They’ve been together ever
since. They helped each other escape Salomar and survive in the frozen
north until Roland stumbled across their path. He fell in love with Lana
almost at first sight, and asked her to be his queen. He adopted Tor and
they are raising him together. Tor is an incredibly bright dragonet and can
fly amazingly fast and complex patterns.

My sister, the queen.
Riki could hardly believe it.
And she lived with a baby
dragon?

You’ll love Tor. Kelzy has him calling her grandma.

So my mother is reunited with Kelzy? That’s amazing.

Even better, your mother remarried. One of her new husbands is Kelzy’s
knight partner.

One of her husbands? She has more than one?
Riki was a little scandalized by the idea.

It’s customary for the knights of fighting dragons to share their mate,
since there are so few women who can hear and live with dragons. Plus,
the bond between dragon and knight goes so deep, when the dragons
come together in passion, so too must the knights with their mate. The
knights of mated dragons marry the same woman. Somehow it always
seems to work out. The dragons claim the Mother of All guides them in
choosing their partners and mates and I have no reason to doubt it. Every
marriage I’ve seen among knights is passionate and happy.

So my mother has two husbands?

Nico chuckled, sending smoke out behind them as they coasted on the air currents.
So does your little sister, Belora. She was the first to marry.

One of her knights, Gareth, is partner to Kelzy and Sandor’s son, Kelvan.

So then, Sandor is Kelzy’s mate? And if I’m understanding you,
Sandor’s knight is my mother’s other husband?

I think you’ve got it, sweetheart.

So who is Sandor’s knight? What are my step-fathers like?

Sandor’s knight is Darian—formerly Lord Darian Vordekrais of Skithdron.

He forsook his lands and title to come over to our side and warn us about
Lucan and his weapons. He is a hero many times over in Draconia.

I know that name. I heard Lucan rant about Darian. He was so angry, he
nearly killed one of his own guardsmen when the news of Lord Darian’s
defection was reported.

They talked long into the night. Riki was thrilled with the news about her family, surprised by the odd new lifestyle her mother and little sister enjoyed in the Lair, and completely astounded by the idea that her twin was now Queen of Draconia. Nico teased her with funny stories of baby Tor’s antics and made her cry with the news that little Belora was going to be a mother at any moment. He was good to talk to and the time passed quickly so she was surprised when the first gray streaks of dawn started showing on the horizon behind them.

He’d told her about her twin sister and the amazing feats of bravery Lana had performed, transforming for the first time into a dragon and flying into the thick of battle to save the king’s life. Riki didn’t think she’d ever have the nerve to do something so brave. No, Lana was the fearless one. She always had been, and Riki was comforted to know her twin had found a man she could love and who loved her in return.

Still, Riki felt a pang of regret and shame that she had suffered in silence all these years, giving in to Lucan’s demands, never once finding a way to escape on her own. Though she had tried repeatedly. Oh, how she’d tried.

But failure was her bitter companion. Failure and punishment…and torture.

Riki admired Alania and Belora, and the tales Nico told her of their daring, and her mother’s surprising bravery as well. Clinging to a tree with a swarm of skiths below took courage. Nico described how her mother had done that and more. That was the kind of daring Riki feared she would never possess. She felt like such a failure. Such a burden.

She thought of the little she’d managed to accomplish in her life and how often she had failed. Lulled by the morose thoughts, she rested against Nico’s warm back. She was snug and warm now, between the woolen cloak and Nico’s inner fire. She nearly dozed, but refused to miss a moment of the incredible feeling of flying and seeing the stars so close up.

Riki let her gaze drift out and up, pondering the stars, little holes in the fabric of heaven, so near and yet so far.

This doesn’t look good.
Nico’s voice broke into her drifting thoughts.

What? What doesn’t look good?
Instantly, she was alert. He sounded so serious.

Troop movement.
Lots
of troop movement. Lucan’s alerted the border
garisons.

How could he inform them so fast?

I didn’t want to tell you this, but I heard the guards talking in the tavern.

Lucan sent relay riders ahead to the border and every town in between.

He wants you back badly enough to put every soldier in this cursed land
on alert. They’ve been riding non-stop since we escaped. When one
reaches his destination, another picks up the message and goes to the
next stop and so on. Damned efficient and damned inconvenient for us.

What can we do?

Sweetheart, I don’t want to risk the border crossing with you on my back.

There are limits to how high I can fly safely—especially with a passenger. I
can’t go high enough to be completely out of range of those diamond
blades, and if anything happened to you, I would never forgive myself. It’s
too risky.

But—

There are other ways, Riki. You have to trust me. I am the Spymaster of
Draconia, after all.
His sooty laughter was soundless, but she felt the ripples of humor roll through his sinuous neck.

What ways, then?

Well, we could fly northward and try to cross into the Northlands. They
might not expect us to try that and the northern border of Skithdron is less
heavily fortified than the one with Draconia. Or we could take our chances
on the ground for a bit. We’ll have to stop soon anyway to rest for the day.

My black hide is too easily seen against a light sky.

Do you know where we can go?

I have an idea. There’s an operative in place in the city of Plinth. If we
can get to him, he might be able to help us.

Operative? What kind of operative are you talking about? A spy?

Actually, by trade, he’s a bard. By birth he’s Draconian, though you
couldn’t tell from listening to him. His fathers are knights and he grew up in
a Lair, though he struck out on his own at a young age to learn his musical
and storytelling craft. He’s studied all over and I’ve always found him
helpful. I think his many skills will come in handy now.

I hope you’re right.

And so Nico found himself setting down as gently as he could, just outside the perimeter wall of Plinth a few minutes before dawn. The city was large enough to have a daily market and the gates on the south side were already bustling with traffic as farmers came in from the fields with their sale crops along the large, slightly fortified road. Travel in this part of the country was a little safer than farther south because this far north, the temperatures were colder, meaning fewer skiths inhabited the area.

Nico shifted quickly, lest some sharp-eyed farmer see him in his dragon form. Riki stretched her limbs and Nico was struck for a moment by the lithe grace of her. She swayed from side to side, stretching and Nico thought he’d never seen a more beautiful, feminine sight.

“Is everything all right?”

Nico realized he’d been staring, motionless, for some time. Shaking his head and gathering his wits, he vowed silently to pay better attention to their surroundings. True, he was tired from the long flight and still feeling twinges from the beating and torture he’d suffered just two days before, but that was no excuse

for relaxing his vigilance. It wasn’t just his life on the line this time. No, Riki was counting on him for protection and guidance through this dangerous land. He couldn’t let her down.

“Fine,” he answered shortly, stepping closer and straightening the hood on her long traveling cloak. The heavy woolen cloak was a bit large on her, but it wouldn’t look too conspicuous in the gray light of dawn and chilly morning air. “We need to blend in with the farmers going to market. Keep the cloak tightly around you, and you should be fine.”

He adjusted the hood so it pooled around her face, hiding her a bit. He scooped her auburn hair into a knot, shoving it down the back of the cloak, hiding most of its lustrous length from sight behind the folds of the hood.

“What about you? Won’t you look conspicuous in such thin clothes on such a chilly morning?”

Nico stepped back, surveying his work. She looked close to perfect. Or as close to perfect as they could get with such limited resources. His appearance, on the other hand, needed some work before they could blend in. His shirt was burned in places and bloodstained in others. Luckily, the thin, dark leather wasn’t very conspicuous in the dim morning light. But they still had to get inside the city and out of public view as quickly as possible.

Rolling back the ragged cuffs of his shirt, Nico adjusted the neckline, tearing into the soft leather, parting it just slightly down his chest and tucking the ragged edges inward. He then took stock of his leather leggings. They’d held up reasonably well through his ordeal, but were clearly worn soldier-style at the moment. Bending, he loosened the hem, pulling on the drawstring he’d had designed right into the garment for just such occasions.

Warriors wore their leathers close so nothing could impede them in battle.

Farmers were less particular and usually wore their leather as loose as possible to cool them while they worked, allowing a full range of movement. Farmers were also less apt to be able to afford the custom-made clothes many successful soldiers had tailored from soft, supple leather to address the same range of motion issues. No, loose and hanging out was the order of the day as a farmer, and Nico was prepared.

With a few final tugs, he was ready.

“What do you think?” Nico held his hands out to his sides, sending Riki a smile. She was watching him with such a fierce look of concentration on her cute face, it was all he could do to stop himself from kissing her senseless. Later, he promised himself, when they’d found shelter. Oh, yes, later he’d get that kiss he so desperately needed.

“That’s amazing.” Riki watched his moves with admiration. He noted the interested spark in her eye as she considered what he’d done to alter his appearance.

Nico bowed slightly with a roguish grin. “If milady will indulge, we must be on our way.” He held out one arm and she took it with a silly grin that answered his mood exactly. It was astounding to him how compatible they truly were. Any other woman, by this point in their journey, would have driven him insane with annoyance or boredom, but not Riki. No, the more he got to know her, the more he wanted to know.

They waited for a lull in the traffic to move onto the road, just at the final bend before the city gates. Entering the flow of people, carts and animals as unobtrusively as possible, Nico watched carefully to see if anyone took particular notice of them, but his instincts told him they were safe. For now at least.