Hans’ breath caught in his throat.
“You’re a dragon lover, Hans, aren’t you?” Bill sneered. “Offering up your daughter as a sacrifice.”
“Of course not. A preposterous notion!” Hans drew himself up straight. “That fire is a beacon, set by the guards to warn us that tharuks are invading Lush Valley.” The crowd was riveted. Hans called, “We’re under attack. We have to prepare!”
Murmurs crept through the crowd. Folk shifted uneasily. Good. They were listening.
“We need to protect our families and village,” Hans urged them. “We must form an army to fight them, or we’ll be overrun, slaughtered in our sleep or taken as slaves for Zens.”
“The only thing that’s attacked us is a stinking dragon,” yelled Bill. “Hans really thinks a dragon lit that fire. It probably roasted the guards at the pass for dinner.” His laugh rasped like a knife on a whetstone. “Tharuks have never come to Lush Valley!” Bill’s eyes glinted yellow in the torchlight. “Why would they come now?”
People cursed Hans. “Dragon lover.”
“Mud flinger!”
“No, you have to listen. I—” Hans started.
“Hans!” Klaus bellowed, rapping his metal gavel against the stone-topped podium. “You’re inciting unrest and disrupting our citizens. I won’t have these wild rumors.”
Superstitious ignorant clods! It was a beacon fire. Way larger than men could light. Only a dragon could’ve built that pile and set it alight. Tharuks would swarm over the pass, attack Western Settlement, then head straight for Lush Valley.
Hans scanned the crowd: farmers, bakers, the odd smithy or warrior. Plenty were younger than Tomaaz. Many, too old to fight. Tharuks against them? Within hours, Lush Valley would be defeated.
“Arm yourselves. Protect your families!” Hans yelled.
“Order! Order!” Klaus bellowed. He smashed his metal gavel against the podium, sharp cracks ricocheting across the square.
The crowd quieted, but they were still restless.
Klaus faced Hans. “Go home, now!” His voice carried. “The shock of that shrotty dragon has addled your brain! Get out of here.” He flung his arm across the crowd, pointing north, toward Hans’ farm. “Now!”
Old Bill stepped aside to let Hans through, a smarmy smile plastered across his face.
§
Lofty elbowed Tomaaz, muttering, “Told you dragons were nothing to be feared. My grandma was Queen’s Rider.”
“And now my sister,” Tomaaz replied glumly, traipsing home behind Pa and Lofty’s parents. His life was getting more complicated by the heartbeat. It seemed like everyone in Lush Valley was hiding secrets.
“Your pa’s excuse might’ve fooled the villagers, but not our family.” Lofty nudged him again. “Hey, both of us have Queen’s Riders in our families. Does that make us cousins or something?”
Tomaaz laughed. Trust Lofty to see the light side.
Up ahead, Pa was walking with Lofty’s parents, his shoulders slumped. He was muttering to Ernst and Ana, and waving a hand toward the beacon fire.
“Do you think that’s a fire, or is your pa crazy?”
Tomaaz shrugged. “He’s always been able to see stuff in the distance.”
“Tharuks must be coming, then. Can’t wait to fight them.” Lofty’s grin lacked his usual bravado.
So, he was scared, too.
Tomaaz scuffed his boots in the gravel. “You know, we’ve been chaffing for adventure, but Ezaara disappearing and tharuks stomping into Lush Valley wasn’t quite what I wanted.”
“And I won’t even get to kiss Ezaara again.” Lofty sighed.
Tomaaz rolled his eyes, then stopped dead in his tracks. “Shards!”
“What?” Lofty raised an eyebrow.
“I forgot all about seeing Beatrice tonight.”
“At least she’ll still be here tomorrow, waiting for you.”
As if Beatrice would wait for him …well, maybe—with her red hair and blushing cheeks. Tomaaz hadn’t kissed a girl before.
“Come on.” Lofty yanked him forward. “Let’s see what our old men are nattering about.”
They sped up.
“I’m sure Bill’s a tharuk spy,” Pa was saying. “His eyes were yellow, as if he’s on swayweed.”
Swayweed! Tomaaz’s mind reeled. That was one of Zen’s substances. It changed love to hate, and hate to love, breaking allegiance and loyalty, allowing Zens to force a bond with people who would normally hate him.
“I’ve often wondered about Lovina,” Ana said.
“Now, that had never occurred to me,” Ernst replied. “She could be numlocked.”
“Marlies and I wondered about her being on numlock. Years ago, when Bill first visited Lush Valley, he asked Marlies to treat Lovina’s slow-witted mind, but we couldn’t pinpoint anything. Besides, he said she’s been like that for years, so we thought we were being overly-concerned.”
Lovina had never responded, just stared at them blankly. The idiot, some of the others called her when she turned up with Old Bill for market days. Poor girl, she’d never done anyone harm. But then again, she never did much good either. She just existed.
When they reached the turnoff to Ernst’s farm, Ana cautioned them, “Keep your doors locked. You don’t want to wake up in chains, being dragged away by tharuks.”
Ernst shook his head. “It’s the last thing any of us want.”
“It’s two days’ fast ride by horseback from Western Settlement to here, and tharuks travel by foot,” said Pa. “So, we should have a day or two to prepare.”
“We’ll talk tomorrow, see who we can get onside,” Ernst replied.
Tomaaz bumped knuckles with Lofty, and Lofty, Ernst and Ana went along the road.
He and Pa were left alone, walking across the farm. “Ask me anything,” Pa said.
Well, that was direct. Tomaaz released a gust of breath. “Why did you never tell us? You could’ve trusted me and Ezaara.”
“I would have told you in a flash, if Klaus and his ignorance weren’t such a danger. You saw them, tonight: their hatred; their close-mindedness.” Pa shook his head. “Scared of the very creatures that have kept them safe for so long.”
“Dragons haven’t kept
