Simeon grinned that same slow self-satisfied smile he’d grinned when Trixia had fled Dragons’ Hold. No one had been able to pin anything on him then, either, but watching him now, Roberto was sure it was Simeon who’d fathered Trixia’s littling. And, if the rumors were true and he’d taken the young woman by force, he was dangerous.
“What are you talking about?” Simeon’s eyes widened in innocence, acting again.
“This.” Roberto brandished the pieces of Ezaara’s cane.
“What a terrible loss.” Simeon’s sarcasm made Roberto’s skin writhe. “I’ll have to escort Ezaara places, now, won’t I?”
Roberto’s hands clenched around the walking stick. “Don’t you go near her.”
“I’ll do what I want,” Simeon snapped. “You can’t be everywhere.”
“You lay so much as a talon on her and I’ll make you pay.”
“Is that a threat?” Simeon asked. “I wonder what Lars would say about a master threatening a subordinate? Did you inherit that talent from your father?”
Roberto forced himself to ignore Simeon’s jibe. “Lars would have something to say about your antics.”
“Oh no, he won’t.” Simeon smiled. “I’ve heard Lars likes proof, and plenty of it. And apart from some dumb broken stick, you’re empty-handed.”
Roberto wanted to smack the insidious smile off Simeon’s face. “You can’t hide behind your parents forever, Simeon.”
“At least I have parents.” Simeon smirked. “I bet your father used to beat your mother with that stick before he—”
“You’ve. Gone. Too. Far.” Sword drawn, Roberto was icy with fury.
Although Simeon fled, Roberto stood seething, knowing he hadn’t won at all.
A Testing Time
Adelina bustled into the Queen’s Rider’s cavern. Ezaara was already up and gone. Dragon’s eggs, something stank. There, by the bed—a basin of vomit. Ew. She didn’t mind helping the Queen’s Rider, but she’d never thought her duties would involve that.
Putting down the breakfast tray, she picked up the basin and trotted off to the latrines. There was something odd about the smell. A strange, but familiar, tang. It was only when she arrived back in Ezaara’s cavern that she realized what it was. Skarkrak, a herb used by the Robandi assassins from the Wastelands. How had it got to Dragons’ Hold?
Snatching up a cup by Ezaara’s bedside, Adelina sniffed it. It was skarkrak all right. Who’d given it to Ezaara, and had they realized that, while a mild dose helped with sleep, too much could cause vomiting or death?
Simeon worked in the infirmary. A shiver snaked down Adelina’s spine.
She couldn’t really tell Lars without proof, but she’d definitely mention her suspicions to Roberto.
§
“There’s something I need to show you.” Erob flipped his wings and glided across the lake.
“What is it?” Roberto shaded his eyes against the glint of the water.
“Brace yourself.”
A vision shot into Roberto’s mind. A wall of dragon flame seared his skin, stinking of singed hair and burned flesh. Blinding pain fried his nerve endings.
“That’s a powerful illusion.” He shook his head, focusing on the water lapping at the lake’s shore. “Why are you showing me this?”
“Sorry, I should have told you earlier.” A wave of Erob’s guilt hit Roberto. Then Erob sent another image: Ezaara, screaming, her knife flying into Sophia’s leg. Doubled over, she retched.
So that’s why she’d been sick—from the stench of her own burning flesh.
“Someone forced that vision on Ezaara?” Someone with special mental talents. Who? Wait a moment. “Why have you withheld this? Did someone suspect me?”
Erob’s guilty silence spoke for itself.
“Erob, answer me. You can trust me.”
An indignant rumble came from Erob’s throat. “Of course I trust you. I just showed you the vision, didn’t I?”
“Come on. For the Egg’s sake, Erob.”
“It would be better if you asked me questions.”
“You want me to guess, so you can say you didn’t tell me?” Roberto slapped Erob’s scaly hide. “Who’s told you not to mention this?”
Erob spiraled down to the grassy lakeside. “Ezaara was so distressed, she tried to push the vision out of her head, inadvertently relaying it to all the dragons on the council. We all agreed not to mention it to our masters until we knew who’d tortured her with it.”
Roberto dismounted, approaching Erob’s head. “She can send a vision to multiple dragons? That’s crazy. No one’s done that since Anakisha.”
“She has talents ...”
“Did she send it via Zaarusha?”
“No.”
“Ezaara can meld with dragons other than Zaarusha?”
The silence hung heavy between them. Erob sprung, his wings flashing above the water. Within moments, he’d gulped a maw full of fish and thudded down beside Roberto again.
“Maybe a dragon sent her the vision, then. Or it could’ve come from a rider with hidden mental talents.” Roberto let out a gust of breath. His past was still shadowing him. “Did you think it was me?”
“No. I’ve told Zaarusha it wasn’t.”
Roberto scratched Erob’s eye ridges. “But not every dragon believes you, right?”
“I’m sorry.” Erob butted his snout against the flat of Roberto’s stomach. “You were so against having a Queen’s Rider from Lush Valley. You keep everything so close to your heart. Can you blame them for not realizing you’ve changed? That you’re loyal to the Queen’s Rider?”
“Ezaara’s in danger.” Roberto’s hand gave an involuntary twitch above his sword. “We must protect her.”
§
Ezaara gripped her knife and raised her arm. Again.
“Not like that.” Simeon stepped closer, his warmth playing along her back as he adjusted her grip. “There, that’s better. Remember how to hold your thumb?” His breath tickled her earlobe.
Heat flooded her cheeks. “Thank you, Simeon.” It was bad enough being back here after what she’d done to Sofia, without blushing like a strawberry whenever he touched her. This was instruction, not a romantic interlude. She had to stop behaving like a besotted turkey.
“I know this is hard after yesterday, but take it easy.
