Zaarusha fled, her bellows of rage and anguish ricocheting through Ezaara.
The queen’s raw agony swept through Ezaara, making her chest ache and her eyes prick. She’d only left her family behind. Zaarusha had lost everyone she loved.
“Without my clutch of eggs to protect at Dragons’ Hold, I would’ve dived in and died too,” Zaarusha said. “I made the right choice. And now, I have you.”
Ezaara reeled. “That could’ve been me, earlier, when I fell.”
“Luckily, we were high enough for me to catch you. Riders have broken bones by not trusting their dragons and being too tense.”
“I’m glad I didn’t know. That would’ve made it impossible to relax.”
“There’s only one time when you shouldn’t trust me—if tharuks give me swayweed. This herb—”
“—replaces love with hate, changing allegiance between men, or between man and beast,” Ezaara recited.
“So, Marlies taught you well.” Zaarusha hesitated. “Don’t be scared by my past. We have a bright future together. I can sense it. Your name will be honored across Dragons’ Realm.”
Except in Lush Valley. They’d never honor her there.
Zaarusha dropped down a steep rocky face below the snow line, and landed on a broad scrubby plateau halfway down the mountainside. On the pass above them, the beacon was burning, barely visible in the gold and orange light of the setting sun.
“Don’t worry, soon that fire will be blazing against the dark,” Zaarusha said. “Come, I want to show you something before night falls.” Zaarusha paced through scrub, entering a cave in the mountainside. She blew a small flame, lighting a torch in a wall sconce.
A shelf lined the wall, with waterskins and jars of preserves on it. Below, barrels were lined up like warriors. Someone obviously kept this place well stocked.
“A bed.” Ezaara slid off Zaarusha and sank down onto the pallet. “This looks so good right now.”
“Wait, there’s something better.” Zaarusha went outside and gestured with her snout toward a track winding through the scrub. “Go on. Take a look.”
Ezaara hesitated.
“You’re safe here. Tharuks can’t climb down that sheer rock face or scale the cliff below.”
Taking a deep breath, Ezaara leaned up and scratched Zaarusha’s eye ridge.
The queen nudged her with her snout. “Enjoy yourself.”
Ezaara followed the goat track through the tussock. The plateau was oddly fertile, given the granite cliff above. Thick grasses and scrub covered the area, with giant ferns towering over her. It was warmer here than up on the snow line, although in winter it would be decked in white. A hidden stream burbled nearby.
The track angled toward the cliff, edged in lush vegetation. The stream was growing louder. Maybe Zaarusha was sending her for a drink of fresh water. The setting sun cast a golden hue over everything. A strange scent hung in the air. The stream was louder now, the gurgle reminding her of Lush Valley and all she’d left behind. Ezaara’s eyes burned. Not again. She’d cried enough today.
Stepping through ferns, Ezaara came to the end of the track—and gasped.
Misty tendrils rose off a narrow river flowing along the back of the plateau. But it wasn’t mist—it was steam. Ezaara crouched and dipped her hand in the water. She groaned. It was warm. Further along the cliff, a waterfall gushed out of a hole in the rock, steam wafting from it as it cascaded into the thermal river. The water smelled like old eggs, but she didn’t care. Shucking off her clothes, Ezaara climbed down the bank. She waded a few steps across the river and sat, leaning against the cliff, immersed to her shoulders.
“Aah, Zaarusha. This is better than food and a bed. It’s wonderful.”
“I knew you’d like it.” Zaarusha chuckled. “You can bathe, but don’t submerge your head or drink the water. It’s good for aches and pains, but rough on your stomach.”
Ezaara wanted nothing more than to duck under and scrub the grime from her face, but instead, she leaned against the bank, gazing upward. The water soothed her aching back and shoulders as, one by one, stars winked at her from the dark sky. She craned her neck, trying to spot the beacon. She couldn’t see it, but hopefully Pa and Ma would.
“Actually, Marlies may see the beacon, but she won’t be able to help anyone in Lush Valley. She’s leaving to help me recover something I lost.”
“Zaarusha, stop being so cryptic. What’s going on?”
“My son is missing. Tharuks captured him. As Queen, I can’t leave to look for him, so Marlies is searching for him.”
So, Ma had a chance to redeem herself with Zaarusha. “Can you let Ma or Pa know that I’m safe?”
“Sorry, we’re too far away to communicate with either of them.” Zaarusha gave a grunt that blew the tired cobwebs from Ezaara’s mind.
“Are you all right?”
“Just tired.”
Something Zaarusha was saying didn’t add up. Ezaara clambered out of the water and tugged on her clothes and boots, not stopping to dry herself. She hurried back along the trail, guided by moonlight. When she came to the cavern, she understood. “Zaarusha, you’re hurt!” Ezaara rushed forward to examine a gash on Zaarusha’s foreleg.
“It’s nothing.”
“It was that tharuk leader, wasn’t it? I felt your pain when you grabbed him.” She’d been so
