A gasp. “You can’t do that!”
Stomping footsteps, followed by pattering ones.
“Really, Shamino. Give in. You can’t even get rid of me with your magic.”
I winced. I’d learned that, although Shamino could bring a mostly dead dragon back to life, he could barely do something as simple as, say, burn spilled oil.
Viviya grunted and motioned with a claw to return. I scurried around furniture and reached her just as Shamino strode in. I’d never seen him so furious. He’d been angry with the Dragonmaster when he’d assigned me to the Quarters, but Shamino respected Merram. He had tried to behave. Clearly, he did not respect this woman.
She followed. The first thing I noticed—that anyone would notice—was her cleavage. So much of her popped out of her dress that I never really took in the rest of her.
The cleavage swelled at the sight of me. Shamino noticed me at the same time; he smacked into a table and sent it clattering.
“Who is that?” the woman spat. She sounded like the blacksmith’s wife when she found her husband with a younger woman.
Viviya, moving faster than I thought an elderly dragon could, stepped over me and offered the woman her claw. Shamino’s eyes met mine—anger briefly diffused to an almost-smile.
“Rhianna,” he said, not quite suppressing a smirk, “this is Viviya.”
Rhianna sidestepped so she could continue to glare at me. The air seemed to crackle with her step. “The human.”
“Oh!” Shamino motioned me forward. When I came alongside him, he grabbed my arm so I wouldn’t get any closer to Rhianna. “Dragon Mage Rhianna, may I present Trainee Adara.”
Rhianna flushed at the sight of Shamino’s hand on my arm. She likely couldn’t tell that he gripped me so hard that it hurt. “You said you cannot allow people to simply ‘wander though the Quarters and bother the dragons.’”
As Rhianna spoke, Viviya’s tail snaked through the furniture until the tip rested against Shamino’s feet. The movement confused me at first, then uneasiness bubbled in my chest. Dragons were immune to magic. The only way to spell them was if they lowered their barrier or were unconscious. Viviya was protecting Shamino with her touch. That must have been why he’d gone to the dragon’s cave in the first place, for help. In turn, Shamino’s touch extended her protection to me.
Rhianna continued, her cleavage heaving. “In reality, you just wanted to hide your little… little strumpet. She’s not even pretty!”
Shamino turned scarlet. “She’s not my—”
“A trainee! A browned, awkward, child who—” She went on, calling me insulting words I didn’t know. The crackling air changed to thrumming. Any moment her temper would break, and when mages lost their tempers—
I interrupted her tirade, trying to make myself sound as stupid as possible as I stared at The Cleavage. “How do you keep those in there while in flight?”
Silence. I tilted my head and furrowed my brow in innocent confusion, just for good measure.
Rhianna opened her mouth, snapped it shut. I maintained a perfectly serious yet bewildered expression. The air cooled as she sputtered. Finally, she made some squawking noises and stormed out.
Viviya quietly began to snort a draconian chuckle.
“I cannot believe you just said that,” Shamino said, eyes wide.
“I’m a bit amazed myself,” I said. Relief made my tense muscles wobbly. What I’d said was beyond rude, and Rhianna’s temper could have easily gone the other way. “I hoped something unexpected would make her leave.”
Shamino burst out laughing. “Brilliant. Absolutely brilliant. And she can’t tell anyone. It’s too embarrassing.”
“Can you let go of my arm now?”
“Oh.” He released me. I flexed so blood would flow again. “Sorry. I’ve seen jealous women attack each other before.”
At court? If Tressa knew Shamino, then he had to have spent some time at Dragonsridge.
“That’s stupid,” I said aloud. Viviya nodded in agreement. “People like who they like. Flinging spells doesn’t win you a beau.”
Shamino regarded me. “I wish I’d grown up in your world, Dragonling.”
Pleasure rippled from my scalp to my toes. Shamino had never used a nickname for me before. In fact, no one other than my mother had ever given me a nickname.
“So,” I said, righting the table he’d knocked over, “you going tonight? Not that I’m asking, you know, to go with… I’m just curious if there’ll be any duels at the ball.”
I expected him to laugh. Instead, Shamino said nothing. I finished fixing the table and saw him still staring at me.
He coughed. “You’re going?”
“No choice,” I said. “I don’t think I’d survive Tressa’s displeasure if I stayed in my rooms.”
At mention of Tressa, Shamino looked as if he smelled something rotten. “Tressa’s dragging you. So… you’re not going with someone?”
“I can’t—” My breath hitched as the enormity of my past hit me. I finished, in a rush. “I dance like a cow, and that’s the point of having an escort, right? To dance? I’m hoping to get away early and sleep. Anyway, um, I was reading to Viviya.”
I turned so he couldn’t see the tears filling my eyes. Viviya frowned at me, then at him, probably said something telepathically, but who knew what. I weaved my way back to my chair and picked up Trade Routes.
“Adara?”
I turned my head enough to acknowledge him, but not enough so he could see the tears on my cheeks.
“Thanks again. For running off Rhianna. I owe you.”
I waved him away. Viviya snorted and settled in her place beside me.
That’s my future, alone forever, I thought as I looked at Viviya’s dull azure scales. Never could I risk a noble looking into my bloodline. Nor could Adara of Threepines ever risk courting a peasant.
A sort of strangled sob escaped. Viviya cocked her head. “It’s funny. Shamino didn’t want me to work here, but really, out of all the girls in the Kyer, I’m the only one he doesn’t have to fear. Merram knew exactly what he was doing.”
Viviya blinked. I’d puzzled her. She couldn’t ask me questions, either.
I began to read. Two maids, one old
