Semian, so he'd grown up as an idiot who rode a dragon.
'We have found a town, of sorts. Hidden in the mountain valleys.'
Sollos exchanged a glance with Kemir. 'Then it most likely falls under the dominion of King Valmeyan, Rider Semian.' It's obvious why Queen Shezira didn't take you south with her. Rider Semian's helmet was slightly too big for his head, Sollos noticed. It kept slipping forward. Less obvious why she thought you fit to be part of the search for her precious white. Unless she already knows this is a waste of time.
Now there was a thought. What if the queen herself had been the architect of the attack?
'It is built on the edge of a lake. There is nowhere for a dragon to land. When I passed low over the place, they shot at me.'
'And what did you do, Rider Semian?' asked Kemir. 'Did you burn them, Rider Semian?'
The dragon-knight took a step back, clearly unsettled by the edge in Kemir's voice. 'Certainly not, sell- sword.'
'Rider, there are, here and there, settlements among the Worldspine that claim freedom from the dragon kings and queens.' Sollos spoke carefully. 'They are home to hunters, trappers and others who live off what the mountain forests provide. They are, to a large degree, harmless.'
'I would have to disagree with you, sell-sword. I am quite aware that such places exist, and that they are dens of vice and corruption. They do not survive off the forest at all. They survive by polluting the realms with Soul Dust, sucking the life out of their hapless victims.'
'Rider, it is true that Soul Dust comes from these mountains, but it is not made in places like the one you have seen. It is made in secret camps that you would not see, flying overhead.'
'Perchance you are right, sell-sword, but how does it permeate out into the realms at large? Through places such as the one I have seen today, that is how.'
Sollos decided he would have to revise his opinion of Rider Semian. Maybe he only looked like an idiot. He bowed his head. 'That may be true of a few, Rider, but not of most. And if something is to be done about them, it is King Valmeyan's place to do so.'
'The queen tasked us to find her white, and that is what we will do. These outlaws may have seen something. They may have heard something. News travels, does it not, among these places?'
Sollos nodded, slowly. 'I see where this is going, Rider. King Valmeyan burns such places now and then, and whether they're filled with honest men or villains seems not to bother him. They see a dragon and they run deep into the trees. They see a knight and they hide. But perhaps a sell-sword…'
Rider Semian nodded. Sollos heard Kemir give an exasperated sigh.
'Sollos, you know they won't-'
Sollos held up a hand to silence him. 'Rider Semian, we are servants of the queen. We understand our duty.'
'Knight-Marshal Nastria was quite explicit. You know these mountains and these settlements.'
Again, Sollos nodded. 'Yes.' Now how did she know that?
'There will be a reward, if you find the white.'
This time Sollos grinned. 'Yes,' he said. 'I'm sure there will.' And it took every ounce of willpower that he had not to glance up the valley to where the dead dragon lay waiting for him.
15
Gifts
Zafir ran her fingers down Jehal's chest. 'So what's she like, this girl you have to marry?'
Jehal smiled. They lay naked together, side by side under the sun, in one of the solars. Over the years Jehal had made a few nests like this around the palace. Private places where he and others who knew of them could come and go unobserved through hidden passages. Small places, but with tall windows to let in the light and the air. Most of this solar was filled by a large sumptuous bed. Others served more delicate purposes.
'A girl, as you say.' He began idly stroking Zafir's thigh. The solar was thick with the smell of incense. 'Naive. Full of wonder at the world, and almost completely lacking in any experience of it, I would say.'
'Stupid, then.'
Not at all. 'Yes. I think she very probably is. Of course, she was barely allowed to open her mouth.'
'Queen Shezira would not want you to know you were marrying an idiot. You might change your mind.'
Jehal laughed. 'Were it possible to avoid this marriage, it wouldn't matter if she was the most clever princess in all the realms. She would still not be the most desirable.' He turned to face Zafir and cupped her cheeks. 'She did speak, though clumsy and out of turn. I dare say she earned herself quite a rebuke as soon as Queen Shezira was able to give her one in private.'
'Is she pretty?'
Yes. 'Not particularly. She was dressed up nicely enough, but she didn't wear it particularly well.' Which was true, he thought. Although unfortunately rather intriguing.
'Tell me she's ugly and deformed.'
'I'm afraid I could only say that about her sister.'
'Then I wish it was the sister that you were marrying. Why can't you marry her instead?'
'It was all arranged, my love, long ago, when my father was still well. My family has given a pledge, and I must honour it.'
'You could still marry her sister.'
'I will ask, if that pleases you, if I might have the choice. I doubt that Queen Shezira would agree.'
'You like her, don't you?'
Jehal's face didn't flicker for a second. 'I hardly know her, my love. She is a doll. All dressed up to look as pleasing as she can, but still a doll.' Still, I would have to admit to being interested.
'And you can't wait to unwrap her, can you?' For a moment Jehal was quite sure that Zafir was about to sit up and pout and become unbearably tedious. Instead she pulled him closer. 'I'm afraid I'm going to have to spoil your wedding night. If you have to fuck your doll then so be it, but you'll be thinking of me while you do it.'
Jehal growled contentedly. For a moment, though, he hesitated. 'I should go. Lord Meteroa will already be waiting for me with whatever news there is from the eyrie.'
'Which do you want more? Me or Queen Shezira's white dragon?'
'You, my love. Always you.'
'Then let him wait.'
'He's not stupid. He'll find out about us if we're not very careful.'
'But he's your man, is he not?'
Yes.' Said with only the slightest hesitation.
'Then let him wait.'
Jehal let him wait, and then wait some more. The secret passage out of this particular solar led him right through the palace and back to his own bedchamber. Still he ran, and by the time he reached his own room he was out of breath.
He burst through the doors into his private anteroom. 'Lord Meteroa! I was resting. I do apologise for keeping you waiting. You should have knocked.' He couldn't help glancing at the floor to see whether Lord Meteroa had worn a groove in it with his pacing back and forth.
Meteroa wrinkled his nose. He didn't bother to bow. 'Resting? You stink of a woman, Your Highness. Should I wonder who you've got in there?'
'See for yourself if you wish.'
Meteroa met his gaze. There was something unnerving about the eyrie-master's eyes. They were somewhere between blue and grey, watery and incredibly pale, and the man never seemed to blink. It was like locking stares with a snake. 'Ah. In one of the solars were you? Which have you got up there? A princess or a queen?'
Jehal pursed his lips. 'Perhaps I had both at once.' He picked up a plum and tossed it through the air. 'Try something sweet to take that sharpness off your tongue.'
Meteroa caught it and tossed it back. 'Thank you, Your Highness, but I had my fill some time ago.'
