Dragon On Top

“We are.”

“But you have no claim on him, yes?”

“No. I have no claim on him.” Ghleanna held the other boot in her hand and looked up at Helena. “But I haven’t had him tortured and beaten either, which kind of puts me in the lead. . don’t you think, my Lady?”

Those strange-colored eyes narrowed, that back straightened, “Excellent point. Then again my father doesn’t have an entire forest of books on his past conquests. My, my, you must be proud,” she sneered. “Being the daughter of Ailean the Slag.”

A few months ago, the Empress’s head would have been ripped off and thrown against the wall, but not only had Ghleanna had a sword shoved into her chest by an ex-lover— something that often changed one’s perspective on the little things — but with all this time on her claws she had been thinking a lot about Bram’s words to her right after they’d left her parents’ castle. Her father’s life, his past, was not her own.

Not only that, but her father wrote books, was highly respected by the royal peacemaker, and had taught all his offspring to protect themselves in any given situation. Even Maelona had her skills. A whore Ailean may have been, but a loving, caring whore who adored his offspring and mate. Who adored Ghleanna. A daughter who’d refused to forgive him his past indiscretions. That is until now.

Now she’d be damned if she’d let some little prissy tail make her feel shame over anything. Those days were over for her. Long over.

“That’s very true, my Lady. Then again, according to what I’ve heard and my mother’s general satisfaction, I’m guessing Ailean the Wicked is an awesome—”

“Yes,” the Empress cut in. “I see your point.” She also clearly saw that Ghleanna wouldn’t be goaded. “Why don’t I leave you to finish dressing.”

“Yes, my Lady.”

Helena walked out and Anatolios, who still had the watch, stuck his head in. “You all right?”

“Aye. That one’s only as scary as you let her be.” Ghleanna held up her boot. “Could you help me with this?”

Eight hours of absolutely nothing but more arguing. Not even effective arguing but just ridiculous arguing because the final say on any matter was Helena’s. Yet she sat back and enjoyed the angry arguing of her Elders, senators, and other sycophants. Bram didn’t know if any of these dragons was aware that Helena already had her mind made up, or if they knew but decided to argue for her amusement despite that.

And, because she enjoyed spreading the misery around even more, she’d insisted on Bram being in attendance, even going so far as to track him down in the library where he was working diligently on her blasted truce.

Finally, the Empress called a halt to the day’s discussion. “We’ll meet tomorrow to explore this further.”

Bram stood and stretched his back. “Why do you let them think they have a say?” he had to ask, when the others had filed out. “Isn’t that just cruel?” And a waste of his bloody time.

“Not cruel at all. It’s good to let your subjects think they have some control over their lives, otherwise they get a bit unruly. I loathe unruly, don’t you?”

“Never thought much about it.” He began to organize his scrolls. “I’m going to see if I can get more work done. If you’ll excuse me, my Lady.”

“Aren’t you going to thank me?” she asked.

“Thank you?”

“For being nice. I’ve insisted everyone be human for the time being. So your little Low Born won’t feel so tiny and insecure.” The Empress smiled. “Wasn’t that nice of me?”

Huh. Bram just thought the Empress wanted to try on her overabundance of gowns. “Aye, Empress. Very. . nice.”

“I have to say you’re looking much better these days, Bram.”

“Thank you.”

“And you’ve really. . come into your own.”

Bram didn’t answer; he simply picked up his scrolls.

“My Lord Bram?”

“Yes?” he asked.

“I was just thinking that since you’ll be here for a while, perhaps we can. .” she reached out and stroked his arm.

Before she could go on, Bram felt it was important to point out that, “If you think I’ve forgotten how I was tortured and beaten when I was here the first time. . I haven’t.”

Helena folded her arms over her chest, a little sneer on her lips. “Going to hold that against me, are you?”

Bram decided retreat was his best option, so he headed back to the room he shared with Ghleanna.

But before he could make his escape, the Empress tossed at him, “I’ve heard that your Low Born has gotten rather chummy with the other soldiers.”

Bram stopped. He knew that Helena was a conniving, vicious sea-viper, but he couldn’t help the swell of jealousy he immediately felt.

“The soldiers do seem to like her. I’m guessing she’s very friendly when you’re away.” The Empress eased around him, smiling sweetly. “I’m sure she’s more comfortable with them. Her own kind and all that.”

“She is my kind, my Lady. Remember? Barbarian Land Dwellers. That’s us.”

Bram bowed his head and walked out. He made it to the room he shared with Ghleanna, but when he walked in, he found her gone.

Bram tossed his travel bag and papers into a corner and stalked out of the room and onto the walkway. The guards were gone as well. He headed back the way he’d come, trying to catch a glimpse of Ghleanna somewhere.

The Empress’s palace was a marvel of Sea Dragon engineering built inside a vast series of underwater caves. Air breathers could easily survive inside its ocean-colored stone walls for centuries. They had access to fresh lake and river water, and fresh air from the land above. How the Fins managed to get it all down here, Bram didn’t know. And he didn’t even think to ask, he was so concerned with finding Ghleanna.

Bram heard a roar down a long hallway, watched large-sized Fins heading in that direction. He recognized them as soldiers. His eyes narrowed and he followed, pushing through the dragons until he reached a chamber. Two Sea Dragons in human form battled against each other with spears while their comrades stood around them in a circle and cheered them on.

And, sitting on top of a boulder was Ghleanna. She wore another long shirt and dark blue leggings and her arm was still tied down under her shirt. Not surprisingly, she cheered right along with the other warriors — when she wasn’t stopping to chat with the generals who stood around her in their dragon form.

One male slammed another onto his back by using the staff of his spear and Ghleanna called out, “No, no, no!” She held her free arm out and — to Bram’s astonishment — one of the generals hauled her off the boulder and carefully placed her on the ground.

“You keep fighting like that, lad,” she admonished, “and you’ll be on your back a lot when you’re human.”

She waited until the dragon was on his feet. “You’re not paying attention to the way he’s coming at you,” she instructed. “You’re so busy staring at the tip, you miss the way his body’s moving. Human bodies hide nothing, but that spear tip can change on you in a second and you won’t have a chance to get out of its way.” She shrugged and lightly patted where she’d been stabbed by that sword. “Take my word on it.” The Fins laughed and she went on. “But if you pay closer attention to your opponent, you can watch what he does, and he’ll show you which way he’s going. I know very few human soldiers or dragons who don’t signal their move long before they make it. You just have to watch for it. Understand?”

The soldier nodded and Ghleanna slapped his shoulder, which didn’t seem to offend him. “Good. Good. But don’t worry. You’re doing well. Just need more training is all. I’m betting all of you need more training to fight as human.” She flicked her hand. “So get to work.”

The Fins went back to sparring and Ghleanna saw Bram and walked to his side.