flick of silver in the amber of his eyes.
'Lord Eon,' he said. 'Greetings.'
I gave a quick bow, raising my head to find him standing over me. I wanted to step back, create some space between us, but knew it would be a surrender. Grimly, I held my ground.
He nodded graciously, including my master in the brief acknowledgement. Dillon stood at his elbow, eyes down.
'How do you find your first days as Mirror Dragoneye?' Lord Ido asked. Beside his thigh, his hand was flexing in and out of a tight fist.
'Busy, my lord,' I said. 'I have hardly had time to think.'
'It is set to become even busier,' he said. 'I must take a short journey in the next few days, but when I return we will start your training in the dragon arts.'
I could not help it; I stepped back.
'Train with you, my lord?' I turned to my master. 'But I thought you would be…'
My master shook his head, the strain around his eyes giving away his own unease. 'I no longer have a connection to a dragon,
Lord Eon. Since Lord Ido will be teaching his own apprentice the basics, it has been decided that he will take on your initial training as well.'
'Of course,' I said hollowly 'Thank you, Lord Ido.'
My hand was shaking, spilling wine onto the paving stones. How was I going to bluff the Ascendant Dragoneye? I looked around for somewhere to put the cup before I dropped it.
'I look forward to teaching you, Lord Eon,' he said.
There was a strange caressing tone in his voice. It thrust me back five years to the salt farm and the smiling face of the whipmaster. My body chilled. I knew that tone: Lord Ido was one of those who took his pleasure in the fear and pain of others.
He pushed Dillon in front of me. 'Take Lord Eon's wine away'
Dillon grudgingly took the bowl, still not lifting his gaze from the ground. This was not the boy that I knew — he had always jumped to attention at an order, eager to please his master.
What had Lord Ido done to him? He seemed easy in his movements and there were no visible marks apart from the cut above his eye. Perhaps he was just frightened. Then he bowed to us and I saw the discolouration on his neck: a rash of dark red dots. Was he ill?
Lord Ido turned and clapped his hands. 'Let us move into the meeting chamber and begin the formalities.'
Whether by chance or design, my master stepped between us and the short walk across the courtyard was completed in silence. A servant slid open the lacquered screen as we approached. Quickly, we slipped off our shoes and followed Lord Ido into the room. The air was immediately cooler and scented with Icmongrass, the green silk wall hangings and clean straw matting adding to the sense of lightness. The bright furnishings made me pause; in my mind, Lord Ido was smooth darkness and t hreatening shadow. As he led me and my master alongside a long oval table, I counted thirteen chairs, three set at the far end in the place of power, facing the door.
'You and Heuris Brannon will sit at the head of the Council table with me until the proxy formalities are complete,' Lord Ido said. 'Take the centre chair.'
I sat, my head bowed under the heavy press of curiosity from the Dragoneye lords as they took their places around the table. I chanced a fleeting survey of the room and met the guarded stare of an apprentice standing behind his master and the belligerent face of Lord Garon, the Dog Dragoneye. As Lord Ido took the seat at my right and my master settled into the chair on my left, I focused on the glossy surface of the table, trying to avoid the searching eyes of the twenty men before me.
Finally, Lord Ido rose from his chair, silencing the few whispered comments. I politely turned towards him and saw Dillon standing in his position behind his master. For a second our eyes met, but there was no connection in his gaze, only blank misery.
'Welcome,' Lord Ido said to the assembly Tor the first time in five hundred years, we number twelve again. No longer will the Year of the Dragon be without an Ascendant leader. No longer will this Council be held back by the absence of the eastern power. Lord Eon's glorious reawakening of the Mirror Dragon has closed our circle. We are once more a Pearl of Dragons.'
Lord Dram, the Horse Dragoneye, smiled at me then slapped the table with the flat of his hands. The other lords quickly joined him in a loud tattoo of celebration. Heat rushed to my face. I bowed in my seat — once, twice — as the drumming shook the table.
Lord Tyron looked over his shoulder at Hollin, standing behind him. 'Be glad, boy This cycle it would have been your turn in the duty rotation to lead the Dragon Year. A thankless task without the doubled ascendant power.'
'Hear, hear,' a few of the other lords said.
'Quiet,' Lord Ido commanded, reclaiming the room. 'Yes, we are back at full strength. And although Lord Eon is untrained and
our knowledge of the Mirror Dragon largely lost, there is no doubt that if we are bold, the power of twelve will achieve great things for our land.'
'Our first duty should be returning abundance to the eastern plains,' Lord Silvo said quickly.
Lord Ido pinned the smaller man with his gaze. 'Our first duty, Lord Silvo, is not to the easterners. We now have our full power: our first duty should be directed to the greater glory of the empire.'
A murmur rippled around the table. Some nodded their agreement, others shifted uncomfortably.
'With such possibilities ahead,' Lord Ido continued, 'Heuris Brannon has agreed to act on this Council as Lord Proxy so that our young brother can focus on his training in the dragon arts.'
Dram started another thunderous ovation. My master nodded, acknowledging the honour.
Lord Ido motioned me to my feet.
'Lord Eon, do you agree that Heuris Brannon will, from today, be Lord Brannon and represent you on the Dragoneye Council? That his decisions and votes will be taken as your decisions and votes until you are of an age and experience to accept your position among the twelve?'
'I do agree,' I said. And I thank him for his guidance.'
I bowed to my master. Under the table, his hand tightened around the folds of his silk fan, the force bending the frail lacquer sticks. He had waited years for this return to wealth and power.
I could almost feel the triumph humming through his body as I took my seat next to him.
He did not wait for an invitation from Lord Ido to stand. Although he looked like a frail old man beside the Rat Dragoneye's youthful strength, there was something in his bearing that brought all focus to him. I saw Lord Ido frown, sensing the shift of attention.
'I leuris Brannon,' he said curtly, 'do you agree to act as Lord Eon's representative on the Dragoneye Council? Will you serve
as proxy lord until he is of an age and experience to take up his position among the twelve?'
'Yes, I agree to represent Lord Eon on the Council,' my master said.
Dram thumped the table again, eager to celebrate, but my master held up his hand for silence.
Slowly, he turned to face Lord Ido, the fan held in both hands like a fighting staff. And as the Co-Ascendant proxy, I also accept Lord Eon's duty of leading this Council alongside you, Lord Ido.'
Around the room, everyone stilled. The two men stared over my head at one another, like dogs sizing each other up. Then Lord Ido laughed a harsh dismissal.
'You may now be proxy, Brannon,' he said, 'but you are not Ascendant. Without a dragon's power you cannot claim leadership.' He stepped towards my master but my chair blocked his way 'I will not allow it.'
'It is not for you to allow, Ido,' my master said sharply 'This is a Council. We decide by vote and precedent.'
Lord Tyron stood up. 'Yes, we must vote on it,' he called.
'Vote!' Lord Dram bellowed above the eruption of voices around the table. 'Let us vote.'
I saw Lord Ido's eyes change. Not with the silver of his power, but with a madness that flared across the clear amber like dark fire.
'This is my Council,' he roared through the surging noise. Both of his fists slammed onto the table, shaking it.
