Page 9 of A Kingdom Restored

Rekavidur let out another smoke-filled sigh. “Naturally I am aware of that fact. But I have the most information regarding current events.”

“It was a concession to allow your father to attend the elders’ convocation,” his mother reminded him. “He knows all you have told him, and will speak for you.”

“I would prefer to speak for myself,” Rekavidur said, not softened by this reminder.

“I believe it,” his mother responded. “I suspect, however, that your words would not be entirely trusted. Lies are not the only form of deception, Rekavidur. Keeping crucial information secret is taken almost as seriously by many of our kind.”

“Perhaps they have reason to accuse me of withholding information,” Rekavidur acknowledged. “But can they really blame me, given the haste and violence with which they responded when Merletta’s presence was revealed? If I was confident I would be fully heard, and wisdom and moderation would reign in the response, perhaps I would share all I know.”

His mother’s yellow eyes rested calmly on him as she responded. “Wisdom and moderation are generally the way of dragons,” she acknowledged. “But even our kind have our sensitivities and our fears. And the history of the abominations is perhaps our weakest point.”

She curled her tail around on the stony floor, touching it to his front talons in a gesture of connection.

“I know it feels extreme to you. But I remember well the consequences the last time a dragon used his magic to create an abomination. They were catastrophic. And not just for the dragons. Many humans suffered as well.”

Rekavidur turned her words over in his mind, some prickle of emotion digging at him from beneath his logical thoughts. It was irritating and inconvenient, the sensitivity to emotion his interactions with Heath and Merletta had given him. The thought created the necessary link for his mind, and he was able to give shape to the emotion he was unwillingly feeling.

“Heath will suffer,” he said, the words drawn reluctantly from him. “If Merletta is killed, along with her kind, he will suffer a devastation from which I do not think he would recover. And I would share that pain with him, at least to an extent.”

“I know you would,” his mother agreed. A glint of amusement lit her eyes as she considered him. “It is not a weakness, Rekavidur. Feeling emotions as the humans do is a beautiful experience, and is one of the chief benefits to forming close friendships with humans, as you have done, and as your father did before you. If more dragons allowed themselves to be soft enough to be capable of it, they would learn what a treasure it is.”

“It is utterly inconvenient,” Rekavidur said, knowing he sounded like a petulant dragonling.

His mother was saved the necessity of replying by the familiar signature they both felt approaching. Rekavidur looked up eagerly, watching his father descend alongside his mother.

“Raqisa, my heartsong,” the older dragon greeted his pair calmly.

“Elddreki.” She snaked her head forward, and they brushed necks, their scales tinkling with the familiar greeting.

Rekavidur’s father turned next to him, inclining his head in a casual but less intimate greeting.

“Rekavidur.”

“My sire,” Rekavidur responded gravely. He was eager to hear his father’s report on the meeting, but he felt no impatience at the necessary formalities that must precede it. Greetings were important.

“The elders have heard the account you gave me, Rekavidur,” Elddreki said. His rapidity in getting to the point alerted Rekavidur that there was some time pressure associated with his words. “They wish to speak with you.”

Rekavidur blinked slowly, surprised by his father’s announcement. He was to be included in the meeting after all?

“Do they await us now?”

His father nodded. “Indeed.”

The two dragons made their way out of the cave, taking quickly to the air. Within moments they were descending into the center of the largest island. It was much like the island of Rekavidur’s home, with its dual rings of rock and its pulsing crystals. The convocation could be seen from the air, the elders forming a ring from which many dark scales glinted in the sunlight.

“Rekavidur,” one said gravely once the pair had landed in the circle’s center and the appropriate greetings had been exchanged. “Your sire has reported your testimony to us. We wish to ask you some questions.”

“I am at your disposal, my elders,” Rekavidur said respectfully.

“You are undoubtedly aware that the purpose of this convocation is to discuss the discovery of sea-bound abominations that survived the purge of our ancestors.”

Rekavidur’s voice was even and unemotional as he responded. “I am indeed aware of the purpose of the convocation,” he said. “But I dispute the conclusion that the creatures in question are abominations, and I respectfully remind the elders that the one who approached these islands—Merletta, by name—is not sea-bound. She has the capacity to transform into human form when on land.”

“A capacity undoubtedly resulting from magic,” growled one of the elders.

“Peace,” the first dragon told the speaker.

He turned his vast head to Rekavidur, studying him in silence for a moment. The dragon was much larger than Rekavidur, his burgundy scales so dark their color was in danger of being lost. But Rekavidur did not feel intimidated. He was confident of the truth of his testimony, and more sure of his course than he had been in many months.

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