Page 56 of Lady Dragon
Then what could be so complicated about the instructions I gave you? And why was I not warned of such a… change of heart?
Change of heartwas an apt way to describe Kirek’s failure to kill Samansa due to the broken Heartstone, though of course the princess didn’t say that aloud. Not only was she supposed to be unable to hear dragon-speech, but mentioning the shattered Heartstone—which was precisely why shecouldunderstand—might prove disastrous. She and Kirek hadn’t discussed how, exactly, the topic should be broached.
Heartshould have nothing to do with duty, another voice said, this one as slick as oil in Samansa’s mind, leaving something like a greasy film behind that made the princess feel less clean than she already was.Quite the opposite, the voice continued.
A huge dragon coiled closer, one roughly the size of the Queen Mother, but light in color where the queen was dark. Her gray-white scales were edged in orange to match her terrifying eyes.
Indeed, sister, the Queen Mother said. She was determinedlynotlooking at her, as if to refuse to acknowledge a threat.
Pavak.Kirek nodded at the new dragon, giving her a name.
So, the Queen Mother’s sister. This was Kirek’s aunt.
Thinking briefly of her own mother’s sister, Marsa—so kind and filled with laughter and never a thought for taking the throne—Samansa determined that she much preferred her aunt to Kirek’s.
And that Pavak was, indeed, a threat. Kirek had once named her dangerous, during one of their first conversations.
We need to speak, Kirek said to the Queen Mother.Alone.
The queen seemed to consider the proposal despite the dangerous glint in her eyes, but once more Pavak slid closer, reminding Samansa of a slithering serpent, coiling close enough to strike.
You don’t have the fire to speak where we all can hear you, for fear we will snuff it out?Pavak asked Kirek in that oily voice, her orange gaze seeming to shine with a sick light.Have you grown so weak among the humans that you would hide like a rat in one of their burrows, to talk and scheme behind closed doors and flimsy walls like them, so that others may not challenge you in the open?
Kirek hissed, while even Samansa herself bristled. Yes, hermother had secret meetings kept away from prying eyes, and likely her brother did as well—and though she hated to think it, even Tordall, whom she hoped wasn’t betraying her mother along with him—but she’d never thought of humans likeratsfor doing so. Not even the traitorous among them, let alone their queen. But Pavak obviously had a much lower opinion of humans.
Samansa bit her lip. She supposed shehadjust compared Pavak to a slithering snake and High Nest to a hive of insects, if silently, so if she was going to judge the dragons for casting stones at windows, she probably shouldn’t be throwing them first.
Maybe human-dragon relations were in even greater peril than she’d already assumed. And she’d been assuming that a lot, of late.
If you don’t wish to face the cleansing light of our fire, perhaps you deserve to get scorched, Pavak said.Or even snuffed.
Unfortunately, the Queen Mother’s considering silver gaze now rested upon her sister, and Samansa thought she could recognize that look, as well, from her own mother’s face. The need to tread carefully, even when one was the queen.
You can say what needs to be said here, Kirek, with all present, the Queen Mother decided.And you will do it proudly, or do you wish to lower yourself in the eyes of Pavak, whose lofty regard matters so highly to us all, for fear we will be found lacking?
The haughty disdain in the queen’s tone made it sound as if Pavak’s regard didn’t matter much, and there were chuffs like scoffs, but also a few hisses among the looming circle of dragons.
Samansa could feel the pressure in the warm cavern likeheld breath, and guessed that Pavak’s opinion might matter very much to some. Perhaps to a significant number. And what Kirek had to say could definitely not be spoken with pride.
Samansa’s throat tightened. While she was feeding herself on fantasies of romance, Kirek was probably mortified by the princess—by her feelings, by the pair-bond, by the broken Heartstone. Even by her kiss, no doubt. Samansa felt hot, gritty tears pressing behind her eyes and bit her lip harder to stopper them.
Her mother’s words surfaced once more from her childhood:If you cry like that in front of a dragon, they will think you weak.
She would not bring even more shame down on Kirek. She would do whatever it took to avoid it. But she didn’t see how she could stop the inevitable fall that was coming.
Her mother’s voice seemed to rise again, this time from not so long ago:Youcannotbotch this diplomatic arrangement so thoroughly as to commit quite possibly the gravest offense against dragonkind that there is.
Samansa closed her stinging eyes.Oh, Mother, how I have failed you. Because I fear I love Kirek.
Of course, she would never admit it out loud, not even for Kirek’s ears alone. It was Kirek who spoke instead.
The complication that has arisen is Samansa, she said baldly.I know what you instructed me to do, Mother—to kill the daughter heir—but now I cannot, and nor can any other dragon. For I have bonded with her. She is now as good as one of us.
The Queen Mother’s eyes flew wide, and Pavak’s oily voice turned more acidic, filled with fury and disgust.You pair-bonded a human?
The Queen Mother stared hard at Kirek, unblinking.How is this possible, daughter?
I don’t know.Kirek’s head bowed, and Samansa felt her heart sink with it.But it is true.
