Page 12 of Winter Goddess
I nod curtly and the dragon woman continues.
“She then came to my Realm and on her way to the palace, slaughtered several of my people. When she arrived here, she sought to dispose of our rulers and bring unrest to my lands.”
“I helped you get your throne back,” Ada hisses, saying something for the first time. “You wouldn’t even sit there without me.”
“Silence!” Dewi roars, her aura flashing dangerously. “You will not speak unless addressed.”
I frown. Ada isn’t one to lie, so if that’s true… it doesn’t make any sense. I need more information.
“Ada, I’m going to examine your mind,” I announce so that everybody can hear. “That will be a lot quicker than having to listen to statements and having to decide whether you or someone else is lying.”
The last bit is a jab at Dewi, and I hope she sees it as that.
“You can’t do that,” the Dragon Goddess splutters. “You don’t have that ability.”
The mystery deepens. “Who told you that?” I ask, but I think I already know. Yes. She points at Ada.
“You lied to me!” Dewi shouts, but Ada shakes her head.
“I swear, Wyn wasn’t able to do that when I left. Arc was though, one of her companions.”
I’m getting more and more confused by the whole situation. I don’t have the patience to ask more questions though, so I cup Ada’s face with my hands.
“Relax your mind,” I tell her softly. “It won’t hurt.”
Dewi is saying something in the background, but I don’t care. I drift into Ada’s mind, being as gentle as possible as I push past old memories and thoughts to find her recent past.
* * *
The dragon prisoneris staring at me, his eyes wide, his expression that of a very desperate man. “The dragons are under attack,” he whispers, his voice rough and exhausted. “You need to let me out of here. They won’t last much longer.”
“You can’t think I’d set you free,” I reply in Ada’s voice. “You’re a madman, I shouldn’t even be talking to you.”
“Not mad,” he whispers. “She’s still in my mind. She’s always in there, hurting me, telling me what to do. Right now she’s not, though, and I can talk. I can think. I need to leave.”
I laugh. “See, you’re mad, I told you. I’d think that hearing voices is a symptom of madness even for dragons.”
“She’s real,” he hisses. “She’s in every single dragon’s mind. She controls us, makes us angry. She makes us kill. She captured the Queen and now we’re bound to her.”
Before I can say anything, his eyes roll up in his head and he falls back against the wall, his body twitching. He’s having another seizure. Maybe those are causing his madness. Maybe they’re messing with his brain.
I sigh and continue writing my notes on his behaviour. I should be interrogating him, but it’s no use. He either mutters nonsense, or he’s too far out of it to even hear my questions. I can’t make sense of him, and that bothers me.
* * *
“Listen! Listen to her!”He’s pressed against the barrier, the palms of his hands so tight against it that his flesh has turned white.
“I can’t hear her,” I tell him softly. I’ve started to pity him. His pain doesn’t seem to get any less and his seizures are increasing in intensity. “She’s in your head.”
“Yes, she is, now listen.”
He squeezes a hand through the tiny opening in the glass barrier that’s usually used to give him food. He wants me to touch him. No chance. I don’t know what kind of tricks he’s got up his sleeve. The cell is in a magic vacuum, so he can’t shift or do magic, but despite his weakness and malnourished appearance, he’s bigger than me.
“She isn’t real,” I tell him for the hundredth time. “I won’t be able to hear her. Just ignore her and focus on the present.”
“She’s hurting my people,” he growls, his eyes suddenly a little clearer. “I need to do something.”
“I’m sure they’d have sent a message if they were in need of assistance,” I tell him soothingly. “We’d know about it.”
