Page 72 of Dragons of the Great Wyves: Fire and Song
Georgiana said softly, “The miracle he seeks is a dragon.”
That was evident. Also impossible. “We do not even know where Lizzy is. And she must not use Yuánchi to fight. Violence attracts the black dragon. Fènnù’s madness would consume Lizzy and Yuánchi.”
Georgiana was rereading the letter. “What if Fènnù fought?”
That shocked a laugh from me. “That isworse. When the black dragon is unleashed, history itself fractures. Entire civilizations vanish. Fènnù is not a weapon. She is an apocalypse.” Georgiana was watching me with a brilliant, focused intensity, like I was a keyboard score thick with accidentals, so I argued on, “If Lizzy commands Fènnù, if their minds connect, Lizzy’s mind would be consumed. Since the song was broken, every wyfe who ties herself to Fènnù has become a vessel for her fury.” Georgiana said nothing. Did she not understand? “Besides, which dragon is irrelevant. We cannot contact Lizzy.”
“I can do it,” Georgiana said.
That surprised me. “You can speak to Lizzy?”
Georgiana shook her head. “No. But I can summon Fènnù. I could command her to fight.”
That was so preposterous, I should have laughed louder. Instead, dread infused my veins. Fear for Georgiana.
I blinked and held fast to logic. “You have no way to summon Fènnù. Lizzy has the dagger. The wyfe ofwarhas the gift of command, not you.”
“I am the wyfe of song.” Georgiana spoke slowly, testing each word. “After you remembered Fènnù’s song, we sang it together. Fènnù heard us.”
The dread in my veins chilled colder. “But her power was monstrous. It crushed us.”
“It crushed the tower you built. That tower of music.”
Georgiana’s voice, always melodic, was toneless. She was hiding something. My dread congealed, hard as ice. “We built that tower together.”
“I know,” she whispered. “That is why it fell.”
The pieces of an ugly puzzle were assembling in my mind, but I refused to see it. “Youcannotcommand Fènnù. She is beyond human strength. Even Lizzy cannot command a dragon against its will. Fènnù would consume you.”
“That is how it will end. But England might be saved first.”
“No.” I shook my head like a child. “No. I refuse it. I will not allow it.”
“Mary—”
“No! I will not give you the music. I will burn it!”
Georgiana smiled a pitying smile. She had sung it. The wyfe of song remembered every note she sang.
In a flash, I was on a different path. “Even if you could summon her, you could not control her. Together, you would wreak senseless destruction. We would all be consumed.”
“Not at first. Not for a time. I am stronger than you know.”
“No one is that strong!”
She took my hands in hers. “Do you remember the power in the hills when we summoned the song draca? The strength when we sang together and you built that crystal palace of music? Mary, you are not feeling some ancient force or mystical song. You are feelingme.” The puzzle in my mind snapped into unforgiving clarity as she continued, “I did not know how to tell you. The strength you have been celebrating, the power that makes you so proud… it is mine.” Tears brightened her eyes. Her fingers clutched mine. “I should have told you. Can you forgive me?”
All my nascent pride, all the selfish importance I had collected, collapsed. It had been delusion, alms from this woman whom I loved and could never equal. Who occupied a realm I could barely perceive, let alone enter. I had only been too ignorant to understand.
“There is nothing to forgive,” I grated out. “I was a fool.”
“Mary, I swear that you have your own power—”
“Please do not.” I managed that with a steady voice, but it was hard. Being comforted, whether from love or guilt, hurt more than the truth.
Finally, a pooled tear penetrated Georgiana’s lashes and sped down her cheek.
The lost memory woke:
