I’m not sure how long I sat there. Not very long, I think.
Then Relos Var said, “When I ordered Qown to help you, this wasn’t what I had in mind.”
52: THE BREAKING OF CHAINS
Jorat Dominion, Quuros Empire. Three days since Talon’s team won
“I wonder if it’s all of them,” Kihrin mused.
“What was that?” Qown asked.
“If all the dragons are children of the Eight Immortals. I mean, I spent four years stranded on Thaena’s sacred island because her dragon son, Sharanakal, didn’t want me to leave. And then there’s Aeyan’arric and—myself—”
Qown frowned. “What about Aeyan’arric and you?”
“Uh, never mind. My point is, I wonder if that will prove true of all the dragons?”
“Wow. Uh, now that’s a conversation I never thought I’d be having,” Ninavis said.
Janel looked at Brother Qown. “I think it’s possible. Maybe Relos Var’s fondness for going after family goes right back to the beginning.”
“Man’s got some issues,” Dorna commented.
“It changes things,” Kihrin said. He remembered comments from both Relos Var and the dragon Sharanakal. They’d recognized him not from his physical appearance, but by the “color” of his soul. If all dragons shared such an ability, then Aeyan’arric might well recognize him.
But was that good? What if Aeyan’arric hated her father?
“Why does it change anything?” Janel asked. “She’s still an angry dragon Relos Var is using to trap us here.”
He paused and waved a hand. “Keep going with the story. I need to think about this.”
Qown’s Turn. The Ice Demesne, Yor, Quur.
Brother Qown learned he could even spy on a god, when he realized Tya didn’t sense him.1 He’d been following Janel since she left, using her distinctive higher core temperature as his heat source. It proved unnecessary after she entered the Spring Caves. The stone monolith ran so hot Qown couldn’t stare at it lest he blind himself; it burned with the heat of an open forge.
Like Relos Var, like Janel, Tya ran hotter in temperature than a normal person. Much hotter, and Brother Qown made a note to see if he could find a connection between tenyé and heat levels. Did tenyé have a tangible energy impact? What did this physiological difference signify?
Then Janel was crying and Tya was crying, and Qown wished he didn’t have to keep watching. Much more embarrassing than spying on sex, which he’d forced himself to do more than once for fear he’d lose information otherwise.
He watched, anyway. And he watched as mother and daughter defeated Aeyan’arric together.
Brother Qown exhaled. Whatever else happened, Janel would be fine. Her mother would take her away.
She’d made it.
Then something pushed him, knocking Worldhearth from his hand.
Senera loomed over him. “Watching anything interesting?”
“What? I—”
She grabbed him by the shoulder and pulled him from the chair. He looked around and saw her soldiers filled the room. The soldiers were patched and bandaged, as if they’d just come from a fight.
Which they probably had.
“What’s happened?” Brother Qown asked.
“You’ll find out soon enough,” Senera said. “Will you walk, or should I have the lieutenant carry you?”
He stood, straightening his agolé as he picked up Worldhearth. “I’ll walk.”
Together, they marched from the main library, heading upstairs to the great hall. Brother Qown felt his stomach squeeze tighter with each step. They’d been discovered. They’d been discovered far too early. Everyone at the palace must have witnessed the fight outside. And no one—not Duke Kaen and certainly not Relos Var—would be happy to see Aeyan’arric slain. The Yorans would probably kill Qown, but he’d known that would be the price.
He’d always known.
But when he stepped up into the giant crystal trapezoid, he saw a scene he’d expected and two additional details he hadn’t.
What he expected: Duke Azhen Kaen stood there, furious and mighty, looking like he had been roused from bed and had not yet had time to decorate his beard. His wife, Xivan, stood next to him, as well as his son, Exidhar. Wyrga sat at her normal place by the fire, accompanied by her pet polar bear cub / ensorcelled husband. The Spurned spread out like an honor guard, dressed in full armor and holding shields and swords. Qown didn’t recognize the robust blue-haired Yoran man standing just to the side of the duke, but that wasn’t shocking. Most of the Yoran nobles wanted nothing to do with him, and the early hour meant a great many of the normal faces were absent.
What he hadn’t expected: Janel Danorak lay on the floor next to Relos Var, unconscious. Her arms had been forced behind her back and were held together by a giant metal band, molded around her hands. And before Duke Kaen, beaten and bloody, stood someone Brother Qown hadn’t seen in years but remembered well.
Ninavis.
She was bound with rope. Ninavis also sported a bruise on one cheek, and blood trickled from her split lip.
“Ah, good, everyone’s here now,” Relos Var said.
Brother Qown nearly threw up, right on the spot. Relos Var had warned Qown that one day the wizard would have to choose whether to continue supporting Duke Kaen or turn instead to Janel. It looked like Relos Var had finally made his choice.
He studied Relos Var’s face for any clue that this was somehow not what it seemed, that Var had found some way to keep Janel and Qown—and possibly Ninavis—alive. Var’s face was carved from stone.
“You realize she’s coming back, right?” Brother Qown said.
A guard stepped forward to hit him, and Qown fixed his gaze on the man. The guard hesitated.
Relos Var turned around. “Who’s coming back?”
“Tya. Did you think Janel killed Aeyan’arric by herself?”
Duke Kaen gave Relos Var a look. “I’m beginning to think killing a dragon isn’t as difficult as you’ve led me to believe.”
Relos Var shook his head. “Aeyan’arric isn’t dead, Your Grace.”
“She killed her,” Brother Qown volunteered. “I saw it.”
Relos Var sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. “Yes, you did. But such a death isn’t permanent. She’ll return.” He smiled at Qown. “Janel missed a step.”
Brother Qown folded his hands over his arms. “What do you mean?”
“You see, what you failed to take into account—” Relos Var stopped. “Why don’t we save the class lecture for another day? Much as you know I love to enlighten the uneducated, you’re right. I’m not sure this palace would survive a reunion between myself and my favorite student.”
Qown blinked for a moment, confused as to why Relos Var would reference Senera when she stood right there. Then he realized Var meant something else entirely.
The goddess Tya had been his “favorite student.”2
“So what are our options?” Duke Kaen asked. “Kill Janel Danorak? Send her to Shadrag Gor? And what about our Black Knight?” He gestured toward Ninavis. “Are you seriously expecting me to believe you couldn’t track down one middle-aged woman responsible for all the trouble we’ve had in Jorat? When this is the Black Knight?”