Part 26 (1/2)
Lea frowned. ”Caelan, you must learn to forgive! Did today teach you nothing?”
”Stop pus.h.i.+ng!” Caelan snapped at her. ”Why are you never satisfied?”
”Because you have so much to learn.”
Elandra was amazed to hear a grown man corrected by such a young girl, but she also knew that wisdoms seldom looked their true age. Lea was a very old spirit indeed inhabiting that lithe, youthful body.
Caelan hesitated, still scowling at her, then abruptly caught her hands in his. ”Come with us.”
She shook her head. ”Not yet.”
”When?”
”When it is time.”
Frustration filled his face. ”But how am I to know if you are well? How am I to be responsible for you? How am I to take care of you?”
Lea reached up to caress his cheek. ”Look within your heart to know that I am well. But you have much else to tend now, my brother. I am not your task.”
Then she turned and held out her hand to Elandra. ”And you, dear lady who loves my brother, you also have much before you. Receive the blessing of the spirits to guide you on your way.”
Surprised by the benediction, Elandra inclined her head. ”Thank you.”
”Good journey,” Lea said. She drew a leather pouch from her saddlebag and handed it to Caelan. ”This is food so you will not have to hunt on the way.”
He took it in silence, everything he could not say knotted in his face. Wordlessly he swept her close and hugged her hard. ”I cannot lose you again,” he whispered.
Lea closed her eyes and hugged him back. ”You never will,” she promised. ”I will come. If the G.o.ds are kind, I promise you I will come.”
Then she pulled away from him, tears s.h.i.+mmering in her eyes. She curtsied to Elandra and climbed back on her pony. With one last silent wave, she rode away.
Since then, Caelan had been quiet and preoccupied. At night in camp, sitting together by the flickering campfire and listening to the strange sounds of unfamiliar plains and marshlands, he had little to say. Perhaps he did not want to speak of his plans while he could be overheard by the Thyzarenes. Perhaps something else troubled him. Elandra kept her own counsel and let him be. As long as his arms held her through the night, she knew all would be well.
And now, with the wind whipping her cheeks and sending locks of her hair streaming out behind her, she looked down and saw the thick jungles of home.
Her heart lifted with joy. Suddenly she felt invincible, incapable of doubt or failure.
She pointed. ”Look! There is the river.”
Bwend nodded and nudged Nia with his left foot. The dragon wheeled lazily and turned toward the river. It was overflowing its banks this time of year, fat with monsoon rains, flooding the paddies and sweeping away humble villages. In places it spread all the way into the edge of the jungle, and lay there among the trees, stagnant and stinking with great clouds of flies rising off its surface.
The dragons did not drop alt.i.tude, and soon Elandra understood why as they came to mountains. Clouds mounded over the peaks, pouring rain on the near slopes. The water pelted Elandra hard, making her draw up her hood and s.h.i.+ver.
She didn't really care, however. The ripe, earthy scent of the jungle lifted to her nostrils, and she gloried in its untamable savagery.
Now they did drop lower, coming close enough in places for her to see the colorful birds and wild parrots that lived in the tree-tops. Screaming monkeys fled before them, surely fearing the great predator dragons that flew overhead.
Part of the mountain slope stood bare where trees had long ago been hacked down. Ancient stone ruins revealed themselves, bizarre faces carved on an immense scale and worn by time. Vines twisted over them, and from the darkness of a cave mouth there appeared to be a group of wild jinjas jinjas huddled together. They vanished before Elandra could be sure, but she found her heart beating fast with excitement just the same. huddled together. They vanished before Elandra could be sure, but she found her heart beating fast with excitement just the same.
So this was where jinjas jinjas came from. These old temples of the ancient ways. The traders who brought young came from. These old temples of the ancient ways. The traders who brought young jinjas jinjas to the sorcery markets guarded their secrets jealously, telling no one where they captured their wares. Elandra smiled to herself. She must have a to the sorcery markets guarded their secrets jealously, telling no one where they captured their wares. Elandra smiled to herself. She must have a jinja jinja of her own, one bonded to her. Perhaps Caelan would accept one for his own protection too. of her own, one bonded to her. Perhaps Caelan would accept one for his own protection too.
”That way!” she shouted at Bwend, pointing.
He nodded, looking insulted by her directions. Elandra was too excited to care. When she left her father's palace over a year ago, she thought she would never return. Her memories had not all been good ones, but how she missed the sights and smells, the heat, the lazy afternoons when nothing moved but the fans to stir the air; yes, she even missed the dreadful muxa bugs.
Laughing aloud, she glanced over at Caelan and saw him watching her. She waved at him, and he smiled.
Ahead, the jungle thinned out and ended. Lush fields of flax, rice, and aotta beans stood in water. The rain ended, and Elandra threw back her hood. How moist and heavy the air felt. She could feel her skin absorbing it. Her hair began to curl and riot about her face.
A break in the clouds allowed a luminescent shaft of sunlight to spear down to earth. And there stood the gleaming white limestone walls of Albain palace, as solid and safe as ever. Eagerly Elandra leaned low over Nia's neck, hoping she would fly faster.
Instead the dragon slowed and began to circle.
Disappointed, Elandra snapped her head around to look into Bwend's impa.s.sive face. ”Why don't we keep going? Why do you circle here?”
He met her eyes, but said nothing. Catching up, Basha also began to circle. The Thyzarenes exchanged looks and hand signals.
Suspicion grew inside Elandra. Had they come this far, only to be tricked at the last moment? Caelan was peering down at the ground, and she could not catch his attention. She fingered her knife, vowing she would not be held for ransom like some helpless captive.
”Bwend,” she said sharply, ”remember I am your empress.”
Nia bugled, and Basha echoed the sound. The dragons flew closer, then circled again, staying high.
Elandra gripped the harness so hard her knuckles turned white. She was furious at this delay. What was Bwend doing? Tormenting her? She could see her father's sentries gesturing. More troops came running. Some were archers. When they lifted their drawn bows, aiming at the dragons, she sat up straight on Nia's back and glanced again at Bwend.
”Yes, Majesty,” he said, his voice dry. ”If we come in too fast, they shoot us like birds for eating. You would not like to hit the ground that hard, eh?”
Elandra swallowed and felt ashamed of her previous suspicions.
They circled the palace again, staying out of arrow range. She could see the famous steps reaching from the broad courtyard up to the portico of the palace itself. Her father's banners of yellow and white flew proudly. She saw no imperial coat of arms, however, and wondered why her father had struck her banner.
The people of the household crowded onto the balconies, pointing upward. Soldiers poured from the barracks. More archers appeared.
Elandra frowned at them, wanting to shout a reprimand. After all she had gone through to get here, were they even going to let her land?
Bwend pulled a dirty white rag from his pouch and let it stream out for the soldiers to see.
The men changed formation, clearing a large s.p.a.ce in the courtyard.
”This dangerous,” Bwend said in her ear. ”No flag to show imperial business. No reason to come.”
She held her breath and gripped the harness strap more tightly. ”I am ready.”
Nia dropped in a plummet that left Elandra's stomach floating somewhere among the clouds. The watery sunlight vanished as the clouds closed again. Grimly, she realized she must look like a wild woman, arriving windblown in this bizarre fas.h.i.+on. She had no veil, no suitable gowns, no entourage. If her father was not at home, would anyone even recognize her?
Just as this doubt occurred to her, Nia b.u.mped down and staggered forward a few steps on her awkward legs. Beating her wings, the dragon stretched her neck and roared loudly enough to make the troops back up. Then Basha landed, snapping his jaws and shaking the singed remnants of his beard. He roared and lashed his tail, and Caelan slid off his back hastily.
At once, Fotel spoke a command and Basha lifted back into the air, smoking and grumbling as he went.
Caelan took a moment to adjust his sword belt, then he straightened himself to military posture and swept the silent Gial-tan soldiers with a single, appraising glance. The sight of them did not appear to daunt him at all.