Ryuu no Hikou, 7/?
Posted: Wed Jun 18, 2003 9:29 am
I seem to be making a habit of this. ^^;; If RL isn't kicking my hinder, I'm forgetting that I'm supposed to be posting chapters regularly and responding to feedback from all of the people kind enough to leave some for me. *sheepish grin* I can't make any guarantees--I'm having a hard enough time finding the time to write the fic itself. >.<
For any who have missed the previous chapters, they can be found in the Heero x Relena Authors archives, under "Sara". Thanks for reading! ^_^
Chapter 7
Duo had only the briefest of moments to think that this was not the way to impress a female companion before it was lost as Faohr plunged down toward the forest clearing.
"No, 'Scythe, no!! We have to get Hilde back to the castle!" He slapped at the dragon's shoulder ineffectually. Faohr had no intentions of listening to his rider now. He had spotted his quarry and was going in for the kill. He hadn't even heard Duo's words.
But Hilde had heard him. She swiveled in her seat, fire in her eyes. "If you think I'm leaving now, just because it's 'dangerous', you've got another thing coming, Duo Maxwell! Besides, if we turn around now, we might lose...whatever it is that Deathscythe has spotted. I'm staying!"
Duo opened his mouth to protest, then set his lips in a grim line. "All right." He smirked. "It's not like I could stop this guy if I wanted to, anyway." His features sobered, and he set his hands on her waist more firmly. "Hang on. We're going in!"
Hilde turned to face forward...just in time to see the mercury dragon crash through the canopy of the forest. She gasped and ducked her head, raising one arm to protect her face. Branches and leaves whipped and lashed at her, but still the dragon pelted onward. Hilde was amazed that Deathscythe could still maneuver in the trees.
And then she spotted them--dark-clad features, scrambling madly to escape the dragon, who was quite intent on not losing them. She heard snatches of panicked babbling in a language that she did not recognize. She counted the figures quickly...six, seven, eight, nine...ten. So few? For an attack on a fortified castle? Hilde knew that she did not know much about battle strategies and tactics, but ten seemed so inadequate....
But soon her attention was diverted from these thoughts to what the dragon was doing. The mercury dragon was drawing ever closer to the scattered group of soldiers. Occasionally his long neck would snake out and he would roar at them; a short, barking roar that seemed designed to startle rather than anything else. With each bark, the soldiers bunched closer together.
Then it occurred to her--the dragon was herding the soldiers. But why? She scrutinized the small attack force. They were almost running on top of each other now; their fear of the dragon overriding the need to give each other space in which to run. Hilde was amazed that none of the soldiers had tripped and fallen.
Deathscythe suddenly changed his tactics. He leveled out and gave himself a burst of speed. His neck arched back in an S-shaped curve, and she felt him take in a great breath of air. Duo grabbed her by the shoulders and pulled her back against his chest. "Cover your eyes, quick!" he barked, much like his dragon. Hilde had not even realized that she had been leaning forward.
She quickly threw an arm in front of her eyes, though she could not help but peek. The dragon's neck shot out, his jaws gaped wide, and with a roar even louder than before, he released his breath weapon.
It seemed to be a beam of bright yellow light, crackling with energy that sizzled and snapped along its entire length. The beam caught twigs, leaves, and bits of branches, and wherever it touched, it left behind incinerated cinders. The air was filled with flying ash and bits of charred debris as they passed. The beam caught the group of soldiers squarely, and she could hear the men screaming in agony. For a moment, she felt remorseful. True, they were the enemy; but they were only following orders. To be burned alive--!
It was over in a heartbeat. Satisfied that he had triumphed, Deathscythe landed in front of the remains of the soldiers and bugled loudly in triumph. "I win! IwinIwinIwinIwinIwin!!!"
"Let us down, 'Scythe," said Duo crossly. The dragon, his enthusiasm not dampened in the least by his rider's pique, obediently crouched down and allowed his riders to slide off of his back.
Hilde walked slowly over to the remains of the soldiers. "Just like that..." she murmured absently.
Duo had also taken note of the remains. "Nice going, buddy," he groused at his dragon. "Now we can't tell who they were!"
Faohr opened his mouth to protest, but before he could, a loud roar heralded the arrival of the other dragon-riders. Sandrock, Heavyarms and Wing burst through the canopy directly above Deathscythe, with Forth close behind. The four dragons landed opposite the mercury, and their riders dismounted.
"What happened?" Quatre called across the clearing. "We heard that there were intruders--eugh!" He jumped back as if bitten, for he had just stepped into the charred patch where the soldiers had fallen. "What is this?"
"'Scythe thought the best way to deal with the intruders was to incinerate them," muttered Duo. "I'm sorry...I couldn't get him to stop. He attacked before I realized what he was about to do."
For the first time, Faohr stopped his prancing and paid attention to his surroundings. He looked at the charred patch of ground, and to the small cluster of dragon-riders, and finally to the other dragons, who were regarding him curiously.
If a dragon could blush, thought Hilde, that was what Faohr was doing. The dragon ducked his head sheepishly, snuffling at the ground near his feet. "Oops," he muttered.
"Oops, indeed," grumbled Duo. "Couldn't you at least have saved one of them, so we could tell where they were from?!"
"How do we know that this was the only option?" Sandrock stepped forward. "If it had been any of us, we would have done the same thing." The other dragons nodded. "It is difficult to catch up with running prey when you don't have the full use of your wings. It is also difficult to fly in a forest."
"The mercury dragon was in the right," hissed Forth. "Best to eradicate the snakes and protect the nest, than to allow them closer to the hatchlings in order to get a better look at them." The brass dragon kicked at the charred ashes derisively. "Cowards, sneaking through the trees. Only the cowardly use such tactics."
Duo did not look completely convinced, but he did not protest. He ran a hand through his fringe of bangs, distressed. "Still. We could've used them to find out where these attackers came from." He laughed humorlessly, shaking his head. "If Wufei were here, he'd be crapping sea serpents over this." This caused Duo to pull up short, frowning. "Speaking of Wufei, where is he? I haven't seen him in a long time. Why isn't he with the rest of you?"
The rest of the dragon-riders glanced about them, as if suddenly realizing that they were missing one from their number. "I haven't seen him all night," said Quatre. "What could have happened to him? If he is missing, he might be in trouble. We should try to find him."
Heero shook his head. At his shoulder, Wing shifted slightly, as if to say something. "Wufei can take care of himself," the dragon-rider said gruffly. "He is a strong and capable, and he has a dragon companion to help him, were he to fall into unfriendly hands. I am sure that he is hidden away in the castle somewhere, as he has been for the past weeks."
Quatre seemed almost reluctant to let the matter drop, but before he could say more, the stamping of feet and huffing of breaths heralded the arrival of a company of guards, as well as Weyridge. The older man paused for a moment to catch his breath before finally speaking. "What has happened here?"
Once again, Duo recounted the series of events, careful to omit the reason why he and his dragon had been flying past the wood in the first place. Weyridge raised his eyebrows in suspicion as he spotted Hilde skulking timidly behind the ranks of the dragon-riders, but said nothing.
The princess's regent walked with a deliberately slow pace past the charred remains of the intruders. He murmured to himself under his breath, too quiet for the others gathered to understand his words. When he finally raised his head, he first looked to the guards.
"Jorreth, prepare to have this spot watched until first light. We will have the scholars study this, including Sally. Perhaps they can glean some information from these clues left behind."
He then turned to face the dragon-riders, concentrating in particular on Duo. The youth cringed visibly, expecting a dressing-down. Instead, Weyridge gave him a keen look.
"I do not blame you for the way things transpired," he said, his voice calm. "You cannot be held responsible for the way your dragon's weapon would impact. I believe that you reacted in the best way that you could, given the circumstances.
"We still have some information here that can be used, even if it is scanty. I will want to have a word with you and your companion, Duo Maxwell, tomorrow morning. For now, I believe that we all could use a rest. It's been a long night for all of us."
* * *
The commotion in the castle had slowly dissipated, but Noin was still wary. She could still hear the occasional barking of the guards' voices, but no others had come charging up the stairs after the first group. She had had a time of it, convincing them that she had seen nothing and that no one else was there; the guards were on edge because of the excitement, and much more suspicious than normal. Eventually the guards had all left, their call bidding them to scour other corners of the castle to make sure that none of the dark shadows spotted in the forest had managed to reach the grounds.
Fortunately, they did not think to look higher.
As soon as Noin realized that the guards were coming up to the room where she stood, she knew that Zechs and his dragon could not get away in time. Instead, she had urged them to hide on top of the room. There was a small parapet there, built back in the day when archers would stand on top of the castle ramparts, firing arrows from above. There were no stairways leading up; they had been removed long ago, mainly to keep children from playing in them, so the guards had no reason to believe anyone would have been up there. It was the perfect size to hide a dragon, provided she was willing to crouch down.
Noin knew there were guards posted at the bottom of the stairs, who would be listening for any sounds coming from the room. She carefully perched on one of the windowsills and peered out. She could just make out the outline of a dragon's head, swiveling this way and that, making sure the coast was clear.
The head tilted slightly, glinting softly purple in the faint light, and Noin heard Zechs' voice drift down from the rooftop perch. "Have they gone?" he murmured quietly.
Noin nodded, and spoke in an equally quiet voice. "But we are still being watched. Best to leave now, when eyes are not to the sky."
"The other dragons are in the forest, on the opposite side of the castle." Hrynne sounded contemplative. "It would be best to go before they take to wing again. They won't be watching the skies if they think their enemy is on the ground." Noin heard a rustle above her as the dragon stood and shook out her wings, arching her neck to and fro to test for wind currents.
Zechs clambered down to the sill to join Noin. He took both of her hands in his, and raised them to his lips. "I wish that we could have had more time," he murmured softly. "There are so many things...things I want to tell you...how much I've missed you, how I've thought of you often...."
She silenced him with a squeeze of her own hands, a gentle smile gracing her lips. "As I am sure they are similar to those I have thought, of you," she whispered. "There will be another time, I am sure of it, when we can both take as much time as we need."
"I swear it...one day, we shall be together," he averred, his voice as intense as his eyes. "I made a promise to you. I intend to keep it, and no manner of beast or border shall keep me from it." He leaned forward until his face was mere inches away from her own. "I swear it."
"Milliardo..." Noin's voice was barely more than a soft movement of breath past her lips. She leaned forward, as Zechs released her hands to cup her face gently, then met her halfway as his lips brushed against her own.
The moment seemed to last forever; a single second played on a string that had no beginning or end, and all Noin knew was the feel of his hands against her face, his lips against hers, and his pulse, which seemed to resonate with her own. Her own hands drifted up to shadow his, playing softly against the tendons and knuckles of his hands. For one moment, she was lost in a dream.
With a flap of dragon-wings that was much louder than Noin would have hoped, the moment shattered. She opened her eyes, which she had not realized she'd closed, and saw Zechs' dragon hovering outside the window in which they stood.
"I do not mean to interrupt," the dragon said urgently, "but we can linger no longer. I fear that if we stay, we will be spotted."
Zechs pulled away reluctantly, his eyes never leaving Noin's face. "I will return," he vowed. "Never forget that."
"I trust you," she replied, and in her heart, she knew it was true.
He smiled back at her, though his expression was immensely sad. Then, as though it pained him, he tore his gaze away from her own and turned to face his dragon. He pushed off from the windowsill to leap onto his dragon's back. The dragon lurched slightly in the air, then leveled off.
Zechs glanced back at Noin, and a gaze was exchanged that seemed to last as long as the kiss...but too soon, it was gone. Hrynne snorted softly, glanced about her, then silently turned in the directon of Es'rilshan and began to fly as quickly as her wings would carry her.
Noin watched for a long time, until the dragon was merely a speck on the distant horizon, and all but indiscernible from the stars.
* * *
Relena had long since stopped trying to leave her quarters, but that did not mean she had stopped worrying.
She had tried to make her escape not long after being escorted back to her suite. Unfortunately, the guards assigned to watch her had remained true to their word, and were stationed outside of her door, still as stone soldiers, yet seeing everything...and only too eager to prevent their princess from getting herself into more trouble by investigating the source of the disturbance. Relena was both irritated and pleased; she wanted to go and see what had happened, yet she was glad that the guards in her employ showed such faithfulness to her and their kingdom.
It seemed that all she could do was wait...and worry.
Meryth, along with the rest of her servantry, had been dismissed for the evening to allow them to enjoy a bit of celebration themselves, though they were not permitted to attend the ball. As a result, Relena was still in her ball gown. She was perfectly capable of undressing herself, and had no qualms about doing so, but in her fit of pique she had refused the simple task, choosing instead to allow the sound of the silk rustling against her skin to add a descant to her frustration.
"I am the princess of Sanq, and I still don't know what's going on!! Why am I always the last to know?!" she muttered to herself, trying to think of any way possible for her to get out of her quarters and into the action. She felt so helpless. She did not know who was attacking, she did not know what sort of a force they faced, or how they should act. Instead of being able to help, she had been relegated to the most useless position of all--a figurehead, in need of protection.
If she had not been a princess, and had not gone through many endless hours of ettiquite training with a dour old spinster who had a fondness for cracking a length of willow across her knuckles whenever she erred, Relena would have cursed.
Relena paced back and forth across her room for a few heartbeats, then restively darted to the window. Resisting the urge to hoist herself into a seated position on the stone sill, she instead leaned against the cold stone and stared morosely outward. All that she had been able to glean from the guards was that one of the dragon-riders had spotted intruders in the forest, and had attacked. After that, they would say no more, already looking nervous for exposing her to more than she should have known.
This caused her to frown. Why were the guards withholding information from her? She imagined all of the times that Weyridge had had to bring somber news to her. Had he screened the information first, only passing along what he felt she could 'handle'? Did he feel that, as a young woman and a princess, she was somehow more frail than a prince would be?
Relena's fists clenched at her sides in anger, and for the first time in many months, a fiery determination seethed through her system. She would NOT allow others to think of her as somehow weak or unworthy to rule Sanq! She had been given the throne after her father died. Even if she did not care a whit for her own honor, she could not dishonor his memory! She owed him that much.
Besides, she had done what many kings of the recent past had not: she had answered the call of the Oracle and summoned the dragon-riders.
The dragon-riders....
Heero....
A flash of a memory, then hot, dark guilt flooded her system. How she had acted so bold, so forward to the prince. How she had demanded things of him that he had no obligation to procure. How she had threatened not only him, but his entire family's honor, and for what? For the sake of one dance? How could she have been so brash? What must he think of her now?
Relena's heart clenched in her chest in a way that she had not felt since she was given the news that her father was dead. Her vision blurred, like she was looking through a crystal, as tears filled her eyes. The one person she would have wanted by her side, the one suitor whom she would have granted an audience...and through her own impatience and impulsiveness, she had probably completely driven him away. She knew that he would remain, as he was sworn to do as a dragon-rider and a protector of the kingdom...but there were ways to avoid a person in Calon Gaer, if one truly wished it.
She felt as though she had been struck. For every moment I think that I have become an adult, she thought, panic rising hot and fast in her throat, I discover at least five moments that prove to me that I am still a child. Oh lords, what have I done?!
In spite of her resolve, Relena sank to the stone floor of her suite, buried her face in her hands, and wept.
* * *
The next morning, the dragon-riders, along with Rasid and a handful of Maguanacs, rose early and gathered in the council chambers to meet with Weyridge. None of them had slept very well; their minds occupied with various private thoughts and ponderings. Weyridge looked as though he had not slept at all; his eyes were shadowed and haunted, yet the light of triumphant discovery hovered there, as well.
Accompanying Weyridge was the princess, who seemed strangely subdued. She kept her eyes cast downward, and her hands clasped in her lap. She seemed a shadow of the fiery figure that the dragon-riders had come to know.
For a moment, Heero felt a flash of worry, and perhaps guilt. Was the Princess acting this way because of his actions? But he quickly dismissed such thoughts from his mind. He had bigger things which required his concentration. The Princess could wait.
When all were gathered, Weyridge began to speak.
"Several scholars and myself have been searching the remains of the attack squad that was discovered and subsequently destroyed last night," he began. "and I am afraid that there was little left for us to work with." Across the table, Duo made a near-silent noise of anger and shamed disgust, clenching his fists beneath the table. But if Weyridge noticed this, he made no mention of it.
"The clothing was charred beyond recognition, but we do not feel this would have made a difference. The ashes showed that there were probably no distinguishing features on the fabric that would have lent us any indication of the identity of our attackers. Nor were we able to discern anything remarkable from the bodies themselves.
"However," Weyridge stood up, and lifted a cloth-covered bundle. The bundle looked awkward and heavy, and Weyridge strained to lift it. He set it on the table, then began to unwrap its coverings. As he removed layer after layer, the pungent scent of ash began to waft into the room.
When all of the bindings were removed, a pile of charred weaponry remained behind. "We were able to salvage this," Weyridge finished. "And while anything flammable was destroyed, the metal is much more difficult to burn away, and did not melt." He looked at each and every dragon-rider piercingly. "Do any of you recognize these weapons, or the style of their forging?"
The dragon-riders peered at the weaponry, but for several handfuls of moments, no one spoke. Then Quatre stood hesitantly, reaching across the table as if to touch one of the charred blades.
"This cut...the forging...it looks so familiar to me," he murmured absently. He took one of the curved blades and slid it across the table to Rasid. "Do you recognize this? You would probably be more familiar with weaponry than myself."
Rasid picked up the blade, ignoring the crumbling soot that scored it, and ran a thumb idly along its edge. "I have seen this," he said contemplatively. "But it was not forged in any part of Sanq." He set down the blade, dusting off his hands. "There is a land that lies across the inland sea. It has always been a kingless land, for its people are warlike and never stay at peace for long. If a ruler is appointed, he is often ousted or assassinated shortly after his coronation.
"The people of that land are civilized, but only so. They know how to fight, and that is about all. This blade was forged by those people, I would swear on it."
"They have tried to attack Qa'nirvenye more than once." One of the Maguanacs, a man named Abdul, had spoken up. "They come in boats, skulking into the harbor under darkness. But the dragons always see them first, and blow them back to sea." He laughed at the memory. "Those dogs stopped sending armies across the sea when all that would come back were boats filled with dried-out corpses!"
"But we know now that they have reason to hate Sanq, not to mention the dragons," said Weyridge thoughtfully, steepling his fingers and resting his chin against them. "It is not much of a lead, but it gives us somewhere to start. That's better than what we had before.
"What is clear now is that we must be especially vigilant," he continued. "The enemy has not yet shown their face, but we know that they exist. They probably know that we know, as well. They will either try harder to hide, or will attack us head-on. In either event, we need to be prepared." The dragon-riders nodded in agreement...all except for one.
Weyridge frowned at Wufei. The dark youth had remained sullen and silent from the moment he had entered the room, but his demeanor spoke more of confusion and frustration rather than rebellion. He had listened, even nodding occasionally, but his participation in the gathering had not gone beyond that.
"Wufei," said Weyridge, a note of command in his voice. Weyridge had spent his life as a leader, and knew how to control even the most recalcitrant of troops. Indeed, the command caused the youth to raise his head, but it was clear that the physical response was an almost ingrained reaction; the boy's eyes showed quite clearly that his mind was somewhere else.
To his credit, Wufei was not thinking about rebellion. But his mind was elsewhere, and had been ever since he had found himself asleep on the floor in the woman scholar's laboratory. He had been completely confused, and did not remember anything that would give him any indication of how he had ended up to be there, much less asleep on the floor. For her part, Sally had offered him no information; she had suggested that perhaps he had overindulged and had simply lost his way. Wufei had not bought into this theory, but since he had no other options with which to compare, he had left silently, stewing in his own thoughts.
Now, he was faced with this dilemma...but he could not even concentrate properly, though there were others who were relying on his presence. He forced himself to bury his thoughts deeply, raised his awareness to meet the older man's eyes, and was rewarded by Weyridge's expression softening into something of satisfaction. The princess's regent did not press the matter with him.
"I would like it if a representative of your numbers would visit with the scholars," Weyridge addressed the Maguanacs. "You have much information on this enemy nation that we do not, and that information may be vital to us."
"Might I also suggest that the scholars talk to our dragons?" said Rasid. "They are the ones who often have met the enemy before we are even roused from our slumber, and have sent them scuttling back to their own shores." To this Weyridge nodded with agreement, then turned to face the rest of the room once more.
"If we are all in agreement of our tasks, then you are all dismissed," he said. "If there are any further developments, you will be kept appraised. But for now, remain vigilant. We never know when the enemy might strike next."
The dragon-riders slowly dispersed from the room, each lost in their own thoughts. It would be many hours later in the day before words came to the surface to express the thoughts held caged in many minds that afternoon.
* * *
By the end of the week, Wufei could think of nothing else but his sister's apparent treason.
The inner conflict came to a head a few days after the ball. Wufei and Lun were in the bathing room, and had the room to themselves. The dragon-rider had a bristle-brush in hand and was scrubbing at his mount's hide with increasingly agitated movements. Lun, for her part, tried to hide her wincing. Even through her tough hide, the rough grating of the bristles smarted. But she could sense that not all was right, and wisely held her tongue.
Finally, when the dragon felt that she could stand it no longer, Wufei let out a strangled noise of frustration and flung the brush across the room. It hit the opposite wall and fell to the floor with a dull clatter.
Lun tilted her head to regard her rider. "Though I was about to physically rip that brush from your fingers and fling it across the room myself, were you to scrub any harder, it is a childish act that I've not often watched you indulge. What causes you to do so now?"
Wufei scowled darkly. "I cannot believe it...yet my heart tells me that it is true. What of Meiran's involvement in this matter? Could she have been the one to supply the night-bell flowers to the assassin?"
The emerald dragon considered this. "You know that I have always viewed your sister as a venomous serpent clutched to the breast of your family," she said contemplatively. "In my mind, I know who is to blame."
"But she is my sister! She should be loyal to my family, as I am! As all descended from the family tree of Chang should be!"
"And you do not think that one's loyalty may be clouded by one's desires? Paugh," the dragon spat contemptuously. "I do not trust the viper. You know that."
"Yes, I do," replied Wufei thoughtfully. "and I must admit that some of your suspicion is well-founded. But would she allow it to drive her into committing treason against our family? I cannot think of it. Our family must mean more to her than that!"
"And you think that she was not bribed?"
Wufei's head snapped up. "What? Bribed?" He laughed harshly. "My sister and I may not see eye to eye on many things, but we do agree upon one thing. We cannot be bribed."
"I would not be so certain, if I were you." Lun's tail churned the waters as she spoke. "Think of the one thing, the greatest thing you could ever want. Have you never wished for something so strongly that all reason, all rationale, all common sense were fled completely before that desire?"
A dark scowl graced the young man's features, and he looked away. "I have...never wished for anything like that since I was a very small lad, and you know it," he glowered.
Lun chuckled. "As I remember it well, and you learned too soon the price that one pays for giving in to temptation and doing whatever it takes to achieve your means. But where that lesson was learned well of you, it may not have been so for Meiran. Think. What is there that could be so tantalizing, so provocative for her, that she would stop at nothing to achieve her ends?
"Or..." the dragon's voice lowered, her eyes smouldering under their heavy lids, "was it offered to her in exchange for committing some grievance that would be a boon to the enemy's side...such as, say, plucking a few small flowers from a hidden garden at the center of a ducal estate?"
Wufei's eyes narrowed. "You sound as though you know just how things happened."
Lun laughed. "Of course I do not know. How could I? Do not say that you do not trust me. You know that I could hide no secrets from you, just as you can hide none from me. This is beyond secrecy. But I know how the human mind works; I've observed plenty of them to know. It takes a stout heart to withstand being tantalized by the greatest object of one's desires."
"As I know how the mind of a dragon works, from time to time," Wufei said sardonically. "I somehow feel that you already know the course of action that you wish me to take, and are simply guiding me in that direction. Am I correct?"
Lun merely shook her head, sending water flying. "I cannot say that I am happy simply sitting here, doing nothing, when we could be investigating your sister's possible involvement in all of this," she said. "It is the foolish dragon that sits on her eggs in the nest, waiting for her enemies to come to her. But I cannot tell you what to do; only what I would do. In light of that, if it were my decision to make, I would go and confront your sister."
Wufei shook his head. "It may not be that easy," he murmured. "I do not think that we can come and go as we please, due to our obligations as protectors of Sanq."
"You think that confronting your sister on her involvement would not constitute protection?" shot back Lun. "If we know for certain what happened, then we can prepare that much better. We are not running from anyone. We are investigating her involvement. There is a difference. Look at what we stand to gain: The truth. A potential pace forward in this stupid game of cat-and-mouse. And, most importantly, your peace of mind."
Wufei gave Lun a regarding look. "You are prepared to face the consequences that our leaving might generate?"
Lun smiled in satisfaction. "I was prepared the moment I suggested that you make such a move," she replied.
Her rider only grunted as he waded toward the edge of the pool and hoisted himself out. "Then we shall leave tonight, under cover of darkness. If any should question us, we are only going a short distance away for a hunt, so as not to decimate the local herds." He glanced about him self-consciously, expecting to see a shimmer of air where a certain faerie-winged interloper might be hiding. But strangely enough, the woman scholar's companion had been conspicuously absent for the past few days, almost as though avoiding him.
Lun had also reached the edge of the pool, clambering out and shaking herself vigorously. "And when we reach Ri Shin?" she queried.
"Then we confront Meiran," he said, giving his dragon a sardonic smirk, since it had been her idea in the first place, "and learn the truth of all of this."
* * *
Wufei waited until darkness had settled thickly around the corners of the castle, and the only sound was that of silence and slumber. Lun was also strangely silent, curled up in her nest, watching alert for any sign of discovery.
As soon as they had returned from the bathhouse, dragon and rider had set to planning their escape. Wufei had packed lightly, carrying only a few sparse essentials to make travel more comfortable. He did not plan on being gone long; nor did he fool himself into thinking that his return would be welcomed with open arms.
If his father were to sight him, Wufei would be very likely facing disownment, if not a worse fate. Even though his father may not understand the need of the Pact, he did not dare to defy it, and would defend it with his dying breath...even if it meant going against his own son. Even at the thought, Wufei did not falter. His father had always been like this; he was accustomed to such things that would make a lesser person quail at the callousness.
As for the other members of his house...Wufei knew that they swore fealty to his father, but also, most of them had known him since he was a mere boy, and held him in fond regard. Even though their loyalty may lie with his father, they would not betray him...and might possibly help him find Meiran, should she have chosen to hide herself.
When the moon had peaked in the sky, a pale pearl set against the velvet throat of night, Wufei made a silent motion to Lun. She nodded briskly and began uncurling herself, marching to the entrance of the cave. Wufei shouldered his pack, and walked over to stand next to his dragon. They shared a moment where no words were spoke, yet the silence spoke volumes.
But before he could move to climb onto Lun's back, an all-too familiar shimmering of air heralded the arrival of the one creature he had hoped would not learn of his plans in advance. Wufei swore aloud as the faerie dragon popped into visibility, her wings fluttering to catch her balance.
Fikriyya took only a second to appraise the situation before letting loose an alarmed cry. "You're leaving!"
"Not permanently," Wufei scowled. "I had hoped to leave without anyone noticing."
"Why you leave? Surely you don't take the pranks seriously?" The faerie dragon looked genuinely crestfallen, as though she had realized that her favorite playmate was moving away.
Wufei shook his head. "We will discuss your "pranks" and how I feel about them later. Right now, I have matters that need attending-to, and I must leave." He turned to face Lun's side. "If you would leave me in peace?"
"You're going to see your sister, aren't you?"
The statement caused Wufei to freeze in his tracks. "How did you..." He shook his head. "It matters not. My business is my own."
"You mustn't leave!" the faerie dragon gasped, her tone even closer to panic. "You mustn't!"
"And what does it matter to you, whether I come or go?" snapped the dragon-rider. He did not have time for this! The night was waning; if he wanted to arrive in Ri Shin before daybreak, he had to leave. "I already said that I would return. What does it matter to you?"
To this, Fikriyya had no answer. She looked away, and for the first time, Wufei caught flashes of uncertianity on her face. "Don't make me tell the others," she murmured hesitantly.
"Tell them, if you wish," snapped Wufei, as Lun dipped her shoulder and he hopped into place on her back. "Just wait until I have had time to fly. They will discover my absence soon enough." He glared at his adversary. "You do not have the upper hand in this situation. I have made my decision."
"But you swore your loyalty to the Princess! Does the Pact mean nothing to you?"
The dragon-rider was silent for a moment, and Fikriyya thought that she may have won. But then he swiveled abruptly in his seat, leveling a fierce glare at her.
"Do you think I act in any interest other than that of the Princess and her kingdom? I act on my own, but to the benefit of Sanq. I would not act in treason to her name!" He swiveled to face forward once more, a muscle twitching in his jaw. "Now, if you plan on telling the entire castle, I suggest you get it over with now. I shan't wait for you any longer."
But for a change, the faerie dragon did not seem intent on mischief. Rather, she seemed distressed, her expression stricken. She threw a beseeching look at Lun, who only turned her head away. The tiny face screwed up in a mask of rage.
"Fine! Leave, if you must. But you may find that the welcome party that greets you upon your arrival and return may not be as felicitous as you might think, dragon-rider!" she spat venomously, before darting into the darkened shadows of the room and disappearing.
Wufei stared after the faerie dragon for the span of several heartbeats, strangely conflicted on a plan that had seemed so simple only moments ago. But before he could think too long on it, Lun shook herself gently, and he faced forward once more. The emerald dragon launched herself into the sky, and Wufei's thoughts were cast away from Calon Gaer and toward the confrontation that awaited him at his home.
* *
Sally had dozed off, her head propped precariously over an ancient scroll. With a start she snapped awake, and red-hot humiliation lanced through her mind. What if someone had seen her?! Even though she was generally respected and considered one of the top minds in the kingdom, she still felt that sometimes, others considered her something of an anomaly...a woman scholar, as intelligent, if not more so, than her male counterparts; perfectly content to spend her life surrounded by books and scrolls, rather than settling down and starting a family.
The truth was, such a life had never appealed to her. She had often daydreamed as a little girl, same as her playmates, only she dreamed of discovering new frontiers and beasts, while her friends only dreamed of the day when their charming prince would carry them away.
Such a life had never appealed to Sally.
She did not allow herself to dwell upon the past. She had long since made peace with her family who, while not entirely understanding her motivations, loved her and supported her all the same. There was no need to dwell upon might-have-beens and what might become; the future would come to pass soon enough, whether or not she spent time worrying about it.
Besides, there were mysteries to uncover, and discoveries to be made. Her research schedule did not include any time to seek herself a husband, or even a casual consort, and the lack of such had never bothered her overly much.
Her body snapped into full awareness as she heard a high, loud wailing approaching her quarters at high speed. She had only one guess who it might be, though she sincerely hoped that her guess was incorrect. Unfortunately, her worst fears were realized as Fikriyya pelted full-speed into the room, slowing down only to perch upon Sally's shoulder, huddled there as though frightened of something or someone.
Sally had only seen Fikriyya so badly upset one other time...and that situation was one that neither faerie dragon nor human cared to recall. But she drove such thoughts from her mind. Now was not the time to dwell in the past.
"Fikriyya! What on earth...what's wrong?" She reached up to stroke the tiny dragon gently under the chin, which did not have the same soothing effect as it usually did.
The tiny dragon sobbed into her tunic collar. "I tried to stop him," she said, her voice ragged. "I tried!"
"Who? Stop who? Fikriyya, what are you talking about?"
The faerie dragon turned tearful eyes upon her human companion. "Wufei," she sobbed. "He left...I couldn't stop him..."
Sally's eyes widened. "He...left?!"
Fikriyya nodded miserably.
"He went home, didn't he?" Again, the dragon nodded. Sally sighed, and reached up to stroke the faerie dragon's head once more. Fikriyya butted her head against Sally's palm, whimpering like a lost child.
"It's all right, Fikriyya," she said softly, "it's all right." Sally stared forward, her eyes not really focusing on anything in particular. "I just hope he knows what he's doing."
* * *
The Chang family shrine had always been the same to Wufei, no matter how often he visited, or how long it had been since he last set foot inside. The shrine was a small, no-nonsense building, set in the large expanse of forest that flanked the ducal estate, where the remains of their ancestors had been laid to rest ever since the first stones had been laid for the foundations of Ri Shin. The shrine had an ever-present sense of peace and serenity, and the air within always hung heavy with the scent of flowers and wisps of old incense.
Wufei paused for the appropriate amount of time in respect for his ancestors, before stepping over the threshold and into the tiny building.
At first, it felt as though only the passage of time had bothered to set foot inside the shrine, and Wufei felt a momentary flash of irritation at the neglect that the ancestors had been given, as well as a smaller, almost unfamilar sense of panic that Meiran was not where he had been told she would be. He sighed a heavy sigh, sending dust motes to dance frantically in the beams of light slanting through the windows of the shrine, and stepped forward slowly to the altar to offer his prayers to his ancestors.
He carefully added incense to a censer and lit it, allowing the fragrance to waft over him in soft waves. He knelt in front of the shrine, and for the first time in weeks, allowed his worries and insecurities to stumble to the surface.
Wufei had always done this, for many years; whenever he had a worry or concern, he would come to the family shrine and pray to his ancestors for guidance. In time, it had become his hideout; his special place to escape from his father and, at times, his sister. Sometimes, when she was still small enough, Lun would accompany him, though she did not like it. When he had asked why, she had always told him that the energy in the place made her uncomfortable.
She had said the same thing today. Wufei knew that she was nearby, and would be at his side in a heartbeat, should he need her help. But she would not come any closer to the shrine than absolutely necessary. Perhaps the ghosts of Wufei's ancestors disliked the fact that one of their kin was destined to the role of dragon-rider, instead of progressing as a scion and eventual patriarch of the Chang clan, as was his birthright. It was what he had always suspected, though Lun would neither confirm nor deny it, when asked.
Ghosts or no, however, they were still his ancestors, and they still deserved his respect. He bowed his head, and allowed prayers to flow like water.
It was cathartic, in a way, to exorcise the turmoils that had been building since he traveled to Calon Gaer. He had not realized how badly he had been bottling up his tensions and unhappiness; he had merely thought that he would adapt, as he always had, and things would be better. Now he knew that that had not happened, and that he had only been making a bad situation worse.
Had he been making others miserable, as well as himself? And Lun...how had she been faring? Had he been avoiding her, as well, simply because he had not been able to come to terms with the dramatic changes in his life?
Perhaps the faerie dragon had been right. His mouth twisted wryly at the thought. Still, even though he may not like the little monster, she had had a good point: No matter what he thought, there were others who might have been worried about him, and he had repaid their concern with deplorable manners. It was as if a veil had lifted. He now knew that his comrades had been acting out of concern for him. They did care about his well-being, and worried about him. It was a new sensation, knowing that others valued him that much, and because they considered him a friend, not because of what he could do for them.
Or was that the case? He would be foolish to think that the Princess and her entourage wanted him there solely for his company. He was a dragon-rider, and had an obligation to his kingdom. He knew that. Did the others see him as a pawn, as a tool, just like them? Was he to be used for his strengths and nothing more?
Wufei felt himself shutting away the small, fragile sense of self-awareness that he had uncovered, and stopped himself. Why should he always assume that others had ulterior motives for calling him 'comrade'? Was it not just as much a weakness to assume that everyone was an enemy, as it was to blindly consider everyone met as a friend? But where was the line? When did it become time to open the heart and close the mind?
He had not realized that he had been speaking aloud until he discovered he was not alone in the shrine. But as soon as the soft, choked sob reached his ears, he was immediately alert and on guard. With one hand on the hilt of his sheathed dagger, he whirled to face the origin of the sound.
His posture must have alerted his watcher to the fact that he knew of their presence, for the half-hidden figure did not try to hide. His eyes widened as, from a shadowed alcove that had been hidden as he had entered the shrine, emerged the one person whom he had hoped would not hear his vocal admissions of weakness and worry.
"Meiran!"
But even as he grew angry at her intrusion, Wufei grew alarmed at her appearance. Meiran had always been nearly a mirror-image of himself, with feminine softenings about her face where masculinity had added a sharper, more angular look to his own. Yet even in the set of her face remained the fierce visage of a warrior; she was unmistakeably female, but could easily hold her own against even the most daunting of opponents, and most thought twice about confronting her.
That fierceness was gone from her eyes now. Instead, Wufei's jaw hardened at the sight of fear and anxiety playing about the contours of her face. Her eyes were haunted and hollow, reflecting what must have been weeks' worth of anxious worrying. She looked like a shadow of her former self, and had also obviously lost weight, which caused Wufei concern, since his twin had always been very slight of stature in the first place. Who, or what, had done this to her?!
Meiran threw herself at Wufei's feet, sobbing. His brows knitted in suspicion. This was not like her at all. Never once in all his years could he ever remember his sister giving him even the slightest fraction of superiority over herself.
"Forgive me, brother," she sobbed, "forgive me..."
Wufei reached down and helped her, not entirely gently, to her feet. He was beyond such control; his anger and concern over his sister warred with each other, and in the end, all he could do was give her a calculating stare. "What are you talking about?"
Meiran looked as though she would crumble in his hands. The surprise of his sister taking on such a drastic change nearly threw Wufei into a panic, and he gripped her upper arms more tightly than he had wanted, eliciting a squeak of pain from Meiran. "Answer me!"
She looked away. "It was...they told me...that I could have anything," she said, her voice broken by sobs. "That I could have...anything I wanted...my heart's desire...for just a small price..."
"What...who...?"
Meiran shook her head, sending tears flying. "I...cannot..." She drew a shaky breath. "They came to me shortly after you left." Her voice steadied slightly. "They told me...that they knew that I was...superior to you..." She shivered, whether from unwillingness to tell him what she knew or shock, he could not tell. "That it was a fluke that you had been given a dragon egg, and that it should have been me. That they were planning to set right many wrongs, and that if I were strong, I could help them make their dream a reality.
"They told me that they knew I was meant to do great things, and that I could begin by helping them," she said, her eyes cast to the floor in shame. "I should not have...I _knew_ that it was wrong, Wufei...but they have powers, even the weakest ones...it was as though they cast a heavy cloth over my mind, and soon, all I could think of was how badly I wanted..." Another shaky breath. "So I told them that I would do it. They never relented, even though I only spoke with them twice. They were always there, in my thoughts, in my mind...."
"Who?!" Wufei's vision had begun to cloud with rage. His sister was not a weak person, he knew this. What manner of monster could reduce her to such a state?!
Meiran shook her head more violently, and continued speaking. "When I agreed...the pressure relented somewhat, and I could think clearly. Clearly enough to make my plans. They told me that all they wanted...all I would have to do...that it was a simple task. That all they wanted was a flower, no more than four blooms. That it was a small task, that no one would suspect me, and that if I did this for them, that my heart's desire--anything I could imagine, anything I might want--would be mine.
Her eyes filled with fresh tears. "So...I did it...Father never goes there...he can't...and the female servants never suspect me, and I went at night, besides...I went into...went into Mother's garden. Plucked the blooms. My hands shook when I did it, did you know that? I felt...I felt Mother watching me. And even then...I knew...what I was doing was wrong. But the cloudiness...it was like I could not control myself. Once I was in the women's garden, it was like I was a marionette, controlled by someone else.
Wufei shook her, trying to jar her into making sense. "Picked what blooms?" he asked, though he already knew the answer.
"The purple ones. The night-bell blooms. The ones that Mother loved so much. The plants bled, when I plucked the blossoms, as if they knew I'd done something very wrong." A pause, a shaky intake of breath. "And then...and then...they came to me, after I plucked the blooms...barely after I had left the gardens, with only the moonlight to see by, but it was as if they didn't even need that. They thanked me, told me that I had done well, and would be handsomely rewarded...and then..."
She seemed to crumble, and grabbed at his tunic weakly, her knees buckling. Even though rage was sounding through his entire being as though he were being struck by lightning, he drew his sister to himself to support her. She laid her head against his chest and continued.
"You know...you should know...what I wanted. And they gave it to me...and...I killed it...I couldn't..."
"Killed what?"
"The dragon," she whispered. "They gave me a dragon egg of my own. It's what I always wanted. I've always been jealous of you. She should have been mine, should have been. And it's...it ate me alive...became more strong, more insistent, after they came to me...and when I did what they wanted, they gave me what I wanted. I don't know where they got it, but...they gave me a dragon egg."
Wufei felt where her tears were dampening his tunic. He felt her shoulders shake as she drew another shuddering breath, and continued.
"Holding that egg in my hands...I felt like my entire world...it was what I always wanted...so indescribable...I don't even...can't even...but then..." She began to cry harder. "The dragon...the baby...it began to cry out to me. It had been stolen, you see...stolen from the nest, before it was ready...I don't understand...didn't then...but the dragon...it would have been...I don't even know. It was crying out to me. Kept me awake, begged me to end its suffering. Those men...they did something to it...the baby knew it...and so...I crushed it. Crushed the egg. Killed the hatchling. Father doesn't know."
Wufei drew a deep, shuddering breath. "Meiran..."
"I'm so sorry, Wufei," she sobbed. "I have been begging the ancestors for forgiveness, but it's no use...all I can think of is what I've done, how I've brought shame to our family...I want to die, but I cannot take my own life...it would bring even further shame, and I would be denied a spot with our ancestors..." Suddenly, she grabbed Wufei's dagger, and pointed it at her heart, both hands wrapped around it. "Kill me!" she said, her voice a harsh whisper. "I cannot kill myself; the sin would be too great. But you could kill me! I am a traitor to our family. Killing me would bring honor to your name, and possibly save my own soul. It is the only way!"
"Meiran!" Wufei glared at her, making a swipe for the dagger. "You know I cannot do that!"
"Then ask your dragon to kill me," she said bitterly. "I know that she hates me. She always has. She would kill me, if you would not!" She moved to stride out of the shrine, but Wufei's arm shot out, grabbing her sleeve, and holding you back. He leveled a fierce glare at his twin.
"Nataku does not hate you," he said evenly, "but she has little respect for you, because of your weakness. You choose the easy way out. Instead of concentrating on your own strengths, you covet what you cannot have. You have always done this. You are a fine warrior, one of Ri Shin's very finest, and could have brought nothing but honor to our family name. Yet your greed was so all-encompassing, that you allowed it to overshadow everything, and now you have put a weapon in the hands of the enemy!" His eyes narrowed. "Do you know what those men did with the night-bell flowers?"
Meiran's resolve dissolved. The dagger clattered to the floor. "Yes," she whispered. "I knew."
"Yet you still gave it to them?" Wufei's voice was dangerously calm. "Why?"
"I told you!" she cried, fresh tears staining her cheeks. "They have powers...powers I cannot fathom! It was as though I had no choice but to obey! Even though a part of me knew that what I did was wrong, I could not help but do as they told me to do!" She whirled away from him, her face buried in her hands. "I should not even be fit to face you any more."
Wufei desperately wanted to slap his sister, but he did not. Instead, he laid a hand on her shoulder in what he hoped was a comforting gesture. "There is a way you can redeem yourself," he said gently. Meiran looked up at him through red, puffy eyes. "How?"
"You can help us by telling us what you know about the enemy," he said earnestly. "If we know who plots against us, then we can make moves to cancel them! We can fight back! Right now, we fight blind, our swords waving in empty air at an enemy we do not know! But you can help us. You have valuable information that we do not! Help us, Meiran. Who? Who did this?"
Meiran looked as though she had swallowed a large lump of dry bread, with no water to wash it down. "I...cannot...brother, you do not understand!" Panic blossomed across her face. "I cannot!"
"Why do you protect them?" he snarled. "As a scion of the family Chang, you should be able to overcome such obstacles!"
"Please, brother!" she begged. "Do not make me say it!"
"Say it!" he snarled, grabbing her shoulders once more. "For the good of Ri Shin, for the honor of yourself and your ancestors, tell me who has done this so that I may exact my revenge!"
"I..." Emotions played fast and furious across her stricken features. "Brother...I..." She swallowed hard. "I will try." With her determination came calm. Her features smoothed out, and for a moment, she looked like her old self. "They come from a country far to the west," she said, talking low and fast, as though she feared being overheard. "They plot to overthrow Sanq, to take over, and to rule the land. They wish to conquer Calon Gaer and destroy its royal family. The plot is one that is very long in the planning, and even longer in the offing. Only now have the first pawns been played. And the one in charge is furious for forgetting about the Oracle; Sanq's being warned in advance had not been a part of those plans.
"The assassin...that whole plan...was a hoax," she said, her voice dropping to a whisper. "The plan was to pitch Sanq against Es'rilshan. Many died when the plan failed. That was where my part came in. The night-bell was supposed to fell the Watcher, and it didn't. As far as I know, the--" She drew a shaky breath. "None know that you have discovered what the poison was, or where it came from. They underestimated you in that respect.
"But you must be careful! This power is very old, and has waited a long time. It intimately knows of patience and how to use it. It won't hesitate to wait a very long time to act, if it thinks that you will let your guard down in any way. You must be ever vigilant! The fact that you have left Calon Gaer will be noted. It was foolish of you to leave!"
"But WHO has done this, Meiran? Tell me!"
She drew a shaky breath. "I...I will try..." Wufei did not understand these words, but before he could ask, his sister began to speak again. "The name...the enemy...is named..." Another breath, tongue touched to teeth.
But before she could utter the name, her eyes grew wide. "No..." she whispered hoarsely. A hand flew to her throat, as though it pained her to speak. Suddenly, it was as though she were choking; except her face grew deathly pale, and she let out a strangled gasp. Her eyes rolled into the back of her head, and Meiran's knees buckled, sending her crashing to the floor in an ungainly heap, where she lay unmoving.
It took only a heartbeat for this to register in Wufei's conscious before he was at his sister's side. "Meiran!" He patted her cheek lightly. She was unresponsive. He tapped harder. Still no response. He picked up her wrist, feeling for a pulse. It was there, but shallow and fast. "Meiran!"
Wufei felt the first vestiges of panic filtering into his mind as he tried everything possible to revive his sister. Nothing worked. "Lun! To me!"
A thunder of wings heralded the arrival of his dragon, and soon Lun reluctantly stuck her head inside the wide doors to the shrine. "What has--?!" Her voice cut off in surprise as she witnessed the scene. "What on earth has happened?!"
"I don't know," said Wufei grimly. He sheathed his dagger before standing up slowly, gently cradling the supine form of his sister in his arms. "We must get her to the family physician, quickly!"
"And return to Calon Gaer?" surmised the dragon.
"As quickly as possible," said Wufei in a quiet voice. He looked down at the face of his sister, still haggard and careworn from her ordeal. "It has become obvious that we are dealing with something much, much worse than we could have possibly imagined."
~*~
TBC
C&C is, as always, loved and appreciated! ^_^
--Sara
For any who have missed the previous chapters, they can be found in the Heero x Relena Authors archives, under "Sara". Thanks for reading! ^_^
Chapter 7
Duo had only the briefest of moments to think that this was not the way to impress a female companion before it was lost as Faohr plunged down toward the forest clearing.
"No, 'Scythe, no!! We have to get Hilde back to the castle!" He slapped at the dragon's shoulder ineffectually. Faohr had no intentions of listening to his rider now. He had spotted his quarry and was going in for the kill. He hadn't even heard Duo's words.
But Hilde had heard him. She swiveled in her seat, fire in her eyes. "If you think I'm leaving now, just because it's 'dangerous', you've got another thing coming, Duo Maxwell! Besides, if we turn around now, we might lose...whatever it is that Deathscythe has spotted. I'm staying!"
Duo opened his mouth to protest, then set his lips in a grim line. "All right." He smirked. "It's not like I could stop this guy if I wanted to, anyway." His features sobered, and he set his hands on her waist more firmly. "Hang on. We're going in!"
Hilde turned to face forward...just in time to see the mercury dragon crash through the canopy of the forest. She gasped and ducked her head, raising one arm to protect her face. Branches and leaves whipped and lashed at her, but still the dragon pelted onward. Hilde was amazed that Deathscythe could still maneuver in the trees.
And then she spotted them--dark-clad features, scrambling madly to escape the dragon, who was quite intent on not losing them. She heard snatches of panicked babbling in a language that she did not recognize. She counted the figures quickly...six, seven, eight, nine...ten. So few? For an attack on a fortified castle? Hilde knew that she did not know much about battle strategies and tactics, but ten seemed so inadequate....
But soon her attention was diverted from these thoughts to what the dragon was doing. The mercury dragon was drawing ever closer to the scattered group of soldiers. Occasionally his long neck would snake out and he would roar at them; a short, barking roar that seemed designed to startle rather than anything else. With each bark, the soldiers bunched closer together.
Then it occurred to her--the dragon was herding the soldiers. But why? She scrutinized the small attack force. They were almost running on top of each other now; their fear of the dragon overriding the need to give each other space in which to run. Hilde was amazed that none of the soldiers had tripped and fallen.
Deathscythe suddenly changed his tactics. He leveled out and gave himself a burst of speed. His neck arched back in an S-shaped curve, and she felt him take in a great breath of air. Duo grabbed her by the shoulders and pulled her back against his chest. "Cover your eyes, quick!" he barked, much like his dragon. Hilde had not even realized that she had been leaning forward.
She quickly threw an arm in front of her eyes, though she could not help but peek. The dragon's neck shot out, his jaws gaped wide, and with a roar even louder than before, he released his breath weapon.
It seemed to be a beam of bright yellow light, crackling with energy that sizzled and snapped along its entire length. The beam caught twigs, leaves, and bits of branches, and wherever it touched, it left behind incinerated cinders. The air was filled with flying ash and bits of charred debris as they passed. The beam caught the group of soldiers squarely, and she could hear the men screaming in agony. For a moment, she felt remorseful. True, they were the enemy; but they were only following orders. To be burned alive--!
It was over in a heartbeat. Satisfied that he had triumphed, Deathscythe landed in front of the remains of the soldiers and bugled loudly in triumph. "I win! IwinIwinIwinIwinIwin!!!"
"Let us down, 'Scythe," said Duo crossly. The dragon, his enthusiasm not dampened in the least by his rider's pique, obediently crouched down and allowed his riders to slide off of his back.
Hilde walked slowly over to the remains of the soldiers. "Just like that..." she murmured absently.
Duo had also taken note of the remains. "Nice going, buddy," he groused at his dragon. "Now we can't tell who they were!"
Faohr opened his mouth to protest, but before he could, a loud roar heralded the arrival of the other dragon-riders. Sandrock, Heavyarms and Wing burst through the canopy directly above Deathscythe, with Forth close behind. The four dragons landed opposite the mercury, and their riders dismounted.
"What happened?" Quatre called across the clearing. "We heard that there were intruders--eugh!" He jumped back as if bitten, for he had just stepped into the charred patch where the soldiers had fallen. "What is this?"
"'Scythe thought the best way to deal with the intruders was to incinerate them," muttered Duo. "I'm sorry...I couldn't get him to stop. He attacked before I realized what he was about to do."
For the first time, Faohr stopped his prancing and paid attention to his surroundings. He looked at the charred patch of ground, and to the small cluster of dragon-riders, and finally to the other dragons, who were regarding him curiously.
If a dragon could blush, thought Hilde, that was what Faohr was doing. The dragon ducked his head sheepishly, snuffling at the ground near his feet. "Oops," he muttered.
"Oops, indeed," grumbled Duo. "Couldn't you at least have saved one of them, so we could tell where they were from?!"
"How do we know that this was the only option?" Sandrock stepped forward. "If it had been any of us, we would have done the same thing." The other dragons nodded. "It is difficult to catch up with running prey when you don't have the full use of your wings. It is also difficult to fly in a forest."
"The mercury dragon was in the right," hissed Forth. "Best to eradicate the snakes and protect the nest, than to allow them closer to the hatchlings in order to get a better look at them." The brass dragon kicked at the charred ashes derisively. "Cowards, sneaking through the trees. Only the cowardly use such tactics."
Duo did not look completely convinced, but he did not protest. He ran a hand through his fringe of bangs, distressed. "Still. We could've used them to find out where these attackers came from." He laughed humorlessly, shaking his head. "If Wufei were here, he'd be crapping sea serpents over this." This caused Duo to pull up short, frowning. "Speaking of Wufei, where is he? I haven't seen him in a long time. Why isn't he with the rest of you?"
The rest of the dragon-riders glanced about them, as if suddenly realizing that they were missing one from their number. "I haven't seen him all night," said Quatre. "What could have happened to him? If he is missing, he might be in trouble. We should try to find him."
Heero shook his head. At his shoulder, Wing shifted slightly, as if to say something. "Wufei can take care of himself," the dragon-rider said gruffly. "He is a strong and capable, and he has a dragon companion to help him, were he to fall into unfriendly hands. I am sure that he is hidden away in the castle somewhere, as he has been for the past weeks."
Quatre seemed almost reluctant to let the matter drop, but before he could say more, the stamping of feet and huffing of breaths heralded the arrival of a company of guards, as well as Weyridge. The older man paused for a moment to catch his breath before finally speaking. "What has happened here?"
Once again, Duo recounted the series of events, careful to omit the reason why he and his dragon had been flying past the wood in the first place. Weyridge raised his eyebrows in suspicion as he spotted Hilde skulking timidly behind the ranks of the dragon-riders, but said nothing.
The princess's regent walked with a deliberately slow pace past the charred remains of the intruders. He murmured to himself under his breath, too quiet for the others gathered to understand his words. When he finally raised his head, he first looked to the guards.
"Jorreth, prepare to have this spot watched until first light. We will have the scholars study this, including Sally. Perhaps they can glean some information from these clues left behind."
He then turned to face the dragon-riders, concentrating in particular on Duo. The youth cringed visibly, expecting a dressing-down. Instead, Weyridge gave him a keen look.
"I do not blame you for the way things transpired," he said, his voice calm. "You cannot be held responsible for the way your dragon's weapon would impact. I believe that you reacted in the best way that you could, given the circumstances.
"We still have some information here that can be used, even if it is scanty. I will want to have a word with you and your companion, Duo Maxwell, tomorrow morning. For now, I believe that we all could use a rest. It's been a long night for all of us."
* * *
The commotion in the castle had slowly dissipated, but Noin was still wary. She could still hear the occasional barking of the guards' voices, but no others had come charging up the stairs after the first group. She had had a time of it, convincing them that she had seen nothing and that no one else was there; the guards were on edge because of the excitement, and much more suspicious than normal. Eventually the guards had all left, their call bidding them to scour other corners of the castle to make sure that none of the dark shadows spotted in the forest had managed to reach the grounds.
Fortunately, they did not think to look higher.
As soon as Noin realized that the guards were coming up to the room where she stood, she knew that Zechs and his dragon could not get away in time. Instead, she had urged them to hide on top of the room. There was a small parapet there, built back in the day when archers would stand on top of the castle ramparts, firing arrows from above. There were no stairways leading up; they had been removed long ago, mainly to keep children from playing in them, so the guards had no reason to believe anyone would have been up there. It was the perfect size to hide a dragon, provided she was willing to crouch down.
Noin knew there were guards posted at the bottom of the stairs, who would be listening for any sounds coming from the room. She carefully perched on one of the windowsills and peered out. She could just make out the outline of a dragon's head, swiveling this way and that, making sure the coast was clear.
The head tilted slightly, glinting softly purple in the faint light, and Noin heard Zechs' voice drift down from the rooftop perch. "Have they gone?" he murmured quietly.
Noin nodded, and spoke in an equally quiet voice. "But we are still being watched. Best to leave now, when eyes are not to the sky."
"The other dragons are in the forest, on the opposite side of the castle." Hrynne sounded contemplative. "It would be best to go before they take to wing again. They won't be watching the skies if they think their enemy is on the ground." Noin heard a rustle above her as the dragon stood and shook out her wings, arching her neck to and fro to test for wind currents.
Zechs clambered down to the sill to join Noin. He took both of her hands in his, and raised them to his lips. "I wish that we could have had more time," he murmured softly. "There are so many things...things I want to tell you...how much I've missed you, how I've thought of you often...."
She silenced him with a squeeze of her own hands, a gentle smile gracing her lips. "As I am sure they are similar to those I have thought, of you," she whispered. "There will be another time, I am sure of it, when we can both take as much time as we need."
"I swear it...one day, we shall be together," he averred, his voice as intense as his eyes. "I made a promise to you. I intend to keep it, and no manner of beast or border shall keep me from it." He leaned forward until his face was mere inches away from her own. "I swear it."
"Milliardo..." Noin's voice was barely more than a soft movement of breath past her lips. She leaned forward, as Zechs released her hands to cup her face gently, then met her halfway as his lips brushed against her own.
The moment seemed to last forever; a single second played on a string that had no beginning or end, and all Noin knew was the feel of his hands against her face, his lips against hers, and his pulse, which seemed to resonate with her own. Her own hands drifted up to shadow his, playing softly against the tendons and knuckles of his hands. For one moment, she was lost in a dream.
With a flap of dragon-wings that was much louder than Noin would have hoped, the moment shattered. She opened her eyes, which she had not realized she'd closed, and saw Zechs' dragon hovering outside the window in which they stood.
"I do not mean to interrupt," the dragon said urgently, "but we can linger no longer. I fear that if we stay, we will be spotted."
Zechs pulled away reluctantly, his eyes never leaving Noin's face. "I will return," he vowed. "Never forget that."
"I trust you," she replied, and in her heart, she knew it was true.
He smiled back at her, though his expression was immensely sad. Then, as though it pained him, he tore his gaze away from her own and turned to face his dragon. He pushed off from the windowsill to leap onto his dragon's back. The dragon lurched slightly in the air, then leveled off.
Zechs glanced back at Noin, and a gaze was exchanged that seemed to last as long as the kiss...but too soon, it was gone. Hrynne snorted softly, glanced about her, then silently turned in the directon of Es'rilshan and began to fly as quickly as her wings would carry her.
Noin watched for a long time, until the dragon was merely a speck on the distant horizon, and all but indiscernible from the stars.
* * *
Relena had long since stopped trying to leave her quarters, but that did not mean she had stopped worrying.
She had tried to make her escape not long after being escorted back to her suite. Unfortunately, the guards assigned to watch her had remained true to their word, and were stationed outside of her door, still as stone soldiers, yet seeing everything...and only too eager to prevent their princess from getting herself into more trouble by investigating the source of the disturbance. Relena was both irritated and pleased; she wanted to go and see what had happened, yet she was glad that the guards in her employ showed such faithfulness to her and their kingdom.
It seemed that all she could do was wait...and worry.
Meryth, along with the rest of her servantry, had been dismissed for the evening to allow them to enjoy a bit of celebration themselves, though they were not permitted to attend the ball. As a result, Relena was still in her ball gown. She was perfectly capable of undressing herself, and had no qualms about doing so, but in her fit of pique she had refused the simple task, choosing instead to allow the sound of the silk rustling against her skin to add a descant to her frustration.
"I am the princess of Sanq, and I still don't know what's going on!! Why am I always the last to know?!" she muttered to herself, trying to think of any way possible for her to get out of her quarters and into the action. She felt so helpless. She did not know who was attacking, she did not know what sort of a force they faced, or how they should act. Instead of being able to help, she had been relegated to the most useless position of all--a figurehead, in need of protection.
If she had not been a princess, and had not gone through many endless hours of ettiquite training with a dour old spinster who had a fondness for cracking a length of willow across her knuckles whenever she erred, Relena would have cursed.
Relena paced back and forth across her room for a few heartbeats, then restively darted to the window. Resisting the urge to hoist herself into a seated position on the stone sill, she instead leaned against the cold stone and stared morosely outward. All that she had been able to glean from the guards was that one of the dragon-riders had spotted intruders in the forest, and had attacked. After that, they would say no more, already looking nervous for exposing her to more than she should have known.
This caused her to frown. Why were the guards withholding information from her? She imagined all of the times that Weyridge had had to bring somber news to her. Had he screened the information first, only passing along what he felt she could 'handle'? Did he feel that, as a young woman and a princess, she was somehow more frail than a prince would be?
Relena's fists clenched at her sides in anger, and for the first time in many months, a fiery determination seethed through her system. She would NOT allow others to think of her as somehow weak or unworthy to rule Sanq! She had been given the throne after her father died. Even if she did not care a whit for her own honor, she could not dishonor his memory! She owed him that much.
Besides, she had done what many kings of the recent past had not: she had answered the call of the Oracle and summoned the dragon-riders.
The dragon-riders....
Heero....
A flash of a memory, then hot, dark guilt flooded her system. How she had acted so bold, so forward to the prince. How she had demanded things of him that he had no obligation to procure. How she had threatened not only him, but his entire family's honor, and for what? For the sake of one dance? How could she have been so brash? What must he think of her now?
Relena's heart clenched in her chest in a way that she had not felt since she was given the news that her father was dead. Her vision blurred, like she was looking through a crystal, as tears filled her eyes. The one person she would have wanted by her side, the one suitor whom she would have granted an audience...and through her own impatience and impulsiveness, she had probably completely driven him away. She knew that he would remain, as he was sworn to do as a dragon-rider and a protector of the kingdom...but there were ways to avoid a person in Calon Gaer, if one truly wished it.
She felt as though she had been struck. For every moment I think that I have become an adult, she thought, panic rising hot and fast in her throat, I discover at least five moments that prove to me that I am still a child. Oh lords, what have I done?!
In spite of her resolve, Relena sank to the stone floor of her suite, buried her face in her hands, and wept.
* * *
The next morning, the dragon-riders, along with Rasid and a handful of Maguanacs, rose early and gathered in the council chambers to meet with Weyridge. None of them had slept very well; their minds occupied with various private thoughts and ponderings. Weyridge looked as though he had not slept at all; his eyes were shadowed and haunted, yet the light of triumphant discovery hovered there, as well.
Accompanying Weyridge was the princess, who seemed strangely subdued. She kept her eyes cast downward, and her hands clasped in her lap. She seemed a shadow of the fiery figure that the dragon-riders had come to know.
For a moment, Heero felt a flash of worry, and perhaps guilt. Was the Princess acting this way because of his actions? But he quickly dismissed such thoughts from his mind. He had bigger things which required his concentration. The Princess could wait.
When all were gathered, Weyridge began to speak.
"Several scholars and myself have been searching the remains of the attack squad that was discovered and subsequently destroyed last night," he began. "and I am afraid that there was little left for us to work with." Across the table, Duo made a near-silent noise of anger and shamed disgust, clenching his fists beneath the table. But if Weyridge noticed this, he made no mention of it.
"The clothing was charred beyond recognition, but we do not feel this would have made a difference. The ashes showed that there were probably no distinguishing features on the fabric that would have lent us any indication of the identity of our attackers. Nor were we able to discern anything remarkable from the bodies themselves.
"However," Weyridge stood up, and lifted a cloth-covered bundle. The bundle looked awkward and heavy, and Weyridge strained to lift it. He set it on the table, then began to unwrap its coverings. As he removed layer after layer, the pungent scent of ash began to waft into the room.
When all of the bindings were removed, a pile of charred weaponry remained behind. "We were able to salvage this," Weyridge finished. "And while anything flammable was destroyed, the metal is much more difficult to burn away, and did not melt." He looked at each and every dragon-rider piercingly. "Do any of you recognize these weapons, or the style of their forging?"
The dragon-riders peered at the weaponry, but for several handfuls of moments, no one spoke. Then Quatre stood hesitantly, reaching across the table as if to touch one of the charred blades.
"This cut...the forging...it looks so familiar to me," he murmured absently. He took one of the curved blades and slid it across the table to Rasid. "Do you recognize this? You would probably be more familiar with weaponry than myself."
Rasid picked up the blade, ignoring the crumbling soot that scored it, and ran a thumb idly along its edge. "I have seen this," he said contemplatively. "But it was not forged in any part of Sanq." He set down the blade, dusting off his hands. "There is a land that lies across the inland sea. It has always been a kingless land, for its people are warlike and never stay at peace for long. If a ruler is appointed, he is often ousted or assassinated shortly after his coronation.
"The people of that land are civilized, but only so. They know how to fight, and that is about all. This blade was forged by those people, I would swear on it."
"They have tried to attack Qa'nirvenye more than once." One of the Maguanacs, a man named Abdul, had spoken up. "They come in boats, skulking into the harbor under darkness. But the dragons always see them first, and blow them back to sea." He laughed at the memory. "Those dogs stopped sending armies across the sea when all that would come back were boats filled with dried-out corpses!"
"But we know now that they have reason to hate Sanq, not to mention the dragons," said Weyridge thoughtfully, steepling his fingers and resting his chin against them. "It is not much of a lead, but it gives us somewhere to start. That's better than what we had before.
"What is clear now is that we must be especially vigilant," he continued. "The enemy has not yet shown their face, but we know that they exist. They probably know that we know, as well. They will either try harder to hide, or will attack us head-on. In either event, we need to be prepared." The dragon-riders nodded in agreement...all except for one.
Weyridge frowned at Wufei. The dark youth had remained sullen and silent from the moment he had entered the room, but his demeanor spoke more of confusion and frustration rather than rebellion. He had listened, even nodding occasionally, but his participation in the gathering had not gone beyond that.
"Wufei," said Weyridge, a note of command in his voice. Weyridge had spent his life as a leader, and knew how to control even the most recalcitrant of troops. Indeed, the command caused the youth to raise his head, but it was clear that the physical response was an almost ingrained reaction; the boy's eyes showed quite clearly that his mind was somewhere else.
To his credit, Wufei was not thinking about rebellion. But his mind was elsewhere, and had been ever since he had found himself asleep on the floor in the woman scholar's laboratory. He had been completely confused, and did not remember anything that would give him any indication of how he had ended up to be there, much less asleep on the floor. For her part, Sally had offered him no information; she had suggested that perhaps he had overindulged and had simply lost his way. Wufei had not bought into this theory, but since he had no other options with which to compare, he had left silently, stewing in his own thoughts.
Now, he was faced with this dilemma...but he could not even concentrate properly, though there were others who were relying on his presence. He forced himself to bury his thoughts deeply, raised his awareness to meet the older man's eyes, and was rewarded by Weyridge's expression softening into something of satisfaction. The princess's regent did not press the matter with him.
"I would like it if a representative of your numbers would visit with the scholars," Weyridge addressed the Maguanacs. "You have much information on this enemy nation that we do not, and that information may be vital to us."
"Might I also suggest that the scholars talk to our dragons?" said Rasid. "They are the ones who often have met the enemy before we are even roused from our slumber, and have sent them scuttling back to their own shores." To this Weyridge nodded with agreement, then turned to face the rest of the room once more.
"If we are all in agreement of our tasks, then you are all dismissed," he said. "If there are any further developments, you will be kept appraised. But for now, remain vigilant. We never know when the enemy might strike next."
The dragon-riders slowly dispersed from the room, each lost in their own thoughts. It would be many hours later in the day before words came to the surface to express the thoughts held caged in many minds that afternoon.
* * *
By the end of the week, Wufei could think of nothing else but his sister's apparent treason.
The inner conflict came to a head a few days after the ball. Wufei and Lun were in the bathing room, and had the room to themselves. The dragon-rider had a bristle-brush in hand and was scrubbing at his mount's hide with increasingly agitated movements. Lun, for her part, tried to hide her wincing. Even through her tough hide, the rough grating of the bristles smarted. But she could sense that not all was right, and wisely held her tongue.
Finally, when the dragon felt that she could stand it no longer, Wufei let out a strangled noise of frustration and flung the brush across the room. It hit the opposite wall and fell to the floor with a dull clatter.
Lun tilted her head to regard her rider. "Though I was about to physically rip that brush from your fingers and fling it across the room myself, were you to scrub any harder, it is a childish act that I've not often watched you indulge. What causes you to do so now?"
Wufei scowled darkly. "I cannot believe it...yet my heart tells me that it is true. What of Meiran's involvement in this matter? Could she have been the one to supply the night-bell flowers to the assassin?"
The emerald dragon considered this. "You know that I have always viewed your sister as a venomous serpent clutched to the breast of your family," she said contemplatively. "In my mind, I know who is to blame."
"But she is my sister! She should be loyal to my family, as I am! As all descended from the family tree of Chang should be!"
"And you do not think that one's loyalty may be clouded by one's desires? Paugh," the dragon spat contemptuously. "I do not trust the viper. You know that."
"Yes, I do," replied Wufei thoughtfully. "and I must admit that some of your suspicion is well-founded. But would she allow it to drive her into committing treason against our family? I cannot think of it. Our family must mean more to her than that!"
"And you think that she was not bribed?"
Wufei's head snapped up. "What? Bribed?" He laughed harshly. "My sister and I may not see eye to eye on many things, but we do agree upon one thing. We cannot be bribed."
"I would not be so certain, if I were you." Lun's tail churned the waters as she spoke. "Think of the one thing, the greatest thing you could ever want. Have you never wished for something so strongly that all reason, all rationale, all common sense were fled completely before that desire?"
A dark scowl graced the young man's features, and he looked away. "I have...never wished for anything like that since I was a very small lad, and you know it," he glowered.
Lun chuckled. "As I remember it well, and you learned too soon the price that one pays for giving in to temptation and doing whatever it takes to achieve your means. But where that lesson was learned well of you, it may not have been so for Meiran. Think. What is there that could be so tantalizing, so provocative for her, that she would stop at nothing to achieve her ends?
"Or..." the dragon's voice lowered, her eyes smouldering under their heavy lids, "was it offered to her in exchange for committing some grievance that would be a boon to the enemy's side...such as, say, plucking a few small flowers from a hidden garden at the center of a ducal estate?"
Wufei's eyes narrowed. "You sound as though you know just how things happened."
Lun laughed. "Of course I do not know. How could I? Do not say that you do not trust me. You know that I could hide no secrets from you, just as you can hide none from me. This is beyond secrecy. But I know how the human mind works; I've observed plenty of them to know. It takes a stout heart to withstand being tantalized by the greatest object of one's desires."
"As I know how the mind of a dragon works, from time to time," Wufei said sardonically. "I somehow feel that you already know the course of action that you wish me to take, and are simply guiding me in that direction. Am I correct?"
Lun merely shook her head, sending water flying. "I cannot say that I am happy simply sitting here, doing nothing, when we could be investigating your sister's possible involvement in all of this," she said. "It is the foolish dragon that sits on her eggs in the nest, waiting for her enemies to come to her. But I cannot tell you what to do; only what I would do. In light of that, if it were my decision to make, I would go and confront your sister."
Wufei shook his head. "It may not be that easy," he murmured. "I do not think that we can come and go as we please, due to our obligations as protectors of Sanq."
"You think that confronting your sister on her involvement would not constitute protection?" shot back Lun. "If we know for certain what happened, then we can prepare that much better. We are not running from anyone. We are investigating her involvement. There is a difference. Look at what we stand to gain: The truth. A potential pace forward in this stupid game of cat-and-mouse. And, most importantly, your peace of mind."
Wufei gave Lun a regarding look. "You are prepared to face the consequences that our leaving might generate?"
Lun smiled in satisfaction. "I was prepared the moment I suggested that you make such a move," she replied.
Her rider only grunted as he waded toward the edge of the pool and hoisted himself out. "Then we shall leave tonight, under cover of darkness. If any should question us, we are only going a short distance away for a hunt, so as not to decimate the local herds." He glanced about him self-consciously, expecting to see a shimmer of air where a certain faerie-winged interloper might be hiding. But strangely enough, the woman scholar's companion had been conspicuously absent for the past few days, almost as though avoiding him.
Lun had also reached the edge of the pool, clambering out and shaking herself vigorously. "And when we reach Ri Shin?" she queried.
"Then we confront Meiran," he said, giving his dragon a sardonic smirk, since it had been her idea in the first place, "and learn the truth of all of this."
* * *
Wufei waited until darkness had settled thickly around the corners of the castle, and the only sound was that of silence and slumber. Lun was also strangely silent, curled up in her nest, watching alert for any sign of discovery.
As soon as they had returned from the bathhouse, dragon and rider had set to planning their escape. Wufei had packed lightly, carrying only a few sparse essentials to make travel more comfortable. He did not plan on being gone long; nor did he fool himself into thinking that his return would be welcomed with open arms.
If his father were to sight him, Wufei would be very likely facing disownment, if not a worse fate. Even though his father may not understand the need of the Pact, he did not dare to defy it, and would defend it with his dying breath...even if it meant going against his own son. Even at the thought, Wufei did not falter. His father had always been like this; he was accustomed to such things that would make a lesser person quail at the callousness.
As for the other members of his house...Wufei knew that they swore fealty to his father, but also, most of them had known him since he was a mere boy, and held him in fond regard. Even though their loyalty may lie with his father, they would not betray him...and might possibly help him find Meiran, should she have chosen to hide herself.
When the moon had peaked in the sky, a pale pearl set against the velvet throat of night, Wufei made a silent motion to Lun. She nodded briskly and began uncurling herself, marching to the entrance of the cave. Wufei shouldered his pack, and walked over to stand next to his dragon. They shared a moment where no words were spoke, yet the silence spoke volumes.
But before he could move to climb onto Lun's back, an all-too familiar shimmering of air heralded the arrival of the one creature he had hoped would not learn of his plans in advance. Wufei swore aloud as the faerie dragon popped into visibility, her wings fluttering to catch her balance.
Fikriyya took only a second to appraise the situation before letting loose an alarmed cry. "You're leaving!"
"Not permanently," Wufei scowled. "I had hoped to leave without anyone noticing."
"Why you leave? Surely you don't take the pranks seriously?" The faerie dragon looked genuinely crestfallen, as though she had realized that her favorite playmate was moving away.
Wufei shook his head. "We will discuss your "pranks" and how I feel about them later. Right now, I have matters that need attending-to, and I must leave." He turned to face Lun's side. "If you would leave me in peace?"
"You're going to see your sister, aren't you?"
The statement caused Wufei to freeze in his tracks. "How did you..." He shook his head. "It matters not. My business is my own."
"You mustn't leave!" the faerie dragon gasped, her tone even closer to panic. "You mustn't!"
"And what does it matter to you, whether I come or go?" snapped the dragon-rider. He did not have time for this! The night was waning; if he wanted to arrive in Ri Shin before daybreak, he had to leave. "I already said that I would return. What does it matter to you?"
To this, Fikriyya had no answer. She looked away, and for the first time, Wufei caught flashes of uncertianity on her face. "Don't make me tell the others," she murmured hesitantly.
"Tell them, if you wish," snapped Wufei, as Lun dipped her shoulder and he hopped into place on her back. "Just wait until I have had time to fly. They will discover my absence soon enough." He glared at his adversary. "You do not have the upper hand in this situation. I have made my decision."
"But you swore your loyalty to the Princess! Does the Pact mean nothing to you?"
The dragon-rider was silent for a moment, and Fikriyya thought that she may have won. But then he swiveled abruptly in his seat, leveling a fierce glare at her.
"Do you think I act in any interest other than that of the Princess and her kingdom? I act on my own, but to the benefit of Sanq. I would not act in treason to her name!" He swiveled to face forward once more, a muscle twitching in his jaw. "Now, if you plan on telling the entire castle, I suggest you get it over with now. I shan't wait for you any longer."
But for a change, the faerie dragon did not seem intent on mischief. Rather, she seemed distressed, her expression stricken. She threw a beseeching look at Lun, who only turned her head away. The tiny face screwed up in a mask of rage.
"Fine! Leave, if you must. But you may find that the welcome party that greets you upon your arrival and return may not be as felicitous as you might think, dragon-rider!" she spat venomously, before darting into the darkened shadows of the room and disappearing.
Wufei stared after the faerie dragon for the span of several heartbeats, strangely conflicted on a plan that had seemed so simple only moments ago. But before he could think too long on it, Lun shook herself gently, and he faced forward once more. The emerald dragon launched herself into the sky, and Wufei's thoughts were cast away from Calon Gaer and toward the confrontation that awaited him at his home.
* *
Sally had dozed off, her head propped precariously over an ancient scroll. With a start she snapped awake, and red-hot humiliation lanced through her mind. What if someone had seen her?! Even though she was generally respected and considered one of the top minds in the kingdom, she still felt that sometimes, others considered her something of an anomaly...a woman scholar, as intelligent, if not more so, than her male counterparts; perfectly content to spend her life surrounded by books and scrolls, rather than settling down and starting a family.
The truth was, such a life had never appealed to her. She had often daydreamed as a little girl, same as her playmates, only she dreamed of discovering new frontiers and beasts, while her friends only dreamed of the day when their charming prince would carry them away.
Such a life had never appealed to Sally.
She did not allow herself to dwell upon the past. She had long since made peace with her family who, while not entirely understanding her motivations, loved her and supported her all the same. There was no need to dwell upon might-have-beens and what might become; the future would come to pass soon enough, whether or not she spent time worrying about it.
Besides, there were mysteries to uncover, and discoveries to be made. Her research schedule did not include any time to seek herself a husband, or even a casual consort, and the lack of such had never bothered her overly much.
Her body snapped into full awareness as she heard a high, loud wailing approaching her quarters at high speed. She had only one guess who it might be, though she sincerely hoped that her guess was incorrect. Unfortunately, her worst fears were realized as Fikriyya pelted full-speed into the room, slowing down only to perch upon Sally's shoulder, huddled there as though frightened of something or someone.
Sally had only seen Fikriyya so badly upset one other time...and that situation was one that neither faerie dragon nor human cared to recall. But she drove such thoughts from her mind. Now was not the time to dwell in the past.
"Fikriyya! What on earth...what's wrong?" She reached up to stroke the tiny dragon gently under the chin, which did not have the same soothing effect as it usually did.
The tiny dragon sobbed into her tunic collar. "I tried to stop him," she said, her voice ragged. "I tried!"
"Who? Stop who? Fikriyya, what are you talking about?"
The faerie dragon turned tearful eyes upon her human companion. "Wufei," she sobbed. "He left...I couldn't stop him..."
Sally's eyes widened. "He...left?!"
Fikriyya nodded miserably.
"He went home, didn't he?" Again, the dragon nodded. Sally sighed, and reached up to stroke the faerie dragon's head once more. Fikriyya butted her head against Sally's palm, whimpering like a lost child.
"It's all right, Fikriyya," she said softly, "it's all right." Sally stared forward, her eyes not really focusing on anything in particular. "I just hope he knows what he's doing."
* * *
The Chang family shrine had always been the same to Wufei, no matter how often he visited, or how long it had been since he last set foot inside. The shrine was a small, no-nonsense building, set in the large expanse of forest that flanked the ducal estate, where the remains of their ancestors had been laid to rest ever since the first stones had been laid for the foundations of Ri Shin. The shrine had an ever-present sense of peace and serenity, and the air within always hung heavy with the scent of flowers and wisps of old incense.
Wufei paused for the appropriate amount of time in respect for his ancestors, before stepping over the threshold and into the tiny building.
At first, it felt as though only the passage of time had bothered to set foot inside the shrine, and Wufei felt a momentary flash of irritation at the neglect that the ancestors had been given, as well as a smaller, almost unfamilar sense of panic that Meiran was not where he had been told she would be. He sighed a heavy sigh, sending dust motes to dance frantically in the beams of light slanting through the windows of the shrine, and stepped forward slowly to the altar to offer his prayers to his ancestors.
He carefully added incense to a censer and lit it, allowing the fragrance to waft over him in soft waves. He knelt in front of the shrine, and for the first time in weeks, allowed his worries and insecurities to stumble to the surface.
Wufei had always done this, for many years; whenever he had a worry or concern, he would come to the family shrine and pray to his ancestors for guidance. In time, it had become his hideout; his special place to escape from his father and, at times, his sister. Sometimes, when she was still small enough, Lun would accompany him, though she did not like it. When he had asked why, she had always told him that the energy in the place made her uncomfortable.
She had said the same thing today. Wufei knew that she was nearby, and would be at his side in a heartbeat, should he need her help. But she would not come any closer to the shrine than absolutely necessary. Perhaps the ghosts of Wufei's ancestors disliked the fact that one of their kin was destined to the role of dragon-rider, instead of progressing as a scion and eventual patriarch of the Chang clan, as was his birthright. It was what he had always suspected, though Lun would neither confirm nor deny it, when asked.
Ghosts or no, however, they were still his ancestors, and they still deserved his respect. He bowed his head, and allowed prayers to flow like water.
It was cathartic, in a way, to exorcise the turmoils that had been building since he traveled to Calon Gaer. He had not realized how badly he had been bottling up his tensions and unhappiness; he had merely thought that he would adapt, as he always had, and things would be better. Now he knew that that had not happened, and that he had only been making a bad situation worse.
Had he been making others miserable, as well as himself? And Lun...how had she been faring? Had he been avoiding her, as well, simply because he had not been able to come to terms with the dramatic changes in his life?
Perhaps the faerie dragon had been right. His mouth twisted wryly at the thought. Still, even though he may not like the little monster, she had had a good point: No matter what he thought, there were others who might have been worried about him, and he had repaid their concern with deplorable manners. It was as if a veil had lifted. He now knew that his comrades had been acting out of concern for him. They did care about his well-being, and worried about him. It was a new sensation, knowing that others valued him that much, and because they considered him a friend, not because of what he could do for them.
Or was that the case? He would be foolish to think that the Princess and her entourage wanted him there solely for his company. He was a dragon-rider, and had an obligation to his kingdom. He knew that. Did the others see him as a pawn, as a tool, just like them? Was he to be used for his strengths and nothing more?
Wufei felt himself shutting away the small, fragile sense of self-awareness that he had uncovered, and stopped himself. Why should he always assume that others had ulterior motives for calling him 'comrade'? Was it not just as much a weakness to assume that everyone was an enemy, as it was to blindly consider everyone met as a friend? But where was the line? When did it become time to open the heart and close the mind?
He had not realized that he had been speaking aloud until he discovered he was not alone in the shrine. But as soon as the soft, choked sob reached his ears, he was immediately alert and on guard. With one hand on the hilt of his sheathed dagger, he whirled to face the origin of the sound.
His posture must have alerted his watcher to the fact that he knew of their presence, for the half-hidden figure did not try to hide. His eyes widened as, from a shadowed alcove that had been hidden as he had entered the shrine, emerged the one person whom he had hoped would not hear his vocal admissions of weakness and worry.
"Meiran!"
But even as he grew angry at her intrusion, Wufei grew alarmed at her appearance. Meiran had always been nearly a mirror-image of himself, with feminine softenings about her face where masculinity had added a sharper, more angular look to his own. Yet even in the set of her face remained the fierce visage of a warrior; she was unmistakeably female, but could easily hold her own against even the most daunting of opponents, and most thought twice about confronting her.
That fierceness was gone from her eyes now. Instead, Wufei's jaw hardened at the sight of fear and anxiety playing about the contours of her face. Her eyes were haunted and hollow, reflecting what must have been weeks' worth of anxious worrying. She looked like a shadow of her former self, and had also obviously lost weight, which caused Wufei concern, since his twin had always been very slight of stature in the first place. Who, or what, had done this to her?!
Meiran threw herself at Wufei's feet, sobbing. His brows knitted in suspicion. This was not like her at all. Never once in all his years could he ever remember his sister giving him even the slightest fraction of superiority over herself.
"Forgive me, brother," she sobbed, "forgive me..."
Wufei reached down and helped her, not entirely gently, to her feet. He was beyond such control; his anger and concern over his sister warred with each other, and in the end, all he could do was give her a calculating stare. "What are you talking about?"
Meiran looked as though she would crumble in his hands. The surprise of his sister taking on such a drastic change nearly threw Wufei into a panic, and he gripped her upper arms more tightly than he had wanted, eliciting a squeak of pain from Meiran. "Answer me!"
She looked away. "It was...they told me...that I could have anything," she said, her voice broken by sobs. "That I could have...anything I wanted...my heart's desire...for just a small price..."
"What...who...?"
Meiran shook her head, sending tears flying. "I...cannot..." She drew a shaky breath. "They came to me shortly after you left." Her voice steadied slightly. "They told me...that they knew that I was...superior to you..." She shivered, whether from unwillingness to tell him what she knew or shock, he could not tell. "That it was a fluke that you had been given a dragon egg, and that it should have been me. That they were planning to set right many wrongs, and that if I were strong, I could help them make their dream a reality.
"They told me that they knew I was meant to do great things, and that I could begin by helping them," she said, her eyes cast to the floor in shame. "I should not have...I _knew_ that it was wrong, Wufei...but they have powers, even the weakest ones...it was as though they cast a heavy cloth over my mind, and soon, all I could think of was how badly I wanted..." Another shaky breath. "So I told them that I would do it. They never relented, even though I only spoke with them twice. They were always there, in my thoughts, in my mind...."
"Who?!" Wufei's vision had begun to cloud with rage. His sister was not a weak person, he knew this. What manner of monster could reduce her to such a state?!
Meiran shook her head more violently, and continued speaking. "When I agreed...the pressure relented somewhat, and I could think clearly. Clearly enough to make my plans. They told me that all they wanted...all I would have to do...that it was a simple task. That all they wanted was a flower, no more than four blooms. That it was a small task, that no one would suspect me, and that if I did this for them, that my heart's desire--anything I could imagine, anything I might want--would be mine.
Her eyes filled with fresh tears. "So...I did it...Father never goes there...he can't...and the female servants never suspect me, and I went at night, besides...I went into...went into Mother's garden. Plucked the blooms. My hands shook when I did it, did you know that? I felt...I felt Mother watching me. And even then...I knew...what I was doing was wrong. But the cloudiness...it was like I could not control myself. Once I was in the women's garden, it was like I was a marionette, controlled by someone else.
Wufei shook her, trying to jar her into making sense. "Picked what blooms?" he asked, though he already knew the answer.
"The purple ones. The night-bell blooms. The ones that Mother loved so much. The plants bled, when I plucked the blossoms, as if they knew I'd done something very wrong." A pause, a shaky intake of breath. "And then...and then...they came to me, after I plucked the blooms...barely after I had left the gardens, with only the moonlight to see by, but it was as if they didn't even need that. They thanked me, told me that I had done well, and would be handsomely rewarded...and then..."
She seemed to crumble, and grabbed at his tunic weakly, her knees buckling. Even though rage was sounding through his entire being as though he were being struck by lightning, he drew his sister to himself to support her. She laid her head against his chest and continued.
"You know...you should know...what I wanted. And they gave it to me...and...I killed it...I couldn't..."
"Killed what?"
"The dragon," she whispered. "They gave me a dragon egg of my own. It's what I always wanted. I've always been jealous of you. She should have been mine, should have been. And it's...it ate me alive...became more strong, more insistent, after they came to me...and when I did what they wanted, they gave me what I wanted. I don't know where they got it, but...they gave me a dragon egg."
Wufei felt where her tears were dampening his tunic. He felt her shoulders shake as she drew another shuddering breath, and continued.
"Holding that egg in my hands...I felt like my entire world...it was what I always wanted...so indescribable...I don't even...can't even...but then..." She began to cry harder. "The dragon...the baby...it began to cry out to me. It had been stolen, you see...stolen from the nest, before it was ready...I don't understand...didn't then...but the dragon...it would have been...I don't even know. It was crying out to me. Kept me awake, begged me to end its suffering. Those men...they did something to it...the baby knew it...and so...I crushed it. Crushed the egg. Killed the hatchling. Father doesn't know."
Wufei drew a deep, shuddering breath. "Meiran..."
"I'm so sorry, Wufei," she sobbed. "I have been begging the ancestors for forgiveness, but it's no use...all I can think of is what I've done, how I've brought shame to our family...I want to die, but I cannot take my own life...it would bring even further shame, and I would be denied a spot with our ancestors..." Suddenly, she grabbed Wufei's dagger, and pointed it at her heart, both hands wrapped around it. "Kill me!" she said, her voice a harsh whisper. "I cannot kill myself; the sin would be too great. But you could kill me! I am a traitor to our family. Killing me would bring honor to your name, and possibly save my own soul. It is the only way!"
"Meiran!" Wufei glared at her, making a swipe for the dagger. "You know I cannot do that!"
"Then ask your dragon to kill me," she said bitterly. "I know that she hates me. She always has. She would kill me, if you would not!" She moved to stride out of the shrine, but Wufei's arm shot out, grabbing her sleeve, and holding you back. He leveled a fierce glare at his twin.
"Nataku does not hate you," he said evenly, "but she has little respect for you, because of your weakness. You choose the easy way out. Instead of concentrating on your own strengths, you covet what you cannot have. You have always done this. You are a fine warrior, one of Ri Shin's very finest, and could have brought nothing but honor to our family name. Yet your greed was so all-encompassing, that you allowed it to overshadow everything, and now you have put a weapon in the hands of the enemy!" His eyes narrowed. "Do you know what those men did with the night-bell flowers?"
Meiran's resolve dissolved. The dagger clattered to the floor. "Yes," she whispered. "I knew."
"Yet you still gave it to them?" Wufei's voice was dangerously calm. "Why?"
"I told you!" she cried, fresh tears staining her cheeks. "They have powers...powers I cannot fathom! It was as though I had no choice but to obey! Even though a part of me knew that what I did was wrong, I could not help but do as they told me to do!" She whirled away from him, her face buried in her hands. "I should not even be fit to face you any more."
Wufei desperately wanted to slap his sister, but he did not. Instead, he laid a hand on her shoulder in what he hoped was a comforting gesture. "There is a way you can redeem yourself," he said gently. Meiran looked up at him through red, puffy eyes. "How?"
"You can help us by telling us what you know about the enemy," he said earnestly. "If we know who plots against us, then we can make moves to cancel them! We can fight back! Right now, we fight blind, our swords waving in empty air at an enemy we do not know! But you can help us. You have valuable information that we do not! Help us, Meiran. Who? Who did this?"
Meiran looked as though she had swallowed a large lump of dry bread, with no water to wash it down. "I...cannot...brother, you do not understand!" Panic blossomed across her face. "I cannot!"
"Why do you protect them?" he snarled. "As a scion of the family Chang, you should be able to overcome such obstacles!"
"Please, brother!" she begged. "Do not make me say it!"
"Say it!" he snarled, grabbing her shoulders once more. "For the good of Ri Shin, for the honor of yourself and your ancestors, tell me who has done this so that I may exact my revenge!"
"I..." Emotions played fast and furious across her stricken features. "Brother...I..." She swallowed hard. "I will try." With her determination came calm. Her features smoothed out, and for a moment, she looked like her old self. "They come from a country far to the west," she said, talking low and fast, as though she feared being overheard. "They plot to overthrow Sanq, to take over, and to rule the land. They wish to conquer Calon Gaer and destroy its royal family. The plot is one that is very long in the planning, and even longer in the offing. Only now have the first pawns been played. And the one in charge is furious for forgetting about the Oracle; Sanq's being warned in advance had not been a part of those plans.
"The assassin...that whole plan...was a hoax," she said, her voice dropping to a whisper. "The plan was to pitch Sanq against Es'rilshan. Many died when the plan failed. That was where my part came in. The night-bell was supposed to fell the Watcher, and it didn't. As far as I know, the--" She drew a shaky breath. "None know that you have discovered what the poison was, or where it came from. They underestimated you in that respect.
"But you must be careful! This power is very old, and has waited a long time. It intimately knows of patience and how to use it. It won't hesitate to wait a very long time to act, if it thinks that you will let your guard down in any way. You must be ever vigilant! The fact that you have left Calon Gaer will be noted. It was foolish of you to leave!"
"But WHO has done this, Meiran? Tell me!"
She drew a shaky breath. "I...I will try..." Wufei did not understand these words, but before he could ask, his sister began to speak again. "The name...the enemy...is named..." Another breath, tongue touched to teeth.
But before she could utter the name, her eyes grew wide. "No..." she whispered hoarsely. A hand flew to her throat, as though it pained her to speak. Suddenly, it was as though she were choking; except her face grew deathly pale, and she let out a strangled gasp. Her eyes rolled into the back of her head, and Meiran's knees buckled, sending her crashing to the floor in an ungainly heap, where she lay unmoving.
It took only a heartbeat for this to register in Wufei's conscious before he was at his sister's side. "Meiran!" He patted her cheek lightly. She was unresponsive. He tapped harder. Still no response. He picked up her wrist, feeling for a pulse. It was there, but shallow and fast. "Meiran!"
Wufei felt the first vestiges of panic filtering into his mind as he tried everything possible to revive his sister. Nothing worked. "Lun! To me!"
A thunder of wings heralded the arrival of his dragon, and soon Lun reluctantly stuck her head inside the wide doors to the shrine. "What has--?!" Her voice cut off in surprise as she witnessed the scene. "What on earth has happened?!"
"I don't know," said Wufei grimly. He sheathed his dagger before standing up slowly, gently cradling the supine form of his sister in his arms. "We must get her to the family physician, quickly!"
"And return to Calon Gaer?" surmised the dragon.
"As quickly as possible," said Wufei in a quiet voice. He looked down at the face of his sister, still haggard and careworn from her ordeal. "It has become obvious that we are dealing with something much, much worse than we could have possibly imagined."
~*~
TBC
C&C is, as always, loved and appreciated! ^_^
--Sara
I'm afraid that she won't get better....
)