Page 12 of In the Embrace of Dragons

Without waiting for an answer from my insubordinate guard captain, I stomp away. In the midst of the harsh winds of change, I will hold on to this thin tether I still have left for as long as I can.

Chapter Five

NISSIA

The third day of the journey is much like the first one—riding with my soldiers all day, trying to make conversation with them about anything I can think of. I learn all about their lives, their families, which they’ve left behind for their month-long quest to take me to the dragons’ country.

Ragnakor does not join me at the front again. I get familiar with Syzari, though, who is King Vizarios’s head advisor. She is bored on this long journey, too.

“All I had on the way here were those two and the soldiers,” she says, casting a sidelong glance back at the King and the captain of the guard. She rolls her eyes. “The king is sullen all the time, and the captain hardly speaks. It gets tedious.”

I have to agree with her.

After a few hours, I decide I like Syzari. She has a long, rounded snout, delicate, short horns on her head, and blue scales that remind me of a clear, sunny sky. She is dressed inpants for riding, too, but her top is ornate and draped over her in a way that’s surprisingly beautiful for traveling clothes.

“Vizarios wasn’t this way before,” Syzari says after a time.

“Oh?” I think this is exactly the kind of information I need. “What happened?”

She closes her reptilian eyes, lets out a long breath, and then says, “The queen, his mother, died recently. Vizarios’s father passed when he was still too young to remember him, but his mother... that was a deep, deep cut. He hasn’t been the same since.”

I chance a look over my shoulder, toward the back of the group where King Vizarios rides. His green-blue scales shine in the midday sun, making him look like a living jewel.

“Huh.” Maybe that’s why he’s such a grouchy pain in the ass. “Were they close?”

“Very close. She taught him everything she knew. The queen was...” Syzari’s voice chokes up. “She was an amazing dragon. She had seen so much in her life, and she was generous and kind.”

I have a hard time imagining someone like that raised Vizarios. But Syzari looks shaken after admitting this, and it’s clear the former queen’s death has taken an emotional toll on her as well.

“That’s good to know,” I say after a moment, letting Syzari compose herself again. “Maybe the king and I have more in common than I thought.”

“Hmm?” She leans forward on her horse. “How do you mean?”

“Well, my mother died just a few years ago. There was a flu. It killed many people in the kingdom, including her.”

I clasp my reins tighter, remembering the day I saw her body after she had died during the night. They let us say goodbye to her, and that was the last time I ever looked upon her face.

“Maybe that is a path inward,” Syzari says in a lower voice. “It is a tender subject for him, but it could spark a tender relationship.”

Again I glance back, and this time, I find King Vizarios’s eyes are on me, his brows drawn together tight and his lips twisted into a frown.

I quickly look forward again. It’s probably better than hating each other, given what we’re going to have to do together when we reach Selvumrrest, what the dragons are going to require of me. We’ll have to get to know each other much more intimately, and we’ve barely shared a word.

“I don’t want to embarrass myself more,” I say.

Syzari nods sadly. “Fair enough. I will do my best to put in a good word for you. I think you will make a marvelous queen.”

I hope that’s true, though the path there is frightening and fraught.

VIZARIOS

Ragnakor and I hardly spoke today. He tried a little, but it was a half-hearted attempt, and we spent most of the ride in silence.

Now I see Syzari riding ahead with the princess, locked deep in conversation with her. What is it about this human that my compatriots find so interesting? She is nothing. Less than nothing.

I snort to myself and return to gazing out at the countryside. Soon I’ll be ready to claw out my skull. It was long and dreary enough coming here, and now we have to do it all over again going home.

What a worthless expedition.