She tapped her forehead. “She honours me with her link.”
A whoop caught everyone’s attention. The Queen drew closer to the glass, her eyes burning with an unearthly light. The monotonous grinding sound of dragons fighting had reached a climax, Sephador had drawn herself up to her full height, evidently making her last stand. Her wings spread, something that would make her more vulnerable, but the other queens just seemed cowed by her size, shrinking back. Lirrulith had a nasty bleeding wound across one eye and was hunching back to protect another on her middle. Ulle was exhausted, her wings hanging like flags on a still day, her eyes looking filmy and dull. “Yes, yes,” the Queen muttered, her perfect red lips pulled back from gleaming white teeth, her hands against the glass, fingers flexed into claws against the impervious surface.
The Gaillards and Jervis began to yell for riders to intervene, that the breeding tier had been established, that Sephador had found her place. The monarch didn’t respond, too caught up in her dragon’s bloodlust. Riders looked confused, not sure which powerful person to heed which meant i
t was all too late for Lirrulith. Sephador struck like a snake, ripping out flesh from the other queen’s neck, severing the major artery, the other dragon screaming as she bled out onto the sand below, her neck thrashing wildly. Sephador then turned to Ulle who just huddled there, unable to raise her claws to defend herself. People started to shout and run now, with riders bursting into the cage, driving the dominant dragon back before she could strike. Sephador protested, howling her defiance, lashing out with her claws, her tail whipping back and forth, all which stopped when the first rider struck her with a spear.
“NO!” the Queen shrieked, collapsing down into a ball, wailing incoherently at the phantom pain she felt. Her nails shredded at the silk of her dress, her servants approached at a rush, then dithered as they tried to work out how to serve her. Finally, she seemed to come back to herself, probably because Sephador was caged back in her quarters as Ulle was seen by the vet. The Queen’s eyes widened, blinking as she looked about herself. She brushed the servants away, getting to her feet under her own steam. She glanced out the window. “Why is Olongth seeing to Ulle first? Sephador has countless injuries that must take precedence.” Her head whipped around when she heard a murmur of discontent from the Gaillards. “You are welcome to supply your own healers. Sephador has fought hard for dominance and won, so her needs are met first, as is the natural order of things.” Her eyes dropped to the unconscious form of one of the Jervis women. “Take Dilys to her rooms to recover. She has paid a high price for her family’s ambitions.” She turned and gestured to one of the servants hovering. “She deserves our best care. Have our personal healer see to her.”
And then the crooning began. The Queen spun around in irritation as a loud hum picked up around the complex. I could see queens in their cages throw their heads back, joining their voices with the others. The Queen’s knuckles went white as dragons across the whole palace sang in time, a dirge for the fallen queen. Silence fell over the human inhabitants of the dragon cages, eyes automatically finding the floor. Scalla stepped forward, placing her hand on the glass and watched every movement the many, many riders made to move the huge corpse of Lirrulith as if etching it into her memory. “C’mon,” I said finally, once the poor animal’s body had been removed and all that was left was a pool of blood.
We got back to the room without saying a word. There was no need to, I’m sure Scalla felt like I did, that we’d survived something horrific. I settled down on the bed, staring blankly, unable to get that last blow out of my mind. The only thing that jerked me out of it was a knock at the door. “Captain Keya asked that we show you to the amphitheatre,” a female rider said. I nodded my head and got to my feet. Scalla lay on one of the other beds, curled up in a ball, her back to the door. I closed it behind me with a click.
The riders didn’t have much to say on the walk over there, just pointing out landmarks to help me remember the route. They perked up a little when we reached the pavilion. It was massive, bigger than several footy fields big. Seating rose up on every side, capable of holding huge crowds. I looked up to see a few dragons performing intricate manoeuvres. We all watched dumbly, the skill they demonstrated, the everydayness of going about your work somehow inappropriate right now. If your dragon wasn’t going to die, its throat ripped out by another, was pushing it to perform aerial gymnastics the way to spend your time together? I stepped out onto the sand as the dragons performed dramatic stoops, pulling up at the last minute with a backstroke of their wings before settling more gently down on the ground. Riders slid off their backs, a woman yanking her helmet off with a cry that sounded startlingly similar to the Queens during the queen fight. Her long brown hair worked itself free of her regulation bun and she ran over to one of the other riders who’d just dismounted, throwing herself into his arms. Then he removed his helmet.
Keel smiled down at the girl, ruffling his hand through her hair before turning to see us. His smile didn’t falter, he slipped from the girl’s grip, walking over, her hot on his heels. “You all ready for tomorrow? Last training session, but it’ll be a brutal one. You’ll be practising your sequence over and over with Keya, then we’ll be doing a run-through of the whole thing until Keya’s happy. A twelve-hour day at least.”
“Who’s this?” the female rider said, coming to stand at Keel’s side, very, very close.
“I’ve told you about Tess and Miazydar before,” Keel said. “This is Sabelina, she’s one of our most accomplished trick riders.”
“Oh, the cadet,” she said with a shrug of her shoulders. “Keel, we’re going to the Dragon Arms for a celebration drink. You in?”
He looked over at me for a moment and the shrugged. “Sure, you coming, Tess?”
After what I’d seen today I was fairly certain I wouldn’t be able to eat a thing, let alone drink alcohol. The very bright red of Lirrulith’s blood still stuck in my mind, along with the screams and the brutality. I shook my head.
Sabelina talked to the riders that had escorted me here, getting them to agree to come with as Keel moved to my side. “Are you OK?” he said, looking me over. I made a vague gesture. I didn’t have the energy to put into words something that he was unlikely to understand.
“Are you coming, Keel?”
“Did you want me to stick around?” he said.
I shook my head. “I’m going to bed. I’ll need to if I’m gonna be jumping off dragons for twelve hours straight. You go.”
He just nodded, patting my shoulder, green eyes looking into mine before turning and running after his comrades, leaving me standing alone in the darkening sunlight in the massive empty theatre.
35
Which is where I was standing the next morning, just as the sun was rising, except now the amphitheatre was far from empty. Dragons were dropping into every available space, riders running between them. I hitched my helmet up on my hip and reached out to Miazydar.
How are you? We’d spoken late into the night about what I’d seen yesterday. It was a circular, pointless conversation. Like most people in affluent countries, there was a lot of talk about the issue of the day followed by a sense of powerlessness as you considered what to do about it. The problem with Aravisia is I couldn’t just toddle up to the local cafe and have a macchiato to take my mind off it, I was living and breathing this abhorrent situation and I had no idea what to do about it.
Something will happen today. There are attendants running everywhere. The queen, Ulle, took a turn for the worse last night, but that’s not it. I’m supposed to go with this Olongth fellow to demonstrate my abilities, but I’m tossing up whether or not I should comply. I’m not sure letting these people know what I can do is advisable.
What are the full extent of your abilities? I don’t think you’ve ever told me.
My abilities are your abilities.
That’s what you always say. So you’ll fly in and be really awkward if we’re in danger?
You are more than your fears, Tess.
Yes, but I certainly am not going to be able to fly myself to safety if something goes wrong in training.
We are one. A danger to you is a danger to me. We will prevail.
I shook my head, watching as Captain Keya strode across the sand towards me. I’ve gotta go. It’s time to practise throwing myself off perfectly good dragons. Let me know if things get too weird on your end.