The general’s tent was warm and dry. I laid down on the pile of soft things that Sarvalian had arranged for me, my muscles thanking me as I relaxed for the first time in far too many hours. I wished I could have Shifted myself dry, but there was no way I was letting the Council know what I could do.

  “I was passing by,” I told him, “and wanted to see how things were going. Have you heard about Tekeretek getting involved?”

  “We had a message from the city that they may be getting involved, yes,” he said, his mood souring. “We haven’t seen any sign of them so far, Mercies be praised. We’re hard pressed as it is already, fighting in the mud and with the Happaran cavalry raiding as they will behind our lines.”

  “Right. I’ve got good news and bad news, yeah? I found a Tekereteki fleet hiding in the Happaran islands. Couldn’t tell you if they’re carrying any troops, but they’re there, probably already involved on the sea.”

  “That is bad news,” Sarvalian said, rubbing his palms together slowly, like he was wiping dust off them. “And the good?”

  “I grabbed one of their officers, I think, and I’m taking him back to the city to meet the League’s ambassadors. If I’m right, and if they make him talk, that should get the League involved sooner rather than later, yeah? Though, who the hell knows if any of this will matter in a week or two, anyway.”

  He looked up curiously. “Why is that? The sooner the League gets involved, the better, so why wouldn’t it matter?”

  “Well, you know, the…” I trailed off. Did he know? He should, but what about the people around him? We were alone in the tent except for Mersil, who waited behind me by the entrance, and that female tribune I’d seen in his tent after-hours before. I was pretty sure that her name was Verlan. She was hiding in the rear section of the tent, but I could smell her and what they’d been doing when I arrived.

  I decided on discretion. I slowly leaned in, so that my mouth was right by Servalian’s ear. I heard Mersil shift behind me, but the general didn’t even flinch; he held up his hand to hold his bodyguard back, and leaned in to hear what I had to say. “You know,” I said again, as softly as I could. “The dragon? From the north?”

  “Ah, that.” he said flatly, and sat back. “To be honest, I’ve not had time to worry about that. My hope is that it won’t affect the front at all.”

  “Is that all you care about?” I asked with genuine surprise. “Not trying to criticize you, General, just… I’d’ve thought you’d be more worried.”

  “I’m worried, certainly, but that threat is unknown. We have no idea what they want. The Happarans and the Tekereteki, though? We know exactly what they want, and what to do about them. My energy is much better spent in that direction, don’t you think? That frees Sempralia and the others to worry about the rest.”

  “But if—” I started, then shrugged and lay back down. “You know what? Good on ya. Focus on the things you can affect, right?”

  “Just so. That said, I don’t suppose I can rely on your aid here?”

  “Afraid not. I’m supposed to help deal with the other problem. Once I’ve rested my wings a bit I should be on my way north with my Tekereteki sailor.”

  “I see. I won’t pretend that I’m not disappointed, but neither can I claim that what you’re doing isn’t as or more important than any help you could lend us here. You’re welcome to rest here for as long as you need, of course.”

  “I appreciate that, but I’ll be leaving you and the tribune alone in a minute or two.”

  I took a very petty satisfaction in seeing the general flush at that.

  At least he didn’t deny it. He coughed, once, then said, “Yes. Well. Can I rely on you to bring a message back to the Council?”

  “Sure. Can you point me in the direction of that archer I came here with when we first met?”

  He turned his head regretfully towards the back of the tent. “I’m sure that Tribune Verlan could help you. Tribune? If you would?”

  “Couldn’t Mersil—?” I started, but it was too late. Cloth moved against cloth at the back of the tent, and Tribune Verlan appeared, walking tall and proud and red faced as the evening sky.

  “General,” she said with a perfunctory bow and a look that should have made Mersil the bodyguard worry. “Lady Draka.”

  The bow she gave me was deeper.

  “Tribune,” Servalian sighed, “please—”

  “Of course, General. Lady Draka, if you would?”

  She started towards the tent’s entrance.

  “Dari, please!” the general said in a half-whisper. “Put something on! You’ll catch your death out there.”

  “No, no, General. We wouldn’t want to keep our guest waiting. Lady Draka?”

  With that Verlan simply walked into the rain. I stood, astounded at the gonads on this lady, then nodded to the general and hurried after, throwing my wings up over us as I came up beside her.

  She kept walking, but slowed as the rain stopped soaking her. She looked up, seeing my wing, and turned her face towards me.

  “Thank you,” she said sheepishly. “I apologize for my behavior back there.”

  “Yeah, no worries. And, you know, I hadn't meant to interrupt. So, you and the general, you're…?”

  “Yes,” she replied curtly.

  “And that doesn't cause any problems?”

  “I don't see why. We’re to be married, after all.” She let that settle, then said, “Here we are,” as we approached some tents in a corner of the command area. She turned to a sentry standing guard, who was staring wide eyed at me and the drenched tribune. “Soldier! Wake Watch Officer Darim and have her join us as soon as she is decent!”

  The sentry blinked rapidly, and I could see his lips start to form the word “What?” before he snapped out of his stupor. “Yes, Tribune!” he said, straightening for a second before turning and jogging over to one in a row of identical, nondescript tents.

  “Watch officer?” I asked in a low voice.

  “Since the day you left,” she replied the same way. “She had already impressed us with her performance and her initiative. Keeping you happy only confirmed that she’s worth cultivating further.”

  “Oh. She did, yeah. And she was the one who got me to investigate the river more closely. Did I tell you that?”

  “I believe that the general mentioned that, yes. Ah, here she comes!”

  Darim was indeed approaching, hurrying through the rain. “Darim!” I called, waving her in. “Get in here!”

  “Lady Draka,” she said, a poorly suppressed smile on her face as she stood to attention a few feet away. She was still in the rain, and water dripped from her nose. “Tribune Verlan. Watch Officer Darim reporting as ordered.”

  “Very good, Darim,” Verlan said. “And do as Lady Draka said. You’ll catch your death standing there.”

  Darim took a few quick steps, bringing her into the shelter I’d made. She wiped her face with her hand, then came to attention again. “Nothing I haven’t survived a hundred times before, Tribune, but thank you.”

  “Mercies, Darim, do you sleep in your gear?” I asked. “What was that? Half a minute since we asked that other sentry to get you?”

  “I keep most of the laces tied, so I can just…” she mumbled, then saw the impatient look Verlan was giving her and cleared her throat. “How may I serve, Tribune?”

  “Darim, Lady Draka here is looking for one of our soldiers, an archer. Maglan, I believe? You’ve been keeping an eye on him, correct?”

  Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

  “Yes, Tribune.”

  “Excellent. Show the Lady Dragon to him, then. Good night, Watch Officer. Lady Draka.”

  She gave me a half-bow, then simply walked into the rain, heading back towards the general’s tent.

  “General Sarvalian is about to have the best or the worst night of his life,” I said.

  Darim choked off a laugh. “This— this way, if you would, Lady Draka.”

  “You don’t need to ‘lady’ me, Darim,” I told her as we headed for the gate into the outer camp. “Congratulations on the promotion! How have things been?”

  “Thank you! And things have been busy. New responsibilities, you know? No major engagements so far, Mercies be praised. Just lots of skirmishes and a lot of maneuvering. Low casualties. We’ve seen off some probing attacks on the camp, but that’s it for us. It's like they're waiting for something.”

  “Like reinforcements?”

  “Maybe.”

  “How much have the commanders told you?”

  “Not much. Why? Do you know something?”

  I only hesitated for a moment. I liked Darim. I didn’t really know her all that well, but I figured they wouldn’t have promoted her if she wasn’t responsible. And she deserved to know.

  I leaned in, lowering my voice so that no one should be able to hear over the rain. “The Tekereteki may be entering the war soon. Openly, I mean. We’re pretty sure that they’re already helping Happar at sea. They may be waiting for Tekereteki troops to show up.”

  “Ah, shit!” Darim spat. “That… that’s not something I want to hear.”

  “Yeah, I don’t know if you should be spreading this around. The Council is working on getting the League involved as soon as possible, but, you know… don’t let your guard down just because it’s calm right now.”

  Darim led me straight to where Maglan was camped. Despite that, and the late hour, we still collected a fat, noisy tail of off-duty soldiers before we got there. Gawking at the dragon was apparently more important than staying dry. Or getting enough sleep, for that matter — there was no way there were normally this many people still awake at this time of night.

  Apparently, when I’d asked that Maglan be kept in the reserves it had resulted in his whole company being assigned to defending the headquarters. It was probably the best outcome I could have reasonably hoped for: Maglan had all his buddies with him, he wasn’t being sent out to fight, but he was still doing something important.

  Maglan didn’t see it that way. Oh, he didn’t say anything, but I could tell.

  “Draka!” he said, as cheerfully as he could manage after being woken up in the middle of the night, then having to run thirty yards through the pouring rain to get to me. “I didn’t expect to see you so soon. What do I owe the honor?”

  “I was in the south and promised Herald to check in on you. And to tell you how much she loves you, of course. How’re you doing?”

  “Oh, I’m fine. I’m strictly forbidden from being anything but fine, in fact. Regimental commander himself called me into his tent before the other companies moved out, and told me that the general had promised to ruin him and his House if anything happened to me, so I better stay out of harm’s way or else. Bit odd, that. Know anything about it?”

  Inwardly, I reeled. My world turned upside down. Maglan was being snippy. With me. His tone was friendly, but Mag being anything except perfectly respectful just hadn’t happened before. The first time we met, this guy got on his knees and pressed his forehead. Now he was being sarcastic. The man must be absolutely livid!

  “I may have asked some people to try and keep you alive, yeah,” I said. “You know, for Herald’s sake.”

  “Right. Yeah. I appreciate it, I really do.” He laughed, and it sounded surprisingly genuine. “Being nice and safe here while everyone else is fighting is every soldier’s dream, right?”

  “Sounds comfortable, yeah.”

  “The best part is how I’ve got officers trying to get friendly with me. Barely a spare moment to train these days, with how I’m running from one tent to the next, having a chat here, a small snack there. Yep. My buddies all think it’s hilarious. They’re spending all day either training or on guard duty, and I’m living large. It’s great! Just great.”

  I wasn't sure how to handle Mag being so clearly unhappy with me. Neither did I know why it bothered me so much. I’d meant well. I hadn't wanted anything except for him to not get killed by a Happaran cavalry charge. But he was clearly in a tough spot socially because of me, and he wasn’t taking it well. And his happiness was important to Herald.

  I didn't want him to be mad at me, and that in itself was terribly uncomfortable.

  I wasn't going to blame it on Herald any more than I already had. It wasn't her fault, even if she'd appreciated it when I told her. Instinct was miffed at his lack of gratitude, and I considered telling him to just suck it up and maybe thank me for the sentiment, but that wouldn't make him any less annoyed.

  Instead I chickened out. I told him again that Herald sent her love, then I told him “Good night” and got out of there. I left so abruptly that Darim had to jog to catch up once she realized what was happening.

  “What's his problem?” I muttered as she entered the shelter of my wings. I knew full well and didn't expect an answer, but I got one all the same.

  “It sounds like he’s been getting a lot of special treatment these last two weeks.” The casual way Darim said it sounded forced. “His mates are probably being pissy about it. Easy to get jealous when everyone’s feeling the strain.”

  “Not my fault, though, is it?”

  “Those officers he mentioned probably think that they can curry favor with either you or the general by getting friendly with him.”

  “I get that, yeah? It’s just…” I blew out a long, tired huff.

  “Is it all right if I ask who he is to you?”

  “He’s… close with my best friend.”

  “That would be this Herald woman you and the Wolves were talking about?”

  “Right.”

  She laughed. “Mercies, I can’t imagine someone trying to get to one of my friends through someone I’m seeing. Let me tell you, my friends do not like my taste in men…”

  For the short remaining distance we talked about Darim. Being promoted to watch officer had apparently opened up a lot of opportunities for her, not least in her love life, which she talked about without a shred of self-consciousness. She was pretty obviously trying to distract me, and I welcomed it. I liked her, and it worked. I would have liked some more time with her, but the sooner I could get back to Karakan the better.

  I exchanged a few final words with her after I collected Terek and Sarvalian’s message and said my goodbyes to the general. “Stay safe, yeah?” I told Darim. “I’d like to take another flight with you someday. You’re good company up there.”

  “I’d love that,” she said with a big, goofy grin, the rain dripping off her nose. She stood back as I sat in the open space in the center of the camp. I had Terek, resigned and sleepy, gripped in my arms, and we still had a few onlookers, though most had been turned away at the gate to the command section. “Mercies be with you, Draka.”

  “You too, Darim. And, ah, good luck with Saratel, and Baldor, and the rest of them.”

  She laughed her thanks, and then I was off, Sarvalian’s message around my neck and Terek hanging stiff beneath me.

  It was over a hundred miles to Karakan, but I kept a good pace. With the clouds reaching beyond the horizon I couldn’t tell how far off dawn was, but there was no hint of light in the eastern sky when I landed in the yard of our inn. Perhaps I could have gone somewhere else. There were guards at the Palace, day and night, and I could have probably handed Terek over to them, but I saw no compelling reason to. Instead I waited in the rain until Mak, reliable as always, let us into the cellar.

  “So, are we keeping this one?” she said, scrutinizing my prisoner and speaking Tekereteki for his benefit. She didn’t even question his presence.

  “No. Mak, this is Semterekene. He is a prisoner of war, and I will deliver him to the Palace tomorrow. Semterekene, this is the lady Drakonum Makanna. For the few hours you spend here, you had better be unfailingly polite to her. She can and will kill you if she has to.”

  “A, ah, a pleasure to meet you, Lady Makanna,” Terek stammered. “You are Tekereteki?”

  “By birth. Karakani by grace of my parents’ sacrifice. Draka, what do you want me to do with him?”

  “Let him rest and warm up somewhere away from the guests. Maybe lend him some dry clothes, if one of the men has something old they can go without? It has been a long, cold flight, and I would not want him dying on us.”

  I thought about it, then switched to English to be absolutely sure he wouldn’t understand. If he was an officer he might speak Happaran, which was close enough to Karakani. “I mean that. Keep an eye on him so he doesn’t do anything stupid. You understand?”

  She nodded. “Understand. No knife, things like that.”

  “Right.” Switching back to Tekereteki I said, “I will leave Terek to you and take a short rest. Wake me at sunrise. After breakfast I will take him to the Palace. Terek?”

  “Yes?”

  “Cooperate. Please? I will be very annoyed if I have to spend tomorrow flying all the way back to your fleet to grab one of your friends.” I leaned in, letting my shadows wrap around him just enough to make him go pale. “You do not want that.”

  “Y-Yes! Of course, Great One!”

  “Very good.”

  I was grinning as I went to my nest in the strongroom to nap. “Great One.” I liked that title. It was the same thing Tammy had called me, the way to address a dragon in old Tekeretek, when we were worshiped as gods.

  The Tekereteki may not have believed that dragons were gods any longer. They may have outlawed the practice of worshiping us. But all of them, no matter where they came from, still remembered how to show respect, and that pleased me greatly.

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