Parion, his soldiers, and the commander of the camp we led them to, a captain whose name I never bothered to learn, offered me their eternal gratitude for my help. They were probably praying silently that would be all I wanted. They were almost right; I asked for a letter for General Sarvalian, detailing my heroic deeds, and they had one written up for me in minutes.

  Herald was still sooking over having missed the night fight as we flew south to find a Rift. She was sooking after she recharged, and she was sooking as I turned north-east toward the general’s main camp. As we got closer, though, she finally got over herself. It may have helped that I promised to drop her off with Maglan, and to bully whoever I had to into giving them some time alone while I talked to the general and went to find Tammy. The poor girl hadn’t seen her boyfriend since he marched south, and I had no scruples about abusing my reputation to help her out.

  The camp was as easy to find as ever, though a little smaller now and farther north. I hoped that was because the troops were more spread out to deal with raiders, but the war had gone on for a while, and I tried to be realistic. Finding Maglan wasn’t too hard; most of the soldiers, no matter their rank, were more than willing to answer my questions, and while I’d never bothered to learn even what Maglan’s regiment was called, Herald knew everything down to which “sheaf,” or group of twelve archers, he belonged to.

  The man himself looked a little annoyed at being dragged out of the tent he was in, doing God knows what. I could only assume that he’d been told that the dragon was looking for him again, and that they hadn’t mentioned my amazon of a companion, because the moment he laid eyes on her, his eyes lit up in a way that was disgustingly sweet. I did my best to tune them out and give them some privacy using my wings as they crashed together, but soon the desperate kissing and tearful whispers got too much even for me. I stuck my head in the tent Maglan had come from, saw a middle aged man in there who had some kind of officer’s insignia on his uniform, and told him that I’d consider it a kindness if he’d give Mag a few hours’ leave.

  The man’s head looked like it might bob off his shoulders, the way he nodded. My duty as both best friend and cool older sister done, I left the love-birds to go find the general. Fortunately I remembered to get the tracking medallion off Herald as I hurried out of there, because I did not want to have to bother those two until they were well and truly done with each other.

  General Sarvalian looked older than when I’d last seen him, just under three weeks earlier. Like he hadn’t been sleeping well, and like his responsibilities were weighing on him terribly. I couldn’t blame him; he’d been falling back steadily ever since the invasion, constantly on the defensive, and I had no idea how much of that was his fault.

  My reconnaissance wasn’t exactly the key to turning the war around, but just seeing me seemed to brighten the general’s mood. “I don’t suppose you know how good you are for morale?” he asked me. “Knowing that they have a dragon on their side does wonders to keep the troops’ spirits up. Once word gets out that you delivered half a hundred of their comrades from captivity, I’m sure that effect will only grow. Is there any way I can convince you to stay, even if only for a week?”

  “Afraid not. There are things that need my attention, and rescuing those soldiers has already delayed me by a day. Best I can do is to promise that I won’t let them take the city.”

  “And I suppose it’s too much to hope that you might ask your mother for help,” he mused, though there was a faint glimmer of hope in his eyes as he said it.

  “Afraid so,” I said. I didn’t bother asking how he knew that Embers was my mother — once I’d told the Council, the general had probably had a message as soon as a fast horse could get here. “I’ll tell you what I told the Council: Sower of Embers, Reaper of Flame does not get involved in human affairs, and you should pray it stays that way.”

  “Of course,” he sighed. “But a man can dream.”

  “You can rain dragonfire on your enemies in your mind whenever you want,” I said. “No one can stop you. But even if I knew a way to convince my mother to interfere, one that didn’t put me in her debt, there is no way I could guarantee that she’d bother with things like who’s on which side. She might just end the war by removing both armies and call it a day.”

  I didn’t think that she would, but that depended heavily on what I told her to bring her around and how she took it. No, it was definitely better to keep Embers out of it completely, if possible. But that was a hard “if” — I meant my promise not to stand by while the city fell. If Sarvalian couldn’t turn this war around, and if the League didn’t intervene in time to help, I wasn’t going to put my friends and family in danger by letting them be exposed to whatever Happar and their Tekereteki allies might do against a defeated enemy. If that meant begging my mother to take a side, or throwing myself into danger to try and force the issue, so be it.

  I left the general with his thanks and his permission to take Watch Officer Darim with me for a short flight to the river Divide. I had to ask around a bit before I found her, but her eyes lit up when she saw me. She was sitting in an open tent, at one of those kneeling desks the Karakani favored, and by how quickly she abandoned the document she’d been working on, it couldn’t have been nearly as important as a chance to spend some time with me. And who could blame her?

  “Watch Officer Darim!” I said with open and entirely genuine cheer. “You’re coming with me for a reconnaissance flight. General’s orders!”

  “If the general’s ordered it, then it can’t be helped, can it, Lady Draka?” Darim’s already wide mouth practically split her face with how wide she grinned. “I can be ready in two minutes!”

  She’d been careful with that estimate. It couldn’t have been more than ninety seconds before she was on my back, armed and armored and raring to go.

  A thousand feet up I leveled out and took a long, slow turn around the camp before heading south. Gliding instead of beating my wings, I rode thermals to keep us up without work or, more importantly, noise. I was in no hurry. There were various reasons for that — I wasn’t eager to see Tammy again, Herald deserved some time with Maglan, and I clicked with Darim almost as well as I had with Herald. The little happy noises Darim made told me that she didn’t mind at all if I wanted to take my time.

  “So, how are things,” I asked her, with nothing particular in mind.

  “Oh, you know. Work never stops. Assassins and saboteurs keep coming, and we keep catching them. I was working on a proposal for new patrol routes around the camp when you came. Trying to maximize sightlines. Don’t know if the captain will accept it, but I’ve been sleeping with him, so he’ll probably take a serious look at it.”

  “You what?”

  “Yeah, I know. It’s terribly boring stuff, but the routes we have now—”

  “Not that! You’re sleeping with your captain?”

  “Yes! You wouldn’t believe how jealous the other ladies are!”

  I was taken entirely off balance by the smug satisfaction in her tone. When I thought of women in the military sleeping with their superiors, I’d always imagined there being some kind of coercion involved. Some slimy bastard exploiting the power imbalance inherent to a strict power structure like that. “You like him, then?”

  “Yeah, I like him! I’m sleeping with him, aren’t I? Handsome devil, decorated, and he carved me a little fox out of wood last week — what’s not to like? Talks about his nieces like they’re the most precious things in the world. Might make a go of it and see if it leads anywhere, if we both survive all this.”

  “All right, well… I’ll be cheering for you!” I told her and hoped to God that this captain of hers was on the level. And he very well may be — there was a lot to like about Darim. It was just… after what Mag had told me, about officers trying to cozy up to him because of his connection to me, it was hard not to be suspicious. But I didn’t want to poison her, so I didn’t say anything.

  Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation.

  “Right, I should tell you,” she continued. “That archer you’ve had me keep an eye on, Maglan? There’s been some trouble. Not him, mind you, but it looks like some of his fellow soldiers don’t like him getting special treatment. There’s been a fight or two. Now, he’s got his friends, so as far as I know he’s never been hurt bad, but I thought you should know.”

  “Dammit. I just wanted to keep him alive.”

  “Mm, for your friend’s sake, right? And you very well may have — our archers have taken a beating from what I’ve heard. Well outmatched on the cavalry side. But, yeah. I thought you should know.” When I didn’t say anything for a minute or two, she broke the silence again. For someone whose job it was to see, she sure liked to be heard. “So, we’re looking for one woman?”

  “Yeah. Near the river. Not sure which side, but I need to get her out before the Happarans find her.”

  “Who is she?”

  “Leretem. She’s… someone I’m responsible for,” I started, and then I told her a heavily redacted version of what had happened. I only told her that I’d “turned” Tammy, and that someone who knew her thought she might be a dragon worshipper, and I let Darim draw her own conclusions from that. And I told her that Tammy had “gotten in touch with me,” without mentioning how. It was obvious that I was keeping things back, but Darim didn’t call me out on it. When I was done she just said, “You’re really worried about this merc, aren’t you?”

  I blew out a long, annoyed breath. “Yeah, I really am.”

  “But you don’t like her.”

  “I really don’t.”

  “Rough.”

  “You have no idea.”

  By that point we’d been almost to the river for a while. I’d been flying in long zig-zags, putting the landing and the meeting off, but soon enough Darim called out, “I think I see her! A lone figure, hiding in some bushes by the water about two miles east of the bridge.”

  It was her. Of course it was her. The medallion was pointing straight at her. I only fed it the slightest trickle of magic, but I could tell exactly where she was. Tammy herself must have seen me long ago, flying back and forth toward her as I was, and she must be wondering what I was doing. Or, she was probably imagining that I was doing something grand and absolutely brilliant, but that didn’t stop me from feeling embarrassed about my reluctance to land.

  “So,” Darim asked slowly. “Are we picking her up, or…?”

  “Yeah,” I sighed. “Hang on.”

  Tammy wasn’t the only one who’d spotted me. There were cavalry patrols down there, and while I could only tell that they’d stopped, Darim could confirm that they were looking at us. Their presence meant that there wouldn’t be any pleasantries — not that I’d planned any. I landed on the closest piece of flat ground to where Tammy was hiding, and she immediately ran out, a feverish adoration in her eyes as she fell to her knees a few feet before me, holding up her stump and remaining hand in supplication.

  “Great Lady,” she said, and her voice shuddered. That close I could see how filthy her face was, and the broad streaks that her tears had carved through the dirt. “You came for me. I never doubted, but until I felt you—”

  I cut her off. “Do you have a pack? Bring it, strap it to your front, and get ready to fly.”

  Her tears forgotten, she bounced to her feet, disappearing into the bushes with a “Yes, Great Lady!” Seconds later she returned with a regular soldier’s pack, as well maintained as she wasn’t, awkwardly trying to tighten the straps around her back with her single hand.

  Darim didn’t waste a second. She leaped down and approached Tammy, did up the straps with the speed of a career soldier, and returned to her position just as quickly as she’d left. Tammy accepted the help then turned her head and thanked Darim graciously for the assistance. I wasn’t at all surprised; Darim was sitting on my back, and in Tammy’s mind she must look like some kind of queen or high priestess.

  Then came the part where I had to grab Tammy and fly back to the camp with her, and I did it, even though I really didn’t want to. She was, frankly, disgusting. An absolute little goblin — in Earth terms, not the tolerable local goblins. They smelled rather pleasant. Earthy. Tammy was filthy: she stank, her hair was greasy and matted, and just touching her was enough that I wanted to dive into the river. Mercies be blessed for healing potions, or she would have probably managed to pick up a lethal skin rash or something.

  And I’d have to fly her back to Karakan, too. It was bad enough that I’d involved Darim — I’d have to subject Herald to her.

  Back at the camp, Darim, bless her, volunteered to take Tammy to get cleaned up. They returned almost an hour later, with Tammy in entirely new clothes and looking better than I’d ever seen her outside of her dreams. With her skin scrubbed pink, her hair cleaned, trimmed, and combed, and a huge, happy smile on her face, she didn’t just look better; she looked good. It was hard to reconcile the woman who knelt in front of me with the monster I’d built up in my head.

  And, goddamnit, I could practically feel the urge to protect her growing by the moment. Not to keep her around, but to keep her safe. As distasteful as the thought was, I would have to make it clear to Zabra and Kesra that their new house guest was, for reasons beyond my control, important to me.

  Darim, sadly, had to get back to her duties and said her goodbyes. I decided to give Herald and Maglan a while longer, so I told Tammy to keep watch then took a nap. I didn’t wake until Herald came to find me herself, at which point Instinct alerted me that she was coming closer.

  I was a little concerned when Tammy intercepted Herald, demanding to know why she was approaching and what her business was with me. Herald could hold her own in a scrap well enough, but Tammy was a soldier with ten years more experience, and I suspected that she’d take her job as my guardian deathly serious. I was about to rise and intervene, but I needn’t have worried.

  “You are Leretem?” Herald asked imperiously, in her excellent classical Tekereteki. Kira had described her as having a noble accent, and I agreed. “The great lady’s servant?”

  “I am. Who are you?” Tammy answered, her own speech halting and her pronunciation clearly provincial.

  “I am the great lady’s sister, Herald. Look into my eyes if you doubt me. No? Good. Now, rouse your mistress. It is time we return to Karakan.”

  Whatever Tammy saw in Herald’s eyes, it must have convinced her. She only hesitated for a moment before she said, “Yes, my lady Herald,” and approached me. Her steps stopped two feet or so from me, and there was a soft rustle as she knelt by my side. “Great Lady,” she said. “A woman, Herald, who claims to be your sister, has arrived.” Then she waited. She didn’t touch me or do anything else to wake me. That would probably be some kind of sacrilege to her.

  I decided not to make either of them wait. Herald was right — it was high time we return to Karakan. And Tammy, while she was still Tammy, was at least not disgusting anymore. Even being Tammy wasn’t as much of a crime as it had been a few hours ago — not with how meek and obedient she’d been so far.

  I flagged down the first officer I saw and asked her to bring a message to the general: that I wished them all the best and hoped to return soon. Then, with Herald on my back and Tammy in my arms, I flew us back to Karakan. It was a relaxed flight, calm, not too cold, and with little in the way of conversation. Tammy was giddy about being in my arms and seemed to enjoy the view, and Herald, for reasons that were obvious and that I wasn’t going to discuss with her, was tired. She even took a little nap.

  I’d been a little nervous on the way back. The last time I was away for longer than expected, Mak was assaulted in the street, the inn was attacked, and Kira was nearly abducted. Part of me had been expecting to return to some kind of disaster — the inn on fire, a Tekereteki fleet in the harbor, Mother laying waste to the city, something like that. But all was well. From the air everything looked the same as I’d left it. When I set down in the yard, Mak was inside, and she didn’t rush to meet me. Her taking her time was the thing that really set my mind at ease; if anything had been wrong, she would have been waiting with the doors open.

  “Tammy,” I said as I waited for Herald to climb down, and for Mak to come and let me in. “I never wanted to bring you here, but here we are. And now I have some rules for you to follow.”

  “Yes, Great Lady,” she said, smiling blithely and completely ignoring my tone.

  “Kira — Bekiratag — lives in this inn. She is my servant, and my friend, and she doesn’t like you. You were an active part of the worst years of her life, and just having you here is going to remind her of those times. So, you won’t be staying here long. I’m sending you to live with two of my other servants. But as long as you’re here, and until I tell you otherwise, you will not speak to Bekiratag unless she speaks to you first. If she does, you will be polite, and you will be honest. Is that understood?”

  Her face fell the moment I said that I’d be sending her away, but she gathered herself and nodded. “Yes, Great Lady. I understand.”

  “Good. I’ve been told that you speak Barlean. Is that correct?”

  “It is, Great Lady.”

  “Then, until you learn Karakani, that will be your language of choice. Be very careful who you speak Tekereteki to, no matter the dialect. Unless you know that someone is a friend and ally of ours, it’s best you don’t speak Tekereteki at all. Is that clear?”

  “It is, Great Lady.”

  “All right.” Behind Tammy, the cellar doors opened, and Mak climbed the steps to wait on us outside. Herald finally slid off my back and flounced over to give our sister a hug, and I was close on her heels, Tammy following by my side.

  “This is Lady Drakonum,” I told Tammy. “That’s what you’ll call her, or Makanna if she allows it. I consider her my sister, just like Herald.”

  Mak beamed at the reminder, and I smiled back before turning back to Tammy. “I know you’re smart enough to understand what that means regarding her rank compared to you. Now, introduce yourself. And may the Mercies help you if you piss her off, because I won’t.”

  and get 8 chapters early. You also get all seventy-plus finished chapters of my other story, , and anything else I’m trying out.

  Join us if you want to chat with other readers, or just hang out!