I thought wistfully that it might be nice one day to have someone look at me like that. Realising that Luka was staring at me, I gave him a quizzical look, straightening my sash nervously.
“Is my gown too gaudy for the wedding?” I asked as low as I could, and he bent slightly to hear me.
“You look … wonderful,” he said.
I blushed at the praise and turned my attention to the ceremony, which had just begun. The Ur-priest of all Feravel was performing the ceremony, of course, since it was the crown prince getting married. The aged priest was well into the first prayer, an exhortation that Caxon, the greatest of the Triune gods, smile down on the couple. I did my best to pay attention, and not think about how Luka’s hand was very close to my hand, his fingers twitching as though he were going to take my hand.
But then something happened that took my attention off Luka, and off the bride and groom as well. The window at the front of the chapel, behind the altar, went dark. It might have been clouds suddenly obscuring the sun, but it was not yet noon and the sun was streaming through the windows to our left without a hint of shadow.
The light came back but the window was dark again a second later. Glancing around, I saw that I wasn’t the only one staring beyond the droning priest at the massive circle of glass behind him. Luka was now gripping my hand in a most unromantic fashion. On my other side Marta was whispering to Tobin and he was pointing discreetly to the front.
“This isn’t good,” I said under my breath.
“What?” Luka leaned down to listen, but his eyes were fixed on the window.
“I think my gown is cursed,” I whispered to him.
With a cracking of wood and a squeal of twisting nails, the front chapel window was pulled from its frame. A dragon bellowed, and the expected crash of breaking glass was replaced with a whump and someone swearing “by the First Fires!”
There was not a sound inside the chapel. Even the Ur-priest had stopped to look at what had happened. A dragon head appeared where the window had been, and the wedding guests began to scream and panic.
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“Hello,” said Feniul cheerily. “I’m sorry about the window. I assumed it would just swing open. Is this a bad time to talk to your king?” He spotted me a beat later. “Creel! Hello! What a lovely gown!”
Parley on the Lawn
Finding that we were in the middle of a rather important wedding ceremony, the dragons at first politely agreed to wait. But then it was pointed out by Luka that no one, least of all the white-faced Ur-priest, was paying attention to the wedding any more. So King Caxel agreed to meet Shardas and Feniul out on the lawn behind the chapel and hear their news.
Miles and Isla insisted on being included, and so did Luka and I. Earl Sarryck, who was roaring for the guards to surround the dragons, followed us without an invitation. Shardas lay on the lawn contemplating the window, with Feniul at his side fidgeting with his tail.
I ran to Shardas and would have embraced any part of him I could reach – foreleg, muzzle, tail – but something in his expression held me back. Feniul bent down, though, and I stroked his nose.
“Shardas is very angry, isn’t he?” I whispered.
“He’s very worried,” Feniul said in his grating whisper. “We have not had an easy time. ”
“This is some fine work,” Shardas said presently, and carefully leaned the window against the wall of the chapel. “Merrun, I believe. ”
“What?” King Caxel looked baffled.
“It looks to be the work of the artisan Merrun,” Shardas clarified.
“I really wouldn’t know,” the king replied, but he did so with rather more tact than he had previously shown with the dragons. I suspected that their withdrawal from Feravel had improved his feelings towards them.
“May we ask why you are here, disrupting my eldest son’s wedding?” Caxel sat on the bench that had been brought by one of the footmen, and regarded Shardas and Feniul with a stern eye. “I thought you agreed not to enter Feravel again. ”
“We are sorry to interrupt the wedding, but we came to speak to you about our exile from human lands,” Shardas said. “With guards on the palace rooftop ready to shoot us, we didn’t dare wait for the ceremony to finish. ” He took a deep breath. “In the past weeks my people have been flying over the world, seeking a place to live. We started with the areas that we knew, looking for places that were uninhabited and large enough to accommodate us. But there was nothing on this continent, nor on the southern continent. ”
“What about the Citatian desert?” Miles spoke up. “Luka tells me that no one lives there. Perhaps the new king will cede the land to the dragons, as reparation for what they did to your people. ”
“A nice idea,” Shardas agreed. “But the parts of the desert that are truly uninhabited – for the Citatians live in all but the most inhospitable areas – are too harsh for even dragons to survive in. We do require water, shelter, and a place to grow our food. ” His words were not unkind, merely a statement of fact, and Miles nodded thoughtfully.
“I will not cede any of my lands to you,” King Caxel said. “I don’t care how Milun the First hurt you. ”
I really came close to punching my king at that moment. His stupid, stout red face loomed in my sight, and I balled up my right fist without even thinking about it. Luka grabbed my arm, though, before I could step forward, and Isla took my other hand in a tight grip. Her hand was cold and I looked at her. She was pale and there was a dried track from a tear on her cheek. I realised that her beautiful wedding was being put on hold because of all this, and I gave her hand a reassuring squeeze. I wouldn’t break her future father-in-law’s nose.
At least not today.
Luka did not let go of my other hand, and I didn’t try to release his grip.
“I am not asking you to cede anything,” Shardas said. “But I am asking you, and all the other human kings, to stop with the lands you currently occupy. ”
“Meaning?”
King Caxel wasn’t the only one confused. I looked at Luka and Miles, and saw a dawning comprehension on their faces, but Isla, Caxel and I were all in the dark until Shardas continued.
“The Far Isles,” Shardas said pointedly. “No human nation has yet laid claim to them, though ships have been dispatched to explore them. ”
“That’s because there’s nothing there but rocks,” Luka said. “Shardas, sir, surely we can find another place for you. ”
“Now, son,” King Caxel said almost sweetly. “If that is where the dragons want to live, who are we to argue?”
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Luka loosened his hold on my hand, and for a second I thought he was going to punch his own father. He steeled himself, though, and turned to Shardas instead.
“Are you certain that you can survive there?”
Shardas nodded courteously. “I would not have gone back on our agreed exile if I were not. ”
“Dragons are hardy creatures,” Feniul said. Then, turning so that the right side of his face was hidden from King Caxel, he winked at me and Luka.
Hope blossomed in my breast. They had found an island that was habitable, perhaps more than one. I controlled my expression, keeping my excitement from showing on my face. It would make King Caxel much happier to think that the dragons were huddling on a barren island, scraping moss off the rocks for food, than that they were living in a paradise that he had given up all rights to.
“Very well, I will not attempt to claim the Far Isles for Feravel,” Caxel said with an airy wave of one hand.
“I would like that in writing,” Shardas said promptly. “Also, I believe that there are ambassadors here from other human nations: Roulain, Citatie, Nalen, Moralien. I would like their signatures on a document declaring the Far Isles to be the realm of the dragons in perpetuity. And my people require safe passage so that they can collect their belongings from o
ur previous places of abode. ”
Caxel looked rather aggrieved at this, and I wondered if he had planned on having the dragons’ abandoned lairs searched for the treasures Shardas had described at their last meeting. But Caxel sent footmen to summon the ambassadors and a scribe with parchment and ink, while we waited awkwardly in the hot sun.
The first ambassador to arrive was Tobin, with Marta by his side. He was, I was startled to learn, the cousin of the Clan-Chief of Moralien, the closest thing that harsh nation had to a king. Royal weddings in foreign nations with foreign religions did not interest the Moralienins, so Tobin was, by default, his country’s representative at Miles’s wedding.
He approached Shardas and greeted him formally, with Marta translating his hand signs. After greeting (and being greeted by) the dragons, however, Tobin went on.
“The Clans of Moralien have no argument with dragons,” Marta interpreted, her voice clear and carrying. “You will always be welcome on our islands, and may settle on any of them that you like, as long as none of our people are displaced. ”
I thought that King Caxel’s face looked even redder at this. At first I wondered why he would care if the Moralienins welcomed dragons, since the northern sea separated Moralien from Feravel anyway. Then it occurred to me that it made King Caxel’s exile of the dragons look even worse.
“We thank you,” Shardas said formally to Tobin. “This is an unexpected kindness. Please know that your people will also be welcome in our lands. We hope one day to establish trade with humans, once we have a surplus of goods to trade, and look forward to having the mighty ships of Moralien visit our shores. ”
Tobin bowed and stepped aside to make room for the other ambassadors, who were told of the proposal by Shardas. They all readily agreed: it would solve the “dragon problem” once and for all, and the document was drawn up and signed.
“Now, may we continue with our wedding?” Miles looked around at the assembly with a trace of asperity. At his side, Isla was still looking tearful.
“Please forgive us,” Shardas said. “Had we known –”
“Not at all,” Miles said briskly. “In fact, forgive me for not thinking to invite you. ” He paused to smile slightly. “As the sovereign of a foreign land, you have every right to attend, or to send an ambassador. ”
“This is true,” Shardas agreed.
“Now that there is a convenient opening in the front of the chapel,” Miles went on, “you and Feniul are more than welcome to lounge here on the grounds and observe the ceremony through the, er, window. ”
“Thank you, Your Highness,” Shardas said.
“Yes, thank you!” Feniul beamed at Miles. “And how is dear Azarte?” The dragon had given his dog, Azarte, to Miles, after the first war.
“He’s well, fat and happy,” Miles said, smiling with more genuine feeling now. “A father many times over. ”
“Excellent! Pippin is also well. She is soon to be a mother, you know. Being so small, we are expecting only one puppy, perhaps two,” Feniul said. Then he … blushed.
It was a strange sight. A bright pink tinge coloured the edges of his green scales as the blood rushed to his cheeks. He half-lowered his eyelids, looking demure.
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“And … we think … that is, Ria and I … we might have eggs … within the next year. ”
“Feniul!” I hugged his foreleg with delight. “You’re going to be a father?!”
“Well, yes,” he said modestly.
After all that, the royal wedding of Crown Prince Milun to the Countess Isla was almost dull.
A Ring of Islands Like Pearls
After the meeting on the lawn between two dragons and the ambassadors to all neighbouring nations, the wedding really was anticlimactic. I felt bad for Isla and Miles, but once they got back into their places before the triple altar, they seemed to forget the interruption and ignore the dragons peering down at them. The Ur-priest, though visibly rattled, managed to conduct the ceremony with all due reverence and at last Miles and Isla were married.
Shardas and Feniul took their leave, saying that they would go to their respective caves to gather any belongings they wanted. They promised to meet me later at my shop, to talk, though this was said with great discretion. King Caxel was wild-eyed enough as it was, and Earl Sarryck was clutching his ornamental sword with white knuckles.
The wedding banquet and subsequent ball, which I otherwise would have enjoyed, seemed interminable. It helped that I got a multitude of compliments on my gown, and on Isla’s, which meant that business would be good for at least another year. It also helped that nothing else unexpected happened, thus settling my fears that my gown was cursed.
“You see,” Luka said, after hearing about my paranoia, “nothing else has gone wrong, and it’s nearly midnight. ”
“A dragon did take a window out of the Royal Chapel,” Marta said. “But not for destructive purposes. And it has nothing to do with the gown you’re wearing. ”
“You’re just vain,” Luka teased, and I threatened to pour my lemonade down the back of his tunic.
He took my goblet away and led me into the figures of a dance, grinning at his father’s furious expression while I tried not to stumble. Luka’s hand at my waist was sending waves of giddiness through me.
When midnight had come and gone, when the ball was over, when the newly married couple had been danced to their chambers and the musicians’ instruments had been put away, I finally left the New Palace. A royal carriage took me and Marta through the darkened streets to our shop, while we dozed on each other’s shoulders. But the carriage had to stop at the end of the street because Shardas was completely filling the space in front of Marisel’s Fine Dressmaking. The horses snorted and tossed their heads, and the driver swore, making us blink groggily.
“Oh, it’s all right,” I told him after I peered out of the window at Shardas. “We’ll go on from here ourselves. ”
The man had the horses turned around and trotting back to the palace before Marta had even put both feet on the pavement. She stumbled and I caught her, and then we went to greet Shardas. He politely asked if Marta wanted to come with us, but she declined, and so I alone climbed on to his neck and was flown to the familiar chapel roof.
“Why didn’t you tell me what you were doing?” As soon as he landed on the roof I sprang off his back and all but shouted the question. “I was worried!”
“I’m sorry, Creel. ” Shardas’s voice had its old, mild tone, but I could sense an undertone of weariness. “These past weeks –”
“Months!”
“This has not been an easy time for me and my people. ”
This deflated my anger. “I know. I’m sorry. ”
He swept a coil of tail around, and I sat on it, arranging my skirts. They had held up well despite the dancing and the ride on his back, and I really was quite pleased with this newest incarnation of the gold gown. Now that I was relatively certain that it wasn’t cursed.
He sighed heavily. “We had to decide our fate. The fate of an entire race of very large, very diverse creatures. It wasn’t easy. We’ve hidden in the desert, and in the mountains to the north of Feravel. ” A little huff of laughter. “Yes, we rather violated the exile imposed on us, but where else to go? We couldn’t float on the open sea for days on end, and there are precious few places in this world that do not already belong to humans. ”
“So you found the Far Isles. ”
“We did. Or rather, Velika did. She, Amacarin and Gala undertook to explore them. ”
“So you’re going to live on some rocks in the middle of the ocean?” Descriptions from an adventurous duke during the banquet had not painted a pretty picture of the islands.
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“Humans give up too easily. ” Shardas snorted.
“Ahem?” I cleared my throat and twitched my skirts.
“Most humans,” he
amended. His blue eyes looked down his nose, sly. “There is a ring of very bleak and inhospitable islands, like rough pearls strung on a necklace. But go beyond them and you find … paradise. ” His voice had an almost dreamy quality. “Lush forests, fields of flowers, strange fruit hanging off the trees as far as the eye can see. Wild pigs, beautifully plumed birds – it’s a sight that brings joy to the heart. ”
“Oh!” I slumped down further on the coil of his tail. “So you’ve found a paradise to live in? I would like very much to see it,” I said wistfully. “But I suppose I won’t ever. ” Sudden tears came to my eyes as I realised: this was farewell. For good.
“You shall see it,” Shardas said decisively. “That is another reason why we returned. We wanted to have it in writing that the islands shall be the domain of the dragons, lest any greedy humans discover our secret. But to our select friends: you, Luka, Marta, Tobin, even Prince Miles and his bride, we wish to extend a special invitation.
“I will be arranging speaking pools throughout the islands and we plan to have speaking pools set up in the human lands. One day, as I told our Moralienin friend earlier, we hope to establish trade. I refuse to give up my stained glass so easily, and most of my people feel the same way. We shall have to do without for a time, but if we can find things to trade: fruits, animals, even our own shed scales and other items of alchemical interest, we might be able to barter for the luxuries we long for. ”
“But what if someone realises your secret? Tries to take the islands by force?”
A rattling sigh. “We can fight. There are thousands of us, gathered together, and fighting on our home ground we are formidable, as much as we dislike it. But to avoid that, we will set up a trading post on one of the outer, barren islands. ”
I caught the idea. “And if you wait a few years before you start selling these fantastical fruits and animals, people will assume that they can be grown only by dragons!”