Chapter 140 - Things Left Unsaid

  The rest of the day was shockingly uneventful, although after the dragon attack just about anything else might feel sedate, I supposed. Farnsworth and I were housed in adjoining rooms, with all our needs met. We were allowed to explore a bit of the city during the afternoon and evening, albeit with an armed escort—something I understood. They didn’t know us yet, so we were a security risk. It paid to watch strangers.

  We had dinner and more discussions with Peter, and then breakfast with him as well, but he was unwilling to make any further movement toward joining the alliance until he’d met with the other leaders. Again, not unreasonable. I’d want to meet everyone before joining a club like this, too.

  So why was I so sure he was hiding things from us?

  The morning sun filtered down through a clear sky as we prepared to head out the next morning. No smoke lingered from the fires the dragon had left behind. These people had efficiently removed what damage the dragon managed to cause before it withdrew. Their people worked fast, and their level of organization was impressive.

  Peter met us at the outer gate, dressed far more plainly than the day before. No crown this time, just a deep blue tunic with a light breastplate strapped over it. His expression was warm, but guarded, like a host seeing off guests he wasn’t entirely sure he should have invited in the first place.

  “I wish we’d had more time to discuss plans for the future,” Peter said, as Farnsworth and I approached. “But I understand your people are waiting.”

  “They are,” I said. “And probably wondering what happened to us, given that we were nearly roasted mid-meeting.”

  He gave a short laugh. “Yes, I imagine that wasn’t what you expected from your trip here, hmm?”

  I smiled politely. “Oh, you might be surprised.”

  “Yes, she tends to attract trouble wherever she goes,” Farnsworth added. I glared at him, and he went on, like he hadn’t noticed. “Fortunately, she’s just as good at blowing up enemies as she is at making them.”

  “In this case, my hope is that the dragon’s attack will bring our Domains closer together,” I said. “Nothing says we ‘we could use more friendly neighbors’ like a fire-breathing lizard knocking down your front door!”

  “True, that!” Peter’s smile held for a beat, then faded into something more thoughtful. “Jokes aside… I meant what I said yesterday. I’ll give serious thought to your alliance. If your offer remains open, I’ll ride out to your farm for the next scheduled gathering.”

  I raised an eyebrow. “In person?”

  “In person,” he confirmed. “If I’m going to trust you, Selena, I’d rather do it face to face. I want to see how your people live. What your Domain looks like. Besides, I owe you at least a visit after all the hospitality you’ve tolerated here.”

  That last part was delivered with a smile and the barest hint of self-deprecation. The reality was, he’d put us up in maximum comfort, like honored guests. I was going to have to work at it to make the farm’s hospitality match his. But I certainly wasn’t going to let him show us up!

  “You’ll be welcome,” I said. “We meet in five days.”

  He nodded. “I’ll be there.”

  No fanfare followed our exit, just a pair of guardsmen unbarring the gates and swinging them wide. The whole gatehouse was run with a practicality I admired, much the way everything in KingsHaven seemed to be.

  Farnsworth and I stepped out into the fresh air. He led his horse, rather than riding, which was nice since my mount was back on the hillside with our men. It would be nice to have Sue back with me again. I’d missed my dino!

  The tall palisade gates closed behind us with a dull thud that echoed down the dirt road. We set off, careful not to speak, at first. We just walked side by side, leaving the Domain behind us as we ate up the ground toward our men. The hill where our troops had made camp wasn’t far, and our men had clearly already seen us leaving. I spotted them packing up their camp and making ready for the trip home.

  I glanced over my shoulder one last time. KingsHaven loomed behind us, solid and quiet, and Peter Eddings watched from the walls.

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  The gates shrank behind us as we continue on our way, but it wasn’t until we were about halfway to the hilltop where our men waited that I felt the tension finally start to bleed out of my shoulders. We walked for a few more minutes in silence, the crunch of our boots and the jingle of the horse’s harness the only sounds between us. I waited until we were a good distance out—far enough that no stray ears would catch anything we said.

  Then I said, quietly, “You think we can trust him?”

  Farnsworth glanced my way. “I think we can trust that he’ll show up for the meeting. That was the mission, right? Get him to agree to meet the others? We did that.”

  I nodded, but didn’t reply right away. The wind tugged gently at my coat as we walked. Up atop the hill ahead, I could just make out Sue’s broad skeletal shape resting like a sentinel in the center of our camp. The men we’d brought with us were already moving, folding tents and gathering gear. Preparations for the journey home were well underway.

  “I think he’s hiding something,” I said finally. “I couldn’t talk about this with you inside his castle, for obvious reasons, but he’s at the very least leaving out some key details.”

  “Because of the dragon?” Clay asked.

  “That’s part of it. The dragon has hit him three times? Why? It hasn’t bothered any of the other Domains, far as we know.”

  “As far as we know, no,” Clay replied. “But…we don’t know every Domain leader in the area. Maybe it’s hit some of the others, too.”

  “Maybe,” I replied.

  “But that’s not what’s bothering you most,” he said. “Spill. What’s worrying you?”

  “It’s because of what I saw when it left,” I clarified. “Right before it pulled off, Peter raised something in his hand. I didn’t see what it was—just that he held it up toward the dragon. And when he did, it stopped attacking. It just turned around and left. It wasn’t scared of us. It wasn’t hurt enough to run. But it reacted to whatever was in his hand. Did you catch a glimpse of it? I was too far away to see what it was.”

  Clay frowned. “I didn’t catch that, no. I was too busy trying to re-arm the ballista. Winching that thing takes everything I’ve got, even with enhanced Strength.”

  I nodded, disappointed but not upset. “I figured that might be the case. The way he was holding it, close to his chest like that, I doubt anyone else on the rooftop spotted the thing. But I saw it. He definitely held something up. And whatever it was, it meant something to the dragon.”

  “A magic item?” Clay asked. “Something crafted, like a charm or a talisman?”

  “Maybe,” I said. “Or maybe it’s something we haven’t seen yet. Like the control stones. Some new kind of artifact, or tool. I don’t know. But whatever it was, it got the dragon’s attention instantly, and then it just up and left. I hit it pretty hard a few times, but I don’t think it was worried about the small bits of damage we were doing.”

  Clay rubbed the back of his neck, thinking. “You think he’s controlling it?”

  “I don’t know,” I said. “It didn’t feel like control. More like recognition, like it saw the thing and knew what it was. But I can’t shake the feeling that Peter knows a lot more than he’s letting on.”

  “You could be right,” Clay said, his voice calm. “And we’ll figure it out, eventually. But not today.”

  I looked over at him.

  “For now,” he said, “we take the win. You stood up to something way stronger than you and lived to tell about it. You held your own in the sky against a dragon, Selena. Not many people can say that. Hell, I’ll bet there’s no one alive who can say that except you! And you got Peter to agree to come meet the other leaders. That’s a win. Take it.”

  I let out a breath, then smiled. “You’re right.”

  He smirked. “Of course I am. I’m the older, wiser one, remember?”

  “Older, maybe,” I said. “The jury’s still out on wiser.”

  That earned a chuckle from him, and we crested the last rise in the trail together.

  Ahead, our people looked up from their work. Sue lifted her head as I approached, smoke curling lazily from her nostrils. The Abominations stood at attention in their loose defensive ring. The men had almost completed their breakdown of the camp site, so we’d be able to move out soon enough.

  Gregory came jogging up. “Everything went well? We saw the dragon and weren’t sure what to do, but Sue was holding position, so we took that as a sign that we should, too.”

  “Smart move,” I replied. “We chased it off, between my spells and the castle’s siege weapons. I don’t think adding more people would have helped, so you did the right thing, keeping your people safe here.”

  He bobbed his head. “I’m glad you were able to chase it off! That thing’s scary even at a distance. We should be ready to move out in fifteen minutes.”

  “Thank you, Gregory. Good work,” I said. Then I pressed ahead to check on Sue and mount up myself. I didn’t want to be the one slowing us down!

  As I flew up onto Sue’s back, I thought more about the fight with the dragon. It was much higher than me, in terms of tier level. Higher than tier twelve, I was pretty certain. Maybe a fifteen? Perhaps higher? Without more rank myself, there was no way I could tell for sure, and that made me nervous.

  We’d had round one, the dragon and I. Little more than a sparring match, really. I bled a little; it—she?—bled a little. But neither of us were gravely hurt.

  This time.

  I had an incredibly strong feeling that there was going to be a next time, and I wanted to be ready for it. As things stood, I wasn’t even close to prepared. There was just no way that I could beat her, not as I was that day. The shots from the ballistae had been part distract and part actual damage, but the net effect was they balanced things just enough so I didn’t die horribly out there.

  In an extended fight between just the two of us, well… Let’s just say it wouldn’t be an extended fight.

  I needed to get a lot stronger, as fast as possible. Because whether I liked it or not, I was pretty sure the dragon was going to remember me, my spells, and my sword. Round two was coming. I didn’t know when, and since she could just swoop down on me pretty much whenever she wanted, I probably wouldn’t know when until she was there breathing fire at me.

  Yeah, it was time to head home. But it was also time to do some serious leveling up, and I had a few good ideas about how I could make that happen.