In The Lair of the Draca (Book 2)

In the Lair of the Draca (Book 2) Chapter 65: Overheard

Both women froze as the attic door flew open.

With all the regal bearing of a queen, Dragura slowly, deliberately ascended the steps that led to the roof of the Fortress. Sashek stepped backward a few paces until her back struck the stone wall that gave way to the moat beneath the compound; she gripped the edges of this wall with knuckles as white as ivory and tried to stand as still as one of Dragura's hideous gargoyles. Sashek was terrified that her heart would not survive this moment.

There was a tic-tic-tic as the Mistress's gold-speckled stilettos navigated the rest of the stairs, her shoes never slipping once on the damp stones. Her ankles did not quiver, nor did her pale, creamy hands waver as they held up the long, delicate train of her night garment so that she would not step on in as she alighted to the attic. Her streaming hair, colored a pale shade of spruce, had been pinned elegantly at the nape of her neck with a pair of gold, pearl-studded pins; only a single strand fell away from the sophisticated style and lingered briefly over one jade eye. Dragura's glance swept over Franek-- who, in the meantime, had gone as white as a spirit-- and then swept over to where Sashek stood, both hands still clutching the stone wall.

Dragura's gaze was icier than an avalanche.

"Franek! I see you have not taken the time to introduce me to this new young maiden," Dragura purred, as smoothly as a snow leopard in winter. "Where are your manners? And-- oh! Where is the Offspring that her belly must have been full with in order to have been given asylum in my own home?"

Franek quivered, suddenly unable to provide an answer even had she really wanted to, but Sashek seemed to recover quickly.

"'It has been thrown over the side of this wall and into the moat below, where it was eaten by one of your water-draga," the golden-haired young woman said with certainty. After all, this was not entirely false. "I came here for shelter, to let the dampness of this unforgiving rain evaporate from my clothing, and to bring our Franek news of family members from our home villages. ...Surely this is not a crime?" Sashek raised an eyebrow, but Dragura was not to be thus engaged.

"Ah, yes," she crooned. "You did, indeed, bring news from home-- but you forget that I was listening at the attic door for more minutes than you can count. While the two of you gibbered, I learned the real reason why you decided to step into my home like a wolf in sheep's clothes!"

The Draca, which under normal circumstances might have been braying their confusion and straining at their braces before this uncomfortable encounter, now sat quietly and snorted, tossing their heads up and down like spooked ponies. Dragura stalked past them in her sheer garment and gold-speckled heels (tic-tic-tic) and approached Sashek with the grandest hauteur she could muster: chin lifted, nose high, eyes bared to slits that would surely display her blazing anger.

Sashek, for her part, only stared back and blinked with her slate, nut-shaped eyes. Inwardly, Dragura bristled. She was the most feared woman on the face of Weema, and as of yet, the only one who could raise and control the Draca. Why was this girl not afraid?

"I came here not as a wolf in sheep's clothing, but as a messenger with hope for the girls you keep sequestered here under the power of your fist," said Sashek coolly. "If you think that your grip on the villages of Weema is secured, you must think again, my Lady. As you no doubt heard, there is one among us less than half your age who comes from someplace among the stars so great that we cannot begin to imagine its wonders. She has hair redder than fire, one green eye that shines greater than your own, and would frolic with the same water-draga who feed on the tripe that you throw from this tower." Sashek's blossom-shaped lips curved into a delicate smile as she mustered the courage to take a step forward; she and Dragura now stood nearly nose-to-nose. "This newcomer, this Star-Child, has shown more grace, forgiveness, stubbornness, and power than you have demonstrated in your tiniest finger in a lifetime. She is pure, generous of heart, and so treasured by the Draca for these attributes that your own daughter, Daara, permitted our Star-Child to drain her life blood...so that she would not have to face you and your false love."