The Dragon's Slave

Chapter 19

"Do not make me regret this allowance Lady Delegate," Strale warned.

Oh I wouldn't, this tour would be a model of obedience. It would be dark before anyone realized its true purpose.

"Please start with the aerie's main buildings," I told the girl.

She jumped a little when she was addressed. Maybe she thought her quiet demeanor had hidden her from the confrontation. She shuffled from the apartment area her stride agitated and nervous.

"This is their tour guide?" Pourtus muttered, falling in by my side.

"This is my tour guide, yes."

Pourtus eyed me. "For a human you are quite a bit of trouble, and irreverent too. What is it that you are up to now?"

"I am up to nothing. I am bored, I've been stuck inside my suit for three days, and the one invitation I had to leave seems to have initiated trouble that has nothing to do with me," I sighed.

"Indeed," Pourtus commented, but he said no more.

The girl stopped at the base of a large, tall central building. Like enough to the banquet building at the Amber Aerie that I assumed it held similar purposes.

"This is the tower, the most important of the buildings in the aerie," she murmured. "Would you like to see inside?"

We had, once already, when the delegation was greeted by the Archon, but I didn't say. I turned my head up. The tower was several stories higher than the other buildings. An idea came to me that might shorten my tour and negate the suspicion both Strale and Pourtus wished to straddle me with.

"It looks as though such a building has a wonderful view, are we allowed in the upper levels?" I asked her.

"Not the very top ones, those are for the dragon's only. But I can take you up to the upper dining hall. The servants are allowed in there to clean and prepare. I am certain it would be allowable," the woman smiled, relief taming the fear on her features a little. Did I truly come across as so unreasonable she feared what I would ask?

"That would be appreciated, can one see out of the aerie from there? The plateau and the forest as one?" If so it would definitely be high enough for a comprehensive view of the aerie's layout.

She nodded, her voice rising with excitement. "It is beautiful, do you paint?"

"Sometimes," I nodded. Terribly, but she did not have to know that. Let her think that I was interested in an artists perspective.

She led the way to a set of stairs, tucked in it's own section of the tower, and we began our assent.

"Liar, liar," Pourtus muttered in my ear when he made the staircase behind me. "Has Dynarys not taught you that dragons can scent emotions and lies Lady Delegate? Just what are you up to here? My dragon tells me you do not seek a view worth painting."

Crap. And this was why I did not need an Amber Dragon babysitter. I would have to be extra attentive to my visualization and any lies. "I do seek the view, I'm just rather terrible at painting," I explained, with my barriers erected. "That does not mean I do not enjoy such things."

Pourtus said nothing, but I felt his eyes upon me, studying me as though a curious specimen he wished to dissect.

The dining room was high enough that my energy was piqued by the time we stopped climbing. Not that we could have continued if we wanted to. The stairs simply ended there. If dragons used the levels above they must fly in.

It was a massive affair, a tall room with two walls that had windows stretching from floor to ceiling between heavy pillars. The glass seemed nearly non-existent, so perfect was it in its cleanliness and quality. Each of the pillars identical, smoothed until they shone.