Only then, seeing the sun already high overhead, did I realize how long I had slept. A pair of dragons darted across the sun and my thoughts turned to Runedan.
Tryven followed my gaze. "They usually stay at the caves unless their duties call them away. Dragons, I mean."
I stared at him, my chest tightening. "I did not know that. No one told me. I thought...." When would I see Runedan again? "Why?" I whispered.
Shrugging, Tryven avoided my eyes. "It is how things are. That is their city; this is ours."
"I thought you lived together."
"We do." He gave me a crooked smile and squinted south. "We share the same mountain."
"That's not what I meant. Runedan and I, we came together. We...." I let out a heavy breath. There was no reason to get angry at Tryven; how could he have warned me?
"You must be a magician," Tryven said suddenly. He took my arm and pulled me around.
With a crash of wings, Runedan landed in the castle yard, followed by another, larger dragon. The weight in my chest faded and I ran to meet him. He lowered his head so I could hug his snout.
"You have cut your hair," he rumbled. His tail snaked around my leg.
"Yes." I hid my tears behind a laugh. "It was hopeless."
Behind me, Tryven said, "Oh! I thought something was different."
Runedan snorted. "Trust a peacock to never look past his own feathers."
Releasing his nose, I stepped back so I could look him in the eye. "What do you think of it?"
"I never imagined I would begrudge the company of my own kind so soon." His head hung close to mine, his dim eyes regarding me.
The other dragon, a green female, rattled a laugh. "They are a strange culture to adjust to. Good morning, Tryven."
Tryven stepped around me and bent his head to the dragon. "Vedis. What are you doing here?"
"I am our friend's escort while he familiarizes himself with the world." Her golden eyes shifted to me. "Would you be Azadryn?"
I nodded.
"Then allow me to welcome you. Mind where you step. People tend to lose themselves a great deal around here."
I started to ask her what she meant, but Runedan snorted. "Is this doom-saying a habit of yours?"
"Runedan!" My dragon had turned to glare at Vedis, revealing his neck and shoulder. "Your collar is gone!"
His wings fluttered and he ducked his head. "Indeed. My kinsmen may have their faults, but they would not stand to see me wear it a moment longer than necessary."
I stepped around him to examine the place where the collar had hung. The scales were broken and misaligned around the area, and a stripe in the shape of the collar was paler than the rest. Somehow, my dragon looked smaller without the hateful metal ring.
"Tryven!"
We all turned to see someone racing up the road and waving wildly. It was Hatesa.
"Erizar is on his way!" she yelled before she reached us.
"I shall see you later, Tryven," Vedis said. To Runedan: "You know where to find me." Then she flew off.
Hatesa was waving for us to hurry. Tryven tried to catch my hand to pull me along but I held back. "Go ahead. We will be behind you."
Shrugging, he broke into a run and followed Hatesa back down the road. Runedan and I walked after them.
"They are children," he said, his voice low.
I pressed against his side, finally feeling steady and solid again. "They are my age." My shoulder settled into the groove abandoned by the collar.
"Yet they are treated as soldiers."
We shuffled down the road for a while before I asked, "How are you, Runedan?"
"Much is different. This is not the home I had envisioned."
"Did something happen? What did those dragons do?"
His sides expanded for a large sigh. "They did nothing except examine me. They questioned me and they lectured me. I imagine I was found wanting."
Pulling at my lip with my teeth, I clasped my hands behind my back. "Yesterday the dragons said your age accounted for your size. Are you young, Runedan?"
He nodded slowly. "Relatively. Edanyx, the...queen's dragon, I suppose, is more than twice my age."
"Does that mean you might grow more?"
My question made him pause. He swung his neck around to stare at me in silence for a long moment. "It is unlikely, considering my difficult adolescence, which, as it happens, will not be accepted as an excuse for my shameful appearance." His voice hardened. "This is all the strength and stature I will ever have. I will never have horns."
"Runedan." I stepped around so I could meet his eyes. "That is not what I meant. I only wanted to know if I should expect you to get any bigger. I prefer you the way you are, actually. It does not make you less of a dragon, whatever they think." He had only been gone one night, but something had changed. I could not guess at what abuse he had suffered from his own kind. All that was clear was that they had not welcomed him gladly.
Runedan would say no more. Eventually we continued down the road, both of us lost to our thoughts. We had been cautious in our hopes of what we might find across the river, but even our careful wishing had not prepared us for this kind of reception.
Maybe we just needed more time.
We found a crowd of riders outside the stables. Hatesa was hugging a man with gray hair while Tryven tried to ask him a question. The man laughed and set Hatesa down.
Some of the riders had noticed Runedan. As we approached, more and more looked up. Runedan hesitated. Tryven finally saw us and pointed us out to the gray-haired man, who had draped one arm around Hatesa's shoulder. I made my way over.
"This is Azadryn," Tryven was saying.
The man had been studying Runedan. He had just opened his mouth to say something when he took a good look at me. The color drained from his face.
"Grandfather?" Hatesa asked. She put a hand on his chest and struggled against the sudden weight of the arm across her shoulders.
"Are you well?" Tryven asked. "Do you need a physician?"
The man shook his head, stammering and muttering too quietly for me to hear. He ran a hand over his eyes and spoke more loudly. "N-no. It has passed." He pulled away from Hatesa, putting a shaking hand on her shoulder.
"What is wrong?" Hatesa demanded.
"Nothing," he said slowly, glancing down at her. "Just a pain. It has passed," he repeated. Then he raised his eyes to mine and tried to smile. "Where do you come from...Azadryn?"
"I...I do not know for certain," I answered, looking between the three of them. "South, I believe. That is the first place I remember."
"I found her in Hasarmon," Tryven put in. "Her and Runedan."
"And then left us behind," Runedan added as he came up. "I would not brag, peacock." He draped his head over my shoulder. I felt a comforting thrum from his throat and raised a hand to rest on his snout.
The man was watching us, his mouth slack. Swallowing, he asked, "Is this your dragon?"
"Yes. This is Runedan."
Runedan's tail curled around to poke Tryven in the leg. "And who would this be?"
Tryven yelled at Runedan, who chuckled. Rubbing his shin, the boy made the introductions. "Azadryn, Runedan, this is Erizar. He is commander of the rangers."
"And in turn the only thing keeping scoundrels like you under control," Erizar returned with a grin, squeezing Hatesa.
Tryven and Hatesa just laughed. At that moment, one of the riders came up and said something to Erizar, whose smile faded. "Get Hedyr. He should still be here," he told the man. He looked at Tryven. "I need to speak with the king, but I hear he is not back yet."
"No." Tryven's smile was gone. "His Majesty was supposed to return yesterday but he never did."
"And there is no message?"
"None that reached us."
Erizar's frown deepened. His hand left Hatesa's shoulder. "I must speak to the queen, then."
"Grandfather, what is it?" Hatesa asked quietly.
"I hope it is nothing, but all the same we had better be prepared."
At that moment Hedyr arrived. "You sent for me, Erizar?"
"Muster your riders as quick as you can. We may need them." Hatesa started to ask something, but Erizar shook his head. "I must go. Be ready." He bowed his head to me. "We will talk later, Azadryn." Calling for a horse and two of his companions, Erizar left quickly.
"Do you know what this is about?" Tryven asked his brother.
Hedyr's eyes followed Erizar until the horses had disappeared around the nearest bend. "Not yet." He sighed. "You heard him. Be ready to ride out."
Tryven and Hatesa groaned but did not argue. In a minute a bell started to sound from somewhere higher in the city. Soon a crowd was gathering. Runedan and I had to move downhill to keep out of the way. Hatesa joined us there, a frown on her face. "We just got back, too," she muttered. "Grandfather will probably stay at least until the king returns, but you are welcome to stay at our house if you'd like."
"Thank you."
She nodded absentmindedly and started to walk away. After a moment, Runedan and I followed, skirting the edge of the street to stay out of the way of people and horses.
When we returned to Hatesa's house, Runedan waited outside, his head resting on the threshold. Hatesa busied herself collecting supplies.
"Make yourself comfortable, of course," she said as she tucked her pants into a pair of tall boots and laced them up. "If you need anything, Reneve next door can help you. She-"
A sharp blast from a horn broke in. Hatesa froze, one hand still on her laces, her face pale. Then she darted for the door, almost tripping over Runedan, who could not move fast enough.
I followed Hatesa into the street. All around us people were coming out of their houses, staring in the direction of the horn blast. I heard them a moment before I saw them: a host of dragons. They darted overhead, making for the castle yard. Next to me, I heard Hatesa muttering under her breath. She was counting.
"No," she whispered, her eyes following the dragons. "That cannot be.... Did you see a gray one?"
"What?"
The eyes that met mine were wide and fearful. "Did you see a gray dragon? Like rock?"
"I saw two," Runedan said. "One was dark, and the other had streaks of silver."
A hint of color returned to Hatesa's face. "Still," she mumbled, "I could have sworn...." Without another word, she started uphill.
Most of the people who had gathered in the street had the same idea. Soon the press was too much for anyone to get anywhere quickly. Hatesa bounced on her toes and ducked in and out of the crowd.
"Come on," I said to Runedan, moving to his side to climb up.
He hesitated. "Perhaps.... That is, I do not think that would be wise." He had turned his head around to look at me.
"Why not? Whatever or whoever is up there, she needs to see. We can help. I know we just met her, but she has been kind to me, and-"
"That is not what I meant."
"Then what?"
He looked so worried, but refused to explain.
I sighed. "Will you help me or not?"
"Very well," he said at last, leaning toward me.
I swung up, barely able to contain a grin. I had not been on Runedan's back since Tryven and the others found us.
Runedan started for Hatesa. People knew better than to stand in the way of a dragon. I cupped my hands around my mouth. "Hatesa! Here!"
After I called her name several more times, she heard me and spun around. Her eyes went wide again when she realized what I was offering, but her desperation overruled any thoughts she had on flying. She hurried toward us.
"You need to get to the castle?"
"Yes." She studied Runedan uncertainly. He had lowered himself to his belly. I leaned over and held out a hand.
"Kind of like a horse," I suggested and ignored Runedan's indignant snort.
With a little work, Hatesa was able to slide up behind me. She wrapped both arms around my waist. When Runedan jumped into the air, all breath was squeezed out of me. Hatesa failed to stifle a squeak right by my ear.
In a moment we were at the top of the city. Dozens of dragons were gathered in the castle yard, surrounded by possibly hundreds of people. Runedan had to search for a place to land. Hatesa immediately fell off, refusing my help, and stumbled to keep her feet.
"Thank you," I said to Runedan, mindful of his earlier hesitation.
He bowed his head. "We should help her. If it is a dragon she is looking for, she will never find them that way."
I followed his gaze to Hatesa, who was searching frantically among the crowd. Runedan pressed through the chaos.
"Who are you looking for?" I called when we reached Hatesa.
She jumped at my voice and spun around. Her eyes were wild again. "She is dark gray.... Large for her age, but...." She bit her lip and scanned the creatures around us.
"You mean a dragon?"
Hatesa only nodded.
"Runedan, do you mind if I stand on your shoulders?"
"Not at all."
Slowly I got my feet under me. Runedan raised a wing for me to steady myself against. Together we searched for the dragon Hatesa had described.
"There," Runedan said. In a moment, I was able to point out the direction to Hatesa. She took off without a word.
"Go with her," Runedan told me. He would not be able to keep up, considering how people kept arriving and getting in the way. "I will try to wait by the castle doors."
I almost lost Hatesa in the crowd. When I caught up to her, she had reached the gray dragon. I arrived in time to hear it say, "- with Erestmir's rider. Erestmir would not leave the man."
"But where are they?" Hatesa insisted.
The dragon lifted a wing in a shrug. She looked as worried as Hatesa. "I have not seen them since we left Ebenric."
"Lotorea," a stern voice interrupted. I turned to see a man marching toward us. He wore a severe frown that drew lines across his face. His voice was sharp and commanding. "Where is Aridon?"
"With Erestmir and his rider, sir."
The man nodded and the line between his eyebrows smoothed a little. "All of the dragons who are not injured are ordered back up the mountain. We are wasting precious time with this mob."
The dragon looked like she wanted to argue but she could not find the courage against the man. Silently she bowed her head, gave one look to Hatesa, and left. Around us, the castle yard was already clearing of the other dragons. Runedan was not by the castle doors.
"He was likely sent with the others," Hatesa told me.
I could only nod. We did not even get one whole day to spend together.
"Sir, have you seen Erestmir?" Hatesa asked the man as he was turning to go.
"No." He was silent while he studied her. "I know Aridon is well. I also know you ought to be with your patrol. Erizar gave the command for every rider to be ready to leave."
"What is happening?" she asked.
The man glanced over his shoulder toward the cliff, squinting against the sunlight. "Umreo and his ilk stirring up trouble, by all appearances. He is growing bolder. The raids have become worse." Looking back at Hatesa, he frowned again. "Which is why you ought to be halfway down the mountain by now."
"Yes, sir." Hatesa quickly said good-bye to me and rushed off.
The man fixed his eyes on me. "Is there a reason you are still here?"
"No," I said, then added "sir" to be safe.
He grunted. "Then go."
I sat alone in Hatesa's house for what felt like hours before Tryven showed up. He was only able to stay long enough to tell me that most of the patrol riders were being sent out and could be gone for days. Hatesa had sent a message with him, reminding me to ask her neighbor if I needed anything. Tryven only told me to be careful.
The king had returned with the rest of the dragons and their riders, but whatever had delayed him was far more important than me. I seemed to have been forgotten. It would not have bothered me at all if only Runedan was with me.
That night was filled with nightmares where something separated Runedan and I and threw me in a dark place. I could not get out and no one could hear me scream. I woke more tired than when I had gone to sleep.
I had forgotten about Hatesa's grandfather, so when I climbed down the ladder to find him bent over the hearth, I almost screamed. He turned at my noise, eyes wide.
I kept one hand on the ladder. "H-Hatesa invited me...."
The man stared for a moment too long before blinking and waving a hand. "She told me. I returned late last night. I hope I didn't wake you."
Shaking my head, I glanced around the room. Dawn had yet to break, so the only light was that of the growing fire, a few candles, and the lanterns outside on the street. A load of bread and a knife sat waiting on the table, and a pot hung over the hearth.
"Are you hungry?" Erizar asked.
"No, thank you." Before things could become more uncomfortable, I headed for the door. Just as I was reaching for it, someone knocked on the other side. It was a man dressed in chainmail, with a sword on his belt. He bowed and delivered a message: the king had summoned me.