Breath of Dragons (A Pandoran Novel) (28 page)

My fingertips grazed the edge of the scroll, and then the bird opened its talons, releasing the paper. I had to crouch to catch it, and in a whoosh of air the raven spread its great black wings and took off into the night, leaving me alone, standing in the rain with a scroll in my hands.

It had been tightly wound and secured in place with a wax seal, but standing there in the dark, I couldn't tell if the seal bore any kind of insignia. Thunder rumbled overhead, and with one last glance at the dark sky, I slipped back into my room and closed the door behind me. The door latched in place with a soft click.

I went over to where Alex was lying on my couch. My fingers were mere centimeters from his forehead when his eyes snapped open and the hand that had been resting over his stomach flew up and cinched around my wrist.

"Alex, it's just me," I whispered. I couldn't move my wrist, and he was holding on to it so tightly that my hand was already going numb.

He blinked, and then he swung his feet down and sat upright, releasing my wrist. I flexed my hand, trying to help the blood flow back into it.

"Spirits, Daria." He rubbed his temples. "You almost gave me a heart attack."

"Sorry, but I tried to wake you up as gently as possible. It's not my fault you wake up in attack mode." I frowned at my wrist and looked back at him as if to make a point.

His eyes narrowed as he noticed the scroll in my grasp. "Where'd you get that?"

"A raven just delivered it on my porch." I wiped away a raindrop that had begun sluicing down my temple. Strangely, the scroll wasn't the least bit damp.

He frowned. "What were you doing on your porch?"

"One of the doors had cracked open, and when I got up to close it, I saw the raven."

Alex's gaze slid past me to the doors, glaring at them as if they should've known better.

I moved around and sat right beside Alex. His body went rigid, like he was afraid to be anywhere near me. I rolled my eyes with a sigh. "Would you relax? I'm not going to attack you. I just thought we could read it together."

He relaxed a little, though his expression was wary. Ignoring him, I studied the seal a bit more closely, running my fingers over the impression in the wax. It was the same diamond with a line through the center. "I saw this symbol on the breast of the raven, too," I said, then slid my finger beneath the seal and unrolled the paper. Elegant writing was scrawled upon the surface, but it was difficult to see in the low lighting.

"Here," Alex said, and with a wave of his hand, a small orb of soft light appeared above us.

"Thanks." I grinned up at him. He purposefully looked away and firmly set his gaze upon the paper in my hands.

My goodness. He acted like I was some kind of evil temptress.

Well…?

Conscience. Enough.

I looked back at the note in my hands. The two of us hunched over it like a pair of conspirators.

Your Grace,

I understand you intend to sail to Pendel, though considering the events of this evening, and the threat you confirmed at dinner, I see time is of the essence. You have quite the talent with words, and I believe you may have convinced Gesh to aid Valdon. After what you have done for her ladyship, we, the venita, would also like to bestow upon you the honor befitting a citizen of Gesh. If this pleases you, you may come to the Temple of Draconi within the half hour. You may bring Aegis Del Conte, but no one else must know. The danger is great, and confidentiality is of utmost importance.

May the blessing of the spirits forever

fall upon you.

~ Ven Orelius, High Priest of Mosaque

The letter sparked, disintegrated like chaff, and vanished into thin air. So much for a reread.

We were both quiet a moment. And then sudden hope made me jump to my feet. "Alex." I faced him. "The high priest of Mosaque is going to let us use the portal!"

Alex's brows knit together as he gazed up at me. He didn't look nearly as excited as I felt. "So it seems."

"What's wrong?" I asked. "Don't you trust him?"

"It's not that," he said, rubbing his chin. "I don't like the fact that he delivered a letter to you through your window."

I raised a brow at him. "It didn't stop
you
."

He knew I was referring to the letter he'd left on my pillow at the castle. "That was different."

"Not very," I said. "Besides, how else would he have delivered something so sensitive? What if someone else had intercepted it? There's a guard standing outside of my door, and who knows how many more are walking the streets. And you saw what he wrote. He doesn't want anyone else to know. Alex." I placed my hands on his shoulders, and he was forced to look up at me, though his expression was guarded. "We at least need to check this out. It's exactly the break we've needed. This would save us at least two weeks of travel, and you know as well as I do that we are short of time."

He put his hands over mine. "What about the patricians? Don't you want to stay at least till tomorrow to see if they've changed their minds?"

"Yes, of course I do. But if last night didn't convince them of how real the threat is, there is nothing more that I can say or do to earn their support. We have to keep moving forward, Alex, and this is our chance. We have to hope that we've made a difference in the time we've been given."

His eyes flickered over my face, his resignation making him look tired. "What about Vera?"

Vera.

I released his shoulders and let my hands fall to my side. "I don't like leaving her like this, but she also never promised to travel with us beyond Gesh. And Ven Orelius said I could bring you, specifically. I'll leave a note for her and tell her what we've done."

"Daria, I don't think that's wise. What if someone else finds it?"

"I'm not leaving without an explanation. She's done too much, and if someone else finds it, it won't matter. We'll be long gone by then."

He sighed, leaned forward, and rested his elbows on his knees. "There's no changing your mind, is there?"

I placed my hand on his head and played with a lock of his hair. "Listen. I'm not saying that I don't have reservations—I do—but I have to at least look into this. Time is a luxury I don't have anymore, so to me, the answer is clear. My presence here puts the people of Gesh in danger, anyway, so the faster we leave, the better."

He wrung his hands together and sighed. "I suppose you should get dressed, then."

It took all of ten minutes for me to change into my leathers, pack my things and put on my cloak. My leathers felt unusually tight after wearing nothing but silks for a few days. I found paper, quill, and ink in the small desk and wrote Vera a quick note, thanking her for all of her help. I also, despite Alex's objection, let her know where we'd gone. I dusted it with sand, folded it in half, wrote her name on the front and set the note on my bed. Hopefully she'd find it, or Ansha would know to take it to her.

"Let me do the talking to the guard outside your room," Alex said, "but I'd prefer it if we stay hidden on our way to the temple. The less questions, the better." He didn't seem too thrilled about this entire situation, but he kept those opinions to himself.

"Alex," I placed my hand on his arm. He stilled at my touch. "Thank you."

He held my gaze a moment. He looked like he was about to say something, but at the last moment turned away and waved a hand over my door. Energy pulsed through the air and the invisible shield fell. Alex put a hand on the door, and with one quick nod at me, we stepped out into the night.

The guard was still standing there, and he looked surprised at seeing both of us. They must have changed guards while I'd been sleeping. This one hadn't seen Alex accompany me to my room, and he looked a little startled seeing him now. Alex said something to him in Saqai. The guard smirked and replied, and then Alex chuckled, shaking his head. Alex tugged his hood over his head, and I mirrored him, and then the two of us stepped out into the rain.

"What did you say to him?" I asked as I followed him down a path, our boots splashing in small puddles.

"That you couldn't sleep and
demanded
I take you for a walk," he said.

"Even in the rain?" I asked. "He believed you?"

"That you're extremely demanding? Yes."

I snorted. "Do you enjoy pretending I make your life miserable?"

"I'm not pretending."

I punched him in the ribs just as a few guards appeared on our pathway. Alex jerked me back into the shadows and out of sight. He held two fingers to my lips, his gaze urging me to be quiet. We stood there for a moment, huddled between two trellises of bougainvillea, and the guards turned down our pathway. Alex pressed me back farther against the wall, but it was too late. I'd felt curiosity spark from one of the guards as he'd spotted us. And then one by one, more points of curiosity pricked over me. Alex noticed, frowning, then whispered, "I'll handle this."

But I had a better idea.

Before he could step out of the shadows and into plain view, I threw my arms around his neck and kissed him. He tried to pull back, but I didn't let go. I just kissed him harder and pressed myself against him until his resistance finally melted into resignation, and then he wrapped his arms around my waist and kissed me back. Oh, how I loved kissing Alexander Del Conte.

The guards snickered as they neared, one of them murmured something I couldn't understand, and they turned down another path. Once I could feel they were out of sight, I kissed Alex's supple lips a moment longer before finally pulling away. I smiled up at him and he narrowed his eyes down at me.

"Don't ever do that again," his said, his voice rough. "What if they'd stopped and talked to us? They would've realized who you were at once. How would you have explained that?"

"Well, they didn't, so quit obsessing over 'what-ifs' and just enjoy it." I tilted my face closer to his, tempted to do it again.

His eyes trailed from my eyes, down to my mouth, and then back up into my eyes again. "Complete misery." His voice was low. He turned on his heels and kept walking.

I smiled to myself as I hurried after him.

"Do you know how to get to the Temple of Draconi?" I asked quietly.

He didn't answer me at first—punishment for my kissing him unawares. "Yes,
your highness
." He looked at me over his shoulder like he could stare me into obedience.

I beamed innocently at him, and he rolled his eyes and turned back around.

We veered down another pathway with high walls, but our view at the end was blocked by a tall, arching roofline. We were soon dumped into a square, and in the center of this square was a squat, round structure with a broad, copper dome on top. The rest of the building had been constructed with pristine white marble, though the rain gave it a glossy sheen in the torchlight. Rivulets of water streamed in tiny waterfalls over the lip of the shining copper dome, spilling onto the cobblestones below. We avoided these tiny waterfalls as we ascended the wide marble steps that led to the front doors of the temple, huge basins of fire blazing on either side of the great bronze doors.

Alex pushed the door in; it opened silently and without any resistance, which was surprising for such a tall and heavy door. We both stepped inside and closed the door behind us. The air was thick and dry and heavy with incense, making my eyes burn a little. I lifted my hood from my head and looked around. Candles were everywhere—on walls, smothering tables, sticking out of giant candelabras like little trees of flame. Dozens of candles floated in the space inside the dome, except in the area beneath the small oculus. There, rain fell freely through the opening, plunking and splattering into a decorative, round pool embedded in the flooring.

The flooring itself was a masterpiece. Millions of tiny pebbles had been laid in a giant mosaic, and from what I could tell, they told some kind of story. Near my feet was a sort of wintry scene, all white with mountains and snow-covered pines, and then it moved into a battle. But as I watched, the battle
moved
, like a silent movie. Swords crossed while horses reared and foundered in the snow. Men in robes entered the scene, light arching from extended arms—obviously mages. A great dragon suddenly rose from behind the ridge of a mountain, breathing a plume of fire upon the battle below. The rest of the story was blocked from my view because it continued behind the pool.

"It is the story of the Draconi, your highness," a voice said behind me.

Startled, I jumped and spun around.

The high priest, Ven Orelius, stood there, hands clasped before him as he smiled. His dark eyes flickered in the candlelight. "I do apologize, your grace," he said, bowing his head in deference. "I did not mean to startle you. I am very glad you have come."

Gosh, was I jumpy tonight.

But then I noticed Alex had pulled his sword a few inches from its sheath and was sliding it back to rest comfortably in the leather.

"I received your note," I said without preamble.

"Yes, and I apologize for not delivering it to you in a more conventional method, but I am sure you understand my need for discretion."

I was a little bothered that he'd managed to get it past Alex's ward, but I kept this to myself. "I do, High Priest," I replied. "And I would like some clarification before we—"

"Not here, please, your grace." Ven Orelius looked around as though he were afraid we might be overheard. "If you will, follow me."

I exchanged a meaningful glance with Alex, and then I followed after the high priest, Alex walking closely behind me. All the while I couldn't pull my eyes from the floor. A few times Alex touched my elbow to adjust my course away from the forest of flaming candelabras.

Ven Orelius noticed my intrigue and paused. "Does her highness know the story of the Draconi?"

I shook my head. "No. In fact, I'd never even heard of the Draconi until we arrived here."

Ven Orelius smiled, the pinnacle of joy at having the opportunity to discuss a subject of which he was, apparently, fascinated by. "Ephram Draconi was the first ever in history to ride one of the great dragons. Before his time, the dragons were ruthless, destroying entire cities without mercy or prejudice. The people were defenseless against the dragons until Ephram Draconi, for Gaia touched Ephram Draconi with the breath of dragons, filling his blood with their spirit. And through that linkage, Ephram Draconi was able to challenge the will of the dragons. His descendents continued to do so until the time of Galahad." Ven Orelius's eyes drifted back to the story upon the floor.