MADRID STEERED THE DRAGON around the side of the Citadel and urged Opaleye to land on the low stone-walled balcony located beside his chambers. Constructed by the original builders of the Citadel, the wide, flat surface could have but one true use, as a place for a dragon to land safely while carrying a rider.
He intended to stay only long enough to check on his prisoner. Madrid had moved the rebellious woman into his quarters in order to keep an eye on her. Since their bonding last month, she had attempted to sever her head from her neck five times and sever his twice. Despite the resident danger she represented, he could ill afford to have her die on him now. Control of her elemental magic was critical to the success of his future plans. He had waited a long time to capture a witch. To capture this witch in particular, if truth be known.
“Emperor!” The broad-shouldered commander of the guard saluted as he spied Madrid. He rounded the corner, his tan robes fluttering around his legs as he approached.
“Report, Cayos.”
“The woman sleeps. She has not stirred from her pallet. She refuses food and drink, but she has not attempted to harm herself. I have not released her bonds, as instructed.”
Madrid nodded, stroking his chin as he considered the problem. Aisha, through a trick of the mind, believed him to be in possession of her daughter, Shikoba. Via the deception of a vision orb, he had convinced the tribal queen that resistance to his wish was futile. In order to save her daughter, she had given into his demand and consented to becoming his bond mate to give him control over her talents.
While Aisha believed Shikoba to be imprisoned in a cell in the central Citadel, she gave him little trouble other than trying to break the bond through death. It was the one true way to separate the blending of their magic. The triad bond that added a human component was possible only when the participants willingly gave over control of their magic to create a stronger whole. Once the magic was given, it was impossible to retract without the consent of the other parties. To force a separation would kill all three, as surely as pulling lungs out of a chest would kill a person. The triad lived and breathed as one entity. Aisha needed to live and Madrid had given her a reason to do so.
He opened the door to his chambers and crossed the room to where the woman lay curled up on a mat in front of the double doors leading to his private balcony. She stirred at his approach. Dark of skin, she was a striking woman with a strong, straight nose and white teeth that gleamed in the low lighting. Curly brown hair framed a heart-shaped face. Aisha squinted at him through one baleful eye. It was shot through with red streaks. She closed the eye and turned away.
“What do you want, Madrid? I will not serve you. I have given all I intend to give.”
Madrid knelt down beside the Shadrian queen and placed a hand on her shoulder. She flinched with the contact. “You are not cooperating, Aisha. I ride to Shadra, and I wish for you to ride with me to see the plight of your people and why I fight to free them. Do you not care that they suffer?”
“They suffer by your hands, Madrid. No other. It is you that brings misery to my people. If you cared about the Shadrian, you would free me and allow me to return to my people, unhindered and unchained.”
“I cannot do that, Aisha. We are stronger together, and great evil stirs on the coast that will test us. I will need to draw on your gifts to prevail. But do not worry. I will not let any harm come to you. You are far too precious to me.”
Aisha glared at the emperor then spat at his feet. “I will not.”
Madrid’s expression hardened. He itched to let his hand fly but rejected the urge to strike her. “This is not a request. Get dressed, or you will ride to the cliffs naked. The choice is yours.” He stood up and walked to the door. “You have five revolutions. If you have not joined me by then, I will send in Commander Cayos to bring you bodily to me. Five revolutions.” The door slammed behind him as he left.
***
Aisha lay on her pallet, considering what to do. A revolution passed and then she got to her feet and slipped her head and arms into a beaded deer hide. The tunic fell to her thighs. Leggings followed, and finally she slipped her feet into her moccasins. She ignored the mirror on the wall as she headed for the door. Commander Cayos waited on the other side and fell into step beside her as she left the room.
Precisely on the count of five, she appeared in the archway, taking in the great dragon and the emperor who sat astride its broad back. Head held high, she approached the pair, every inch of her body announcing the presence of the tribal queen of Shadra. She treated Commander Cayos as a bodyguard, ignoring his presence. Madrid reached down and held out his hand as she approached.
Reluctantly, she placed her hand in his. She did not remember her one and only ride on the dragon, as she had been unconscious at the time. Fear lit her eyes for a second as she felt his tug on her hand. Madrid pulled her up onto Opaleye, seating her in front of him.
He is afraid I will jump off while in the air, she thought. A small victory, but a victory nonetheless. He is bending to my will, if only in this small thing. She smiled, the first real smile she had shown in weeks. She gripped the curved edge of the saddle in front of her in an iron grip.
Opaleye ran for the edge of the platform then launched himself over the edge, spiraling down the side of the Citadel to gather speed then spread his wings. The onrushing air caught, and they swooped around the Citadel and across the chasm that led into the province of Shadra. Madrid raised his hands and lightning shot from his palms. It struck the barrier with the sound of a gong, and a hole opened up. It held just long enough for Opaleye to swoop through it. The sides smacked together as he cleared the opening. The concussion rolled away faster than Opaleye could fly. The wave of raw power crashed into them, tossing Opaleye like the seed head on a spent flower. Aisha screamed as he tumbled over a complete revolution before leveling out his flight.
Aisha shuddered. She heard Madrid’s laughter in her ear.
“Have no fear, Aisha. I will not allow you to escape me that easily. A small spiral from Opaleye is nothing to fear. Did you not feel how your body was pressed back into mine? It is the way of things that fly. The very air is theirs to command. It is part of their magic, and it obeys their command. I could stand on Opaleye’s back, and I would not fall.”
“Dragons are wondrous creatures.” Aisha wriggled forward, shifting away from Madrid. She wished to put as much distance as possible between them. There was not much to be had, squeezed together in a saddle meant for one.
I am the largest and fiercest of our kind. I rule the dragons.
Aisha heard Opaleye’s words in her head. They pressed against her mind, forming the strange thoughts into words she could comprehend. It was like interpreting pictures with speech. The words did not cover the full concept that the dragon had tried to convey. The images were of the tallest mountain with Opaleye filling the space from ground to snow-capped peak while volcanoes erupted all around. Dragons circled the summit then landed at his feet, whimpering like lost puppies. It was the first time she had heard Opaleye voice his thoughts.
She concentrated on the dragon and thought, You are a very beautiful dragon.
Opaleye snorted. I am. There are none to match me. You will see how I command my kin.
“Where are you taking me?” she said aloud, “I know we are heading to the sea, but what is your interest there? There are only two reasons anyone goes to the sea to visit the sacred caves. Our warriors pilgrimage there to test their strength and bravery. The caves are treacherous and filled with poisonous gases and narrow passages that can entrap the unwary. The other reason is to mine the salt of the earth. Traders have long gone to harvest the salt flats. The salt dries from the ocean in shallow pools and evaporates. What interest could you have in salt?”
Madrid was silent. The silence stretched on so long that she thought he was not going to answer, but finally he did. “It is to the mines that we go, but not the mines that you have mentioned. In the caves, your sacred caves, there is something you must see.”
“What is it?” Curiosity forced the words past her lips. She had not intended to show interest in their destination, yet she could not deny the heartsick swoop in her belly as her anxiety for her people’s fate, rose with her.
“You will see.”
They flew in silence for an hour or more. Keeping track of time was difficult, as Opaleye passed in and out of thick cloud cover as they flew. Once Aisha caught a glimpse of the peace tower, she knew that they were passing her home. Aisha turned her head away, unwilling to revisit the sad memories of her capture, but then her eye caught on something strange. An opaque column rose from the top of the rock from the central altar and up through the clouds. It was a dark and tempestuous swirling, navy and purple with flashes of yellow and orange. The spirits of the ancestors were angry. Normally the prayers were a calming blue or gold or a flush pink. Some of those were visible at the bottom of the vortex, but at the top, they vanished. A thin barrier twisted around them. It was not air, not water, but some other substance she couldn’t immediately identify. She leaned forward, watching the column until it disappeared in the distance. She frowned. She had never seen the prayers of her people act in such a way, nor had she seen such a fierce reaction from the ancestors.
“Can we fly higher?” she asked. “I’d like to see what is above the clouds.” Opaleye gave a mighty flap of her wings and climbed up through the moist, pillowed tops. He broke free of the cloud, only to roar with pain when a bolt of lightning electrified the air where they had exited the cloud. A large anvil of a thunderstorm swirled nearby, its base centered over the column of prayers. But it was not a thunderhead of air or water. It was made up entirely of spirit. The spirits of the ancestors beat against the sides of the cloud. Aisha could hear them calling to her. A wailing swirl of voices swept over them, their message disjointed and unintelligible.
“Stop! We must help them! They are trapped!” Aisha grabbed for Opaleye’s reins, but her hands were gripped powerfully by Madrid.
“Return to the level below the clouds. Now!” shouted Madrid. Opaleye dove back into the clouds leaving the cries of Aisha’s ancestors behind.
“No! I must help them. They are trapped. Please I must return to my ancestors. It is my calling!” She struggled in his grip, coming to life for the first time since the bonding. A hand slipped free of his grasp and she twisted, swinging at Madrid. Her hand connected with a flat slap on his exposed cheek. Even with the speed of the dragon’s flight, the sound was loud. Madrid snarled and twisted her wrist around behind her back, making her cry out with pain. He gave it a vicious twist and Aisha screamed as she heard the shoulder pop out of its socket. Her scream this time was a drawn out wail of agony.
Madrid bent his head to her ear and snarled “If you ever strike me again, I will rip that arm off of your body. Now shut up before I change my mind.”
Aisha sobbed and bent over the curve of the saddle, hanging on with only her knees. Every stroke of Opaleye’s wings was pure agony. She dragged her injured arm and laid it across her lap, trying to cushion it from the swaying movement of flight. Bile rose in her throat. She thought she might be sick with the pain and the motion. Tears streamed down her cheeks. They were not all for her injury. She focused her mind on what she had seen, trying to make sense of the images. The distraction helped her to ignore the jolting pain, or at least control it somewhat.
The ancestors were angry and scared. There was no way that the cloud was a natural phenomenon. She had spent over half her lifetime as the tribal queen. In all those years, she had never seen such a thing. Aisha could only draw one conclusion. Her people were being attacked, and it wasn’t by another province. It was by magic.