Page 164 of Grave Situation

Leicht hesitates for long enough that I’m worried he’s actually going to ignore me, but eventually he banks into another wide turn. We fly in silence for a while, both thinking about the mammoth tasks that lie ahead. Well, that’s what I’m thinking about, anyway.

“I don’t suppose you dragons know anything about how gods use their powers?”I ask abruptly.

“No.”

That’s not good. I’m not even sure if that was something our priestess tried to teach me when I was young—it’s a little exotic for an ordinary worshiper, especially since the gods have been gone from the world for a long time. But here I am with all this god power that I need to use to save the world… and no idea how to use it.

I try to remember every detail of what it felt like the times I used it before, when I apparently ushered the souls of our attackers to the afterlife. Unfortunately, both times that happened, I was thinking about other things, and the action was reflexive—a defensive instinct. That’s not going to do me much good in a fight, not unless I let myself get into a really bad situation first.

Okay. Use god magic. I can do this. I’ve been using magic for the past ten years… and a little before, if I’m honest, though I never admitted that to my professors at the academy. So this is god magic; so what? I can work out how to use it.

“Hey, Leicht, wanna play?”

Leicht’sstill grumbling more than twelve hours later when he lands in one of the training fields behind the palace complex in Harfarin. So I accidentally shrank him down to the size of an actual lizard. I reversed it, didn’t I? Fast, too—I had incentive, since lizard-sized Leicht wasn’t able to carry me, and I was plunging toward the rocky, inhospitable mountains below. But he got all huffy and forbade me from experimenting any more with my god magic.

It's a shame, because it was going really well up until then. I can still do all the things my regular magic lets me do, onlymore. My power is boosted way beyond anything I could have dreamed of. I’m glad I took the time today to play with it, because it’s extremely possible that in a stressful situation I might have thrown the full force of my Talent into an action without realizing exactly how much that full force now is, and accidentally have knocked down a city or something. So, that was a productive use of my time.

Leicht was in full agreement, and even enjoying the demonstration of power—I think he was secretly planning to boast to the other dragons that his rider is a god-mage, and none of theirs are—until I started trying to work out whatelseI could do. The only “god” thing I’d done before was move souls on to the afterlife, and I didn’t even know I was doing it at the time. Not to mention, it’s an ability I’d rather not get too much practice with. But I figured that surely couldn’t be the extent of it.

It's not. Not even close. Proof: I shrank Leicht to the size of a lizard. God powers are incredible, but a lot of pressure comes with them. There’s this huge sense of responsibility—I can doalmost anything, but that wouldn’t be right. I’m sure there are a lot of answers to my questions in Wasianth’s memories, but I’m not comfortable digging around in them. Not yet. It’s been less than a day since all this happened, and I’m selfishly taking as much time as I can to get used to it.

Although, I’ve noticed a few images and memories slipping into my consciousness that aren’t mine. Or they are, but they’re not—notTalon’s. They feel completely natural in my head, not intrusive or foreign at all, and yet, I’m acutely aware that while I was there, I wasn’t. It’s odd having first-hand knowledge from a whole lot of other lifetimes.

But I can ponder the implications of—and worry about—all that later. I don’t want to be away from the ship for more than two or three days, so I need to get moving.

I slide down Leicht’s leg as a guard jogs across the field toward us. That’s one thing about arriving on the back of a dragon—there’s always a welcoming committee. The guard slows considerably as he nears, and I stifle my smile as I move away from Leicht. It wasn’t that long ago that I wouldn’t have wanted to get that close to a dragon either. I choke down the longing that rises for those simpler times… and my sister.

I’d give anything for Tia to be here, teasing me about my apprehension near Leicht.

“Stop being melancholy. She would have slapped you for having feelings when there’s work to be done.”

I roll my eyes, glad the shadowy night hides the small action from the guard I’m approaching.“You’re so sympathetic. Go and find something to eat, then get some rest.”

“I’d rather be close if you’re going to see your father.”

Aw. I’m touched.“There’s nothing to worry about. He’s never been the type to be physically aggressive… or fit. He’ll be under guard, anyway, and don’t forget my awesome new powers. I’ll be fine.”

His mental touch is full of doubt, but I shut it out and smile casually at the guard. “Good evening. Is the queen receiving?” I don’t particularly want to pay a formal visit, but it would be a faux pas not to ask… and anyway, that’s where my mother probably is. I do want to speak with her.

“Her majesty is entertaining this evening, sir,” the guard shoots back, his tone balancing on the line between showing respect for a rider with a very large dragon and chiding me for the audacity to believe I can stroll in and meet with the queen at my leisure. “Have you come from the City of Knowledge?”

“No. I’m Talon Silverbright.”

At any other time, and certainly in any other nation, my arrogant statement would have gotten me nothing more than a blank stare. This is Rebithia, however, where my dear mother is the pearl of the queen’s court and has been for thirty years. That’s given the Silverbright name a whole lot of recognition. Plus, every guard in the palace would be aware that Lord Silverbright is under arrest right now and that the dragon riders have descended on Rebithia. The guard might not know specifically who I am, but he’ll recognize the name and possibly remember that there’s a rider in the family.

Sure enough, his eyes widen slightly. “You’d better come with me.”

I refrain from advising him that I planned to even if he tried to stop me, and instead sweep my arm out in an “after you” gesture. “Lead the way.”

His glare hovers somewhere between uncertain and suspicious, but he obediently guides me toward the palace.

“Dinner’s long over, but the cook leaves some bits out in the soldiers’ mess for the late patrols,” he volunteers abruptly. I think it’s his way of asking if I’m hungry.

“That’s very kind of you, but I’m fine,” I reply. I haven’t eaten, but I’m pretty sure that I can do better than the hard bread anddried meat that’s probably been left out in the soldiers’ mess. Even if I’m not granted an audience with the queen tonight—which I absolutely will be—I’m stillLordTalon. Those aren’t strings I pull often, but after the hell I’ve been through these last few months, I think I’m entitled to a decent meal and a comfortable b?—

“There’s barracks for visitors on the other side of the east courtyard,” my guide pipes up again. “The riders and mages have been staying there when they come to the palace.”

“I’m not sure if I’ll be staying overnight,” I prevaricate. It’s easier than telling him I’ll be commandeering a guest room in the palace. Really, though, even knowing I’m a Silverbright, he thinks I’ll be staying in soldiers’ barracks? The queen barely knows me, and what she does know she’s never really been all that fond of, but she’d never stain her reputation for hospitality by making her favorite lady’s son sleep with the soldiers. The court would be whispering about it for months.

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