Page 119 of Silverbow
“Why do you want to know about dragons?” Oryn demanded.
“Because it’s what your power bought,” she hissed. “What about the dragons in the Vale? Why don’t they do anything about it?”
Colm scratched at his jaw. “I don’t know. Until now, we didn’t know Drulougan was bonded against his will. It’s possible they remain ignorant to it, though I’ve always thought it strange they didn’t retaliate for Pallas breaking the covenant-”
“What covenant?”
“The Davoliers allied themselves with Ryland in the war. When Ryland House was wiped from Estryian nobility, the Davoliers managed to emerge from the war with their fortunes mostly intact, but they were forbidden from ever sending one of their blood to the Vale to ask another bonding.”
Enya nodded. She had seen a vision, or a memory, of Pallas beseeching Hylee’s grandmother for a dragon and the witch had needled him about trying his hand in the Vale. “‘The little problem of treachery’,” Enya muttered.
“I suppose it’s possible the Vale knows what the witches are capable of and they’ve retreated,” Colm mused.
“How many are there in the Vale?”
“Hardly more than the Nine with bonded riders. At their peak, there were almost fifty. The dragons dwindle, the well is drying up.”
She furrowed her brow. “The well?”
“Reservoirs of the gods’ power. There are five. Nimala’s in Oyamor, Solignis’s in the Vale, Simdeni’s in Drozia, and Mosphaera’s and Sakaala’s were in Templeton.”
“Were?” She watched the demi-elves shift uncomfortably.
“Templeton was swallowed up by Covwood long ago,” Oryn answered. “It was the start of Godfall.”
Enya had more questions about what the bloody hell Godfall was, but she turned back to trying to puzzle out what she had seen. “Why do you need a Treesinger?”
“‘For scarred ground and salted land, salvation lies in the song’,” Oryn quoted.
“Foresight was your mother’s Talent, was it not?” Colm asked after a pause. “I have always wondered if it was a telling that drove her from the throne.”
It was a statement, not a question. He left room for her to side step it if she wished, but she didn’t. “It was. That and Pallas’s treachery. Do they understand speech? The dragons?”
“I never asked,” Colm said slowly. “It’s very rude to approach a dragon, Enya. Very dangerous.”
“But they communicate with their riders?”
“Through their bond, yes. It’s something like speaking directly into the mind, I understand,” Colm said.
“How does one approach a dragon?”
“You don’t,” Oryn snapped.
Colm
When Colm rose before dawn, Oryn was already brewing a pot of tea over hot coals, staring at where Enya tossed in her blanket roll. Despite another dream ward, she’d been muttering all night in her sleep. That troubled him as he lowered himself to sit in the dirt as did the look of agony on Oryn’s face.
“When did you know?” His prince asked softly enough not to rouse the others.
Colm had been waiting for this question, but still, he sighed. “When I went looking for her in the dream.”
A muscle ticked in his jaw as Oryn prodded at the fire, refusing to meet his gaze. Colm couldn’t help but feel a pang of regret. Oryn was the closest thing he had to a son and he knew he would feel the omission as a personal slight, but it was not a secret that belonged to either of them. It was not his to share.
He sat back, studying the man who looked more like Elred with each passing decade. “You know, I’ve always wondered why Hylee chose the price she did. I’ve always wondered how she would wield it against you later.”
Oryn let out a breath in a huff. “My regret wasn’t enough?”
“What you bargain away never is. She’s important, isn’t she?”
