Page 63 of Upon Buried Embers
“Are you a spy?” I shake my head.
“I’ve been this way since I was younger.” I point to my collar, and he nods.
“There are a few reasons why I took you.” He looks at me intently and my heart rate speeds up. “One of them is that you may have the ability to find out how eggs are being stolen.”
“Me?” I ask, eyes wide. Is he crazy, what can I do?
He turns to Drogonah, running a hand along a horn that sticks up from the side of his forehead. It curves to the back, his ears flicking under it.
“Elves can talk to animals. I’ve seen it once with an elk when I was younger at the border.”
I’m already shaking my head. “But I’ve never done that. There was no one around to teach me.” I lift my hands helplessly. “There was just me.”
“I’m very much aware from what you’ve told me.”
“Which means I’m of no use.”
Which means he will kill me.
Some part of me feels relief at that thought.
He pauses and tilts his head. “Are you?” He murmurs.
I swallow and look away. All my elf heritage has been good for so far, is getting me a beating and a collar around my throat.
Sure, there were other slaves in the underground, but an elf isn’t something many see often. I was one of the very few elves down there that would be seen, all of us having our roles.
None that would help him with this task.
I lift a hand to my neck absentmindedly, and a growl sounds. I look at Rohan and then Drogonah, not knowing which one it came from.
“Even if being… me wasn’t useless, you want me to talk to a dragon? I’ve never heard of that. I wouldn’t even know how?” I stumble over my words, panicking.
“It’s unheard of, but not impossible. Dragons are just another creature.”
“And if I could somehow understand them?”
He picks up a stone from the side of Drogonah. It’s small in his hand, but it would fill both of mine.
“If you can talk with them, somehow, you can talk with the other Dragonbonds’ dragons. Maybe garner information from them. This could let me know if a Dragonbond is involved with the eggs going missing, their mothers dying. Their dragons won’t like them being involved, but they’re bonded, so they can’t kill each other.”
But another can.
It would make sense. He could find out if one among them is a betrayer, take them out, if that’s even possible, and then the eggs would be safe. But…
“What if I were to lie to you?”
I don’t know where my sudden boldness has come from. I wouldn’t have dared to say such a thing aloud before. But he… needs me. At least for now. I can be safe, then work my way back to Effy.
A stillness overcomes the space, the temperature rising and Drogonah growls, like he can feel the anger flowing off his Dragonbond.
Rohan turns, eyes sharp and deadly, and I take a step back, only for him to roughly grab my chin to halt me.
“If you were to lie to me, I’d show you the fury only a Dragonbond has. Do you think your life has been terrible? Youthink it can’t get any worse?” I swallow. “It can get far worse than any Master, or any Pit can put you through,” he spits, and I see it in his eyes then, the cruelty they’re so known for, and I know he’s telling the truth.
He lets me go, face pulling into a sneer.
“I’m taking a risk with you, but we’re running out of time and options, so, tell me.”
