Page 25 of Red Dragon
As the group climbed down, experienced fingers finding holds in the vertical rock, even in the dark, Vorik found himself shoulder to shoulder with Jhiton again.
He groped for something to say. An apology? An explanation? Something that would convince his brother that he could still be trusted.
Was that entirely true? Where Syla was concerned, Vorik couldn’t stand back and watch her be killed. She didn’t deserve that. She hadn’t deserved any of what befell her.
Jhiton was the one to speak first. “I can’t believe you stopped me from killing the woman who tried toblow us up.”
“She tried to blowyouup. I was foolishly standing nearby.”
“She tried to blow me uptwice.” Jhiton still sounded exasperated, but the fact that he was speaking suggested he wasn’t as angry as Vorik had feared.
“Yeah.” He dared grin a little.
After a few more seconds of descending, Jhiton looked over. “I see why you like her.”
Vorik’s grin widened. “Yeah.”
Any update on Wreylith?Vorik asked Agrevlari. During the chaos, he’d forgotten about the red dragon and to wonder what had brought her. Could Syla have called her? Though he could understand why she hadn’t wanted to give him any intelligence, he was curious for his own sake how she’d won the dragon’s assistance again.Where she is and what she’s up to,Vorik added, sensing smugness through their telepathic link.Not anything about her beauty or the poem you’re composing.
She called Ozlemar cowardly for attacking a healer and wanted to know if our presence here means the shield protecting this island will soon drop again.
Why would she care about that?Vorik asked.
She did not say.
Again, Vorik wondered if Syla had somehow reached out to the dragon. Surely, Wreylith wouldn’t be out here gathering intelligence for a lowly human, even one who’d done a favor or two for her. That had to be beneath a wild dragon who called those of her kind who bonded with humansdomesticatedorpets.
She did, however, mention that she took note of my actions during the skirmish over the whaling ship.
Your actions?Vorik asked.Like when you bit Ozzy in the flank?
I believe she approved of that, yes.There was the reason for Agrevlari’s smugness. That was the first time that Wreylith had said anything kindly toward him.
Syla liked it too.
A wave washed against the cliff below Vorik and Jhiton, cold ocean spray reaching them. The men angled toward the kayaks. Lights burned on two ships that had rounded the point and come into view. Kingdom ships? Yes, they had to be. They had to know stormers remained behind and hadn’t left with the dragon ship, and they were looking for them.
Your princess?Agrevlari asked.
The sole remaining princess of the Garden Kingdom. She is not mine.
Wistfulness filled Vorik at the statement. Maybe he should have wanted nothing to do with Syla after she’d gotten the best of him on Harvest Island, but he’d been far more annoyed with himself than with her over that. She’d been doing her duty for her people, the same as he’d been doing his. He couldn’tresent her for that. No, he respected her. And tonight… Vorik smiled at the memory of her holding those two explosive devices aloft, ready to throw them at Jhiton. He wagered she’d been instrumental in placing them. She’dknownhis people would try again, that their shielder wouldn’t be safe.
“Shall we leave you there, Captain?” Jhiton called up from one of the kayaks.
The rest of the team had found seats in the lightweight craft, two already heading out toward sea.
“No, I’d like to come along.” Vorik slithered off the cliff and into a two-seater kayak with his brother.
“I’m pleased that’s still the case.”
“Had I had an opportunity to taste the baked desserts the princess offered, I might have felt differently.” Vorik grew evenmorewistful as he remembered the cylindrical boxes of cobblers and who knew what other treats. How lamentable that he hadn’t been able to bring them along. It would have been difficult to steer a kayak with a cake perched between his legs though.
Once settled, Vorik grabbed a paddle and helped Jhiton push away from the cliff. It wasn’t easy with the waves and currents churning everything toward the rocks, but his people were almost as practiced with kayaks as with climbing.
“If only the gardeners knew how easily your loyalties might be won,” Jhiton said.
“All soldiers are ruled by their stomachs. Perhaps we should take up Syla’s offer of trade. Then you could get cobblers for your troops to ensure their undying devotion to you.”
