Ah! Now he saw the twin suns. She imitated a Human hatchling, playing to their natural instinct to protect their younglings. Smart girl. And brave, keeping her fires banked while she dealt with the danger.
Gold-bands called down, “Girl, Dragons are dangerous creatures. You should take more care. Now, wish us well as we fly south to treat with these treacherous beasts at Gi’ishior, for they have been ravaging our Islands and people.” Straightening up, he bellowed at his men, “The job of soldiers is to protect the innocent! We are moral men, soldiers of the Federation, neither dogs to pillage and despoil where we please, nor men who murder the elderly and vulnerable, be they Dragon or Human! Move out!”
Hualiama waved and blew kisses to the men on the Dragonships as the fleet puttered by overhead, collecting sundry offers of companionship, marriage and even the Jade moon. When they had vanished over the low hills to the south, she sagged against Grandion’s flank.
The Tourmaline Dragon took a playful nip at her knee. “Snaggletoothed, eh? Cute and adorable? And you, dragonet–did I hear the words ‘mouldy bat’ trip off your tongue?”
Flicker said, “So, Lia, exactly what kind of playtime were you envisaging with those soldiers?”
“Ooh, aren’t we jealous?” She tickled the dragonet under the chin, to his irritation. “So what if I thought that officer was cute–”
Flicker and Grandion snapped at her simultaneously.
Hualiama’s rich, joyous laughter rippled over them. “Now we’re both acting jealous? Boys–not boys. Oh, Islands’ sakes. Flicker, you told me to flutter my eyelashes. It worked. Grandion has no holes in his hide. We learned some valuable intelligence. Ra’aba’s plot gathers pace and the Humans are starting to respond.”
“Intelligence? You imitate a straw-head all too well,” sniffed Flicker.
“You were brave,” said Grandion, with an arch look at the dragonet, who ruffled his wings and made a disgusted noise. “But Lia is right. War is imminent. Each of those Dragonships holds fifty Human soldiers–I calculate there are up to two thousand two hundred soldiers of Yorbik on the move, a grave threat. The only boon we have in this situation is that Sapphurion is a voice of integrity and reason.”
“And will these Humans support us against Ra’aba?” the dragonet asked.
Lia shook her head. “I know the politics well enough, for a royal ward. When King Chalcion was loud and very drunk a few months ago, I remember him shouting about the Free Federation, how they cared not for who sat upon the Onyx Throne, that we were all slaves and puppets, Dragon-lovers and worse. But if we know Ra’aba in the slightest, we know he will find a way to turn this to his advantage.”
“In our culture, being a Human-lover is about the worst slur imaginable–a mortal insult, we Dragons call it,” said the Tourmaline Dragon. “Curse words. Even treating one’s slaves well was frowned upon. Beat them, starve them, eradicate one or two on occasion by way of keeping the rest in line … it’s hard to believe we Dragons behaved that way. But Razzior and his kin are still of that opinion. Humans are lice, parasites, a plague to be scorched off the face of the Islands. Some follow him openly, others merely believe it in their hearts.”
“As in, fleas and armpits?”
Hualiama’s tone was surprisingly sharp. The dragonet’s eyes flicked from one to the other, wondering what he had missed.
The Tourmaline Dragon lowered his muzzle, a remorseful orange fire leaching into his eyes. After a long pause, the Human girl stepped closer to the Dragon. She hesitated over a decision Flicker did not understand, before spreading her arms as far as she could reach, and resting her cheek against the small scales beside his eye. A tremor seemed to pass between them.
Lia whispered, “I guess fleas can’t be all bad, can they?”
His paw engulfed her back, tenderly cupping her tiny frame. “No.”
Time stood still for the dragonet, his seventh sense tingling with a new insight. At last, he understood the nature of the magic between his companions. This was a power that promised to stand the Island-World upon its head. This was magic worth dying for.
Yet, sorrow damped his fires. Did his Lia know that when they found her family, it must end? Should his daughter misbehave, King Chalcion would ride to war against the Dragons–no question about that. Nor could any Human ride Dragonback and live. No Human could draw this close to a dragonet or a Dragon, for every paw and every hand would be