Taken (The Brindle Dragon Book 3) Read online

  There was a beat of silence, then the groaning of the bench as his large, muscled form settled down. Unsurprisingly, he didn’t say anything else and the three just continued with their conversation as normal.

  That was, however, until Ain came along.

  To his credit, he played it quite cleanly, just sliding in next to his friend without a word and starting to eat. Yacrist and Dille both stared at him, but Eist just shrugged.

  A truce was a truce. Eist was willing to let him exist if he was going to do the same for her.

  After all, wasn’t that what all of them were trying to do?

  8

  Shadow of a Doubt

  Eist sat down to her new mountain of books, her belly full and her mood improved. Sure, their table had gotten a whole lot of stares when Athar and Ain had joined them, but she was used to stares. The strange thing was that all of them together made her feel less paranoid. Safety in numbers perhaps? Or was Athar so massive that being near him just exuded protection? She wasn’t sure, but even with the slight bit of comfort it allowed her, she still wanted to try to get ahead of what was going on.

  Sure, it had only been three days since the incident, but Ale’a was still gone, as were the dragons, and no one was saying anything. Yacrist had been staying in their room every night, and she didn’t mind either. It felt safer that way.

  She looked up to the empty seat he had been in just the night before. She had thought that he would come with her to the library again, but he said that he needed to handle something and had disappeared shortly after dinner. She didn’t want to admit that she missed him—having handled her research about her grandfather all on her own—but she was beginning to think that she did.

  However, she didn’t even get halfway through one book before she felt heavy footsteps striding toward her and looked up to see none other than Yacrist.

  “Oh, hey there,” she said, surprised to see him.

  “Hey. I finished up what I needed to do. Do you want me to get my own book pile or split yours?”

  “We can split mine,” she said, pushing a couple tomes toward him. “After all, two heads are better than one, right?”

  “Is that a purple dragon joke?” he shot back, grabbing a book and diving in.

  The conversation lulled as they buried themselves in their books, but that only lasted for so long before there was a loud crack at her feet.

  Eist jumped, looking down to see that Fior had finally cracked one of the large disks of hardtack in two.

  “Wow, that was an awfully dramatic sound for just a snack,” Yacrist said, reaching down to grab one of the halves.

  But that turned out to be a bad idea, as Fior pounced on his hand, growling that it dared go near his previous teething relief. Naturally, Alynbach screamed at that and tried to wriggle out of the large pack Yacrist had on his back. It was different than the one he normally carried them in, but Eist assumed that they had just outgrown the last one.

  “Alright, I get it!” the boy said, yanking his hand back. As soon as it was above the table, Eist saw bright lines of red across it.

  Guilt instantly kicked in and before she could think it through, she gripped his wrist and pulled his hand toward her. “Are you hurt?” she asked, even though she could see the three scratches across the top of his hand.

  “It’s fine. Nothing compared to all those bruises you had when he was young and liked to just clamp on your whole lower arm.”

  But Eist wasn’t having that. She reached into her own bag, one that she had tried to get in the habit of bringing with her ever since Fior had started growing his teeth and accidentally nipped her during feeding.

  She pulled out a bit of cloth and looked around to see if there was a water pitcher. Sure enough, there was one near the door of the room. While Eist wouldn’t recommend drinking it, it was enough to wet down the cloth and wipe away at the slight rivulets of blood running down his hand.

  Normally such shallow cuts probably wouldn’t have caused any bleeding, but dragon spit worked naturally to make blood thinner. It was a dangerous thing in battle, but many healers used it to their advantage for certain situations.

  But this was not one of those situations, so she made sure to wipe it thoroughly, then grab a roll of bandages from her pack. Once she wrapped his hand up, she secured the bandage with a thin pin and sat back to examine it.

  But as she did, she didn’t let go of him. She didn’t realize it right away, until his fingers slid through hers, almost like he was trying to hold hands as a couple might.

  She looked up, both surprised and confused, but Yacrist was just smiling slightly. “You know, you and Dille might be the best friends I’ve ever had,” he said, his tone…strange again, though she couldn’t put her finger on exactly how.

  “You have a lot of friends,” she said, aiming for a neutral response since she didn’t know how to respond.

  “I have a lot of people I’m friendly with, but I’d say that you two are my only real friends. You challenge me, and you don’t care about wealth or status or anything like that. I could be the son of a baker instead of the Lord of the House, and you would treat me the same.”

  “Actually, we might have more in common if you were—”

  “Shh, don’t ruin this moment with that wonderful practicality of yours. I just wanted to let you know that I really, really value you.” It seemed impossible, but his tone grew even more serious. “When I was standing over your bed in the healer’s room, seeing you covered in bruises and your face like someone had really tried to kill you, I realized that we came very close to not having you in this world at all.

  “And that made me realize how much you’ve helped me be a better person.” His other hand came up now, gently stroking the top of hers that was intertwined with his injured one. “By helping you make up training after your grandfather’s accident, I became a way better student than I normally would have been. By seeing how you and Dille thoroughly examine everything so you can use every advantage possible, it made me more thorough. She’s barely the weight of a feather, and your hearing isn’t anything guaranteed, but you always find a way to make it work.

  “I know that I wouldn’t be as good of a dragon rider as I’m going to be if I didn’t meet you. So, I just wanted you to know that, okay? You really are important to more people than you know.”

  Finally, he pulled his hands away and Eist was left staring down at the table. She didn’t know how to reply to these things. While her grandfather had taught her a lot about life, none of those lessons involved such emotional speeches.

  She had lost a lot of time after her injuries, often forcibly kept under with medicines because she physically tried to fight the healers every time she woke after a deep sleep. Just the start of her night terrors, it seemed.

  “I…”

  “It’s okay,” he said, back to his usual grin. “I know that this isn’t your bag, so you don’t have to say a word. But why don’t we change gears now, and I give you a present that I think you’re gonna love?”

  Thank the Three, he was switching the subject. He really was a great friend.

  Or something more? His speech seemed a bit like someone who wanted something more.

  But Eist quickly shoved that away. First of all, she wasn’t the beautiful and enigmatic warrior that handsome young men like Yacrist pined over. Secondly, she wasn’t kind, compassionate or very in touch with her emotions. What she was, was determined to be the best dragon rider she could and loving mother to Fior.

  And she didn’t have time for anything else.

  “Close your eyes!” Yacrist said, already back to being excited. Eist did so nervously. She hated giving up her sight considering her hearing was not something to rely on. But soon enough, she felt a thump on the table in front of her, then Yacrist gently squeezed her arm.

  She took that as her cue to open her eyes, only to see a very familiar tome in front of her.

  It was the book.

  The book.
/>   The one that she had found that told the truth about dragon gas and had disappeared after the fight.

  “You had it?” Eist asked incredulously, her eyes going wide and her heart skipping a bit. Seeing that intense cover put her right back into the last year, with all of the pain and fear rushing through her system.

  “I did. I’ve been holding onto it this whole time.” He was grinning like a madman, and she could tell that he was completely oblivious to how quickly she was growing upset. “I’ve read a lot of it too. It’s really interesting and there’s all sorts of things in here that our teachers usually tell us aren’t a thing.”

  “How did you even get it?”

  “I happened to be going by the healer’s hall to drop off something that I thought might help your grandfather when there was a huge commotion. By the time I got there, they were carrying your body to the hall.

  “At first, I thought I would follow you, but the crowd was quite massive, and everyone was trying to get a word in and say how to help you. So, I went to the room with the shattered door and I saw this sitting right there in the middle like it was important.”

  “What about the scroll?” Eist asked, swallowing harshly.

  “Oh yeah, that scroll.” Yacrist whistled. “I picked that up too, but when my fingers touched it, it crumbled into dust.”

  “Really? Dust?”

  “Yeah. Kinda proves a lot of what this book is saying, doesn’t it?” He sounded so excited and finally, Eist found her words.

  “Why did you hide this?” she snapped, her voice sharp enough to make even Fior drop his hardtack. “This is important! The council needs to have this!”

  “Really? I’m surprised to hear that considering how we’re only here because the people in charge are trying to hide things from us.”

  “That’s different!”

  Yacrist’s smile finally dimmed as he seemed to realize that she was not happy at all. “How is it different?”

  “We’re just trying to find a clue to tell us what’s going on. You’re playing around with a book that’s dangerous!”

  “Oh, so you can use it, but not me?”

  “I didn’t know at the time what it was. And at that point, I hadn’t almost died because of what I learned in this book.”

  “And yet the book is what kept your grandfather from dying!” He reached out for her again and she drew her hand back. “Look, I know you’re scared because the last time you held this in your hands, someone proceeded to almost beat all of the life out of you. I remember how both of your eyes were swollen and blood-red, how some of your fingernails were gone, the bruises everywhere, and I can’t imagine what it was like to have those things done to you.

  “But don’t blame the book for that! There’s so much information in there that I know you would love—”

  But all Eist could see was the healer lunging for her, all she could smell was blood and bile. All she could hear was her heart thundering in her ears, telling her that she was going to die.

  Abruptly she stood, angry and scared and knowing that she needed to get away.

  “Get rid of it. Deliver it to the council, burn it, I don’t care.” She grabbed her bag and Fior chirped at her curiously, sensing that something was wrong but clearly not knowing quite what to do about it.

  Eist sped away, Yacrist chasing after her and asking her to stay, to talk. But she just ripped her arm away and fixed him with a look that she hoped told him just how serious she was.

  “You should stay in your own room tonight. Dille and I would like to sleep alone.”

  And then she walked off, unable to shake the fear curling in her gut and her leg throbbing again.

  Maybe she wasn’t as healed as she thought she was.

  9

  This Little Dragon Went to Market

  Eist woke up sore and still feeling the general melancholy. It had been three days since the incident in the Library with Yacrist, and she had done her best to avoid him.

  Dille seemed to understand, even if Eist hadn’t told her what had happened.

  She hadn’t told anyone actually, and perhaps that was contributing to her discomfort. The only secrets she liked holding were her own, but she didn’t want Yacrist to get in trouble if she tattled on him.

  She couldn’t be sure, but considering how dodgy everyone was being, she wondered if they would kick him out of the program entirely.

  Which she didn’t want, even if she was mad at him at the moment.

  But still, it was market day, and Fior was sitting up at the foot of her bed, looking at her expectantly. It was clear that he had missed their trips during the academy months over the summer and was anxious to get going. She almost felt a little guilty since it had been months, but she hoped he understood.

  As much as a dragon could understand, that was.

  “Hey, Dille?” Eist asked quietly, her stomach still churning.

  Yacrist and her had gone to market together every week the previous year. Would he remember? Would he be hurt that she had left him behind?

  She supposed that didn’t matter since she was too uncomfortable around him to invite him on her first trip of the year, but still, she would prefer it if it didn’t stir up a fit of dramatics.

  If Dille had been anyone else, she might have asked why Eist just didn’t ask Yacrist. But like usual, the girl had a knack for understanding her hard of hearing friend, even when she didn’t speak.

  “Huh? Are we leaving earlier than usual?”

  “Yes.”

  “Are we avoiding a certain someone?”

  “Yes?”

  “I think we might be able to take a less common route out by going to the baths and slipping through the attendant door.”

  Eist’s breath caught as she realized her friend was right. “I do recall that. I think it opens right in front of the hatchery.”

  “Yeah, I’m pretty sure it does. If you give me a few moments to get dressed, I’ll be up and ready.”

  Eist looked out the window to see the sun was just barely peeking over the horizon, turning the night sky from obsidian to a jeweled sort of periwinkle.

  “That should do perfectly.”

  True to her word, Dille was ready to go quite quickly. To be perfectly honest, the majority of her time was spent trying to awaken Verelda, who was snoozing happily at the foot of her cot. Eist could be wrong, but it seemed that the red dragon was growing about an inch a day. In another month or two, she would probably be bigger than even the largest breeds of dogs.

  But eventually they did get Verelda going and were sneaking off to the baths. Maybe it was a bit paranoid to be acting so covert, but Eist just didn’t want to deal with Yacrist, or Athar, or anyone really.

  She just wanted to go to market.

  Thankfully, Dille’s plan went perfectly and they ended up at the bizarre without running into anyone they knew. She was relieved, and she went to take Fior to his favorite vendor—a trader who kept a large amount of rawhide and dense animal bones that were usually meant for pastes and gelatins, but the little dragon went crazy for.

  She let the sounds of the market fold over her head, buzzing, confusing, and oh so wonderful. It was like being whisked away to another world. One where no one knew her, or really cared about her, other than cooing over her young dragon. Which, of course, Fior loved. The only thing he cared about more than food was attention and loving pets from people who Eist gave permission to.

  “Oh hey! There you are!”

  …of course.

  Eist and Dille both turned to see Yacrist jogging toward them, his face flushed pink while Alynbach clung to his chest. She debated whether to turn and run, but figured that would make even more of a scene, so she just waited patiently for him to reach them.

  “You left early,” Yacrist said, heaving a breath when he was in front of him. He looked down at her, a familiar smile on his face. “You’re not still mad at me, are you?”

  Sometimes Yacrist was a bit too clever for his own good.
It seemed that he knew her well enough to be aware that she wouldn’t want to make a scene in public and had gambled that she wouldn’t want to expose him in front of Dille either. So, by meeting her in an open place with plenty of witnesses, he’d put her in a place that it was quite unlikely that she would reject his company.

  Or maybe he really didn’t know that she wanted her space from him. But that seemed unlikely. As much as Yacrist liked to play at being affable, he was the son of the Lord of the House and had to develop quite a few social skills to survive.

  “I had a nightmare,” she lied. How uncharacteristic of her. She wasn’t normally one to do that, and yet she found the words tumbling out of her mouth. If Dille thought anything of it, she didn’t say anything. It was times like these that Eist especially appreciated her friend. “I needed to go get air.”

  “A nightmare?” Yacrist asked, the mischievous look on his face switching to one of concern. “Was it about the attack? Are you still having night terrors?”

  Unfortunately, it had been largely impossible to keep that fact from the two of them considering how often the three of them slept in the same room, but Eist had tried to downplay it as best she could. However, seeing his obvious worry for her made her loosen a little.

  Yes, Yacrist had done something stupid and dangerous, but in the end, he was a young person like her. They all made mistakes. Maybe it wasn’t fair to ostracize him for one dumb thing.

  “They’re getting better,” was all she said before changing the subject. “We were just going to Fior’s favorite stall. Want to join us?”

  “Ah, bones and rawhide, a truly dazzling sight that I’d love to start my morning with. Proceed.”

  They strolled to the vendor, the air a bit awkward at first but quickly trending back toward normal as they walked. It wasn’t long before they were all in conversation like usual. And by all, that mostly meant Yacrist dramatically monologuing about various things while Eist and Dille added in their own comments every once in a while.