I looked back at Thyr. "I have to go talk to a potentially violent drykon. Unless you'd like to try and talk to her for me?"
He hesitated. "It isn't safe for you to go alone."
"Then you come with me."
His gaze slid to Mar'kost, who was still holding onto my polearm. "I believe it would make more sense for him to accompany you."
"Who?"
"Mar'kost."
"And who's that?"
"You call him 'Mark...'"
"Never heard that name in my life. If you can't escort me, how about-" I looked to Raeve. "-my favorite murderous nix?"
She gawked at me for a moment before retreating into her bedroom.
I shrugged and forced a grin. "Guess you're the only option, Thyr."
"You're being childish."
"Debatable. So, are you going to let me go to Cadmus's place, or do I have to jump off the balcony?"
He stepped aside with a shake of his head. "You may go."
"Great." Dragging Mar'kost by the polearm, I marched out into the hall.
"This is ridiculous," he said in Cadmus's voice. "You know very well that I had no intention of hurting you or allowing you to be hurt."
And how, exactly, did I know that? How could I possibly know what his reaction to losing the Knight bond would be? Worst case scenario, he could turn on me in an instant. Even in a scenario that was only less than ideal, breaking the bond could stun him long enough for his team to make their move.
Holding the polearm with one hand, I walked him like a toddler on a leash into the lifter. He didn't speak in the presence of the lifter's operator, but as soon as we stepped outside the building, he started again.
"I only intended to cut the Knight bond long enough to convince them that it isn't controlling me."
And what if it was controlling him, at least to some degree? Finding that out in front of his team was the worst possible place to do it.
"This silent act does neither of us any good."
I wasn't so sure about that. Keeping quiet was obviously making him sweat, which was the exact reaction I'd intended to cause. I was sick and tired of being scared for my life while Mar'kost acted like there was nothing to worry about. Sweating for a half hour was the least he could do.
"Do you intend to stop talking to me forever? What about our dreamsâwill you pretend I don't exist then?"
Probably not. I didn't think I had the self control to not bite him and keep quiet at the same time. Not that I was about to tell him that.
"Look, I genuinely care about your well-being, and if Cadmus agrees to house you long term, it's likely for the best that you stay with him. But I don't want you to leave because you think I secretly want to see you harmed." He sounded genuinely concerned.
I almost said something but caught myself at the last second. He wasn't going to get me that easily. I had to be strong, at least for a little bit.
We walked for a while, Mar'kost pestering me the whole time. I managed to keep quiet until Cadmus's ranch came into view.
"I love you, and-"
I tripped over my slippers and pitched forward.
He caught me with a worried look. "Your heart sounds extraordinarily loud, but I can't sense anything else when I'm like this. Do you feel unwell?"
"Un-" I nearly choked on my own spit. "Why did you say that, just to get a reaction out of me?"
"No... I'm merely worried about your health."
"That's not what I meant, and you know it."
"I'm afraid I don't."
I scowled. "You said you love me just to make me say something. That isn't cool."
His red scales paled until they were almost pink. "I assure you, I didn't say that."
"Don't try to gaslight me. I know what I heard."
"I didn't-"
"Forget it." I stormed off toward the ranch.
"Liza, I wouldn't say something like that to mess with you. I mean no offense, but I highly doubt Aiba is your first language, and there are some subtle differences between the words used to describe platonic affection, romantic affection, and romantic love. For instance, the word I used-"
"I can't really speak Aiba. It's a magic thing. I'm pretty sure it's telepathy-related." If that were the case, he might not have used the word 'love,' but he'd certainly felt like using itâwhich only made me more uncomfortable.
"I see." His voice was notably higher than usual. "That makes sense. Might I implore you to disregard what your telepathy has told you?"
"Why? Thought you wanted to get back into my good graces."
"A declaration of love shouldn't mean anything to you so long as you believe my Knight bond prevents me from thinking clearly."
I didn't know what to say to that. It was true that I didn't really think he would feel the same way about me if the bond were cut, but the only way to find out was to cut it and risk losing him. Could I really take that chance? Not right now. In a few minutesâwhen I knew I wouldn't end up as easy pickings for a slaverâI might do it.
When we arrived at Cadmus's front door, he seemed surprised to see me again so soon.
"Bloodflight is still sleeping off her last meal. I'll send a message when she wakes up."
Half an hour of walking had worn off the furious adrenaline that sent me here, and I found myself at a loss for words. I already owed Cadmus for paying guys to watch a murderous drykon I'd unleashed on the world. How could I ask to stay in his house and eat his food after all that?
"Sorry to brush you off, but we're about to start dinner. Unless you have anything pressing to ask...?"
I shook my head. "I was just planning to go see Bloodflight. I can probably wake her up. Uh, could you point us in her general direction?"
He waved at the stables. "Ask Oster. He'll take you."
"Thanks."
With a curt nod, he went back inside.
"Are you going to ask him to stay after dinner?" Mar'kost asked.
I shook my head. "I can't."
"I can ask for you."
"Don't. I already owe him too much." To be honest, I also owed Mar'kost a lotâincluding an Interface he'd spent three years saving up for. He would regret that even more once the bond was cut, which I should do now. It wasn't right to enchant his mind, even if I would be in trouble without him. Only, it wasn't just a little trouble. I could literally be enslaved or die without someone on my side. But wasn't enslaving his mind even worse than enslaving someone's body? And maybe he wouldn't abandon me once he was free.
It would've been a relatively simple choice if I was only bargaining my own life, but the lives of nine other people from Earth could depend on me maintaining a strong Vangorn ally.
"Shall we go find Oster?"
I started at Mar'kost's voice. "Yeah. Let's go."
We headed for the stables.
"What worries you?"
I shrugged. "Oh, nothing, just weighing the lives of nine Earth people against your freedom."
Giving me an odd look, he hesitated before responding. "As I've said before, I don't believe the Knight bond has any serious effect on my mental state. If it would reassure you, remove me as your Knight."
"Of course you'd say that now."
He shook his head. "Why don't you remove the bond while we visit Bloodflight? If I turn on you, you can have her pin me down while you reinstate the bond."
"I don't know how to make a bond."
"It's easy. Tap the Interface to my chest, and it will ask if you want to add me to your Party. You can choose what position I'll hold, including as a Knight."
"Mmhmm." It was a good plan, assuming I had the guts to force him to be my Knight while he was fighting to be free. Unfortunately, I highly doubted that would be the case.
"You see a problem with my suggestion?" He stopped by the stable doors.
"No, if we ignore the part where I don't want to magically enslave you."
"I assumed you would only take such drastic measures if I posed an immediate threat to you."
"That doesn't really justify keeping you forever."
He cocked his head, wings partially spread. "To clarify, I proposed magical enslavement because the chances of me blaming you for a decision our ancestors made are minimal, and the chances of me attacking you due to them are exactly zeroâbecause I am not, nor have I ever been, a monster."
"But Raeve is?"
"She doesn't know you, and she was protecting me."
I wanted to say that he only knew me because of his Knight bond, but that was a circular argument which would get us nowhere. "Right." I ducked around him to enter the stables.
Osterâa bright green scalewing and Cadmus's right hand manâwas overseeing several stablehands mucking out stalls when we came over.
He gave me the same uneasy look that many of the stablehands did before addressing Mar'kost. "Cad-" His gaze alighted on my polearm in Mar'kost's hand. "Mar'kost, how can I help you?"
I hadn't yet determined whether his tendency to ignore me was because humans were considered unlucky or because telepaths freaked him out. Either way, I didn't particularly want to ask him to escort me out to Bloodflight. "Cadmus says you know where Bloodflight is?"
He hesitated, glancing at me for a moment but ultimately addressing Mar'kost. "He's 'bout ten kilotails that way." He pointed toward the end of the stables. "Hard to miss, even with the summer growth. Made a big 'ol nest."
"May we borrow Sparrowfoot?" Mar'kost asked.
He nodded. "Be careful; he hasn't had a good run today, and he's itching to bolt."
"Understood." Mar'kost ushered me to a stall at the far end of the stable.
Sparrowfoot was a lanky four-legged drykon with green scales, a feather mane and tail, and small bat wings. He danced from one cloven hoof to another, which produced surprisingly little noise despite the fact that he had to be nearly seven feet tall at the shoulder.
Mar'kost retrieved a saddle and bridle off the wall. With practiced efficiency, he put them on the antsy drykon before strapping my polearm to the saddle with a bit of leather wrapped around the sharp bits. Setting a bucket next to him, he gestured for me to come into the stall. Even with the bucket, I required a hefty push to clamber on Sparrowfoot's back. Mar'kost mounted behind me without apparent effort or assistance. Arms resting against my sides, he reached around me to take the reins. A slight tap on his sides sent Sparrowfoot leaping out of the stables.
Mar'kost pressed against my back, forcing me to bend forward as Sparrowfoot raced past the corrals. I clutched the saddle horn, unsure if it would've been enough to keep me in place without Mar'kost pinning me against it. I'd ridden a galloping horse before, but that was nothing compared to Sparrowfoot's break-neck speed. There had to be magic involved. Otherwise, there was no way something this large could move this fast carrying two riders.
We cleared the last corral and hit grass that would've been taller than me if I were standing on the ground. Sparrowfoot leapt above the grass, sending my stomach plummeting into my feet before skyrocketing into my head. As soon as his hooves touched the ground, he leapt again.
Up and down, we pogo-ed through the grass for a good ten minutes before lurching to a stop. A combination of the jumping and the saddlehorn digging into my stomach sent a wave of nausea through me. I gritted my teeth to keep from vomiting.
Mar'kost jumped down. I started sliding off, remembered too late how ridiculously tall Sparrowfoot was, and fell into Mar'kost's arms. He lowered me to the ground, where I sat with my head in my hands and tried not to think about how sick I was.
When the nausea had faded to a reasonable level, I looked up. Several scalewings and longstriders looked back at me. They were all accompanied by drykons that looked like Sparrowfoot, and they had big guns with long barrels. We were at the edge of a large clearing where the grass had been trampled or uprooted by the clearing's largest residenceâBloodflight. She slept on a massive pile of grass that had been roughly woven to resemble a nest.