Page 13

The next morning, I found Elang in the garden, tending to those hideous inkblot flowers.

He kept working even as I drew near, nicking off dead blooms with his bare hands and tossing them into the pond.

“What are they called?” I asked in lieu of a morning greeting.

The scales along Elang’s ear raised like hackles, the only acknowledgment he made of my presence.

He kept working.

He was dressed in a swath of cloud-white silk, hardly appropriate gardening attire.

Meanwhile, I wore the same ragged outfit as yesterday, swapping in a new tunic but only because the old one was stained with Gaari’s blood.

I tossed my hair behind my shoulders as I straightened.

“I’ve made my decision.”

Finally I had Elang’s attention.

He wiped his hands—his claws —of dirt.

“I’m listening.”

His black mask was as jarring as ever.

Paired with his cloud-white robes, he reminded me of Tamra, the god of death.

Except for the clashing yellow and gray eyes, eternally at odds.

“A month,” I said, getting straight to the point.

“I won’t be away from my family for longer.”

“I wouldn’t have asked for more,” intoned Elang, “for that is the time I require as well. By happenstance, the end of the month coincides with the Resonant Tide in Ai’long.”

“The Resonant Tide?”

“When the waters are darkest in my realm. It oft occurs when you humans are celebrating the end of a dragon year.”

It was currently the middle of the dragon year.

I clasped my hands together, ignoring the sudden pressure in my fingertips.

“Wait. It’s six months until the new year.”

“Six months on land is equivalent to one month in Ai’long.” He leaned ever so slightly forward.

“That is what you asked for, is it not?”

It was then that I remembered the stories, that time flowed differently in Ai’long than in the mortal realm.

“You tricked me!”

“That is what you asked for, and it is what I granted. In any case, a month in the mortal realm would be mere days in Ai’long. You couldn’t possibly complete my task in time.”

He was already starting to grate on me.

How would I endure a whole month with this monster?

Three chests of jewels, Tru, I reminded myself.

Three chests of sparkling, chestnut-big jewels.

My family will never have to worry about money again.

“Fine, but there’s one more thing,” I said.

“I want to know what the painting is.”

At that, Elang’s lips parted against the edge of his mask, and he rose to his full height.

“Walk with me.”

He didn’t stride ahead this time, deliberately keeping a pace that I could match.

I followed him deeper into the garden, across the paved promenades and a grove of longan trees.

The drooping clusters of brown berries were the only fruits I’d seen so far.

Beyond, up a short ascent of stone steps, was a wooden pavilion.

Its roofs were blue, like the pond andsky.

“What is this place?” I asked as we entered.

Rather than answer, Elang sat on one of the benches.

The air inside the pavilion shone with crests of color, like the sides of a bubble, and a coat of silvery magic lined every beam and rafter.

“Sit,” he said.

“You wanted to know about the painting, did you not?”

“That depends. Are you still going to kill me if I change my mind?”

Elang’s yellow eye burned.

“You won’t change your mind.”

“That’s presumptuous.”

“We’ll see.”

I ground my teeth.

Now that I knew he was cursed, so much made sense.

His hard-hearted arrogance toward everything and everyone around him.

Even his mask.

I plopped myself down on the other end of Elang’s bench.

“I think I know what you want me to paint for you.”

He lifted his chin expectantly.

“Your pearl,” I revealed.

“Without it, you’re trapped between two worlds, never fully dragon nor human.” I bit down on my lip.

“I know a little of what that’s like. But at least no one questions that I’m human.”

He still said nothing.

“The pearl is your heart,” I went on.

“Getting it back is the only way you’ll become a full dragon and find your place in Ai’long. There could be nothing you want more than to find it.”

“So you heard about the curse,” said Elang flatly.

“You need my help,” I stated.

“You should know, I can’t control what I see in my visions. But I’m willing to try and help you find your pearl.”

His gaze narrowed.

“You offer this because you pity me.”

I leaned back against the pavilion wall.

“I wouldn’t go that far. There’s the three chests of jewels too. But you’re not what I thought, Lord Elang. You may have no heart, but you aren’t without feeling.”

For the second time, he laughed.

“What’s so funny?” I asked.

“I thank you for devoting so much thought to my…affliction,” he said, finally taking off his mask.

“But you are mistaken.”

His eyes met mine, and I couldn’t stop myself from recoiling.

I’d seen his face before.

The horns, the iron-thick scales, the ringed and hooded eye—all in stark disharmony with the human side.

Yet here, under the brunt of daylight, the line splitting the two sides of his face was sharper.

More visceral.

Seeing my reaction, he turned, fixing his gaze resolutely on the pond.

“My pearl is what I want others to think you’re here for. I know precisely where it is, and you need not concern yourself on the matter. Do you think I would involve a human like you, and marry you, simply for the sake of an irksome curse? No. Your mission is far more important thanthat.”

I didn’t understand.

“What could be more important to you than breaking your curse?”

“The future of Ai’long,” he replied.

He lifted a claw to my face, and I held my breath as he traced his talon-sharp nails along my jawline, leaving only the narrowest strait of air between us.

His voice fell lethally soft.

“You see, Truyan Saigas, you are going to help me overthrow the Dragon King.”

All at once, my world tilted, and everything came into staggering focus.

The Dragon King.

The God of the Four Supreme Seas.

The ruler of the sea dragons, who controlled the monsoons and storms that devastated A’landi’s coasts.

I shot up to my feet.

“Are you out of your mind? You want to overthrow the Dragon King?”

“Say it louder,” Elang urged.

“His spies are everywhere. Maybe even among those fruit flies hovering above the longans.”

I tensed.

Longans were called dragon eyes.

But so what if the Dragon King heard me?

“I didn’t agree to murder,” I whispered in a hiss.

“I read through the contract three times. Nowhere did it mention killing—”

“Your conscience may rest easy,” said Elang.

“No one is going to die.”

“But you just—”

“I said overthrow. Your imagination leapt to assassinate. ”

I put my hands on my hips.

“That’s how it’s done in A’landi.”

“Well, gods don’t perish as easily as mortals do,” Elang replied.

“And you needn’t whisper. My grandfather’s power is weakened on land, and my estate is outside of his reach. He’ll only hear you if you decide to bellow like a whale.”

I scowled, certain Elang had enjoyed putting me on edge.

“Why are you doing this?”

“A good question.” Elang rose to my side, his arms locked behind his back.

“In your stories, King Nazayun is rarely kind. Imagine that cruelty multiplied a hundredfold.”

“You mean, you hold a grudge?”

“You have a gift for understatement, Truyan.”

I sighed.

“What exactly would my role be?”

“You’ll need to study my grandfather’s likeness. For a portrait.”

My brows pinched.

“A portrait requires a sitting, or at least a meeting. I’m guessing the Dragon King is not amenable to this.”

“He is not. Under ideal circumstances, I would take you to his palace to meet him in person, but our situation is…delicate. Regardless, I’m sure he will come to you in some form or another. My grandfather despises me, and he’ll be displeased that I’ve returned. But he’ll also be curious about you. My wife.”

My wife.

Even the sun couldn’t keep me from feeling cold.

“Why the look of distress?” Elang asked.

“You’ve painted dragons before.”

The scoundrel.

He knew exactly why.

“It takes time to re-create someone’s likeness,” I replied.

It wasn’t a lie.

“How am I supposed to study your grandfather if I can’t even meet him?”

“You will meet him, eventually. That much is inevitable if you are to succeed at your task. Until then, I have engaged the most qualified aide to counsel you. And you’ll have your Sight.”

“I’m not understanding,” I said.

“What does a portrait have to do with vanquishing the God of the Seas? It’s just a painting.”

Elang turned to face me fully, his yellow eye netting the light of the sun, turning almost gold.

The sight unsettled me, but I didn’t look away.

“It will be anything but just a painting,” he said.

“It must be precise, every hair in place, every muscle and ridge and scale. No detail can be missed.”

My whole body tensed.

Even without the specifics, I was starting to register the enormity of what Elang was orchestrating, and the consequences it might have for all involved.

“There are plenty of better painters in the world,” I said.

“Sorcerers, even. Ask one of them.”

“I cannot. Any candidate with sorcery would raise my grandfather’s suspicions. Whereas Sight, quite ironically, is imperceptible.”

No one had ever looked at me so intently before.

I flinched and averted my gaze.

“Then you’re out of luck,” I said.

“Do what you must to me. Have Shani erase my memory, lock me up in your dungeon. I don’t care. But if I harm a god, there will be a price to pay—what good will jewels do my family if Nazayun smites us dead? At least Yargui and Renhai are human. My family can escape them. They won’t be able to escape the Dragon King.”

I turned on my heel and had gotten as far as the edge of the pavilion when Elang said, in his lowest voice:

“What if I told you that the Dragon King was responsible for sinking your father’s ship?”

I staggered, the wind suddenly punched out of me.

“What?”

“Your father,” Elang said, “was last seen in Ai’long.”

I went numb.

That was impossible.

No one had seen a dragon in centuries.

Even if they had…

Baba had been on a ship with a crew of forty men.

I’d talked to the sailors who’d been with him, who’d seen him last.

None had uttered a word about Ai’long.

Truth be told, they hadn’t said much of anything.

Five years of searching, and I’d found nothing.

It seemed too lucky, too serendipitous that here Elang appeared, promising to have all the answers.

Yet what if he was telling the truth—could Baba be in Ai’long?

Could he be alive?

“There are thousands of sailors who go missing at sea,” I said, finally finding my voice.

“How would you even know who my father is?”

Elang reached into his jacket and pulled out a folded piece of paper.

It was wrinkled and yellowed by time, but I would have known it anywhere.

It was the drawing I’d given Baba before he’d left.

On the last day I’d seen him alive.

My hands shook as I unfolded this relic of my past.

Three girls, their parents, a dragon, and a flock of flying silk dresses.

The lines were clumsy and the colors unblended and smudged, yet after all these years, the image was still dear to me.

Still funny, too, though I couldn’t bring myself to laugh.

I pressed it close, my chest aching from a wound that had never healed.

Baba.

“One of my spies found it in the Dragon King’s palace,” Elang was saying.

“I believe your father was a captive there.”

I spun on him angrily.

“This is how you knew I’d agree to help you. All this time, you were waiting to play this ”—I waved the painting at him—“against me.”

“Humans are predictable,” he replied.

“Yes, I knew you’d agree once you saw it. But it’s not a game, Truyan. Nothing is being played.”

“You’re planning to play me against your grandfather,” I said hotly.

“I’m not a pawn, Lord Elang, and my past isn’t something you can manipulate for leverage.”

Not a flicker crossed Elang’s face.

He started to rise, completely unmoved by my outburst.

“Shani will bring you a revised contract. This one, I advise you don’t share with anyone.”

I refused to let him have the last word.

“You’re despicable,” I spat.

His shoulders tensed into a line.

“Call me what you will. But you should know—I didn’t want to tell you about your father unless I had to.”

“Then why did you?”

“Because I know what it’s like to want something impossible. How it keeps you up at night when everyone else is sleeping, and it ticks in your mind and haunts your every thought.” His gaze met mine, and I wondered what a half dragon like him could possibly want.

“You wish to know the truth about your father? You’ll find it in Ai’long.”

“When I meet the Dragon King,” I finished for him, still fuming.

“How convenient for you that our missions should align so neatly.”

“The fates are not known for being kind. But they do have a sense of humor.” Elang plucked the drawing out of my hand, and it vanished at his touch.

“Hey!” I cried.

“For safekeeping. It will be returned to you at the end of our arrangement.”

He was maddening, but for all that I fantasized about smashing a lantern over his head, I couldn’t deny the inkling of hope slithering into my heart.

I grabbed his sleeve.

“You said my art was found in Nazayun’s palace. You really think my father is his prisoner?”

Elang eyed his sleeve, glaring until I dropped it.

Then he replied, “It is likely that he was.”

“Was?”

“I’ve inquired as to whether he’s still alive. Thus far, I’ve found nothing. I can search more, if I am able to return to Ai’long.”

Something about the raw look in his eyes told me he wasn’t lying.

Moreover, he needed me as much as I neededhim.

Then I had no choice.

My hands fell to my sides.

“I’ll need to know my family will be safe.”

“Nothing will happen to your mother and sisters. You have my word as a dragon.”

“As a dragon?” I echoed.

“Immortals are bound to their promises,” he explained.

“They cannot break them without suffering divine consequence. Something useful for you to know.”

That did seem useful.

I wet my lips, remembering a point that Mama had brought up yesterday.

“ I’m not going to become an immortal by marrying you…am I?”

“You’ll only become an immortal if you take the Oath of Ai’long,” Elang replied.

“You’d have to swear fealty to the Dragon King, and I’d give you a piece of my pearl. That can’t happen if I don’t have a pearl.”

That was a relief, though Mama would be disappointed.

I had one last question, but I hesitated.

“Will I be safe?” I asked.

“You say your grandfather is cruel. I’m…I’m mortal.”

“So you are.” Elang loomed near.

“My grandfather and I have an accord. He’s sworn an oath not to harm my Heavenly Match. As long as he believes you are the one to break my curse, he cannot have you killed.”

I raised an eyebrow.

“Why would he swear not to hurtme?”

“Dragons have some honor” was all Elang would say, rather tightly.

“Even my grandfather.”

That wasn’t particularly reassuring.

“What if he doesn’t believe I’m the one?”

“You’re a swindler, aren’t you? Make him believe.”

It was a struggle, holding back my glare.

“I’ll try.”

“You will.” His tone matched mine then, quiet and firm.

“I’ve seen the lengths you’ll go to, to protect your family. You should know, I would not have selected you if I didn’t believe you up to the task.”

Was he threatening me or offering a compliment?

Whatever it was, his gaze was resolute, both eyes—light and dark—unwavering.

He meant it.

“Then I have no more questions,” I said.

“I’ll come withyou.”

An invisible string lifted Elang’s chin.

“I have your word?”

The way he said it, almost a whisper, made me look up.

Had I heard the faintest trace of hope in his voice?

“Yes, you have my word…but only as a human.”

A half laugh.

“That’s all I can ask for.”

“Does this mean we’re betrothed?”

“Almost, but now I have a question.” He spoke slowly, “Is it Tru or Truyan?”

I blinked.

“What?”

“Your sisters call you Tru, your mother calls you Truyan. Which is correct?”

It was the last thing I expected him to ask.

“Call me Tru,” I replied.

“Just Tru. Truyan is what my mother calls me when she’s putting on a show for strangers. Or when she’s upset.”

“Tru,” Elang repeated.

The wind lifted a lock of black hair over his eyes.

“I’ll remember.”

“What do I call you ?” I asked.

His lips twisted.

He put his mask on again.

“Just Elang. Not lord, not Elangui.”

It was a start, knowing what to call each other.

I wanted to laugh at the absurdity of it, but knew I’d end up laughing alone.

What have I gotten myself into?

I thought as I saw the outline of a claw beneath his silken sleeve.

“Come with me to tell my family,” I said.

“My mother will never forgive me if she hears the news from someone elsefirst.”