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28

FIFTY—A NICE ROUND NUMBER

T he Soundless was abandoned no longer.

Dozens of regular citizens braved the cold to watch as we were led away from the castle and surroundings that the DeNoy used for their playground. But the games weren’t over yet.

We weren’t taken to the arena, which was a relief. If the DeNoy liked to watch their bloodsports in the dead of a cold night, I might have volunteered to fight first just to get it over with.

Instead, we were led to a building close by, the place Sweetie called The Recovery. Once inside, we were prodded down a long staircase. The moist chill of an underground corridor attached itself to my skin as I shuffled forward. My damp robes hung heavy against my legs.

Torches flickered along the dirt walls, their orange flames casting eerie shadows that danced with every draft. On either side of the passageway, thick wooden doors with barred windows stood ajar, waiting to greet new occupants.

Tearloch and I held hands until that was no longer an option. As we moved along, men were peeled away one by one. They offered only vague protests that echoed as they disappeared into the dark, and doors closed behind them. I kept my breathing steady and held tight to my newfound happiness and prayed that it would last me until I saw the sun again.

At the far end of the corridor, the guards directed Minkin and Lennon to cells across from each other. The last door creaked ominously as it opened for me, revealing a small, stark chamber with a thin pallet raised off the floor and a blanket. Inside, the heat of a nearby torch had gathered to hold the chill at bay and gave me hope that here, away from the biting cold and snow above, my clothes might find a chance to dry.

After a good look around, finding no weakness I might exploit, I returned my nearly spent glow stone to my pocket to ration its weak light. And with nothing else to do, I gratefully stretched out on the pallet and pulled the thin blanket over me. How could I possibly complain. I had found my family…

I went to sleep feeling Tearloch’s lips on my forehead.

* * *

I woke to the sound of Demius clanging pans and fumbling around, looking for a breakfast he knew I had yet to prepare. It was too early to rise. I knew it because it was still dark.

“Go back to bed,” I growled, and closed my eyes again.

“Where is it?”

“Where is what?”

“The key! Where is the key?”

I put my hand to my chest, felt around until I found it hanging to one side. “It’s here. Now go to bed.”

“Remember what I told you. Trade it to no one. Show it to no one. It’s worth more than a few lives, no matter whose.”

I ignored his rambling and sank deeper into the night mist…

* * *

Again, I woke to the sound of clanging. The black night had receded, but only a little, so I sat up and barked, “Stop it, old man, or you will make your own breakfast!”

A low chuckle that didn’t belong to Demius, woke me completely. I was back on that cot, in my cell, trapped in The Soundless and waiting to learn my penalty for refusing to be a prisoner to a madman. Nonetheless, there I sat, Ciro’s prisoner.

At least we’d resisted.

“Lennon, are you there?” She’d gone into the cell next to mine.

“I’m here.”

“Minkin? Are you all right?”

“I’m whole.” Her voice came from across the hall.

“What about your wounds?”

She laughed lightly. “I’m hoping that they wouldn’t have bothered healing me if they only meant to feed me to their dragons.”

“That’s right. They need pieces for their games.”

“Yes,” Lennon said. “But what happened to the last pieces?”

“Enough!” A man barked at the same time he struck my door.

* * *

Hours later, our jailer gave us bread, water, and an empty bucket. But the aromas in the air told me someone would be eating well.

“Do you smell that?”

Lennon answered . “I smell it.”

“I hope you are hungry.” The hated voice of Ciro slipped in around my door, but he wasn’t speaking to me. “Lennon, my love, are you ready to negotiate?”

“Are you kidding? I’m always willing to negotiate. Whatcha got?”

“Well, firstly, I have a meal worthy of a DeNoy.”

“Not poisoned?”

He chuckled. “Not poisoned.”

“Are you sure? Because I’m pretty sure you poisoned my dragon, you son of a bitch. And the second you open that door, I’m sending my fist and your teeth down your degenerate throat!”

The man sighed dramatically. “Then I won’t be fool enough to open it. Send it back,” he mumbled. Then louder. “Let’s try something else. How about I make you an offer you cannot refuse?”

“Don’t waste your breath.”

“You really want to hear this, Lennon. You really do…if you care about your seraph.”

After a long beat, she answered. “I’m listening.”

“Lennooon!” Griffon’s call came from the opposite end of the corridor. She’d said once that he had excellent hearing, and I smiled knowing that Ciro wouldn’t be pleased to be interrupted while trying to woo Griffon’s mate.

I moved closer to my door and pressed my ear to the crevice between it and the wall, hoping to hear Ciro’s frustration clearly. Under the circumstances, I couldn’t imagine better entertainment.

As for Griffon, in calling out Lennon’s name, his message was clear. He was warning her that she wasn’t to make any deals in order to help him.

“You give up your mate and agree to stay here, with me, and I will spare the creature.”

“Spare him what?”

“For starters, how about those wings. Have you ever seen a seraph without its wings?”

Lennon said nothing.

“I’ll admit,” Ciro went on, “that I haven’t seen one either, but I am curious. Is he as attached to them as you are to your blue?”

Still, she held her tongue.

“Come now, Lennon. Agree to stay and I’ll allow him to leave.”

“All of them. You have to let all of them go. No, wait. I need to word this right. You will let all of them leave The Soundless, healthy and whole, without so much as a scratch, and you will give them safe passage to the palace in Ristat.”

Griffon shouted her name again.

“All of them? You must be joking. Twelve criminals? I’m sorry, my dear, but justice must be met.”

“All of them or nothing. And Kivi too.”

“That’s out of the question. A DeNoy and her dragon separated? Even Kivi would never stand for it. And without her, you wouldn’t have a place here.”

“Negotiations are over,” she said. “Come back tomorrow with an offer that doesn’t include me staying here, with you, for eternity.”

“Oh, no. You misunderstand. I wasn’t offering you eternity. What fun is that?” His voice turned creepy. “Millenia after millennia, we’ve grown weary of our paradise. But a contract is a contract, and we are doomed to remain here, in The Soundless, for the most part. We can come and go when needed, but our community as a whole is contained. As much a prison as it is a refuge.”

“Why don’t you negotiate with the king? Or, do that hibernation thing they talk about?”

“The gevri is not for the DeNoy. The heartstone does nothing for us, only for our dragons. But it doesn’t matter. We’ve thought of something better… You may or may not have noticed, but there are fifty DeNoy here, with their dragons, including myself. And that number never changes. We constantly keep an influx of new blood, but we will never have more than 50 at one time.”

“So you’re getting rid of the extra. By what, eating them?”

His laugh made my blood run cold.

“You’re only half right. A DeNoy’s dragon is only allowed to eat human flesh in the arena, and only if the opponent’s dragon dies first.”

My stomach turned. I’d only worried about dragon fire. I’d never imagined being eaten…

“Let me start from the beginning,” he continued. “First of all, at every Moonless Quarter, we invite a number of the Outer Soundless to compete for the chance to be matched with a dragon. As a DeNoy yourself, you know what sets you apart. You know what it is to hear the cloch realtas. And because many of our kind…look for affection…in the Outer Soundless, there are plenty of that population with DeNoy blood in their veins. Out of twenty, we are sure to find at least one.”

“You invite them? They volunteer? Or you force them here, just like you forced us?”

“Only volunteers. They believe it is a great honor to become DeNoy. What other excitement can they find in their bucolic lives?”

“Disgusting.”

He chuckled without warmth. “Withhold your judgment to the end, my dear. When we find the chosen one, we send the rest away with tales of grand rituals and extraordinary delights, so they will spread the word. And each time we ask for volunteers, we have more than we could want.”

“And the chosen one?”

“He or she chooses a cloch realta. The rest I suspect you already experienced yourself. Touching the stone calls the dragon. The gold from the stone binds them together in mind, spirit, and body…”

“I’m sensing a but here.”

“However, if the dragon that appears is blue…”

“You can’t allow it to live.”

“Ah, you see? That is our dilemma. It used to be that we were required to slaughter any blue dragon, to prevent the prophecy from reaching fruition. But now…”

“Now you’ll just do it for fun.”

He heaved another heavy sigh. “If I am honest, I do not know what we will do. We will continue to discuss it. We have time. You just missed the last Moonless Quarter.”

“And what happens to my blue dragon in the meantime?”

“Well,” his voice turned icy again. “Luckily for you, I’m the one with the most sway in these matters. So, if you make me happy, things may fall your way. I want them to fall your way, Lennon. I really do. As to your worry about being here forever, you will have the same chances as the rest. If you stay, we get to have a special duel to make up for you taking a position here. Two names will be drawn ? —”

“A lottery.”

“Yes. And those DeNoy and their dragons will face each other ? —”

“This is your blood sport.”

He paused. Maybe he didn’t appreciate being interrupted. “One of them, yes. The two pairs will fight in the arena. Only one pair will survive. And the space for you will be created. But after this duel, your name will be added to the collective. The chances of your name being draw n will be ? —"

“One in fifty--”

“One in twenty-five. And since we do this four times a year, the chance of being chosen is technically one in eight. How long do those odds hold out? You see? You may be here for years, for a decade, but few last longer.”

Lennon laughed. “So this is your sales pitch? Come, stay here until you die in the arena. But cheer up, it’s going to happen sooner or later, and the smart money is on sooner?”

“I don’t understand the terms you’ve used, but that is the gist of it, yes. But don’t you see? Life is sweeter knowing it may end at any time. Every day is appreciated instead of spending century after century with nothing to stir one’s blood. We don’t waste our time with mates and families. Life is now too fleeting for such inanities. We enjoy every day as if it might be our last. You have no idea how our lives have improved since the old days.”

“Wow. I thought you were insane before. Now I know you are. And I’m going to give you a hard pass. Not interested in joining your island of misfit dragons.”

Ciro was quiet for a long time. It was torture not to be able to see his face. “Very well,” he said, followed by the scrape of a chair. “Tomorrow, we shall see how difficult it is to remove a seraph’s wings.” The sharp clip of Ciro’s boots moved to my door. The small, barred window opened, and his menacing eyes found me. “What about you, Princess Asper? Care to negotiate for your men’s lives? Or maybe just the one?”

I suddenly remembered my dream and Demius’ repeated warning. I forced my hands to remain at my sides so I didn’t reach for the key still hidden under my clothes. Obviously, it would interest Ciro due to the dragon image alone, and if I died in the arena, it would likely end up in his hands anyway. But that dream was still too fresh. And Demius still had a hold on me. Besides, Tearloch would never?—

“Asper, don’t you dare!” Tearloch couldn’t have heard, couldn’t have read my thoughts. He didn’t even know about the key. Griffon must have relayed Ciro’s proposition.

“I think,” I said, swallowing a lump in my throat, “that if you’re looking for companionship, Lord Ciro, you’ll have better luck…snuggling up to your blackhearted dragon.”

His eyes narrowed. “So bold, so brave. I see your imaginations have failed you, ladies. But very soon…you will look back on this moment and wish you had… capitulated. ”

“Oh my gosh, Asper,” Lennon shouted . “Did that clown just make a joke?”

We laughed him out of the place, not stopping until we heard those boots marching up the stairs.

“Lennon,” I whispered, hoping no one else would hear.

“Yes?”

“If Tearloch is tortured because of me?—”

“Don’t say it. Don’t think it. Whatever happens, Ciro is to blame. The last thing they want is for us to make a deal with the devil ? —”

“But if I can save him?—”

“Do you really think that monster will hold up his side of any bargain? Not on your life. Besides, it’s not over ‘til the fat lady sings.”

I didn’t know what lady she was talking about, but I was sure she was trying to say we shouldn’t count the men out just yet.