Dragon Rule - E. E. Knight [42]
With that, HeBellereth rose, and the members of the Aerial Host followed his example.
Wistala came to her feet, said, “I shall return,” and trotted off after him.
The feast had turned into a disaster.
“I’m sorry we caused such a rift in your celebratory feast,” NiVom said.
Imfamnia laughed. “Well, I never. What, he thought I might attack him? Our Tyr, who has smashed our enemies aboveground and below, retreats at the sight of one ragged exile? And a female at that?”
Ragged? Natasatch thought to Auron. She’s dye-washed her scales to add contrast. Her servants have labored many hours with brushes to get that pattern.
The rest of the dragons shifted about nervously.
“Protector AuRon,” NiVom announced. “I’ve brought a specialty of my kitchens. In these waxed baskets—a dessert fit for the Tyr, even if he’ll have none. Brains in sweet brandy!”
She extended her wings and rotated them down, a sort of a bow crossed with a flourish, to AuRon’s mind, beautifully executed.
Part of him couldn’t help comparing Natasatch to the former Queen of the Lavadome. Everything NiVom’s mate did, she did gracefully.
Wistala settled down next to her Copper brother.
“I suppose I’ve let you down. Nilrasha would have smoothed all that over much better, or warned AuRon about Imfamnia in the first place. I’m not very good at these squabbles.”
“Neither am I,” the Copper said. “It’s the way many of the dragons in the Lavadome were raised. There’s nothing important for them to do, so they pick at each other. Reminds me of the baboons I saw in Bant. They’re either hurling dung at each other or picking nits.”
“Baboons,” she laughed. “Well, AuRon’s put together a good feast. You’ll have a fine cold breakfast in the morning.”
“I suppose I should have a conference with him. Just to see how he’s getting on. I’d like to know more about that daughter of his, Istach.”
“Why her?”
“Doesn’t she remind—well, never mind. She seems a bright young dragonelle and it’s a waste to haver just trailing after her parents like a hatchling. Did she come off badly in a fight as a drakka?”
Wistala wondered at this sudden interest. She hoped he hadn’t set his heart on winning all of AuRon’s offspring—three of the four were already serving the Grand Alliance. “I don’t know. I believe she grew up on that island of theirs.”
“There’s something about this I don’t like” the Copper said. “Imfamnia’s not a threat. She does incidental damage with her vanity and greed, it’s never intended. She just loves being the center of attention and having things her own way. In a way, she enjoys being an outcast. It gets others talking about her.”
“I don’t know her at all. She was gone long before I arrived at the Lavadome. She’s a terrible fighter in the air, I can attest to that.”
The Copper lowered his voice. “What was AuRon playing at, inviting her? The little rat tail. He’s up to something, I feel it. By stepping away from his feeding pit, it makes me the loser. I should have held my tongue and just pretended she wasn’t there.”
“AuRon’s new to all these customs too. He mentioned something about her helping them gather enough bullocks to feast the dragons. He and his mate didn’t want to be embarrassed in his first official meeting with his Tyr.”
Her brother looked at her with such astonishment. Wistala suddenly realized that she’d overheard his thoughts. Dragons could only read each other’s minds after long acquaintance, though family members could usually pick up on much of what their shared blood was thinking.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to break in on your thoughts,” Wistala said. She felt his mind dissipate and retreat from hers like water steaming off hot iron.
“I’ll have to be more careful around you,” the Copper said. “I sometimes think the only reason I survived my youth in the Lavadome was because no one knew my mind well enough to sense what I was thinking.”
“Would you like to talk about AuRon? You don’t fear he’s plotting against