Eona - Alison Goodman [41]
He drew back. “I do not consider that a weakness.”
“Nor do I,” I said quickly, “but I think High Lord Sethon will. He has already defeated your father once.”
He flinched at my blunt appraisal. I dared not move—dared not breathe—in case his idea of our equality did not match mine.
“My heart does not want to believe you, Naiso,” he said. “But my gut says you are right. Thank you.”
And then he bowed.
It was no more than a dip of his head, but it sent a chill through me.
It was too much equality. Too much trust. I had done nothing to deserve an emperor’s bow. I had not even fulfilled my first duty as Naiso: to bring him the truth, however difficult and dangerous. And the truth that I still kept hidden was very dangerous, indeed.
He had offered me his trust. If I was to be his Naiso, I had to offer him the proof that I too could be trusted.
“I cannot call my dragon.” Even as the words left my mouth, I wanted to claw them back.
His head snapped up. “What?”
“I cannot use my power.”
He stared at me. “At all?”
“If I try, the ten beasts who have lost their Dragoneyes rush us. Everything around me is destroyed.”
“Holy gods!” He rubbed at his forehead as if the pressure would force the bad news into his head. “When did you find this out?”
“At the fishing village. When I healed Ryko.”
“Tell me,” he said sternly. “Everything.”
With a tight hold on my emotions, I described calling the Mirror Dragon, healing Ryko, and the destructive force of the other beasts as they sought union with us. Finally, I told him about Lord Ido’s return.
“Are you saying you cannot use your power without Ido?”
“No! I am saying that he knows how to stop the other dragons, and I don’t. I’ve had no training. I was beginning to learn, but then—” I shrugged. He knew only too well the events that had stopped my training.
“What about the red journal? You told me it had the secrets of your power.”
“I’m hoping it has the secrets,” I said. “It is written in an old form of Woman Script, and in code. Dela is deciphering it as fast as she can, but even if she could read the whole book to me now, it would be of no use. If I called my dragon to practice its secrets, the other beasts would overwhelm me before I could do anything.”
“So you need Ido,” he said acidly. “You need him to train you and hold back the dragons.”
I wrapped my arms around my legs and dug my chin into my kneecap.
“Do you, or do you not need Ido?” Kygo’s voice sharpened into command.
“He’s probably dead, anyway.”
“We need to know if he is or not. You saw through his eyes once. Can you do it again?
“No!” I looked over my shoulder, afraid my vehemence had woken the rest of the camp. Yuso half drew his sword, but no one else stirred.
Kygo raised his hand, forestalling the guard’s approach. “Eona, we need to know if he is still alive. However much I despise the man, Ido is the only trained Dragoneye left.”
He had used my name without title. The small, sweet honor was overwhelmed by the danger of his request.
“I cannot risk calling my dragon,” I whispered. “People die.”
This time I could not hold back the memories: the fisher house crumbling around me; the pressure of wild power deep in my core; the hammering need of the sorrowing beasts; and the Rat Dragon, launching himself at them with savage speed.
The Rat Dragon! If he was in the circle, then there was a Rat Dragoneye still alive. And if it was Ido, then maybe I would feel his presence again through the dragon.
I clutched Kygo’s arm. “I can just look into the energy world. If Ido lives, I’m sure I will feel his Hua!”
“You just said the other dragons would rip you apart.”
“No, not if I don’t call my power. I’ll just go in, look, and get out again as fast as possible.”
“And that will be safe?”
“It will be safer than calling my dragon.”
“Do it,” he said. “But be careful.”
I hesitated. Was it safer? “If anything starts to change”—I pointed up at the night sky—“like the wind or the clouds, pull me back. Immediately.”
“How?”
“Shake me. Yell in my ear.