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I startled. I wasn’t touching her, yet she had still spoken to me. Likely all of us judging on how John’s face paled.
I pressed my lips together. “Foolish, I suppose? I thought—well, I thought I had to be touching you. For you to bridge the mental connection. I can see now that I was mistaken.”
The dragon flopped over onto her side and began making wheezing noises. Her wing knocked into a lamp which crashed onto her. Though the flame of it hit her scales, she seemed unbothered. Nor did she even seem to feel it at all.
“Is—” I gave my head a shake, “is she laughing?”
Two rings of smoke came out of her nostrils, as she rolled onto her back. That had to be uncomfortable on her wings, but what did I know of wings?
Amory was smiling, her brown eyes bright. “I am afraid we haven’t allowed you any information on our culture, so it really isn’t your fault, Your Grace. But no, she does not need to touch you to speak to you. She can speak to you whenever she would like while you are in the room, multiple people at once, however, usually not more than ten people at a time.” She paused as her face went more serious. “Which is somewhat the point. She can only speak to around ten of her people at a time. So she has been forced to delegate a large amount of the typical duties which she had normally done herself.”
The dragon was still laughing on the floor, paying nothing else any attention.
“My apologies for touching you, Queen Estalena,” I offered. “I falsely assumed I had to.”
No, I just didn’t require your conversation.
And then she seemed to be back to laughing. It was an odd thing, to see a beast of massive proportions do something as human as laugh. They seemed to be built for either protection or destruction. Then again, there was a human soul still somewhere within that dragon form.
Amory was back to smiling. “It is really quite impressive she didn’t snap at you either time.” She brushed her hands together. “Now? How about I call for some tea and you can learn about Dra Skor?”
“We’d love that,” John offered.
“My Queen,” Amory said to the dragon still on the floor.
The dragon didn’t move, just kept sputtering about.
“My Queen,” Amory tried more strongly. “Would you mind flying down to the kitchen and asking for some refreshments for our guests before you fly your perimeter patrol? You know it is far faster that way than if I call.”
She grunted her dislike, but at least stopped rolling on the ground. Soon enough she made her way to the balcony railing and just flopped over the side. My eyes went wide, but then two moments later, wings flapping, I could see her flying over to another wing of the castle.
Amory turned to me, her eyes watery. She waited a few moments before saying, “I sent her away intentionally only to say this. That woman is the greatest queen any of us could ever ask for. Yes, she is powerful in her dragon form, but she is also kind and truly cares for her people. Even her brother does not really want to take the crown from her. We have six months before the former king and queen start taking their ultimatum seriously and putting things into motion to take her off the throne. Under normal circumstances you would be the last people I would ask for help, but please help me save her.”
“Six months,” John repeated. “We will give you our best effort.”
“And I think it goes without saying, but your visit can be longer than the week deadline we gave you,” Amory added. “I don’t know how long any of you can stay....”
“As long as it takes,” I finished for her. We had to give this our best effort. This country could crush Wylan if it merely got the inclination to.
She gave me a nod. “That is kind to hear, but I assure you, it gets exhausting expecting a change and seeing none. It wears on a person.”
“Well, you have fresh eyes now, Miss Amory,” John began. “And I do like puzzles.”
My father had liked puzzles too, as did I if I was truly being honest with myself. I had often been found pestering the sages growing up. But the difference between my father and myself or John is that we had morals. We wouldn’t sacrifice people in order to solve the puzzle.
Amory stood and gestured to a table, moving quickly and gracefully to grab a rolled-up map before stretching it on the table before us. There was a metal weight with dragon wings carved into the top which she used to keep it all in place.
“Dra Skor is the largest land mass in the realm,” she began. “Which I do not mean to say to brag but say rather as a fact. We believe that the Enchantments were blessings to protect the lands given to us. So Dra Skor was given the gift of shape-shifting. A way to protect our lands and creatures from within.”
She pointed to the castle. “There are four different kinds of creatures we can shift into, a land and winged version of each.”
Emric’s excitement was palpable. If she opened the door and led one of each in the room, he likely would’ve given a standing ovation.
Amory gave us a tight smile and pulled out a book, which I assumed was about their forms. “Dragons, as you can imagine, are revered here. They are the biggest shifted form, and also our greatest protection.”
“Wait,” Emric interrupted. “So there is a land dragon?”
Her lips twitched. “Yes. The land dragons are unique in that of the land shifters, they are the only ones who are amphibious and can also swim. They protect the sea perimeter while the winged dragons protect from above.”
