Page 77 of Court of Talons

“I…it’s forbidden to me.” A curious non-answer. “I serve the Lord Protector.”

“Well, yes. But not in the same way as a servant, right?” I find myself tired of this misdirection. It’s time someone told me the truth about what’s chained Fortiss to this place as much as the beast below us. “I mean, you’re a warrior. Why don’t you have a Divh?”

I can sense his withdrawal, but in the darkness, it seems that secrets are easier to share. At length, he speaks, with the tone of a man confessing to a crime. “Because I’m not worthy. When my father died, I wasn’t with him. The band was supposed to transfer to me. I was his only son. Only…it didn’t. I wasn’t worthy, then or…or later.”

The scratching beneath us has stopped, and I can almost imagine the dragon’s graceful head twitching to the side, her cruel teeth gleaming in the half-light as Fortiss speaks. But the creature comes no closer, doesn’t lift her mighty head.

“My father was the greatest warrior in the land,” Fortiss continues. “Toma the dragon—they called him dragon in honor of his Divh. It was the most fearsome creature in the Protectorate, some said, swift and lithe. There were hundreds of bardic tales written to honor both my father and his Divh.”

Szonja.The word is whispered in my mind.Szonja.

“She,” I murmur. My eyes are wide beneath my hood, my breath practically choking in my throat. So this Divhdoesby rights belong to Fortiss—she does.

Fortiss pauses. “What?”

“The Divh, your father’s Divh. The dragon. She’s a she, not an it.” The word forms again in my mind, quick and absolute,Szonja. A more beautiful name I’ve never heard, and one that fits this mighty Divh perfectly. I open my mouth to speak it but catch myself just in time. As Merritt, I could share this name. As Talia, I can’t.

I can sense Fortiss’s scowl even though I can’t see it. “How would you know? He never told me its name.”

The snap of gnashing teeth is so loud, I jerk back, and Fortiss reaches out and clasps my arm, pulling me farther away from the abyss. “What was that?”

“I don’t know,” I lie. “What else do you know of your father’s Divh?”

“Well…I only saw it once. My father went out one morning with me to the marshlands and lifted his arm and it?—”

“She.”

“Sheappeared in the near-dawn light and, well, she was glorious. Ebony and sapphire with spears of gold glistening along her skin. Her wings full and proud, her expression fierce, her…” He frowns. “Why am I calling it a ‘her’ again?”

“Because it’s her truth.” I pause. “She sounds like a worthy Divh for the greatest warrior in all the land.”

“Yes,” he sighs. “And Rihad told me I’d surely merit it—her—when the time came. But he was wrong. I was only twelve, but…my father died before the transfer could be completed. Rihad wears the band himself, now, in sorrow for my father’s death. He…” He swallows. “He’s supposedly truly banded to the Divh, double banded and all, though I’ve never seen it…her…I’ve never seen her again. What’s more, the Lord Protector has never awarded me my own Divh either. I haven’t been worthy.”

I stare at Fortiss as rage and sorrow waft up from the cavern, and more than that—I know how he feels. Know the burden of a shame you can never release, no matter how hard you try. In that moment, I also sense another truth. Fortiss is first-blooded and firstborn, and for him, that means something. It means honor, discipline. Adherence to the old ways, and to a path that shines in the Light. He would never have intentionally killed Merritt, and he didn’t loose that arrow. But that doesn’t mean he is innocent of being his uncle’s pawn.

“You’re going to fight with his Divh, though, aren’t you? I heard the others talking. That would be a feat of worth.”

He blows out a long breath. “I don’t want to fight with a borrowed Divh. I’ve never heard of a bond that allows such a transfer of allegiance, and it feels…it feels like a lie, somehow. I wish to fight honorably. With my own Divh.”

I nod. “What if your Divh was injured, somehow, and not the glorious creature like—like your father’s Divh? What if she…or he…was weaker? Smaller? What would you do, then?”

He thinks for a moment. “Size is no replacement for heart. That’s something my father once said. If my Divh is small or hurt, but it?—”

SHE.

This time, I don’t have to remind Fortiss. It’s as if he can hear the Divh in his own mind, even if he can’t understand it. “—but if she still chose me, then…” He shrugs. “That’s all I’d need. It’d be the same as if she was the mightiest creature in all the land.”

There’s a sound of rippling hide, and Fortiss jerks his head toward the cool darkness. “Did you hear that?” he asks, a frown in his voice.

I feel the quick, hurried touch of Szonja in my mind, urging me away. “I think we can probably go now.” I stand and pull up the jar, now empty, but he takes it from me without leaving the edge.

“Have you seen it?” he asks. “The beast Rihad keeps here?”

“I have,” I allow. “But not often. Maybe only once before.” I suddenly don’t want him to see Szonja this way, and I wonder…are these my own thoughts, or something the Divh is impressing on me, asking me to leave? Does she not want to reveal herself to Fortiss in her current state, broken and chained? Either way, I feel I must honor the sense that we should step away from this dank cavern.

Fortiss seems to agree, and we turn toward the bars. Once we are safely through, he sets down the salve jar again. I hesitate, frowning at him as he hesitates. The shadows shroud him in gloom, and I can barely make out the features of his face. “Are you all right?”

He stares at the bars another long moment then back at me.