Page 27 of Kingdom of Spirits
“Poor fellow. He really cared for the commander.”
“Yes. It was so sudden.”
“There’s abutin your tone.”
Tahlia chewed her lip. “He isn’t acting like he’s just grieving. He said he has a personal mission to go on.”
“Right now?” Fara frowned.
“I think so. That’s odd, isn’t it?”
“It’s not out of the question,” Fara said, “but the timing is strange.”
Tahlia shrugged. “Perhaps Ophelia is ordering him to go somewhere, some last request of her father’s?”
Fara’s eyes narrowed. “Or she is pretending it is.”
“I’m going to follow him.” Tahlia entered the stall and patted Vodolija, indicating she should move closer to the saddle that sat on the narrow wooden shelf embedded in the stone wall. “Sucha gorgeous lady,” she murmured to the dragon. She dropped a quick kiss on one of her shiny, shiny scales.
“Will you ask your unit to join you?”
“No, why?”
“Because they are your unit. Your loyalty to one another is tighter than family.”
“They don’t trust me enough just to go along. They’d ask questions I don’t have answers to. Besides, what about all your warnings?”
Tahlia’s heart ached painfully at the thought of losing Vodolija. She ran a hand down the dragon’s scales and breathed in slowly, just enjoying being in the dragon’s calming presence.
“I meant that it could be deadly to accuse Ophelia in front of the other units, the staff, Bloodworkers, or Healers. Your unit isn’t going to report you.” Fara looked at Tahlia like the very idea was unthinkable.
“You didn’t see Claudia and Justus at the tavern. They don’t like me. At all. Claudia is tight with Maiwenn, who as we both know loathes everything about me.”
“Why didn’t you tell me more about that night? I’m here for you, Tahl.”
Fara’s eyes had softened, and Tahlia’s spirit railed against the pity in their depths. Maybe it wasn’t pity, but it sure felt like it.
“Because honestly, I don’t love whining about people not liking me. It makes me feel… I don’t know, Fara.”
“It makes you feel weak and you hate that.”
“Wow. Yes, fine. It does.”
“But just because you feel that way doesn’t make it true. You aren’t weak because you care about what they think. Being upset about the time they’re taking to trust you doesn’t make you lesser.”
Tahlia’s skin itched and she wanted this conversation to end already. “Well, regardless, I can’t risk it.”
“You have to face them, Tahlia. I’ll beat them into a pile of broken bones with nothing but my indomitable rage, then they’ll have no choice but to listen.”
A low laugh tripped from Tahlia, and Fara scowled.
“But seriously, if you’re ever to build that trust,” Fara said, “you need to lean into them and tell them the truth. I am the danger alarm between us, remember? So if I’m telling you it’s safe to talk to them, it must be, right?”
“Maybe if we’d been flying together for longer than a handful of days, yes. But now? Not a chance. I’m not wasting time arguing when I can just go and figure it out myself.”
Fara helped Tahlia maneuver the saddle onto the dragon’s back. Order saddles differed from horse saddles in that they had an extra seat behind the main one. Riders could take on injured folk or fellow riders whose dragon had been incapacitated. Sometimes riders used the additional spot for a bedroll or bag. Also, dragon saddles didn’t have large pommels and were fairly low profile.
“Well, then, stubborn face, I’m going with you,” Fara said.