The Dragon's Rogue

Chapter 31

 I placed the last jar upon the neatly organized shelf, the top level of a wall of neatly organized shelves. My fingers lingered along the smooth fist sized bulb, some of the lantern oil still sloshed in the bottom.

I had been regulated to the medic's old room, and somehow put in charge of healing in general. The Onyx Aerie pack had been retrieved, and quarantined within the Amber Aerie. A process which had sparked a high degree of argument between the aerie Lords, and a string of councils aiming to change the Archon's mind.

Almost a quarter of the family I once knew had been infected, the others, not knowing to keep those bitten at a distance, at high risk of infection themselves. Fortunately we managed to separate the ill, and guard them well. Unfortunately, I had no way to cure the possession, or even slow its progress. Three days I had worked tirelessly, seeing to my duty when all I wished was to chase my sister down myself. And in three days I heard nothing of what became of Adda.

Scet had taken off after her, nearly as soon as she was discovered missing, reinstating his vow to keep her safe. Perhaps I should have protested, should have released him from any such promise, but Adda was out there alone and I couldn't bring myself to take away any advantage she might gain. Strale too, when he returned, had gone after her. His reasons I was less certain of, I only knew that he and Cillumn had spent a long hour in deep conversation before he announced his intentions and flew off into the night.

I should have been relieved, but it worried me that I still had no word of her.

In the passing time I had occupied myself by studying the progress of the disease, enough to know that once one was infected they did not have much time left as themselves. Already the Dragon Lord who had been bitten had to be destroyed, along with three warriors from my pack. A devastating loss, and all I could do was to prevent more damage.

Mother was one of those unaffected, thank the Six, but now she, and the new Alpha were insisting it was time for them to leave the Amber Aerie. Truthfully I only heard it in passing as I moved through the quarantine distributing lantern fuel. I had been trying to avoid the woman, how could I face her now? I failed to bring Adda back and I mated a dragon. I was shame embodied.

Rumor abound that the Onyx Aerie had a new Archon, one not tied to Grim...and whatever he had become. So the pack wished to return, to beg re-entrance into the aerie and the servitude of the Lords, as it once was.

I didn't like it, but I was hardly in a position to influence their choices. Hells, I had never been in a position to influence their choices.

I returned to my workbench and sat, folding my fingers on top, staring at the room but not seeing anything.

"You still saved her, you know."

Cillumn's voice sounded from the doorway, where he stood a tray of food balanced in one hand and two glasses and a jug of wine in another. He was talking about Adda of course, guessing where my mind had been. The same thing he'd been telling me for three days, yet I still felt as though I failed her somehow.

"She is free from her captivity and the horrors she might have faced there. How she chooses to use that freedom is not up to you. Besides, I would trust Strale with my life, and I am certain he feels responsible for her escape somehow. If he is still out there, then he must be guarding her."

Sure. If he could find her.

Cillumn eyed the bench warily, likely worried that there might be remains of poisonous frog mucus lingering somewhere.

"It is safe," I gestured to a clean spot. "But I do not need you to feed me Cillumn, I am not a child."

Things hadn't been the same between us since the mating. Oddly I found myself missing our camaraderie. It occurred to me, several times over the last three days, that Cillumn just might be my first true friend...more than that now obviously, since there is no undoing a Dragon Mating. Still, I never had anyone, besides Adda, that I might count as a friend, and I missed it now that our relationship was strained.