Plight of an Empire

Chapter Thirty Nine: Lisbette

The Whispering Sea

“How much money do we have left?”

Lisbette sat hunched over a small sack of gold, counting each piece.  Her eyes shot up to glare at her sister for causing her to lose her place.  “Now I have to start over.”  She moved the pieces back to her left side and began counting again.  One, two, three, four...

“It should be enough, right?” Laelette asked.  “We took as much as we could carry.”

Lisbette slammed her hands on the straw bed, sending coins everywhere.  “If you do not shut up, I will—”

Laelette threw her head back and laughed.  “You’ll what?  Roast me?  Guess what, Lis.  We’re on a ship.  And what are ships made of?  Wood.  Want to kill me you’ll end up killing yourself as well.”

This was exactly what Lisbette wanted to avoid.  That was why she had told the captain that they needed separate rooms when they boarded the ship.  They’d had the coin to rent it, but that bastard told them that the only spare rooms for them were the one they were in and his own.  He had told them he would gladly let them share his cabin though.  Revolted, she threw the coins at him for the single cabin without him.  But now she was stuck with her dear sister.  Ever since they watched that stupid bitch kill their only hope at happiness, Laelette had been ever more hateful.

It had been over two months since that day.  The fire in her belly still burned hot at every thought of that painful memory.  Whatever Audriel did to him, it wasn’t natural.  She sucked the life right out of him.  Tears stung her eyes.  She blinked them away and continued counting.  When she’d finished, she looked up at her sister.  “We should have enough to get by on,” she said.  “At least until we find a way to bring in more coin.”

Laelette shook her head.  “I hate her.”

Lisbette didn’t even need to ask who she was talking about.  “Me too.”

“She ruined everything.  I thought he was supposed to be our savior and she just killed him.”  Laelette’s wet eyes met with Lisbette’s.  “What are we supposed to do without him?”

She dumped the stolen coins back into the sack and tossed it on the floor.  She beckoned her sister to come with a pat on the bed.  Laelette plopped down on the hard straw and put her hands in her face.  It was odd that this was Lisbette’s first time seeing her sister cry since they were children.  The older she grew, the harder she became.  “We will survive,” Lisbette promised her.  “Balverrdis will be our new home.  It will be nothing like it was in Alterros, where we were already branded at our birth.  We can become anything there.”

The tears receded from her twin’s eyes.  A smile played on her lips.  “Even queens?”

Lisbette laughed.  “Even queens.”

There was a knock at the door.  The head of one of their fellow travelers poked in.  “Come up on deck.  You’re going to want to see this.”  Then he was gone.

The twins shared a confused look.  Lisbette shrugged and got up.  Laelette followed her out and to the deck.  When they emerged from below, neither could speak a word.  The sky was a bright red and purple with just a bit of orange to the far east.  Where there had been nothing but ocean before, they saw land on the horizon.  Giant black birds flew over the ocean just off shore.  Lisbette pointed at them and said, “Those are some big birds.”

One of the deckhands laughed.  “Those aren’t birds, girl,” he said.  “Those are wyverns.”  He pointed in the distance to the largest of them all.  “And that’s a dragon.  Only place in the world that has dragons.”

“Why doesn’t Alterros?” asked Laelette.

He shrugged.  “Only the blood of the dragon can control a dragon.  Might be none of your kings have dragonblood in them.”

Dragons, Lisbette thought with wonder.  She glanced over at Laelette, who returned the look.  And she knew they were thinking the same thing.  This was a new world for them and a chance at something more.  Their old lives had given them noting but grief.  They gave each other a knowing smile before returning their gaze back to the dragon.

They were going home.