"Did you make it?" Arlen asked. "To the dragon force?"
I nodded. "Miraculously, both Codric and I were found gifted. We were accepted into the Dragon Force Academy, and we both bonded with dragons. We are riders, Arlen. There's a dragonia waiting for me in Elucia who speaks to me inside my mind, and I speak to her inside hers. Her name is Veynathei, and leaving her to come home felt like leaving a limb behind." I leaned away to see his reaction and saw the disbelief, then the dawning acceptance that I wasn't joking. I leaned back and continued my confessions. "And there's a girl. Her name is Kailin, and she's extraordinary in ways that you would find so unbelievable that I'm not even going to tell you about them. Kailin and Veynathei are the reasons I'd give anything to go back, and that's not going to happen unless you get better and take back your place as Father's successor. I cannot stay as the heir, Arlen. My life is in Elucia."
I wasn't supposed to put pressure on him, and telling him that he needed to heal so I could have my life back wasn't something the healer would have approved of.
For a long moment Arlen just stared at me. Then he laughed, the first real laugh I'd heard from him since my return. It was rusty from disuse and the most beautiful music to my ears.
"A dragon," he said. "My little brother bonded with a dragon and fell in love with a mountain girl. I bet our Father is not happy about any of it."
"He doesn't know about Kailin. Neither does Mother. They only know that I bonded with a dragon."
He snorted. "Figures. They'd be more upset about you having a commoner as a paramour than about you bonding with a dragon and proving to the world that our family is not purely Elurian."
"They are not happy about that either, and they intend to keep it a secret. Frankly, I don't know how I'm going to escape this even if you recover fully by the time the ball rolls around. I'm still thinking about a plan. I want my life back."
The light that had kindled in his eyes when I'd started telling him my secret intensified. He had a reason outside himself now; he needed to set his baby brother back on his feet.
"Then we'd better work harder and faster," he said. "I didn't care about passing the throne to you. You would have made a good king, but I care about what is being done to you. I want you to go back to your dragonia and your girl and be happy."
"Thank you," I said. "I still don't know how I'm going to pull it off. First, we take care of you, and once you are hale enough to resume your heir duties, I will play my trump card."
"Which is?"
"A letter from the head shaman of Elucia to our father. I've been carrying it since I left, and I haven't given it to him."
"Why not?"
"Because the letter would be wasted while I'm still the crown prince, no matter what Saphir Fatewever wrote to Father. When I'm no longer the heir, it might carry some weight with him. I'llput it in his hand after the ball, once you're confirmed heir and the dust has settled."
42
RAVEL
The long lives of riders are not costless. Our families and friends grow old without us.
—From the journal of Commander Ravel Nidar
Onyx had brought the saddle up from the floor of the ravine the same night, and I'd taken it straight to the forensic department and refused to let anyone handle the case other than Amik.
I'd known him since we'd both been pilgrims. He'd made it to the academy but not to the bonding ceremony. He'd stayed on and built himself a fine career out of the science of examining evidence.
He was good at what he did, dedicated, and I trusted him.
"Ravel." He walked up to me, shook the hand I offered, and pulled me into a brotherly embrace.
I didn't have brothers by blood, but I had several by choice, and Amik was one of them. Regrettably, he hadn't become arider, so he was aging at a normal, human rate, and although he looked good for a forty-seven-year-old man, with strong shoulders and a full head of hair, his temples were graying, and the skin around his eyes was crinkling, and I both envied and grieved his mortality.
"What do you have for me?" he asked.
"A failed saddle that almost claimed the life of our shaman in training."
His brows shot up. "How did that happen?"
"That's what I want you to find out. She checked the straps and buckles before mounting like she always does, and they seemed fine. I don't think it was an accident. Not this time."
He nodded. "Let me take a look. Go sit down while I work on it."
I didn't want to sit. My nerves were too frayed for me to stay stationary, but I didn't want to bother him while he worked, so I sat.
