Page 55 of Triumph at Pemberley

Companion Frederica. Where are you?

Apparently there were to be no pleasant niceties, but she knew better than to expect those from the autocratic Rana. In an army camp somewhere near the Kent coast, regrouping after a battle with the French invaders. Jack would be a better reporter on their location; he no doubt knew exactly where they were, down to the last grain of soil.

Tell me about the battle.

How could she describe the utter chaos of it, the impossibility of understanding it all when she saw only a tiny piece of it? We pushed back the invaders into the Channel in disarray. Companion Jack’s Talent was our greatest weapon; they were not expecting to face someone with the King’s Bond. I created whirlwinds to help him.

You won, then?

For now. There was another landing, too, but Jack sank all the ships without even being there. Most of them drowned.

His bond is strong, then. Rana Akshaya did not sound pleased by that. Of course; she saw England as her country’s enemy. She would not like the idea of an even more powerful England.

He is struggling to learn to use it. This happened too quickly.

And his dragon?

Frederica chose her words carefully. Gentiane is well. He has been scouting for us in falcon form.

The combination of being a dragon companion and holding the King’s Bond is too powerful for most mortals. Show me what you saw of the battle.

Frederica’s natural contrariness made her want to refuse the imperious order, but she owed Rana Akshaya for saving Roderick’s life. And she was still Quickthorn’s Eldest, until such a time as she moved to Wales and joined the Nest there. So she brought the memories to the forefront of her mind and let Rana Akshaya pick through them.

When she was done, the dragon from India added, You will keep this scale close to you at all times. Report to me every day, or more if anything important happens involving the mad dragon. Tell no one of this.

Why did it have to be a secret? Surely Jack and Darcy, the other dragon companions, should be allowed to know. Enough was enough. Wait! Why do you want this?

She could feel Rana Akshaya’s irritation running through their connection and sparking in her brain. Frederica stiffened her spine.

You alone know why I must stop the mad dragon. I have a plan, but it depends upon knowing immediately where he is and what he is doing. I cannot afford a delay for news to reach here. And I may need your negotiating skills there.

The skills she had traded for Roderick’s life, when he lay dying after sharing blood with his dragon. Apparently arranging the one truly secret agreement, so secret she did not even let herself think about it, much less tell even her closest friends, did not repay the debt. Very well.

The connection ended, as if cut off with a knife.

Well, well, well. So Rana Akshaya had a plan, did she? What impressive audacity, thinking she could do more than Jack and the remnants of the militia!

She must have been serious, too, to create an Artifact this rare and powerful. Darcy and Elizabeth had been given similar ones to communicate, but those could send only a few words or an image each day. This scale she held could be world-changing, allowing instant communication at long distances, something the English dragons believed impossible. And Rana Akshaya had chosen to use it for this.

Thoughtfully she slid the dragon scale back in its bag. This would require some consideration, but for now, she wanted to hear Darcy’s news of her friend Elizabeth.

Jack could not stop smiling. Damn, but it was good to see Will again. His brother, but not his brother. Someone who saw him as a person and not a walking weapon. And to hear some news that had nothing to do with the war for once.

And now that Frederica had joined them, too, it was almost like old times. If old times had taken place in a military tent among all the noises, rattling, clanking, and shouts of an encampment. He could ignore that, though.

“Do you think Coquelicot would be willing to do one more healing?” Jack asked.

William snorted. “She would heal the entire camp if I let her and then go on to tackle every ill person in Dover. Why?”

Jack said slowly, “There is a French soldier among the prisoners. Not one I care about myself – he was trying to kill me, after all. But Gentiane is very worried and might be more at ease if he was sure he would live.”

“Is that why Gentiane has been hiding?” Frederica demanded. “He will not even talk to Quickthorn.”

“Coquelicot would like to see him, too. He is her only tie to their former Nest, and she misses him.” Will said.

Frederica added scornfully, “Why does he care about this Frenchman, anyway?”

Jack lowered his voice. Not that it would help if Gentiane was listening in, but it felt better to at least try to keep it quiet. “Gentiane injured him. Dove down in his falcon form and clawed open his neck and shoulders, right as he was preparing to shoot me. He knows he should not have done it, but….Well, he has not said as much, but I think he is afraid of what may happen if the wounds fester.” He avoided saying the worst, hoping they would understand.