Seraphina(105)

Kiggs broke off pursuit. “That was a mistake, Lady,” he said. He dashed back into the corridor; three doors along was a guardroom. He threw open the door, shouted for attention, and made five hand signals in quick succession. Guards poured out and scattered in all directions. Kiggs dashed back to the shifted cabinet; there was already a guard beside it, who saluted and handed us a lantern as we passed.

“What have you asked them to do?” I said.

He demonstrated the signs as he spoke: “Spread the word; all hands; seal the lower tunnels; notify the city garrison; and …” His eyes met mine. “Dragon.”

It was an impressive array of signals. “Will they be following us down?”

“Soon. It will take time to get everyone in position. There are seven entrances.”

“Counting the sally port?”

He made no reply but plunged onward into darkness. Of course the palace guard would not be able to reach the sally port in time; that was why he was sending word to the city, but they would be too late. My heart sank in despair. Glisselda might be dead before any of us could reach her.

I had troops of my own that I could rally. I activated Orma’s earring on its chain, praying that he would hear it, that he had not already traveled some ridiculous distance, and that he could reach us in time. Then I reached for Abdo.

Where are you? he said. We were getting worried!

Bad things are happening. I need you and Lars to run, as fast as you can, to the northwest face of Castle Hill. The sally port in the side of the hill might have a hostile dragon emerging from it shortly.

Or it might have a very strong, wickedly fast old woman. There was still some uncertainty on that point.

How do we get down the castle wall on that side?

St. Masha’s stone. You will find a way. I hoped that was true.

And what are the two of us to do against a hostile dragon?

I don’t know. All I know is I am in the tunnels right now, behind it, and if you and Lars show up there will be twice as many people as there would be otherwise. We don’t have to kill it; we just have to delay it until my uncle gets here.

I let him go because I could tell he was going to protest again and because I kept tripping over the uneven floor when my concentration was elsewhere.

We passed the three doors, now unlocked and ajar, and knew that Lady Corongi had come this way as well. When we reached the natural cavern area, Kiggs drew his sword. He looked me up and down. “We should have armed you before coming down here!” His eyes looked haunted in the lantern light. “I want you to turn back.”

“Don’t be ridiculous.”

“Phina, I don’t know what I’d do if you were hurt! Please go back!” He squared himself as if he intended to block my way.

“Stop it!” I cried. “You’re wasting time.”

A veil of grief fell across his face, but he nodded and turned back toward the job at hand. We set off at a run.

We reached the mouth of the cave, but there was no one visible, just women’s clothing scattered all over the floor like a shed skin. Kiggs and I glanced at each other, remembering the folded gown we’d found here before. It had been right in front of us, and we hadn’t had the wit to see it.

Glisselda had clearly put up a struggle while “Lady Corongi” undressed, so there was some hope the creature was not yet able to fly. We dashed out of the cave into the slick, snowy grass, looking around for the pair of them. Glisselda screamed; we turned toward the sound of her voice. Above the cave entrance, silhouetted against the growing pink of the sky, stood a wiry, naked man, Glisselda thrown over his shoulder.

He’d been at court disguised as an old woman for almost Glisselda’s whole lifetime. Doused in perfume, avoiding other saar, worming his way close to Princess Dionne, he had bided his time with a patience only reptiles possess.

For all my exposure to saarantrai I had never before seen one change from human to dragon. He unfolded himself, stretched, telescoped, unfurled some more. It seemed logical as it happened, all his human parts plausibly dragon: his shoulders separating into wings, his spine extending back to tail, his face lengthening, his skin bursting out in scales. He managed the entire thing without letting go of Glisselda; he finished with her clasped firmly in his front talons.

If we had been smart, we would have charged him while he was transforming, but we’d stood rooted to the spot, too dumbfounded to think.

All doubt was finally removed: it was Imlann.

He would not be able to fly for several minutes; a newly transformed saar is soft and weak, like a butterfly fresh from the chrysalis. His jaw worked; he could still spit fire. I pulled Kiggs back inside the cave before the fireball hit the dirt at the entrance, sending up a spray of scorched stones in a burst of brimstone. Imlann couldn’t work up a very big gobbet yet, but if he craned his neck down into the cave, he wasn’t going to need full flame, especially if Kiggs refused to retreat.

How long would it take Lars and Abdo to get here? And Orma, if he was even coming? I saw only one course of action, and turned to head back out of the cave.

“Are you mad?” cried Kiggs, grabbing my arm.

I was mad, as it happened. I turned back and kissed him squarely on the mouth, because this really could be the last thing I ever did, and I loved him, and it made me desperately sad that he would never know. The kiss startled him into releasing my arm, and I dashed out of his reach, out onto the snowy hillside.