Chapter 37: The dutiful wife and mother

The first duty of any follower of Athanaric is to Him and Him only. All other responsibilities fade and turn to dust under that one supreme obligation.

-Rashel

Leenda dragged Rashel to the middle of the rock to make sure she wouldn’t fall off when she awoke, and positioned herself on the edge, so that she could look out over the valley and see if anyone approached from the city. No one did, although she could clearly make out Athanaric’s form near the tents.

Rashel groaned and her eyes fluttered open, then shut.

He was so huge. So powerful. He’d chased her down with the intent to kill, and tried to rip her soul out of her body. The memory of his enraged face made her tremble, and the thought of how the ground had shook made her breath come short and quick. She hugged herself despite the day’s warmth.

Rashel’s groaned again, and her eyes blinked open. She stared for a moment at Leenda, then her face grew wild and panicked as she took in her surroundings. She jerked upright and scrambled backward over the rock, and nearly teetered off. She stared at Leenda with deserving suspicion, and stood.

"Stop!" Leenda said. "I'm not going to hurt you!"

"Who are you?" Rashel said.

"I just need your help."

"I'll jump—I swear I will."

"Don't! I need your help with Wrend."

Rashel narrowed her eyes. "What's going on?"

Leenda gave her a quick explanation of the situation. Throughout it, Rashel stayed on the opposite end of the rock, at the edge. 

“Why are you half naked?” she said.

Leenda looked down at herself. Scrapes covered her knees. Blood and dirt stained the once white and blue undershorts. At least the pain in her head had started to subside, and blood had stopped flowing from the wound on the back of her head—although her muscles and joints still ached.

“It’s hard to face a few dozen paladins wearing a dress.”

“What do you want from me?”

Now that the moment had come to explain herself to Rashel, Leenda didn’t know how to start. It amazed her how much less confident she felt, not just in comparison to a few hours before, but to fifteen years before. At the time, shedding her draegon body had seemed like the right and noble thing to do. It still did, but faced with all these humans it didn’t seem like enough.

“I know about Wrend and where he came from.”

Rashel’s face blanched, and her jaw dropped. “How can you possibly know about that?”

“I’m Wrend’s mate.”

It took longer for Rashel to understand than Athanaric. When she did, it wasn’t realization that lit her face, but relief.

“You’re a draegon in a human body, just like Wrend.”

“Wrend deserves to know about himself.”

Rashel shook her head and closed her eyes. “It’s not my place to tell him.” A flash of anger passed over her face. “Athanaric swore me to secrecy when he placed Wrend inside me.” She sneered and nearly spoke again, but clamped her mouth shut.

"Draegons are different than humans. Our souls are different. We can’t be happy in a form other than draegon. Don’t you want him to be happy?”

Rashel shrugged. “Unfortunately, that can't be a consideration for me.” Again, darkness fell over her face. “Besides, he's probably happier than he has a right to be, all things considered.”

“He deserves to know the truth.”

“Yes, he does—more than you know. But I can’t tell him. My first allegiance is to my god. Not to you. Not to Wrend.”

Guilt struck Leenda. Her first allegiance had been to her mate—to the point that she’d left her pup to practically raise himself. Could she possibly convince this woman to do the right thing? If she were Rashel, would she tell Wrend the truth, or be loyal to her mate?

Probably stay loyal to her mate.

She stood there in silence, just shaking her head, marveling at the disaster the day had become.

Rashel frowned. She took a step forward and pointed past Leenda, to the place where she looked.

“What is that?”

Leenda, wary of a trick, half turned. In the distance, past the ridges that led to another valley, a bright red shape descended through the sky, and disappeared below the horizon.

“Was that—“ Rashel said, her eyes wide. “Was that what I think it was?”

Leenda nodded, wondering what Krack could possibly be doing off in that direction. “Yes.”

“Athanaric have mercy,” Rashel said. She gave Leenda a horrified look. “There’s a village in that direction. Would it . . . would it eat the people?”

Goat guts. The last thing she needed was for Krack to cause trouble. She’d told him to stay out of sight. If word spread that a draegon was terrorizing the countryside, no doubt Athanaric would take steps.

“Yes, he probably would.”

“You brought a draegon out here?”

Leenda gave Rashel an un-amused look. She needed to get to Krack, to stop him from doing something rash.

“Go back to Wrend. Tell him the truth. It’s your duty to ensure his happiness.”

The hypocrisy of the words burned in her heart.

Perhaps worse, she hated to return to Krack without good news. He wanted to leave her. She knew it. Would he, now that she’d failed again?

She found out when she reached him.