Eon: Dragoneye Reborn

Rilla started to shut the door, but my master stopped her with a raised hand.

'Make sure all our guests have left the apartment, Rilla. Then go and organise Lord Eon's bath and clothing. There is much to do before we attend the banquet.'

She bowed and pulled the door closed behind her.

We were alone.

'How do you really feel?' my master asked softly, sitting on the edge of the bed. 'This has not been an easy road for you.' He leaned over and examined the lump on my temple, his cool fingers gently pressing my skin. The smell of rice wine was on his breath.

'I am well, Master,' I said earnestly. 'Truly, I am well.'

'Good. I am glad to hear it.' He drew back, his eyes bright with triumph. 'The return of the Mirror Dragon! By the gods I knew you were special, but I never imagined such glory.' His face seemed younger, as though the fierce joy had stripped away years. 'Ido is furious, of course,' he continued. 'Not only did his dragon choose Dillon over Baret, but now he must share his Ascendancy with my candidate. I thought he would explode with rage.'

'There was a court lady here — Lady Dela — she said I was Co-Ascendant, but how can there be two Ascendant dragons?' I asked. 'I don't understand.'

My master shook his head. 'There are so many questions. The Council is in uproar. They don't know why the Mirror Dragon has suddenly returned, nor why he has returned out of his own year. The Emperor's augurs are casting for the answers, but it cannot be denied that all the other beasts bowed to your dragon during the ceremony Such unusual behaviour must mean he is Ascendant too, and that makes you co-leader of the Council. Ido does not like it, but even he cannot gainsay the Emperor and the Council majority.'

'Do you know why the Mirror Dragon has returned, Master?' I asked. 'Why he chose me?'

'No one knows, Eon,' he said. 'I think it must be your dragon sight. Your raw power brought him back. To be able to see all of the dragons is as rare as a dragon egg, itself. And for the time being, it is how the Council is explaining your ascension.'

Hesitantly, I touched his arm, needing his reassurance. 'Will it be all right, Master?'

He looked down at my hand then finally covered it with his own. 'It will be better than all right. You have done so well. We will be more powerful than even I had hoped. And if things go to plan, I will be back on the Council and finally able to hobble Ido's ambitions.' He smiled. 'No more hard times for us, Eon.'

I answered his smile, feeling my own exultation finally breaking through my fear. 'We can have sweet buns everyday' I said, delighted to see him smiling.

'Sweet buns? We can have shark fin everyday if we want it.' He grabbed my hands and stood up, swinging me off the bed. 'I am very proud of you, Eon.'

After Ranne hit me, I thought I had failed you, Master.' I returned the squeeze of his fingers. 'I thought we had lost.'

'Yes, I thought so too. But like I said, no one knows how a dragon chooses. That's why I sent you out again for the final bow. It was hard, I know, but I had to send you.'

'I didn't think I could do it. But I did.'

I felt the smock slip from my shoulder as he pulled me against his body. 'Yes, you did,' he murmured against my hair. I pressed into him, my body blindly moulding itself into his approval. His breath against my ear was like the soft press of lips. 'You've done well.'

I rested my head on his shoulder as his hands stroked my hair, my neck, the dip of my collarbone. A sharp spark of energy snapped between us, breast to hand, leaving a sickening smell like singed flesh.

And then I was standing alone, my arms still holding the moment before.

He stood a few paces back. Cradling his hand. His eyes fixed on my bared skin.

'The dragon is still in you,' he said. He lifted his fingers to his mouth, sucking away the pain.

I hugged my arms across my chest, the sting of our contact already fading. 'I'm sorry, Master.'

He shook his head. 'You will have no control over your power yet.'

'I can't really feel his presence in my mind. Is that normal?'

'It will take time to know his energy'

I nodded.

'I'll get wine,' he said, turning away 'We can make an offering to the gods.'

'I think there's wine on the bureau.' I drew up the smock. 'I'll pour some.'

'I will,' he said, striding across the room.

He was eager to move away from me. I felt for the bed and sat down, my back to the sound of him pouring wine.

'Of course, your union with the Mirror Dragon is just the beginning,' he said. 'We have much to plan. I have already laid the foundation in the Council, but you must confirm the arrangements.'

His muffled footsteps crossed the carpet towards me. I quickly stood up, moving away from the bed. He handed me a goblet, his gaze not quite meeting mine.

Arrangements? What do you mean, Master?'

'I have urged the opinion that you are too inexperienced to be Co-Ascendant without an advisor. The Council has decided that you must nominate your proxy as soon as possible.'

'You,' I said.

He nodded once. 'Me.' He lifted his cup. 'With thanks to the gods.'

'With thanks,' I echoed.

We drank. I felt my gut churn uneasily as the sour rice wine met the coco/at.

'What will happen now, Master?'

'Now we play our game to its end. You will study and learn to control your power. I will secure our position in the Council.

We will be very wealthy and very powerful by the time your tenure as Mirror Dragoneye ends.'

'Yes, Master.'

'You must stop calling me Master,' he said roughly. 'You are Lord Eon, and when you confirm me, I will be Lord Brannon. That is how it must be.' He looked into his wine, the muscles in his jaw tightening. 'That is how it must be.'

CHAPTER 7

The bathing room in the Peony guest apartment was larger than my master's library. I shifted on the carved stool in the scrubbing corner, the wooden seat hard under my bare rump. The walls were tiled in mosaics of the city's three river gods, and at the far end of the room a precious mirror stretched from floor to ceiling. Faint weaves of steam rose from the large twelve-sided soaking pool sunk into the middle of the mosaic floor, constantly renewed and warmed from pipes below. The room smelled of ginger and heat. I smoothed the thin loincloth over my hips, wishing I had one to cover my chest as well.

'Close your eyes,' Rilla said.

A warm weight of water broke over my head, streaming down my unbound hair. I coughed and opened my eyes as she held my arm out and rubbed its length with a rough cotton cloth.

'Did you finish the tea?' she asked.

I nodded, still tasting the residue of dirt. The brew was not sitting well with the mix of cocolat, wine and the braised fish that the physician had sent to ease my fast.

Rilla worked the cloth vigorously down my other arm, hissing as the movement chafed her blistered skin.

'You're hurting your hands,' I said, pulling away from her grip. '1 don't need to be washed. I had a bath for the ceremony'

Rilla grunted, taking hold of my arm again.

'You're a lord now. Lords bathe every week.'

I laughed.

'No, truly,' Rilla said with a final wipe. 'When I was getting your clothes, Lady Dela's maid told me that her mistress bathes every day' She picked up the second bucket, wincing as the edge caught her palm. 'That girl has a tongue that flaps like washing hung in a high wind.

Close your eyes.'

'Why would Lady Dela bathe so much?' I managed to say before the water broke over me again.

Rilla squatted at my feet. 'I suppose it's because she's a Contraire.' She scrubbed my right leg.

'They probably have to purify themselves or something.'

A Contraire?'

Rilla gently touched my bad leg. 'May I?'