'No!' I took a shaking breath, forcing some calm. 'No. If Lord Ido owns it, he will be able to mount an official investigation if it is stolen.'
I gently pushed at the red folio, directing it up my forearm under my sleeve. There was no resistance; the pearls unravelling slightly to allow the move then tightening again.
Ryko bent and picked up the snuffed candles. 'I'll light them in the lamp,' he said.
'No, I'll do it,' I said quickly 'You close the case. I don't want to touch it again.' Taking the candles, I crossed quickly to the side bench.
The pouch full of the Sun drug lay beside the lamp. I sneaked a look over my shoulder. Ryko was staring down at the black folio, absorbed. Using my body as cover, I scooped up the pouch and shoved it into the deep pocket of my tunic. Then I quickly lit the candles in the flame of the oil lamp.
Just as I turned, Ryko let out a bellow and jumped back from the case, rubbing his hand. He looked across at me, his face a strange mix of guilt and shock. 'I tried to pick up the black one, but the pearls whipped me,' he said. Edging a step closer to the case, he eased the lid down at arm's length.
'We've got to go. Now,' I said urgently
I blew out the lamp. Once more the room became a dark, shadowy otherworld flickering with the light of the two candles. I moved to the door, away from the gap on the bench where the pouch had lain. Ryko met me at the end of the reading table and took a candle.
'How are we going to get out?' I asked.
'The guards should have cleared the area by now. If I get hit with the same illusion, then you're going to have to help me get through it,' Ryko said, touching his stomach. 'Once we are free of that, we'll make our way back to the side gate.'
I followed him into the narrow corridor. Turning, 1 held up my candle and took one last look at Lord Ido's library. Although the case was hidden in the dark shadows, it seemed to throb with soured power. I quickly closed the twelve-sphere door.
Ahead, Ryko extinguished his candle then opened the outside door a crack.
'It looks clear,' he said.
For a moment, intuition held me still. I brushed my fingers over the folio resting beneath my sleeve. 'You should hold on to me,' I said. 'Until we get past the dragon power.'
Ryko nodded and took my candle, pinching out the flame. A rustle of cloth told me he was storing both candles back in his waist pouch.
'Ready?' I asked.
His hand grasped my arm. 'Ready'
I opened the door, the movement bumping the broken padlock against the metal in a soft clang. The garden was quiet, the shapes of the trees and flowerbeds edged in silver from the half moon. I stepped out into the shadow of the hill, feeling the drag of Ryko as he followed.
The pearls around my wrist stirred, and for a moment I saw the Rat Dragon's power over the hill, like a thin dome of glass, stretching down the path and ending at a stand of blossom trees.
I steered us slowly towards them. Ryko met my gaze and nodded; all was well. So far. We passed the spot where he had first fallen. Not too far now. Then I felt Ryko's grip loosen and, before I could protest, he released me. I saw his eyes widen with pain, then he doubled over and dropped heavily to his knees, breath ragged. I lunged for him, digging my fingers into the hard muscle of his arm. The tension suddenly left his body He grabbed my hand, clinging to it like a drowning man, and gulped in deep breaths.
'Not quite clear yet,' I said unnecessarily
He looked up at me then bowed his head. 'My lord.' His voice was soft with awe.
'Ryko, get up.' I pulled at his arm. 'We are not safe out here.'
1t was only a few more lengths to the trees. Holding my hand t ightly, Ryko pushed himself up onto his feet. I led him off the path into the thin cover.
'It will be all right now,' I whispered.
Hesitantly, he pulled his hand from mine. We both paused, but he was clearly in no pain.
'I am in your debt, my lord,' he murmured, bowing.
I shook my head. 'No, it's —'
A crunch of leaves made us both spin around. A guard stood behind us, caught mid-retreat.
Although he wore a wide-brimmed helmet, I recognised the blunt mean features and solid body.
Ranne.
His eyes widened. 'You!'
He'd recognised me.
Beside me, Ryko tensed with the same realisation. It was Ranne's death warrant. In a blur of speed, Ryko drew both knives, the steels crossing over each other in a rasp of steel. As Ranne opened his mouth to raise the alarm, a knife hit him in the throat, sinking up to its hilt. His shout became a wet gurgle as he clutched at the blade. Ryko sprang forwards, thrusting its twin up under Ranne's armour into his abdomen. I heard the puncture of air and the clicking rattle of his death breath as Ryko eased his body to the ground.
I gaped at them: the living crouched over the dead. I had seen death before — Dolana and others at the salt farm — but they had been worn down by misery and illness into a welcome release. This was a snatching away of life; one moment there was Hua, there was will, there was Ranne, and then there was not.
'We have to hide the body' Ryko said, wiping one of the knives on the grass. 'In the pavilion.'
I shivered at his words; how quickly a person became just a body. Ranne had bullied me at the school and nearly killed me during the ceremony. Perhaps I should be rejoicing at the death of my enemy. But I couldn't. A man had died and another had killed to protect me.
A few moments ago, I had been fighting just for my own survival. Now there was no standing back from this larger struggle. I was at its centre.
'No,' I said flatly. I knew where the body had to go. 'Carry him to the edge of the dragon power and I'll pull him into it. They'll think it was an accident, and won't be able to retrieve him until Ido returns.'
Ryko stared up at me then pressed his fist to his chest — a soldier's salute. At your command, my lord.'
It did not take long to drag Ranne's body onto the path. I kept my eyes away from his blank stare and swallowed my gorge as my hand brushed against his cooling face. His life warmth was already fading into the chill of the grave. As I stood up from arranging his lax limbs into the position of a fall, I wondered if anyone would observe the nine days of mourning for him.
Ryko hissed at me from the edge of the dragon power. 'Come.'
We cut across the garden towards the dark archway. The pressure of the pearl binding around my forearm was like a sweet torture — my impatience to open the folio barely held in check by the need to wait until I was in the safe seclusion of my bedchamber.
The inner courtyard was empty when we peered around the corner of the passage. No servant girl stealing a mouthful. No guards with their torches. No Dillon. He was probably hiding somewhere — the Sun drug seemed to be rousing his fear and melancholy more than his fighting spirit.
I crept across the courtyard under the cover of the cumquats and down the alley, Ryko close and silent behind me. As we cleared the side gate, pulling it shut with a soft scrape, I felt eyes upon me. I looked up. Dillon stood on the guard walkway above us. He held up a hesitant hand.
'Thank you,' I mouthed.
He nodded and turned away.
CHAPTER 13
When Ryko and I finally stepped onto the pebble garden around my apartments, I was relieved to see only the two corner night lamps burning, their lights protecting the building from dark spirits. A good sign that no alarm had been raised at my empty bed. We picked our way over the stones towards the pale rectangle of my chamber window. The folio was still bound tightly against my forearm, the pearls warm against my skin as though they held their own Hua.
Soon I'd be reading the word that would release my power. I had always imagined the name of a dragon would be like the shift of a breeze through leaves, or perhaps the sound of water splashing. But how could that be written?