“Then, he has not looked at you close enough,” Whinsey pointed out.
Jahrra was warmed by her compliment and after giving them all one last hug of farewell, she and Dervit left. Jahrra couldn’t deny the ache in her heart, for she wondered if she’d ever see Pendric and Whinsey again. To help ease her sadness, Dervit suggested they visit the stable and look in on Phrym. That cheered her up, and after spending a few hours grooming him and feeding him apples, she and her limbit friend returned to the castle for the evening.
The next handful of days passed in this manner, with Jahrra either spending time exploring the halls and streets of Nimbronia with Dervit or Ellyesce, visiting the castle’s healers so they might check to see if she was mending properly, soaking her injured knee in the natural, magic-infused hot springs scattered throughout the city or attending some of the Coalition meetings with Jaax. She met other dragons, mostly Korli and Tanaan, and even spoke with a few of the Creecemind guards posted randomly throughout the city.
As the week drew to its end, Jahrra found herself looking back on her short time in the City in the Clouds with a certain nostalgia. Nimbronia had grown on her. Its stark, frozen beauty was beyond compare, and despite the relative lack of plant and animal life, she did not feel isolated or alone here. The people were kind, if not overly friendly, and the diversity of merchants and wares rivaled those found in Lidien. In fact, if Jahrra had to describe Nimbronia in a few words, she would say it was like the City of Light, but forever caught in winter and magnified a hundred fold.
The day before their meeting with Dhuruhn, Jahrra, Ellyesce and Dervit started packing their belongings into their traveling bags. Jahrra had been so distracted by everything to see and learn of late, that she hadn’t had much time to consider the future. Which, she told herself, was probably a good thing. She would have plenty of time on the road to imagine what awaited her in Ghorium, with or without the help of the Creecemind.
The following morning, Jaax arrived early to walk with her to the king’s throne room. Dressed in her nicer set of traveling clothes, she met him at the door. The Tanaan dragon had on his formal dressings once again: The chain that hung around his neck and the woven circlet sitting atop his horned head. He lifted a scaly brow at Jahrra when he noticed her clothing, and she gave him a hard look.
“King Dhuruhn made it clear he thought we were trying to manipulate him when I wore my formal gown, so I thought I’d try something less distracting. Besides, this is who I am,” she indicated her deerskin pants, tunic and vest. Her long hair was braided back, and she had slipped on her good walking boots. She left her crutches behind, the hot springs of Nimbronia having worked their magic on her wounds and all but healing them completely. “I should not have to don fancy clothing to have my voice heard.”
To her surprise, Jaax’s mouth curved into a grin. “Well said, Jahrra. Well said indeed. I only hope he can see what the rest of us already know.”
Jahrra pulled the door shut and started walking after her guardian, her limp all but gone. “And what is that?” she asked.
Jaax peered over his shoulder at her. “A young woman with the heart of a warrior.”
Pride welled up inside of her then, and she gave her guardian a sheepish but appreciative smile. Come what may, Jahrra knew he would always be on her side, even if everyone else abandoned her.
They walked for several minutes, traversing the halls and corridors of the immense castle until they reached the great open central chamber they had visited before on the night of the dinner. Instead of heading to the dining hall, however, Jaax took Jahrra to a wide set of stairs carved from solid ice. At the top of the staircase stood two massive doors, flanked on either side by elves in royal armor. The huge chamber echoed with the voices of the people getting an early start to their day, but none of them were lingering near these doors.
“Ready?” Jaax murmured.
Jahrra took a long, shuddering breath, her nerves suddenly coming to life, and nodded. Jaax signaled the guards and they, in turn, informed a pair of Creecemind dragons on the inside of the doors to push them open. The chamber inside was comparable to the dining hall, but instead of a low dais at the end of the room, there was one large platform with two smaller ones on either side. No enormous table took up the middle of the room. Instead, a blue and silver carpet ran from the front of the platform all the way to the where Jahrra was now standing.
King Dhuruhn and Queen Beihryhn sat upon their throne dais, waiting for Jaax and Jahrra to approach. Prince Eairhyut and Princess Eairheihn were also present, looking like bored teenagers on either side of their parents. An audience of some two hundred nobles and courtiers stood near the front of the chamber, their gazes fixed on the young woman and Tanaan dragon who had just entered into their domain.
Jahrra swallowed a lump in her throat and tried not to trip as she started following Jaax toward the platform. Along the way, she spotted Tollorias and Sapheramin, as well as Ellyesce and a few other familiar faces of those she’d met during the past few days. Seeing her dragon friends and Ellyesce helped lift her spirits a little.
It seemed to take an eternity for Jahrra and Jaax to cross the room, but they managed, both of them bowing to the king and queen once they reached the dais.
“Your majesties,” Jaax said, “we have done as you requested and given you a week to make your decision. We respectfully request an answer to our plight. Will we be able to count on the aid of Felldreim and the Creecemind dragons in our world’s struggle against the Crimson King when the time calls for it?”
Jahrra held her breath as both she and Jaax waited for the king’s reply. Their plans from here onward relied heavily upon the answer they received. Would they immediately rally all those provinces who were, at this very moment, quietly making their own plans and waiting for the call from the Coalition? Would they leave here and begin their trek to Ghorium, hoping they’d have enough willing fighters on their side once they arrived? Would Dhuruhn and his deadly frost-breathing dragons lead the charge against their common enemy?
Finally, the king drew in a long breath, preparing to give his answer. “Your dedication to this cause is commendable, Raejaaxorix, and I will not deny the stirrings in the east pose the potential for a threat. But the truth is, the Oracles’ prophecy has never been looked at in its entirety, partly because much of it is lost. Is this girl who stands before us truly the human child promised those many years ago, and if so, how is she to bring down the greatest and most powerful tyrant our world has ever known?”
Dhuruhn turned his question onto those standing to the side. Ice as cold as the walls of the throne room coated Jahrra’s stomach, and she felt her hands begin to shake. He was going to turn them away. After all Jaax had done to prove Ciarrohn was a threat and what his rising to full power once more could do to the world. They were going to turn their backs on the rest of Ethoes and hide in these frozen towers far away from it all. The ice inside Jahrra’s stomach started to burn like acid. And for some reason, Keiron’s smug face appeared in her mind, his cruel, mocking laughter echoing in her head.
“You will not join us,” Jaax hissed between clenched teeth. “Are you so selfish and blind to deny what your own eyes have seen and what your own ears have heard?”
King Dhuruhn turned his ice blue eyes onto the Tanaan dragon standing before him. He bared his teeth and growled, “Do not lecture me on selfishness and blindness, Raejaaxorix. I know well your history and your past, and you cannot stand before me and tell me you have not made those same choices for yourself once. I refrain from dragging my people into a bloody war because we lost too many the last time Ciarrohn sought power. There are not enough of us left to sacrifice, and I will not risk the future of my kind.”