Holy Smokes
Page 27
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I glanced at Rene. The conversation wasn’t going at all along the path I wanted. Rene shrugged. Evidently he didn’t understand what it was Gabriel was alluding to, either.
“As it happens, I didn’t ask you here to discuss the unfortunate events of last month. You said yesterday that you wanted to help me.”
“The proscription,” he said, nodding. “I thought you might be interested in that. The history of the silver dragons is not long—you know, perhaps, that my sept was formed when a splinter group left the black dragons?”
“Yeah, Drake told me a little about it. Something about a group of black dragons not being happy with the wyvern?”
Gabriel nodded, his eyes darkening a little. “Baltic. One of the bloodiest and most dangerous dragons ever to rule. When the first silver wyvern pulled our people from the black sept, Baltic cursed us.”
“He cursed the wyverns to not have a mate born to them?”
“No. He cursed all members of the sept—no mate is born to any silver dragon. It will stay so until a black dragon is made wyvern, which will never happen, no matter what Baltic hopes.”
I stared at Gabriel. “Hopes? Present tense? This Baltic guy is alive?”
“I can’t help you with the proscription itself,” Gabriel said, looking away as he withdrew his hand. “But I can tell you who helped our member. There is an archimage on the L’au-delà committee—”
“Wait a second,” I interrupted, not buying his change of topic. “The dragon who cursed your sept is still alive? Wasn’t that whole thing around the Middle Ages?”
“The black dragon sept does not exist,” Gabriel said, meeting my gaze with one that was flat and uncompromising. “It destroyed itself centuries ago.”
“But dragons don’t die so easily. Surely some of the members must have survived.”
Gabriel just looked at me, all hints of a smile long since gone. “Your mate was the last member born to the sept. If you wish to know more about their destruction, I suggest you ask him.”
“I will.” I shook away my mental confusion and refocused on what was important. “I got off topic. I didn’t actually want to ask you about the proscription—I’ve got a referral to Dr. Kostich already, but thanks for mentioning him—what I want to know about is the blue dragons.”
Gabriel’s eyebrows rose in surprise. “If you don’t mind me asking, why? And would not Fiat be the best person to ask for history of his sept?”
“Fiat and I are a bit on the outs,” I said with a rueful smile. I chose my words carefully, not wanting to lie outright but wary of giving Gabriel too much information until I knew if he could be trusted. “The blue dragons are going to side with Chuan Ren against Drake. Fiat can’t be reasoned with, but perhaps the members of his sept can. I was hoping to get some information about them so I could see what would be the best way to approach them.”
“Ah,” Gabriel said, nodding. “I will tell you what I know, although I have not interested myself in them overly much.”
I bit my tongue to keep from retorting that he could be perfectly chummy with Fiat when it served his interest, instead listening as he ran over the main points in blue dragon history. Most of it was unexceptional, with the usual power struggles of members to become wyvern, and the odd assassination or two.
“Most of the sept was destroyed during the Endless War,” Gabriel said, staring into the fire as he dredged through his memory for tidbits.
“Endless War?”
“Yes. It was started by Chuan Ren, but driven in large part by Baltic, who desired to rule all five septs. The resulting war went on for centuries. With his destruction of the bulk of their sept, the blue dragons withdrew from the weyr while they regrouped. They stayed mainly to themselves for the next few centuries, until they reemerged in the late eighteenth century. Did you know that it was a blue dragon who created the recipe for dragon’s blood?”
“No, I didn’t, although he should get some sort of an award for that. It’s the best drink I’ve ever had.”
Gabriel laughed. “Spoken like a true mate. Fiat took over the sept in…let me think…the early 1920s, I believe.” He paused a moment.
“And?” I asked, sensing something in his hesitation.
“There was a bit of an incident when he took over,” Gabriel said slowly, an odd look on his face. “Tanistry dictated that his uncle Bastiano be named the next wyvern, but he disappeared somewhat mysteriously, and Fiat came forward to claim the position.”
“Fiat took his uncle out of the running, you mean? That wouldn’t surprise me.”
“No,” Gabriel said, shaking his head. “At least, I do not think Fiat had him destroyed. It was said at the time—I was just a young man, you understand, and not yet deep in the politics of the weyr—that Fiat claimed his uncle was insane and had him locked away in a remote village in the Italian Alps.”
“Sounds like something Fiat would pull. I assume the uncle wasn’t actually insane?”
“I have no idea, but I had never heard he was before that time. As I said, I am not very conversant with the history of the blue dragons, but frankly, what knowledge I do have of them does not lead me to believe that you will stand much of a chance to convince the members to go against their wyvern’s will.”
“It can’t hurt to try,” I answered, thinking furiously.
Gabriel remained for another half hour, during which time we chatted lightly about non-dragon topics. He seemed relaxed and open, making it very difficult for me to remain on my guard with him. I had always liked Gabriel—until he betrayed Drake and me—and I wanted to like him again. But the memory of the prior month was still stark in my mind.
“Thanks for the information,” I told him a short while later as I escorted him to the front door, crossing my fingers against the little white lie I was about to tell. “I’m not quite sure what I’ll do with it, but it is helpful nonetheless.”
Gabriel shot a quick glance over my shoulder to where Jim and Rene stood silent in the doorway to the living room. “It saddens me that you no longer trust me, sweet Aisling.”
“Broken trust is hard to overcome,” I said slowly. “I’m aware that you may have had a reason I don’t know or understand for doing the things that you did, but it’s hard for me to just forget them and carry on like nothing happened.”
“As it happens, I didn’t ask you here to discuss the unfortunate events of last month. You said yesterday that you wanted to help me.”
“The proscription,” he said, nodding. “I thought you might be interested in that. The history of the silver dragons is not long—you know, perhaps, that my sept was formed when a splinter group left the black dragons?”
“Yeah, Drake told me a little about it. Something about a group of black dragons not being happy with the wyvern?”
Gabriel nodded, his eyes darkening a little. “Baltic. One of the bloodiest and most dangerous dragons ever to rule. When the first silver wyvern pulled our people from the black sept, Baltic cursed us.”
“He cursed the wyverns to not have a mate born to them?”
“No. He cursed all members of the sept—no mate is born to any silver dragon. It will stay so until a black dragon is made wyvern, which will never happen, no matter what Baltic hopes.”
I stared at Gabriel. “Hopes? Present tense? This Baltic guy is alive?”
“I can’t help you with the proscription itself,” Gabriel said, looking away as he withdrew his hand. “But I can tell you who helped our member. There is an archimage on the L’au-delà committee—”
“Wait a second,” I interrupted, not buying his change of topic. “The dragon who cursed your sept is still alive? Wasn’t that whole thing around the Middle Ages?”
“The black dragon sept does not exist,” Gabriel said, meeting my gaze with one that was flat and uncompromising. “It destroyed itself centuries ago.”
“But dragons don’t die so easily. Surely some of the members must have survived.”
Gabriel just looked at me, all hints of a smile long since gone. “Your mate was the last member born to the sept. If you wish to know more about their destruction, I suggest you ask him.”
“I will.” I shook away my mental confusion and refocused on what was important. “I got off topic. I didn’t actually want to ask you about the proscription—I’ve got a referral to Dr. Kostich already, but thanks for mentioning him—what I want to know about is the blue dragons.”
Gabriel’s eyebrows rose in surprise. “If you don’t mind me asking, why? And would not Fiat be the best person to ask for history of his sept?”
“Fiat and I are a bit on the outs,” I said with a rueful smile. I chose my words carefully, not wanting to lie outright but wary of giving Gabriel too much information until I knew if he could be trusted. “The blue dragons are going to side with Chuan Ren against Drake. Fiat can’t be reasoned with, but perhaps the members of his sept can. I was hoping to get some information about them so I could see what would be the best way to approach them.”
“Ah,” Gabriel said, nodding. “I will tell you what I know, although I have not interested myself in them overly much.”
I bit my tongue to keep from retorting that he could be perfectly chummy with Fiat when it served his interest, instead listening as he ran over the main points in blue dragon history. Most of it was unexceptional, with the usual power struggles of members to become wyvern, and the odd assassination or two.
“Most of the sept was destroyed during the Endless War,” Gabriel said, staring into the fire as he dredged through his memory for tidbits.
“Endless War?”
“Yes. It was started by Chuan Ren, but driven in large part by Baltic, who desired to rule all five septs. The resulting war went on for centuries. With his destruction of the bulk of their sept, the blue dragons withdrew from the weyr while they regrouped. They stayed mainly to themselves for the next few centuries, until they reemerged in the late eighteenth century. Did you know that it was a blue dragon who created the recipe for dragon’s blood?”
“No, I didn’t, although he should get some sort of an award for that. It’s the best drink I’ve ever had.”
Gabriel laughed. “Spoken like a true mate. Fiat took over the sept in…let me think…the early 1920s, I believe.” He paused a moment.
“And?” I asked, sensing something in his hesitation.
“There was a bit of an incident when he took over,” Gabriel said slowly, an odd look on his face. “Tanistry dictated that his uncle Bastiano be named the next wyvern, but he disappeared somewhat mysteriously, and Fiat came forward to claim the position.”
“Fiat took his uncle out of the running, you mean? That wouldn’t surprise me.”
“No,” Gabriel said, shaking his head. “At least, I do not think Fiat had him destroyed. It was said at the time—I was just a young man, you understand, and not yet deep in the politics of the weyr—that Fiat claimed his uncle was insane and had him locked away in a remote village in the Italian Alps.”
“Sounds like something Fiat would pull. I assume the uncle wasn’t actually insane?”
“I have no idea, but I had never heard he was before that time. As I said, I am not very conversant with the history of the blue dragons, but frankly, what knowledge I do have of them does not lead me to believe that you will stand much of a chance to convince the members to go against their wyvern’s will.”
“It can’t hurt to try,” I answered, thinking furiously.
Gabriel remained for another half hour, during which time we chatted lightly about non-dragon topics. He seemed relaxed and open, making it very difficult for me to remain on my guard with him. I had always liked Gabriel—until he betrayed Drake and me—and I wanted to like him again. But the memory of the prior month was still stark in my mind.
“Thanks for the information,” I told him a short while later as I escorted him to the front door, crossing my fingers against the little white lie I was about to tell. “I’m not quite sure what I’ll do with it, but it is helpful nonetheless.”
Gabriel shot a quick glance over my shoulder to where Jim and Rene stood silent in the doorway to the living room. “It saddens me that you no longer trust me, sweet Aisling.”
“Broken trust is hard to overcome,” I said slowly. “I’m aware that you may have had a reason I don’t know or understand for doing the things that you did, but it’s hard for me to just forget them and carry on like nothing happened.”
