Ice and Smoke by Elizabeth Belyeu

Author:Elizabeth Belyeu [Belyeu, Elizabeth]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: JMS Books LLC
Published: 2021-06-28T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter 9

“We shall speak,” I said carefully, “of nobility. How strange it is that a man earns the gratitude of his king, is granted lands and a title—and that his son inherits these things, and is called noble, having done nothing of himself to earn the description.”

“I feel most keenly,” Braith said, “the injustice of such a situation.”

I itched to ask if dragons had similar customs, but that was not relevant. If I was to glean anything useful, I must take care to focus my questions. “You feel, then, that high birth is no true guarantee of gentility?”

“I have seen with my own eyes,” he said, “that the son of a nobleman may have no more honor than a pig in its stye, for all that he may call upon the honor of others.”

“I see,” I murmured, bending to follow a slop of mud down Firefoot’s foreleg. He sighed blissfully, the joy of being groomed quite overshadowing any anxiety caused by the storm. I heard, in memory, Gareth’s voice—He is high, but not high enough. “There are degrees of nobility, of course. A lesser noble may be only a peasant in a grander cloak, but the truly high-born, those with generations of wealth and honor to their names, those surely are bred to uphold better standards?”

“On the contrary,” Braith said bitterly, “I have found that the higher a man’s birth, the higher still he wishes to climb. Some would be unsatisfied with a place in any hierarchy that they did not head.”

Did he imply that his master’s aim was a kingdom of his own? A dragon could be great help in a conqueror’s war, but instead he had set his dragon as nursemaid to a young girl—

I fumbled the brush, dropped it entirely, and followed it to sit upon the floor. Braith watched solemn-eyed.

“Such a man,” I said hoarsely, “might find there are two paths to such greatness. The first in arms—and the second—in marriage.”

Braith said nothing.

“Any man, for instance, who rescued a princess from a dragon, might reasonably expect to wed her,” I said. “And, should she happen to be heir, to then rule as king.”

Very deliberately, Braith said, “I cannot speak as to that.”

I stared down at my own legs, like alien creatures in their borrowed trousers. My breath hitched and heaved, torn between sobs and laughter. The master’s mysterious motive, at which I had wondered so desperately…why, it was perfectly obvious. I had not thought of it only because I was betrothed, and had no knowledge of my father’s offer of my hand.

But then why had he not come? Why would this man take but one step down his path to greatness? I was imprisoned that he might rescue me, yet rescue did not come.

Because I had a brother. No sooner did my father declare the traditional reward for my rescue, then he had a son. I was not desired for myself, after all, but for my kingdom. A kingdom that belonged now to Edric.

“He will never come, will he?” I whispered.

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