Light Dragons 02 - The Unbearable Lightness of Dragons

dragons.”
    He was silent for a moment, his eyes calculating. A thought occurred to me at that moment, of someone who might be able to clear up the whole thing. “Thala!”
    “What did she do now?” May asked, her fingers playing in Gabriel’s shoulder-length dreadlocks.
    “She was there with you, wasn’t she?” I asked Baltic before turning back to the others. “She’s his alibi! Thala can tell you all that Baltic didn’t kill anyone.”
    His fingers, which had been on my leg, tightened for a moment.
    “I’m thinking that Thala’s not horribly high in the weyr’s esteem right now,” Aisling said softly.
    “We asked her about the night in question,” Drake pointed out. “She said she knew nothing.”
    “Of course she did. Did she tell you anything you wanted to know? I just bet you that she didn’t say a damned thing. She’s the most stubborn, obstinate . . . Well, that’s neither here nor there except that if you were to say she gave you any information, I’d be surprised.”
    “She didn’t, as a matter of fact,” Gabriel admitted. “We all questioned her, but got nowhere.”
    “That’s because you didn’t let me have a shot at her,” Kostya said, cracking his knuckles in an obnoxious fashion.
    “Oh, please. She’d have chewed you up and spat you out,” I answered.
    His expression turned black with outrage.
    “I simply meant that you never could strike a woman, and I doubt if you’ve changed over the centuries. No, only Baltic can get Thala to talk, so that’s what we’ll do.”
    “It is, is it?” asked the love of my life with deceptive blandness.
    “Yes.” I glanced at him. “It’s important, Baltic.”
    He looked as if he wanted to argue the point, but just shook his head in resignation.
    “There, see? All fixed. Thala will clear Baltic, and the weyr can drop their war against us.”
    May avoided meeting my eye. Aisling coughed and looked at Drake, nudging him when he didn’t say anything.
    “What?” I asked them all. “Why are you giving me that odd look?”
    “You are too honest,” Baltic said, pulling me close to him. “It does not occur to you, as it does the others, that Thala’s word would not be accepted as the truth.”
    Would Thala lie? I thought that over for a minute or two, then conceded that she might well lie if it suited her purpose. “She would tell the truth if you told her to, wouldn’t she?” I asked Baltic.
    He hesitated a moment, but that hesitation was all that was needed for Kostya.
    “Even he cannot control his lieutenant,” Kostya scoffed. “Why should we believe her word against the proof of a witness?”
    My hope for peace died at that moment, and with its death, all the frustration and anger and a strong sense of irritation that had built up over the last two months rolled around inside me, blending into something that had me spreading my arms wide and shouting, “I have had enough! By the rood, either the weyr will believe us when we say Baltic is innocent of the deaths of those dragons or I will make you all sorry you ever thought to doubt us!”
    “She’s casting a spell,” May said, looking surprised.
    “As the waning moon fades,” I bellowed, determined to make them see the truth once and for all.
    “Ysolde,” Baltic said on a martyred sigh, “have you not learned? They will not be led.”
    “Grant knowledge of what has passed!” Light formed in my hands, the bluish white light of arcane power, tipped with dragon fire.
    Instantly, Drake and Gabriel sprang into action, shoving their respective mates down behind various substantial pieces of furniture, despite the women’s squawks of objection.
    Kostya looked around for a moment, realized he had no one to protect, and with an annoyed noise, started toward me, clearly bent on stopping my spell.
    Baltic leaped past me toward him, and the two of them went down.
    “Bring forth wisdom in place of fear . . .”
    Drake and Gabriel hurled themselves toward me, Aisling yelling something about wards, while May disappeared into thin air.
    The light from my hands grew until it surrounded me, bathing me in the warmth of the dragon fire and the strength of the arcane power.
    “. . . tolerance where there is only hate . . .”
    Drake and Gabriel struggled to reach me, but the light held them back. Baltic slammed Kostya up against one of the glass-fronted cases, shattering the glass, his furious words punctuated by the gentle tinkle of shards striking the hardwood floor.