Chapter 32: STAY WHERE IT CAN SEE YOU

DIANA’S POV

Diana stayed where the dragon could see her.

She stood behind the upper gallery rail with Alma and Tavia while the wounded animal watched from below.

The dragon had spent several minutes trying to prevent anyone from helping her.

Diana understood the principle.

The method seemed excessive.

Blood darkened the dragon’s side.

Master Clair approached one cautious step at a time. The dragon kept watching Diana until he reached the edge of the safe treatment zone. Only then did her head begin to turn toward him.

Diana moved without thinking, one step closer to the rail.

The dragon looked back at her.

The keeper stopped.

Raigoro called upward.

"Stay where you are."

She had not intended to go anywhere.

Alma whispered, "For once."

Diana ignored her.

Master Clair made another attempt.

He reached the injured side.

The muscles of the dragon tightened.

Diana could see the change even from above.

He stopped again.

"Your Grace."

Raigoro turned toward him.

The keeper pointed toward the upper gallery.

"Move the Duchess back."

Diana frowned.

Raigoro signaled her guards.

"Ten paces."

Apparently she had become part of an experiment without the courtesy of paperwork.

She moved.

One pace.

Then another.

By the time she reached the far arch, the dragon had begun pulling against the remaining control line.

Master Clair raised his hand.

"Stop."

Diana stopped.

The dragon’s tail struck the ground.

"Bring her forward again."

Raigoro looked at the keeper.

"You asked me to move her."

"I did."

"And now?"

"Bring her back."

Diana had already started.

Raigoro looked upward.

She raised her slate.

HE CHANGED HIS MIND.

"I heard him."

Good.

Diana returned to her original place.

The dragon followed her movement.

By the time Diana reached the rail, the tail had stopped striking the floor.

Master Clair watched.

Nobody spoke for several seconds.

Then he pointed toward a mark in the stone court below.

"Half the distance this time."

Raigoro turned to Diana.

"Do it."

Diana’s slate remained in her hand.

AM I BEING TRAINED?

Tavia read over her shoulder.

A sound escaped her before she disguised it by clearing her throat.

Raigoro did not look amused.

"Five paces."

Diana moved five paces. The dragon grew restless again, then settled when Diana returned to the rail.

The keeper repeated the test once to make sure the first result had not been a chance. The dragon reacted the same way.

Master Clair walked up the stairs toward the gallery.

He stopped several steps away from Diana.

"Your Grace, I want to try from the lower protected platform."

Alma immediately said, "How protected?"

The keeper looked at her.

"A recessed stone observation bay. Twenty feet separate it from the nearest treatment line. Two exits. Household Guards remain with her."

"And the dragon?"

"The opening is barred and too narrow for her head or forelimbs. She can see the Duchess. She cannot reach her."

Alma considered.

"That is a better answer."

The keeper looked toward Diana.

Raigoro had come up the stairs behind the man.

"You remain behind the barrier."

She wrote:

I KNOW WHAT BEHIND MEANS.

"I have learned to be specific."

Fair.

Diana followed them down.

The protected platform sat inside a recessed stone bay along the side of the treatment court. A heavy parapet rose to Diana’s waist, with iron bars continuing above it into the stone arch. The dragon could see through them but could not put her head or forelimbs through. Diana’s guards entered first, Alma remained beside her, and Tavia stayed near the stair.

The dragon followed Diana’s descent with her head. From the lower platform, Diana could see the injury much more clearly.

Diana was closer now.

Close enough to see the rough edges of broken scales around the injury.

Close enough to see how the dragon favored one leg every time the wounded shoulder shifted.

The size of her was harder to ignore from here. So was the fact that she had every reason to distrust the people approaching her wound.

Diana remained afraid. The dragon still had teeth long enough to make that sensible. Pain simply made its behavior easier to understand than magic did.

At Master Clair’s signal, the dragon healer approached the wound again.

Three dragonkeepers took the positions Clair assigned around the animal while an assistant brought the healer’s clean instruments.

The dragon kept Diana in sight over the nearest keeper’s shoulder.

Diana stayed where she was.

When the dragon gave a low warning sound, Master Clair raised one hand.

Everyone stopped.

The dragon healer waited with the instrument still rather than forcing the next movement.

Once the dragon’s body eased again, Clair lowered his hand.

The healer continued.

A second embedded fragment came out, then a smaller third piece. The healer cleaned the wound and treated the darkened tissue while Clair’s keepers watched the dragon’s head, shoulders, claws, and tail.

Whenever the dragon’s attention began turning toward the people around the wound, Diana shifted slightly into clearer view.

At one point Alma whispered, "Do you think she likes you?"

Diana stared at the dragon’s claws.

She wrote:

I THINK SHE IS IN PAIN.

Near the far stair, Tavia was paying more attention to Diana than to the keepers. Her expression held neither suspicion nor awe. She seemed to be trying to understand what she was seeing.

Diana preferred that.

The dragon healer finally stepped back.

"Bandage."

Master Clair repositioned two keepers before the wrapping began.

Two dragonkeepers brought the heavy wrapping material used beneath damaged wings and held it where the dragon healer directed.

The dragon objected once before allowing the keepers to continue. When the healer secured the final layer, she let out a breath and removed one glove.

"Done."

The dragon lowered her head toward the stone, and everyone waited before moving again.

Master Clair looked toward Diana.

"Stay another minute."

She nodded.

The dragon’s breathing gradually slowed.

Raigoro came to stand on the other side of the barrier. He checked the treated wound first.

Then Diana recognized the expression he had worn often enough around her by now. He had another question.

Waiting until the keepers had finished did not make Diana want to hear it.

Master Clair gave permission for Diana to leave.

She turned toward the stair.

"Duchess."

Diana stopped.

Raigoro remained beside the barrier.

"Have you been near dragons before?"