Chapter 45: OPEN THE GATE

DARIC’S POV

Raigoro had forbidden the Duchess from entering Vharos’s cavern.

He had also left Daric authority to hold the Citadel when circumstances changed in his absence.

He had given that order before Vharos began exhausting himself whenever she moved away.

Daric stood before the locked gate while the dragon made another attempt to rise below.

The sound carried through the stone. This time Vharos sounded as though the effort itself hurt.

Master Clair watched Daric. "Well?"

"You tested the distance?"

"Three times. He worsens when she leaves and settles when she returns."

"What happens if she enters?"

"I don’t know."

That is the important part.

The Duchess stood several paces back with Alma beside her and two Household Guards behind. She looked irritated rather than panicked, which Daric preferred.

"Where do you intend to stop her?" he asked Master Clair.

"Behind the first marked line."

"And if he moves toward her?"

"We withdraw her immediately."

"Can you clear her back through the passage quickly?"

"Yes, if everyone else keeps the route open."

"How many keepers?"

"Four inside. Two more ready."

"Guards?"

One of the Duchess’s Household Guards answered. "Two with Her Grace. More are available at the secured stair."

Master Clair shook his head.

"Too many unfamiliar people may make Vharos worse."

"Then two."

Daric looked toward the Duchess.

"You understand that entering does not mean approaching him?"

She wrote: YES.

"You stop when the keeper tells you."

She wrote YES again.

"You do not touch him."

The Duchess looked to Master Clair for that answer.

Good. He was the one qualified to decide it.

"Not unless I tell you," Master Clair said.

She nodded.

Alma looked from Daric to the gate. "You are actually considering this."

"Yes. Raigoro told her not to enter."

"Then why are we still standing here?" Alma asked.

Daric looked through the bars.

"Because His Grace gave that order before Vharos began trying to tear himself off the floor when she walked away."

Alma stared at him.

"The order was given for different circumstances."

She said nothing after that.

Daric had spent enough time arguing with her to recognize the change. She had expected him to obey Raigoro’s last instruction even after the facts changed.

Daric found the assumption insulting on Raigoro’s behalf.

Master Clair said, "Commander."

"If we wait?"

"He will keep exhausting himself."

"And if the Duchess enters?"

"We learn whether proximity continues helping."

"How dangerous is doing nothing?"

Master Clair looked toward the cavern.

"For Vharos?"

"Yes."

"He has already spent more strength today than I wanted him spending this week."

Another scrape sounded below.

Daric looked through the gate.

"Other options?"

"We can keep the Duchess here and hope he stops trying to reach her."

"He has not."

"No."

"Sedation?"

Master Clair’s expression changed.

"Possible."

"Safe?"

"Nothing that suppresses a dragon that size is harmless when his condition is already this poor. I would use it if he became dangerous enough to leave us no choice."

"Are we there?"

"No."

Daric looked toward the Duchess.

The dragon had worsened when she withdrew and improved when she returned. Keeping her at the outer gate reduced the agitation without stopping Vharos from trying to rise.

The remaining question was whether controlled proximity inside the cavern would help more.

"If she crosses the gate, what ends the attempt?"

Master Clair answered immediately.

"Vharos charges the first line. Her Grace experiences pain beyond what she can tolerate. The keepers lose control of his position. I tell you to remove her."

"Any one of those?"

"Any one."

Daric turned toward the Duchess.

"You understand?"

She nodded.

"If you want to stop before that, you stop."

The Duchess wrote:

YES.

Daric looked at Alma.

"If she cannot write quickly enough?"

"I will know."

That answer came without hesitation.

Good.

Daric had a dragonkeeper defining the physical risk, the Duchess deciding whether she accepted it, Alma able to communicate for her, guards assigned to extraction, and no safer alternative that solved the immediate problem.

Raigoro’s original restriction had been sensible.

These were no longer the circumstances under which he had given it.

Daric held out his hand.

"Key."

The military gate captain gave it to him.

Alma spoke.

"If this goes badly?"

Daric fitted the key into the lock.

"Then you may tell me I was wrong after we get her out."

"Only after?"

"I expect you will be busy before that."

Alma said nothing else.

Daric took that as agreement.

He opened the gate.

The sound of Vharos breathing reached them more clearly.

The Duchess went still.

The passage descended in broad stone steps lit by ward lamps set deep into the walls.

Heat rose from below, though the air still smelled of cold rock, medicine, and something metallic.

Dragon blood, probably.

Master Clair went first.

The Duchess followed.

Alma immediately moved with her.

Master Clair stopped.

"Only the Duchess."

Alma’s expression changed.

Daric said, "She goes."

Master Clair looked at him. "Vharos knows her?"

"No."

"Then why?"

"Because the Duchess uses her to communicate quickly."

The Duchess looked back.

Alma’s presence was practical. She could understand the Duchess faster than anyone else there.

Master Clair considered. "Fine. She stays behind the same line."

Alma followed.

Daric went next with the two Household Guards.

The farther they descended, the more the cavern opened.

The roar that had shaken the Citadel had come from somewhere beyond a final turn.

Before they reached it, Master Clair stopped everyone.

"From here, no sudden movement."

The Duchess stopped at the final turn.

Throughout the Muster, even when frightened, she had continued watching the dragons closely enough to notice their handlers and injuries. Whatever stopped her now belonged to this cavern rather than simply to the size of the dragon waiting inside it.

Master Clair asked, "Your Grace?"

She nodded.

The nod convinced Daric of nothing, but dragging her back upstairs would leave Vharos in the same condition.

Master Clair continued.

"First line is the iron mark across the floor. You stay behind it."

They rounded the final turn.

The cavern opened.

Daric had seen Vharos hundreds of times.

He had never seen the Duchess see him.

She stopped so abruptly that Alma nearly struck her from behind.

Vharos lay across the far side of the cavern.

Black scales caught the ward light.

One wing was partly extended against the stone.

His head had been raised before they entered.

Now it turned toward the Duchess.

Vharos went completely still.

So did the Duchess.