Chapter Nine

 

 

Ystine was waiting in line with the other vehicles that were getting ready to leave the city.

“Are we returning to the capital?”

“Not quite yet. We are driving escort on a shipment of construction supplies,” Trin murmured inside her helmet as the gate began to swing open.

“Why?”

Trin grinned. “Because the driver doesn’t want to go. It is a scary place, and he is freaked out at having to stay there overnight.”

“Where are we going?”

She glanced back at the truck behind her and nodded as she engaged Ystine’s motor. “The Delarm Valley.”

The velo didn’t ask her anything, merely rolled forward with traffic. Ystine didn’t care that they were going to the place where Trin’s existence had started. Well, it seemed likely that it was where her parents had come together. She wanted to know if there was anyone else. Family was an elusive focus for her, but unknown family could be the most fantastic and amazing gathering of beings ever created. Or, they could be complete assholes. Trin looked forward to finding out.

 

Two breaks and ten hours of driving later, she pulled up to the gate for the Delarm Valley. There was one road. Nothing else allowed entry to the town below.

The guard looked at her and tapped his head. She removed her helmet.

He turned white as a sheet and stepped back. “Why are you here?”

She blinked slowly. “I am driving escort for this shipment of materials from the city. The driver was nervous.”

The guard blinked and ran a hand through his sandy hair. “Can I see a manifest?”

She reached into the pocket inside her leather coat. “Here you go.”

He read through the list and swallowed nervously at awkward intervals. “Right. It looks like it is in order. Go down the road to the right. The Anders farm is on the right.”

She quirked a smile. “Anders farm?”

“Yes. You look like the youngest daughter.”

She nodded and looked to the driver, giving him a thumb’s up. His expression was relieved, and his engine rumbled as he switched gears. Trin put her helmet on and nodded to the gate guard as he lifted the bar that had blocked progress.

She noted the bands in the road and saw the small units on either side. This road wasn’t guarded by just a metal bar and a human. There was enough power accessible to toast her and Ystine into a smouldering pile, and it was right under her tires. She drove into the valley at a slow and sedate pace.

The valley was quite pretty, but her dragon was on alert. The place had the highest concentration of dragons outside the hub at the capital.

She followed the directions and drove slowly down the rough road to the farmhouse in the distance.

A small army was there to meet them when they arrived, and the men went to the rear of the truck while the women approached the driver and then Trin with lemonade.

She kept her head down but lifted her visor. “Thank you.”

She took the straw between her lips and tasted the beverage made from fresh lemons and honey. “It’s good.”

The women chuckled. One said, “Thomas said you were a woman.”

“He is correct.”

One of the skirts at the edge of her field of view swayed slightly. “Will you stay the night?”

She glanced behind her. “Is the driver getting the same invitation?”

The women murmured quietly, and the one who had spoken said, “No. Thomas said you looked like you were one of ours, so we wanted to find out.”

“What is your name?”

“Meadra. Meadra Anders. I am the next bride.”

Trin thought for a moment and then removed her helmet, turning to extend her hand toward the woman that looked like a slightly younger version of herself before the dragon bleached her.

“Trin Lem. Pleased to meet you.”

The women standing behind Meadra paled, and one of them screamed. The men came running to find out what the problem was.

Meadra smiled and extended her hand. “Pleased to meet you, Trin.”

There was a strange electricity when they made contact but nothing hostile. The smile was genuine.

An older man pulled Meadra away from the handshake. “Who are you, woman?”

She cocked her head. “My name is Trin Lem. I was born after my mother was torn to pieces by a dragon. Investigation leads me to believe that she once lived here.”

The man stared and looked at her as if he was trying to tear her apart with his gaze.

Trin got off Ystine, and when she heard the closure of the truck, she gave the driver a nod. She was fine. He could go.

The truck rumbled along and turned around in the yard. Trin was still standing in a relaxed manner while the Anders family stared at her.

When the truck left, she cocked her head at the patriarch. “I am assuming that you are the elder Anders?”

The man blinked and scowled. “Who was your mother?”

“I am not quite sure, but the name LeeHee has been brought up. Do you know her?”

The entire family gasped and stepped back.

Meadra blinked and looked at the elder. “She’s family, Father.”

Her grandfather glared at her while he gritted out, “She is a mistake. She is not part of the pattern.”

As she stared at him, his eyes flickered, and a muddy grey dragon gaze was looking at her. This is just getting weirder.

She didn’t answer her dragon. It was hiding deep inside to conceal all traces of power.

“So, you have met dragons before.”

Trin smiled slightly. “I live at the capital. The dragons there are distinctly in charge, but they also flick their eyes like that when they lose their tempers.”

He blinked and leaned back. “You consort with dragons?”

“Yes. I have a shop, and they are frequent customers. Consorting is a little off though.”

The men who looked to be in their forties and fifties were standing behind their father. Their wives slowly moved to be at their sides. Meadra was on her own.

Trin smiled brightly. “Are you my grandfather?”

He frowned. “If you are LeeHee’s daughter, you are my grandchild.”

“How do we find out if that is true?”

“There is a seer in town. He can see the truth.”

“Great. When can we see him? Oh, and what is your name?”

The elder crossed his arms over his chest. He might be pushing seventy, but he was in fairly fit shape. “You don’t speak to me with respect.”

“You don’t speak to me with it either. I give what I get.” She cocked her head. One of the men behind their father smiled slightly as if he had heard her phrase before.

He turned to the side. “Merrick, call Linder. Tell him that we have LeeHee’s daughter here. He will trip over himself to get here.”

Trin waited, and then, she looked at Meadra. “So, should I head into town to check records or something?”

The elder turned around. “You are staying here until I say otherwise. Your mother put generations of effort into jeopardy with her infatuation.”

She sighed and loosened her coat, exposing the human marking at the base of her neck.

The family took a deep breath in shock, and Meadra walked up to touch the marking. “You are pure human?”

“Yeah. I was marked as a teen. It is just safer that I was considered an endangered species. The ports and cities are fine, but the dark alleys can be dangerous for someone like me.”

Her grandfather looked at the mark and hissed, “Human? That is impossible.”

“Impossible or not, here I am.”

Meadra looked from Trin to her elder, and she took Trin’s hand. “Let’s get you some more lemonade. We grow the lemons here.”

Trin walked with her toward the house, but Meadra veered off and walked around the building and through a small gap in a hedge. Trin wanted to stop and stare, but she had to keep going. Her dream garden was arrayed before her in neat rows and permanent greenhouses.

“Wow. This is amazing.”

“This is why people still deal with the valley. We have created a microclimate that grows fruits and vegetation from around the world for tisanes and herbal medicines.” Meadra kept walking, and she led Trin to the second of the glass-paned greenhouses.

Inside, Meadra leaned toward her and whispered, “You have to leave.”

Trin cocked her head. “I just got here.”

“It isn’t safe. If you are truly nothing but a human, you are as good as dead.”

“Why?”

Meadra quickly looked back toward the home and whispered, “This valley exists to manufacture dragons. If you are a human, the plan has failed. They can’t have you live if anyone learns of your situation.”

“Wow. That is rather harsh.” She asked a question that had been nagging at her. “Where is my grandmother?”

“She died birthing me. I wasn’t even supposed to exist, but LeeHee left, and they needed another girl for the program.”

The door to the greenhouse opened, and one of the brothers was standing there. “Why did you run off with our guest?”

Trin smiled. “I showed an interest in the lemons. Meadra wanted to show me the greenhouses before the light faded.”

The brother frowned. “That seems likely. Why would you have an interest in the greenhouses?”

“I have a partner in a business, and we sell coffee and tea. I always wondered why I had such a fascination with teas of all kinds, and now, I guess it was in the blood.” She smiled.

“You have a tea store?”

She reached into one of the pockets of her coat and handed him a card. “We have three coffee and three tea shops. We are working on expanding.”

He looked at her in surprise. “You weren’t lying.”

“No. I don’t lie. It wastes time.”

He nodded. “I am your uncle, Rainer. My wife, Leda, was the one holding the pitcher.”

“I am glad to meet you, Uncle Rainer.”

He grinned. “It is definitely interesting to meet you. Your cousins will be at the morning meal so you can meet the herd then.”

Meadra chuckled. “Each of your four uncles has three children. It makes for very loud breakfasts.”

Rainer inclined his head. “The seer is on the way. He didn’t hesitate when he learned who it was.”

Meadra sighed. “Of course not. We will be right there.”

Trin murmured the moment he was gone, “What is wrong with the seer?”

“He was your mother’s fiancé, and now, he is mine. I am not just her sister, I am her clone. Someone had to keep the pattern going, so my mother was forced into a late pregnancy. She didn’t make it.”

With that echoing in her mind, Trin had to join her estranged family as they prepared to greet the seer. This was even more messed up than she had imagined.

They have surrounded you. The dragon growled.

I am aware of it.

Let me at them. I will tear them apart.

They are our family. We need to hear them out. Remaining calm while all the hair on her body was standing on end was difficult.

What will our mate think?

Well, I am due to make my calls in just over an hour. I will hint to him then.

That was all that she was allowed to say to herself. They had made it to the farmhouse, and she was ushered inside, and Meadra sat next to her on a loveseat.

One of the women brought in a tea service, but Trin was the only recipient of a cup. The rest of the family were seated with their spouses, and the elder frowned at her with flickers of softness in his expression.

She sat with the tea in her cup; the scent brought her the hints of a sedative and the brightest of summer apples. It was not a blend she favoured.

She broke the silence with, “Well, this explains my fascination for tea.”

Her uncles jolted. Rainer looked at her with narrowed eyes. “Are you sure you didn’t know about us before you arrived?”

Trin quirked her lips. “I knew the name Anders and my mother’s name. That is it. I still don’t know who he is.” She gestured to the elder. “The tea is the best part of this visit so far.”

Meadra chuckled.

A knock at the door stopped her aunt’s laugh in mid-sound.

Trin’s grandfather went to the door, and he spoke with the man who had just arrived.

Meadra was vibrating with so much tension that the loveseat was humming. Trin gave her a quick glance, and the tension that her body was emitting was not on her face. Her face appeared placid.

The man that followed Trin’s grandfather into the room was only younger than the elder Anders by a handful of years.

The seer was bent with rumpled clothing. He came toward Trin and grabbed for her hand, so she dumped the drugged tea on him.

He hissed and pulled his hand back. “Be careful!”

“Why? No one touches me without my consent.” She rose to her feet.

He looked her in the eye, and then, he glanced at her grandfather. “Eamon, how am I supposed to read her if I can’t touch her?”

Trin snapped her fingers in front of the seer’s face. “You are supposed to ask. I swear. The Delarm Valley is the rudest place I have ever been.”

She looked around at the shocked faces. “I need to make a call.”

With long strides, she was out the door and down the porch steps in seconds. She checked her com and was unsurprised to see a lack of signal. That was fine. Ystine was able to generate what she needed; Trin just needed a moment away.

“Ystine, fire up. This place is crazy.”

The velo was where she left her, and she swung onto the seat, and her companion helped her make her escape.

“I am guessing that your reunion was tense.” The voice was amused as she followed the path through the farm and down to the township beyond.

“You could say that. They wanted a seer to check to make sure that I was LeeHee’s daughter.”

“So, now we are running?”

“Yes.”

“You saw the barriers at the front gate?”

“Yup.”

“So, what is the plan?”

Trin glanced skyward and saw the dragons above them. “I am working on it.”