Dragon in Exile - eARC Read Free Page A

was sane, but neither Healer would commit to so much.”
    No, neither would. Training…left scars. Those who had broken training, of which there were, by his precise count, two, were forever changed. Those who had broken training and who had in some measure been Healed—of which there were again, those exact two—did not reclaim their former selves so much as they created a new self, somewhat reminiscent of the old.
    And that line of thought…gave pause. Two had broken the Department’s training—himself, and Rys Lin pen’Chala, who had also been a Senior Field Agent. Why, then, could there not be another? What prevented Melsilee bar’Abit from becoming the third to contest training, and prevail?
    It was excitement now that burned in him, so brightly that he closed his eyes and mentally reviewed the calming and focusing exercise known as the Scout’s Rainbow.
    “Commander yos’Phelium?”
    The Rainbow spun in a wheel of color behind his closed eyes. He breathed in, deliberately, and let the breath go in a sigh.
    “Yes, forgive me. Please extend my compliments to Melsilee bar’Abit. Tell her that I will come to her there.”
    * * * * *
    “She is serene, and calm,” the Healer murmured. “It may be that she is meditating. I find nothing of subterfuge, or violence. She is…at peace.”
    Val Con looked to Commander ven’Rathan.
    “I will go in alone, and speak with Agent bar’Abit. Healer, please monitor her. Commander…”
    “The room will be filled with gas at the first hint of a misstep,” she said flatly. “It is, being a gas, not able to distinguish between friend and foe, so allow me to regret now the headache that will greet you upon awakening. This is to be a first conversation only, with, as you have said, the Healer monitoring, and the session recorded. If it is proven that she is sincere in her desire to change alliance, we will craft a staged removal from the cell to…secured quarters.”
    Val Con bowed.
    “I concur.”
    “Will you allow me to set up a video meeting instead of this face-to-face confrontation?”
    They had discussed that approach when he had first arrived, and he had insisted on the personal meeting. Still, if their roles were reversed, he supposed he would argue for a conservative course, as well. It was what was rational, and would give the Healer nearly the same opportunity to deep read the agent. However…
    “Trust must begin somewhere. She has extended a hand. If I do not meet it with goodwill, we may well lose something precious.”
    Scout Commander ven’Rathan sighed, but she stepped back, signaling the guard to open the door.
    * * * * *
    Melsilee bar’Abit sat cross-legged on her cot in the small room. She opened her eyes when the door snapped shut, and regarded him without expression.
    He bowed, briefly, as one of superior rank to one of lesser.
    “I am Val Con yos’Phelium Clan Korval,” he said. “You had sent me a message.”
    She was a compact woman, her light brown hair wisping around her head in soft curls. Her eyes were blue-grey, large, and set slightly too close together.
    “Why, yes, I did send you a message,” she said, her voice as wispy as her hair. “I asked you to come and talk with me.”
    “So you did,” he said, gently.
    He had spoken with Melsilee bar’Abit when she had first come into Korval’s care. She had been acerbic and savage; nearly a complete turnabout from this uncertain demeanor. Which could, so he thought, be an effect of having broken training. She had accomplished what he had, and Rys, but alone, with neither lifemate nor brothers at hand to catch all of the pieces when everything she had known, and been, broke apart.
    She unwound from the cot, and stood in her stocking feet, prisoners being disallowed boots. Carefully, she bowed, as one acknowledging a debt.
    “Thank you, for coming to me,” she said. “I regret that I must ask—do you recall my message?”
    He felt a frisson of disquiet, and made careful