“He did speak them,” Jason said.
“And my suspicion is that he spoke them with the intention of finding a way beyond them. I don’t know what he planned, or how he thought he would be able to maneuver around the words, but it’s unlikely that he spoke them intending to comply by them.” He glanced toward the door. “Knowing him as vaguely as I do, I have a feeling he spoke them thinking that he would convince you. Most people from Lorach are at least familiar with the words of the flame, and they understand that if a Dragon Soul speaks them, there would be no way for them to violate that.”
“But I didn’t know what it meant.”
That was the part of all of this that troubled Jason the most. David had spoken words, even though Jason had not really understood what they meant. David had said it anyway. He could have said anything. He could’ve claimed any vow. Why did it have to be words of the flame?
He looked back toward the doors.
“I know you don’t believe him, and I’m not sure I can believe him, either, but…” The more Jason thought about it, the more certain he was that there was something more taking place. He couldn’t help but feel as if, regardless of Henry’s feelings about David and about Aurans in general, there was something more he was missing. It was the same thing he felt about Sarah and her abrupt decision to imprison him.
There was more taking place here.
Jason spun, facing the cell, and he headed back toward David’s cell, stopping in front of the door. “We need to understand what he’s doing, and he has no power with him. I’ve taken his dragon pearls. I’ve even taken his clothing,” he said, motioning to himself and the dragonskin he was wearing. “I made sure the dragons accepted me wearing it, but he doesn’t have anything. No marker of his office. No power.”
“You asked the dragon if you could wear the dragonskin?”
“I thought it was appropriate. I didn’t want the dragons to be angry if I suddenly was wearing a dragonskin cloak and jacket.”
Henry smiled. “How did that go?”
“The ice dragon was fine with it.” He hadn’t really asked the iron dragon, but the iron dragon was different. The more he understood that dragon, the more certain he was of that fact.
Henry chuckled softly, shaking his head. “Interesting. Regardless, the Aurans don’t need dragon pearls in order to use their power. It will certainly augment it, but without a dragon pearl, they still have some power within them.”
That was the same thing that David had admitted. It was even more reason to question how much David had been lying to him. It might not be nearly as much as what Henry believed. And if he wasn’t lying, and if at least part of what he said was the truth, then they needed to include him. It might be difficult for Henry and the others in Dragon Haven to believe, but the more he thought about it, the more certain he was.
“He’s going to have to come with us,” Jason said.
“I can’t allow that.”
“You can’t, but I can.”
“He knows how to find Dragon Haven.”
“Then find some way to prevent him from remembering.”
Henry shook his head. “It doesn’t quite work like that. We don’t have any way of restricting memory. That’s not how the dragon pearls work.”
“Make him say the words of the flame that he won’t share the location.”
Henry stared at him, and there was a debate waging behind his eyes, flickering there. Jason didn’t know all that Henry had gone through when he served the Dragon Souls, but he did know that Henry had changed, and that because of that, he viewed those commitments very differently. He viewed those who still served the Dragon Souls differently as well. If anyone would understand wanting something different, wanting to be someone different, it would be Henry.
Jason wasn’t completely convinced that David wanted to be anything different. He still had mentioned returning to Lorach, and being here hadn’t changed David’s belief that he would be able to return. If he did so, there was little doubt in Jason’s mind that David would try to use the knowledge he had gleaned to somehow harm dragons here.
Then again, if he made a commitment, if he spoke the words of the flame, then perhaps Henry and others here would believe him.
“Have him do it publicly,” Jason said.
“Publicly?”
“In front of the dragons.”
Henry frowned, taking a deep breath and letting it out slowly. “You don’t know what you’re asking,” he said.
“I don’t, but I think you need to risk it.”
“Why?”
“Because we might need him for this.”
“We can’t trust him.”
“Did the people of Dragon Haven say the same about you?”
Henry held his gaze for a long moment. “Yes.”
“Then it’s even more reason for you to do this. You know what it’s like. You know how hard it is to gain the trust of someone who believes you have no interest in what is important to them. I’m not saying David is reformed and I’m not saying that he’s going to work on behalf of the dragons, but I do think he can be useful. And he was helping me.”
More than anything, that thought stuck with Jason.
Henry let out a loud sigh and turned toward the door, twisting the keys in it and unlocking it. When he pulled it open, David stood on the other side.
“I know you,” David said.
“If you know me, then you know what I’m willing to do.”
David glanced beyond Henry to Jason, locking eyes with him. There was a question there, though Jason wasn’t sure what David was thinking. Was he upset he’d freed him from the cell?
“I know how you betrayed our people,” David said to Henry.
“Not my people. Not anymore.”
“And yet you still betrayed them.”
“Did I? What if those people betrayed me?”
“You were trained. You were given power. And you betrayed it.”
“I was betrayed. The lessons taught to me were wrong. And everything we believed was wrong.”
“Is that what you think to teach him?” David nodded to Jason. “And yet you don’t give him the other side. You don’t allow him to know what his power can do.”
“I haven’t done anything to his power.”
Henry grabbed David and jerked on his back, thrusting him in front of him. Henry was considerably larger than David, larger than Jason, and he forced David forward. “Get moving.”
“Is this how it’s going to be? Are you going to bring me out here and destroy me?”
“I’m not going to bring you out and do anything. And you have Jason to thank for this.”
“For what?” David asked, studying Jason. He crossed his hands over his arms, watching him.
“For your new vow.”
“What new vow?”
“You’re going to make a vow in front of the dragons. You are going to speak the words of the flame. And you are going to commit to protecting them.”
“You know I can’t do that.”
“I know you think you can’t, but you will. And if you don’t, you’ll be returned to the cell and that will be the end of it.”
David laughed bitterly. “Is this how you treat all of us? Do you force all of us to make a vow in front of the dragons? Do you think such a thing will change anything?”
Henry shook his head. “We haven’t made anyone do this before. This will be the first time.”
“Will it? Then why me?”
“Ask Jason.”
Henry started off and David regarded Jason for a long moment, saying nothing. There was heat in his gaze, and something burned within his eyes, but he remained silent.