Rise of the Dragon Queen

by Sherri Beth Mitchell

  “Wait one moment!” Dessica exclaimed. “Lord Rohedon? Coming here? That is absurd.” She waved her hand dismissively, until Keelan told her of the raven’s visit. Her tone then changed. “By the gods, Silvia! We must get you out of the city and as far away as possible! If Rohedon finds Madeline’s child alive and well in the city, he will roast you alive to keep his son on the throne!”

  Silvia stood up and walked into the yard with a straight back. “That will not happen!” she said defiantly. “I will have my throne and I will damn sure tell Rohedon who I am! I am not ashamed of my true identity, and I will retaliate against him—and Gregorich—to prove just how strong-willed I am!”

  “My Queen, he is a powerful sorcerer, and you are merely a novice,” said Zander. “You have only just started!”

  “A novice?” Dessica questioned. She looked at Silvia with tired eyes. “You neglected to tell me that, I believe. You have changed much since you’ve been gone.”

  “I didn’t neglect to tell you, I just have not had a moment to mention it,” Silvia said, feeling a little guilty.

  “She has stronger magic than I do,” Zander said. “I just need to instruct her on how to use it and control it. Right now a large amount of magic will tire her.”

  “Actually, I hardly tire at all now. I’ve been practicing,” Silvia countered.

  “Even still…” He looked away. “I apologize, milady, but there isn’t any way you could compete against him and possibly expect to win.”

  Fury burned Silvia’s eyes aflame. She threw her hands up in the air and shouted, “Tanudan foohur wey cidor munhai!”

  All at once the earth began to shake. Dishes and pots started clanking inside the house and the wood shakes of the roof flopped up and down. The horses reared up, neighing and whinnying, striking the air with their hooves. Leaves and pine needles fell off the trees and the small pebbles on the dirt road bounced half a foot into the air. The wooden chairs the others were sitting on were rattling hard underneath them.

  “Niyhune!” Silvia yelled, and everything became still. She turned her gaze on Zander. “You just let him try to stop me. He will be put in his place.”

  Chapter Twelve—Sorcery and Escapes

  Everyone’s hands clutched their chairs, astonished by what they had just witnessed. No one spoke. Silvia silently went to the pasture to calm the horses with oats. When she returned, Zander said, “I am sorry to have offended you so, Your Highness. I did not know you were so strong. Where did you learn to do that?”

  She shrugged her shoulders and replied, “I am not entirely sure how I did it, if you want to know the truth. I just concentrated and told the earth to tremble.”

  “Do you feel weak, or dizzy?”

  Silvia shook her head. “Not really. I feel exhilarated. I don’t feel weak at all.”

  “Well, I have to say that was completely amazing!” Frero declared.

  “I did not know you were capable of such things,” admonished Dessica in a mocking tone.

  Keelan laughed and took Silvia’s hand. “Shall I start calling you ‘my little earth shaker’?”

  They all laughed, but a sort of uneasiness filtered through the excitement of her talents. If Silvia could shake the earth, what else could she do? And could Rohedon so easily match it?

  The gray-eyed man watched the young queen as she tested her magic in anger. She would be more powerful than she realized. He hoped she would be ready to face Rohedon when the time came. If her fate was truly that which was written in the stars, her destiny would be so much more than confronting Rohedon. He eyed the dark skies and began walking back to the city through the woods, careful to not let himself be seen.

  Hans, Frero, and Geremy saddled up the horses while Zander congratulated Silvia and Keelan for the hundredth time. Silvia was forced to leave Rituel at Zander’s since he wasn’t the horse she had ridden out upon. Gregorich Hapshamin wouldn’t be too pleased if he thought she had traded one of his horses. Geremy was to ride to the east and see if he could find Raena—he and Dessica had accepted the gracious offer of free room and board at Zander’s home. Silvia and Dessica hugged good bye, and Silvia told her to have the old man call upon her if anything happened. When the horses were ready, Geremy told Keelan to have Quentin stop by in the next day or so and talk. Keelan assured him that Quentin would try, although he wasn’t sure how his brother would feel about it. Geremy didn’t seem the type to cause a big stir if he didn’t have to, and so he doubted there would be trouble, even though he was pretty sure the conversation would be an intense one.

  They left at a fast trot, for the wind had picked up and storm clouds were nearly on top of them. Geremy parted with the rest as soon as they reached the main street of Darkania, which had almost emptied of people in anticipation of the storm. The rain began to fall down in torrents behind them, so they galloped toward the stables. The rain seemed to throw itself at the stable doors as soon as they had entered.

  “Aha!” Willis exclaimed. “You raced the storm, did ya?” He took their horses and Hans helped take the saddles off and rub the lathered beasts down. Silvia, Maura, Frero, and Keelan waited patiently for the rain to slack off enough to run to the palace doors. They finally managed to find a lull in the storm, though the run to the doors still soaked them through and got everyone wet from the knees down. Silvia was pleasantly surprised to find that a fire had been built in her chambers to ward off the impending chill of the rain, and after she had changed her clothes, she gratefully sat down in a chair beside it. She dozed off and on, until Keelan picked her up and laid her on the couch. There, she fell into a deep sleep. Hans and Maura had retired as well for afternoon naps. Something about the pouring rain had made everyone feel sleepy.

  The storm had quit when Quentin knocked on the door a couple hours later. He was let in, where he immediately went to the fire to warm himself; the air had acquired quite a chill. When he was good and warm, they went to her bedchamber, sitting on the giant bed so they could talk without worry of anyone eavesdropping.

  “I followed her all day,” he muttered. “Just a little while ago we were in the kitchen and I snatched a flagon of wine and a hunk of cheese because I was hungry. When I turned around, the wench was gone.” He nervously glanced at Silvia. “My apologies for the language, milady. Anyway, I heard the sound of her feet and trailed after her, trying to finish my meager meal in a hurry.” He grew silent, talking at his own leisure, lost in his reminiscence. “She went directly to Gregorich’s bedroom and knocked. When he opened the door, she told him she had some important, but private information. He let her—well, us—in and she started babbling about some accursed book she had found. She kept on and on about how sorry she was that he had been blamed for ‘all the rumors’, though it was obvious Gregorich had no idea what the devil she was talking about. She was waltzing around the room and wouldn’t stay still enough for me to touch her or try anything. I wasn’t sure if my memory magic would still work, but if the person doesn’t stay put for at least a few seconds it usually won’t work.”

  Several moments went by. “And then what happened?” Keelan prompted.

  Quentin rolled his eyes and wiped his face with his hand. “She started crying and acting crazy, so he…calmed her down.” The last words were rather mumbled.

  “How did he do that?” Silvia inquired. “Or do we want to know?”

  “He…they…went to bed, milady, and I would prefer not to go any further in details. I could not bring myself to do anything while they were thus occupied. I was very busy trying not to lose my midday meal.”

  Her face reddened. “That’s alright, Quentin, just skip over that part please.”

  Keelan shivered. “Ugh, how disgusting.”

  “Afterwards, she told him to get rid of ‘Lady Serena’. Until that point, my Queen, she had not mentioned you whatsoever, and I thought…well, I thought that if she didn’t say anything, maybe I wouldn’t have to…you know.” He paused for a moment, shaking his head. “Gregorich asked
why he should rid himself of such a beautiful creature, and she said that you were evil and planned on killing Gregorich to take the throne. I started doing my memory spell to make her forget everything, but on some people it takes a minute or two for it to work. I got worried because she told him you were related closely to royalty in blood. Gregorich asked who the royalty was, but my spell had started working, and she couldn’t answer that, thank the Parent Gods. Gregorich did not know what was happening to her (he never really knew the extent of my powers) and he was shaking her hard. He yelled at her to answer him, but she never so much as blinked at him.”

  “So where is Motilda now?” Keelan asked.

  “Hanging from the rafters in her room, a tight rope around her neck.”

  Silvia’s stomach turned. “H-has Maura seen her?”

  “No, I saw Maura in the corridor coming out of Hans’ room and I warned her not to go to her room. She didn’t ask why, but I think she suspects something close to the truth.”

  “How did you get her up there by yourself?” she asked.

  “I didn’t,” Quentin admitted. “The Royal Guards did. They were ordered to hang her in there because the king didn’t know what to do. They didn’t ask questions; they just did as they were told, although they were not happy about it.”

  “Coward! A miserable coward!” Keelan said. “He could have easily killed her with his own two hands and no one would have been the wiser, or even cared.” He stood up and planted his fist firmly into the palm of his other hand. “It will be a wondrous day when he is put in his place.”

  “What is the definition of a coward?” Silvia thought out loud. “I could have killed her easily as well, and it would have been justified. Does this mean I am a coward as well? Sometimes it is hard to do what needs to be done when something happens…you get scared, or overwhelmed.”

  “Please, don’t take up for that scoundrel,” Quentin said.

  “I’m not, believe me. I am only making a point.”

  A hush fell over them as they thought about everything. Then Keelan informed his brother of Geremy’s request.

  Quentin shook his head.

  “They are not terribly mad,” Keelan said. He hoped he was right in his reassurance. “You should go to them.”

  “But how can I face them? I have murdered his grandson, and several people in Dessica’s household. I am scum in their eyes and always will be…My heart was cold and ruthless then, and it is empty of everything but sorrow now. Everything is coming back to trouble me. You two should have shunned me from the very beginning.”

  “Had I shunned you, dear brother, you would still be out killing,” Keelan said quietly.

  “He is right, Quentin,” said Silvia. “And that sort of talk will not be tolerated in my presence. You hate what the white cloak compelled you to do. We all know that.”

  “Even Dessica and Geremy,” said Keelan.

  “Why do they wish to speak with me, then?”

  “Because Geremy’s wife, Raena, is coming here to Darkania to find and execute me,” said Silvia. “She thinks I murdered Venicius myself.” She swallowed hard at the thought of her dead lover.

  Quentin blinked and tears of shock and regret streamed down his face. “It seems that all the things I have done in the past are haunting you now. I only wish it were not so…But it is, and I will do what I can to right the wrongs. Milady, I’m so…oh, I’m so very sorry for destroying your life. I owe an eternity of servitude to you for your forgiveness.”

  Silvia embraced him warmly. “Just help me to get the throne under the seat of my dress and protect my husband-to-be and you will be in servitude no longer.”

  She reluctantly removed her engagement ring from her left hand before going down to dinner. Horace, Hanovi, and Jonathan were not present, but Eulonda was. She sat beside Sir Grant, who was on the King’s left. Keelan hopped up on his cushioned stool as she took her place beside Prince Dalton. She noticed right away that the prince seemed withdrawn and was wearing a very worried expression.

  Eulonda and the king chatted about the day’s rain and how the fields had needed it. Then there were several comments about the earth shaking.

  “I didn’t feel a thing,” Eulonda insisted. Her voice implied skepticism. “How could the earth tremble so?”

  “I felt it,” said Sir Grant.

  “As did I,” said Dalton.

  “I thought I felt something, but I was a bit preoccupied,” said Gregorich with a slight blush.

  “Well, it was strange…whatever it was,” said Sir Grant. “I wonder what could have caused it. It has been a great long time since any of the gods saw fit to shake the earth.”

  Silvia kept to herself, smiling on the inside. When the conversation turned to horses, she happily joined in.

  “I heard word that you have been quite taken with Windfall,” Sir Grant said with a smile. “You are the only person besides the King himself that has been able to stay on his back.” He frowned as he took a bite of some vegetables. “He threw me three times in one day.”

  Silvia tutted. “He is a magnificent animal and has not acted rashly on me once. Why, Willis tried to get me to use a thicker bit, but I refused. That may be why the horse likes me so.” She winked at him.

  Grant chuckled, and then joined in another discussion. Silvia ate some of her food quietly for a few minutes, but curiosity finally got the better of her and she turned to the prince beside her. “What ails you, my friend?”

  “I wish not to speak of it now,” he said softly. His voice was pained and she did not question him further.

  When dessert was being served, Dalton leaned over and whispered, “If you truly care to know, go to the rock garden at the back of the castle half an hour after dinner is over.”

  Silvia nodded, knowing the garden he spoke of was right beneath her balcony. When dinner was over, Gregorich insisted on escorting Silvia back to her room to enjoy her company. She grudgingly obliged, taking his proffered arm.

  “Have I told you that your face looks vaguely familiar to me?” the King said on the way to her chambers. “I don’t know why, but it does.”

  Silvia swallowed hard before answering. “I could not imagine why, my Lord.” They were walking down the hall towards her room when she decided it was time to rattle the king’s nerves…and her own as well. She gathered up her courage.

  “Have you by chance seen Motilda this evening? I have not seen her but once today, and am becoming rather worried.”

  “I’ll look in on her and see if she is ill,” Gregorich said. His muscles tightened a bit under Silvia’s arm.

  They were almost past Motilda’s room when Silvia whirled about, went the door, and said, “While we are passing her room, we might as well stop in on her.” She threw open the door and went inside, Keelan on her heels.

  A single torch was lit next to the door and it was enough to illuminate Motilda, hanging by a thin rope, which was tied about the rafters. The rope had cut into her neck, which was swollen around it. Her left shoe had fallen off and lay on the floor beneath her. Her hair partially covered her face in a cascade of blonde; the rest of her hair was caught up in the rope.

  Silvia’s stomach churned wildly, and it took an effort to keep her dinner inside it. She covered her mouth for a moment to make sure nothing came up.

  “You shouldn’t see sights such as this.” Gregorich had come up behind her softly. “You should leave milady, so that you will not be visited by this vision in your sleep. I know how much you care for others. It is a weakness as much as a blessing. Perhaps she tired of her life.”

  Silvia tried, but could not bite back her remark. “At least there is no blood, Your Highness, else you would be the one to be haunted in your sleep.” She ignored his expression of shock and brief rage and went to the body, making a slow circle around it. “She has been acting rather strange yesterday and this morning. Kept mumbling to herself about things I didn’t understand. I thought perhaps she was regressing back to grieving for her h
usband, but I am not sure.” She walked back to the front of the body, her back to Gregorich. “I honestly don’t see how she could have tied the rope in that way nor do I have a clue where she got the rope to begin with. Maybe she had a lover who got tired of her and decided to end the relationship in a more brutal manner.” She turned to face Gregorich and saw that he was close enough to breathe on. “Have you ever killed a lover, my King?”

  When he swallowed hard instead of answering, she walked out of the room, her future husband trotting beside her on the floor. After retrieving a woolen shawl and the key to the secret room from her own bedroom, she made her way out of the palace and met Prince Dalton in the referred garden.

  He was standing beside a stone bench and quickly motioned for her to take a seat.

  “I believe I will stand,” she said, looking at the wet bench.