Age of Valor: Dragon Song

by D. E. Morris

  “Contractions, Your Majesty!” The tutor pinched the bridge of his bulbous nose. “Your nannies coddled you for too long. You are a high king now, and as such must not speak the way the commoners do!”

  Ignoring the man, Connor moved completely away from his desk to take up a spot on the cushioned window seat. On the other side of the glass, the sun was already high enough for it to be mid-morning. As he pet the cat, he watched his guards and a few courtiers moving along the parapet below. “How can I get the people to relate to me if I sound like I'm not even one of them?”

  “How can you expect them to respect you and your new position if you do not remind them that you are above them?” The tutor marched over to the desk to tap the abandoned parchment. “We are not yet through with your morning lesson.”

  Connor frowned, not even bothering to look at the old man as he continued to pet Misuzu and play with her paws. “There are far too many distracting things about to let me have much care for mathematics I pay someone else to do for me.” The frown deepened, creating a crease between his thin brows. “Guard!” Misuzu jumped in his arms, startled by the sudden outburst. Connor let her flip herself over but refused to let her go, even as one of his armored men walked heavily into the room. “Has Cailin been found yet? Has she been captured?”

  “Yes, Your Majesty.”

  “And why was I not informed sooner? Better yet, why was I not informed at all until I asked?” The guard's eyes slid to the tutor, making Connor sit up straighter and clutch Misuzu just a bit tighter. “Do not look at him, look at me. I am your high king. You answer to no one but me, no matter who tells you any differently. I will not have anyone in my employ that thinks there are others here above me. If this happens again, you will be lucky to leave here with your head. Is that understood?”

  The guard's lips pressed together, displeased at having been told off by a child. “Yes, Your Majesty.”

  “Good.” Connor relaxed back against the wall and resumed stroking Misuzu's back. “Make sure Cailin and whoever was captured with her are treated well.” He looked down at the cat as she looked up at him. “Our friends are so few and far between now, we mustn't lose any more.” Misuzu meowed her agreement, drawing a smile from the young king's lips again. “I like you, kitty. I reckon I like animals better than people as a general rule, but I think I like you best.” She purred and rubbed against his chin.

  Turning his attention out the window again, Connor asked, “Why do you think Cailin's here?” His question, the lilting tone of his voice, made him sound like a boy again and not the hardened young man he'd sounded like just seconds ago. “D'you think she came to seek a return to her position as deputy?”

  The guard's jaw worked as though he were trying to hold in a laugh. “I suppose anything is possible, Your Majesty.”

  Connor rested his head back against the window with a forlorn sigh. “I can't imagine that would be the case. The coffers are empty even in the churches, not to speak of the cobwebs in our own treasuries. There will be no positions around the castle for awhile that offer any kind of compensation. Not even mine. Ibays is dying and she has no friends.” Looking from his tutor to the guard, he asked, “What are we to do when we have nothing left?” Neither man said anything, nor did they dare meet the expectant gaze of their king. When all was silent for longer than he liked, Connor gave the cat one final scratch of the chin before setting her on the floor and rising himself. “I would like to go see her.”

  “Cailin?” asked the guard, uncertain.

  “No, the mother of the Great Dragon – of course Cailin! I'm going to see her now.”

  “Perhaps it would be best if I brought her up to you.”

  That was all Misuzu needed to hear to get her tiny little legs working. She dashed out of the room before she could be scooped up again or anyone else could leave ahead of her. As she raced back through the castle, she drew hardly more attention than a muttered, “Crazy cats. At least they have mice to hunt and eat,” from a maid she nearly ran into before darting quickly around. When she reached the dungeon, she pawed at the closed door until the man guarding it opened it enough for her to slip through and run down the stairs. As soon as her feet touched the cold floor below, Cailin and Jaryn got up and hastened to their cell doors in time to watch Misuzu shift back to her human form.

  “What did you find?” Jaryn demanded.

  “Is there a way out?” asked Cailin.

  “No time!” Misuzu yanked open her own cell door and dragged the still unconscious female guard out, down the corridor enough to prop her up against a wall that was covered in shadow. As quickly as she could, she raced back to her cell and shut it, locking herself in before tossing the keys down in the general direction of the female guard. “They're coming to get you.”

  “Who?” both Cailin and Jaryn asked together.

  “Cailin. Or maybe all of us. I don't know.”

  There was no time for further speculation. The sound of the heavy door at the top of the stairs opening silenced all three of them. They watched as two armored men descended, meeting their assessing gazes as they all stared at one another. Eventually, all attention went to Cailin.

  “High King Connor wants to see you.”

  “If he wanted to see me, why didn't he come down here with you?”

  “You know no one of title comes down here unless there's a good torture to witness.” The man leaned closer to the cell, sneering. “Were you hoping to be tortured?”

  Cailin swallowed hard, working to hold on to her brave facade. “My friends will come with me, of course.”

  Sniffing, the guard righted himself and glanced carelessly at Jaryn and Misuzu. “I'm sure he'll want to talk to them anyway.” With a nod of his head, the second guard unlocked Cailin's cell door and grabbed her roughly, turning her around to bind her hands in shackles again. Misuzu was given the same treatment next, but when Jaryn was being re-bound, a moan from down the hallway made them all pause.

  “What was that?” The man in charge peered into the darkness, drawing his sword as he walked slowly toward the sound. When he spotted the female guard, Misuzu was ready to shift and do what she could to fight off the men, but the guard just groaned and sheathed his sword. “Not again. Looks like she's drunk herself stupid.”

  “You want to talk about torture,” Cailin questioned as she was shoved toward the stairs, “she wouldn't stop talking all night. The same story over and over.”

  “Get up there!” In a train, Jaryn, Cailin, and Misuzu followed the lead guard up the stairs, the second bringing up the rear. They only paused when the guard growled at the man at the door, the one Misuzu passed twice that morning. “You're as thick as manure but only half as useful, you know that?”

  “What did I do?”

  “Your girlfriend's knocked off her knickers drunk, you bleeding plonker. Get down there and clean her up.” The trio was pushed forward again toward the throne room. As Misuzu passed the confused guard, she gave him a cheeky smile and a wink that only succeeded in confusing him further before he descended into the dungeon to carry out his orders.

  Chapter Fifteen

  Cailin was shoved into the throne room first, a snarl on her lips at how she was being treated, but every choice word she'd wanted to say disappeared from thought as she took in the sight before her. She'd grown so accustomed to the decorated, lavish throne room at Altaine that the memory of the one inside Lerranyth had grown a bit dim, yet she knew it had never been as barren as she saw it now. Tapestries were missing and intricately designed chandeliers of gold and glass no longer hung from the ceiling but were replaced with older, more rustic structures of wood and metal. There had once been a canopy above the thrones of red silk embroidered with gold, yet now there was no covering and only one throne. Sitting there upon it, looking much too small in the seat that should have been occupied by someone far larger, was the little boy she remembered fondly. He smiled, practically beamed upon seeing her, but his expression darkened quickly when he rea
lized she was bound and saw how roughly she was being treated.

  “Did you not hear me?” He sprang to his feet to cross the room with a glare for the guard. “I told you to treat her well! Unbind her and her friends, and leave us.”

  “Your Majesty...”

  “Do as I command!”

  For a moment it seemed at if the man would revolt. His breathing had quickened and Cailin watched the way his fingers curled into tight fists. He held Connor's gaze a moment, bordering on defiance, then finally looked away to undo Cailin's shackles, the other guard doing the same for Misuzu and Jaryn. As they left, both men looked in at Connor with anger before shutting the doors behind them.

  “Cailin!” As though nothing were out of the ordinary, Connor gripped her forearm in welcome. “My apologies for my men. They seem to think because I am young I must not know how to run what is left of my kingdom.”

  “You were always very studious when it came to learning the craft of what it took to be a great king, but look at you! Could you have truly grown so much in the short amount of time it's been since we saw each other last? You're nearly as tall as I am!”

  Her comment brought the grin back to his face. “My sisters were all string beans, too. What we lack in girth, we make up for in height, though I daresay my father had both.”

  Cailin chuckled. “That's what happens when you get old – you also get fat.”

  “Remind me, then, to never get old.”

  “Ah, but you are already on your way.”

  Connor's smile faded only slightly, taking her in. “That must be true if I am High King now. They would hardly let a child take the crown unless they thought he could be easily manipulated or controlled. No more having you shift for me and chasing you around the courtyard with a wooden sword, I suppose.” With a sigh, his light mood seemed to dampen considerably. “I do apologize for the dramatics with which you were brought to me. Had I known you would be treated the way you were, I would have gone about it much differently; I would never try to hurt you. I have too much respect for you, for who and what you are, even after you left...perhaps even because you left. I was angry for a while after you'd gone, but all too soon, I understood why you had. There were many days I wished I could shift my form and fly away from here.”

  Cailin nodded, a sad smile on her lips. “You have always wished to be a Gael.”

  “But if wishes all came true, I would not be sitting in my poor, dying kingdom with little to show for my very short reign but starving people and dissension among my men.” Finally, he glanced at the two behind her. “Why have you come back, Cai?”

  She looked over her shoulder to Jaryn, who gave her a nod. With a slow breath, Cailin watched Connor in careful scrutiny, looking for a reaction when she said, “There was an attack on Siness.”

  The boy nodded slowly, his lips twisted in a grimace. “I heard. Did you lose many?”

  “Less than we should have but more than necessary. Princess Kenayde was wed and there were a great many people in attendance from all over the Celtique Nations.”

  “I don't remember receiving an invitation.”

  “That's because you weren't sent one,” Jaryn broke in.

  Connor's gaze slid to the older man, eyes narrowing as he looked him over from head to toe. Eventually, he turned back to Cailin. “Tell me more about the attack.”

  “Men and women on the backs of dragons came and ambushed us. They were covered from head to toe in dark clothing, so much of them hidden that we thought they may be the demons we fought at Altaine two years ago, but we later found them to be nothing more than mortal men. They seemed to control their dragons with whistles and musical calls, commanding the dragons with specific tunes. High Queen Ashlynn's son was kidnapped, as well as the children of the high rulers of Braemar and Caedia.” Genuine concern flashed in Connor's eyes, prompting Cailin to continue quickly. “They were recovered and are all well now. It seems they were taken as a warning. In fact, it seems the entire attack itself was a warning. These fighters came in to do battle, but they took few lives. Surprising us as they did, they could have slaughtered a great many of us before we had the chance to recover and fight back.”

  Connor shook his head and sighed, his attention momentarily on the floor beneath him as though in thought. When he raised his eyes again, there was sympathy in his wrinkled brow. “I'm sorry to hear that, Cai. Truly, I am, but if you've come here looking to strengthen your Sinessian armies to fight back against these attackers, I fear you've wasted your time.”

  Jaryn started to speak, but Cailin raised her hand, silencing him without even looking at him. “We haven't come for your help, Connor.” She hesitated, wringing her fingers together. “We were friends once, you and I, right?”

  “Of course. I'd like to think we still are.” The wrinkles in his brow deepened as a certain understanding seemed to come to him. “You came to see if I commanded the attack.”

  “You had Ibayish troops amassing in Siness before winter settled.”

  “We also found your spies in our seas with their bloody flag,” Jaryn growled.

  Connor shook his head, face flushing. “I never sent any spies! If you found any of my countrymen at your court, they are not acting under the order of the crown, you can be sure. I had troops there in an effort to prevent a Sinessian attack from coming to my shores, but that is very different. Everyone knows what happened to your high queen - how she almost died and that it was Jessiah who had done it - someone from Ibayish court who my father had vouched for, who you vouched for yourself, Cailin!”

  “He wasn't real,” Cailin replied gently. “Jessiah wasn't real, Connor. He was a demon who somehow made us all believe we had known him or had known of him for years when he'd really only been at court for, at best, a few months, and your father-”

  “I know!” Connor bellowed. “He was a demon, too.” Taking a moment to calm himself, he looked down. “They say he died during the war in Siness and what came back was a demon pretending to be him. It makes sense, but...”

  “But you don't like to believe it.” Cailin nodded. “I understand.”

  Connor said nothing for a long moment, then walked slowly back across the room to sit in his throne, lopsided and slouching like a child. “It hurts that you would come to me with an accusation like that. Do you think me so foolish as to order an attack on one of the most powerful of the Celts? I know there are many here who call me young and impudent behind my back, but you dare to do it to my face.”

  Cailin took a few steps forward to close some of the distance between them. “I know you are anything but foolish. I watched you grow from a little boy who liked to play pretend to a young man that soaked in everything he could about being a high king, knowing some day the crown could fall to him. Connor, your father died much sooner than he should have, and by right, one of your sisters should sit where you do now. They have done you poor service to deny their birthright, though I suspect it would be different if your country was thriving. Perhaps I did come with accusations. Much of the evidence points toward Ibays, yet I saw your face when I told you of the attacks. I believe you if you say you did not do this, but someone did. Someone is responsible for the lives lost and the suffering that is left in its wake.” He looked at her as she took a few steps closer. “You may be young, but you have the heart of a warrior. I have seen that in you. I know that you have no men to spare so I won't ask you for them, only that you will remember our friendship if you should hear of something – anything – regarding that night.”

  Reserved, Connor held her gaze for a moment before looking past her to the other two. His interest in Misuzu was fleeting, but Jaryn grabbed his attention by the stubborn set of his jaw and the way he seemed to be boiling over in anger. Curious, he sat a bit straighter and tilted his head. “Did you lose someone that night? Is that why you look ready to strangle me? Or is your loyalty to your high queen so immutable that you're here with righteous indignation on her behalf?”

  Jaryn's face fell
in sadness. “Yes.”

  Connor nodded, accepting the simple answer for each question he'd asked. “I haven't had the pleasure of meeting Ashlynn myself, though I have heard she is the type of ruler who garners a fierce and loyal following.” Sitting back again, a look of regret crossed the boy's face. “She's very lucky in that.”

  Taking the shift in energy in the room, Jaryn also came forward, Misuzu following behind uncertainly. “If Cailin believes you, I have no choice but to believe you as well.”

  One brow elevating, Connor glanced from Jaryn to Cailin. “Oh? Cai, can there be another reason you hold Siness so dearly now?”

  Cailin shook her head, her lips curving upward in slight amusement. “No. Forgive me for not making introductions sooner. Connor, this is Jaryn MacKaemish, husband to Ashlynn Stuart and High King of Siness.”

  Betraying the maturity he was trying to present, Connor's mouth fell open and his eyes widened. When he was able to collect himself, he shook his head, trying unsuccessfully to rid himself of the shock. “Your Majesty. I...I am terribly sorry for the way you have been treated. Oh, dear Giver above, you're in your night clothes. You're all in your...Guard!”

  The doors swung open with such haste that the men standing outside tumbled in as if expecting to have to defend their young king. Connor, however, was on his feet with an expectant raise of his brows. “Find some of the servants. Have them drop whatever it is they are doing to ready three rooms for our guests. Find whatever belongings they may have been forced to leave behind last night and bring them to their rooms, as well as clean clothes. Have warm baths drawn and food brought afterward.”

  “Your Majesty?”

  Connor was absolutely flustered and it made the trio behind him chuckle as quietly as they could. The boy, however, looked at the questioning guard with wide eyes. “Are you still here?” With a silent grumble, the men left the room and closed the doors once more. Connor returned to the three and looked at Misuzu. “Are you another high ruler as well?”