Legends of the Dragonrealm, Vol. III

by Richard A. Knaak

  “Another child? How wonderful!” The sorceress hugged the Gryphon.

  Cabe, forgetting all else, reached forward and shook his old comrade’s hand again. “Was that the true reason you came?”

  “Oh, the others were good, too, but I decided to save the best news for last.” The Gryphon tilted his head a bit. “I would be happy with a female this time, but another male would be loved just as much!”

  “I’m amazed that you kept the truth hidden from us so long.”

  “I wanted to tell you when I first arrived, but I had sworn that I would save this news for last, it being the best possible news there could be!” He laughed. “I tell you, there is no reason that Toos could give me now that would make me take the throne back from him! I intend to enjoy the coming peace by watching all my children grow up while Troia and I make up for all the time the war kept us from truly enjoying one another.”

  “We shall have to visit you the moment after Kyl has ascended to the throne, no later than that!” exclaimed the Lady Bedlam. She and Cabe both knew what children meant to the Gryphon and Troia. For all his warlike past, the lionbird adored the young, but that fact had not been noticed until he had met his mate.

  “Kyl . . .” The Gryphon squawked and shook his head. “I am more than happy to be free of the curses of monarchy, but if that’s what he desires, may he rule long as long as he rules fair. I wish him the best of luck, of course.” He shrugged, and when he spoke again, some of the joy created by the announcement of his forthcoming child gave way to consideration of another child’s impending future. “But I hope that he may never have need of it.”

  XII

  Unlike the city of Talak, Penacles, situated to the southeast of the Manor, was a place of tall towers, many of them topped with majestic, pointed spires. It was also a land of gardens, reminding those who had journeyed from the Manor of their home. The gardens were everywhere and ranged from small plots of earth in the center of the bazaar to huge, rolling landscapes toward the eastern part of the kingdom.

  Cabe could hardly believe that this day had finally come. It seemed as if the past few days had dragged slowly by. Preparing for this second visit had been only a part of the problem. Cabe and Gwen had also had to cope with the nagging fear that they had missed some legacy of Toma’s. There had also been the more realistic problem of Valea, who stared after Kyl at every opportunity. Somehow, Cabe had kept the two apart save on occasions when they were all together, but he knew that after Penacles something permanent would have to be done. Because of Kyl’s rank, the warlock had forborne from directly confronting him on this issue, but no more. This was one situation that could not go on.

  Penacles had known no overseeing Dragon King for well over a century, not since the Gryphon and Cabe’s own grandfather, Nathan, had brought down the Dragon King Purple. The Gryphon had then ruled here until his long-hidden past had forced him on a journey across the seas and into the dark empire of the Aramites. While he fought to bring down the wolf raiders’ regime, his most trusted aide, General Toos, also known as the Fox, had ruled in his place . . . and had proved quite an impressive monarch in his own right. Still, even after roughly two decades as lord of Penacles, fiery-haired Toos still insisted he was only holding the fort until his king came to his senses. Hence the tall, narrow ruler’s nickname of Toos the Regent.

  After Talak, Kyl did not seem as awestruck with Penacles, although that did not mean that the dragon heir was not fascinated. He drank in the wonders of the City of Knowledge. The dizzying heights of the many towers most impressed him, for Cabe noticed the young drake eye them again and again. Grath, too, was amazed. The Green Dragon and Benjin Traske, on the other hand, seemed oblivious to the beauty of the ancient kingdom. Of course, they had been to Penacles many times before.

  Things were going well, but Cabe could not shake his uneasiness. He felt that he had a good reason, though; one of his party was missing.

  Darkhorse had never promised that he would also accompany them to Penacles, and it may have been that the shadow steed felt it unnecessary since Toos was a much more reasonable ruler than tempestuous Melicard. Certainly, both the former and present monarchs of Penacles were on fair terms with the eternal. Kyl would not have impressed them by maneuvering Darkhorse into journeying with him to this place. The eternal would have understood that, too.

  Still, Cabe had expected some word from the massive stallion. That this had happened virtually on top of their discovery of Toma’s intrusion was likely why the warlock was so bothered. It was not as if Darkhorse had not disappeared without explanation before. The eternal was governed by no one save himself.

  “Is that the palace?” Grath asked him, leaning close so as to be heard over the trumpets and the crowds.

  Cabe shelved his thoughts and studied the structure looming ahead of them. “Yes, that’s it.”

  He knew why Grath had asked him. The palace of the lords of Penacles was a sharp contrast to that of the kings of Talak and also, in fact, to the city of Penacles itself. With so much beauty everywhere else, it was surprising to first-time visitors to discover that the palace resembled nothing more than a great stone fortress. The walls were a drab, unadorned gray and the only entrance was a massive iron gate. Huge marble steps that seemed to go on forever led up to the palace. There were no decorative columns, no gardens, and no statuary save the lone marble figure of a gryphon in flight. The last had been a gift to the lionbird from some of the citizenry during his long and productive reign. Toos had left it where it was as one more reminder that he was not king.

  The honor guard that had been provided for them led the caravan directly to the palace. As in Talak, they were met at the steps. Toos was there, accompanied by the Gryphon, four officers who were a part of the regent’s personal staff, and a small honor guard. The former general had never taken a queen, although in the past year he had begun to court one or two women. Despite his resemblance to a man entering his latter years, the vulpine monarch had at least a good fifty years left of life. That was because mixed in with the graying red hair-red hair that had once made Cabe joke that Gwen and the regent might be very long lost cousins-was a streak of silver. Toos, like Cabe, was a mage, but in the former mercenary’s case, the magic apparently manifested itself as an uncanny ability to outmaneuver his opponents, be it on the field of battle or in the intrigue-laden courts of Penacles. The only other sign that Toos was a man of magic was his age. A sorcerer could live to be three, and in some cases, four, centuries old. Toos was already well beyond the normal life span of a human.

  “Welcome, Lord Kyl.” The voice was strong and, while formal, still quite different from the practiced tones of the aristocracy. There was also a look in the regent’s eye, a look that hinted of humor.

  “Greetingsss to you, General Toosss,” replied the young drake, executing a bow. The two then shook hands.

  Cabe held back a smile. The heir, possibly with a little reminding from Grath, had remembered that Toos did not care to be called king or lord. The regent considered himself a soldier and so preferred to retain his rank.

  “Your journey went well?” asked Toos.

  “Quite well, thank you. I had forgotten what a wondrousss land Penaclesss wasss, or what a fassscinating place the city proper isss.”

  “You’re not referring to the block of stone behind me, I hope,” commented the regent with a foxlike smile.

  Kyl was momentarily taken aback by the openness of Toos. The young drake had met the human on occasion over the years, but not for quite some time and most often for only a few minutes. Cabe had warned him about the general, reminding him that Toos had been a mercenary and warrior for far longer than he had been lord of a mighty kingdom. Even the warlock, who had known Toos since the days when the angular commander had led the defenders of a besieged Penacles against the invading dragon forces of the Dragon Emperor, could not always adjust to the man’s mercurial style. As a soldier, Toos had constantly kept his adversaries off guard, the better
to defeat them swift and sure. The style had suited him in his present role as well.

  “The palace isss very-”

  “Functional. The inside is not much of an improvement, although the grand ballroom and the royal court are decorative enough, I suppose. We’d best leave it at that.” Again, there was the foxlike smile. “Now, Lord Kyl, if you will allow my staff to see to your people, we shall end this greeting and instead save our breaths for climbing these steps.”

  The drakes were not at first certain as to how to take the almost flippant manner of their host. The warlock smiled slightly. Toos had changed since their first introduction.

  Grath whispered something to Kyl, who eyed the steps. The emperor-to-be nodded, then replied to the waiting Toos. “Yesss, the sssuggessstion hasss merit, General. Much merit.”

  Snapping his fingers, Toos sent two of his officers to deal with the caravan. Then, waiting for Kyl to step up beside him, the general led the way. Everyone soon saw the wisdom of the regent’s words. The climb was exhausting, even to those who had been prepared for it. Progress slowed the higher they climbed, but at last the party reached the top of the steps.

  Toos glared at the path they had just tread, grumbling, “That you can blame on one of your own, Lord Kyl. Someday, I must do something about it.”

  “I said that for years, Toos,” retorted the Gryphon. “You would have to tear down everything here, though. That would be a massive undertaking.”

  “Each time I climb those steps, it becomes more and more tempting, I’ll say that.”

  Cabe surveyed the others and found to his surprise that, other than the sentries, who would not think of showing their exhaustion, the only one who appeared unaffected by the climb was Benjin Traske. The warlock stared hard at the massive tutor and finally had to ask, “Are you well, Benjin?”

  “I have always believed in maintaining both the mind and the body, Lord Bedlam.”

  “So I see now.” He shook his head. With a minor spell, the sorcerer could have reinvigorated himself easily, but like Talak, Penacles had its special defenses. Some remained from the days when the Dragon King Purple had ruled, and others from the reign of the Gryphon, but there were also a vast number of new spells protecting the city, placed there at the regent’s request.

  Toos looked over his guests. “If we’re all ready to continue, I’ve planned some food and entertainment. Lord Kyl, have you ever witnessed a living chess game before?”

  The young drake’s eyes were wide with curiosity. “I mussst sssay that I have certainly not.” He glanced down at his brother, who shook his head in equal confusion.

  “Then I think that you have a treat awaiting you. If you’ll all follow me?”

  Penacles had been at peace for years, their neighbor to the east, mist-enshrouded Lochivar, having been quiet since the Gryphon had nearly dealt its master, the Black Dragon, a mortal blow. The darksome lord of the Grey Mists still lived and ruled, but it was said that he could barely speak and that his powers were waning.

  That meant that Penacles had an army that trained and trained, but had no enemy to fight. While Toos looked forward to peace as much as most other folk did, he believed in maintaining a strong force. One never knew when times might change. Therefore, it had behooved him to find some way in which his men could keep their skills paramount.

  War games had solved that problem, at least where his soldiers were concerned. Each month, various units would maneuver against one another in the nearby hills and valleys. Men who excelled in skill and ingenuity were rewarded. The soldiers also kept wary, for it was possible to be injured. Officers worked to see that such injuries happened as rarely as was possible, though.

  Yes, Toos had solved the problem of keeping his men at their best, but he could hardly join them on the field, however much he would have wanted to do so. There was the risk that something might happen to him, either by accident or due to some assassin. No ruler who desired to survive dared believe that there was not an assassin lurking nearby. Simply because the Black Dragon had made no new assaults on the kingdom in years did not mean that he had withdrawn his spies.

  From his long years as the Gryphon’s second, the vulpine soldier had picked up a fondness for chess, especially its constant demand for reevaluating one’s strategy. Simple chess had been sufficient for some time, but then, while visiting the magical libraries of Penacles with the Gryphon, the bored regent had commented on his need for something further.

  “To my surprise,” Toos said to his guests as he considered his next move, “the gnome spoke up.”

  The libraries of Penacles were a magical wonder dating back possibly beyond the present city. No one knew much about them save that they were larger than should have been physically possible, some corridors stretching for what seemed miles underground, yet apparently movable, and accessible only through a wondrous tapestry hidden in the palace.

  The libraries also had a librarian . . . or perhaps many, although if the latter was the case, then all of them were identical in form. For as long as either Toos or the Gryphon could recall, they had always been served by a small, squat, completely hairless gnome wearing a robe much like that of a mage. All one had to do was tell the gnome what one was searching for and the odd little figure would locate it. Rarely, however, did the gnome offer words of advice.

  Toos made his move and continued. “He suggested a field, a life-sized board, and living champions to do combat. I scoffed at the idea at first, but . . .” The general indicated the area just before them. “You see what I’ve done.”

  In what had once been a small arena where human slaves had fought for the personal amusement of the Dragon King, there was now a black-and-white pattern of squares, each approximately three feet by three feet. There were viewing boxes on each end of the board, providing seating for perhaps two dozen people apiece.

  On the board, or sitting off to the sides, were soldiers clad in armor representing the various pieces in the game. These were the game’s living chessmen . . . and women, too, since not only did each side need a queen, but female soldiers had been a part of the army of Penacles since the days of the Gryphon’s reign.

  Cabe took his mind off of the game to observe the lionbird himself, who was the general’s opponent. The first time the warlock had been invited to witness the tournament, he had come fearing that the regent had finally fallen prey to his power and had become a decadent tyrant. However, after watching the game and learning the rules behind it, he had come to enjoy it himself.

  The chessmen were volunteers. Over the years, it had become a bit of prestige to be a combatant in the chess tournament. Unlike the true board game, a chess piece was not removed simply because another piece had captured it. Instead, the two warriors had to duel, utilizing their skills while remaining within the two squares involved. Fighters were removed if they lost or if they attempted to truly wound their adversaries. It had become a matter of honor for most soldiers involved to win as cleanly as possible, as the best were often chosen for a place in the royal guard.

  At the moment, Toos was in grave danger. His rook, his last line of defense against the Gryphon, had just fallen in combat against the other’s knight. The rook, a man armed with a mace and shield, had been disarmed by the knight, an armored figure also using a shield, but instead of a mace had wielded a broadsword.

  “I knew that would happen,” the regent muttered. “Luck of the draw! He’s current champion among the champions!”

  The game ended three combats later. The rule involving checkmate particularly fascinated Cabe. First the player would have to assure that his opponent’s king had no escape. That was the same as a normal game of chess. However, in the general’s variation, the checking pieces then had to do battle with the beleaguered monarch. It was possible for the king to free himself from checkmate if he could eliminate every opponent involved, but he had to fight all of them; he could not move to safety after defeating the first adversary.

  The drakes, especially Kyl
and Grath, were eager to direct the game themselves. The Dragon King had already played on one or two of his previous visits, so he offered to stand aside and let brother go against brother. Toos repeated the differences in the rules from normal chess, then chose their pieces for them. Chessmen were always chosen by lottery, so that no player could ever come to trust too much in his warriors. It made for a more balanced game and, in fact, after the countless battles the Gryphon and Toos had played, the lionbird was up by only seven victories. Of course, if there were ever two opponents who knew how one another thought, it was the two former mercenaries.

  While the regent guided Kyl and the Green Dragon, who had always had a fondness for the human game, coached Grath, the Gryphon made his way back to where Cabe and Benjin Traske sat watching the opening moves. As usual, Faras and Ssgayn took up a spot near the dragon heir, which made for some crowding as the general’s own guards insisted on watching the drakes.

  “They will be quite occupied with this game,” the Gryphon commented as he joined the two humans. “This might be a good time to visit the libraries.”

  “For what reason?”

  “I’m doing some research, trying to see if I finally understand some of the methods by which the libraries pass on information. I’m certain now that long ago something happened that distorted the original function of the place. I thought that I might save my next visit for when you were here. Do you wish to come?”

  “I’d be a fool to say no.” As the Manor was the warlock’s pet project, so were the libraries the Gryphon’s. Both researchers had achieved about the same amount of success so far . . . meaning very little. If the lionbird had finally made progress, Cabe wanted to see it for himself.