Odet sat at the foot of the bed with a huff. “I’ve lived with her all my life and that still counts as the most surprising thing she’s ever done. It isn’t even a terrible plan, but to heap it on you all at once…” She bit her lip and stared at nothing in particular.
“Are you going to tell your father?”
“Gods no. He doesn’t need the pressure of protecting a possible son-in-law during your journey. And what about you? Are you taking her proposal seriously?”
“I can only say that if she wanted my answer now, then it would be in the negative. Beyond that, well, it’ll make for some lively debates between myself and other parts of myself while at sea.”
“At least I’ll have time to deter her from rash acts while you’re gone. Gods, I’m sorry. I sound like I think you undeserving of my sister, which actually might be the case, but my point is that it doesn’t matter who she would ha-”
“Catch your breath, princess. I understand your reasoning.” I sat next to her. “Do you want my advice?”
“Of course.”
“Don’t bring this up anymore, not for a while. I suspect you’ll have to debate more immediate concerns with her.”
“True, and our main concern will be for everyone to return safely. Everything else is ancillary… though I’ll think differently if a crown really will be placed on your head.”
“So will I.”
Chapter Three
I could only get an hour of sleep with Beatrice’s proposal continuing to bump my skull. In one moment I would chuckle at the absurdity of it, then the next had me frowning at its seriousness. In the end, I took my own advice and decided not to dwell on it in earnest for a while—a long while. Still, I planned to tell Clarissa at some point in the near future, just as much to see her reaction as get her counsel.
A servant knocked on my door until I answered that I was awake. From there I dressed, went down to eat a predawn breakfast, and stepped into a drizzly day to enter the carriages that would take everyone to the eastern docks. Eudon’s daughters were there to see him off, but since they must have already said and did everything they needed to do in private, the emotions of the two older girls and Eudon were in check. On the other hand, the sobbing Elisa was holding on tight to her father’s neck until the moment his carriage needed to start moving.
More goodbyes were expressed when we reached the docks. Here Ghevont and Clarissa were already waiting for us with Marcela, Ethan, and Catherine ready to see us off. Marcela acted very adult as she entreated Ghevont to return unscathed. Going by Ghevont’s twiddling response in limb and word, her mature guise was donned as early as my appearance.
Our ship was the Phlox, a two hundred foot long frigate fitted with as many square-rigged sails that could line her three tall masts. She was built with a balance of speed and ruggedness in mind, needing much of both if we were going to sail the merciless oceans with any hope of success. The other three ships of our flotilla were already free of the land and we needed to catch up.
It was jarring how fast we went from farewells on solid ground to rolling on a misty bay that quickly concealed the existence of land. The activity near the coast was as busy as any city street in the middle of the day, so I was surprised no ship seemed that close to crashing into another inside the fog. My father stood by me as he got me to name the types of ships we passed and their specifics to see if how much nautical facts he had bestowed onto me. I apologized when it became evident that I hadn’t memorized as much as I should have.
“Ah, don’t worry about it. Lydia loved the sea, but its particulars weren’t her strong suit either. She trusted me to it and so can you. Besides, the end of this trip will at least hammer the basics down in you.”
“Did your father hammer them in you?”
“Your grandmother, rest her crusty soul. Thorvald wouldn’t even let me touch an oar until he was assured I could flawlessly recite everything she taught. She would chew my ass out for being so lackadaisical with your seafaring lessons, but dragon knights don’t have to worry about the sea so much.”
“Maybe not, but one never knows when it might come in handy. I also want to… uh, never mind.”
With a smile, he asked, “What? What were you going to say?”
“I think you figured it out already.”
He slapped my back. “Perhaps, but maybe a father who’s spent so much time look-”
“All right, all right. I was maybe gonna say something about possibly wanting to make you proud.”
A harder slap. “Ha! You just made my all my hard work worth it! And for the record, I’m already proud of you.”
“Thanks.”
“Now then, if there one thing a dragon knight needs to worry about honing, it’s combat. Come now, it’s time I show you the secret to attaining unshakeable balance in a fight.”
The new training regimen involved wooden practice swords, the brink of the hull, and a slacked safety rope tied to it and the waists of the participants. The basic goal was to spar without falling off the rocking railing. As the rope implied, falling was unavoidable. I even forced Lorcan off the precipice from time to time, but unlike me, he had a much better chance of landing feet first on the deck than hanging perilously over the water.
All the other pirates were familiar with the training and brought their talents against mine. Due to his lower center of gravity and weight, Menalcus proved the most difficult brigand to knock off his post, but of everyone on board, Eudon established himself as the most steadfast of us. Despite his claim that he was rough around the edges when it came to combat, the former sovereign wiped the floor with me and everyone else who sparred with him.
The only consistent challenge came from Lorcan, though his wife insisted a real fight would give her a much better chance to slow Eudon down with her stealth and poisonous techniques.
Ghevont replied to her assertion by saying, “A group of powerful cultists wielding valkrean puppets waited until the king was as far away as possible before attacking the queen, so I estimate that a single pirate has a less than seven percent chance of even landing a scratch on him.”
“You can’t estimate shit like that.”
“On the contrary, I’ve studied extensively on battle tactics both large and small, and it’s clear that mass, experience, prana reserve, endurance-”
“Make him stop, Cyrus!”
I shook my head. “Don’t pay any heed to her, Ghevont. Your views on battle tactic percentages might become vital to any number of us during this journey and beyond.”
“Ah, I hold that very same view! I’ve merely been waiting for the appropriate time. As I was saying… Where is Lucetta going?”
“No worries, scholar. You’ll only have to be a little persistent with her, but it’s what’s best. In fact, go chase her down for me. She needs to hear this.”
“Excellent. I’ll be right back.”
I expected training and odd jobs would keep most cases of cabin fever at bay, but these little opportunities for amusement were an important aspect to take advantage of when one was going to be confined to one place for so long. However, one needed to be careful not to poke too far when temperament and time alone would have everyone get on each other’s nerves.
Most of these people included sailors dressed in breezy garments that allowed for the freedom of movement they needed to do their jobs. Few sailors even wore footwear, which I had to copy in the times the decks became too slippery for my boots. Due to their lack of protection, military sailors needed to be capable casters who could defend themselves sufficiently if their ship was boarded.
Of lesser number were the more conventionally outfitted soldiers, though to keep ease of mobility, their armor rarely spread to their limbs. Only in an imminent attack did anyone try putting on more encompassing protection. No matter what they wore, the Alslana emblem had to be stamped on at least two locations on the body—one on the front and one on the back—to make it easier to differentiate between friend and foe in a confuse
d battlefield. The white emblem consisted of a full moon surrounded by a ring of stars, which in turn were contained within a tall diamond.
The Phlox’s crew numbered a little less than the other ships in the small fleet, but still felt too crowded when overlapping schedules had everyone working at the same time every few hours. There was always a job to do, the most common of which was patching something up before it tattered into a worse situation. Water also needed to be pumped, decks sanded and scrubbed, sails adjusted, food and water preserved with cold spells, and weight-shedding runes maintained. These odd jobs didn’t even include the personal care sailor and soldier needed to perform on their body and personal equipment.
Lucky for me, I only joined in on the real work when I felt like it, helping sailor and pirate at my own pace. The job I liked best was the simplest one—keeping watch. I looked out for the drowsiest looking sailors and relieved them for an hour or two. I especially enjoyed the cooling night watches. The sailors obeyed me since Eudon announced the need to treat the orders of my father and I as only second to his own and their captains. They were told about the vital part my group played in choosing our destination, but while Lorcan easily ensconced himself as a leader, they had a harder time deducing my repute.
Sure I was a good enough swordsman to best most of them in single combat, but that alone didn’t inspire confidence in my leadership ability. Frankly, even if they learned about my dragon link, I still didn’t think they had a good reason to trust any command I made. I would have stopped Eudon from announcing such a thing in the first place if I knew he was going to point me out.
Anyway, the power I had to command the sailors was an internal worry. An external one came out during that same announcement. Foreseeing that someone would figure it out, Eudon revealed Clarissa’s identity as a vampire. He adamantly pledged her fidelity to the cause, going as far as saying he trusted her presence around his own daughters. I actually believed this made him sound foolish and irresponsible to an extent, so I figured this pronouncement didn’t win over everyone. There were simply too many macabre testimonies of vampires destroying lives and villages to satiate their lust for blood.
I wasn’t concerned for Clarissa’s safety per se. The respect people had for the former king should stay any notion of violence, but I was right to believe that many would regard her with suspicious eyes and cold shoulders. She tried ignoring it as best she could, and it wasn’t as though she expected to make dozens of new friends among the sailors. Still, I knew it bothered her.
I decided to give her something different to contemplate a week into the voyage. It was a calm, starry night when I met her near the bowsprit. I looked over the ocean with her when I asked, “Do you think I’d make a good king?”
“Oh! Is this one of your jokes!?”
“No, I’m actually serious.”
She cocked her head, exploring my expression. “Why are you serious about something like that?”
I shrugged. “Maybe I got an offer to be one.”
“By who?”
“Who else?”
“Wait… Beatrice? Queen Beatrice? She wants to marry you?!”
Looking behind us to make sure no one overheard, I said, “Keep you voice down, if you don’t mind. She came into my room the night before we left and gave me a proposal. Assuming I’m integral in destroying the Advent and returning her father back home as alive as when he left it, then she would offer her hand to me. She also likes the idea of having a dragon knight as king of her people.”
“And you’re just telling me this now?”
“I was still trying to wrap my head around the idea.”
“And?”
“And then I asked you the question.”
She looked back out to sea, taking her turn to absorb the notion of her friend being crowned a king. As it would on most anyone, a smile appeared. Not yet telling me what she was imagining, she asked, “What did you say to her?”
“I didn’t get a chance to say much. Odet came running to dissuade her sister from offering so much to someone she just met. She wasn’t immediately successful, but she has at least half a year to make an impact. I doubt even the best of end case scenarios will have the proposition holding out for that long, but I suppose I have to consider it all the same.”
“Indeed. If you think about it, the first dragon knight in five hundred years could become a king almost anywhere. Alslana might not be the land you rule, but you can have the pick of the litter, as they say. I guess it makes sense for Beatrice to want to, uh, claim you first. Does her father know anything about this?”
“No, and no one else should either. Don’t even tell the rats you come across.”
“Okay, I won’t.”
“And?”
“And what?”
“My question.”
“Oh, right… You want my honest answer, right?”
“Yes.”
“All right, then, if you really, really put your mind to it, I do think you’ll someday make a good king. Someday.”
“Not now, then.”
“Right. I mean, it’s not about your lack of political experience, though I guess that should be counted against you as well. It’s more of a mindset thing than a competent thing. I think you have too much on your mind at the present to make a good ruler. Otherwise, clear your head and itinerary and I don’t imagine running a kingdom will be beyond you, especially if you have help from someone like Eudon and Odet. But who cares what I think? How do you believe you’ll do on a throne?”
“My throne would be on a tropical island with… Ah, forget it. You’re right, I have too much else on my mind to consider something like a monarchy. It’s just quite a concept.”
“No doubt… What would you do with me if you became a mighty king?”
“Well, let’s see. Yes, blood will be drained from any noble that annoys me, and all criminals and war prisoners will be sent to your room.”
“Gods, I’ll get so fat. Hey, can vampires get fat?”
“Why couldn’t they?”
“Don’t know. Just never heard of a round vampire before. I suppose finding enough blood for that is hard to do. Rats, cats, and rabbits certainly aren’t going to do it.”
“Isn’t The Velvet Fire based on real events? That had a portly vampire character.”
“Never read it. My question was serious, too, you know.”
“It can’t be that serious. If you want to be by my side, then you’ll be there. If you prefer living in a cozy cottage away from the city, then you’ll have that, too.”
“Then I want to help take care of your children. Hehe! Imagine that! You having little royal tykes running around! Can they call me Aunt Clarissa?”
“Riiight, children. Those things scare me more than being a king.”
“And what about Aranath? Does he shiver at the thought?”
“About me raising children?” I asked with a spurious tone.
“Dumbass, you know what I mean.”
“He doesn’t much care what I decide to do. The dragon’s wisdom sees advantages on both staying free and marrying a queen. An advantage he likes is the idea of the only Veknu Milaris in Orda gaining the protection of an army.”
“That’s surprising. I would have guessed he wanted you to avoid political stuff.”
“Me too, and I think he does, but he says the old rules preventing Veknu Milaris from marrying noble blood was probably a mistake. He imagines a world full of dragon knight kings would have been far more stable in the long run.”
“Or make wars that much more fiery.”
After hearing the dragon speak, I said, “Aranath is wondering how a world full of vampire queens might fare.”
“Is that so? Let me ju- Oh! I know! We would force humans to make as many babies as possible. Can’t have our favorite food supply run low, after all.”
We continued lightheartedly commenting on the possibilities of a dragon knight king and vampire queens here and on later occasions, treating it
much like an in-joke we shared.
Helping us catch up on time we had lost together while I was in the Hadarii, Clarissa and I trained quite often with each other. This was because my training with dragon fire involved her training with her water spell. Since it was vital that dragon flames not spread out of control when on a wooden vessel, I only ignited my stones when they were on Clarissa’s water bubble or ice bowl. If the flames threatened to erupt out of control, Clarissa would fling her element over the stern. A pirate or Ghevont also offered magical backup in the event a mistake was made.
Without an infinite amount of rocks on the boat, every dragon stone was a precious training commodity. Chances to collect more rocks occurred when doldrums permitted a quick trip to an island using one of the dinghies. Someone using a water spell could propel these light boats to a hearty speed, taking someone as far as five miles within a few minutes on a calm day. These stops to what were generally uninhabited islands were to officially find random food and resource prospects, but they likewise gave us a chance to stomp our feet on dry soil.
I always tried making myself a part of these isle teams so that I could spend a few minutes going all out on my dragon fire training. I didn’t have to worry so much about burning down an unpopulated beach, after all. However, the bulk of the practice took place at the stern of Phlox, when the night sky made the flames stand out even more than they did in the day. It was during one of these sessions that I heard the light steps of a big man coming up behind me. I ignored it until the dragon flame began turning Clarissa’s ice bowl into steam.
As the vampire chucked the burning stone within her ice bowl, Eudon asked, “How’s it coming along?”
“Slowly.” I stood up and leaned on the short railing, already aware that Eudon wasn’t one to make solo comments. He held a full wine bottle.
“I tried seeing if I could get you a scroll or book that might aid your training, but Alslana never retained a dragon scribe, so all we have are secondhand accounts. Now Dracera would be the obvious place to seek a horde of dragon tokens.” After taking a swig of the wine, he offered me the bottle.
Flight of the Dragon Knight Page 3