The Dragon's Flame (The Chronicles of Terah # 2)

by Morgan, Mackenzie

  Without further delay, Kevin put his hand on Alek’s arm and turned the key.

  When they materialized, they were on the road about a hundred yards from the chapel.

  “I brought us in a little ways out so we can look around and check the place out,” Kevin explained.

  “Very good, sir,” Alek said as he started to step forward.

  “No, not that way,” Kevin said as he stopped Alek. “My way.” For a few minutes Kevin concentrated on searching the valley with his seeing eye for any sign that someone was hiding out in the woods or near one of the few houses that dotted the area, but he couldn’t find anything that seemed out of place. Finally he shrugged and said, “If there’s someone hiding in this valley, they’re good. I didn’t see anything that looks suspicious. Let’s check out the chapel.”

  Alek led the way over to the chapel. When he reached the door, he paused and looked at Kevin.

  Kevin shrugged and said, “Go ahead and knock. If someone’s waiting for us on the other side of the door, they already know we’re here.”

  Alek fingered the hilt of his sword while he knocked lightly on the chapel door. About a minute later, they heard someone opening it.

  When Verna saw Kevin on the front porch, she burst into tears. “I’m … I’m so glad you’ve come. I was afraid you wouldn’t,” she stammered out between sobs. “I don’t know what to do. Nothing like this has ever happened before.”

  Kevin put his arm around the distraught woman, drew her into the sitting room, and eased her into a chair. After he had her settled, he knelt down on one knee in front of her and put his hand over hers. “Verna? Listen to me.”

  Verna nodded and looked up at Kevin.

  “Is there anyone in here who doesn’t belong? Are you being threatened right now, in any way?”

  Verna shook her head and started to giggle. “I’m sorry,” she finally managed to get out. “No. I’m the only one in the chapel other than Brena. We don’t even have any patients staying here right now.”

  “Good. Then before you have to explain what’s going on twice, why don’t you relax for a moment while I go get Laryn.”

  Verna nodded. “All right, but I need to check on Brena. I’ll be right back.” She stood up to go.

  Kevin glanced at Alek and tilted his head towards Verna. Alek nodded and stepped up beside her to escort her. “I’ll be back with Laryn in just a minute, Verna. We’ll meet you in here.”

  When Kevin materialized back in his office, Chris was pacing and Laryn’s face was clouded with worry.

  “Where have you been?!” Chris demanded. “We were about to call out the army! Do you have any idea how long you’ve been gone? You were supposed to drop Alek off and come right back here!”

  “Chris, you knew I’d check out the area,” Kevin said slowly.

  Laryn gradually exhaled the breath she hadn’t even realized she’d been holding. “You really were gone a little too long for comfort, Myron. Did you talk to Verna?”

  “Just enough to be sure she wasn’t in any danger. I told her to wait until I picked you up to tell me what happened so she wouldn’t have to go through it twice. Alek’s with her.”

  Laryn nodded. “Do you want to go on now, or are you going to wait for Theresa?”

  “No, I’ll come back for Theresa later. Let’s find out what’s going on first.”

  ~ ~ ~ ~

  Once they were all settled in the sitting room, Kevin looked at Verna and said, “Now, what happened?”

  “I’m not sure. When I woke up this morning, I went to the kitchen and put on a pot of coffee. Then I headed down to Brena’s room to see if she was up. When I walked past her workroom, I saw that the door was open, so I went in to see if she was ready for breakfast. That’s when I found her sprawled out on the floor in her robe.”

  “Did she work late last night?” Laryn asked.

  Verna shook her head no. “She does work late into the evening sometimes, but last night she went to bed right after I did. The only thing I can figure out is that she heard something during the night and got up to check it out.”

  “Why didn’t you send us a message when you found her this morning?” Kevin asked.

  “I thought it was just an accident, that she had slipped on something and fallen. Her lamp was on the shelf where she always puts it and there was blood and hair on the corner of the worktable. I figured she had hit her head and been knocked unconscious.” Verna looked down at her hands clasped in her lap. A tear quietly worked its way down her cheek.

  “What did you do then?” Chris prompted.

  “I put a blanket over her and a pillow under her head, and ran over to Jamison’s house to get him to help me lift her and put her to bed.”

  “Jamison?” Kevin asked.

  “He’s our closest neighbor.”

  Kevin nodded, so Verna continued. “Once we had her settled in her bed, I dressed her head wound and treated her for a concussion. Sometime around mid-day, Jamison’s wife, Tyra, came over to sit with her for a while, so that I could mix up some teas for a few of our patients and deliver them. When I finished with all of that, I went to Brena’s workroom to clean up.” Verna paused and took a deep breath. “That was the first chance I’d had to really look around the room. I tried to figure out what had made her fall, but I couldn’t find where anything had spilled and there’s nothing in there that she could have tripped over. The only thing I could come up with was that she had fainted for some reason. She hasn’t been acting sick, but you can’t always tell with Brena. Anyway, it wasn’t until I started clearing away the workbench that I noticed that one of the large pestles was missing, and I know it was there yesterday. That’s when I got worried and decided to check the closet.” Verna paused. She looked miserable. “I should have thought of it earlier. It just never entered my mind that someone had broken into the workroom. The thief must have hit her on the head with the pestle.”

  “What was stolen, Verna?” Laryn asked quietly. “The dragon’s flame lamp?”

  Verna slowly nodded and her eyes began to tear again. “Only a sister can use the lamp.”

  “I know,” Laryn whispered.

  “Only a sister could have hit Brena on the head,” Verna said as she started to sob.

  Laryn got up and walked over to the couch where Verna was sitting. She sat down beside the younger woman and gathered her in her arms. “Cry it out,” Laryn said softly.

  Kevin caught Chris’s eye and nodded towards the front door. Once they were outside, he said, “If I’m understanding everything correctly, a sister broke in here last night, knocked Brena on the head, and stole the dragon’s flame lamp.”

  “That’s what I got,” Chris said with a nod.

  “Why? Why would a sister need the lamp?” Kevin shook his head and began to pace. “There has to be a reason behind all of this, but I’m not seeing it. What good is the dragon’s flame lamp? What could you use it for?”

  “Well, I’m not sure I’m the right one to ask, but as far as I know, the only thing you can do with it is make dragon’s flame pendants.”

  Kevin stopped pacing and stared at Chris. “That’s right.”

  “Are any pendants missing?” Chris asked.

  “I don’t know. Verna didn’t mention it, but then, she didn’t mention checking them either.” Kevin thought about it for a minute, and then he added, “Would she even know how many there were supposed to be? With sisters dying, retiring, and being initiated, pendants must go in and out of here all the time. How many did Theresa say there were? Several hundred?”

  “I think she said six hundred, but I could be wrong about that.”

  “We need to find out.” Kevin glanced back towards the door to the chapel. “Verna’s pretty torn up about all of this. I hate to put anything else on her, but maybe if Laryn asks her … Why don’t you ask Verna to fix you something for your headache?”

  “What headache?”

  “The horrible headache that’s been bothering you all afterno
on. And while you’re gone with her, I’ll ask Laryn to find out about the pendants.”

  “Okay.”

  ~ ~ ~ ~

  While Verna was busy in the kitchen making tea for Chris, Kevin quietly told Laryn what he thought might have been behind the theft of the lamp.

  “It makes sense. In fact, it’s the only thing that does. I’ll mention it to Verna in a bit and see if she knows whether or not a pendant’s missing,” Laryn said. “Are you going to go get Theresa? I don’t want Verna here by herself tonight,”

  Kevin nodded. “I thought I’d get a couple of Darrell’s guards to stay here tonight, too. I don’t want the girls here without some kind of protection. I’m not sure we can count on their pendants. We may want to keep some guards out here until we get to the bottom of this, but we can worry about that tomorrow.”

  “Why don’t you go ahead and get all of that taken care of? I’ll go let Chris know that you’re gone, and while I’m in the kitchen, I’ll find a way to ask Verna about the pendants.”

  ~ ~ ~ ~

  When Kevin got back to his office, Theresa was waiting for him. “What’s going on? Why did you ask me to bring an overnight bag?”

  Kevin explained what had happened in Timera Valley and told her that he wanted her to stay with Verna until they could figure out what to do next.

  Theresa nodded. “You know that you have to go to Drisden tonight and let Drusilla know what’s going on.” At Kevin’s puzzled look, she said, “She’s next in line to be Head of the Sisterhood.”

  “Oh, that’s right. Wouldn’t it be better to let her get a good night’s sleep and tell her in the morning?”

  “No. You have to tell her tonight. Do you want me to go with you?”

  “That’s up to you, but I would like to find out if Verna knows whether or not any of the pendants are missing before I talk to anyone else. However, the first thing I’m going to do is find some guards who can stay with you at the chapel tonight.”

  “Are you sure that’s necessary?” Theresa asked. “As far as I know, the Sisterhood has never allowed armed guards in any of the chapels.”

  “There are going to be armed guards in that one tonight,” Kevin said adamantly. “I know the sisters rely on their pendants for protection, but Brena was wearing hers last night, and look at what happened to her.”

  Theresa hesitated a moment and then said, “All right, but no more than two, okay?”

  Kevin nodded as he walked out the door headed for Darrell’s office.

  ~ ~ ~ ~

  An hour later, Kevin, Theresa, and two castle guards materialized in front of Brena’s chapel. Alek was on the front porch waiting for them. He walked over to the guards and started briefing them about the layout of the valley, the neighbors, and the floor plan of the chapel.

  Kevin and Theresa went inside and joined the others in the sitting room.

  As soon as they walked in, Verna jumped up, ran over to Theresa, and hugged her. “Thank you so much for coming. I don’t think I could have managed everything by myself.”

  Theresa held her for a moment, and then pushed her back and looked at her eyes. “When was the last time you had something to eat?”

  Verna frowned. “I’m not sure. I don’t remember.”

  “That’s what I thought. Come on. We’re going to go check on Brena, and then I’m going to fix you something to eat.”

  After Theresa and Verna left the room, Kevin turned to Laryn and raised his eyebrows.

  She shook her head. “Verna thought about the pendants, and she did look. There were quite a few there, but she has no idea how many are supposed to be there, so she doesn’t know whether any were stolen or not. She said Brena has records of all the sisters, but it’ll take a long time to go through them and figure out exactly how many pendants are in use. She said she’d try to get started on that tomorrow morning and let you know as soon as she figures it out.”

  Kevin nodded. “I’ve got to go tell Drusilla about all of this.”

  “I know. Do you need me to go with you?”

  “No, it’s okay. She knows me. I can go by myself.”

  Alek had stepped back inside in time to hear Kevin’s last comment. “Excuse me, sir. Are you going somewhere?”

  “Yes, I’ve got to go to Drisden. And yes, you can go with me,” Kevin said with a sigh. “But we need to go now, before it gets any later.”

  “Kevin, both of you need to go back to the castle and change clothes first,” Chris said. “Drisden’s in Brendolanth, and I’m not sure Rolan would appreciate the Sorcerer of Camden and one of his guards popping in unannounced.”

  Kevin glanced down at what he was wearing. He was still dressed in his official tunic, complete with sash, in honor of the competition. “Oh, yeah. Okay, Alek. Let’s go back home. Hope you’ve got some off-duty clothes.”

  ~ ~ ~ ~

  An hour later, Kevin and Alek materialized on the road outside Drisden, about half a mile from Drusilla’s chapel. Alek looked around with his hand on the hilt of his sword and whispered, “Do you know where you are, sir?”

  Kevin nodded and whispered back, “Don’t use ‘sir’ while we’re here, Alek. And don’t call me Myron either. Call me Kevin.”

  A deep frown swept over Alek’s face for a moment, and he looked like he wanted to argue, but then his face relaxed and he nodded. They walked quickly toward the village, careful not to draw any attention by being too quiet. When the chapel was in sight, Kevin breathed a sigh of relief and pointed it out to Alek. A couple of minutes later, Kevin knocked on the front door and a young man about sixteen years old opened it.

  “Good evening, Harald,” Kevin said.

  Harald looked at Kevin closely, but he couldn’t place him. However, enough people dropped by to see Drusilla that it didn’t particularly bother him. “Good evening, sir. Is there something I can do for you?”

  “I need to see Drusilla. By any chance is she in?” Kevin asked, holding his breath.

  “Yes, sir. She’s in her workroom, but she left strict orders that I was not to disturb her for any reason short of a life or death emergency,” Harald answered, obviously uncomfortable.

  Alek took a step towards the door, but Kevin shook his head. “Harald, I understand, but this really is an emergency. Please go tell her that Kevin is here with a message from Timera Valley.”

  The name Kevin meant absolutely nothing to Harald, but Timera Valley did. He nodded and quickly disappeared into the back of the chapel. Kevin stepped inside and motioned for Alek to join him. Then he shut the door and waited for Drusilla.

  A few moments later, Kevin heard hurried footsteps heading their way.

  As Drusilla rounded the corner, Alek caught his breath. Long blond hair flowed around one of the most angelic faces he’d ever seen, and huge blue eyes the color of an October sky peeked out from under the bangs that fell across her forehead. She was of average height for a woman but she was so slim that she gave the appearance of being petite. Alek’s overall impression was that Drusilla was as fragile as a flower. The desire to serve and protect was all but tattooed across his forehead.

  Kevin noticed the look on Alek’s face and nearly laughed. He knew better. Drusilla was as strong as an ox, stubborn as a mule, and shrewd as a fox. She had a heart of gold, but she could turn fierce in a heartbeat if someone she cared about was threatened. All in all, Drusilla was a force to be reckoned with.

  “Harald said you had a message from Timera Valley,” Drusilla said as she dried her hands on her apron. “What’s going on?”

  “Let’s sit down in the kitchen for a moment,” Kevin said as he nodded towards the back of the chapel. “I could use something to drink. Do you happen to have any scog?”

  Drusilla nodded and led them to the kitchen. As soon as Kevin and Alek were seated at the table with a mug a scog in their hands, Drusilla put her hands on her hips and said, “All right. Let’s have it. What’s happened?”

  Kevin filled her in on Brena’s injuries, the missing lamp, a
nd his concern that some of the extra pendants could be missing. “The missing pendants part is pure conjecture at this point. There’s no reason to suspect that any were stolen other than the fact that we can’t think of any other reason for taking the lamp.”

  Drusilla nodded, pulled out a chair, and sat down. “There’s one other possibility. I don’t know how true it is, but according to the legend, when Glendymere gave the black opals to Drixanne, he told her that as long as his flame burned in that lamp, the sisters would be protected. Like I said, I have no idea exactly what was said, or what was meant, but if we take that literally, our pendants are useless if the flame in that lamp goes out.”

  Kevin sighed. “I didn’t know about that. You do know that a couple of the seated sorcerers wanted me to tell Glendymere to either repossess the opals or give them something to counter them with, right?”

  Drusilla nodded. “From what I heard, they had a problem with sisters treating runaway slaves. But I don’t see how this could be connected to any of the sorcerers. They wouldn’t be able to get past her pendant.”

  “Unless the legend’s right and the flame had already been extinguished,” Kevin pointed out.

  Drusilla thought about that for a moment and then nodded slowly. “Then I guess you need to go see Glendymere and find out exactly what happens if that flame goes out.”

  “I will. Tomorrow morning.”

  “I’ll have to go to Timera Valley until Brena regains consciousness, but there are a few things here that I really must take care of first,” Drusilla said, thinking out loud. “I guess I could be ready to leave by tomorrow morning.” Then she turned in her chair and called for Harald. When he answered, she said, “Go hitch up my buggy and put that box of supplies I had packed for tomorrow in the back. We’re going to have to do rounds tonight.” Then she turned back to Kevin. “Wait here. I need to write a note to Theresa. You’ll need to take it to her tonight.” Without waiting for an answer, Drusilla jumped up and swept from the room in search of pen and paper.