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

by Morgan, Mackenzie

  “I still want someone here.”

  Drusilla rolled her eyes and sighed. “I guess the first thing I need to do is find out if any of the extra pendants are missing. If they are, I don’t know what we can do about it, but we need to know, one way or the other.” Then she shook her head and said, “You know that this means a sister’s responsible for the attack on Brena, don’t you?”

  “Anyone with a pendant could have attacked Brena. It wasn’t necessarily a sister.”

  “Only a sister can make a pendant, Kevin. Therefore a sister was involved, and if she was involved, she’s responsible. Period. Now, I need to get inside and give Verna a break.”

  ~ ~ ~ ~

  When Kevin and Rigel got back to the castle, Kevin told Rigel to take a break, that he wasn’t going anywhere else until after 1:00. As soon as Rigel left his office, Kevin sank down in his chair, crossed his arms on the desktop, laid his head down on his arms, and promptly fell asleep.

  About forty-five minutes before Kevin was supposed to be in General Crandal’s office, Chris quietly knocked on Kevin’s door and then opened it. Kevin picked up his head and gave Chris a glassy-eyed stare.

  Chris stepped inside and said, “You have to meet General Crandal in about half an hour. You need to eat. Do you want to go down to the dining room or shall I send Elin for a plate?”

  “Have you eaten?”

  “Not yet.”

  “Let’s go down to the dining room then,” Kevin said as he pushed himself up from his chair. He rubbed his hands over his face and said, “Maybe the walk will revive me.”

  When they reached the dining room, Karl and Joan were seated at the table drinking coffee. They had just finished their lunch.

  “Do you two know what’s going on?” Kevin asked as he sat down.

  Karl nodded and Joan said, “Laryn filled us in.”

  “Good,” Kevin said. “I really don’t feel like going through it all again right now.”

  Almost as soon as Kevin and Chris sat down, Miranda brought a large tray out of the kitchen loaded down with serving bowls. There was enough food to feed a dozen people. “I didn’t know what you wanted, so I brought a bit of everything we had cooked. Hope you enjoy your lunch,” she said as she handed both of them a plate.

  After Kevin had fixed his plate and started eating, Karl asked, “Will you have time to take me to Walnut Springs later this afternoon? I really feel like I should let Ryan know what’s going on since Timera Valley’s in his district. I’d hate for him to hear about it as gossip.”

  Kevin nodded. “I haven’t had a chance to go by and tell Warren either. I have to take the soldiers and Colin out to Timera Valley in a little bit. That’ll take maybe an hour. Want to meet me in my office around two?”

  “That’s fine with me,” Karl answered. Then after a minute he asked, “Will General Crandal let his captain know what’s going on or should I tell Ryan to tell him?”

  “I have no idea. I’m supposed to meet him in his office in a few minutes. I’ll ask him then.”

  ~ ~ ~ ~

  When Kevin opened the door to General Crandal’s office, two rough looking men dressed in old tunics, coarse leggings, and scuffed boots were sprawled in two of the armchairs in the reception area. Both men wore leather belts over their tunics with large sheathed hunting knives hanging at their sides. There were a couple of crossbows and two quivers of arrows lying on the floor between them. Scruffy beards covered most of their faces, but what really drew Kevin’s attention was the sparkle in their eyes. They looked like children who were planning mischief and couldn’t wait to get started.

  General Crandal heard the door open, so he got up from his desk and walked out into the reception area. When he entered the room, the two men stood up.

  “Myron, I’d like to introduce Ramen and Caezar. They have offered to go to Timera Valley to keep an eye on things,” General Crandal said. “Don’t look much like soldiers, do they?”

  Kevin wasn’t sure exactly how to answer, so he simply nodded to the two men and shook their hands.

  “I know you were planning to have them stay at the chapel, but we’d like to suggest something a little different, hence their appearance,” General Crandal explained. “Actually it was their idea, so I’ll let them tell you about it.”

  “We have no idea whether those thieves are coming back or not, but if they do, it’ll be at night, and we need to be outside, where they are,” Ramen said.

  Caezar nodded. “General Crandal told us that you were going to have a sorcerer stay at the chapel and put wards on the windows and doors at night, so unless there’s another sorcerer involved, the people inside the chapel will be safe while they sleep. We thought we could set up a camp in the area, sleep during the day, and watch the place at night. Then, if they do come back, we’ll have a better chance of catching them.”

  “But if we’re going to do this, we need to look like mountain men, not soldiers,” Ramen added. “If they’re still anywhere in the area, they’re waiting for you to pull the guards out before they try anything else, so if we’re going to flush them out, they have to think we’re just two harmless old men.”

  Kevin nodded. “Makes sense, but how can you explain camping out in that valley for several weeks? It’s too late in the season to plant a crop, and the farms are small. I doubt if you could find any steady work there.”

  Caezar laughed. “You haven’t met many mountain men, have you, son?”

  “No, I can honestly say that I haven’t. Why?”

  “Well, for one thing, holding steady jobs isn’t exactly their forte. They roam over the mountains, living off the land,” Caezar explained. “I’m sure there’s a good fishing stream or a small lake in the area. We’ll set up camp nearby and fish. If we take fish to some of the farmers in the area once in a while to trade for things like bread and eggs, they’ll never think twice about us.”

  “Actually, there’s a pretty big lake about two miles from the valley where the chapel is,” Kevin said.

  “Perfect. Far enough away that they won’t be bothering us, but close enough for us to be able to watch what goes on. We’ll set up a blind where we can watch the chapel at night. Anyone who stumbles across it will think it’s just a hunter’s blind,” Ramen said, looking at Caezar.

  Caezar nodded. “We need to get going soon though. It’ll take us most of the afternoon to build our lean-to, and then we’ve got to find a good spot to set up a blind for tonight.”

  “Where’s your gear?” Kevin asked, looking around.

  Caezar pointed to a small tote bag. “Everything we need to take with us is in there. We’ll make anything else we need.”

  “How long are you going to be able to do this? I know we said a month, but it could end up being longer, depending on what we find out.”

  Ramen grinned. “Well, if you don’t have it figured out by the time the snow starts, we’re going to need some warmer clothes.”

  “All right. We’ll do it your way,” Kevin said. “As soon as I find Rigel, we can go. I guess I should take you by the chapel and introduce you first.”

  Ramen and Caezar looked at each other and frowned. Then Caezar said, “It might be best if no one from the valley knows who we are.”

  “Well, we do need for someone to know we’re the good guys, just in case,” Ramen pointed out.

  “I don’t understand. Are you saying that you think someone in the valley had something to do with the break-in?” Kevin asked.

  General Crandal shrugged. “It’s not that we think someone did, it’s that we don’t know for sure that they didn’t. Someone knew enough to know where Brena kept the lamp, and it’s pretty certain at this point that a sister figures into this one way or another, so …”

  Kevin nodded slowly. “I understand. Colin wasn’t anywhere near Timera Valley, and neither was Drusilla. I’ll introduce you to Colin before we leave the castle, and he can find a way to introduce you to Dru later. Let’s go up to my office, and then I’ll take yo
u to the lake.”

  Caezar and Ramen picked up their gear and started walking towards the door. When they got there, they paused, waiting for Kevin to join them.

  He waved them on and said, “Go on up to my office. I need to see General Crandal for a moment.”

  The two soldiers nodded and pulled the door shut when they left the office.

  General Crandal looked at Kevin and asked, “Has something else happened?”

  “No, I just wanted to ask you something. I’m going to go see Warren in a little while and tell him about all of this. Karl wants to go see Ryan at the same time and let him know what’s going on, too. I wondered if you wanted to go with us and let the district captain know what we’re doing.”

  “That’s a good idea. I was wondering how I was going to let Captain Milar know about Caezar and Ramen.”

  “We’re planning to go as soon as I get Colin and your men settled. Will that be all right with you?”

  “Fine. As far as I know, I’ve got the rest of the day relatively free.”

  “Good. Meet me in my office in about an hour then.”

  ~ ~ ~ ~

  Kevin met with the soldiers, Colin, and Chris in his private office. After Kevin introduced Colin and explained what Caezar and Ramen were going to do, he said, “Colin, I don’t want anyone else to know about this, not even my bodyguards. I’m going to take Caezar and Ramen to the lake first, before Rigel gets here. Don’t mention anything about them to anyone other than Drusilla, and don’t tell her unless you’re positive there’s no one around to hear you. I’d rather she not know than risk the wrong people finding out.”

  Colin nodded. “Understood, sir.”

  Chris stepped over to the office door. “I’ll handle Rigel when he gets here. I’ll tell him you’re giving Colin some last minute instructions. Does he know that you’re planning to take soldiers out there?”

  “He knows we’re going to put some in the area, but if he asks about it, tell him that General Crandal and Captain Milar are going to handle that.” Then Kevin turned to Caezar and Ramen and said, “Okay, put your hands on my arms and let’s go. Remember, you’re going to feel sick when we get there, but it’ll pass.” As soon as the men touched his arms, Kevin turned the key and they left.

  In less than fifteen minutes, Kevin was back. He opened his office door to ask Rigel if he was ready to go, and half an hour later, Colin was in the kitchen at the chapel talking to Drusilla.

  When Kevin and Rigel returned with the two guards who had been on duty since the previous night, Karl and General Crandal were waiting for him in the reception area.

  Kevin thanked the guards and told them to go get some sleep. Then he turned to Rigel and said, “I’m only going to make one more trip, and Karl and General Crandal are both going with me, so you really don’t need to. Why don’t you take the rest of the day off?”

  Rigel looked at General Crandal, who nodded. “Very good, sir. Just let us know if you change your mind and need to go somewhere else. We’ll be in the guard office,” Rigel said as he left the office.

  Then Kevin turned to Karl and asked, “Do you know where Ryan’s house is?”

  Karl shook his head. “All I know is that it’s in Walnut Springs.”

  “It’s not far from Warren’s,” General Crandal said. “In fact, it’s on the way to Captain Milar’s house. I’ll show you.”

  Karl nodded his thanks.

  “Chris, come on. I want you to go, too. You haven’t met Warren yet, and I think you should,” Kevin said as Karl and General Crandal each placed a hand on Kevin’s arms. After Chris put a hand on Kevin’s shoulder, Kevin turned his key.

  When they materialized in Warren’s backyard, Kevin asked General Crandal how long he thought it would take him to talk to Captain Milar.

  “I’d like to give him a pretty thorough briefing about what we know so far and see if he has any ideas or if he’s noticed anything. I could probably be done in an hour.”

  Kevin waited a couple of minutes to let Karl recover from his trip through the energy field and then asked, “What about you, Karl? How long do you think you’ll need?”

  “Same here. About an hour.”

  “Okay. Meet me here when you’re done.”

  After Karl and General Crandal left, Kevin knocked on Warren’s back door. Torrey opened the door, wiping flour off her hands as she did. “Myron! Come on in. I just finished baking a strawberry pie. It’s cooling on the windowsill. Can I get you to have a piece of pie and some coffee with us?”

  Chris’s mouth was watering from the aromas that seeped through the open door. The idea of a piece of warm strawberry pie was almost more than he could bear.

  After Kevin introduced Chris, he filled Warren in on the break-in, the theft of the lamp, Brena’s condition, Drusilla, Colin, and the two soldiers. Meanwhile, Torrey kept Chris’s plate full. After the strawberry pie, she served up some apple cake, then some chocolate chip cookies, and finally some fresh strawberries, dripping with chocolate.

  Right before they left, Kevin said, “I’m not sure it would be a good idea to tell Gaynor about Colin or the soldiers, but you can tell him the rest of it if you want to.”

  Warren nodded. “You know, I’m glad he didn’t get here until after the break-in. Otherwise we’d both be wondering if he had something to do with it.”

  When Kevin and Chris were ready to head outside to wait for Karl and General Crandal, Torrey handed Chris a covered tin and said, “Just a little something for you and Myron to snack on later, dear. Please come again, and don’t feel that you have to wait for Myron to come. You’re welcome here any time.”

  Chris thanked her and followed Kevin outside.

  ~ ~ ~ ~

  Ariel had a large pitcher of scog and several mugs ready by the time they returned to the castle. Karl and the general stayed just long enough for a quick drink and then they left.

  While Kevin walked them to the door, Chris topped off his and Kevin’s mugs and carried them into Kevin’s private office. He set Kevin’s mug on his desk and slumped down in one of the big chairs with his. Kevin followed him in, shut the door, and collapsed in his chair.

  For several minutes they sipped their scog in silence. Finally Kevin asked, “What’s in the tin?”

  “I don’t know,” Chris said as he took the cover off carefully. There were cookies, brownies, a couple pieces of cake, and a small jar of strawberry preserves nestled in the tin. “I wonder if they’d like to adopt me,” Chris said, gazing into his box of treats.

  “What? And miss Miranda’s pastries?” Kevin teased.

  Chris sighed as he put the cover back on the tin. “So many sweets. So little time.”

  Kevin laughed. “Is there anything else that we have to deal with today?”

  “Not that I know of, but if you’ll hang on a few minutes, I’m sure something else will come up.”

  Kevin stood up and shook his head. “No. We’re done. I’ve about had it, and so have you.” Then he walked over to his door, opened it and motioned for Ariel and Elin to join him. “Chris and I are going to take the rest of the afternoon off. You and Elin get out of here, too. Shut the door. This office is officially closed.”

  Ariel’s eyes widened, but he didn’t say anything, just nodded. Elin grinned.

  Kevin shooed them out the front door. Then he and Chris headed back through Kevin’s office to the stairs leading up to the family quarters. As Kevin passed the guard at the bottom of the stairs, he said, “My office is closed and I’m going upstairs. I may come down for dinner, and then again, I may not. I don’t know at this point. I’m tired. Don’t let anyone convince you to disturb me unless there is an emergency, and I mean a real emergency, something like an invading army, but only if they’ve already reached Milhaven.”

  The guard laughed and said, “Have a good evening, sir.”

  Chapter 17

  The Sisters

  Monday morning, Drusilla and Colin were sitting at the table drinking coffee when Verna
walked into the kitchen. She blushed as soon as she realized that Drusilla must have been up quite a while since fresh coffee and muffins were sitting on the table.

  “I’m sorry,” Verna said as she rushed to take her seat. “I can’t imagine why I slept so long.”

  “Don’t be silly,” Drusilla said. “After all the strain you’ve been under the last couple of days, I fully expected you to sleep until lunch. Of course, it could also have something to do with that cup of tea I fixed you before you went to bed last night.”

  “What?” Verna gasped. “You gave me something?”

  Drusilla smiled and nodded. “And I’ll do it again if I think you’re in need of another good night’s sleep. Now, enough about that. Have some muffins. Turns out our friend here is quite a cook.” Drusilla nodded towards Colin.

  Colin passed the plate to Verna. “Comes from being an apprentice to a bachelor. It was either learn to cook or starve.”

  Drusilla poured herself another cup of coffee and waited for Verna to finish eating. After she topped off Verna’s coffee, she said, “I’ve been thinking about how we can share the load around here. You know the people in this valley and their history. I’d have to spend an hour interviewing each patient just to get caught up. I know you were planning to start sorting through Brena’s records this morning, but if I work on that in her room, I can keep an eye on her at the same time, and that would leave you free to take care of the business of the chapel.”

  “That’s fine with me,” Verna said with a nod.

  “Do you know where she keeps the records? I hate to go rummaging through her things.”

  “She has a book where she records everything related to the sisters. It has the dates of their initiation, their assignments, retirements, deaths, everything, and she updates it as soon as something changes. I know it’s up-to-date as of Friday evening and nothing’s come in since then. She keeps it in her desk. I’ll get it for you,” Verna said as she started to get up.

  Drusilla reached out and laid her hand on the younger woman’s arm. “Later. Finish your coffee first. If your chapel’s anything like mine, once it starts, it doesn’t stop until evening, and sometimes not even then.”