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

by Morgan, Mackenzie

  Espen slowly nodded and told his story with a little prompting from Pharn and King Merdin. When he finished, he pointed to Theresa’s pendant. “That’s the same as the one the man was wearing when he killed the sister.”

  “Could you describe the bad man?” Myron asked gently.

  Espen looked thoughtful and then he said, “Maybe in his thirties, maybe forties. He was about average for a human, maybe a little taller than you are, but not much. Heavier too, but not fat or anything.”

  “What about his skin color? Did you notice that?” Kevin asked.

  Espen shook his head. “I think it was about like yours, but I didn’t really notice.”

  “What about his hair?” Theresa asked.

  Espen shrugged. “It wasn’t blond or white. I would have noticed that.”

  “That’s good. Now, what about his eyes?” Kevin asked.

  “Cold. Evil,” Espen answered.

  “How was he dressed?”

  “Black leggings, dark gray tunic, rope around his waist. He looked like any other peasant. But he wasn’t one, was he?”

  Kevin shook his head. “No, I’m afraid not. But I don’t think he lives around here. You probably don’t have to worry about running into him again. Did he say anything that let you know where he was from? Did he mention a town? Or a province?”

  Espen shook his head. “He didn’t talk much. She did though.”

  “Did she mention any towns?”

  “No, she just kept at him about when was she going to be able to join him and live with him.”

  “But she never said where?” Theresa asked.

  Espen shook his head again.

  Kevin smiled at the gnome. “You’ve been a lot of help, Espen. Can you think of anything else that might help us?”

  Espen thought hard for a couple of minutes, and then he said, “He had some kind of funny lamp when he left that last time. I’d never seen anything like it before. It had three bowls. And there was a flame on top, not a glowstone. I had almost forgotten about that.”

  “Was the lamp in the cave?” Kevin asked.

  “No. I had never seen it before. She had it when they walked out of the cave that last time. He took it from her right before he killed her. I remember that she said that she wanted to take the lamp back to wherever they got it. That’s when he took it away from her and killed her.”

  Kevin nodded. “Thank you Espen, and you, too, Pharn. You don’t have any idea how much help you’ve been. I won’t forget it. If there’s ever anything we can do for you, please tell King Merdin. He’ll get in touch with me.”

  Espen looked embarrassed for a moment. Then he looked up at Kevin and asked, “Are you going to get rid of the evil man so he can’t hurt anyone else?”

  “I can’t promise that I’ll be able to, but I’m going to try.”

  Espen nodded and looked pleased with the answer. Then he looked at King Merdin and asked, “Can I go home now?”

  King Merdin smiled and said, “Yes, Espen. And thank you. You, too, Pharn.”

  ~ ~ ~ ~

  King Merdin led Theresa and Kevin back down the path towards the road. After they had gone a little ways, he stopped and looked at Theresa. “Are you going with Myron or do you want me to take you back to the clearing?”

  “I need to go back to the clearing. I have to be back at the campsite by sunset or Marcus is going to get worried.”

  “When are you planning to come home?” Kevin asked.

  “I thought we’d stay until Sunday.”

  Kevin nodded. “I’ll look for you Sunday night then, and Theresa, don’t say anything about any of this until I get to the bottom of it, okay?”

  Theresa nodded.

  “See you Sunday.” Kevin turned his key and vanished.

  King Merdin held his arm out to Theresa. “Are you ready to go?”

  She laid her hand on his arm and they vanished, too.

  ~ ~ ~ ~

  When Kevin got back to his office, Chris and Laryn were still there, waiting for him.

  “So?” Chris asked.

  “Well, we know what happened to Sister Gerry now,” Kevin began. Then he told them everything he had learned from Espen. Afterwards, he told Laryn about the mushrooms that Gerry had grown in her workshop.

  Laryn sighed a deep, heart-felt sigh. “It’s really hard to believe that a Sister of Healing helped one of the seated sorcerers poison my brother.”

  “And now that same sorcerer has two dragon’s flame pendants and the lamp,” Chris added.

  “Did you find out what he looked like?” Laryn asked.

  Kevin shook his head. “Not really. Espen said he was average height and build, and that he looked like most humans in their thirties or forties. He didn’t notice what color skin the man had, and the only thing he could say about the hair was that it wasn’t white or blond. He did mention that the eyes were cold, but that’s not really something we can use to identify him.”

  “What about the way he was dressed?” Chris asked. “Did you ask Espen about that?”

  “I asked, but Espen said he looked like any other peasant.”

  Laryn frowned. “Did you ask if he overheard anything that might tell us where he was from?”

  Kevin nodded. “He said the man didn’t talk much, that the woman did most of the talking, and that the only thing she talked about was when would she be able to leave Glenco and join him.”

  “Not much to go on,” Chris mumbled.

  “Well, we know the person we’re looking for is on the council, so that gives us a starting point. We can rule out the women, and Edwin’s hair is white as snow, so we can rule him out, and Damien’s skin’s so dark I imagine Espen would have noticed that, so we can probably rule him out, too. That leaves six possible suspects,” Kevin said, as much to himself as to Chris and Laryn. “And I doubt it was Regan. He just got married. I can’t see him keeping a mistress on the side for the past two years. So now we’re down to five. And Jason wouldn’t have been quite so cooperative about my taking Theresa and Marcus to Glenco to try to find out what happened to Gerry if he’d just killed her, so now we’re down to four.”

  “Whoa,” Laryn said. “I don’t know that you can really rule all of those people out, Myron. I don’t know Regan that well, but just because he’s a newlywed does not mean he didn’t have someone else on the side. Most people here are faithful, but not everyone is. And maybe Jason let you go to Glenco just so you wouldn’t suspect him.”

  “Frankly, I don’t think you can rule anyone out but yourself,” Chris said. “Edwin could have worn a wig, or a hat, and just because Espen didn’t say that the sorcerer had dark skin doesn’t mean he didn’t. That’s not good enough to rule Damien out. And as for the women, there are plenty of women who can pass for men if they try, even Gwendolyn could, although I’m not sure she could pass for average height and build.”

  Kevin frowned, but he didn’t say anything.

  “So, what’s your next move?” Laryn asked.

  “I guess we watch and wait,” Kevin answered. “But my money’s on Rolan. Freddy said that he was in the area right before Badec got sick. It’s just too much of a coincidence to think that there were two seated sorcerers out there skulking around.”

  Laryn nodded. “But you have no proof. Even if he has the pendant, that doesn’t prove he poisoned Badec.”

  “No, and it looks like he killed the only person who could have said for sure that he was in on it,” Kevin said with a sigh. Then he shook his head, laughed, and said, “We don’t even have the mushrooms anymore. I destroyed them myself.”

  “So we wait,” Chris said. “He’ll mess up. Just give him time.”

  After a moment, Laryn asked, “Are you going to tell Brena that Gerry’s dead?”

  Kevin shook his head. “Not yet. She’d want to know who killed her, and I don’t know who. Not that I can prove anyway.”

  “You could just tell her that.”

  “I know, but I want to wait until I can retur
n the pendants.”

  “Be careful, Myron,” Laryn said. “If the killer even thinks that you know who he is, you’ll be the next target, and you can’t go up against a dragon’s flame pendant. There’s no way you could win.”

  “I know,” Kevin said with a slow nod. “And that’s a very good reason to keep all of this to ourselves for now.”

  Chapter 30

  Visitors in the Night

  Shortly after dinner Sunday evening, Theresa pulled her wagon around to the back of the castle. Neiven walked out of the barn just as Marcus was helping Theresa and Hayley down from the seat.

  “Hello, Sister Theresa, Hayley,” Neiven said as he took hold of the reins. “Are you staying here tonight? Or just stopping by on your way to Milhaven?”

  “We’re just stopping by,” Theresa answered. “I want to let Myron know we’re back.”

  Neiven nodded. “I’ll see that your horses get some water.”

  “Thanks,” Theresa said. “I should be back in a few minutes.”

  As they walked towards the castle, Hayley said, “I thought I’d see if Miranda’s in the kitchen. I want to thank her for the sweets.”

  Theresa nodded. “Just don’t let her talk you into eating dinner here. I want to get back to the chapel before dark.”

  A few minutes later, Theresa knocked on Kevin’s office door. Isak opened the door and stepped out of her way. Theresa grinned and said, “Don’t worry, Isak. I’m not going to run over you. It really was urgent last Thursday. I’m not usually that rude.”

  Isak blushed and said, “I didn’t think … I mean … uh, did you want to speak with Myron?”

  Theresa nodded. “If it’s convenient. If he’s busy, you can just tell him that I got back okay and that I’ve gone to Milhaven.”

  “He’s just talking to Chris. I’ll let him know you’re here,” Isak said as he knocked on the door to Kevin’s private office. “He didn’t say not to disturb him or anything.”

  When Chris opened the door, Isak stepped to the side and motioned to Theresa. “Sister Theresa is here to see Myron.”

  Chris grinned and opened the door wide. “Come on in. Kevin was just wondering when you were going to get here. Ten more minutes and he’d have gone out looking for you.”

  Theresa stepped into Kevin’s office and closed the door. “I think your pages are scared of me, Kevin. What did you say to Ariel?”

  “I just told him that certain people have to have access to me, no matter what, and that you’re one of them. He was a little miffed that I hadn’t mentioned that before, and said he needed a complete list of people who should be admitted even when I say I’m not to be disturbed. It was really sort of funny.”

  “I’m sorry. He was just doing his job.”

  “Don’t worry about it,” Chris said. “Does them good to get shaken up every once in a while. They get a little too smug sometimes, thinking they run things around here. He’ll get over it.”

  “So, are we going to be able to persuade you to spend the night?” Kevin asked.

  “No, I really need to get back tonight. I have a lot of herbs to unload.”

  “Well, how about letting Miranda fix some dinner for the three of you? You’ve got to eat sometime,” Chris said as he started towards the door.

  “Not this time, Chris. I really do want to get unpacked, and then I’m looking forward to a nice hot bath.” Then Theresa turned to Kevin and said, “I still want to go to Wildcat Mountain this week. Did you get a chance to ask Ashni what she wanted to do about Hayley?”

  Kevin nodded. “She said you’re both welcome to stay at their house, or she’ll be glad to set things up for you in the caves, whichever would be more convenient for you.”

  Theresa nodded. “We’ll probably just stay in the house then. It’ll be easier than carrying food down to the caves and cooking our own meals.”

  Kevin grinned. “I’m not sure I should mention this, but Sari wants the three of you to stay in the caves. I don’t think Ashni knows anything about it though.”

  “The three of us? You mean her, too?”

  Kevin nodded. “She walked outside with me right before I left and said it might be more convenient for ‘us’ to stay in the caves, near ‘our’ work. She sort of stressed the ‘us’ and ‘our’. I think she wants the two of you to herself.”

  “But where would she sleep? There aren’t any beds down there big enough for her.”

  “I imagine she already has that worked out in her head, but if you want to stay in the caves, we’ll need to give Ashni a little warning.”

  Theresa frowned. “I don’t want to put Ashni to any trouble, but if that’s what Sari wants … I don’t know what to do, Kevin.”

  “Do you want me to get Ashni off by herself, tell her what Sari said, and see what she wants to do?”

  “That’s a good idea,” Theresa said with a nod, “but tell her it makes no difference at all to me where we stay.”

  “When were you thinking of going?”

  “I was thinking along the lines of Thursday, but I can wait until next week if that would be better.”

  Kevin nodded. “Let me see what Ashni says. I’ll let you know.”

  “Okay. I’ll plan to come up here for dinner Tuesday night and say hello to everyone. You should know something by then. Now, I have to get going or we’re going to be really late getting unloaded. See you.”

  ~ ~ ~ ~

  Kevin didn’t get a chance to go upstairs to his room until nearly midnight that night. He closed all the glowstone cases and sank down on his couch in the dark to relax a little before getting ready for bed. He had almost dozed off when he heard a voice say, “Myron, we’d like to speak with you for a moment if you don’t mind.”

  He opened his eyes and looked around his room, half expecting to see the soft light that always surrounded the specter of his parents, but there was no light of any kind, soft or otherwise. Then it hit him that the voice he’d heard was King Merdin’s.

  Kevin sat up on the edge of the couch and said, “Of course, King Merdin.”

  King Merdin appeared in front of him, barely visible in the moonlight that filtered into the room. A few seconds later, Jaron and Dani appeared beside him.

  Kevin started to offer them a seat, but then he realized that he had nothing small enough for them to sit on.

  King Merdin smiled. “We wanted to demonstrate that we could infiltrate your castle, get into your chambers, and observe you without your knowledge.”

  “All right,” Kevin said slowly, puzzled.

  “Even with your magical skills, which are greater than any other human’s, you had no idea we were here,” King Merdin continued.

  Kevin nodded his head in agreement. Then after a moment he said, “You must have had a reason for this demonstration.”

  King Merdin smiled and nodded his head. “Eventually you’re going to narrow down your list of suspects and center on one person who you think is responsible for the break-in in Timera Valley and the murder of the sister from Glenco. At that point, you’re going to need to know for certain whether or not that person has the lamp and the pendant. And that’s where we come in.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “We can get into the castle and look around for you, and no one will have any idea we’re there.”

  “Do you have any idea how dangerous that would be? If you were caught …”

  King Merdin shook his head vigorously. “We would not get caught. How could we?”

  “What if you got too close? What if someone’s hand touched your cape? Or what if you were going through a door right as it was being shut? Any number of things could happen to tell someone that you were around. The sorcerer might not be able to see you, but he’d know where you were, and he’d kill you.”

  “The only humans who know that we can choose not to be seen are you, your assistant, Laryn, and Theresa. Hayley saw us come and go, but she just thinks her eyes were playing tricks on her. There’s no way any of the other so
rcerers would figure it out. The worst thing that could happen is that they’d think their castle had ghosts.”

  “Ghosts with a solid body?” Kevin shook his head. “Besides, how can you be so sure no other humans know about it?”

  “Because if they did, they would be out there trying to catch Alysian cats to get their hair, and if that were happening anywhere on Terah, I’d hear about it. For that matter, so would you. Besides, we’ll have Dani with us.”

  “Why?”

  “He’s a telepath. He can let us know when someone’s coming, who it is, whether there’s anyone on the other side of a door, things like that. And his claws are incredibly effective.”

  “But the whole idea is to get in and out without anyone knowing you were ever there. If Dani starts clawing people …”

  “His claws are good for that too, but I was referring to his ability to open things, including locked doors.”

  “It’s still too dangerous.”

  “We want to help,” King Merdin said. “Jaron volunteered to go in alone, but I don’t want to miss out on all the fun, and neither does Dani.”

  Kevin looked at King Merdin, over to Jaron, back to King Merdin, and then at Dani. All three nodded their heads. “When did you come up with this idea?”

  “We first talked about it before I took you to see Espen, but we didn’t mention it to you at that point for two reasons. First of all, we don’t want Theresa to know anything about it. She’d worry too much. And secondly, we needed to prove to you that we can do it, and we did, by getting past all of your guards and into your bedroom. And no, I didn’t use the key. I couldn’t have. I’ve never been here before. We used the key to get to the meadow, but as to the rest of it …” King Merdin shrugged. “I guess you could say we used our natural talents. Gnomes survive by being sneak thieves.”

  “Are you sure you want to do this?” Kevin asked, looking mostly at Jaron. “You could get killed.”