They continued down the long tunnel for a while in silence. The presence of Iarrdek made them loath to speak of their mission, and no one could think of anything else appropriate to say. They were also very aware that they were being constantly watched. The tunnels suddenly seemed full of unseen eyes. It made the younger travelers a little jumpy, knowing that there were many invisible, intelligent creatures watching them as they walked through the long tunnels. Kamarie felt as though she were trespassing on forbidden ground. Oraeyn was growing restless and defensive, almost wishing that one of the creatures would try something; he was ready for a good fight. He was tired of this endless journey through the caves and tunnels and yearned to see the light of day once more. Yole was growing more nervous by the second; he could feel the tensions in the air and was worried that something would happen. Brant and Dylanna, however, seemed unperturbed by their surroundings and walked easily and comfortably behind their guide.
The gryphon turned into a cave to the right, leaving the straight path that they had been following. The new tunnel was probably considered a curving, twisting, winding path, but to the five humans it was too large for them to be able to tell the difference from the last tunnel that they had been in. Now the gryphon began to take more turns into new tunnels and he took them past and through some very large caves.
This maze must really be as large as all of Aom-igh itself, Kamarie thought to herself, supposedly many creatures live down here, but they sure are good at keeping themselves hidden. I cannot believe that all of this is down here and nobody knows about it up in Aom-igh. I bet even father does not know about this maze.
Most of the others were thinking much the same thing, and it would have been easy to believe that they were really the only living beings in the tunnels had it not been for the feel of the unseen forbidding eyes that watched them from the shadows. The sense of hostility was so thick Oraeyn felt like he was making his way through spider webs, it was there and tangible, but he could not see or fight it.
“Sure is a long way for being not far,” Oraeyn grumbled only loud enough for Kamarie to hear.
“Apparently ‘not far’ is a lot farther than you might think,” Kamarie shot back with a quiet laugh.
Brant overheard and smiled to himself, sure that his idea of “not far” would not suit Oraeyn or Kamarie either. He kept his amusement to himself, not adding anything to their conversation. Silence weighed heavily upon them once more, the gryphon’s paws and their soft-soled leather boots made very little sound at all on the smooth rock floor.
“Wait-t here,” Iarrdek said, stopping abruptly in front of a huge, dark portal. “I must-t announce you.”
The gryphon disappeared while the travelers waited, shifting a little nervously. That is to say, Oraeyn, Kamarie, and Yole shifted about in nervous anticipation; Brant and Dylanna stood still and quiet. Brant was standing within a shadow and had his arms folded, so motionless that it would have been very easy to miss him unless one looked closely. His face was hard and unreadable. His muscles were tense and although he looked relaxed, he also gave the impression that he would be able to spring into action at a split-second’s notice. Oraeyn wondered if the man was truly as comfortable as he seemed or if he was just very good at hiding his own restlessness.
Dylanna, on the other hand, would not have been easy to overlook. She stood very tall in the brightest part of the tunnel, her head erect and proud. She was surrounded by a dim glow of white light from the Ember Stones. Outlined in the eerie light, she looked every bit the daughter of Scelwhyn, favored friend of the dragons.
❖ ❖ ❖
At the same time that the travelers were following Iarrdek through the tunnels of Krayghentaliss, a squire was racing into the royal library in a breathless state of excitement and fear. He skidded to a halt, remembering his manners almost a fraction of a second too late, and bowed.
“Your Majesty.”
“What is it?” King Arnaud asked wearily; he had been up all night studying as many of the manuscripts and history books that he could find on the historical war between Aom-igh and the Dark Country.
“There are ships coming from the south-east, bearing the markings of Iolanver,” the squire said, “we cannot tell if they are friend or foe, they are several hours away yet, but Garen sent me to inform you, your Majesty.”
Arnaud straightened. Iolanver was one of the barrier islands, and therefore subject to the rule of Prince Elroy. “Show me.”
They hurried to the tower where they could observe the approaching ships. When Arnaud reached the top, a guard on duty turned at his approach and bowed.
“Your Majesty,” he began.
That had been hard to get used to, and still was difficult to accept, the whole “Your Majesty” business. Growing up as a commoner, people had names not titles. He had wanted to issue a decree eliminating these ridiculous formalities, but the idea had not been well received, especially by those who preferred to keep their own titles. He resigned himself to this lost hope. He pulled his train of thought back to the present, focusing on what the guard was telling him.
“We just spotted them through the lens a few minutes ago. The sails bear the seal of Iolanver, Your Majesty.”
There it was again, the title that granted him the respect due a king, and yet it placed an insurmountable barrier between him and his people. Arnaud shook his head; now was not the time to be thinking about trivial details like that, especially ones he could not change.
Arnaud took the lens and saw the standard on the sails. He straightened. “Keep an eye on them. They may be here on Elroy’s business, or they may be refugees trying to defect from Elroy’s rule. Either way, we cannot be too careful. Send a ship and learn their business. Treat them as dangerous until we know otherwise.”
“I hear and obey, Majesty,” the guard clapped his fist to his heart.
Arnaud winced at the salute as much as at the title. He knew they were intended as symbols of respect, but he still found himself wishing that the barrier between ruler and subject were not quite so large. He descended from the tower back into the main part of the palace. As he walked past Zara, she read his face easily and reached out to put her hand on his shoulder.
“The throne of the king is sometimes a lonely spot to be,” she said in a quiet, soothing tone, her eyes full of compassion and understanding.
“It’s silly of me to be dwelling on such little matters when the whole of Aom-igh is at risk,” Arnaud sighed. “I know. Especially now, I thought I had gotten used to it years ago. But still it weighs on me, now more than ever. The courtiers are always putting on a show to impress me, trying to gain influence and power. The knights are real enough, but I can never quite get past the bowing and ‘your majesty-ing’ to really talk to them or get to know them, and I think that the honest, hardworking farmers almost fear me. I am tired, Zara, tired of the weight of this crown, tired of the loneliness of the throne. I want to have a real conversation about weather and crops and the land without being looked at in cautious trust. I want to shake a man’s hand and not have him wondering what I am going to punish him for. I have tried to be a good ruler, and I am going to see this war through; I will stay on the throne for as long as Aom-igh needs me, but I cannot help hoping that somehow Aom-igh will not need me for much longer.”
Zara looked at him with a look of pure understanding on her face. “No country needs a great ruler. It needs a good ruler. One who inspires his people to greatness, and that is what you have done for the people of Aom-igh. You have paved the road and made the path much easier for your successor.”
Arnaud smiled at her. “You always know what to say,” he said fondly.
She laughed a little at that, and then turned serious. “Have you found anything more in the library?”
“Yes, I have,” Arnaud turned his attention to business, blocking out all the other minor irritations, “and there are ships from Iolanver heading this way. I have sent a restriction ship to le
arn their business and instructed the men to regard them as a threat.”
Zara nodded, her face grave. Then she sighed. “Everything is upside down from how it should be. Those ships should be our allies, and here we are preparing to receive them as spies or a trap. The man who sought to court our daughter has declared war upon us and our daughter...” she stopped, biting her lip.
“They will find the dragons,” Arnaud said, picking up on her mood change, although he did not feel certain of this himself, “and they will come back to us.”
Zara smiled wearily. “I know, deep in my heart I know that, but it is hard to keep my fears from rising. Can one be full of hope and full of dread at the same time?”
Arnaud nodded quietly. “Yes, I believe that is more common than being entirely full of one or the other.”
Zara smiled again, but she could not find any words, her heart was too full. There was a mixture of sorrow and hope shining in her deep blue eyes.
❖ ❖ ❖
Prince Elroy stood on his shoreline looking towards Aom-igh. He thought about the invasion plans made known to him earlier that morning. Llycaelon, the Dark Country, did indeed have only a small number of ships. They were not a trading or sea-faring people, though apparently that policy was changing. For reasons unknown, Llycaelon was bringing war to Aom-igh and they had recruited the services of Prince Elroy and his island nation, Roalthae, as a staging point from which to attack. There were many reasons this alliance was beneficial to Llcyaelon, and Elroy thought it a marvelous plan.
It was an even better plan, in Prince Elroy’s opinion, since he did not have to put his own men in danger. The warriors of Llycaelon had made no attempt to hide their disdain when he had offered his knights to the cause. They simply and firmly informed him that they had no need of his assistance, other than the use of his island and ships from which to launch their attack.
Elroy did not understand why King Seamas was so intent on conquering Aom-igh. The Dark Warrior, or rather “aethalon,” which is the correct term for warriors from Llycaelon, who stood at his side and passed him information from King Seamas had told him very little. As far as Prince Elroy had been able to surmise, the King of Llycaelon believed that Aom-igh had either stolen something or was harboring a criminal or traitor and King Seamas wanted it, him, or both returned. Elroy did not care about the motivations, all he knew was that King Seamas had no interest in ruling Aom-igh once he had retrieved the item or person he had lost. Prince Elroy had been promised the throne and wealth of Aom-igh in return for his allegiance. True, he could gain the throne through marriage to Princess Kamarie, but Llycaelon offered him the chance to seize power now, power that would not be shared. That thought appealed greatly to Prince Elroy.
Tobias, the aethalon assigned to watch over Prince Elroy, knew the ambitions swirling in the thoughts of this foolish young lord. He also knew that King Seamas had no intention of ruling Aom-igh once he achieved his own purpose. Promising the Kingship to the young prince cost him nothing. Tobias hunched his shoulders and an expression of misery haunted his face. He was among the few who really knew what King Seamas was seeking. Why was Seamas convinced that his treasure or prey was in Aom-igh? Who else could have known? Not for the first time, Tobias wondered how much the king truly knew and how much he guessed. At great peril to himself, Tobias had kept the truth from Seamas for nearly thirty years, and the king could not have failed to notice that his most trusted advisor and friend had somehow either been tricked or had been lying throughout time. Perhaps that was why he had been assigned to watch over Prince Elroy, far away from Llycaelon and his own people where he might have offered opposing counsel to this unprovoked invasion. Would his advice have made any difference with the King? Seamas had slowly surrounded himself with men who sought their own purposes, not the interests of Llycaelon, men of political ambition and false flattery who would not hesitate to twist the King’s thoughts to their own advantage. Undoubtedly it was they who had convinced Seamas that Tobias was needed at Prince Elroy’s side in far-distant Roalthae. Tobias shuddered. He had been trying to ignore it for years now, but he now knew, too late, that his king’s sorrow, grief, and doubt had crossed over into madness. And now, when his king needed his advice and direction the most, Tobias had been sentenced to Roalthae, leaving Seamas at the mercy of these unscrupulous advisors. A sudden fear clutched Tobias by the heart. Perhaps... perhaps the king had not discovered his treachery on his own. In his unstable state, how could he? But the three men closest to him these days, they had resources, they had ambition, and they had no qualms in using the king’s grief and jealousy to further their own ends. What if they had somehow discovered the secret Tobias kept from his King? What if they had told the king, playing on his madness, playing on the rage that would come in response to this new information? Not only had he been removed as chief advisor to the king, was he now to be portrayed as a traitor in order to justify this pointless and dishonorable war? Tobias hoped against this thought, but a voice in his heart whispered that it was so.
❖ ❖ ❖
Iarrdek reappeared after a few minutes and stood before them. His tail was flicking back and forth like a cat’s but he was otherwise rigidly still.
“Rhendak will ssee you now,” the gryphon hissed.
Slowly, cautiously, the five of them walked through the entrance of the cave in front of them. Upon entering the cave, they were suddenly bombarded with light. They stood, blinking and raising their hands to shield their eyes. Even with their eyes covered, for a few moments it was very difficult to open their eyes for more than a second or two at a time. As their eyes adjusted and the five travelers were able to see again, they began to gaze about them in openmouthed wonder at their surroundings. Even Brant seemed to be a little taken by surprise, although he concealed it very well. The scene that met their eyes was spectacular.
This Great Hall was linear in shape, rather than curved, and its immenseness dwarfed any other space they had ever seen, above or below ground. The walls of this room were covered in countless golden Ember Stones, the most rare and precious of all jewels. In every corner was a huge, blazing fire that only multiplied the blinding light contained in the Great Hall. Perhaps not as bright as the Dragon’s Eye, Kamarie thought, but certainly taking second place to nothing else.
Yole tugged on Kamarie’s sleeve, and when she looked down at him to see what it was that he wanted, he could do nothing more than stare wordlessly at the sight in front of them. His eyes were large and round and glowed with fear. Kamarie followed his gaze with her eyes, and suddenly she felt as overawed as Yole looked.
Standing like sentries in two rows in front of them were giant creatures that could only be dragons. Though Brant had given them a brief description of what dragons looked like, his description fell far short of reality. These beasts were huge, far bigger than even Yole had expected, and he had expected them to be pretty big. They had powerful jaws and rows of golden, gleaming, sharp teeth. Their scaled shoulders and legs were well muscled and strong. Their scales were all different colors, but most of the dragons were red or gold. Some of the dragons, however, were different shades of green or silver and a very few even had a blueish tinge to their scales. They had large feet that arched up a little bit because of their long, strong claws which ended in slightly curved talons that were masterfully designed for slashing and tearing apart enemy or prey. Folded along their backs were large, powerfully built, leathery, wings of shining silver or bronze, varying with the color of each dragon.
Unsure as to what was expected, the travelers followed Dylanna’s lead and walked past the rows of dragons. Awaiting them at the end of this gauntlet was Rhendak, King of the dragons. This dragon had to be the king. He was huge, larger than any other creature they had ever seen, with silvery green scales and silver wings. Hot steam surrounded him as he stared at them with unblinking, golden glowing eyes.
“Iarrdek told me of you,” the booming voice erupting from Rhendak shook them as the so
und echoed around the hall, reverberating off the walls and emblazoning the corner fires. “I want to hear your story from your mouths.”
“King of the dragons, we salute you,” Dylanna said smoothly, standing in front of the others.
She bowed, and her companions obediently followed suit.
“I am Dylanna, second-daughter of Scelwhyn,” she said, and then motioned for the rest of them to introduce themselves.
“I am Princess Kamarie, daughter of King Arnaud and Queen Zara…uh, granddaughter of Scelwhyn,” Kamarie stumbled through, adding the part about Scelwhyn because she really did not know what else to say.
“I am Oraeyn, knight of the realm,” Oraeyn stretched the truth a bit, but he did not know what else to say either, and it seemed to be a good thing to add a title. Perhaps dragons respect titles, he thought.
“I am Yole, an orphan, and companion to these good people,” Yole did not know where that had come from, but just saying his name seemed boring after the other introductions.
“I am Brant,” Brant said simply.
The Dragon eyed each one of them carefully, and there was a sharp intake of breath when Brant introduced himself, then he spoke, “Some of your names are familiar to me. Iarrdek said that you claimed to be friends and that you had a message to deliver to none but me. I would hear that message now.”
“Aom-igh is in danger,” Kamarie said, speaking up before anyone else could. She was a princess after all, and it was her father’s kingdom; she might as well be the one to explain. She took a deep breath and continued, “The Dark Country is once again threatening our existence. Roalthae has joined forces with the Dark Warriors and the status of our allies is uncertain. We are preparing for the worst, which is why we have come to you.”
“Why come to usss? Let the humansss take care of themselves,” the whisper did not come from Rhendak; it came from the sentries.
King's Warrior (The Minstrel's Song Book 1) Page 16