The Servant Crown: Ice Dragon Tales, #3

by Hurri Cosmo

  Tama arrived within sight of the Blade Rain Castle late that afternoon. Since he had never been to his own kingdom’s castle, he had never seen one, and he was very impressed with this one. He had started to see the tall towers although still mainly obscured by forest, Tama knew he would be awestruck as soon as he was able to view the entire structure. And he was. Massive and solid, the front gates soared into the sky. Made of beautiful stone, it was a fitting entrance onto the grounds of the castle itself.

  For at least an hour prior to arriving at the opening, Tama had been riding through organized territory, offering many things to the traveler. There were inns and shops and fortunetellers all along the widening path. But he now looked beyond the gates in amazement as he stared at the bustling activity of more people milling about in one place than he had seen in his entire life. Suddenly nervous about entering into such chaos, Tama slipped from the horse’s saddle and walked beside Efrin.

  “So, this is where you live?” he whispered to the horse. Efrin whinnied, as if she understood the question and was answering it. Tama laughed.

  As he neared the entrance, he slowed. He had never been to a castle before, so did not know what to expect. Even though he could only now see the tall spires of the castle itself, the massive structure was all the way on the back wall and obscured by the shops and eateries, the commotion on the inside of those walls seemed all business. Would there be payment due here as well? He was glad he had decided to walk beside the horse. He knew he would be less intimidating. Less noticeable. However, glancing to either side as he walked, he discerned no one standing in attendance or stopping people as they entered or left. So, he slipped through, no one even detecting him at all.

  But now the problem was, where did he go? All the way back to the castle? Would a soldier keep his horse in the castle stable? He kept walking, navigating the horde of people. It was still mid to late afternoon so he supposed the bustle would go on for some time yet. He pulled the horse to the center of the road, noting that others had done the same. Except, unlike the others, Tama decided to mount up again. He thought the horse probably knew exactly where to go.

  “Where do we go from here, Efrin? Do you know the way home?” Tama gave the horse full rein. Sure enough, the horse raised her head and started to trot. “Smart horse.” Tama petted Efrin’s neck. “I just hope you know what you’re doing,” he muttered. There was no guarantee, just because the horse was moving with some purpose, that she knew where it was Tama wanted her to go.

  It took a while to trudge all the way to the back wall where the main castle stood. But prior to ever getting there, Efrin veered off to the left and followed a well-worn path toward another outbuilding, this one also quite large in structure. Tama immediately recognized it as a place for animals, people coming and going with all manner of animal-related business. Some carting wheelbarrows full of hay or manure, others bringing horses in, others, out. Some sweeping and cleaning. It reminded him of Mr. Olsen’s feed store back in Elven Port, only much, much larger.

  Tama had never seen a barn this size. Or as many horses in his life either. He dismounted and pulled on Efrin’s reins, walking forward toward the only person he could see and called out.

  “Hey there. I have Efrin, the soldier Stomund’s horse. I was supposed to bring her here to you.”

  The man turned around and immediately Tama smiled. He wasn’t a man at all. He was only a boy. “Stomund? You mean the Commander? How is it you have his horse?”

  Tama chuckled a little. The boy was trying his best to be imposing. “He gave her into my care so that I could bring her here. You are?”

  The lad puffed out his chest as he took the reins from Tama. “I am Kane, son of Makel, the barn manager.”

  “Well, Kane, I am called Tama. I am from Claymoor Doom.”

  “Claymoor Doom? You have traveled far!”

  “No, not that far. I live only a few days’ ride from here.”

  “That is still a long way. Why are you here?”

  Tama sighed. “I am looking for someone. Perhaps you have seen him. He is my father. He goes by the name of Beourn, and he has a small child with him. Have you seen him?”

  Kane’s eyes widened. “Yes. Yesterday, in fact. Come!” The boy quickly walked to a paddock and pointed into the interior. “This is the horse he came in on. Do you recognize this animal?”

  Tama did indeed. “Yes. His name is Rego.” The horse nickered and pushed his way into Tama’s hand. “Hello, Rego. Have you rested from your journey?”

  “He knows you.”

  “Of course. We grew up together.”

  “He has been here since yesterday and has only taken water. He even refused oats. Perhaps he will eat for you?”

  “Oh Rego. Are you giving these fine folks trouble?” He looked down at the lad “Yes. Rego will take food from my hand. Where is the man and child who rode him here?”

  “I do not know. I was only told to care for the horse.” The boy hurried toward an open door into a room, most likely where the feed was kept, and came back out with a portion of hay. Handing the leaf to Tama, he said, “He is pretty stubborn.”

  Tama took the leaf and handed it to Rego. “Come on, old man. You have caregivers who want to feed you good things. The same as me, I know you are not used to it. But you will like it.” Rego sniffed at the offering, huffed at Tama, then took the hay from Tama’s hand. Tama next took hold of Kane’s hand and held it out for Rego to sniff. “This is a good man, Rego. You can take food from him. Please eat well.”

  “Thank you, Tama.” Kane, blushing and smiling, petted Rego’s side as he ate.

  “Kane, can you tell me where I can find the entrance to the castle?”

  “Sure. But if you’re looking for an audience with the king, he’s not in residence right now.”

  “Yes, I’ve been told. Where would one go to wait for his return?”

  The lad shrugged. “I’m not sure. There are several inns in the area. Do you want me to show you to one?”

  “Inns?” Tama sighed. “How many are there?”

  “I don’t know. I’ve never had the need to count them.”

  “Which one is the cheapest?”

  Kane laughed. “That would be the Harpy’s Inn. It’s an ale house that rents rooms. If you want to call them that. Are you short on coin?”

  “Actually, I believe that would be where my father is staying while he awaits the king’s return.”

  “Ahhh. Then let me take you there.”

  “You are too kind. I know you have work here. Just give me directions and I think I can find it on my own?”

  The lad gave Tama explicit directions, and after saying goodbye to Rego, he headed back out.

  He reached the area Kane had told him to go, and there stood the Harpy’s Inn. Even in the late afternoon sunlight, the place looked dark and dingy. Simply a wooden wall with a thick wooden door the only opening. If it had not been for the sign nailed above that door in hand-painted letters, there would have been no indication the inn was even there. It looked busy, though, people coming and going at this hour. He walked up to the door and reached down for the handle, and it suddenly opened again, two men hurrying out, nearly toppling Tama in their haste.

  “Watch out!” Tama shouted. One of the men, who was carrying a bundle of some sort, looked back, but that was the extent of it. There was no apology or even an acknowledgement that Tama had been standing there at all. He huffed at the two who were quickly disappearing down the lane. They turned the same corner Tama had just come from, possibly heading for the castle, and were gone. Tama shook his head at such amazing rudeness and stepped into the darkened room.

  Once his eyes grew used to the dim atmosphere, he saw men and women in every state of sobriety and dress. Loud laughter, a couple of arguments, people eating, Tama was shocked to even see a lady bent over a table, her large skirts pushed up over her head, legs spread, as a man, a bottle of whiskey in one hand, his other holding the woman’s back, went at her
from behind. Somehow, he was doing it without even lowering his pants.

  Tama shuddered, quickly turning his gaze toward the bar, mentally shaking himself as he tried to rid that image from his mind, but it was no use. He could still hear the pounding and the grunting and the disgusting sighs and moans. Still, he forced his attention on the front of the room. It had to be where he would go for information on who was staying in this fine establishment.

  He made his way to the bar, knowing even before he arrived anywhere near it, it would be nearly impossible to gain the attention of the only man standing behind it.

  “Sir?” he tried to shout above the noise. “Sir, could you help me?”

  The man never even looked in Tama’s direction. He was far too busy filling mugs with what Tama assumed was ale and grabbing coin off the bar before other greedy fingers did. Tama, frustrated, groaned.

  “What kind a help you need?”

  The voice came from behind him, and Tama turned to see a large man leaning against a table, his meaty arms crossed in front of him. He was not only large but tall. His brown hair was long and hung down over a handsome face that looked like it hadn’t been shaved in several days. His eyes were dark and deep set. If vampires existed, this would be what they looked like.

  “I…I was looking for a man who I thought might be staying here. He…was traveling with a small child.”

  “Older man?”

  “Yes! He is my father.”

  “I saw him. Just a while ago.”

  “Really? Where? Can you tell me?” Tama’s heart jumped.

  The man pushed himself off the table and took a step toward Tama. Tama took a half step back, the bar preventing him from much more than that. “Well, now, that depends on what you can offer me.” He looked Tama up and down and smiled. “You can be creative.”

  “I don’t know what you mean. I don’t have coin or anything else for that matter.”

  “Oh, I think you could come up with something to pay me for such valuable information.” The man leaned down and licked Tama’s neck. “Mmmm, you taste delicious.”

  Tama jerked back and looked up into eyes nearly on fire. When the man smiled, his teeth were sharp and appeared to be rotten.

  Oh, God, it really was a vampire.

  “Drek! Go back to the bogs. You’ve devoured enough of my customers today. No one wants to deal with you.”

  Devoured? Devoured? Tama glanced back to the man he had first glimpsed from behind the bar, but the larger man in front of him gained his full attention right back with a firm hand under Tama’s chin. He pulled until Tama was staring up into his face.

  “Leave me be, Genson. This one is mine. I saw him first.”

  “Genson” must not have liked that because the next thing Tama knew, Genson was beside him and pushing Drek back. Had he leaped over the bar? And how was he able to manhandle that big of a man so easily? But Tama was relieved when the bigger man gave way with a snarl.

  “That ain’t fair! I toad ya I saw him first.”

  Genson ignored him and turned toward Tama. “What is it you were looking for? Did I hear you asking about an old man and a baby?”

  “Yes! Oh yes, my father and my…baby.”

  “Your baby? You’ve hardly stopped being a baby yourself.”

  “Please! Can you tell me?”

  “Fine. They’re staying here. The room at the top of the stairs. Number four.” He started to walk away but was suddenly back in Tama’s face. “I want no trouble here. You give me any trouble, and I’ll hand you back to Drek. He’ll eat you for breakfast, throw you right back up, and eat you again. You understand me?”

  Tama glanced back at Drek, who once again showed him his rotted smile, and turned quickly back to Genson. “No! No trouble.” Tama shivered. “No trouble at all. I promise.”

  Genson nodded and returned to his customers. Tama looked toward the stairs and literally ran across the room to get to them. He really didn’t think Drek would be after him since he seemed to have picked another target, but the sooner he could leave this room, the better.

  At the top of the stairs, a hallway ran both left and right. Unsure of which way to go, he studied the doors, first to his right. Wooden, thick, and heavy, Tama chuckled to himself. There were no numbers on the doors like he had expected to find. Instead, someone had taken a blade and carved deep lines in the wood to mark each room.

  Tama walked down the hallway to the door with four long scratches, looking more like claw marks than an indicator that this was room four, and raised his hand to knock. He could hardly wait to see the look on his father’s face when he saw his son standing on the threshold. It was going to be total amazement. Oh yes, his father was going to be very surprised Tama had been able to not only follow him despite all the obstacles, but find him as well.

  Except the door was already slightly open. Tama pushed on it and it opened farther, revealing a room that looked like it had been plundered. The bed, which took up a good portion of the room, appeared to have been more than just slept in. The covers were laying every which way, only one pillow in sight. A tattered stuffed chair was tipped to its side off to the right and the remnants of a lamp lay scattered on the floor. There was a man Tama didn’t recognize lying on the floor at the foot of the bed and another lying on the other side of the bed, only one foot visible. Tama heard a moan coming from whoever it was he couldn’t see.

  But he didn’t need to see to know who it was.

  He rushed into the room and around the bed and sure enough, it was Beourn.

  “Father!” Tama fell to his knees and began examining Beourn, trying to see where his wounds were. “Are you hurt? Where is Aydin?” He would have seen the child if he were there. Had his father left the child at the castle?

  “They took him,” Beourn moaned.

  “Who took him, father?” Took him? Who took him? Oh, God, took him. Stay calm. “Who took him, father?” Tama saw blood soaking the side of his father’s coat. He pulled it aside to reveal a bleeding wound. Inspecting it, Tama concluded it wasn’t life-threatening.

  “Oh Tama, I should have let you do this. I’m an old man.”

  “Father! Who took Aydin?” Further inspection revealed no other wounds. His father would be fine. Not that Tama cared.

  “Those guards. You must have seen them. They just left.”

  Guards? Of course! The two who nearly toppled Tama on his way into this place. The bundle they were carrying had been Aydin! Damn it! Tama had been so close. He scrambled back to his feet, but his father reached out and took a hold of his arm.

  “Tama, please. Help me.”

  “There’s nothing wrong with you, father. You need to help yourself. I need to go after Aydin.”

  Tama crouched near the man who was lying at the foot of the bed. “Was this man with those other two?” he asked Beourn. All he received was a moan as his father tried to regain his feet. Interestingly, this man did appear to be wearing a uniform. In his mind’s eye, those other two were dressed the same. A castle guard? Except, these were not the right colors for Blade Rain. He saw that himself with Stomund and his men. However, this was definitely some sort of official uniform. Even so, it gave him a place to start his search. “I’ll send someone up for you, father.”

  He heard a grunt as he ran out of the room. He would go to the castle. That had to be where those other two were headed. They were running the same way Tama had come from and would be going in the opposite direction if they were headed out of the walls of Blade Rain. He stopped at the bar and told the man that his father was upstairs and needed help, then made his way back out the front door.

  Hurrying to the castle again, he wondered why Aydin had been kidnapped. Who would do such a thing? Certainly, the only one who would be interested in Aydin would be the king, and he was not yet back. But would be soon.

  There, finally, the castle’s front steps.

  But there was a carriage out front this time and a beautiful lady dressed in finery Tama had never seen
before climbing aboard. Tama slowed and finally stopped at the corner of a wall, putting his hands on his knees in an effort to catch his breath. The wall hid him from anyone in the courtyard, should they look in his direction. Chances were good, though, unless he created some kind of commotion, they wouldn’t.

  Observing, he watched as the lady seemed to be arguing with a large man, very obviously a villager, even a peasant by the look of his attire, who was standing near the carriage and flailing his arms at her. How odd. The carriage she sat in was beautiful as well, lavish and ornate. Couple that with the woman’s state of dress, she had to be a noble, perhaps even a princess. So, to allow some peasant to be that close to such an affluent woman and tolerate him shouting at her besides, was very strange.

  Unfortunately, Tama could not make out many of the words, but it seemed the man was pleading with her, perhaps to come with him. Since the noble woman was facing away from Tama and had already climbed into the carriage, Tama could not see her reaction to whatever it was the big man was imploring for. But he did note one of the soldiers step closer, as if to remind the peasant, the lady would be protected.

  Another man, the same one who had been hurrying away with Aydin at the inn, pushed the big man aside and was now standing next to the carriage. Tama recognized the bundle he was handing over to the lady. Aydin! The lady took the bundle, then put a hand out to the big man still standing outside the carriage. He stepped forward and took the hand making as if he were going to kiss it. But she must have said something that made the man angry again because he pulled back away from her, letting go the hand as if she had burned him. The soldier who had taken Aydin climbed in the carriage then, too, and closed the door. Apparently, the conversation was over.

  As much as he wanted to rush in and grab Aydin away from them, he couldn’t. The coach was surrounded by men on horseback, all dressed in that same oddly colored uniform. There were six of them and only one of Tama. Even if the big man helped him, they were greatly outnumbered and he would simply end up dead for such efforts. Was the lady that princess from Thunder Wolf Kingdom Stomund was talking about, and these were her guards? Who was the peasant who had been permitted to argue with her? And what in the world would she want with Aydin?