In Defence of the Crown (The Aielund Saga Book 2)

by Stephen L. Nowland

  He lay down in the water, almost completely submerging beneath the surface save for his face, and looked out past the staircase before him in breathless anticipation. A dark, draconic form leaped over the stairs, its shadow blotting out the light for a few moments as it lumbered past. Aiden managed to get a quick glimpse of the dragon as it dashed down the corridor. It was quite emaciated, and green in colour.

  Holding his breath, he lowered his face beneath the water to wait until it had passed him. Nearly a minute went by before he lifted his head to take in a fresh breath and saw two gigantic eyes peering through the gap in the stairs at him and a deafening bellow echoed off the walls accompanied by Aiden’s scream.

  *

  He jolted awake, gasping for breath and trying to untangle himself from his bedclothes. He sat up and looked around, noticing that it was daytime and that Pacian was staring at him from across the room with a dagger in his hand. He had clearly just awoken, and his look of terror was disconcerting to say the least.

  “What the hell are you screaming about?” Pacian asked, glancing around the room.

  “I… it was a dream,” Aiden stammered, still trying to shake the horrid feeling of being hunted.

  “More like a nightmare,” Pacian remarked, sheathing his dagger and taking a deep breath. “A really loud nightmare.” Aiden rubbed his face with his hands and then poured himself a glass of water from a pitcher with shaking hands. He had to assume that Salinder was trying to communicate with him, with clearly mixed results. Aiden briefly grasped the shard hanging around his neck and thought he could detect a little warmth, though it might have been his imagination.

  It was difficult to translate the imagery in the nightmare to anything specific, except for the palpable sense of urgency. He didn’t understand why he’d been told to speak with Desmond about contacting the dragon again, when the cranky bastard didn’t seem to have a clue what he was talking about. Aiden was beginning to feel the need to speak with Salinder again soon, and he would have to think of a way to make it happen, short of dying again.

  Looking out through the window, Aiden saw a blanket of white snow piling up on the streets, with more coming down from the slate-grey sky. The winds were strong and cold, and few people could be seen attempting to traverse the bleak streets below. It was a perfect day to rest and recuperate by the fire after their victory on the previous day, and judging by the blue and purple welts on Aiden’s body, he was in dire need of it.

  Dressing himself in several layers of clean clothes, Aiden made his way to the door and upon opening it had the idea that Sayana might have some insight into the strange nightmare he’d experienced last night.

  He decided it might not be prudent to mention the similar dream he’d had back on the Redoubtable, where Sayana had been stabbed by Pacian - that sort of thing might be a tad unsettling to hear about. Sayana and Maggie shared a room across the hall, so Aiden crept over and knocked softly to give the ladies fair warning of his impending entrance.

  “Sy, are you awake? I had the most bizarre nightmare last night that I -” Aiden said as he opened the door, but stopped abruptly in mid-sentence when he looked inside and saw Sayana still in bed, with Ronan in her arms. Both of them stared back at Aiden in surprise, and the whole moment seemed to freeze.

  “Can you give me a minute here mate?” Ronan asked, the first to regain his composure. “No, make it two - I have a reputation to maintain.”

  “Excuse me,” Aiden choked, emotions he didn’t know he had welling up and threatening to overwhelm him. He hastily closed the door and backed away with the feeling of a heavy weight upon his chest.

  “What’s going on out here?” Pacian asked, peering out of his room half-dressed.

  “Nothing,” Aiden muttered, and then turned and walked downstairs, wondering why he felt so betrayed when they hadn’t even technically been together. His head told him that Sayana was free to choose to live however and with whomever she wanted, but his heart was possessed of its own agenda.

  The common room of the Fair Maiden was packed this morning, and although Aiden wasn’t completely aware of the time of day, he knew the foul weather had something to do with it. Commoners and merchants alike sat at their tables with platters of hot food and drink, waiting out the storm in comfort and security. It was a scene that briefly reminded Aiden of the Bracksfordshire Arms Inn during the unnatural weather that had people crowding the common room, awaiting clearer skies.

  He didn’t see any of his companions at the tables nearby, so he picked one of the few empty seats over near the wall and sat down, oblivious to the relaxed and friendly atmosphere around him. He couldn’t tell if he was angry or disappointed over Sayana’s dalliance with Ronan, for he didn’t really feel anything at that moment. Only a subtle movement on the couch next to him caught his attention.

  “Where am I?” Maggie asked blearily, sitting upright and looking around as if in a daze. She still wore her gear and clothing from yesterday, and her messy hair indicated she had only just woken up.

  “You’re in the Fair Maiden,” Aiden informed her distantly. “Did you sleep…” his voice trailed off as he realised that she had been left down here last night when they had all gone to bed, and only now had the effects of the poison worn off.

  “Here? Apparently,” the raelani observed, rubbing her head ruefully. “Did we win?”

  “Yes.”

  “Then why do you look so upset?”

  “That’s a whole other thing,” Aiden replied absently, catching the attention of a busy serving girl to order his breakfast. Pacian arrived just as he finished ordering, so he added a few things to her list before sitting down at the table.

  “You’ll never guess who I saw in Sy’s bedroom just now,” he smirked, leaning forward and speaking quietly.

  “Ronan,” Aiden answered without hesitation.

  “No, it was Ronan - oh, right. So that’s what you saw earlier,” Pacian remarked, raising an eyebrow.

  “Don’t say it, I’m really not in the mood,” Aiden grumbled, aware that he sounded petulant but unable to stop the words coming out of his mouth. This was shaping up to be a very lousy day. Maggie shrewdly kept her silence, although she too had a face that was begging to ask questions.

  Aiden noticed Ronan, still getting dressed, making his way toward them through the crowd. This didn’t help Aiden’s current goal of erasing the image of him lying on top of Sayana from his mind.

  “Aiden, look, I didn’t know you and she were…” the sailor began hastily as he arrived at the table, awkwardly tucking in a loose shirt with his uninjured arm.

  “Don’t worry about it. I have a sneaking suspicion that we’re not together anymore.”

  “Ronan, I think you should go see a cleric or something,” Pacian remarked. “Sy seems to have infected you with ‘elf-ears’.” Aiden blinked at this and looked at the sides of Ronan’s uncovered head, noticing that his ears were slightly pointed at the back, much like Sayana’s.

  “Yeah, uh, that’s actually one of the reasons we hit it off so well,” Ronan explained, self-consciously covering his ears with his long hair. “We’re both orphaned half-elves who are also properly talented and sexy.”

  “It’s not a big deal really, there are plenty of us with beautiful ears like those,” Maggie added, pulling aside her grey-streaked auburn locks to reveal her own pointed ears. “In fact, when you get right down to it, humans and dwarves are the ones with the strange, non-pointed ears.”

  “She’s right, you lot are a bunch of freaks,” Ronan agreed laconically. “But seriously, you never said you two were an item Aiden, so really, you’ve only got yourself to blame.”

  “I don’t recall assigning blame to anyone for anything,” Aiden said quietly, noticing the serving girl arriving with their meal.

  “Right… well, I think I’ll leave you to eat your meal in peace. I need to get my blades repaired anyway - chipping away at that stone monster last night completely ruined the edges.”

&nb
sp; “You’re going out into that weather?” Pacian asked, picking up some hot-buttered bread from the tray that was placed before them.

  “Yeah it’s cold, but I feel a powerful need to be elsewhere right now,” Ronan replied, slightly ashamed. “I’ll be back soon and we’ll talk about our next move. Try not to bed any akoran women while I’m gone.” Aiden thought Pacian’s look of shock was very satisfying, and then focused on fetching a bowl of stew from the pot before him.

  “He’ll be okay with it soon, I’m sure,” Maggie said comfortingly after Ronan had left earshot.

  “Yes, I’m sure it’s been very hard on him,” Aiden grunted sarcastically. He instantly knew it was a petty thing to say, but he was having trouble controlling his tongue. “Sorry, I’m not in a very good mood.”

  “That’s hardly surprising since we’re all looking rather beaten up,” Maggie observed. “What happened to Nellise? I would have thought she’d have been healing you all by now.”

  “Her crystal was broken in the fight last night,” Pacian muttered, his brow furrowed by some drunken memories as he dipped his bread into the stew.

  “And she’s having a crisis of faith,” Aiden added, giving his friend a dark look.

  “Hey, don’t look at me like that,” Pace snapped, “I was just reminding her of the truth of the situation, and she backed down. I guess she’s not ready for doing what needs to be done.”

  “So you’re actually trying to turn her into you?” Maggie asked, distaste evident on her tiny features.

  “It’s for her own good,” Pace said with a shrug.

  “I’m too tired and sore to correct that statement,” Maggie sighed. “Listen, I don’t want to sound selfish, but I’m running out of time. I haven’t had any news from Amalis, and I have to assume my Order is still plotting to do something big in the near future. Your help would be greatly appreciated.”

  “I hear you and believe me, I want this whole situation cleaned up as soon as possible too,” Aiden assured her. “We’ve taken down an important part of their organisation, and I think we’re getting closer to putting a stop to it all so if you can hold on for a couple more days…”

  “It’s not me that has to hold on, Aiden,” she informed him. “Two more days is probably all the time I can afford to give. You gave me your word you would help me, so I expect you to follow through on it.”

  “I will,” Aiden said, aware that he was also sworn to help the Crown at this time as well.

  “Alright, I’m going to do some healing on us and then go and clean myself up. You two boys try to stay out of trouble, okay?” She pulled a crystal out of her pouch and proceeded to do just that, touching each of them on the shoulder briefly and leaving behind a tingling sensation spreading through their injuries. As she walked away, Aiden spied Nellise moving through the crowd towards the stairs.

  “You saw that too?” Pacian remarked, his eyes lingering on her distant figure.

  “Leave her alone, Pace,” Aiden advised. “If she wants to talk about it, I’m sure she’ll let us know.” Pacian shrugged and went back to his meal. After their second helping of the stew, Aiden spied Sayana coming down the stairs searching for someone. As soon as she spotted him, the wild girl started to move through the crowd towards their table.

  “Bugger this,” Aiden muttered, having no inclination to speak with her right now. He abruptly stood and decided this was a good time to have one last try at getting some information out of Desmond. He was still disturbed by the nightmare he’d had last night, the vivid imagery surely the work of his elusive dragon ally. The pressing urgency he’d felt in the dream was still present, gnawing away at his mind.

  “Can I borrow this?” Aiden asked, grabbing Pacian’s cloak from the back of his chair without waiting for an answer. He threw it around his shoulders as he headed towards the door, noticing Valennia approaching from across the room, still wearing his longcoat. “Not now,” Aiden told her as she seemed about to speak, moving past the surprised woman as he tried to lose Sayana.

  The cold weather hit him in the face like a block of ice, and he wrapped himself tightly in the borrowed cloak as he strode out into the bitter winds. It wasn’t far to the University tower from here, but a quick glance behind him showed that Sayana had not been dissuaded by the frigid conditions, for she was following him through the snow.

  Aiden managed to keep his distance from the persistent girl until he reached the tower a few minutes later, though pausing to open the large double-doors gave her the chance to catch up with him.

  “Couldn’t you hear me calling you?” she exclaimed, shaking from the cold as she stumbled inside the foyer right behind Aiden.

  “Was that you? I thought it was the wind,” he replied dryly. “You’re mad for being out in this weather without a coat, by the way.”

  “You didn’t give me much choice,” she protested. “I wanted to talk to you about this morning.”

  “Go ahead, I’m listening,” Aiden replied as he started walking across the large circular chamber to the stairwell. The metal guardian stood in the middle of the floor, passively keeping watch over the University.

  “I hadn’t meant for you to see that,” she told him quietly so that her voice wouldn’t carry in the stone chamber. “Please understand, I’m going through a difficult time here in the city. Ronan was there in my time of need, but before you say it, I hadn’t intended for things to go that far.”

  “He’s had his eye on you for a while now, did you know that?” Aiden asked, taking the spiral stairs up to Desmond’s laboratory.

  “Did he? I never noticed,” Sayana mused. “Anyway, I did not think it would bother you, for you have the interest of another woman.”

  “I do?” Aiden said, stopping on the stairs to look at her in confusion.

  “You are as blind as I was about Ronan it seems,” Sayana remarked.

  “What, Criosa?” Aiden asked incredulously. “She’s a princess Sy, and I know you don’t know much about royalty, but I’m sure her father has arranged for her to meet another noble somewhere. It’s the way things are done in civilised society, and a country boy such as myself isn’t part of that picture. Now if you’ll excuse me, Desmond and I are about to have a very interesting conversation.”

  “You’re trying to talk to that old buffoon again?” Sayana asked as Aiden continued up the stairs. He didn’t bother to answer, for he still felt betrayed by her and whether or not his feelings were justified, they were still distorting his thoughts on the matter.

  Upon reaching the laboratory Aiden opened the door and walked right in without knocking, his mood black and his patience already wearing thin. The lab was much the same as when he had last seen it. At the table sat the cranky wizard, who was looking up at Aiden with an imperious gaze.

  “What in blazes do you think you’re doing, barging in here like a madman?” he thundered, standing up and grasping a staff that leaned against his desk.

  “I have it on good authority that you know what I’m talking about when I say the word ‘Salinder’ to you,” Aiden answered in a measured voice. “If you give me some nonsense about a wood plane or some other tool I’ll knock you on your backside.” He pulled the shard of crystal that hung around his neck out for the wizard to see, holding it so the light caught the smooth surface. “Do you know what this is?”

  “A piece of glass… that carries with it a miniscule aura of power,” Desmond replied, his curiosity replacing his outrage. “From the shape of it, I could easily assume that it used to be part of something larger. What has this to do with anything?”

  “There is a dragon of gold in the Aether that communicates to me through my dreams, using this,” Aiden explained bluntly. “It used to be a ball of crystal, but I broke it a few years ago. Salinder has one of these, and speaks to me through it, but in a garbled, disjointed fashion. I am told you have the means to communicate with the dragon and if you are able to, I would request you do so, right now.”

  With a flick of his st
aff, Desmond caused the door Aiden had walked through to swing shut, leaving a startled looking Sayana on the other side as the bolt slid across to lock it in place.

  “My dear Mister Wainwright, I do owe you an apology,” Desmond explained. “Please understand that the King had sworn me to secrecy on this matter, and had you been this forthcoming on our previous meetings, we could have forgone the substantial waste of time that ensued.”

  “Then you do know what I’m talking about?” Aiden asked, relieved to finally have the truth out of the wily old man.

  “Yes yes, I’m not a complete nincompoop,” he gruffly answered, returning to form. “I must confess that I did have a good laugh about the bevelling plane quip afterwards though. I’m quite the cut-up around here, you know.”

  “So the King knows about Salinder as well?” Aiden asked impatiently, not finding this area of discussion as amusing as the old wizard.

  “Indeed he does, Mister Wainwright. This surprises you?”

  “I’d like to know more about all that, if you don’t mind,” Aiden said evenly.

  “I do mind, I mind very much,” Desmond retorted. “I only tell you what I have because it is clear you have some knowledge about this affair, but that does not entitle me to break my oath to His Majesty. Clearly you have a connection to this entire matter, and I will discover what that is by going directly to the source. Now, let’s set up, shall we?”

  Desmond turned and walked across the room, heading to a large piece of cloth draped over a large something. He pulled back the fabric and revealed a metal cylinder over two yards in height, with small pipes snaking around its base and a glass-like tube running down the middle. Aiden’s breath caught as he realised he was looking at a duplicate of the cylinder he’d seen back in Bracksford.

  “Please refrain from touching this device, as it is a rather unstable contraption that predates the formation of our Kingdom,” Desmond advised, removing another cloth from a nearby table and uncovering several curious instruments.