Kingdom of Dragons

by Anna St George

  “Of course,” said Sir Albert as he turned his horse. “But we best be moving before that cloud there catches us.” Sir Gregory looked upward momentarily and urged his horse onward to catch up to the seasoned knight. It would be an interesting journey.

  Chapter Nine

  Dragon’s Gate

  I wooed thee with my sword

  And won thy love doing thee injuries"

  (from the story of Hippolyta the Amazon Queen).

  As the seven faithful knights of King Edward made their way across England to every town and village, leaving posters and banners announcing the return of the King, Sir Simon Pagett carefully made his way to the great hall at Dragon’s Gate in the South East. He hated going to Dragon’s Gate as it was situated near the sea atop the bellowing cliffs. It had been built in Anglo Saxon times and was a very cold bleak place and Pagett wondered how anyone could dwell in such a place with very little light or warmth. His horse made its way carefully up a stony winding path along the coast in the direction of the Bellowing cliffs and he grinned at a signpost as he rode past. It had been named so for the fact that in stormy weather as the ocean roared up against its towering walls it sounded like a woman bellowing. That was what Pagett believed anyway but others would say it was a warning to turn back from the Dragon’s Gate for once you were caught in its grip there was no escape. Had Pagett been aware of this fact several years before he might not have ventured on this road, he might not have sought the Duke’s help, but he did, and the past is gone and no turning back.

  Once he reached the top he glanced back momentarily and cringed It was a narrow piece of road and a long way down and he watched as a stone fell over the side and he waited and listened and finally he heard it shattering into millions of pieces upon the rocks below. If the horse had become slightly excited, they would have ended up over the side like the stone and he patted his horse’s neck gently as he rode along. It was certainly not a ride for the impatient or the fainthearted.

  There was now nothing but a long straight stretch of road ahead of him surrounded in stones and large rocks on either side. It had been nicknamed the road of the damned by several who had covered this path before as a warning to turn back and Pagett was familiar with it. He had travelled this road before and it was completely barren of any life form except for a few vultures circling the carcass of a seagull and in the distance he could see the silhouette of Dragon’s Gate through the thick mist rising like a large dark monster. He rode along now at a steady pace and it became grimmer as he moved along and even the horse seemed agitated for the Duke was from a line of evil warlords whose history could be traced back into Anglos Saxon and early Roman times of those who practiced torture and all manner of sorceries.

  As he approached the drawbridge there were dead carcasses on the stones and a skeleton or two. There were several black birds circling the castle and he could hear hounds howling from somewhere in Dragon’s Gate and Pagett was certain that if hell were on earth this would be it.

  Once he reached the front gates, two guards appeared with intrepid black hounds on leads and they had glaring eyes and teeth as sharp as daggers. They sniffed him carefully and still growling and Pagett certainly hoped they didn’t break their leads. He went through this inspection every time he came to Dragon’s Gate since the time someone tried to poison the Duke. Once the guards were satisfied with their inspection the gates opened and he was let inside.

  An old castle steward greeted him, a man named Arthur Chance and he was an old shriveled man wearing a ragged cloak and he had a very wrinkled face and teeth missing but he seemed pleasant enough except for his appearance and he usually kept quiet as he escorted Pagett down a dampened hall, but on this occasion he couldn’t keep quiet. The light of the small candle illuminated the way before them. It sent forth a beacon of light to show careful steps in front of them and a few rats scampering past their feet. Pagett gasped softly for he hated anything to do with rats. “Not scared now are ya?” said Chance when he heard the gasp. For in such a closed in place the whispering sound echoed off the stone walls.

  “Of course not,” Pagett lied. “It . . . startled me is all.”

  “Hmm.” The old man grinned as he lifted the candle as they reached another stairway and Chance turned around and grinned at him again. “We ain’t seen you for a while sir,”

  “No,’ said Pagett.

  “You’re lucky the Duke’s in a good mood at the moment.”

  Pagett sighed quietly for he knew all too well for the Duke to be in a good mood could have several interpretations. Firstly, it could mean that some poor innocent soul suffered some kind of torture or harm. Or it might mean that he had been successful at swindling someone. Or it might mean one of his enemies was disposed of. Or it might simply mean, he was in a good mood which could still be a bad mood. The Duke was a complicated man and Pagett was on guard over this news.

  “What’s a nice looking young man like you doin in the Duke’s service anyway?”

  “It’s a long story,” said Pagett.

  “Did you get caught in the web,” he surmised.

  “I suppose you could say that.”

  “You should turn and run while there’s time. Look at me. If you think that contract over your head will ever run out, you’re wrong. I’m still here after several years.”

  “Really?” said Pagett with amusement. He was surprised the man was still alive. “How did you come to be here?” asked Pagett.

  “He has a smooth way about him, the Duke and oh . . . the promises. That’s all I can say. The promise of fame and glory. I was sucked in to his service by smooth talk and promises,” he said and grinned and that toothy gap glowed in the candlelight. “What about you? Why are you here? You got family?”

  “I travelled from the green vale where I live with my father and son on a small piece of land. It’s one of those sweet places surrounded by rolling green hills and a quiet brook that runs through it. On the north side there is an ancient stone wall and the hills and surrounding forest give it shelter from winds in winter and from the heat in summer. There are sweet wildflower’s growing in the fields; bluebells, primrose and snowdrops. It’s a place of unfound beauty and has been passed down from my father’s grandfather and we had struggled to keep it and had the Duke not come along when he did we would have lost it to overdo and unjustly rising taxes and now . . . well now I owe him my allegiance.”

  “Allegiance!” said the old man. “I wished I’d understood the meaning of the word allegiance when I first met him. You mean slavery! I wish I had gotten back on my horse and ridden out of here as fast as I could but it’s too late for me but you can get out of here. You’re young and you have a future ahead of you and your son and father to think about.”

  Pagett thought deeply. He wanted nothing more than to be free of the Duke, but he couldn’t part with that feeling that for some reason, he needed him. He needed his help or his family would die.

  “Thank you for the advice old man. I know what I’m doing.”

  “For your sake, I hope so.”

  Finally there was a faint light at the top of the stairs. The great hall was a large room of stone and candelabras and two more enormous black hounds stretched out near the Duke who was seated on the Dais and eating meat and vegetables. Every now and again he would throw one of the hounds a piece of the meat and they would snarl and growl and ravage the piece without mercy. Across from him were two others, Lords under him who carried out his dirty work. Sir Simon recognized them as Sir Roderick Whitlock and Sir Henry Payne. They were very much like Pagett, slaves in the Duke’s service.

  The Duke was a middle aged man but very attractive with long fair hair and a beard and bony cheeks to a tall sleek frame. He wore a long dark cloak with a heavy silver chain around his neck with a giant claw hanging from it. He claimed it was a dragon’s claw, a trophy of sorts that one of his ancestors obtained in a duel with a dragon several centuries ago. Pagett knew many believed that dragons once roamed the
Isles of Britain but he didn’t believe in such fairy tales.

  He noticed the Duke had a gentle facade but upon closer inspection of his character he was evil to the core and Pagett learned that this gentle disposition was like a great trickery that drew innocent ones to him before he would close in like a wolf for the kill. Sir Simon knew him to be ruthless and uncaring. In fact he was known to be one of those dreaded men who treated his enemies callously. And Simon knew that many had died in this very castle under circumstances of torture and dread and at that moment he could hear a strange rumble that sounded most terrifying almost otherworldly in definition as if it came from the very pit of hell itself and it was followed by the faint scream of some poor innocent soul coming from somewhere below in the dungeons. The true character of Luther Wyvern was not something everyone knew and even those who knew he could be devious had absolutely no idea to the degree of his evil treachery. He was like the devil in human form but he had helped Simon out of a difficult situation and now Simon owed him his allegiance. Simon discovered the hard way that the Duke worked smoothly by drawing innocent victims in through their weakness. If only he had known beforehand he was falling into a trap and he was caught like an innocent animal and the Duke held him firmly in his grip with a contract over him and there was no way out.

  Every now and again the Duke would call on him for service and Pagett would have to comply or else the consequences would be too dire to consider. But Lucky for Pagett the expectations put on him thus far had been fairly lenient considering the Duke’s disposition. And Pagett studied the Duke’s dark hollow eyes wondering what he had called on him for so urgently. “What took you so long?” said the Duke firmly without even looking up.

  “I came as quickly as I could sir but . . .”

  The Duke straightened in his chair. “I’m not interested in your excuses. Did you hear that faint scream coming from down below when you walked in?” Pagett weakly nodded. “Well next time you are late that will be you. Now don’t be late again! You should know by now that dragons have no patience. I have a situation of importance at hand.” The duke picked up a piece of parchment on the table beside him and handed it to Sir Simon. “Read this.”

  Sir Simon took the rolled up parchment and opened it up and his eyes perused over it. “Read it aloud, Sir Simon.”

  ‘Of course sir,” said Simon. He opened the parchment and began reading. “It says, Hear ye, Hear ye, all peoples of England, the king is returning soon! His time in the Crusades is finished. Prepare ye the way! King Edward is returning to his throne!”

  “You see, Sir Simon. Dear Edward is coming back to England. He thinks he can just leave here whenever he wants and go off on a world venture to the Holy land and then return whenever he wants. Well, he is sadly mistaken. That is not going to happen. Things have been going fine without him and I have nearly established myself as the next king. I can’t have the peasants encouraged and thinking he is returning. Now all I have to do is remove that ridiculous excuse of a regent and claim the throne. “And you are going to help me of course.”

  “Of course,” said Pagett with Hesitation and he swallowed nervously.

  “I don’t hear a bit of hesitation in your voice, do I?’

  “Of course not sir.”

  “Good. I don’t like hesitations. It makes me nervous and when I’m nervous I get angry and when I get angry you’ll end up in the dungeon. Is that clear?”

  “Of course, sir,” he said with confidence this time.

  “This message has been found in various towns and villages and was put up by knights believed to be of the order of the Lion.” The Duke grabbed another piece of meat and threw it to the hounds. “Can you imagine that? The royal seven in England? It’s true. They are here to announce Edward’s arrival.”

  “It was inevitable,” said Payne. “Just as I warned you six months ago.”

  The Duke was silent for several moments and he paced the room in deep thought and he stopped near a large open hearth and the flames were leaping behind him and he suddenly paused and looked at Simon. “I want you undo what they have done.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Tell the people Edward isn’t coming back. Tickle their fancies with a few promises. If that fails use a little persuasion in the matter. Show them what will happen if they give allegiance to Edward. Put the fear of the dragon in them! Place Dragon banners in every town and village and if the people refuse to do this see that their town or village is burnt to the ground. Understood?”

  “Of course sir. Straight away sir.”

  “Go to Sir Wolf Ulric of Blackstone Castle. He will help you with this.” And then he addressed Payne and Whitlock. “I want the Duke of Wexford removed. I want it done tonight. And arrest that traitor, Lady Elizabeth Godwyn. I have proof she’s been spying on me! Throw her in the tower.”

  “Removed sir?”

  “You heard me! I said Removed! Do whatever you have to. He’s sick anyway. Put him out of his misery. I was waiting for him to die so I wouldn’t have to do it myself. I thought it would look less suspicious but as for circumstances I am left with no choice. I will publicly declare that Edward is Dead and I will be crowned King. Do this swiftly. See to it that messages are taken to the allies of the house of Redforte, supporters of the Dragon clans and of course there will be trouble from the northern clans, those supporters of King Edward. Lord Eustace Godwyn is my biggest threat. You will take him an ultimatum. If he refuses then he will face the consequences.”

  “Yes, sir,” said Pagett.

  “And one more thing,” said the Duke with a sly grin on his face. “Do you know what this is?” he asked as he lifted the claw on the chain around his neck and showed it to the three men.”

  “It’s a claw of some sort,” said Whitlock. “Been hunting recently?”

  “No you fool! It’s the claw of a dragon! That’s right. It’s a dragon’s claw.” He smiled at everyone’s astonished faces and Pagett tried to look surprised.

  “This claw was believed to have been the claw of a great black dragon that roamed these Isles. It was a fierce creature and it was my ancestor, Egon of Dragon’s gate who dared to approach the dragon’s lair and retrieve the claw from the beast while it slept. Of course the beast stirred and a merry chase entailed through the caverns below Creswell. My ancestor would not have survived had it not been for the small opening through which the dragon became stuck and his leg dangling through the opening Sir Egon was able to remove the claw of the dragon and bring it back.” The Duke circled around the room as he spoke walking behind each one of them slowly and this made Pagett very tense. “I have heard rumours that there is a dragon being kept by one of the Welsh princes. I have heard they are keeping it safe somewhere.” There was still complete silence and he looked hard eat each one as if inspecting their hearts to see if they knew anything about it. Perhaps one of them was a traitor. “It would seem impossible for someone to keep such a creature in hiding for six centuries but these reptiles are clever. They can hibernate for hundreds of years and have been known to live thousands of years. If you indeed come across one it would be an ancient creature of old, dating back to the earth’s beginnings. They adapt to their surroundings. They can live on mountaintops in the cold crisp snow or they can live in the low green valleys. If caught when young, they can be tamed and such a creature would benefit my reign on the throne. There is also the matter of the sword of Cadwallader. Are you familiar with it?”

  “The legendary sword used to slay a great black dragon,” said Payne.

  “Yes, the very one,” replied the Duke. “I want that sword. Should it fall into the wrong hands it could be used for destruction.”

  “Of a dragon, sir,” said Pagett with bewildered eyes.

  “Yes, exactly. If that sword still exists, I want it. There aren’t many in the kingdom who know much about dragons and legends but there is one in particular, the Earl of Dinefwr and I am certain even if he isn’t hiding one, he would know a lot about them.
He may even know where the sword of Cadwallader is.” He looked hard at Pagett. “I charge you with this mission. Find out if this is true and if it is . . . bring me the dragon! And bring me the Earl of Dinefwr!”

  “But!” said Payne.

  “No buts!

  Now go and do as I have told you and the next time you come through that threshold I want to see Lord Wylde’s smiling face. Do you understand?”

  Sir Simon nodded although he was shaking like a leaf inside. “Yes Sir, right away sir.”

  “Good otherwise I’ll have your head on one of those spikes on the drawbridge. Now Go!

  Sir Simon wasted no time in leaving the Duke’s presence and at least he left with his head still on his shoulders unlike those unlucky ones who ended up on spikes outside the Duke’s castle. He headed back down the road with thoughts of dragons flooding his mind and he didn’t even believe it anyway. How on earth was he going to find a dragon and bring it back when they simply didn’t exist? This was an impossible mission. With anxiety he started towards the rocky climb which he had made earlier and there were two riders making their way up the track. One had reached the top and the other struggled with his horse and Pagett stopped at the top of track and watched. The horse started to move excitedly and one leg went enticingly over the side and Pagett and the other man watched as the rider slid from his back over the edge. “Grab onto something yelled the man. And the man dangling over the side managed to grab a bit of branch for that was all there was on this rocky cliff face. The horse was struggling to get back and his legs were slipping all the more and pushing dirt and rocks over the side which fell like a waterfall over the man dangling and his hands hung tightly to a branch that was losing grip. His friend made his way carefully down the track and grabbed the struggling horse’s bridle. Pagett continued to watch as there was only room enough for one person. He pulled and pulled and finally the horse moved his leg upward with a swift kick which sent his hanging friend flying down to the rocks below with a great bellowing scream and Pagett now understood why they called it the bellowing cliffs but he looked at the other man as he led the horse up the path to the top. “So you saved the horse and not your friend!”