"Does Thelvyn look like his father?" he asked at last.
"He actually looks very much like his mother," Kharendaen explained, showing her own amusement for the first time. "His father came from a breed of dragons that no longer exists."
"Well, let's hope that he has inherited other talents from his father," Sir George said. "That brings us to the problem of finding the Collar of the Dragons. The trouble is, I'm not sure that we know anything more than we did when we left Braejr last
year. I don't suppose that the Great One had any suggestions."
"No, he didn't," Thelvyn said with annoyance. "I don't know whether that means that he cannot or will not help us, but at any rate, we have to assume that we are supposed to figure this out for ourselves."
"Well, he is your father," the old knight insisted.
"You don't wheedle the god of the dragons, even if he is your father. And I think it best that secret should remain known only to us three for now. I don't suppose that the dragons ever found out anything more about the theft of the collar."
"No. We can only infer that a dragon must have been involved," Kharendaen replied. "I've always been troubled by the fact that the location and even the existence of Windreach is supposed to be a secret. For that reason, I suspect that renegade dragons helped in the theft, considering its size and location. Only a dragon would have known of its existence and where to find it. Only a dragon could have made off with the better part of a ton of jewels and gold right from under the snouts of the parliament itself."
"But we do know that Byen Kalestraan was involved in the theft," Sir George added. "He was working with a band of renegade black dragons when they attacked you and Solveig. We can easily assume that those same black dragons took the collar. I've always wondered if the dragons might be able to identify who those renegades were."
"Not without more clues than we have," Kharendaen said. "The dragons distance themselves from the renegades. We don't have a very clear idea just who all the renegade bands are and where they might be. And while they almost certainly stole the collar for Kalestraan, they might not know where he hid it."
"Still, it's the best lead we have," Thelvyn commented. "If the dragons still have no idea who those renegades might have been, then perhaps the time has come for us to return to Braejr. Solveig and Alessa Vyledaar have had over half a year now to search for clues, and we have no way of knowing if they found anything yet. That seems the best place to begin."
Kharendaen looked rather uncertain. "How can we return to Braejr? After all, we are not entirely welcome there."
Sir George shrugged. "I don't expect that to be any real problem if we go directly to Solveig's home at a time when she is most likely to be there."
Since Braejr was only a few hours away if they flew, they had to wait until that afternoon to depart so that they would arrive well after nightfall. Thelvyn hadn't expected to return to his old home so soon, if ever. But he thought that Sir George was right; he had not actually been run out of Braejr but had left by his own free will. As far as he knew, there was no formal decree exiling him from the Highlands. He knew it would be wise to be discreet. He was certain that Alessa Vyledaar and the Fire Wizards wouldn't be pleased with his return. But if they wanted him to save them from the wrath of the dragons, they would have to cooperate with him.
Although he often had to remind himself of the fact, Thelvyn had been the king of this land, even if only for a few short weeks. The circumstances had been so desperate that he had never felt so much like a king as a general, a leader of an army rather than a nation, and his leadership of the Highlands had been merely an extension of his duties as the Dragonlord. That seemed like a very long time ago to him, almost as if it had been in another life. In a way, it had been, since it was before he had become a dragon.
As the dragons approached Braejr, they saw that spring had definitely returned to the southern Highlands. The fields surrounding the city were carpeted in short grass that rippled in the night breezes, although even their keen eyes could not clearly discern the rich green in the darkness of night. Much of the destruction waged by the dragons during the previous summer was no longer visible, the ruined fences repaired and most of the burned homesteads and barns replaced. The city itself had actually suffered very little, since the dragons had not attacked Braejr except for ontf night of terror when they had unleashed a rain of fire upon the tiled roofs.
Once more Thelvyn had to trust to Kharendaen's lead, since the city at night from above looked like a maze of dark shapes to him. The dragons moved in over Braejr as quickly and quietly as they could, hoping to land before they were seen. Thelvyn disliked these nearly blind approaches. Just as he was beginning to feel completely lost, he recognized the distinctive forms of his old home with the warehouse standing, dark and massive, across the paved court. Kharendaen lowered herself deftly into the narrow front part of the court, just inside the closed gate. Thelvyn landed heavily just beyond her, beside the old warehouse.
They had only just settled to the ground and were folding away their wings when sounds began to emerge from the warehouse, like those of some wild, restless animal. It began with a loud and curiously high-pitched growl, rising in fury until a sound like the hoarse call of a hunting bird pierced the night. Kharendaen paused only long enough to allow Sir George to drop down from the saddle, then arched her back and lifted her neck to glare at the massive door of the warehouse. Obviously annoyed, she moved away from the warehouse into the wooded yard before the house. Thelvyn followed her, hoping that putting some distance between them might help calm the beast stabled within the warehouse.
The front door of the house opened, and warm light poured down the steps. The young valet, Taeryn, stepped outside but remained standing by the door. Solveig hurried out a moment later. True to her old habits, she was wearing her favorite white robe, which was barely long enough for her long legs. She recognized Kharendaen at once and hurried to help Sir George retrieve his travel bag, which was tied to the straps of the saddle. Solveig kept her distance from Thelvyn, staring at him in a way that suggested she did not know who he was. He was struggling to remove his harness so that he could change form, the most certain way to pacify the beast still voicing its complaints and challenges from within the warehouse.
"Why is there a griffon in my lair?" Kharendaen demanded, hardly containing her annoyance long enough to remove her saddle.
"It's not your lair anymore," Solveig insisted, undaunted. "Thyatian messengers come and go constantly, and I use the warehouse to board their griffons."
Thelvyn finished removing his harness and changed form.
"I wondered if that was you," Solveig remarked, watching cautiously. "So you've finally learned how to become a dragon."
"I've been a dragon for some time now," he told her. "But we should talk about that inside. I don't know if we were seen flying in, and I don't want anyone coming around to discover dragons in your yard—or the Dragonlord, for that matter."
Kharendaen finally managed to release the straps and slip out of her saddle, setting it aside before changing form. She assumed her Eldar form rather than becoming the elf maiden Sellianda. Solveig brought her visitors inside and led them to the den, where they had sat together often in the past. Then she had Taeryn find them something to eat from the kitchen while she hurried upstairs to dress. Thelvyn noticed that her habits were becoming steadily less barbaric, perhaps influenced by her new responsibilities.
"I suppose you must be here about the collar," she said when she joined the others in the den a few minutes later. "Are the dragons getting restless to have it back?"
"They probably are," Thelvyn explained simply. "We're here now because the Great One told me that the time has come that I need to find the collar. The Dragonking needs to wear it when he goes among the dragons for the first rime."
"Then the Dragonking has already arrived?" Solveig asked, recalling the legends she had heard the previous summer. Then she paused and settled
back in her chair, frowning as she stared at the drink Sir George had slipped into her hand. "You're the Dragonking yourself, aren't you? I should have figured that out for myself long ago."
"I know now why I was chosen as the object of all these prophecies," Thelvyn said. "I still don't know what the Great One expects of me, but it sounds very dire indeed."
Solveig shrugged. "I anticipated we were due for more trouble sooner or later."
"Then you probably guessed why we're here," Sir George added. "If you can't tell us where to search for the collar, I'm not sure what we can do but strangle every renegade dragon in the world looking for the ones who were in league with the Fire Wizards."
"Things might not be as desperate as all that," Solveig said, taking a quick sip from her glass. "I was having dinner with Alessa Vyledaar a few nights ago when she said something about finding a new clue to uncovering Byen Kalestraan's secrets. I never did find out what, but I can have her over here first thing in the morning to talk to you."
"Alessa?" Thelvyn said rather dubiously. "The last time I talked to her, I was trying to prevent her from seizing control of the Highlands once I was gone."
"Well, whatever you did certainly worked," Solveig insisted. "She really has changed. In fact, she's been my strongest supporter since the end of the war. I know she's wanted to see you again for some time now, to make amends for her part in driving you from the Highlands. Besides, you don't have very much choice, do you? It's the only possible clue I know that might lead you to the collar."
Thelvyn considered that briefly, frowning. "Very well. But there are a few secrets she doesn't need to know. For one thing, I don't want her to know that I'm the Dragonking."
"If you insist," Solveig agreed, sounding dubious. "But I'm not certain why."
He smiled wickedly. "There are a few things even you don't know about yet."
*****
Early the next morning, Solveig set to work on the problem. First she hurried to the palace. Following Alessa's lead, she had established her own spies and supporters among the wizards. Although she felt some regret for treating her friend so suspiciously, she had every reason to question Alessa's motives and loyalties in the early days after she had become the first Prime Minister of the Parliament of the Realm. Solveig had been concerned that Alessa might try to use the power of the Radiance in an attempt to seize control of the Highlands. She had also worried that Alessa might locate the Collar of the Dragons but keep it hidden, hoping to use it in her own schemes.
As it happened, Solveig's spies had discovered nothing of any particular importance. As Alessa had said from the first, the connection between the wizards and the dragons had been limited strictly to Byen Kalestraan and his closest associates and a small band of renegade dragons who were trying to profit from the war by playing both sides. Of course, her spies were also able to confirm Alessa's new loyalty. One of the greatest troubles with politics in the Highlands in the past had been that no one dared to trust his own allies and advisors.
Solveig returned home late that afternoon with Alessa. Thelvyn still felt ambivalent about this meeting, remembering only too well his past difficulties with Alessa and how she had attempted to seduce, deceive, and finally discredit him. Alessa was surprised, since Solveig hadn't told her beforehand whom she was to meet. When she saw first Thelvyn and his companions seated about the den, she hesitated in the doorway for a long moment. She seemed uncertain what to do or say, and she nervously clutched the curious broach she wore on the breast of her wizard's robes.
"Dragonlord!" she breathed at last, coming into the room to take a seat across from him. "I didn't know if I would ever see you again."
"Solveig tells me that you've turned over a new leaf," he said. "If that's so, then you can prove it by helping me now. I have to find the Collar of the Dragons, and I have to find it soon. Solveig said that you may have found some clue."
"Finding the collar would divert the wrath of the dragons from the Highlands, which is in my best interests any way you look at it," she said, beginning to sound more certain. "But you must understand that I haven't found the collar itself, only what may be a hint."
"Even a hint would be welcome," Thelvyn told her. "Without any lead to follow, I'm not certain what I can do."
"Except to seek out and interrogate every renegade dragon in this part of the world," Sir George said, taking a small taste from his glass of cherry liqueur. "My word, I can't say how much I've missed this stuff!"
"I hope it won't come to that," Alessa commented, staring aimlessly at the wall as she appeared to consider, or perhaps to debate the matter with herself a moment longer. At last she frowned. "Unfortunately, the collar isn't in Braejr and apparently isn't even in the Highlands. The wizards, fearful of the wrath of the dragons, had sent it directly into hiding and were
afraid to bring it home for experimentation."
"And, of course, the wizards who knew about the collar are either dead or they disappeared when their bid for power failed," Thelvyn said. "As for the dragon conspirators, I killed one in the assassination attempt. That's just the point. I need to find at least one of the surviving conspirators, either one of the wizards who disappeared or one of the renegade dragons."
"I have not been able to discover where the surviving wizards went," Alessa said. "They fled the Highlands when Kalestraan was defeated. But I might be able to tell you which renegade dragon to seek. All that is known is that they were all black dragons, that their leader was a renegade king, and that he wore a gold ring in one ear."
Kharendaen glanced up when she heard that, startled and obviously excited beneath her typically calm demeanor. "A gold ring? That might be all the clue we need. Dragons are not in the habit of wearing earrings. That would be remarkable enough that other dragons would remember it."
"If you can ask a dragon," Alessa said, staring at her.
Kharendaen had been sitting alone in the most dark and remote corner. Alessa had never met Kharendaen as a dragon, only in her secret form as the elf cleric Sellianda. As far as Alessa was concerned, she saw only a tall, dark-haired woman with the same racial features as Thelvyn, perhaps enough for her to surmise that this was another dragon in enchanted form. Alessa may have even deduced who it must be, but Thelvyn deliberately offered no introduction.
"Asking a dragon is the easy pan," he said. "Is there anything else you might know?"
"I've discovered nothing else at this time," Alessa said. "But I'm still working at digging up Kalestraan's secrets. If you can't learn anything useful from this renegade dragon, I might have something more for you soon."
"We might need your help," Sir George remarked. "I keep thinking that this renegade would only know where Kalestraan hid the collar if he was the one who actually put it there. Which is not unlikely, considering the size and weight of the collar."
Soon after that, Solveig saw Alessa to the door to return to the Academy. The others were still discussing what they knew of renegade dragons when Solveig returned to the den a few minutes later. Their plan now was to leave as soon as it was fully dark and seek out dragons who might be able to tell them where to find a renegade black dragon who wore a ring in one ear.
"I'll have Taeryn get you something to eat before you go," Solveig said. "At least now you have a lead."
"Yes . . . apparently Alessa came through for us," Thelvyn said with some reservation. "Still, I'll have to take your word that she's come over completely to our side now. She didn't seem particularly happy to see me again."
"You probably frightened her," Solveig insisted. "I suspect that seeing you again unnerved her. You have to keep in mind that the old Alessa did a few things that the new one finds embarrassing."
Thelvyn and Kharendaen shared dinner with the others as a matter of courtesy. They would be returning to dragon form soon, and they would need a dinner of dragon proportions, which meant catching something in the wild. About an hour after nightfall, they went out into the yard. Thelvyn slipped into his ha
rness while Sir George helped Kharendaen with her saddle. Minutes later, they climbed quickly into the dark sky over Braejr.
The two dragons immediately turned eastward toward the Colossus Mountains, where they planned to hunt and then wait out the rest of the night while they cooked and ate their catch before continuing northeast toward the wilderness of Norwold and the hidden city of Windreach. They needed to talk to Marthaen, and possibly other elder dragons as well, about the matter of the black renegade with the gold earring. Thelvyn remained reluctant to enter Windreach until he had recovered the collar. Kharendaen agreed. She decided she would bring Marthaen out into the mountains of the Wyrms-teeth to speak with him.
They were nearing the rugged western face of the Colossus Mountains when they saw a pair of dragons flying out to intercept them, followed at some distance by nearly a dozen others. Their presence came as no surprise. They were probably members of the band of young reds that had been left behind to keep watch on the Highlands. However, Thelvyn was afraid he wouldn't be able bluff his way past them a second time. But as the pair came nearer, they could see that the two lead dragons were quite large, obviously elder dragons by their size. The silver of moonlight glinted from their armor, revealing one to be a mature red while the other was a gold.
Thelvyn immediately sensed that this meeting was probably more important than a simple challenge by the sentries guarding the borders of the Highlands. Kharendaen followed him as he slowed and began circling in a wide arc as he waited just beyond the dark wall of the sheer mountainside. As the dragons came nearer, he was surprised to recognize them as Marthaen and Jherdar.
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