The Dragon of Despair

by Jane Lindskold

  "That is true," Sapphire said, "and while my secret does matter, we don't want to put you in too much danger. Even with Firekeeper and Blind Seer accompanying youùtrusting that they will go, which we are not yet certain about since we haven't had a chance to ask themùthat is a very small group. Why not take the other two who went with you into New Kelvin? Take this Wendee Jay about whom we've heard such good things. See if Earl Kestrel will let Edlin go with you. Both of them learned something of the language and customs of New Kelvin before. They could be useful now."

  Elise nodded. "That's a good idea. I'm certain that House Kestrel could be easily convinced. Edlin would be harder to stop from coming than to get to join us. Wendee… Well, we'll have to see. Maybe I can convince her to come by appealing to her good heart. She's a mother, you know, and Citrine will need care."

  "Wendee Jay can also act as a chaperon for you and Firekeeper," Sapphire said. "In reality, Firekeeper's honor may be beyond savingùthough oddly enough, she's probably a virgin. I've certainly never seen her look at a man in anything but friendship. You, however, still have a reputation to guard."

  King Tedric spoke. "That's what Elexa wanted me to remind you, Elise. She was very unhappy at the thought that you would sacrifice your reputationùnot your honor, mind, we know you'll guard that as you see fitùbut your reputation to our needs. Traveling about with a group of unmarried menùone of whom anyone with two eyes can see is in love with youùwill make some people talk, no matter how many chaperons you take."

  Elise took a deep breath. "Sire, given what is at stake hereùCitrine's sanity, my future queen's reputation, maybe my homeland's safetyùI don't see how I could refuse and still respect myself. I'm certain my parents will understand, especially if you and your heirs explain at least a little."

  "Very well," the king said with a dry cough. "Consider that we will."

  Elise turned to face Sapphire and Shad.

  "Now I've agreed and you've agreed. Edlin will be no problem, nor Sir Jared. But Derian and Firekeeper? Holly Gardener told me that they have gone west."

  The king interrupted. "I expect to see them back before the end of Bear Moon."

  Elise wheeled to stare at him. She noticed that Sapphire and Shad looked equally surprised.

  "Both?"

  "Both," the king said. "Trust an old man a few secrets. Not even thatùa hunch. I think they will be back and I think that the first thing Firekeeper will do is come here and request an interview with me. But speak on, Lady Elise. I believe you had another matter to raise."

  Elise returned to her original thoughts with an effort.

  "Yes," she said, "I wanted to know how you thought we should handle our return to New Kelvin. You see, the last time we were there we left as hunted fugitives with soldiers at our heels."

  Chapter VIII

  HAVING EXPECTED AN IMMEDIATE ANSWER to the question she put to the king, Elise was almost shocked when King Tedric replied.

  "I don't have an answer for you, Lady Archer, but I do agree that this will prove a problem. Moreover, it is a problem we have anticipated, and we are working on solutions. Are you still willing to undertake the task?"

  "Yes," she agreed a touch hesitantly.

  After all, it was one thing to agree that something needed to be done while in the back of your head you expect that someone else will have come up with the brilliant plan that will make the task possible. It was quite another to find that the plan was still under development.

  King Tedric leaned forward and patted Elise's hand.

  "My dear, none of us would sacrifice you or your comrades lightly. We hope not to sacrifice you at all. Finding an excuse to send you into New Kelvin may be quite simple. We are not at war. Indeed, our lands are actively trading. That may provide excuse enough. Baron Archer is known to have ambitions for his family. Perhaps he will seek to exploit his daughter's fascination with strange lands and cultures in a venture into trade."

  Elise thought this unlikely, given the geographic location of New Kelvin relative to the Archer Grant, and said so. The king waved his hand lightly, dismissing her protest.

  "You worry too much about little things. Perhaps the venture would be undertaken in partnership with House Kestrel. After all, young Edlin is to be one of your companions. In any case, no matter what excuse is created for your making the journey, we…" King Tedric's gesture included Sapphire and Shad. "… feel that it would be best if more of your companions were skilled in the language of New Kelvin."

  Elise nodded. It had been a nuisance last time that only she and Wendee Jay spoke the language at all well.

  "Grateful Peace has agreed to tutor your entire group."

  This didn't really surprise Elise. Peace must be grateful to them for saving his life and be eager to pay back the debt.

  "Moreover…"

  A fit of coughing interrupted whatever the king was about to say.

  "Moreover," Sapphire said, handing King Tedric yet another cup of medicinal tea, "if Citrine is to make the journey under your care, you and she must have time to become reacquainted. More importantly, there must be time for her to learn to trust you and the others. Any plan we devise to ensure your safe return could be seriously jeopardized if one of her fits caught you unawares."

  Again Elise nodded. She didn't know whether Sapphire was hinting that they were considering sending the team in disguise or that there would be those prepared to help if they were forced to make a rapid retreat. Either would be jeopardized by a small girl acting up. Elise considered asking just what form Citrine's episodes took, but Sapphire was continuing on.

  "We would like you to escort Citrine to the Norwood Grant. We have already been in contact with Duchess Kestrel and she is preparing a private house where Citrine can live with you and at least some of your companions." Sapphire added quickly, "She is also arranging for proper servants and chaperonage. Grateful Peace can teach you there. Also, when Citrine has bad daysùand it is too much to hope she will notùyou will have privacy."

  Sapphire sighed heavily and Shad unobtrusively slipped his hand around hers in comfort. Elise swallowed hard. A private house somewhere in the vast reaches of the North Woods. Her companions. That meant Edlin and Wendee. That meant Jared.

  The others pretended not to notice her discomfort.

  Shad spoke. "When either Firekeeper or Derian Carter return, you shall be notified by pigeon. If they do not return or we need you to go ahead without them, you will also be notified."

  "And," Sapphire continued, "you don't need to leave this moment. I suggest that we send a message to your parents informing them that it might not be a bad idea for them to come to Eagle's Nest in a few days. I believe it is about time for Lady Aurella to attend upon the queen in any case, so it shouldn't raise too much gossip. This way, we can explain to them in person."

  "You seem to have thought of everything," Elise said gratefully.

  Except just how we can be sure we will leave New Kelvinùor at least that we will leave there alive.

  THE NEXT HANDFUL OF DAYS passed far more quickly than Elise could have hoped. She and Ninette were fully occupied with shopping and making calls. Not many of her Wellward relations had come up from their holdings yet, but there was a cousin or so around upon whom she was required to call. Then there were those who hoped she would call on them.

  Elise's recent interview with the king and his heirsùalready common gossip among those with connections in the castleùhad raised her social allure greatly. Some wanted to see if they could pry details of the meeting from her. For this, Elise found that the best thing to do was to start chattering at length about meaningless intricacies of New Kelvinese culture. She managed to sound quite informedùinformed enough that it was reasonable that the king might have wished to consult herùbut so dull and caught up in minutiae that she left the majority of her audience suspecting that the king regretted giving her his time.

  Most of those who sent her invitations, however, were not interested in what Elise had
done and said, but in what she had seen. How did the crown princess look? Was it true that Crown Prince Shad was trying to make over the Royal Guard after the fashion of Bright Bay? Did Elise think the Bright Bay custom of assigning new posts and titles would find favor in the court? Had she seen young Citrine? Was it true she raved constantly and had torn out most of her hair? Were the king and queen as ill as everyone said?

  The last was the only question Elise had any difficulty answering. For most of the rest a little consideration let her find the answer that would do the royal family the least damage.

  One person who markedly refused to see Elise, though Elise faithfully offered to attend upon her daily, was Grand Duchess Rosene. The day following Elise's long conference with the king, Grandmother Rosene had commanded Elise to attend on her in her apartments at the castle. When Elise told her only what she was telling everyone else, Rosene flew into a rage, and from that point on Elise's notes, sent faithfully every morning by special messenger, were returned with "Not In" printed across the fold.

  Elise tried not to worry, but she wasn't completely successful.

  Five days after Elise's audience with King Tedric, Lady Aurella and Baron Archer arrived in Eagle's Nest. They were barely settled when Grand Duchess Rosene swept in. She closeted herself with her son, pointedly leaving Elise outùthough she was at home. Later, Lady Aurella was summoned to join them and soon after Lady Aurella's confidential maid came bearing a note from her mistress.

  "Elise," it said, "I suggest you find an excuse to leave the house. Surely you have calls to make. Your grandmother is behaving shamefully and I have no desire for you to suffer while her tongue is dripping venom."

  Since Elise already knew she had her parents' support for her participation in King Tedric's plan, she took her mother's advice and left the Archer manse as quickly as was reasonable. She had been invited to tea with some of the young ladies of her generation and had accepted tentatively, not being certain whether or not her parents would need her. Now she had a fit excuse both to attend and to leave the house.

  Still, as Elise sipped tea and chattered about the most fashionable styles for the coming summer and the most eligible of the young men, she wondered what the grand duchess was saying. Elise had not told her parents of Rosene's plan to insist that they adopt Deste Trueheart, feeling that for better or worse, it was wisest to have it come from its source. Now she wondered what they would think and what they would do.

  And maybe, Elise thought, even as she giggled over someone's description of someone else's flirtation, it wouldn't be a bad idea to have them adopt Deste, not a bad idea at all.

  WHEN ELISE RETURNED home she saw the grand duchess's carriage still parked around the side. This surprised her. On the whole, a visit from Grand Duchess Rosene was like a sudden windstorm, tearing through, upsetting everything, and leaving disruption, if not devastation, in its wake. Rosene preferred to hold longer conferences in her own rooms at the castle, where she could conveniently forget to have windows opened or closed, or refreshments served, or play whatever little games she deemed necessary to keep her audience off balance.

  Feeling rather apprehensive, Elise went inside. She hardly had time to hand her light shawl to the downstairs maid when Lady Aurella emerged from the parlor.

  "Elise," Aurella said with a slightly apologetic smile, "your grandmother has waited expressly to see you. Would you come with me?"

  Elise could imagine the scene that had preceded this quiet request and reached out to squeeze her mother's hand before following. She fought down her resentment that Rosene would use Aurella as an errand girl. If Lady Aurella could take such treatment in her own house so calmly then Elise resolved to model her own behavior on her mother's.

  Grand Duchess Rosene was seated in a high-backed chair upholstered in floral print fabricùan heirloom of her own days as mistress of this house. Gowned in pale pink, her white hair piled high on her head, her fair skin flushed, she did not rise when Elise entered. Such a gesture would have been wasted, for they both knew that her remaining had nothing to do with affection and everything to do with power.

  And it's very strange, Elise thought as she bent to properly embrace the old woman, because she is fond of meùloves me dearly in her own way. Just because that way is rather after the fashion a spoiled girl loves her dolls doesn't change that the love is there.

  Rosene did not soften under her granddaughter's embrace, remaining as stiff and brittle as a porcelain doll. Nor did she wait to get to the point.

  "Your parents told me that you have agreed to some madcap scheme of Tedric's," she said sharply. "Something that involves your taking off for the North Woods."

  Elise nodded, thinking how interesting it was that when Rosene was angry with her brother he was "Tedric," but when she was playing on her relation to him he was always "the king" or even "His Royal Majesty."

  "Yes, Grandmother," she said softly.

  "Have you thought what this will mean to your House?" the old woman continued. "Already scandalmongers retail accounts of your adventures last winter. This will surely destroy what rags of a reputation remain to you as thoroughly as if you were to dance naked in the market square."

  Elise couldn't help but smile at the image. It was so like something Firekeeper might have done early after her return from living among the wolves.

  Grand Duchess Rosene chose to interpret the smileùwith some justificationùas impudence.

  "So you think that's funny!" she said. "Well, I do not find it at all funny. To think that the house my dear Purcel founded at the price of his blood and that we thought to perpetuate through our children should have come down to a single silly chit with no sense of self-respect. It makes me want to weep!"

  Grandmother Rosene didn't look in the least like she was about to weep. Her eyes were bright, not with tears but with fury. Elise thought about offering her a handkerchief, then wondered where such impulses came from. Surely she would never have entertained such a thought before. Maybe Rosene was right. Maybe she had changed and not for the better.

  So Elise bowed her head and listened with a meekness she didn't feel. Underneath the curtain of her hair, she sneaked a glance at her parents.

  Baron Archer sat bolt upright in his chair, restlessly twirling a brandy snifterùthough it was a touch early in the day for brandyùbetween his fingers. Otherwise he revealed no sign of agitation. Lady Aurella had picked up her omnipresent embroidery hoop and was stitching away with mechanical regularity. If anyone was to look, they might have seen she was drawing the stitches rather more tightly than was necessary.

  Grandmother has said something to force them to school their tongues to silence, Elise thought, and they are not terribly happy about it either.

  "I'm sorry, Grandmother," Elise offered when Rosene ceased her indignant though wordless huffing.

  "Then you will tell the king you have consulted with your parents and thought it wiser to refuse?"

  "No, Grandmother," Elise said stiffly. She suspected that if she did as her grandmother said, then before the end of the conversation Rosene would have come up with some reason that she should, after all, comply. That, however, would not do, not if Elise was to keep her own self-respect.

  She wondered if her father would have recommended such a tactical retreat, but Baron Archer was not saying anything and she read no portents in the restless spinning of the snifter between his fingers.

  "You will not?" the grand duchess said.

  "No, Grandmother. I have given my word to the king. Moreover, care has been taken that I will be chaperonedùNinette is coming with me as far as the Norwood Grant…"

  "And what good did that do last winter?" Rosene interrupted. "None. You ran off, unchaperoned."

  "No, Grandmother, I did not. There was a respectable married womanùa retainer of Duchess Kestrelùwho was with me at all times."

  Elise decided not to mention Firekeeper. Sapphire was right. In circles such as those her grandmother frequented, Firekeeper's
reputation was not even in rags; it simply didn't exist. For those people it was not chastity, but the appearance of chastity that mattered.

  "A retainer of Duchess Kestrel," Grand Duchess Rosene sneered, "as if that is any recommendation. It's no longer spoken of, but Saedee Norwood isn't one to whom I'd trust a young girl's honor. If you think I'm just being a sour-tongued old woman, ask your mother who fathered Saedee's son and daughter."

  Elise turned wordlessly to Lady Aurella.

  "No one knows," Aurella answered.

  Despite her desire to keep impassive no matter what she heard, Elise felt her eyebrows shoot up in surprise.

  "No one?"

  "No one," Grand Duchess Rosene repeated with savage satisfaction. "And this is the woman to whom I am to entrust the honor of the House I helped to found."

  "The story was more current," Lady Aurella went on as if the interruption had not occurred, "years ago when Norvin and Eirene were seeking to wed. When Eirene wed Prince Barden, well, that was both the height of the fury and its end. Most people felt that if King Tedric didn't care who the father of his future daughter-in-law had been, then the rest of us didn't have any reason to bother either."

  "Nor do I bother," Rosene replied haughtily, "except where there is the matter of considering such a scandalous woman as a guardian for my granddaughter. I fought back my doubts last year when you decided to let Elise make a winter visit to House Kestrel, but what happened then…"

  She let the words trail off, quite satisfied.

  Elise straightened in her chair.

  "Well, Grandmother, this is interesting, but old gossip does not alter the obligation I have to His Royal Majesty. Nor," she hurried on before Rosene could interrupt, "does it alter the obligation I have to my House. I suppose you have told my parents of your thoughts regarding my cousin Deste?"