by Linda McNabb
CHAPTER FIVE
THE PRIDE OF THE WEST
“I thought we might have a friendly bout, brother,” Prince Blaise said as he took the sword from Toby, ignoring Max.
Toby and Max moved back out of the way, relieved they weren’t going to be fighting. Prince Rory didn’t like to fight and by the look in Prince Blaise’s eyes he knew it. Why had the new prince needed anther sword though? He was wearing one that looked expensive enough to feed a family for several years.
“I don’t believe in fighting.” Prince Rory drew himself up and delivered the words with a truly prince-like command.
“Nonsense,” Prince Blaise retorted as he tossed the sword, hilt first, straight at Prince Rory and then drew his own. “Every man must be able to fight to defend his kingdom, especially the second in line for the throne.”
Prince Rory had no choice but to catch the sword. Prince Blaise gave no warning of his intent as he suddenly lunged at his unwilling opponent. Perhaps by more good luck than skill Prince Rory managed to step aside and block the attack but he was clearly unsettled by it.
“What does skill with a sword prove?” Prince Rory demanded as he stepped back out of range again.
“Courage, dedication, concentration… and the desire to win.” Prince Blaise punctuated each word with a blow from his sword and on the last he flicked his wrist in a circle and rendered Prince Rory swordless. “All the qualities needed in a king.”
Prince Rory gulped visibly as his new half-brother advanced on him and placed the tip of the sword at his throat.
“Another sword for the prince!” he bellowed and Max quickly ran forward and placed it in Prince Rory’s hand but the prince simply stood holding it, sweating as he looked down the blade of the sword at his throat, refusing to attack.
Prince Blaise smiled, a thin-lipped and evil smile, then pulled his sword away before returning it to its sheath.
“What would it take to make you stand up and fight?” he asked quietly so that only those close by could hear. “Maybe we’ll find out one day.”
Prince Blaise turned and walked off leaving Prince Rory staring in shocked surprise. Toby and Max caught up with Prince Blaise as he stopped next to the captain of the guard.
“I hope your men fight better than that?” Prince Blaise cocked one eyebrow as he watched Prince Rory hurrying quickly from the practice ground.
“All our guards are well trained,” the captain replied, without the defensive tone his face suggested.
Prince Blaise either didn’t notice the sharpness in the captain’s eyes or chose to ignore it. He half turned away and then turned back as if he had remembered something. “I want the wall guard doubled and anyone found asleep on duty is to be whipped.”
“Begging your pardon, Your Highness.” The captain inclined his head slightly in an effort to seem subservient. “Changes to the guard can only come from the king.”
“And the king is not here so I am telling you.” Blaise raised his voice slightly and then forced it back to an even tone.
“Begging your pardon again, Your Highness, in the king’s absence the queen has full control over the Kingdom… and the guards.” The captain looked almost pleased to be able to refuse Prince Blaise’s request and Toby wanted to smile. He had come to dislike the new prince after only a few short hours and it seemed he was not alone.
“Really?” Prince Blaise didn’t seem bothered as he walked off into the slowly falling snow.
Toby expected Prince Blaise to head straight for the queen’s rooms but instead he headed for the courtyard at the front of the castle.
“Let’s have a look at the pride of the Kingdom of the West, shall we?” Prince Blaise was talking to himself and Toby quickly restrained Max from replying.
Toby knew instantly that he was referring to Klel and he wished he could tell him that now was not the best time to go and see him. Maybe Klel was feeling better as there was no whimpering coming from the shelter and the cry in his head had faded some time ago. The prince entered the shelter without any hesitation and they found Klel curled up in the corner, pale brown instead of gold, and barely breathing.
Toby held back the gasp of shock that he felt when he saw how much worse Klel had become in such a short time.
“Is this really what all the fuss is about?” Prince Blaise frowned in disgust.
“Removing his scales makes him ill, Your Highness.” Toby managed to force the words out and only just kept the worry from his voice.
“It will get better though, won’t it?” Prince Blaise leaned closer and lifted Toby’s shirt which still covered the wounds.
“With time, Your Highness,” Toby replied. Much time, he added silently and felt his anger beginning to grow again.
“He shouldn’t have taken so many.” Prince Blaise laid the shirt back down and stepped back.
Toby almost fell over at those words. Maybe he had misjudged the new prince?
“If it dies before I get my share…” he trailed off, realising that they were listening and Toby knew he had been right all along. Prince Blaise only saw people or things in relation to what they could do for him. “Is there anyone that can fix it?”
“The Master Groomer treats all the animals around here,” Max said and then quickly added, “Your Highness.”
“Toby, see that he is here by nightfall.” He walked out of the shelter. “Max, I have other jobs for you.”
Toby took that as a dismissal to go and fetch the Master Groomer. So Prince Blaise knew their names… he didn’t miss much. He would rather Max had been given the job of going down to the stables, Stephan was bound to make trouble if he saw him.
It was nearing dusk and the snow had begun to fall more steadily when he arrived at the stables. Stephan was out rounding up the horses and the Master Groomer was sitting in his stone cottage drinking from a jug of mead.
“Toby, I heard you’ve landed a new post already.” He slurred his words and had another drink.
“Prince Blaise wants you to come up and look at Klel, Sir. He’s sick.” Toby knew the Master Groomer didn’t consider the dragon to be under his care.
“You care about that creature, don’t you?” The Master Groomer put his drink down and looked hard at Toby.
“Yes Sir,” Toby replied. “And I don’t think Prince Blaise takes kindly to anyone who ignores him either.”
“Point taken. Don’t want to upset the new prince.” He heaved his bulk from the chair, which creaked as he leaned on the arms. Several minutes later they were on the road up to the front of the castle. It would be full dark if they went around the back way and Toby didn’t want to risk Prince Blaise’s anger.
“Who goes there?” The gate guard demanded in a deep voice. Toby looked through the iron bars and saw there were two of them instead of one. So the guard had been doubled after all.
“Prince Blaise wants the dragon tended right now,” Toby called back.
At the mention of Prince Blaise’s name the gate swung open and they hurried through. Only a matter of hours ago nobody knew he existed but now it looked as if he ruled the castle.
The Master Groomer went into Klel’s shelter and leaned over to inspect his wounds. Klel was sleeping fitfully and didn’t even open his eyes as the Master Groomer poked and prodded.
“Nasty, it’s probably in shock but it’ll live. You’ll have to keep it warm and make sure it drinks plenty, and keep those wounds clean.” The Master Groomer laid the shirt back on the wounds and left the shelter.
Toby heaped extra straw up around Klel’s back before he hurried back into the castle. He would take a blanket back later. It was well into suppertime by the time he arrived. He checked the royal eating room first but it was empty. The queen had obviously decided to eat in the main eating hall tonight even though she normally ate upstairs when the king was away.
He slipped quietly in through the back door of the eating hall, meaning to work his way along the velvet curtains to reach his appointed place behind Prince Blaise
. He was halfway along the room when he realised that something wasn’t quite right. The room was much quieter than normal. Upper-class they might all be but they were usually noisy and boisterous while they ate. The jesters were in their normal place off to the right of the royal table, juggling and doing acrobatics but nobody was watching. Then it sank in, the queen wasn’t sitting at the head of the royal table, Prince Blaise was.
The queen, relegated to the end of the table where the Queen Mother would be seated, was stabbing at the chicken on the plate as if it were not quite dead. Toby saw her cast a sideways glance at Prince Blaise that would make most men shiver in their boots. Prince Rory was seated on the opposite end of the table to his mother and was avoiding all contact with his new brother. Was the slighting of the queen’s authority not even enough to make him stand up against the new prince? Who drew the line to mark the difference between peace-loving and cowardice?
Trying not to show his surprise and shock Toby continued along the side of the room and slipped into position next to Max.
“What happened?” he whispered to Max as quietly as he could and nodded his head in the direction of Prince Blaise.
“He just sat there and wouldn’t move when the queen arrived,” Max whispered back.
No doubt Queen Lisan did not want to make a scene in front of the guests, but what about later? Toby knew she was normally as meek as a mouse, something she had passed on to Prince Rory, but when roused she was much worse than Claris.
“Ah, young Toby.” Prince Blaise turned as if suddenly noticing he was there. “Did the man look at the poor dragon?”
He smiled pleasantly at Toby but it did not reach his eyes, which remained hard and demanding.
“Aye, Your Highness.” Toby looked down at the floor as he replied. He knew pages must never make eye contact with their masters.
“Will it live?” Prince Blaise made it sound like he was really worried about the dragon’s health.
“Aye, Your Highness,” Toby repeated and Prince Blaise turned back to his meal, shovelling food in at an alarming rate.
The moment he finished eating, Prince Blaise rose, signalling that the meal was over. Everyone immediately stopped as well, showing that they indeed saw him as the figurehead of authority. Everyone, except for Queen Lisan, who continued to eat and glared mutinously at him.
“I will take wine in the library,” Prince Blaise announced, not appearing to care that the queen had ignored his silent command. “Would you do me the honour of joining me, brother and dear mother?”
Queen Lisan almost choked on her food as she all but slammed her knife onto the table. Her eyes threw daggers but her voice was untainted by her anger.
“We would be delighted.” She rose and gathered up her long skirts. As she passed Prince Rory she pulled him to his feet and gave him a shove ahead of her.
Prince Blaise made a short bow to the gathered guests and followed them from the eating hall. Toby and Max hurried after them as did Prince Rory’s pages and the queen’s ladies-in-waiting. The hushed crowd remained silent until the royal family left the room but erupted into discussion just as Toby reached the door. No doubt today’s events would provide enough gossip to last for several years.
The short walk up to the royal library was completed in absolute silence. One of the guards posted in the corridor hurried over to open the library doors just as the prince reached them.
The guard held the doors open while the three royals entered and then at a signal from Prince Blaise he drew them shut, leaving everyone else out in the corridor. They all hesitated only a second before pressing their ears to the heavy wooden doors and even the guard joined them. There would be trouble if Prince Blaise opened the doors right now.
The doors were thick but Toby had luckily gained the position where the two huge doors met and sound filtered through the small gap.
“How dare you insult me with such behaviour?” Prince Blaise was first to say his piece, all pretence of good humour gone. His voice was loud enough that those listening through the solid door would hear him as well.
“It is you who do the insult,” Queen Lisan retorted angrily but not resorting to yelling. “I hold the throne in my husband’s absence.”
“A mere woman is not capable of ruling a kingdom,” Prince Blaise spat the words out scornfully.
“A mere woman!” Prince Rory exclaimed and Toby almost cheered. Finally he was about to stand up for something.
“Keep out of this little brother,” Prince Blaise commanded.
A guard came running down the corridor and they all drew quickly away from the door. Toby sighed as he had wanted to hear if Prince Rory would stand up to the new prince.
“Fire!” The guard yelled as he ran. “Fire! Get some water!”