Before the Dawn

by Kristal Lim

The sun in the green and violet sky was starting to sink when Raven and his company arrived at the camp of the elder Princes. His brothers and their soldiers had struck their tents a good distance away from Silverhaven's protective circle of trees and they were now waiting for twilight to begin their assault. When the watchers caught sight of Raven's standard and announced his arrival, a loud cheer broke out from his brother's soldiers. It was not because the men harbored a particular fondness for the young Prince, though. Rather, it was because of the fighters he had brought with him.

  "The Lady Ceirdwyn's automatons," the burly brother Trevor recognized from the visit to the castle earlier walked among the silent ranks of the clockwork warriors, marveling at the skill and magic that had gone into their making. He was a large man with long golden hair and topaz-like brown eyes who bore no resemblance to Raven whatsoever, with a face that was more rugged and masculine with a square jaw. He looked absolutely thrilled as he inspected the mechanical soldiers. "I have heard many tales of these fellows, and I cannot wait to see how they fare in battle. I am certain it would be even more impressive than the stories tell it." His gaze sought out Raven's mother, who was beaming with cool pride as she sat upon her mount. "My Lady," he bowed. "This is an honor."

  She inclined her head graciously in acceptance of his thanks and compliments.

  While most of the men were admiring the metal fighters, Raven dismounted from his horse and signaled for Meran and Trevor to alight from the chariot that had borne them during their journey to Silverhaven. He had hoped that the presence of the two mortals would go unremarked, since they were dressed in the colors of mere servants, but one of his brothers still found the sight odd enough that he broke away from the throng studying the automatons and approached Raven.

  "What's this then?" This brother was as tall as the blond one, but leaner and red-haired with well-sculpted features. His gray eyes, which had the sheen of opals, roved over Meran's figure appreciatively for a moment before he looked back at Raven, who appeared to be biting his tongue. "Did you finally establish a Court for yourself? And with human servants?" He laughed. "Well, at last, you're acting like a responsible Prince. Come here, little bird!" Then to the surprised amusement of the humans, and Raven's total embarrassment, his older and bigger brother grabbed him in a rough hug and tousled his hair.

  "Would you get your bloody hands off me?" Raven snarled and twisted away from the arms that held him. His brother only laughed louder before releasing him.

  "It's good you have finally arrived," he told Raven. "We have barely enough time to hold a council before we begin our attack. Come." He turned away and gestured for the younger Prince to follow him.

  "My servants go with me," Raven called after him.

  "As it pleases you," his brother replied negligently and went off to gather the other Princes. After casting a few last admiring looks at the clockwork men, five warriors in armor followed after the red-haired Prince. Raven's mother also trailed them and they all made their way to a large tent erected in the very middle of the camp. Six standards flapped in the breeze from the tent's central pole, and these were soon joined by a seventh that bore Raven's seal.

  "So, uh, little bird?" Trevor had been making an effort to suppress his laughter, but he finally lost it when he saw Meran smirk at Raven as she echoed his brother's words.

  The Prince scowled and muttered something under his breath in the weird language that sounded like the one they had heard his mother use earlier. "My older brothers are buffoons!" he snapped. "Ignore whatever they say unless I tell you otherwise." Then, in an obvious bid to distract them from their amusement over his nickname, he rapidly began to tell them quick facts about the other Princes that he said they needed to know before they showed up in the council.

  The blond one was the eldest of the King's sons. His name was Brannon and he held Court in Kirkglen, which had the oldest forests in all of the Strangelands. "People say he's a good fighter, the best swordsman in the kingdom," Raven said. "But I say he's arrogant and loud and he eats like a hog," he added unkindly. "He's got the manners of one, too. He often shows up at the King's Court on some pretext or other, but he's really only there for the banquets." Meanwhile, the red-haired Prince who had accosted him was Rogan. This brother ruled over Carragh Peak. "He's supposed to rule over it, anyway," was Raven's comment. "But he spends most of his time wandering in the mountains like a bloody vagabond. Whenever his Lords wish him to attend to Court matters, they have to track him down in the woods where he runs around stark naked, frightening the birds."

  The next two Princes were twins. Kei had been born first and he was the ruler of Nishihama, which ran the length of the Kingdom's coastline. His hair, almost but not quite as dark as Raven's, was tied back in a short, straight pony tail. His slanting onyx eyes were set in a proud-looking face that was always carefully impassive and he spoke as little as possible. "He used to stutter horribly, you see," Raven explained, "then he decided he would try being all mysterious and silent because that would get him more attention from the Court ladies." Kei's younger twin, Kaemon, looked exactly like him in every aspect, but had a completely different manner. "He is the most annoying person in the entire Kingdom, I swear," Raven told them. "He never shuts up and he's always laughing and joking and getting drunk and chasing women. He's got a whole castle of concubines. It's disgusting!" Kaemon was in charge of Kishima, a chain of islands just off the coast of Nishihama.

  Baydr was the King's fifth son. He had dark, gold-toned skin and light amethyst eyes. His head was clean-shaven and, in the tradition of his mother's people, he bore the tattoos and markings of royalty on his back, shoulders, arms, throat, and face. "He doesn't get along with our father, at all," Raven confided. "That's why he set up his Court of Magra in the middle of the desert. I could almost like him, if he wasn't such an insufferable stuck-up snob." Then there was the sixth Prince, Orland. His hair was a soft brown while his green eyes were as vivid as emeralds. "He hasn't got a single sensible thought in his head," Raven sneered. "His Lords in Verdeciel do everything for him, including picking out the clothes he should wear. He's always off in the woods to dream or write poetry and nonsense like that."

  "What's the name of your Court, or the place where you hold Court, or whatever you call it?" Trevor asked after Raven was done describing his brothers in as unflattering a light as possible.

  Raven drew himself up and straightened his spine even more as if the question offended him. "I," he said, "don't have one."

  "What? Why not?"

  "Because I never cared to have one," Raven shrugged. "I had a castle built and everything, with servants everywhere I turned, but it got boring after a few centuries and I ended up spending more time in Silverhaven than in Ashthorn."

  "Plus, no other families really wanted their sons to be Lords in your Court, right?" Meran guessed dryly.

  He snorted, suppressing a laugh, then he shrugged and admitted, "Yes. They were all afraid that I would influence their precious heirs and turn them into debauchers or berserkers. No one wanted their sons to play with Lady Ceirdwyn's son for fear they'd offend him somehow, and then she'd slaughter their entire bloodline. They may not have a very high opinion of my mother, but they are all terrified of her as well."

  Trevor would have asked more questions, because it seemed to him that everything Raven said in answer to questions inevitably raised even more, but they had entered the tent by this time, so he shut up. Apparently, there was some sort of seating order that had to be followed because Raven ignored the empty spot right in front of him and walked to the other end of the tent before taking his place in a circle of his brothers. His mother moved to stand on his right and hissed a command at the two mortals to stand a few feet away from them, which they hastily obeyed. Once all the Princes were seated, the council began.

  Brannon swiftly took charge of considering their strategy and formulating battle plans. Raven had evidently told the truth about his eldest brother being a good warrior because th
e blonde Prince spoke knowledgeably about Silverhaven's defenses, the Lords who would likely be fighting against them, and what their army of soldiers needed to do in order to subdue the enemy forces and conquer Benwyr's domain. The other Princes also had their own suggestions for their planned attack and they discussed things quite vigorously, and a little violently to the alarm of the mortals, before everyone was satisfied with the course of action they were going to take. Lady Ceirdwyn's expertise and counsel were much sought after and valued, and they incorporated several of her ideas into their final plans. Raven's power as a seventh son, in particular, became an integral component of their strategy.

  As Lady Ceirdwyn put it, "My son is the only one among us who can match Prince Benwyr's magic. My clockwork warriors can engage Silverhaven's soldiers, so Your Highnesses would be able to lead your men against the Lords. This would allow Raven to battle Benwyr without the distractions of dealing with other opponents." The other Princes nodded and agreed that she was absolutely right, so the final details were worked out then everyone was dismissed.

  Once the council was over, the camp began to bustle with activity as the Princes prepared their men for the coming battle. There was a lot of rushing to and fro, shoving, impromptu sword fights, shouted arguments, short-lived rivalries, and good-natured boisterous teasing. Trevor looked on at the antics of the soldiers and frowned worriedly. When Raven finished speaking with his mother and she finally walked away to check on her automatons, he cleared his throat quite loudly and, once he was able to claim the Prince's attention, he commented, "Your brother's soldiers seem to be taking all of this rather lightly. It's almost like an outdoor rock concert in here."

  Raven merely shrugged. "Warriors," he said dismissively, "They are all a bit touched in the head. It has been ages since the last time anyone tried to wage war on anyone, now they are going to be fighting a seventh son and, if they would have their wish, they would also be fighting against the Kingdom's enemies soon enough. As long as they get to wave their swords about and skewer a man through his guts, they're happy."

  "What about your mother?" Meran asked, and they all looked at Lady Ceirdwyn as she inspected her fighters while obviously enjoying the attention of the soldiers who were hanging around her like smitten boys. "She also seems to relish the thought of the coming battle." As they watched, Lady Ceirdwyn finished her inspection and then took up the challenge offered by one of the soldiers who wanted to engage her in a swordfight. Soon, she was clashing swords against seven men and she was laughing delightedly the whole time.

  "Lady Ceirdwyn used to be a battle maiden, and one of the most fearsome the Strangelands have ever seen." The one who answered Meran was Rogan. He appeared by her side and smiled down at her quite charmingly, his pale eyes glinting. Trevor heard Raven's teeth start to grind together and he winced. Then he was amused at the helpless fury he could see in the Prince's face.

  Meanwhile, Rogan kept flirting with Meran, who looked completely oblivious and immune to all the charm the red-haired Prince was throwing her way. He was now telling her stories about Raven's mother's exploits in the battlefield during her younger days and she occasionally made polite noises to let him know she was listening, but she wasn't encouraging him to go on either. Then things became more interesting when Princes Kei and Kaemon joined them. It soon became a competition between Rogan and Kaemon to see who could best flirt with the mortal girl.

  Meran was having no trouble ignoring all the outrageous compliments, hints, and innuendos the two Princes were working into their conversation with every chance they got. She continued talking to them like she had no idea what they were really saying. All the years of dealing with the amorous Lords of Benwyr's Court had clearly equipped her with the right skills to effortlessly deflect the less-than-honorable intentions of rich, spoiled men. Raven, however, was having more and more trouble reining in his temper. His face got redder and redder with every flattering word that came out of his brothers' mouths until, finally–Trevor took a step back when he sensed it was coming–Raven exploded.

  "Shut up, you bloody fools!" he suddenly snarled, then grabbed Meran and positioned himself in front of her like a vicious animal protecting its territory, or its mate. "She doesn't want to have anything to do with you, she's not one of the human girls you can sweep away with love charms, and she is most definitely not going to be another one of your romantic conquests who litter the entire Kingdom from end to end! Stay away from her!"

  Trevor fully expected to hear roars of offended male pride and for a nasty fight to break out after that. But instead, Rogan and Kaemon, even the stoic Kei, broke out into wild laughter. Raven's face turned even redder at the sight of their amusement. "What is so bloody funny?" he demanded furiously.

  "You," Rogan declared and ruffled Raven's hair even though the younger man kept trying to push him off. "After all these years, and after all the women who have thrown themselves at you–you pick a servant, and a mortal. We can't wait until you tell Father. Let us know when you plan to do so because I'm sure it will be quite a scene. And we definitely intend to be there to witness it." Then he winked at Meran and walked off with the two other Princes, still chuckling.

  "Well," Trevor smiled at Raven and Meran, who didn't even look at each other. His brow furrowed in confusion.

  "It will be twilight soon," Raven suddenly said, now acting like nothing had happened. "We must go and prepare for the battle." He turned away from them without another word and made his way towards Lady Ceirdwyn.

  Trevor gave Meran a questioning look. She just smiled crookedly and shrugged. "Let's go," was all she said to him. "We've got people to save."

  ~~~

  Chapter 27