The Empty Crown

by Georgina Makalani

  He could tell they were talking, but he couldn’t hear anything over the crackle of the flames and the whispered voices of the women as they settled down for the night. They both glanced at him at the same moment, and he hoped he looked like he was watching the flames rather than them.

  He closed his eyes and sighed. It might be nice to travel with others, but he wasn’t sure just how many that would be.

  Chapter 11

  Ana tried not to chew on her lip as she sat by the door and watched the sun start to light the trees around the old building. She glanced back at Dray as he picked over the last of the meat. When he looked up, she looked back to the trees.

  ‘We are not lost,’ he said again.

  ‘But you don’t quite know where we are.’

  ‘Not exactly,’ he admitted. ‘As long as we are out of the way of the mage, does it matter?’

  She sighed and stood up, brushing at her dirty dress. It made little difference. She pulled the threadbare cloak of Ende’s tighter around her shoulders. It held a comfortable warmth close to her skin. The man himself had been similarly difficult to explain. Whenever she asked him a question, he would just smile at her, a dark twinkle in his eye. Although he appeared to be just the same as any other man his age as he sat by the fire, his hands held up to the flames.

  ‘The end of the world,’ Dray murmured behind her.

  ‘Excuse me?’ Ana looked from him to the mountain, wondering what he saw.

  ‘The mountains. They are often called the end of the world and it appears that way today.’

  ‘But they aren’t,’ she said.

  ‘It might depend on the point of view,’ Ende said.

  ‘But Sheer Rock is on one side and the rest of the Kingdom of Ilia on the other. It is a marker, and a difficult crossing, but it is not the end of the world.’

  ‘And that is your point of view,’ Ende said, a cackle in the back of his throat as he moved past her and out into the morning light.

  ‘Do you still want to keep him?’ Dray asked behind her. She smiled at the idea, although he wasn’t far wrong. There were moments when the dragon scared her more than she would like to admit. He knew far more than he was telling her, and he knew more of her past than she thought anyone would care to know.

  ‘I didn’t have any of these gifts until the mage arrived,’ she blurted. The old man stopped and turned his dark eyes on her.

  ‘Truly?’ he murmured, and she nodded vigorously. ‘I don’t believe you,’ he said, striding away into the trees.

  She swung around to face Dray, who put his hands up in defence and stepped back. ‘I believe you,’ he said quickly.

  ‘I had strange feelings before,’ she said with a sigh. ‘That is all. Since I met the mage, I have strange dreams, and it is as though I can see a man’s thoughts.’

  ‘Can you see mine?’ Dray asked, but she turned away and headed out into the trees after the old man. She didn’t want to see Dray’s thoughts. They might be different from what she hoped they were, and she wasn’t quite sure what she hoped for. Or why he had saved her in the first place.

  ‘I don’t want to see anyone’s,’ she snapped as she walked away.

  ‘We need to go up the mountain,’ he called after her.

  She stopped then and looked around. Where was Ende going then, if it wasn’t the same way she travelled? She took a moment to look after where he had gone, but she couldn’t see any sign of him now. She turned and looked up the mountain, pulled the cloak around her again and headed into the trees.

  ‘Wait for me,’ Dray called after her. ‘We heard men before; they might be moving through the trees looking for us.’

  ‘I no longer care if I am found,’ she murmured. A large hand closed around her arm, pulling her to a stop. She blinked up at him then, wondering how he had closed the distance between them so quickly. Or was she slower than she thought?

  ‘Don’t say that,’ he said softly. ‘I care if we are found, for it will mean more than your death.’

  ‘I didn’t ask you to help me,’ she said, pulling from his hold and moving up the mountainside. The ground was getting steeper and harder to travel, and she thought they might have to start going across rather than straight up. She looked up again at the looming peaks and wondered just how they were going to find their way over and whether they would ever be able to find who Dray was looking for on the other side.

  He sighed behind her. As she took a step, her foot slipped on a rock and she grabbed at a narrow, bendy tree that was luckily within reach. Dray’s bulk stopped her from slipping further down the mountain.

  ‘I can’t do this,’ she said. The exhaustion of the day before was washing over her again, and they had barely started.

  ‘Let’s go this way,’ Dray suggested, his hand at her back while he pointed with the other to the left. There was an indistinct trail, which in many ways made her nervous. If there was a trail, it meant others had come this way. But it was less steep and not as gravelly as the path she was trying to take.

  She glanced back at him and nodded. With his hand at her back, he directed her across and they travelled on. She glanced back occasionally, but all she could see were trees. She couldn’t tell where they had been, and there was no indication that there was a building below them at all. She imagined the ruins they had stayed in had once been something grand.

  Despite the easier gradient, the climb was hard. They walked in silence, Ana leading the way and Dray at her back, ensuring she didn’t fall back down the mountain. It was only after she was sure the air was getting colder around them that she stopped and turned to the man behind her. ‘Do you think he will come with us?’

  ‘Ende?’

  She nodded, chewing on her lip again.

  ‘He seems fond of you. I’m sure he will find you again.’

  ‘I’m worried he might want to eat me,’ she admitted. Remembering the gleam in his eye when he spoke to her, she shivered.

  Dray smiled broadly. ‘I’m sure you would be very tasty, but I won’t let it happen.’

  ‘You may not be able to stop him,’ she sighed.

  ‘I might not want to,’ he said, still grinning as he pushed past her and along the path.

  She blew out a long breath and started after him. She wanted to say something clever in reply, but she didn’t have the energy or the words at hand. She stopped again and, leaning on a tree, looked back over where they had come.

  The trees had thinned out, and she could see well beyond their tops across the Sheer Rock islands. She let out a sigh of wonder.

  Dray was beside her again, looking in the same direction.

  ‘They look so small,’ she murmured, ‘and yet so beautiful.’

  ‘Green,’ he said. ‘I can’t see the bridges.’

  ‘Do you think this is why the mountains are called the end of the world? The islands might look green, but you can’t tell there is anyone living out there. And you would wonder why anyone would.’

  ‘You never thought to leave?’

  She shook her head. ‘It was scary, but home.’

  ‘And your aunt?’

  ‘Don’t call her that,’ she growled. The smile slipped from his face as he nodded once. ‘I’m sorry, I didn’t know that was who she was. She was never kind, never thoughtful, and she never once talked to me as though I were anything other than a servant carrying her tea.’

  ‘I’m sorry,’ he murmured.

  ‘It is not your fault,’ she snapped again. ‘It is your fault that I am lost on a mountain. But then if it weren’t for you, I would be lost on the rocks.’

  He nodded once again and then turned back along the path.

  ‘Drayton,’ she called after him. He slowed a little to allow her to catch up, but he didn’t turn around or answer her. ‘Why did you save me?’ she asked, reaching out and grabbing at his sleeve.

  ‘You’ve asked me that before,’ he said, pulling from her grip and continuing to climb. ‘I don’t know exactly what possessed me,’
he muttered. ‘I must have lost my mind.’ He stopped then and turned to take her in, his smile warm and genuine. ‘I didn’t want to see you smashed on the rocks when you were only a serving girl.’

  ‘Thank you,’ she murmured. He turned back, and they continued to climb in silence.

  As the snow became closer and the air colder, Ana pulled the cloak tighter around her, thankful that it carried the warmth of the dragon. But despite the cloak, she didn’t know how they would survive in the snow. She trudged along, looking only at the narrow path before her, and then she walked into Drayton’s back.

  ‘Sorry,’ she murmured, trying not to shiver. ‘What are you doing?’ she asked when he didn’t respond.

  He looked into the distance, and she wondered why anyone would think to cross these mountains, let alone cut a road through them to the sheer cliffs she had called home. Who had her people been before Ilia had found them?

  ‘There,’ he said, confidence in his voice.

  ‘What?’ she asked, trying to see what he was looking at.

  He raised his hand, and she looked along his arm to a dark mark in the distance. ‘What is that?’

  ‘A pass through the mountains, and a way that doesn’t involve snow.’

  ‘Well I’m grateful for that,’ she murmured. ‘Are you sure?’

  ‘Not at all,’ he said, striding off ahead of her. A giggle started in the back of her throat. ‘You laugh, but you follow,’ he said, turning back to give her a grin.

  ‘Where else would I go but with you, my soldier in shining armour?’

  He stopped then, turning a serious face to hers. The laughter died in her throat. His black armour reflected the light, and she was sure he would be formidable in battle. Although why she could picture that, she wasn’t sure. She took a step back, losing her footing, and he reached out a strong hand to save her again.

  ‘What did you see?’ he asked, almost cautiously.

  She shook her head. She didn’t think she had seen anything. But then as she looked up, she was sure she saw the gash across his face again, and she squeezed her eyes closed.

  ‘You go ahead,’ he said. ‘We can take this part at your pace, but we want to reach that pass before nightfall.’

  Ana looked towards the dark mark on the mountainside and wondered if she would ever reach it. She nodded once. Then, without looking at his face, she headed along the path ahead of him. She found it hard to breathe, and she wasn’t sure if that was because they were so high in the mountains or because she kept seeing him not as he was. She shook her head. She hadn’t seen anything like it until the mage.

  Ana stopped on the path and swung back to look at Dray properly.

  ‘We need to keep moving,’ he said.

  She studied his face. A thick stubble covered his chin, but he was not scarred. ‘It was you,’ she said, taking a step closer to him.

  ‘What was?’

  ‘The reason I have seen what I have.’

  He stood taller, his face as serious as that first moment she had seen him in the lord’s study. ‘I don’t see how.’

  ‘Neither do I,’ she admitted, and he relaxed a little. ‘But when I first saw your face, you wore a large ugly scar across it. And then it was gone.’

  He put a hand to his cheek as though knowing where it was.

  ‘It was after seeing your scar and then not seeing it that I was able to see what I could for the mage, and the dragon.’

  ‘What did you see of the dragon?’

  ‘It wasn’t really clear and it didn’t make sense. None of this makes sense,’ she cried, and he leaned back from her. Then he rested his hand on her shoulder.

  ‘Then we will find a way for it to make sense. Someone other than the mage must know what you have and why.’

  ‘Will your friend help?’

  ‘I don’t know,’ he said, pointing her back along the path. ‘If we don’t make it down from this mountain soon, we may never know.’

  She nodded, hurrying along the path, trying not to trip over her tired legs. They continued in silence. It took them until it was almost dark to reach what had become an opening in the mountain, the closer they got to it. It looked more like a cave than a way through the mountain, but she didn’t want to question him.

  ‘Do we camp here, or try to make it through?’

  He looked back over the darkening mountain. ‘Let’s gather some materials for a fire and see how far we get.’

  Chapter 12

  Ed sat in the back of the cart and tried not to complain. His whole body ached from the jostling he had received. They continued to travel faster than he’d thought they could; he would have expected the horse to drop from exhaustion long ago. They had only taken a day and a half to break through the trees and reach the base of the mountains, which appeared even higher than they had when he had looked at them from a distance.

  They had raced along a track through the Near Forest that was clearly not the main road, yet he was still surprised they hadn’t met anyone along the way. At one stage he was almost sure the forest kept them hidden, as it had the women in the clearing. Although the men of the forest must have taken them there in the first place. He shook his head. There was far more to the Kingdom of Ilia than he had thought possible, and more to its people.

  Belle would glance back from her seat beside her father every now and then to ensure he was still there. Yet she didn’t smile, not once. He wondered if she really wanted to continue the journey with them. With him. For he was happy to continue on his own. Although it would have taken him a lot longer to reach the mountains on foot, and he was more worried than he would like to admit to Belle, or anyone else, that there might be more men amongst the trees than he could handle on his own.

  He looked down over the sword across his lap. He was amazed at what he had managed to achieve taking on those men, killing at least one of them. He let out a slow breath. His training was aimed at such things, and yet he never imagined he would have the chance to use the sword, nor that he would manage to use it to such effect.

  Life had a way of showing you that things were not what you thought they were, or that people were not what you thought. Phillip remained as silent as his daughter on the journey north, and Ed wondered again why they would want to travel with him.

  He had tried asking, but the only response from either of them was that he was owed. And he was sure Belle thought he couldn’t survive on his own.

  Earlier that day he had looked up to the mountain and thought he saw the sun shining from something near the top, but he didn’t know what that could be. How far would he have to climb to find the man he searched for, and would he be able to find him in the great expanse of the mountain ahead?

  Lost in his thoughts of the mountain, Ed heard thunder. As the wagon slowed for the first time that day, he leapt over the side and walked a short distance through the trees. The sound grew louder, and he froze. It wasn’t thunder—it was the sound of horses. A lot of horses, and the jingle of metal gave the indication of soldiers. Too many soldiers. He jumped as a hand rested on his arm.

  ‘Come away,’ Belle whispered in his ear.

  ‘Who are they looking for?’ he asked.

  ‘They are the King’s Men. It could be anyone they think may have conspired to betray the kingdom,’ she murmured. He turned to the harsh look on her face, which creased her beauty into something angry.

  ‘The King’s Men?’ he asked.

  She nodded and waved him back towards the cart, which Phillip had guided from the path and into the trees. Ed wasn’t quite sure how he had managed to fit it between the trees, but he was happy enough to stand beside it, hidden from the world as the sound moved past them.

  He wondered who rode with them. He couldn’t see anyone, but he could hear more soldiers than he’d realised rode under the king’s banner.

  ‘The King’s Men,’ he said slowly.

  ‘He is just a boy,’ Phillip murmured. ‘It would be the regent who sent them out.’


  ‘But for what reason?’ Ed asked.

  ‘He doesn’t need one,’ Phillip said. ‘And if he did, we would not likely understand it. The world of kings is far beyond us.’

  Ed looked over his shoulder as he nodded, wondering just how far away it was. As the cart made its way onto the narrow track again, he climbed onto the back, his legs hanging over the edge and the sword across his lap.

  ‘Why would they be this far north?’ Belle asked.

  ‘I couldn’t answer that if I met the king myself,’ Phillip answered.

  ‘Pa, really. As if the likes of us would meet the king,’ she said.

  ‘You might have if you had been tributed to the capital,’ Ed said, turning slightly to find her smiling at him.

  ‘And now you wish you hadn’t saved me,’ she said, but there was laughter in her voice.

  ‘I was only hoping you might meet the king,’ he said, turning back to look over the road. A boy who couldn’t even manage his own men. He tried not to sigh as they broke free of the trees. Shivering at the cooler breeze, he turned to look over the expanse of mountain before them. ‘You don’t have to come,’ he said.

  ‘We couldn’t leave you now,’ Belle said. ‘Who knows what danger you might meet.’

  ‘My point exactly,’ he said. ‘Your father came all this way just to save you—no good in you both getting killed trying to get me up a mountain.’

  Phillip pulled the horse to a stop and turned to look at him seriously. ‘Do you even know where you are going?’

  Ed took the chance to jump down from the cart. The mountains were overwhelming, and he had no idea where to start. ‘North,’ he murmured.

  ‘The Lord’s Seat is along the main road, I should think. I don’t know who else you might meet along the way, but that might be the best place to start. You haven’t told me the name of this friend of yours.’