"My lady," Kenward said, eyeing the Serpent's crumbling timbers. "My ship was damaged during our landing. I doubt the quantity of flakewood I need to repair her is within the hold. May I--?"
"Get him what he needs," Trinda said to a nearby guard. The man nodded and moved to face Kenward. A younger man with a wax tablet and stylus approached. "And do not let him rob me," she added. "This man is a scoundrel."
Kenward made no argument and instead bowed to Trinda. The woman in a girl's body was thoughtful, and Brother Vaughn knew there was far more intellect behind those eyes than most would admit. She was up to something, perhaps many things, and he wished he knew what she planned. Everyone within the hold said she had an uncanny ability to read Dragonhold, as if communicating with it. The underground fortress was expansive beyond reckoning, yet she continued to discover its secrets.
When Kenward finished listing the items he needed, the guard and his scribe turned to the throne. Trinda met the guard's eyes, and he nodded to her. She nodded in return. Kenward started breathing again. It was then he realized Martik's crew were about to unload the throne. "Wait!" he said. "She's gonna shift when you move that thing!"
Martik waved off Kenward's worry as he orchestrated his crew, who made him proud. Using a hastily constructed hoist with a thick, oiled rope, they lifted the hulking metallic stone chair and eased it away from the Serpent. Using braces and sandbags, the ship had stabilized and secured. The crew worked with speed and efficiency Brother Vaughn admired. Not many achieved such a high level of teamwork and competency.
Once it was freed from the ship's hold, the crew lowered the throne onto wooden braces then disassembled the hoist. Using the same materials, they built a platform around the throne. It would take many strong bodies to move the stone and metal chair; this platform with its raised supports would make it easy for them to do so. These people worked with smooth, quiet efficiency--impressive, indeed. Now if he could just figure out how to get Martik out of Dragonhold and to the Firstland, where he was really needed.
"I wish to see the throne in place," Trinda said. "All of you are to be present. Without you, the throne would not be here. All of you. My guards will care for your ship."
Kenward was hesitant but the size and number of guards nearby provided him ample motivation. They were in Trinda's hold and would need to do as they were told while they remained here. Brother Vaughn still had no idea why he'd been summoned. He thought perhaps it had been a mistake, or maybe she'd forgotten asking specifically for him. She hadn't so much as greeted him--another puzzle.
Martik and his crew were already halfway across the great hall when Trinda had her guards help her down. She followed the same path as Martik, and the Serpent's crew fell in behind, followed by more guards. This trip was not optional.
Being back amid the towering columns was reminiscent for Brother Vaughn, though it was in far better repair this time around. Under Trinda's rule, a great many things had been restored to their original luster or had been improved upon, as with the bulwark facade.
Even the throne had been commissioned by Catrin and Prios and fulfilled their desires. Both had nearly died in the viewing chamber because they lacked the anchor effect these very thrones provided. Catrin and Prios were gone. Emotion threatened to overcome him. Never would he get over the loss of them. Never.
The viewing chamber was much as Brother Vaughn remembered it: small, sparse, and with two holes in the chamber's outer wall, open sky beyond. This was among the very few places within the hold where one could see the sky. This alone made the room remarkable. The single throne cast the room out of symmetry. Two holes, one throne. The balance was gone, and it offended the eye.
"Do you see what you've done?" Trinda asked, her voice shrill.
"I apologize, m'lady," Kenward said.
"You should've brought the other chair and left him behind," she said, pointing to Brother Vaughn. It was the first she had acknowledged him. It was an ill auspice. He reconsidered the wisdom in coming here.
"But since you are here," Trinda said, "I'll be kind, as you once were to me."
A bit of hope bloomed in Brother Vaughn's chest. "Thank you," he said, trying to appear deferential.
"Come," Trinda said. "All of you." Brother Vaughn wasn't certain why she kept saying that, but she gave him little time to ponder. As they entered the hallway running between the great hall and the God's Eye, Trinda stopped. "Fetch the diver," she said, and a man sprinted back toward the great hall. Trinda, though, turned and walked toward the God's Eye. Brother Vaughn walked with a sense of anticipation and wonder. Did she know? he asked himself. What could she possibly want to show them in that expansive underground lake? He knew some of what lurked there, and he reached for the cube out of habit, lamenting the loss of it.
Logan, the diver, nodded to Brother Vaughn after catching up with them and making his way to the water's edge. He wore nothing but a loin wrap and looked out of place standing beside Trinda and her guards. From within her white robes, Trinda pulled a glowing orb. It cast warm light that bounced off the water: a herald globe. "Do you remember?" Trinda asked Brother Vaughn, who nodded. "I sang for you and summoned the fish. Do you remember?"
"I remember," he said.
"Good," Trinda continued. "You were kind to me, and I'll now return the favor."
Brother Vaughn didn't know how to tell her he'd lost the cube.
"Sevellon," Trinda said. "The time has come."
Sevellon, Brother Vaughn thought, how did he know that name?
From behind Kenward, Sevon stepped into the herald globe's light. Kenward hissed. Sevon turned with an apology in his eyes. "Mistress," he said.
"I do like it when you call me that, Sevellon," Trinda said with the closest thing to a smile Brother Vaughn had ever seen on her face. "What do you have for me?"
"Just the items requested, mistress."
Brother Vaughn watched in disbelief when Sevon--or Sevellon--produced a familiar cube from his pockets. He also handed Trinda an object Brother Vaughn recognized. At first glance, it appeared to be nothing more than a small figurine. He recognized it as the one the lord chancellor had asked him to hold during a welcoming ceremony. He'd not realized it at the time, but this was something of great value. But why have him steal the cube?
"It was only a precaution," Trinda said, as if reading his thoughts. "I always intended you to be here for this, though I wasn't certain you'd come. I needed . . . insurance.
"Do you know what this is and how it works?" Trinda asked the diver.
"No, m'lady. I dived for it and found it, but I don't know what it is."
"Tell him," Trinda said to Kenward.
Brother Vaughn was a little surprised when Kenward began to speak; he was not a man accustomed to taking orders.
"It's a key," Kenward said. "A unique and special key meant to open only one thing, a ship's secondhold." The diver looked confused. "The hold is where the captain keeps his cargo. The secondhold is where the captain keeps his most precious belongings. If there's a ship down there and that key opens the secondhold, there's no telling what you'll find.
These words once again ignited Brother Vaughn's imagination, and he could imagine a great many possibilities, but he'd done that for years. Now he wanted to know what was actually in the secondhold.
"How does Logan use the key?" Brother Vaughn asked, unable to keep the impatience from his voice.
Kenward raised an eyebrow but didn't argue with Brother Vaughn. Instead, he turned back to Logan. "Look for the captain's quarters; they'll be the biggest. Search for trap doors, false bottoms in shelves, that sort of thing. Look for a recessed area the right size to accept the cube."
"Then what?" the diver asked.
Kenward just shrugged. "That's all I really know. It should allow a trap door to open, but you might have to do something else, maybe push on it or pull a lever. If that doesn't work, try changing the orientation of the cube."
"He's going to be under water," Brot
her Vaughn said. "That all sounds pretty complicated."
"Your only other choice is to raise the ship. And even then you might have trouble," Kenward said. "There's no way you'll get a proper secondhold open without the key or a dragon."
"May I see if I can find the secondhold first," Logan said, and Trinda nodded her assent and handed him the herald globe. "Don't lose this."
He nodded and stepped onto the barge. After Bradley poled them into place, Logan took a few deep breaths, slipped beneath the surface, and swam downward. The light in his hand grew brighter the deeper he went. A sunken ship emerged from the darkness, its shadow form pristine with clean, sharp lines.
Chapter 9
The greatest threat our world faces is unyielding belief.
--Barabas the druid
* * *
Wonder and excitement emanated from the usually implacable Trinda. No one could say what Logan would find, but Brother Vaughn could feel the collective hope the diver would find something. Locating the secondhold would be a feat in and of itself; opening it and retrieving its contents a near impossible task.
When the man broke the surface and gasped for breath, Brother Vaughn knew he was pushing his abilities to their limits. Part of him feared the diver would swim into the ship and never find his way back out. It was a rational fear, and that was what troubled him most.
Glistening in the light of the herald globe he held in one hand, the diver had to breathe for a moment before he could speak. Trinda tapped her toe.
"I found the cabins," he said across the water. "Haven't figured out which is the captain's cabin yet. Some of the hatches are closed, so I'm going to check the open ones first."
Trinda sighed. "Do your best," she said.
After Logan took a few deep breaths, he dived and kicked his way back to the sunken ship.
Turning back at her guard, Trinda said. "Surely he's not the only person in the hold who can dive. Find the rest. Equip them and bring them here."
"Yes, m'lady," he said before leaving at nearly a full run, a wise move given Trinda's darkening mood.
Brother Vaughn watched the child queen and tried not to think about her that way. She'd hurt him, for certain, but that didn't seem to have been her intention. She never appeared to want to hurt anyone--except maybe Edling; she just wanted her way. Kenward was unusually quiet, and Brother Vaughn suspected it was because he was standing on solid ground, something the man quite openly detested. Even this marvelous body of water trapped within a mountain wasn't enough to overcome his discomfort. Trinda had almost complete control over him, his ship, and his crew, especially the thief who'd never been his to begin with; Brother Vaughn could understand his trepidation. Given the things that had come from Kenward's mouth in the past, he decided silence was the best he could hope for.
When the guard returned with three young men and two young women, each holding a herald globe as if it might explode at any instant, all of them were breathing hard.
"You bring me divers who are out of breath?" Trinda asked. "How good can they be?"
"I'm sorry, m'lady. I asked them to hurry, and these were the only people brave enough to answer the call."
Trinda nodded. "They are to be commended for their bravery," she said. "The water is cold and deep. Do not die. Your job is to help Logan and provide him light and not to die. Is that clear?" The divers all nodded, none bold enough to speak to the queen. They moved to the barge, but Trinda stepped in front of the smallest girl, who was younger than Trinda appeared. "Do your parents know you're here?"
The girl nodded.
"Do not die."
"I won't die, m'lady," the girl finally said, her voice quavering. "I used to clean the barnacles from our fishing boat before--"
Trinda nodded and stepped out of the girl's way. When she turned, her eyes were greeted by an incredible sight. Six herald globes cast overlapping pools of light onto the subterranean lake floor. Not far away, Brother Vaughn knew there were crystalline formations in a megalithic feral dragon's likeness. The divers had been urged to avoid the area, not because Trinda feared it, but she must have known the divers would. Brother Vaughn couldn't argue with the logic, since he, too, had been made to feel small, weak, and vulnerable upon seeing the mystical creature.
The ship itself was a design unlike anything Brother Vaughn had ever seen. It appeared there had been rowers in the middle decks, and she had no masts. There was no wind to speak of within this place. The ship must have been built within the cavern and would forever remain there. Trinda did not want the ship raised, even though it appeared perfectly preserved. Her only instruction had been to retrieve items of value, and specifically those items the ship's captain had considered most valuable.
"The ship has a name," Logan said when he next surfaced. "Drakon Ghar. Not sure what that means."
"I believe it means those of the dragon who protect," Brother Vaughn said.
"A guardian dragon," Trinda said, her visage unreadable. "I've never had one of those. I have wondered what it would be like. It's not all I expected it to be." No one made any response, and Brother Vaughn was trying to decide if it had been a joke. Unwilling to laugh at the wrong thing, he remained silent. Three more times Logan returned from the ship, though the rest surfaced twice as often. The young girl Trinda had questioned shivered so badly, her teeth knocked and her skin was a bluish color. "Out of the water," Trinda said, pointing to her. The girl might have protested but the glow in Trinda's eyes made her think better of it.
Smart girl, Brother Vaughn thought.
"Get her a blanket," Trinda said, and her guard went pale. Trinda just sighed and shook her head. "Someone had better go get some blankets, then, hadn't they?" He was already running.
Two boys got out of the water as well, and Trinda did not scold or chide them, nor did Bradley complain about conveying them to shore. When Trinda's guards returned with blankets, Trinda grabbed a blanket herself and wrapped it around the youngest girl's shoulders. She did, however, make sure the herald globes were returned to her guards. Logan broke the surface again and gasped for breath. "I think I found it," he said.
"The captain's quarters?" Trinda asked.
"The secondhold," he said. Subdued excitement rippled over those standing on the cold stone shore along the God's Eye. Trinda boarded the barge this time. When the barge reached the man who was treading water, Trinda knelt down and handed Logan the cube he himself had found and given to Brother Vaughn years ago. "Pardon me for saying this, m'lady, but if there's something in there that entitles a man to wine, women, and song, may I be first in line?"
Trinda laughed, her eyes twinkling. "You may."
"There's one other thing," Logan said, though he hesitated before continuing. "It looks to me like the captain of the Drakon Ghar sunk her intentionally. There's no battle damage, and all the hatches are open."
Brother Vaughn wasn't certain what to make of it, but his curiosity about the secondhold overwhelmed all else. Would Logan be able to open the secondhold? Would the ancient lock even function? Considering how well the ship was preserved, a part of him dared to hope. Another part knew the most dangerous dives were ahead. Twice more the diver came up for air, each time winded.
"Out of the water. All of you," Trinda said.
"I think I've just about got it open," Logan said. "Just one or two more dives, and we should know what's inside."
"Get out of the water, dry off, and warm up with some tea," Trinda said, and she turned her gaze on another of her guards. The man didn't know what to do at first, but then he must have realized there was no hot tea waiting for the divers, and he dashed away. "Fools," Trinda said under her breath; perhaps it was not meant for Brother Vaughn's ears, but he heard it nonetheless.
"Describe it to me," Trinda said to Logan once the barge reached shore. Kenward and Brother Vaughn stepped closer as the diver spoke quietly, still shivering. Trinda had been right. They needed to warm up. Had he misjudged her? Again?
"It's in what wo
uld have been the floor of the captain's cabin under a desk that's secured to the deck. I saw a square outline in the wood about the size of the cube. With a little prying, the wood plug came loose, and I saw the carvings within the recessed area. That's when I knew it was what you had asked me to find."
"You've done well," Trinda said. "Now tell me about the recess. What did it look like? Were the carvings the same as what's on the cube?"
Kenward listened intently but Brother Vaughn couldn't quite understand why she was pursuing this when he nearly had the secondhold open.
"It looked as if they had carved the cube out of that very piece of wood," Logan said. "The carvings on it fit perfectly into the ones in the recess once I had it turned the right way. That's what took me so long. I'm sorry."
"You have no reason to be sorry," Trinda said. "And here is your tea. I'm so glad you didn't have to wait any longer."
Trinda's guards had the good sense to look sheepish. "I've asked Miss Mariss to send hot food," Bernerd said.
"Thank you," Trinda said. "It's good to see you thinking for yourself."
"Yes, m'lady," he said, which annoyed Trinda. Everyone else wisely remained silent.
Runners arrived from the kitchens, and they brought thick stew in a kettle and loaves of bread. The stew was ladled into mugs and bread torn off in generous hunks. The divers eagerly accepted the food, except for Logan. "It's not good to dive with a full stomach," he said. "I want to get back in the water." The other divers hesitated, and he held up a hand to them. "I know where I'm going now, and I don't need any help this time. You all did a great job helping find it. Thank you. Eat."
Brother Vaughn thought Trinda might stand in his way, but she just nodded and stood aside. Logan handed his blanket to a guard and stepped onto the barge. Once back in the water, he dived without hesitation. Not for the first time, Brother Vaughn tried to understand why the herald globe shone more brightly the deeper it sank. Was it the cold or the pressure or the water itself? It should tell him something, but he couldn't figure out what it meant. No matter the mystery, the diver illuminated the floor of the God's Eye, and there appeared to be runes carved in the dark stone. Debris and artifacts from the sunken ship gave a tantalizing glimpse of the past, something Brother Vaughn had always longed for. History gave him context.
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