Harry’s face responded before his mouth did; an are-you-serious-lady? look shouted from his face. “He is a ruthless murderer. If given his way he will destroy Europe and millions will die. Surely you know this. You probably even planned it that way. What is wrong with you? Why would you want him to succeed?”
Belle Rodum’s face also looked puzzled. “You are a man that traverses time, are you not?”
“Can’t answer that question, ma’am.”
“No need, I know you are. The point is, are you not aware of what happens if Hitler does not conquer Europe and become the primary obstacle to Russia? Haven’t you seen the timelines where this planet is laid waste? Where not millions but billions perish? And all because Germany did not rise to power and bleed Russia dry? The choice is not an easy one. But it is an obvious one. Hitler must rise to power, consolidate the armies of Europe, and then afterward destroy Russia. If he does not, then a ten-thousand-year darkness will once again fall upon the land, and a winter will settle that no living soul can survive.”
Harry stepped back, stunned. There was truth in Belle’s words. He also knew that the best timelines had both Hitler and Russia stopped. Belle must only know of one, and it was hard to fault her for doing whatever she felt she had to do to stop the world from suffering the dark fate she feared.
“My turn now,” Harry answered.
Belle replied, “No, it’s not; you did not answer my question.”
“I am not even sure what your question was, Belle Rodum. You told me a lot of things, but a specific question, not so much.”
“Even so, still my turn.”
“Fine, what is your question?” Harry had forgotten he had activated the discern-ornament. But when he saw Belle Rodum hesitate and watched the features on her face, when he saw the resistance and then the release as she surrendered to the power of the artifact, he thought, So this is what the disc makes people do. Honesty doesn’t seem to come easy to Belle.
Finally, Belle Rodum surrendered to the thought that had plagued her. Shoulders relaxed, she let out a deep breath and asked, “Why is it when I am around you, instead of wanting to kill you, or crush you or maim and torture you, I want to sit down and have tea? I sense we share a common bond, Harry, and I do not understand what it is.”
The witch was a master of body language. She could read a person to the point that words were often unnecessary. All she needed to do was simply ask a question and watch the person’s response. Her knowledge of their secrets based on reading their body’s response to questions caused people to tremble in her presence. Her ability compelled honesty. Even to the point of answers that condemned the people she questioned.
But the answers that spread across Harry’s body stunned her. His eyes, the curtains to his soul, parted. She studied and immediately a link was formed. She sensed the words child, her child, his child. A part of her that had lain dormant and then been deliberately bound from ever manifesting broke its bonds in seconds, tearing them like a bull would newspaper. All the strong words and mighty spells that kept her dark and dangerous shredded. Fear flooded in, filling the vacuum. All Belle Rodum had ever known of love was animalistic, selfish indulgence. When she saw Harry’s soul, it overwhelmed her. She knew at once he was as confused as she was. She also sensed his great sorrow and love for another, a love so powerful it was like a blacksmith forge taking the selfishness of normal human desire and hammering out eternal covenants. All this in a matter of seconds.
Her lips parted but no words came; her brain had suffered a massive short circuit and could not absorb the information that was streaming through the dragon rider. Heartbeats pounded loudly in her ears. She stood breathless, then gasped, unable to process the information that Harry’s body was involuntarily screaming. She looked back at his chalk-white face. He knew she had read him!
Harry was not aware that Belle was a master of body language, until he saw the blood had left her cheeks. Her eyes widened and her mouth froze open; her lips moved but no words gained access. They stood staring at each other. Harry was confused and a little embarrassed. Belle Rodum felt a dark wave of anger push through her. Neither gave way; they both instinctively realized the first to avert their eyes lost. Harry broke the stalemate with a sheepish grin, escorted across his face by expressive eyebrows.
He had better success putting words to feelings than Belle Rodum was having. “Well, that was interesting. I’m not sure if you heard what I wanted you to hear, but I am fairly certain you got the essence of what I meant… I think. Unless you totally misinterpreted what I didn’t intend to say.”
Harry’s words confused Belle. His body language stunned her. She could not believe what she had just seen; it made her angry. Her response to Harry’s attempt to clarify matters was sharp and repeated blows. She attacked, slamming him against the walls of the mansion. He reeled beneath her attack; already weak from the night’s fighting, he was not able to ward off her blows. His head began to spin; he was barely able to hold his hands up, shielding his vulnerable visor. Her screams of rage tore at his ears, shrieks amplified by her occultic power. Dark gibberish bubbled from her lips. Primeval spells tore at him like the draugr’s claws. He heard the metallic groan of his armor as it bent beneath the ancient curses.
Then the sword broke through the blood barrier that had bound him. Harry felt the speaker and knew he had to have permission. “Yes, of course, do it!” he gasped.
Harry’s armor blazed like the heart of a white-hot star. Light broke through and the witch screamed. He looked through his visor and watched her wilt. Dark smoke vomited out of her mouth; she was choking. Gasping for breath. Her eyes rolled back in her head. Then she cried, “Harry!” and dropped silently to the floor.
Harry slid down the broken wall to sit in the tattered hallway. He was still curious why no guards came running. The house was still except for Belle Rodum’s ragged breathing. After a few moments when he hoped he wouldn’t have to rise for a week or two, he forced himself to stand. He heard the speaker’s voice. “I certainly wasn’t expecting that. It has been over a thousand years since I have been bound by a blood barrier.”
Harry chuckled. “Sure of that, are ya?”
The speaker knew Harry was thinking about Lizzy’s blood sample and how the speaker had been shut out from developing a link to her. “Not the same, Harry… as different as papier-mâché is from a stone wall.”
“Hmmph! Whatever you say, Sword; I am not in the mood to argue.” He groaned as he took a step away from Belle’s unconscious form. “I am worried about Raleigh and Brady. And I still don’t know if Belle accomplished her mission. I don’t know why the guards haven’t come running. And, last but not least, I do not understand what just happened. I have a vague impression…” Harry grunted and made his way limping up the stairs to Renate Müller’s bedroom. At the top of the stairs, he found his first answer. A guard lay face down on the floor. Harry squatted down to check his pulse. It was steady, his breathing normal.
“What happened to him?” the speaker asked.
“Some type of gas maybe, putting everyone to sleep? May have even been a spell. Whatever it is, it will not hold forever; better hurry up and check on the actress,” Harry huffed as he pushed to his feet. The room spun and he stumbled a bit, but he righted quickly. “I do need to hurry up.” He hobbled forward, came to a room he hoped was the actress’s bedroom, and entered. The actress was asleep on her bed. She moaned as Harry hovered over her. She might have been having a nightmare but at least she was alive to have one. Harry closed the door and staggered down the stairs to where he had left Belle.
Belle was gone. “Ah, for crying out loud!” Harry sighed, trying not to wonder what he was going to tell John Timothy, then went outside to hunt for Brady and Raleigh.
What he failed to notice in his exhausted state was Belle Rodum hiding in the shadows. Soon after Harry had limped up the stairs to find the actress, she woke and crept down the hall where Harry had destroyed the draugr. It was a bloody
mess and she was afraid she wouldn’t be able to find anything she could use. Then she saw it. She picked it up. The draugr’s hand quivered as she held it. She smirked, ran up the stairs, knelt by Renate Müller’s bed, and slipped the living nightmare under the bed. It might take a little longer, but it would work and no one would be the wiser.
Then her thoughts turned back to her conversation with Harry. She started to tremble; her face grew hot. She was still trembling when she climbed to the roof and called for another jörmungandr.
Chapter Twenty
The shock dispersed slowly. Lizzy frowned, shook her head, then started over again. “Wha…what did you say, Easton? Did you say my mama?”
The little boy’s head ducked. He grew very quiet. His face was as blank as a very knowledgeable six-year-old could make it. He didn’t say a word.
“Easton, did you tell me you were trying to protect me from my mother?”
Easton was caught and knew it. Lizzy had separated him from his friends, deliberately isolating him so she could squeeze the information she wanted out of him. She was desperate to understand what was transpiring and Easton could feel it.
Lizzy bent over the little boy. She tried to hide her own fear with a blistering angry mask. She was also afraid if she was not careful, she could accidentally hurt the child. She vividly remembered how just saying “don’t you dare” had choked him. Easton had mastered the art of playing dumb, but she figured she could sweat him out. Suddenly a blood-curdling scream rang out in the library where the other children were. Lizzy flung open the bathroom door and ran out, Easton right behind her.
Maggie and Grace were standing face to face. Maggie’s face was bright red and Grace’s held a scowl.
“Ya did not.”
“Yes, I did!”
“No, you didn’t!”
“Did too.”
“Did not!”
“Maggie! Grace! What is wrong with you two!” Lizzy bellowed as gracefully as a sophisticated librarian could.
Maggie’s lips were trembling, and hot tears ran down Grace’s red face. Both grew very quiet. Easton saw his chance and tried to slip away. Lizzy saw him out of her peripheral vision and as quick as a cobra grabbed him by the collar. “You, sir, are not going anywhere!”
Lizzy laughed and rolled her eyes as she saw the girls’ faces change from traumatized little munchkins to red-handed delinquents in a heartbeat. She blew out a long breath and knelt down. “Come here, you three!” She grabbed them up in a bear hug and whispered, “I love you guys more than you know and I get that things are different now. We have all changed, and are still changing. But, guys, secrets are not helping. No matter what you think. Haven’t you heard the expression it’s what you don’t know that hurts you?”
Easton shook his head vigorously. “Oh, no, Miss Lizzy, my daddy says all the time that it’s only what my mom knows that gets me and him in trouble!”
Lizzy threw her head back. “Oh, Easton.” She was trying to hold in her laughter but could not; the stress of the day, the antics of the children all came bursting out. “Easton, remind me to tell you about context… okay… context… Remember the word. Okay? But right now it’s what I don’t know that is hurting me. So help me out, will ya?”
The two girls were a little quicker at context, so Grace reared back and hit Easton on the shoulder.
“Yow!” he cried as he rubbed his arm. “What’d you do that for, Grace?”
“Cause you’re a big, dumb boy! That’s why.”
Lizzy was having none of that and swatted Grace right across her rear. The whack was heard around the room and it got very quiet. “Grace, you do not hit Easton. You don’t like it when I swat your behind, and you don’t need to hit him. Do you understand?”
Grace frowned and rubbed her bottom. “Yes, ma’am.”
“Now since I finally have everyone’s attention, I am going to go on with the story.” And then leaning down so only Easton and Grace and Maggie could hear, she continued, “But don’t think for one moment that you three are off the hook. We are going to finish our conversation. I am going to find out what you are hiding. Understand?”
“Yes, ma’am,” the subdued little lambs echoed.
In a louder voice Lizzy began, “Now in spite of your interruptions, I am going to finish out story time. The last we heard from Harry…”
“Miss Lizzy, Miss Lizzy?” Six hands shot up into the air.
Lizzy groaned and then in a half growl asked, “I haven’t even got started yet. What is it with you guys?”
Six hands shot down out of the air, and quiet hovered over the room like fog on a moonlit night. Now what have I done? Lizzy thought. “I’m sorry for being so grumpy… apparently there is a lot going on that I am a little behind on. Please forgive me. Now, what were your questions?”
She was still struggling with the day’s revelations and had a frustrated edge. It was hard to keep that out of her voice and the sensitive children heard it.
“We only had one, Miss Lizzy,” Grace said in a voice so tiny Lizzy felt like a failure as a teacher, librarian, and general human being.
“And what is that, Grace?”
Gracie looked around, hoping someone else would join her. Seeing no one was going to, she frowned and continued. “The last place you left off in the story. Sarah was afraid to turn into a dragon. And the mean dragon wanted her to turn into a dragon.”
“Yes, Grace, that’s right, you were listening.”
Maggie’s face paled slightly and she hesitated. Levi bumped her leg and whispered so loudly the whole class heard, “You gotta ask, Maggie, you have to!”
Maggie gulped, put her hands together, and looked down at the floor.
Lizzy saw the interchange and asked, “What is it, Maggie; what’s bothering you?”
“Well, Miss Lizzy, some of us are afraid we will turn into dragons too, but we don’t want to be bad. How does a dragon person keep from being bad?”
The question troubled Lizzy. A sad frown crept across her face and gently she asked, “I thought we had already talked about this, Maggie?”
“We have, but other than Sarah we haven’t heard of any dragon doing anything good, and it looks like she did something awful too, so… Are some people just meant to be bad?”
“Oh, Maggie! No, no… just because you can be a dragon doesn’t make you bad. Being a dragon doesn’t make your heart bad; your heart makes being a dragon bad. Dragons are just special creatures that, like humans, can think, and feel, and talk, and they are also able to do things humans can’t, and humans can do things dragons can’t. Together they do things that are very special. Just because you can be a dragon doesn’t make you bad. Being bad is a choice you make because you want to.”
Maggie grinned really big and sat down. The relief in the class was obvious.
“Now did that help? Does everyone feel better?”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“Oh yeah!”
“Sure do.”
“Proceed, please.”
Lizzy slipped back into her seat. Her little flock’s feathers now neatly soothed, they hopped back into their chairs. “Now as I was saying… Harry was terrified. The sword had just told him he was going to have to jump out of a high cleft in the great cavern, land on the evil dragon’s back, and grip it with his spurs, while it bucked and rocked like a wild bull trying to throw him. Flames would be exploding out the evil beast’s mouth while Harry held on with his feet and desperately tried to kill the dragon with the speaker sword.”
“Wow!” Easton bellowed. “That’s worse than trying to rub your head one way with one hand and your belly another way with the other.”
Tired of the interruptions, Lizzy leaned over and looked Easton square in the eye. She whispered in a voice everyone could hear, “Easton, all morning long I have protected you from the girls, scolded you for interrupting, and threatened you for not telling me the truth… I am now going to release both Grace and Maggie on you, call your mother to come ge
t you and tell her your arm is well, and then watch as she swats your little rear so hard your yellow dragon eyes turn green.”
Easton paled. He cast his wild eyes on Maggie and Grace, then stared straight ahead, hands in his lap.
The girls started to giggle but were stopped cold by Lizzy’s no-nonsense glare. When every little bottom was fastened to its seat and every eye glued to her, she smirked and began.
“Now Harry was a dragon rider, but he had never ridden a dragon, especially an evil one that did not want to be ridden. He was a warrior but had never fought in a battle, at least not with a thirty-thousand-pound flame-spurting dragon. So he was a little disturbed. But he had determined that he was going to obey his orders and give it everything he had. He started off down the tunnel the speaker sword had indicated. Soon he was huffing as the tunnel became a sharp incline, then turned into a sheer wall with plenty of handholds but also very high. Harry was not a happy camper.
“‘One minute I am trying to convince a spoiled princess not to turn into a dragon, and then I am chased off by the dragon who has killed every mighty warrior that has tried to rescue the princess, and then this voice I hear in my head tells me to climb a really tall rock wall, without falling off of course, and then crawl on my belly through an extremely tight crack in the wall that hopefully isn’t full of bat poop…’”
Giggles sprang up around the room. “I don’t want to hear it, people. If you keep it up, I will kill Harry off and have Sarah run happily into the arms of the evil dragon to be married and have lots of dragon kids that will come back here and eat you!”
A loud silence like an avalanche of cold stone fell on her young crowd. Frowns and scowls set on little faces; fear of the horrid possibility Lizzy had threatened sent a chill through the room. Lizzy saw it, then backed up just a bit. “Or not.
“Now Harry was afraid, and when he got afraid, he got grumpy and complained. But you know what? He kept going, he was stiff and sore and scared and about to do the bravest and most dangerous thing he had ever done in his entire life, and he was still moving, griping all the way, but still moving. Now I am going to leave Harry crawling through the deep, dark, damp cave crevice and turn back to what Princess Sarah was doing in the cave all by herself. Okay?”
The Harry Ferguson Chronicles Box Set Page 36
