Tested by the Night

by Maxine Mansfield

  Pearl landed at her feet, and Talon jumped from the dragon’s back and hugged her so hard her ribs felt in danger of cracking. And then Wally, Pierced, and Alistair were there. Just as if she’d never been parted from them at all.

  But the job she’d come here to do wasn’t over yet, and it was with that thought in mind, she turned and once more faced the ice hydra.

  All eight of Azurinna’s heads bowed to her. “I wish I could communicate with you, child. But alas, I know I can’t. Humanoids and Hydras don’t speak the same language. If I could, though, I’d tell you how grateful I am. You have saved my children and the future of Albrath this day”

  Mia smiled up at the hydra and the look on Azurinna’s face was priceless as she opened her mouth and spoke. “You are very welcome.”

  “How?” The ice hydra shook all eight of her heads.

  Mia chuckled. “Let’s just say I have a very talented aunt who is a potion maker. Because of her magic, I can speak all languages. And it was my pleasure to be of assistance.”

  The hydra nodded. “I do thank you. The ice dragon was right, you know? I am very weak. The time grows near when the eggs will hatch. My job will be finished then, and I will join my ancestors. But for this day, is there any way I can repay your kindness?”

  Mia took a deep breath. She certainly wasn’t going to ask the hydra for her heart, but she did wonder if Azurinna still had enough power left to heal Queen Adrina’s spear. She didn’t want to kill the poor creature with her request. But then an entire nation of ogres was waiting and wishing and hoping. Their very existence relied on what would happen in the next few moments. “I do have a request for you.”

  Azurinna nodded once more. “Anything child.”

  Mia cleared her throat, walked over to the downed ice dragon, and pulled the weapon from its chest. “This is Queen Adrina’s spear. My friends use it to keep the fire of a volcano at bay. But it’s losing its power. I’ve been told the breath of an ice hydra is the only way to heal it. Is that true?”

  Eight scaly heads smiled all at the same time, and though the sight was a little disturbing, Mia found herself smiling in response.

  “It’s been ever so long since I’ve seen that spear. How is Queen Adrina?” Azurinna asked.

  “Umm, she’s dead and has been for almost eight-hundred years,” Mia answered. “But she was the one who gifted the spear to my friends.”

  The smile left all eight faces. “Ah, that’s right, you humanoids don’t live very long, do you? I’d forgotten. As far as healing her spear, all I can say is I’d be happy to try.”

  Mia handed the weapon over.

  Azurinna closed all sixteen of her eyes and gently blew her ice fog breath upon the weapon while chanting over and over and over. “Infuse thee now with the power of lasting ice.”

  The very tip of the spear began to glow a frosty blue, and within moments, the entire shaft radiated with pure energy.

  Azurinna handed it back to Mia. “I’ve imbued Queen Adrina’s spear with magic so that you and you alone may touch it and not get ice burned. But I beseech you. Let no other. For if they do, it will cause them great harm. Its power should last at least another eight-hundred years, or so, and by then it will be able to be safely touched by another again.

  “Bring it back to Vile then, I mean someone can bring it back, and my descendants will happily infuse it once more, and again and again and again until the end of time itself. We hydra’s have a collective memory, and my children and their children after them will remember all that transpired here today. And they will also remember the little barbarian who saved us all.”

  ****

  Mia stood in the middle of the great hall before the council waiting. She didn’t fidget, and she didn’t even look around nervously. There was no point. It wouldn’t change anything, and she was too weary to worry about any of it anymore.

  The last few days had been exhausting, mentally and physically, and all she wanted in all of Albrath was to strip off her dusty green mystic’s tunic, grimy breeks, and equally dirty boots, and climb into a nice hot bath. It wasn’t to be, however. Business before pleasure. Even if it was unpleasant business.

  After they’d left Vile, they’d traveled straight back to Oreeghan. The ogres had been ecstatic to see the spear retuned to them, and they had all cheered as Mia hurled their protection back into the heart of the volcano. Mooktar had immediately silenced his rumblings as his lava once more froze solid. And though the Shaman and Talmuk were certainly grateful, and had made Mia, Talon, Pierced, Alistair, Pearl, and even Wally, honorary ogres, none was more happy about the outcome of Mia’s quest than Ohfeelya herself.

  They’d all even been invited to the upcoming wedding of Ohfeelya and Talmuk. And this time, when Mia left Ohfeelya behind, it had been with a happy heart. Her half-gnome, half-ogre friend had not only found a new home there, but true love also. One only had to watch the pair together, to catch the glimpses that passed between them, the subtle touches, the smiles.

  But she was no longer in Oreeghan. She was back at The Academy of Magical arts, and Duke Algen Daggertoss was taking his good old time even looking in her direction, let alone asking her how her quest had gone or why Queen Adrina’s spear was no longer in her possession or even why no ice hydra’s heart was anywhere to be seen.

  She did fidget, a little, as she glanced at the faces of the people she loved most in the world sitting in seats of honor, waiting to hear the story as everyone else was.

  King Adan Hammerstrike looked so strong, so regal this day as he sat holding his queen’s hand. They were both clothed in the royal purple robes of the house of Alaria, and pride for their daughter shown openly in their eyes.

  Tears misted Mia’s. She hated to disappoint them this way. She herself had only arrived moments before, just under the wire of the deadline, so there hadn’t been time to inform anyone of what had truly transpired in Vile. Her parents had no idea yet their daughter was a complete and total failure.

  And Zander and Kitrina. Her bother and his wife had apparently travelled all the way from Halla to be here today. From the looks on their faces, they thought they were here to witness her triumph. How disappointed in her would they be?

  And then there was Aunt Briar, Uncle Uthiel, and their children, and Aunt Lark, Uncle Sarco, with Graydon and Gareth. And of course, Uncle Leeky, Aunt Laycee, and Lavender, along with Aunts Audrey and Ally, with Uncle Sherman Bobert Limburger the ninth and their sons Ten and Levin along with their wife Asla. Even Aunt Ary, Uncle Cyrrick, Aunt Karla, and Uncle Thad had come.

  Everyone, absolutely everyone who’d cared for her, who’d watched her grow from a child into a woman, was here to bear witness to her many failures.

  Mia sighed. She’d not only failed in her quest to become ruling queen, but in her personal life, too.

  Choosing to save the ogre nation over completing her quest would’ve been all right if only she’d been able to convince Talon to be her mate. He could be king, and she’d gladly sit by his side. The barbarian was stubborn, though. He was convinced he could never be worthy, could never be accepted, because of his ancestor’s background. He wouldn’t even consider it.

  Oh, no, the stubborn, jackass of a man was VoT bent on traveling back to Halla with her friggin’ brother on the morrow. Of leaving her, of forcing himself to forget about her, living his life without her.

  And why?

  Not because he didn’t love her, because even though he’d refused her offer, he hadn’t been able to deny his feelings. He still swore he’d love her until the day he died. But the spawn of a traitor could never be king.

  Or could he?

  If only there were some way to change his way of thinking, some way to alter the too long mistaken mindset of her people. Talon was no more a traitor than she herself was, and there had to be some way to convince all those involved of that one simple fact.

  “Did the cold of Vile affect your hearing, Princess Hammerstrike? I asked where’s the hydra’s hear
t?”

  Mia stiffened her spine and cleared her throat, but she couldn’t stop tears from misting her sight. “I don’t have it.”

  Duke Algen Daggertoss almost crackled with glee. “Then I’m afraid you’ve failed, my dear.”

  The audience gasped.

  Mia didn’t look at them, any of them. She couldn’t. Instead, she stared straight at the duke. “Yes. I suppose I have.”

  The duke banged his gavel. “Then I see no reason to further waste the time of this council. You are dismissed.”

  Mia swallowed back her tears and nodded.

  “Point of order,” Alistair yelled.

  Mia’s head whipped around so quickly her neck cramped. What could the duke’s son possibly have to add? She’d been surprised by Alistair Von Daggertoss. After how he’d broken her heart when she’d been young, she’d thought his presence on the quest would be uncomfortable. But in reality, it’d been the opposite. He’d been friendly for the most part, fair, just, and nothing like his father.

  The duke banged his gavel once more. “I said dismissed. That means this meeting is over.”

  But Alistair didn’t pay any attention to his father’s dictate. “You’re the one who sent me along to see no rules were broken, so you and the council will listen to what I have to say. I disagree with Princess Mia Hammerstrike’s assessment of the situation when she says she does not have in her possession the heart of the hydra, because I happen to know better.”

  Mia shook her head. Whatever could Alistair be talking about?

  The duke, though, he roared. “Don’t be ridiculous. If the stupid little chit had it, she’d produce it.”

  Mia felt more than saw her father rise and head in her direction, but Alistair raised one hand, and Adan Hammerstrike stopped.

  “You will not address mine and your future queen as a chit of any kind, father. I won’t allow it. And as far as the hydra’s heart. The exact words of the quest were for Mia to capture the heart of a hydra not bring it back to you, not kill the beast, not commit murder of an innocent creature, but to simply capture its heart, and that she did with the true grace and bearing of a queen.”

  Duke Algen Daggertoss sneered. “And just how do you figure to prove that?”

  Mia held her breath as Alistair faced not his father but the entire audience of mostly barbarians.

  “She used Queen Adrina’s spear to kill an ice dragon and thereby save an entire race of hydra’s. In return, Azurinna, the adult hydra, offered our princess anything she wished. And in return, did Mia ask for anything for herself? No. She asked that the spear might be made whole again in order to save the ogre nation. The ice hydra gladly complied. If that isn’t capturing the beast’s heart, I don’t know what is. Our princess was magnificent to behold. The act of a true queen.”

  One of the tears Mia had been keeping at bay slowly trickled down her cheek.

  “It doesn’t matter what you say,” Duke Algen Daggertoss yelled. “There is no real proof.”

  Talon growled, and Mia jumped at the sound. “You’d doubt the word of your own son?”

  The duke backed up a foot. “He’s obviously been brainwashed. Yes, that’s what’s happened.”

  Mia looked at Alistair to see his reaction.

  The duke’s son simply shook his head. “No father, as a matter of fact, for the first time in my life I actually see everything quite clearly. Oh, and by the way,” he grabbed Pierced and hugged him close, “I’m very much in love with this magnificent gnome fellow, and we’re getting married as soon as it can be arranged. I suggest you get used to the idea of having another son.”

  All color left his face, and Duke Algen Daggertoss fainted straight away, right there on the floor of the great hall.

  Pandemonium broke out in the room, but Earl Theodosius Swordwielder, the governor of Bane picked up the gavel and banged it loudly. “This council agrees with your assessment of the situation, Sir Alistair, and therefore, we decree that Princess Amelia Zoe Cassidy Hammerstrike has successfully completed Queen Adrina’s challenge, and when the time comes, she will indeed rule the barbarian nation.”

  The crowd cheered.

  Mia, herself, almost fainted like the poor, unfortunate duke.

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  Talon stood outside Mia’s suite of rooms and hesitated to knock. He thought he’d made himself perfectly clear on the way back from Vile, but apparently not, for he was most certainly being summoned even though he’d told her there was nothing left to discuss.

  His dictate had been for her own good. Why couldn’t the stubborn little queen-to-be see reason? Didn’t she realize this necessary parting of the ways was as hard on him as it was on her?

  In time, things would get better. In time, the pain would lessen and life would get easier. And in time, she’d come to realize he really had made the best decision for both their sakes.

  Blood is as blood does, and there was no getting past it, around it, over it, or anything else. And VoT would freeze over before the great, great however many generations removed grandson of a traitor found himself sitting anywhere near the throne of Alaria, let alone being husband to its queen.

  Why couldn’t she understand that simple fact of life? Everyone else did.

  Still, he raised his hand to knock. One didn’t ignore a direct summons from one’s future queen, even if being in her presence was pure torture. For that was exactly how it would feel to never again touch her, kiss her, or make love with her.

  And though she could never truly be his, no power on Albrath could ever stop him from being proud of her. She’d been so regal standing before the council earlier in the day, so poised, so confidant, so beautiful. Mia would make a magnificent queen one day. She was kind, she was smart, she was brave, and she was loving. At least, until she decided for whatever reason she needed to be deceiving, conniving, stubborn, and vindictive.

  Talon chuckled. If it were up to him, he’d gladly take the good with the bad. He liked little Princess Mia Hammerstrike more than he ought to and just exactly the way she was.

  So what did she want with him now and could one last quick conversation really hurt? After all, tomorrow he’d leave The Academy and travel to Halla with Zander and Kitrina, and in all probability, he’d not see his best friend’s little sister again for years.

  By then, she’d most assuredly have found a worthy barbarian to sit by her side and take her name and do her bidding and father her children. It just couldn’t be him.

  His heart ached with the thought.

  And no matter what the bards and the poets said, there were things that love could not conquer or overcome, like discrimination because one’s ancestors might not quite have been up to snuff. And he couldn’t live with himself if Mia suffered because of his family shortcomings.

  Even a queen could be hurt. Even if she did think herself to be invincible. He knew better.

  The door suddenly opened, and there she stood. “I was beginning to think you wouldn’t come.”

  Talon opened his mouth to speak, but no words came out. Were her eyes puffy? Had she been crying? Because of him?

  Then she grabbed his arm. “Get in here, please. What I have to say I’d rather the entire academy not hear, at least not yet.”

  Guilt engulfed him, and Talon followed Mia. He knew he’d hurt her with his rejection, and he knew she didn’t understand. And he knew she had every right to shout at him, all night long if she so desired. He had wide shoulders. He could take it. And in the end, if yelling, screeching, and hollering, made her feel better, it would be worth it.

  Instead of doing any of those things, Mia simply walked over to a small table, picked up a pitcher, and poured rich, foamy, pale ale into two frosty mugs.

  “My father’s special brew,” she said as she handed him his portion.

  Talon chuckled. “You’ll have to forgive me, princess, if I’m a tad leery of partaking of any beverage you might offer.” He lifted an eyebrow. “Last time I was in this room, you drugged
me, remember?’

  Mia at least had the grace to blush. She took a small sip from her own mug. “How many times must I apologize before I’m forgiven my transgression?” She smiled, and he was lost in the twinkle of her eyes. “Anyway, I’ve learned my lesson. You are quite safe.”

  Talon chuckled again as he took a healthy swig of his ale. It was good, really good, and he took another. “Okay, princess, I believe you. Now, what did you wish to speak with me about?”

  Mia sighed. “I simply wanted to ask you one last time if you’d change your mind. Is there anything I can say or do that’ll convince you we’re destined to be together? Or at least tell me you don’t love me as I do you. For if you could convince me of that, I know I could give up on my silly dreams and let you walk away without a fight.”

  She wrung her hands and tears glistened in her eyes. The sight broke Talon’s heart as she continued. “But simply because you feel yourself to be unworthy to be my mate is no justifiable reason at all.”

  Talon hung his head. He didn’t want to hurt her. Hadn’t he already done that more than enough? But he also didn’t want to give her hope where there was none. He procrastinated a moment searching for the right words and took another big swig of his ale before quickly finishing off the rest of the mug for good measure.

  He took two deep breaths, and then two more, before gathering her small hands into his big ones and looking her straight in the eye. “I wish I didn’t love you, and I wish I knew how to stop. But it’s because I do that I must leave.”

  She opened her mouth to speak, but Talon shook his head. He wasn’t done yet. “Perhaps not today, princess, but someday you’ll thank me for the decision I’ve made. We both know the barbarian people will never accept the descendant of a known traitor, even as their queen’s pet, let alone as her mate, her husband, the father of her children. It’s better this way, Mia. A clean break, a new start, for both of us.”

  He thought she would rant, and he thought she would rave. Instead, her voice was calm and steady as she simply asked him another question. “And what would you say if by chance I could convince our people to not only accept you as my mate, my husband, and the father of our children, but also as my equal, as far as ruling the kingdom?”