“I think peace would be better,” said Isabella.
“Peace is a noble sentiment,” said Sisera in agreement. “But peace in a kingdom, or between races, must be desired by all. You can want peace, but if your neighbor wants power then peace will likely fail unless you are willing to give him all the power he desires. Or if he desires wealth, then you must give him everything you own.”
Isabella frowned, “That is not right. If someone tries to rob you, you don’t just give them everything. You stand up for what is yours.”
Sisera smiled, “Peace isn’t simple is it? As a ruler, you will have to make decisions that may not be very peaceful at all.”
“Well, I am certainly not going to be like Lord Upshaw. I rather be more like this Lady Meridith.”
“I shall tell you more of Lady Meridith another time, Raven has returned,” said Sisera.
Isabella turned and watched Raven walk into the camp. She saw blood on Raven’s arm. “Are you okay?”
“I’m fine,” answered Raven. “The blood is not mine. Most of it is Kai’s. He took a blade to the belly. He dispatched the last three bandits, but there was one hidden in a corner who was able to sneak up on him.”
“Is Kai…?” Isabella hesitated.
“He lives. He will mend.”
Isabella let out a relieved breath. “He killed three warriors at once?” asked Isabella.
Raven nodded, “Greedy bastard. I was standing beside him, but the idiots charged us without shields. Three arrows from Kai’s bow and they were down. I’ve never seen anyone fire a bow so fast before. He’s okay with a sword, but far superior as an archer.”
Isabella smiled. Raven sounded impressed. Raven never sounded impressed with male warriors. Perhaps her guardian had finally found her equal?
Isabella stood and prepared to head into the Tower of Kings. “Come Sisera, let’s go check on Kai and see our new home.”
…
The tower was gloomy and dark. Isabella frowned as she walked through the heavy gates of the front wall that surrounded the tower. The courtyard was barren, void of life. Not a tree, a plant or even grass, just rock. The tower itself was much the same. Rock walls built right into the mountain itself.
“It’s not much to look at, and it’s worse inside. But it’s defensible and designed with dragons in mind,” said Raven.
Isabella knew what Raven was saying. Compared to her old home of Prozia. The tower was ugly and lifeless. But she’d had to flee her old home and this was as good a place as any to live. It was defensible. The valley below was rich in food stock, and fresh water. “I think it is perfect,” she declared. ‘We’ll have to spruce the place up, make it look friendlier. It’s much easier than trying to make a pretty place safe. Isn’t it Sisera?”
“It smells,” said Sisera. “I don’t think I like it.”
“You haven’t even gone to the top of the tower yet,” admonished Isabella. “Go see what it’s like. I’ll meet you up there.”
“Fine,” said Sisera as she flew up to the top of the tower.
“She is getting hungry, it makes her cranky,” said Isabella to Raven. “But she is right. It does stink.”
“It’s going to smell even worse if we don’t do something with the bodies,” said Raven.
“Sisera will deal with them. She doesn’t mind.”
“Good, that’s a relief. Let me close the gates and we can head inside.” Raven had to push with all her might to close the heavy gates.
Isabella shook her head. “What a terrible design! No levers, no counterweights. No wonder the bandits left the gates open. We’ll have to change that. Raven, do you remember that trip to the far north of Prozia? Remember how the gates at Lord Rothwell’s estate were made?” Isabella added her light weight to Raven’s weight against the gate. She pushed gamely alongside her protector.
Raven grunted as she got the gates closed. “I remember the trip, and the gates. He had those heavy iron gates, and used a huge rock for a counterweight. A counterweight is a good idea. There certainly are enough rocks big enough for that purpose. Easier, faster, closing gates would be a welcome change.”
Inside the tower, Isabella could see what Raven meant by it being worse than it looked outside. It was even gloomier inside than it had been outside. Rock walls and little light. The entire place needed to be lightened up. She followed Raven up the stairs to the third floor. They went down the corridor to the room where Raven and Kai fought the last four bandits. Kai was sitting at a desk.
Raven frowned as she saw Kai sitting there. “You should be in a bed.”
Kai winced as he looked up. “I know, but it seems the leader Uriah could write. He kept a diary and detailed maps of Seron. His maps are some of the most detailed I’ve ever seen. They were running quite an industrious enterprise from here. He has the entire tower mapped and inventoried. There are a large number of supplies here that will be useful to us.”
“Kai, you need to lay down. If more of the bandits return, I’ll need your assistance guarding the wall tonight,” said Raven.
“You’re right,” replied Kai. He turned his gaze to the princess. “Isabella, you have your choice of quarters. There are living quarters on the fifth floor that have direct access to the dragons den above. I thought you might prefer those. Raven the fourth floor has excellent sized rooms.”
“Where will you be sleeping?” asked Isabella.
“The second floor is going to be perfect for housing the Dragon’s Tail. I’ll stay there.”
Isabella shook her head. “No.”
“No?” asked Kai, with a confused look.
“No. You may be a Dragon Tail, but you are my representative. That means you should not be living among the Dragon’s Tail. You should be closer to me. I know the Dragon’s Tail have their own leadership style. I won’t interfere with that, but they answer to you. You and Raven are my council. The Dragon’s Tail Brigade, and everyone who reside here will answer to either you or Raven. But you know the Dragon’s Tail and what to expect from them, they will be your responsibility.”
Kai hesitated, “Are you sure? Camdyn is an excellent leader and would be a great council to you.”
“If he would be such a great council to me then I am sure he will be equally great of a council to you. I trust you, and Sisera trusts you. I’m sure Camdyn and your friend Jaime will be very vital, but I learned from my mother that a ruler can only do so much on her own. She needs the right people surrounding her, people whose judgment she trusts. I know I have a lot to learn before I can ever become a ruler, but I have learned much from my mother. I know she’d approve of this decision.”
Kai bowed his head. “As you wish. It will be an honor to be your representative to the Dragon’s Tails. I will take up quarters on the fourth floor. If you’ll excuse me, I’ll go find a bed now so that I’m ready to take watch this evening.” Kai gingerly made his way out of the room, and towards the fourth floor.
Isabella looked at the maps Kai had been studying. He was right, they were incredibly detailed, and definitely the work of a crook. They had detailed notes regarding shipping routes, places that were good for ambushes, hideouts throughout the isle. This Uriah fellow had been an incredibly organized thief. “Raven, are you okay with my putting the Dragon’s Tail under Kai’s watch?”
“Yes, I don’t know the brigade, or any of its men. I’d rather not have to worry about them either. Kai will do fine. I’d much rather you find other tasks for me.”
Isabella smiled, “Funny you should say that.…”
“What would you like done, Isabella?”
“Escort me to the top of the tower and then do a thorough search of the tower. Make sure there aren’t any more bandits lurking about, and check these inventory numbers. Then see what needs to be done to clear out the second floor for barracks.”
“One day in this relic of a tower, and you’re turning me into an administrator? I shall have to turn in my armor for fancy robes,” quipped Raven.
Isabella wrinkled her nose. “I’ll believe that when I see it.”
“Not in this lifetime,” said Raven with a chuckle. “Come, let’s see what mischief Sisera is up to.”
Raven and Isabella climbed the stairs until they reached the fifth floor. The entire floor was one large room. This would be Isabella’s private chambers. She looked around. The room was barren. A few broken remnants of a previous tenant remained, but anything of value had long since been removed. Instead of a set of stairs to the top of the tower, there was a small corridor that went into the mountain. The corridor climbed into a large open cave. Here they found Sisera.
“What do you think of your space, Sisera?” asked Isabella.
“It’s a lovely cave. The dragon who lived here last knew a thing or two about caves. They filled a large hole with black sand!”
“That’s a good thing?” asked Isabella.
“A very good thing,” confirmed Sisera. “Black sand is the most comfortable bed a dragon can have. The entire roof of the tower is a dragon perch. I can see for miles and miles without leaving the tower.”
“Excellent. Then you can keep an eye out for more of the bandits,” said Raven.
“I don’t need to see them to know if they are there. I can smell you humans from a distance. No one will come within a hundred yards of the outer walls without me knowing. You don’t have to worry about posting a guard. I’ll let you know if anyone approaches.”
“Perfect,” said Raven. “I’d better go get started searching the tower. I don’t suppose you can smell any extra bandits hiding in the tower?”
“Only the dead ones. I think there may be a rodent issue in the caves though. The bandits weren’t the cleanest people. I think they threw a lot of waste into the lower caves.”
“Wonderful,” said Raven as she made her way back down to do her search of the tower.
“Let’s go outside, I want to see the view,” said Isabella to Sisera.
Sisera led Isabella out of the large cave and onto the tower. The top of the floor tower was simply a large covered porch for Sisera’s cave. The entire front had no wall and made flying in and out of the cave easy. The entrance was large enough for several dragons, or one really large one. Isabella loved that she could see from the mountain range to the north right down to the edge of the Dark Forest. Directly across the valley were rolling hills; from up here she could actually see rooftops of the nearby village that were hidden at ground level. Isabella pointed to the rooftops. “Have you flown over there?”
“Yes,” said Sisera. “The village is smaller than Shelby, surrounded by small farms. But the farmers all live inside the village. I suspect the bandits were raiding there, often.”
“I’ll have to go visit the village,” Isabella changed the topic, there was something she needed to know. “Are you the only dragon on Seron, Sisera?”
Sisera shook her mighty head, “No. There are several dragons on this isle. Ohen, brown-red, and Sivath, bronze-blue, are to the south of here. Tyrath, bronze-yellow, is to the northeast. Rugarth, brown-blue, and Oliolyn, blue-red, are on the western coast.”
“Why do you always say their colors when you say their names?” asked Isabella.
“I only say their colors when speaking with humans. You can’t tell everything about a dragon from its colors, but dragon colors can tell you somethings about them. So for you humans a dragons last name is its scale and tint color. I am Sisera, gold-purple. I have gold scales with purple tint. In general, the scale color will tell you a dragon’s size. White and black being the biggest dragons, purple and yellows being the smallest. A good rule is the brighter the color scales, the smaller the dragon. The tint of a dragon’s scale, the second color, usually hints at a dragon’s magical abilities. Red tint often means fire, blue is cold, some of the other colors don’t have special magic, others have magic that is hard to explain.”
“What does purple mean?” asked Isabella.
“Purple tinted scales usually indicate a mix of magic. I have both fire and cold, and regeneration.”
“Regeneration?”
“Yes, if I were injured my body would heal itself magically. Regeneration is a rare but powerful magic among dragons. I can still die, it doesn’t make me immortal, but I recover at an exception rate. This will likely happen with you as well.”
“Interesting,” said Isabella. “What about the dragons that are on the island. What should I know of them?”
“Ohen is with Sivath. Sivath is a youngling. Most of the younglings were paired with an older dragon so they’d behave. Ohen is a quiet dragon, will stick to caves for the most part. Sivath is a strange little bronze. Loves to eat turtles and loves sunbathing. Rugarth and Oliolyn could be trouble. They follow Nelarth. Nelarth doesn’t like humans at all. Tyrath is one of my favorite dragons. Tells the worst jokes, but is really smart.”
A dragon that likes to tell jokes? Isabella thought she might like to meet that dragon one day. Rugarth and Oliolyn sounded different though. “Who is Nelarth?”
“Nelarth, black-gold, is one of the oldest and most powerful dragons. He thinks that dragons are the natural rulers of this world and that humans need to be put in their places. It was dragons like him that got us into this mess in the first place. But Nelarth fears Apophis, the leader of dragons, and hasn’t done anything to break the rules Apophis has put into place for our return to the world. Apophis wants peace between man and dragon. Dragons are to avoid humans and their livestock. If a human attacks, we’re allowed to defend ourselves, but other than that, no hunting humans. As long as Apophis is our leader, those are the rules.”
“Apophis sounds wise. Can Nelarth become ruler?” asked Isabella.
“Only if Nelarth challenged Apophis. He’d have to kill Apophis to become ruler. However, I’m not sure all dragons would automatically follow Nelarth. He’d have a hard time controlling all the dragons, but I’m not sure he’d care. As long as he and his followers could do whatever they wanted, they wouldn’t care what happens to the rest of us.”
Isabella sighed. Dragons were as complex as humans, and it seemed peace was as tenuous a proposition among dragons as it was humans. Hopefully there would be peace between man and dragon, but the return of dragons was sure to bring much fear among the people of the world. Fear often made people make bad decisions. “I hope it never comes to that.”
“As do I,” said Sisera.
30
“PRINCESS ISABELLA, WE HAVE GUESTS,” said Sisera, her voice bouncing off the walls of the corridor connecting her room to the dragon’s cave.
Isabella stopped cleaning. It had been three days since they’d taken the tower from the bandits. Three days of cleaning and organizing, and the place was still a mess. But with Kai still bedridden, it left only herself and Raven to do the work. Cleaning the tower was a tall task for two people.
Isabella walked up the corridor to Sisera’s den and then out onto the top floor of the tower. She looked down and could see two people coming up to the gate. One was riding a horse while the other walked. They were still far enough away that Isabella couldn’t see faces.
“They came from the south. The old man is riding Kai’s horse.”
The witch, Adina Aviel, had arrived as promised with a mage. Isabella had been looking forward to seeing them. She’d taken a liking to the witch during their first meeting. “I’ll go get Raven so we can open the gate.”
“She’s on the third floor, in the kitchen,” said Sisera.
“Thank you, Sisera.” The dragon had amazing senses. She really did know everyone’s scent. Isabella ran back down the corridor and through her room and down the stairs until she was on the third floor. She entered the kitchen and found Raven cleaning.
“Cobwebs and mouse shit everywhere. Damned bandits were pigs. I’d like to raise them from the dead so I can kill them again,” said Raven as she wiped her brow.
Isabella held back a smile, Raven was not a fan of domestic duties. Three days of scrubbing and cle
aning had her in a foul mood. “I’m glad you cleaned some pots. We’ll have guests for supper. Adina Aviel has arrived.”
“Guess I better open the gate then.” Raven scowled as she looked at the kitchen. “I’ll have to finish in here later. Come, let’s go greet our guests.”
Isabella and Raven walked down to first floor. While it was still dark and a somber entrance way, a cleaning had helped. Layers of dust from the walls had been removed and they’d discovered the interior walls of the tower were actually a cream-colored plaster. When washed, the lighter color walls helped reflect more light and brightened the room.
Outside was still barren and empty between the tower and the wall, but they had started to make plans on how to beautify the area. Much to Isabella’s surprise, Kai was the one with some of the best ideas. He actually did know quite a bit about gardening and flowers.
Raven opened the gates enough for their guests to get through. They stood silently and waited for the witch and old mage to make their way closer. When they got through the gate, Adina Aviel helped the mage down and then turned to greet them.
“Princess Isabella, an honor to see you again. May I present Oshri Cheni,” said Adina with a small bow.
“Welcome. Thank you for coming,” said Isabella.
Oshri, a short older man with a long flowing black and grey beard, wearing dark robes, walked up to Isabella and placed a hand on her chin, he turned her head slightly so he could examine her Dragonscale. He walked around her mumbling as he did.
Raven looked ready to smack the old mage.
Isabella waved Raven off. They would worry about manners later. She wanted to know if this mage could actually help her.
“Amazing,” said Oshri once he finished his inspection. “I’ve read so much about Dragonscale, but it’s much more aesthetically pleasing than I suspected. Does it affect the rest of your skin?”
Sisera's Gift (Dragonblood Sagas Book 2) Page 15
