Dragon Valley Trilogy

by Linda McNabb

  Toby sucked in a breath of surprise — not at the horse’s discomfort but at the wagon. Its white canopy had familiar faded-orange writing on the side: Chilton’s Cures.

  ‘That’s the wagon Healer Chilton had back in Castletown.’ Sanelle needn’t have wasted her breath as they all recognised it as the wagon belonging to the healer who had tried to steal Klel.

  ‘What’s Blaise’s friend doing with it?’ Kaylene wondered, looking around for the healer who had owned it.

  ‘Let’s follow and see,’ Toby suggested. They followed the wagon, keeping a good distance away and blending in with the crowd. The short man was sitting on the driving seat of the wagon and he slapped the reins cruelly against the horse, causing it to rear up. There was no sign of Blaise.

  Toby expected the wagon to turn and head for the main road through the city, but instead it turned into the marketplace. Crowds were forced to part as the horse fought against its beating and made the wagon swerve several times. The little dog followed and tried to jump into the back of the wagon, but missed and had to hurry after it.

  The wagon finally stopped right in the middle of the marketplace. The short dark-haired man simply sat, as if waiting for something.

  People turned and stared as they walked past, with more than a few sparing a pat for the upset horse. The three children worked their way through the crowd to a small copse of trees in the middle of the marketplace. Finally, the man turned and disappeared into the wagon, emerging out the back with a small table.

  ‘I want to see if Blaise is with him. I’ll be back in a minute,’ Toby said, slipping off into the crowd. He crept closer, and as he reached the back of the wagon he saw the table being set up next to it. Then the small man went back into the wagon.

  ‘I can’t believe our luck.’ A voice whispered from within the wagon. ‘Did you see the dragon up on top of the castle?’

  ‘That’s the dragon my father let escape, Lark,’ Blaise replied with a snarl. ‘Stupid animal should have been guarded better.’

  Toby bit his lip to stop himself yelling out in Klel’s defence. Anyway, there were more urgent things to worry about — Blaise might try to take Klel’s scales again. The last time he’d done that it had nearly killed the golden dragon, which just went to shown how ruthless Blaise was in his wish to amass an army to conquer the other kingdoms. If this was still Blaise’s dream, Toby feared it unlikely that Blaise would now resist the temptation to get some more of the magical golden dragon scales. Selling Klel’s scales, which could heal any illness simply by the sufferer touching them, could fetch a fortune.

  ‘It’ll be much easier with a real dragon here…’ The man called Lark jumped down from the wagon with a leather case and spread the contents on the table.

  Toby slipped back to join his friends where he could see the front of the wagon.

  ‘Blaise is in the wagon. He’s up to something and I think it has to do with Klel,’ Toby reported back to them. ‘His friend’s name is Lark.’

  ‘It looks like he’s taken up trading as a healer.’ Sanelle pointed out the bottles of green liquid that Lark was setting out.

  ‘They seem pleased to see Klel here,’ Toby said in a worried tone.

  ‘People of Northport,’ Lark called out loudly, but only a few people even turned his way before continuing on through the marketplace. Lark didn’t look bothered about the lack of attention he was getting. He rearranged a couple of bottles and then spoke again: ‘People of Northport, I present the great Healer Chilton!’

  The short man stepped aside from the table as a loud bang made Toby jump and smoke billowed out around the wagon. Small white and green flashes of light exploded within the smoke with small popping sounds. The dog barked madly and ran into the smoke.

  ‘Does Blaise have his magic back?’ Kaylene knew a spell when she saw one. ‘I thought they’d taken it from him?’

  ‘They did.’ Sanelle looked concerned.

  For a brief second, Toby actually felt sorry for Blaise for having his magic taken away. Now that he knew what it felt like to be stripped of his magic. It was as if some part of him was missing. The pity lasted only a second, though, as he knew someone like Blaise could be very dangerous with magical powers.

  The smoke drifted away on the stiff, cool breeze that swept in from the ocean, to reveal Blaise, looking very pleased with himself. He now had the attention of the entire marketplace. Toby squinted to get a better look, and his keen eyesight told him that the prince’s eyes were still a muddy brown, which showed he had no magic within him.

  More coloured sparks seemed to fly from Blaise’s outstretched hands, raising a gasp from the crowd.

  ‘How is he doing that?’ Sanelle asked nobody in particular. ‘It must be a trick that just looks like magic.’

  Before anyone could comment, Blaise began to speak.

  ‘Good people. You are fortunate to be here today, for I have the potion that will heal all your ills…’ Blaise picked up a bottle of the green liquid and held it up high.

  A snicker among the quiet crowd grew to laughter and people began to turn away.

  When the dog began barking again, Blaise picked it up and almost threw it into the back of the wagon.

  ‘You’re too late,’ one man called out. ‘You might have had some buyers a week ago, or even yesterday, but now it looks as if the king has brought us a dragon. The dragon can heal better than your potion.’ The man pointed up to where Klel was still sunning himself on the golden roof of the castle.

  ‘Ah, yes, it looks as if I have arrived just in time.’ Blaise seemed all kindness and concern, and not at all worried that the crowd were not interested in what he had to offer. ‘This potion is also guaranteed to cure Dragon Sickness.’

  Blaise fell silent and stood waiting while those closest frowned over what he had said and then muttered amongst themselves. Slowly the conversation spread through the crowd and attention returned to the prince.

  ‘What’s he talking about?’ Toby said as he glanced up at Klel and then back to the now sober-looking Blaise. ‘Klel doesn’t look sick.’

  Both girls shrugged and waited with the rest of the crowd to hear what the prince had to say. Blaise remained silent, and eventually one man from the crowd spoke up.

  ‘What dragon sickness?’ he asked. ‘Is the dragon sick?’

  ‘No, but everyone in this town will be soon. You mean you haven’t heard about the sickness the dragons are spreading?’ Blaise looked surprised and a little shocked. He seemed so genuine that even Toby frowned for a second and glanced up at Klel.

  The crowd began to talk loudly amongst themselves while Blaise simply stood silently. People seemed divided into those who were suddenly suspicious of Klel and others who scoffed at the healer’s claim.

  ‘There’s no such sickness,’ a woman said loudly as she worked her way to the front of the crowd to confront Blaise. ‘You’re just trying to sell us your potion.’

  Blaise shrugged and smiled. Lark began to gather up the bottles and put them back in the leather case. ‘I’ll be here for a few days. You’ll know where to come when you start getting a fever and sickness of the stomach. Don’t wait too long, though, it can be fatal.’

  Blaise turned and climbed into the back of the wagon without another word, completely ignoring the few people who had rushed up to buy the potion after all.

  Lark threw the leather case in the back of the wagon and leapt lightly up to the driving seat. The wagon moved off slowly through the crowd, leaving everyone, including Toby, staring after it.

  CHAPTER SIX

  HEIR TO THE THRONE

  ‘I think we should follow him,’ Sanelle said, walking off after the wagon without waiting to see if they were with her.

  ‘Why is he making up a story like that?’ Toby asked as he and Kaylene caught up with her.

  ‘So there isn’t really a sickness?’ Kaylene asked with a slightly concerned frown.

  ‘No there isn’t,’ Sanelle snapped. ‘He’s trying t
o turn people against the dragons for some reason.’

  ‘When nobody gets sick, they’ll realise that it’s just a story,’ Toby assured Sanelle.

  The wagon drew up outside an inn and Blaise went inside. Lark took the dog out of the wagon and handed the horse’s reins over to a stable boy. He slipped a leash around the dog’s neck and hurried off down the street.

  ‘Who do we follow?’ Kaylene asked.

  ‘I’ll stay here in case Blaise leaves, and you two follow the other one,’ Sanelle suggested.

  Toby nodded and walked quickly off after Lark. Kaylene walked beside Toby, but nobody seemed to take any notice of her. It seemed that nobody recognised their princess dressed as she was.

  ‘Where’s he going?’ Toby asked as the man doubled back towards the marketplace. The man tapped an old woman on the shoulder to get her attention, then asked her a question. He took a folded parchment from his pocket and showed it to her. She shook her head and walked away. He showed the parchment to several more people, but all of them shook their heads. Eventually the man folded up the parchment and put it back in his pocket. He left the marketplace and walked off to the park where they had watched the ships earlier.

  ‘Maybe he’s heading back to the wharves,’ Kaylene suggested. ‘Perhaps they’ve left something on the ship.’

  Lark seemed to have slowed down to a stroll as he made his way around the pebbled paths of the park. The dog seemed quite happy to stop and smell trees, bushes and anything it could find. Lark waited patiently for the dog to be ready to move on each time. Toby and Kaylene were forced to drop back so that it wouldn’t be obvious that they were following him.

  ‘It looks like he’s just out to walk the dog,’ Toby said after they had followed him around the entire park. Lark had stopped by a seat and was throwing chunks of bread to the few birds that had remained in the town for the winter. They hungrily gobbled up the offered food and followed him looking for more. The prince’s friend then stopped by a well and peered down into its depths. After a brief pause he turned and strolled back the way he had come. They followed him all the way back to the inn and found Sanelle still watching Blaise through one of the side windows.

  ‘Blaise has just ordered two meals and booked a room for the night,’ Sanelle told them. ‘I don’t think he’ll be up to anything else today.’

  Toby looked up to see where the sun was, but the sky was completely covered by clouds. They hung low and heavy with snow, but he guessed it was about midday.

  ‘I’m supposed to watch the winter tournament with my father. It’s so unfair—’ Kaylene broke off and then looked long and hard at Toby. ‘We’re about the same height, aren’t we?’

  ‘I guess so,’ Toby said, unsure why that suddenly seemed important.

  ‘Can I borrow some of your clothes?’ Kaylene asked, a small smile growing at the corners of her mouth.

  ‘I guess so,’ Toby replied with a shrug. He had no idea why she would want his old, worn-out clothes when she had clothes that were so much nicer.

  ‘Come up to the castle while I change,’ she said, taking Toby’s satchel of belongings and digging through them for a tunic and trousers, before handing the satchel back. ‘Then we will go to the tournament — I’ll tell you why when we get there.’

  As they approached the front entrance of the castle, Klel flew down from his perch on the roof. The few people who had been milling around near the entrance decided they would rather be somewhere else and scurried off with a nervous glance at Klel.

  Something wrong? Klel asked as he landed lightly on the polished marble slabs at the front of the castle. People worried.

  ‘You’ll never believe who’s here,’ Toby said, side-stepping the question.

  Klel looked thoughtful for a second, then shook his great head. Who?

  ‘Blaise.’ Sanelle’s tone reflected her dislike of her brother.

  Causing trouble? Klel asked, looking around at the few townsfolk who watched from a good distance. For us?

  ‘He’s told the people here that dragons are causing a sickness,’ Kaylene told the golden dragon, and then she raised her voice so that the people nearby could hear what she was saying. ‘But that’s not true — dragons heal people.’

  Klel looked puzzled for a moment and then shrugged his massive shoulders. Blaise no threat. No sickness, they will see.

  ‘Can we help search for Farren?’ Sanelle asked, changing the subject. ‘What does he look like?’

  Don’t know, Klel answered. Not need to know. He not here.

  ‘How can you tell?’ Toby asked. So far as he had seen, the dragon had not done more than fly over the town since they got here. ‘Surely we need to know what he looks like?’

  Farren left long time ago as boy. Now grown into man, Klel explained. If Farren here, Klel would know by gem he stole. Would feel energy from gem like energy from neckband.

  Toby stifled a sigh as he looked at Klel’s neckband. He used to be able to hear the gems sing before they took his magic. Now the gems just sparkled in the sun and made no sound at all. He felt a sense of loss as he stared at the gems, wishing he could hear them again. If he still had his magic, he would have been able to help look for Farren.

  Will fly low over all town, though. Just make sure. Klel turned his long neck towards the roofs of the town. Feel something, maybe small gems.

  ‘Come back and rest in the castle courtyard tonight,’ Kaylene suggested. ‘There’s an abandoned stable at the far end that should keep you warm.’

  Klel nodded his thanks and leapt into the sky, flying low across the roofs and circling every now and then. For once people didn’t welcome the presence of the dragon, and children were ushered off the streets as he flew near.

  ‘I want to go down to the inn first thing in the morning,’ Sanelle said as Kaylene led them through the castle gates. ‘I still think he’s up to something.’

  ‘Me, too,’ Toby agreed. ‘I’m just going to check out the stable to make sure it’s okay for Klel. I’ll catch you up.’

  ‘I’ll go with you,’ Sanelle told Toby.

  ‘I’ll be in my quarters,’ Kaylene said with a nod. ‘Can you find them?’

  ‘Halfway up that tower,’ Toby said, pointing to the tallest tower with a golden roof. He had lived most of his life in a castle, albeit as a servant. They were all built along similar lines, and he could find his way around easily using the servants’ passages.

  Kaylene disappeared into the castle proper, and Toby and Sanelle walked across the courtyard towards the old stable. Several guards watched them, but they kept their distance — word of Toby and Sanelle’s presence had spread quickly through the castle and town.

  Although the stable had not been used for some time, the roof was still sound and would be enough to keep Klel warm for the night. Toby quickly dragged a bale of hay out of storage and spread it on the cold, hard earth. The dragon’s hide may be tough, but even he felt the cold.

  Once they were satisfied that their friend would be warm and comfortable, Toby and Sanelle headed back towards the main part of the castle. They went in the main entrance and intended to slip off into the servants’ passages. They were part-way down the long entrance hall when a voice called after them: ‘You’re late. Everyone else has been here for days.’

  Toby turned and saw an elegantly dressed man hurrying towards him. His clothes marked him as the castle steward, so Toby knew he was not someone to get on the wrong side of. The castle steward wielded almost as much power as the king himself — at least within the castle.

  ‘I beg your pardon, Sire. We are to meet—’ Toby began, but the steward grabbed their arms and hurried them down the corridor.

  ‘Yes, yes. As I said, the other contenders have been here for days,’ he replied in a harried voice. ‘Where are your papers? What gift did you bring for the king? What claim on the throne do you intend to present?’

  The man kept walking fast as he threw questions at Toby and Sanelle, but didn’t even pause to all
ow them to answer. Clearly the steward had them confused with someone else. They turned off down one of the many side corridors and passed through a series of doors. Toby wasn’t worried about getting lost, though. He figured they were heading towards the guest quarters, which wasn’t far from the tower they wanted to go to anyway.

  The steward finally paused at a set of large wooden double doors and opened them. ‘You can find a room in here. The tournament will begin in half an hour. Be ready.’

  Before Toby or Sanelle could protest, they were pushed through the doors, which were pulled shut behind them.

  ‘Just what we need,’ a sour voice said off to their left. ‘More hopefuls come to cast themselves at the feet of the king. And a girl, too — now that’s a laugh!’

  Toby turned with a frown to see who had spoken, and saw a scowling young man with tight black curls. Clearly, he was not impressed to see Toby. The young man was leaning against one of the impressive marble columns that ringed the large hall into which Toby and Sanelle had been thrust. Several other young men and boys were lounging on sofas further down the hall, and more were engaged in a game that involved throwing a ball and yelling noisily.

  ‘Take no notice of my brother,’ a second, much kinder voice said.

  Toby saw a younger boy, not much older than himself, sitting on the other side of the column. He had straight jet-black hair that looked like it hadn’t been brushed in quite some time, and a friendly smile that showed in his bright green eyes. A smattering of freckles dotted the boy’s cheeks. Toby liked him instantly. The boy put down the book he had been reading and stood up.

  ‘I’m Riko, and this grumpy fellow is my brother, Jern,’ the younger boy said. ‘None of our family has any real claim on the throne anyway, so I don’t know why he’s so bothered about another contender.’

  ‘What’s a contender?’ Sanelle asked. Jern snorted in disgust.

  ‘So you’re not here to lay claim to become heir to the throne of North Kingdom?’ Riko asked.