The Emerald Dagger

by Barbara Hodges

  A scornful mind blast answered her, but the flavor was enough to name its owner. "Llyr."

  "I bring a gift for you at my mother's command."

  "Peter?" Regan cried.

  "What is happening," Angus said.

  "It's Llyr, and he has Peter," Regan said. "Clear the area. Give him room."

  The soldiers scrambled to return their mounts to the stables as the dragon circled closer.

  "I will not land," Llyr sent.

  "There’s room."

  "I will not drag talon on a human's ground."

  "Then drop him," Regan screamed. Then, remembering an earlier trip, added, "Gently."

  Llyr circled closer and Regan saw a limp form hanging from his talons. The descending dragon's wings stirred a whirling maelstrom of dirt, leaves and straw into existence. Blinking tears from her stinging eyes, Regan stared up toward her husband's still form.

  Llyr hovered six feet above them. She and the dwarf reached up and, with a scornful laugh that seared her mind, Llyr opened his talons. Peter's weight drove her and Angus to their knees as they tried to cushion his fall. Regan spared a quick glance up at Llyr.

  "Thank you, and thank Zara, too."

  Llyr did not respond, but down-swept his wings and ascended.

  Regan turned back to Peter, her face tight with concern.

  "He lives," Angus said.

  From behind her, Regan heard running feet.

  "Aside," Margeaux commanded. She knelt beside the still form and ran her fingers over Peter's blood-soaked body.

  Tell me it is not all his. Regan saw the elven healer's lips tighten and her blood froze in her veins. Her knees threatened to buckle. She felt strong arms close around her and she was pulled back against a rock-hard chest. She knew without turning that it was Ben who held her.

  "Get him inside," Margeaux ordered. "And find Helena for me. She has gone to the home of the baker's breeding daughter."

  Six soldiers leapt forward to pick Peter up, while two ran in the direction of the castle's gate.

  ""Gently, gently," Margeaux said.

  Regan grew even colder when not a sound passed her husband’s lips as he was carried toward the castle doors.

  Chapter Nine

  Deep furrows etched Ben's brow as he watched them carry Peter toward the castle's doors. Peter's mauled tunic had separated as the soldiers lifted him, and Ben had seen the series of slashes upon the mage's body. They were so evenly spaced that the black man knew the marks had to have been made by some beast's claws. But their size and width? What manner of beasts were these?

  "Ben? Ben? Are you listening to me?" Regan's voice jerked his gaze to her. "He will be okay? Tell me he will."

  "He has the best care," he assured her.

  Regan turned toward the stable instead of the castle.

  "What are you doing? Your husband lies inside," he said.

  "Something out there has my son," she said, without slowing her strides away from him.

  In two steps, he was beside her. He grabbed her arm. "Kelsey and Rourk will find Daniel. Peter and Catherine need you here."

  Regan tried to pull her arm away from his grip. "No, if I'd gone with them as I wanted, this wouldn't have happened."

  "I will not let you go alone."

  "Let go of me, Ben. Don't make me use the Power."

  The corners of his lips grew white. "You threaten me?"

  Regan looked away. "You saw what they did to Peter. My God, they have my son. He could be dead." Trembling shook her body and she collapsed against Ben's chest. "I'm sorry. I'd never use the Power..."

  He picked her up and carried her toward the castle doors. "You need to hold your daughter. It will make the waiting easier. Kelsey and Rourk will find Daniel. You will see. They probably already have."

  Regan touched her earring. "No, they haven't yet. She would have told me."

  Ben kicked the castle door opened. "Well, you can bet it won't take them much longer." He started toward the turret stairwell. "Where's Catherine?"

  "Our chambers, with a maid."

  *****

  Dirkk looked up at the sound of approaching steps. Three of his etain'daman came toward him. They pushed a stumbling little boy. Ten paces away they stopped and waited. Dirkk gazed at the child.

  The boy was small, almost dainty, and trembled like a sapling in a brisk wind. This was what two mages of the Power had produced? Regan should have mated with me. Our son would have had none of the puniness I see before me. The boy lifted his head, and Dirkk smiled at the hatred blazing from his green eyes. He has Regan's eyes, but does he have her stubborn will?

  Dirkk glanced at the face of the female etain'daman. I must give her a name. A cold smile twisted her lips and he saw her tighten her grip viciously on the boy's arm. Her smile grew wider and colder as the boy winced.

  He flicked a finger toward her. "Your name is Hades," he said, pleased with his decision. She acknowledged his words with a nod of her head. "Now, Hades, release the boy's arm. I wish him unmarred, at least for a while."

  She released the boy and stepped forward. "I may have him when you are finished?"

  Dirkk cocked an eyebrow. "What would you do with him?"

  She gazed at him from slanted eyes. "You have your pets. I would like one of my own."

  "He is a scrawny thing. How long do you think he would last under your tender care," Dirkk asked her.

  She shrugged her tawny-furred shoulders. "There will be more, will there not?"

  And what will you do for me to earn such a reward?"

  "Whatever you command, master." There was a pause, only a matter of a heartbeat, before she added master, but he noticed.

  "You already obey my command without a reward. To your cage," Dirkk said, and watched as her slanted eyes narrowed to slits of rage. She turned and stalked toward a dark tunnel branching from the main corridor.

  A choked-back sob drew his attention to the boy. "What are you called, boy?"

  The boy pressed his lips together defiantly.

  "You will not say? Then I will call you Whelp. Kneel before me, Whelp," Dirkk ordered.

  The boy shook his head, and the remaining two etain'daman leapt forward and pressed him to the floor.

  "Have you the Power?" Dirkk frowned. "Of course, you do not, or you would not have been taken so easily." His frown deepened. "Strip him."

  The boy fought with what little strength he had left, but in moments he was naked.

  "Stand." The etain'daman hauled him to his feet. Dirkk stood and slowly circled the boy. The boy shivered and blue tinged his lips. "No, Whelp, you've not the mark." He pointed to a tapestry lying in a heap on the floor. "Cover him." Dirkk watched as they wrapped the boy in the gold-and-silver tapestry. What am I to do with him? He will never last in the cages. There was a small room off the main area. Comfortable enough. He did not expect to have the child long, but what would he do about him when Regan and Daradawn were his? I can't kill him. Regan would never forgive me. I will send him to Hafgan. In time, my queen and I will have our own son, and she will forget about this one. It's a good thing the boy does not bear the blue flame, for then I would certainly have to kill him. I cannot allow any with the Power to survive.

  He pointed to the boy. "Bring him," he commanded, leading the way toward the small room.

  *****

  Rourk reined in his horse and dismounted. "Here is where Daniel was taken."

  The sun hadn't yet crested the tops of the pines and dark shadows still coated the path they rode. Kelsey slid from Freya's back. The remains of a struggle were easily seen, trampled pine needles and snapped branches. She knelt beside a large dark stain and touched its edge with her fingertip. Blood. Next to the blood, she saw a paw print.

  "Rourk, look at this."

  He crouched beside her. "What manner of beast is this? It looks like a wolf track, but..." His large hand, with fingers splayed, fit easily inside the print.

  Behind them the brush shook, they both leapt to their fee
t and turned.

  Kelsey held her sword before her, double-gripped and waist high.

  Rourk held his in one hand, a fighting blade in the other.

  A gold horn appeared, followed by DaKar's head.

  Kelsey and Rourk knew of the unicorn. His kind avoided human contact, but they had seen him in the Queen's Forests. He emerged from the brush and approached her. His sapphire eyes stared deep into hers.

  "Can you speak to him?" she asked Rourk.

  "No."

  Kelsey felt a buzzing in her head. Pain exploded behind her eyes and she gasped.

  "What is it?" Rourk said.

  "I think he's trying to talk to me," Kelsey said, then moaned and pressed her fingers against her throbbing temples.

  "Stop," Rourk said, stepping between her and DaKar. "She has no magic."

  "Kelsey?" Regan's voice sounded in Kelsey's head.

  She gripped her pendant. "We're here. So is DaKar. I think he tried to talk to me, but…"

  "I will tell you what DaKar says."

  Kelsey nodded.

  "What?" Rourk said.

  "Regan will tell me what DaKar saw."

  "Wolf-beasts with fairie riders attacked Peter."

  "Wolves? Fairies? I don't understand," Kelsey said aloud for Rourk's benefit.

  "Very large wolves, the size of small ponies. Fairies the size of children rode them."

  "What about Daniel?" Kelsey said.

  "Daniel was not there when the unicorns rescued Peter." Regan's thoughts were filled with pain and Kelsey winced as she repeated the words.

  Rourk pointed at the ground. "They took him this way."

  Kelsey nodded. "We've got their path."

  "DaKar knows where they'll take Daniel. He'll lead you."

  The unicorn tossed his mane.

  "He'll show us," Kelsey said to Rourk. "We'll let you know as soon as we find Daniel," she added to Regan. "How's Peter?"

  "He hasn't regained consciousness yet. When he..." Regan's thoughts broke off.

  Surely Peter wasn't going to die. She looked into DaKar's eyes. Just how bad was Peter hurt? She forced the question out toward the unicorn. A blast of pain assaulted her head again and she gasped.

  "Kelsey, what is it?" Regan's frantic question came through to her.

  "He can hear my thoughts," Kelsey sent.

  "Who can?"

  "DaKar. Damn, why is he hurting me?"

  "Drop your shield," Regan said. "Let him enter."

  "I don't have a shield."

  "You must. Now mentally drop it."

  This is a waste of time, Kelsey thought as she closed her eyes and dropped a shield she knew she didn't have.

  "The wolf-beasts savaged him greatly. The pool of blood is the High Mage's." The words were somehow lighter than Regan's and tinged with a silver sheen.

  "I can hear him, but how?" Kelsey said out loud.

  "Hear who?" Rourk said.

  "The magic is faint, but still within you, woman of Thea's blood." DaKar's eyes stared deep into hers.

  "It's because we're sisters," Kelsey sent to Regan, finally understanding.

  "Good. Now listen to DaKar and go find my son," Regan said.

  "This way, Queen's-Commander." DaKar moved from the path and wove his way among the trees.

  "We follow him," Kelsey told Rourk, mounting Freya.

  Chapter Ten

  Regan watched the sun creep above the horizon, then turned again to stare into Peter's face. He is so pale. Why doesn't he regain consciousness? He stirred, and she stiffened. Was he going to start thrashing again? What did he fight in the nightmares that assaulted him time and again? Twice it had taken both Ben and Angus to pin him down on the bed. The first time he'd reopened the stitches in his side and back.

  Regan heard a murmur of voices and then footsteps.

  "I go to Hafgan's," Angus said from behind her.

  She glanced up at him. "Why?"

  "I wish to say no more at this time, but something bothers me there."

  "Is it somehow connected with all of this?"

  "Perhaps."

  Regan nodded. "Do what you must. Peter will be fine."

  The dwarf stared down into Peter's face. His lips tightened and his eyes darkened to the color of gathering storm clouds.

  "I will find who did this to you," he told the unconscious man, "and they will pay with their blood, all of it."

  Regan felt the Power in her stomach stir with the words. "Save some of them for me." She reached to squeeze Angus' arm.

  Maggie came through the door as Angus left.

  "Hey, Mags."

  The basset hound leaned against Regan's leg. "What has hurt Peter?"

  "We don't know."

  "Where is Daniel?"

  Regan balled her hands into fists. "Something took him."

  "We go to get him back." The basset hound's mind-voice was not a question, but a statement.

  "Kelsey and Rourk are."

  "We go," Maggie insisted.

  "Peter and Catherine—"

  "Are fine." Maggie shook her head, the bells she wore around her neck tinkled in the stillness of the room.

  "Shush. Here, give me the collar for a while." Regan unbuckled it and put it in her pocket.

  She looked into Peter's face. Soft pink tinged his cheeks. Holding her breath, she listened. His breathing came easier. "Peter. Peter."

  His eyes opened. "Daniel," he whispered.

  "Our son is fine." Please, Goddess, let it be so, she prayed.

  At her words, his eyes closed. "No, don't you leave me again."

  A hand touched her shoulder.

  "This sleep is different. It is one of healing," Margeaux said.

  Regan had not even heard the elven healer enter the room. "Then he's going to be all right?"

  "He is better." Margeaux pried a corner of a bandage free and looked beneath it. "The bleeding has stopped and the redness is less." A frown crossed her face.

  "What is it?" Regan asked.

  "I poured much healing force into his body. I hoped to see more improvement."

  Regan knew this to be a fact, for Ben had to aid the elven healer's walk from the room after she'd first administered to Peter.

  "I'd like to move him to Vilsathor."

  The room tilted around Regan and she grabbed the edge of the bed.

  "But I dare not," Margeaux finished.

  "He's better. Look, there is some color in his face," Regan said.

  Margeaux squeezed Regan's hand. "Yes, Peter is better. Why don't you get some rest? Go check on your daughter. She must be hungry."

  Maggie nudged Regan's leg. "Find Daniel."

  "Yes," Regan said, standing. To whom she'd said yes, Maggie or Margeaux, she did not know, as she walked from the room.

  *****

  Regan kissed the top of her sleeping daughter's head and pulled her breast from the babe's mouth. Catherine's milk-crusted lips formed a soft pout, but she did not waken. Maggie sat at Regan's feet and stared up at her.

  "Yes, I know. One child taken care of, but what about the other?"

  Regan stood and walked to the cradle. Catherine would be fine for three or four hours, but that wasn't near enough time. She placed her daughter inside. A kitchen maid had given birth two days before and could wet-nurse Catherine. Regan grimaced; she knew how Peter would feel about her leaving. But she would be back with Daniel before he was up and about, her stubborn mind argued. And she had lied and told Peter that Daniel was fine. She needed to make that lie the truth.

  Regan touched her opal earring. Maybe Kelsey had already found Daniel. "Kelsey," she mind-called to her sister. But the voice she heard inside her head was not Kelsey's.

  "Regan. It's been a long time."

  She stumbled. "No. It can't be."

  Dirkk laughed softly. "But it can."

  The Power in Regan flared. "Where are you? Where have you been? I'd hoped you were nothing but rotting flesh and bones."

  "Ah, Regan, you lie to yourself
. You know you wish to be with me."

  Regan dropped her hand from the earring, but Dirkk's voice continued.

  "You want me, not the insipid magic bumbler you wed.

  "I don't want you any way but dead," she said.

  "Come to me, my queen. I'll open a doorway where you stand."

  Regan pulled a small ball of Power upward and then down her arm and into her hand. "Open it then."

  "Yes, I'll open it so you can come to us."

  She stiffened. "Us," she asked, but she already knew the answer. The air before her eyes wavered. It was as if she looked into a distorted mirror, but what she saw was not her reflection, but the forms of Dirkk with her son held before him.

  Beside her, Maggie growled softly.

  Regan swallowed. How can my heart pound so fast and not explode? She swept a quick gaze over Dirkk. "Looks like you're still playing Halloween. Why don't you get rid of the mask? We all know what you look like beneath it. Daniel, are you all right?"

  "So, Daniel is your name." Dirkk shook the boy's shoulder. "Speak to your mother. Tell her you are fine."

  Daniel lifted his head and stared into Regan's eyes. "I'm okay, Momma."

  "If you've harmed one hair on his head—"

  "Your son is fine," Dirkk assured her. "Why would I hurt him? He is no threat to me. He has not the mark."

  The words echoed in her head and she knew that if the blue flame's mark had been found upon Daniel, her son would not be alive. Dirkk must never know about her daughter. Behind Regan, Catherine stirred and whimpered.

  "The sound. What is it?" Dirkk said.

  "Maggie." Daniel winced, and Regan took a step toward the doorway. "He is hurt."

  "Not by me. I have seen that the poison left inside him has been cleaned from within." Dirkk smiled. "But another has asked for him."

  "Another?"

  "One of my new pets." The smile grew.

  "What have you hell-spawned this time," she asked, fear clawing at her heart.

  "Come and see, Regan." The smile left Dirkk's lips. "Come now, and save your son."

  Regan took a deep breath and stepped through the doorway. For a moment it felt as if her blood froze, and then she stood before Dirkk. Behind her she heard a wild frenzy of barking and, as the doorway closed, Maggie leapt through. Daniel jerked from Dirkk's grasp and ran to the basset hound.