Dragon's Keep: The Complete Dracengard Series

by Christopher Vale

  It had not taken long and soon the Wizard was standing in the throne room, Lord Rayfen at his side, staring at his half-brother Jerin, now the King of Beagonia, and Jerin’s mother, Queen Orlaith. The Wizard sneered at them as they huddled together, their troops having surrendered and powerless to protect them. “Do you recognize me, Your Grace?” the Wizard asked Jerin. The King shook his head. “How about you?” the Wizard asked as he turned to Orlaith. She was much older now, but still pretty for her advanced years.

  “No,” the Queen said.

  The Wizard chuckled. “My name is Tamesis. I am a very powerful Wizard,” he smiled. “But you once knew me as your young servant Thomas, the son of a witch.”

  Both of their eyes grew wide as they stared at him.

  “Thomas,” Jerin began. “Thank the seraph you are alive. We had feared the worst.”

  “I am sure you did.” The Wizard turned to the other nobles and knights in the throne room. “Orlaith ordered I be killed,” he said to them. “Her guards dragged me out into the swamp, but I escaped and found my mother. Do you know what I discovered? What my mother revealed to me? I am actually the first born son of King Gregory, and thus the rightful King of Beagonia.”

  A collective gasp rippled through the Beagonian nobles and knights in the room. He then spun to stare at Orlaith. “Isn’t that true, Your Grace?” he asked with a sneer. Jerin was watching her closely. Orlaith said nothing. “Answer me!” the Wizard bellowed as the drak moved in closer.

  “Yes, it’s true,” Orlaith admitted as she began to weep.

  The Wizard turned to Jerin, his face now stoic, his voice calm. “Kneel down, brother, and renounce the throne in my favor and I shall be gracious and allow you to live. Refuse and you shall become dinner for the drakmere.”

  Jerin did not even hesitate, dropping quickly to one knee terrified of the drakmere. “I renounce the throne in favor of Thomas…” he began, but the Wizard held up a hand silencing him.

  “The Wizard Tamesis, eldest son of my father, King Gregory,” the Wizard said.

  “In favor of the Wizard Tamesis, eldest son of my father, King Gregory,” Jerin repeated.

  “Good,” the Wizard smiled as he gently removed the crown from Jerin’s head and placed it upon his own. He walked past the nobles as they each knelt before him until he reached the throne, where he turned and sat. He smiled to himself enjoying the moment and delighting in the special surprise he had for Queen Orlaith.

  ***

  At the Wizard’s command, drakmere escorted Queen Orlaith to her room. When the door opened, she found the Wizard’s mother, Lilit, inside and Orlaith’s face went ghastly white. Lilit smiled a wicked grin.

  “Hello, Orlaith,” Lilit said as the draks dragged Orlaith inside and threw her to the floor at Lilit’s feet. “I love this room. So much nicer than my little cabin in the swamps. I suppose it is the room for the mother of the King, and therefore I will be residing here from now on.” Orlaith began to stand but a drak pushed her back down to the ground. “How dare you try to stand in my presence!” Lilit spat angrily. She then lifted her foot and placed it on the back of Orlaith’s head, forcing the womans face to the floor. “Yes, grovel to me you disgusting bug,” Lilit sneered.

  Lilit calmed herself and removed her foot from the back of Orlaith’s head, but Orlaith was smart enough to keep her face buried in the carpet. “What was it you told the King to do to me?” Lilit asked but received no answer. “You said I should be publicly flogged and burnt at the stake for witchcraft.”

  Orlaith summoned the courage to lift her head. “You are a witch! You seduced my husband through sorcery!”

  “Oh, my dear, it took no magic,” Lilit lied. “He went willingly. In fact, he got down on his knees and begged for it.”

  “You lie, witch!” Orlaith screamed as she leapt to her feet, grabbing at Lilit, but before she could reach her target, the drakmere grabbed her and held her tight. Lilit slapped Orlaith across the face with the back of her hand.

  “Strip her naked and tie her to the bed posts,” Lilit commanded and the draks obeyed, licking their lips. “I wanted to do this in public tomorrow morning so that the entire kingdom could watch what happens to those who cross the disciples of our Lord Shebath. But fortunately for you, my son wants to garner the favor of the people and feels that publicly flogging their former Queen would not assist that cause. He is likely correct, after all he is much more intelligent than the halfwit Jerin who was on the throne.” Lilit could not help but laugh. “You wronged me in so many ways Orlaith, but I am willing to forgive you. However, I am going to require that you beg for my forgiveness.”

  Orlaith did not even wait for the first strike of the flog to occur. “Please forgive me,” she said.

  Lilit smiled. “That was quicker than I thought, but not convincing enough.” She nodded to the drak holding the flog and he reared back and struck her, sending blood spraying across the bed.

  Orlaith screamed in pain. “Please, forgive me!” she screamed as she sobbed.

  “That is not the correct way to address the Mother of the King is it?” Lilit asked and nodded to the drak once more. The flog fell again, flaying skin.

  “Please forgive me, Your Grace!” Orlaith pleaded. Lilit nodded to the drak again and the flog came down once more causing Orlaith to scream in agony. “Please…” she whimpered through the pain.

  “I will forgive you, my dear,” Lilit said. “But I want you to tell me Shebath is your lord and master.”

  “Shebath is my lord and master,” Orlaith said through clenched teeth as tears flowed down her cheeks.

  “Say that you would gladly die for him,” Lilit said smiling.

  “I would gladly die for Shebath,” Orlaith said.

  “And so you shall,” Lilit said and turned to the draks. “You may eat her now.”

  “No!” Orlaith screamed as the draks approached her.

  “Shebath’s warriors need nourishment, Orlaith. You are serving your master well.” Lilit began to cackle as the draks sank their fangs into Orlaith’s flesh and the former queen let out a deafening shriek.

  Chapter 8

  The sun was hot and the air was dry as Terrwyn, Dillan, and Willem walked south along the road which paralleled the river, aptly named River Road. The river was obscured from their view, but they knew it was just beyond the stand of trees to their left.

  The three had crossed over from the far side of the river several days prior, and had initially moved with haste down the road toward the Glass Sea where Dillan expected his ship and crew to be waiting for him. Now, however, their energy had dissipated and their walking had become more of a stroll than anything else.

  The three traveled in silence most of the day, having pretty much exhausted the usual conversation: repetitive discussions of Dracengard, the Wizard, seraph, and other similar topics. Terrwyn strolled beside Willem while Dillan led the way munching on some blackberries he had picked along the road.

  “How long have you known Dillan?” Terrwyn asked Willem, intending to make simple small talk to break the silence and take her mind off of their dire predicament.

  “Well, I never really knew him well. We had met once or twice when he would come into port at Elwood,” Willem said. “You?”

  “I had not seen him since we were children,” she said. “To my knowledge, he did not stop at port at Avonvale.

  “I did sometimes,” Dillan said without turning to face them. “Normally I would port at Lattingham, though.”

  “You never had a desire to stop and see your betrothed?” Terrwyn asked. She did not mean it spitefully, but out of genuine curiosity.

  Dillan turned and stopped walking so that Terrwyn and Willem could catch up. “Not particularly,” he said. “Did you want to see me?” he asked.

  “No,” she confessed as Dillan fell in beside her.

  “Then it is good I never requested an audience.”

  “I suppose,” she said. Willem began to laugh. “What’s so funny?”
Terrwyn asked.

  “You two,” Willem replied. “Oh my, I didn’t particularly want to see the beautiful Princess Terrwyn who I was betrothed to marry to the envy of every other man in the realm,” Willem said imitating Dillan. “I would have given my left arm to be betrothed to Terrwyn.” Terrwyn looked down at the ground blushing at Willem’s confession of affection. “And Terrwyn, you were so terrified of marrying this Prince Tybalt fellow, but now that you realize he is such a dashingly handsome swashbuckler, you can’t stop flirting with him.”

  “What?” Terrwyn asked incredulously. “I have not flirted with Dillan.”

  Willem laughed again. “Terrwyn, you were flirting with him in the midst of our flight from man-eating draks. When not flirting you were playing hard-to-get.”

  Dillan chuckled causing Terrwyn embarrassment.

  “Look,” Willem said holding up his hands and stopping them. “You two have some things to discuss. Once you have both cleared the air, we can all start to get along a lot better. If you decide not to get married, then I hope there will be no ill-feelings when I pursue Terrwyn’s hand. Of course, there is not much difference between Dillan and I. We’re both princes without a kingdom. He’s a little more roguish and I’m a little more handsome, but other than that the only real difference is he has a boat.”

  “It’s a ship, actually,” Dillan said.

  “And he’s clearly more of a prick,” Willem said before turning and wandering away. Terrwyn and Dillan stood in the middle of the road watching Willem, both knowing he was right, but neither wanting to begin the conversation.

  Dillan eventually broke the silence. “I didn’t want to get married,” he said. Terrwyn turned to look at him. “That is why I never stopped to see you. I had no desire to see you, because that would remind me that I had to marry you.”

  “You never wanted to marry anyone?” Terrwyn asked.

  “Well, I didn’t want to marry the typical princess. I did meet this girl one time, years ago, that... Anyway, I rescued her and her mother from pirates, and…” Dillan stopped.

  “What? Tell me.”

  “She just had such spirit. She was strong and wasn’t the type to spend her life taking tea and cakes, modeling gowns, and dancing at balls like the other princesses I knew.”

  “And you don’t think I have spirit? You think I am not strong?” Terrwyn asked.

  “I think you are one of the strongest women I have ever met. Had I taken the time to realize who you are, I would have seen that and not been so afraid to marry you.” Terrwyn smiled and blushed. “You are wonderful, Terrwyn. That is why Willem is so in love with you, and clearly has been for a long time.”

  Terrwyn turned to look at Willem. He sat on a rock on the side of the road skipping pebbles across the dirt. She then turned back to Dillan. “I was afraid that you would want a meek, obedient bride. I remembered you as a little monster who was mean to me.”

  “I was just a kid,” he responded. “And you had this extremely annoying, superior air about you, like you were better than everyone else.”

  “I still have that, actually,” Terrwyn replied with a smile causing Dillan to laugh.

  “I know,” he said chuckling. “Everyone knows.”

  “So why didn’t you tell me who you really were when we met in Lattingham?”

  Dillan looked down at the road and kicked a rock. “I had been through a lot. I had just found out my family was dead, my home razed, and my mentor was killed right before my eyes.”

  “Oh,” Terrwyn said a little embarrassed at herself for making such a big deal out of it, when Dillan had lost even more than she had. She had never thought about it in those terms before.

  “No, that’s not it,” Dillan said. He looked up at her and released a deep breath. “I didn’t tell you because I was embarrassed.”

  “Embarrassed?”

  “As soon as I met you I realized I had made a mistake. Here you were, this beautiful, strong, intelligent woman and I had been afraid to marry you. Afraid to even meet you.”

  “That’s okay, I was afraid to marry you too,” she confessed.

  “Yeah, but I deliberately sailed past your home and down to Lattingham for a week of debauchery before our wedding.”

  “I see,” Terrwyn said.

  “That is why I didn’t tell you. I was embarrassed, because the only reason I was in Lattingham was to sow as many of my oats as I could before being tied down to a woman I had not wanted to marry. My father and I had fought over it many times.” Dillan stopped. Terrwyn could tell he was fighting back tears. “The last words I said to my father were not kind. Then when Verd told me he was dead…that my entire family was dead, I was so ashamed…so angry at myself. Then you showed up and I was even more ashamed.” Dillan shook his head and lowered his voice. “And, I lost Erec.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “I had him, but I was drunk and was not thinking clearly. I didn’t tell him who I was either, and he ran away thinking I was a pirate. He ran up on that ship and was captured by draks. I was too drunk to stop him.” Dillan looked away. “That is why I didn’t tell you.”

  Terrwyn stood silently for a long moment staring at Dillan before stepping over to him and wrapping her arms around his neck. He pulled her closer and could hear her crying. “When I first heard about the fall of the Stromland, we heard that you were dead,” Terrwyn explained. “We heard that you had died with your entire family. Everyone felt so sorry for me, losing my betrothed just days before our wedding. They assumed I was crushed by the news, but in reality I was relieved. I was glad you were dead so that I wouldn’t have to marry you,” she admitted as she attempted to stop crying to no avail.

  Dillan pulled back and looked at her. He reached up and wiped the tears from her eyes. “It’s alright,” he said. “You did not really mean me ill will.”

  She smiled up at him. “Well, neither of us wanted to marry the other sight unseen and we both acted stupidly,” she said and he nodded his agreement. “I will forgive you if you will forgive me.”

  “Agreed,” he said as he smiled.

  She closed her eyes and waited, hoping he would kiss her. He wiped a stray ringlet of auburn hair from her face and began to lean forward toward her lips. The moment was magical and Terrwyn felt like a princess from a story. Unfortunately, the magic was shattered just before Dillan’s lips touched hers, when they both heard Willem shout: “Horsemen!” Dillan turned to see Willem running toward them. Then he heard it too—the thunder of hoof beats, approaching fast.

  “Come on!” Dillan exclaimed as he grabbed Terrwyn’s hand and pulled her toward the stand of trees on the side of the road, but it was too late. The horses rounded the curve and saw them. Willem met up with Dillan and Terrwyn and drew his sword as the horsemen surrounded them. Dillan drew both his sword and cutlass as the men pushed Terrwyn behind them protectively. Not that it would do much good. There were at least thirty cavalry and they could easily run all three of them down.

  The horsemen stared at them with swords drawn, but no one made a move. Then to Dillan’s surprise he heard a familiar voice. “I never expected to find an old sea rover like you actually walking on a road this close to water,” the voice said and Dillan turned to see Ashleen removing her helmet, and smiling at him.

  Dillan breathed a huge sigh of relief. In fact he was so relieved that he began to laugh uproariously as he sheathed his sword and cutlass. Terrwyn and Willem look at him inquisitively, wondering if he had gone mad. “Princess Terrwyn and Prince Willem, I am very pleased to present Princess Ashleen of Caerwynspire,” Dillan said after composing himself. Ashleen leapt down from her saddle and rushed over to him, ignoring the others as she wrapped her arms around him and squeezed him tight. He returned the embrace.

  “I was so afraid for you when I heard of Riversmeet,” Ashleen said. “I am glad to find you alive.” She then pulled back and looked at Terrwyn. “I apologize, Your Highness, I forget myself. Dillan and I are old friends. I hope you will for
give me,” she said.

  “Think nothing of it,” Terrwyn said with a smile, remembering the similar exchange between her and Willem days before, but being jealous now that it was Dillan being hugged. Ashleen returned the smile and pulled Terrwyn into a mighty embrace as well. Terrwyn could not help but return the hug as it seemed so genuine.

  Ashleen pulled away. “I am glad you are alive too. We have heard such horrible news of Avonvale.” She then turned to Willem.

  “Please tell me I get a hug as well,” he said smiling smugly. Like all young noblemen in the realm he had heard stories of the beautiful warrior princesses of Caerwynspire, though he had never met any of them personally. Yet, here was one, fully decked out in armor, yet still possessing a beauty to rival Terrwyn’s.

  “Why not?” Ashleen asked with a slight laugh and pulled Willem close. She could hear all of the Paladin laughing. “It’s true?” she asked, all traces of humor evaporated. “Elophborne has fallen?”

  “Yes,” he said gravely. “But luckily we escaped,” Willem said as Ashleen pulled away.

  “Where is your boat?” Ashleen asked turning back to Dillan. “We are traveling to Dracengard and could very much use a lift.”

  “It’s a ship,” Dillan corrected her. “And it should be waiting for us at the mouth of the Glass Sea.”

  “Excellent!” Sir Auberon said as Ashleen smiled up at him.

  “Sir Aggravane, bring three horses,” Ashleen ordered and the Paladin quickly obeyed, riding up to them with three white chargers of fallen Paladin. “We started out with one hundred men,” Ashleen explained.

  “I’m sorry to hear that, Ash,” Dillan said. Ashleen smiled a silent thanks to him and then walked back to her own horse. Dillan assisted Terrwyn in mounting hers before he and Willem mounted theirs.

  “Princess Terrwyn, I hope that you will ride beside me,” Ashleen said. “I have been without the company of a lady for some time and it would please me greatly to speak with you.”