Fantasy Kingdom XXI

by Lisa Anne Nisula

  “There is something you’re not telling me, Melissina. Something your father knows and Dean Shellwood knows, and the hermit knows, and you won’t tell me, the head of the Royal Guard and your fiancé.”

  “Amertious...”

  “No, I want to know what everyone else knows. What great crime have you committed? How did you betray the king?”

  “I didn’t.”

  “Then what is this about?”

  Melissina stayed silent.

  “If you don’t tell me right now, I’m leaving. I’m going back to Dean Shellwood and demanding she tell me this secret.”

  “Amertious, how are we supposed to get there without you?”

  “Then you’d better tell me, hadn’t you?”

  Melissina sighed. “I was hoping to wait until we were married.”

  “So I couldn’t leave you?”

  “So you’d understand. When you saw the people looking at you as their leader, you would.”

  Amertious didn’t soften, so she went on.

  “Do you know who Necorious is?”

  “The sworn enemy of our great king.”

  “I mean, do you know who he is? As a person.”

  Amertious clearly didn’t understand the question.

  “He’s my uncle. My father’s brother.”

  Amertious still did not understand, although Charles was beginning to.

  Amertious shrugged. “Every family has a black sheep or two but his highness can’t hold himself responsible for what his younger siblings do.”

  “Older,” Melissina whispered. “Necorious is Father’s older brother.”

  Charles could see Amertious’s forehead wrinkle as his mind struggled to wrap itself around that idea. He saw Amertious’s face smooth as the words made sense, then become grim as the full implication struck him. “I’m serving a traitor.”

  “Amertious, you have to understand. Necorious was never right. He studied the dark arts from an early age. Murder meant nothing to him. He saw the power the throne would give him, never the responsibility it demanded. Amertious, he killed their father to gain the throne, then murdered any adviser who tried to stop him from pillaging his own land.”

  “And how do you know all of this? Were you there?”

  “Of course not, I’m not that old. Father and Dean Shellwood told me.”

  “So you only know the traitor’s side. You don’t know what the king — ”

  “My father is king and has been a good one.”

  “He betrayed his king and brother.” Sir Amertious became very firm and very formal.

  “Only because his brother betrayed their father and our people.” Melissina was close to yelling.

  “To one who does not understand politics it might seem —”

  “To one who will be queen it does seem —“

  “There’s no talking to you in this state and the horses must be seen to.” Amertious stormed off.

  Melissina did not try to make an excuse but ran into the forest toward the river.

  Charles and Phichorian were left sitting quietly by the fire, watching the empty space in front of them. Charles broke the silence.

  “Is that what you suspected?”

  “More or less. It wasn’t a surprise anyway.”

  Charles nodded. “How did you know?”

  Phichorian gave the question serious thought before he said, “I don’t know. Not one thing really. I looked up all the old stories about the royal family when I was hired, so I knew there was a brother who disappeared. Supposedly he was killed with his father. I just put a few scraps together and came up with a logical story.”

  “Was he really as bad as she said?”

  “From the stories I read, she was being kind.”

  Charles nodded, then he asked the question he really wanted the answer to, “What will you do?”

  “What I’ve done all along, serve Melissina.”

  Charles pressed him on that. “Not the king?”

  Phichorian smiled. “Did I say Melissina?”

  Charles grinned and left it at that.

  * * *

  But Amertious didn’t leave it. When he wandered back into camp, he was reading. Charles thought this was odd, until he got a glimpse of the book: a small, leather bound copy of the oath of the Order of Rooksguard.

  It got odd again when Amertious stopped reading. He sat next to Charles by the fire and held out the book. “A pair of fresh eyes. That’s what I need. Look here, Charles, would you take a read through this?”

  “What?”

  “It’s not so long, only about five hundred pages. Just read through and give me your ideas on my dilemma.”

  “Your dilemma?” Charles knew what Amertious was talking about, but he wanted to keep out of this fight. Anyway, Amertious wouldn’t listen to any opinion of his, Charles’s, that didn’t match his own.

  “About the king. Who do I serve honorably?”

  Charles gave him a blank look.

  Amertious shook his head. “I suppose you do not have oaths in your world if you do not have knights.”

  “Not those kinds of oaths.”

  “Never mind then.” Amertious drifted over to Phichorian. “You’re good with words.”

  “Thank you for noticing.”

  “And I assume you’ve read the oath in your research for your.. um... epics.”

  Charles grinned at Amertious’s careful attempt to avoid insulting Phichorian’s work.

  “I have.”

  Amertious should have known the answer from Phichorian’s tone, but he asked anyway. “So what do you think?”

  “You know what I think.”

  “But what passage shows that? It’s very clear on traitors to the king. What would tell me to stay?” He held the small book out to Phichorian.

  Phichorian ignored the book. “It’s not in the individual words; you have to look at the spirit of the oath.”

  “The spirit of it?”

  “The sum of the words taken together, not just isolated passages.”

  “But he betrayed his king, his brother.”

  Phichorian shook his head. Amertious stayed near him, hoping he'd change his mind. When Phichorian continued to ignore him, he went back into the wagon to read his little book again.

  * * *

  No one was surprised when they woke up the next morning and found Amertious’s tent empty. No one thought maybe he’d gone hunting for food or scouting ahead. Phichorian crawled in the tent and felt around until he found the note.

  “How did you know there’d be a note?” Charles asked.

  “Amertious is too honorable to just walk out on us with no explanation. I’m surprised he didn’t try to find us a replacement knight.” Phichorian held the note out to Melissina. “Would you like the honor?”

  Melissina shook her head. Her expression hadn’t changed since they’d found the tent empty, and she didn’t even blink as Phichorian read the paper.

  “My dear Melissina,

  I cannot in good conscious remain with you trying to fight the rightful heir. Try as I might, I can find no part of the oath which would permit me to remain. Unfortunately there are no orders of traveling knights in this area, or I would see that you had a proper escort. I cannot wish you luck in your attempt, but I do hope you will remain safe and understand what I must do.

  Sir Amertious.”

  Phichorian held out the note. This time Melissina took it. She stared at it in silence for a few minutes, then said, “I hate to have to ask you to trust me that Father is the better king. I have no proof I can give you, only my word.”

  Phichorian spoke first, “And years of peace and justice under his reign.”

  That seemed to please Melissina, so Charles added, “And a starved and chained hermit in Necorious’s dungeon.”

  “That reminds me, how did you stay out of Necorious’s control when you were captured?” Phichorian was trying to sound curious, but Charles could tell he was worried.

  “They didn
’t know I was there at first. I got the plans stolen and I was trying to find my way out when one of the guards saw me. He tried to catch me, but I was too fast for him. He must have recognized me though, because by the time I made it to the outer wall, they had every way out guarded, except for the door I couldn’t use, so I couldn’t get out. I kept moving though, so they couldn’t catch me either. There were plenty of places to hide in there, even in ruins it’s still set up like Kirjavale, all the old passages and ways to the kitchens.”

  Phichorian looked torn between worry and laughter. He pulled himself together and asked, “So what do we do?”

  “What?” Melissina asked.

  “What do we do? Do we go on, look for help, go back? I’m willing to follow your command, but I need to know what it is.”

  “You’ll really still follow me, even though we’re usurpers?”

  Phichorian shrugged. “Your father is a good king and you’ll be a good queen. Necorious is a tyrant. It isn’t that hard.”

  “Thank you.” Melissina turned to Bobble.

  “I was there with Dean Shellwood and the hermit of Ironvale before he was a hermit, when you father and the others planned the overthrow. I see no reason to waiver now.”

  Melissina smiled a little. Then she turned to Charles. “I suppose you don’t think you have much choice.”

  “I’d stay anyway,” Charles said, and meant it.

  Melissina stood very straight. “We can’t go back, but there is a town not too far from here. Let’s make for Sunvale. We can rest and get supplies there.”

  Phichorian nodded. “As you command. Come on, Charles, let’s break camp.”

  Chapter 14

  Two days out of Sunvale, they reached the mountain range shown on the map. Phichorian reined in and scanned the peaks. “That’s it.” Phichorian pointed to the craggy top of the third mountain.

  Melissina reined her horse in beside him. “How can you tell?”

  “The tree line is farther down, like it’s been burned away.”

  Charles squinted until he could see the singed trees too.

  “Let’s get on with it.” Melissina kicked her horse forward.

  Charles watched as the craggy ridge came closer and closer. “Any idea what we’ll do when we get there?”

  “Approach the dragon and ask for help I suppose.”

  “And how do we approach a dragon without being eaten?”

  “That one I’m not sure about yet.”

  Charles didn’t like that answer. “Then what are we going to do?”

  “I’m hoping to come up with something before we get there.” Phichorian seemed confident in his ability to come up with something, but when he didn’t offer any suggestions by the time they passed the treeline and began climbing to the caves at the top, Charles started to worry.

  Melissina reined in again. “And the plan is?”

  Phichorian stopped in the wagon. “It’s late. We could make camp.”

  “You’re stalling for time and putting off the inevitable.”

  “Excuse me,” Bobble murmured, twisting his hat between his hands.

  Everyone turned to him, but Bobble was studying the ground so intently he didn’t notice. He didn’t speak until Melissina said, “Yes, Bobble?”

  “Relations between sprites and dragons... traditionally they are better than human/dragon relations. With that in mind I could... I mean to say... Icouldgoandtalktothedragon.” Now that he’d said it, Bobble relaxed.

  “What?” Melissina asked.

  Bobble took a deep breath. “I could go and talk to the dragon.”

  “Relations might be better,” Phichorian said, “but that’s not saying much.”

  Melissina watched Bobble as he seemed to flitter between relief and disappointment. “Did you have a reason why you wanted to go?”

  “Dragons have powerful, ancient magic. I thought, perhaps, if she was amenable to it, I might venture to ask what went wrong with the sweater.”

  Melissina sighed. “Do you have any better ideas, Phichorian?”

  “I wish I did.”

  “OK, Bobble. Just be very careful.”

  Bobble nodded. He didn’t look happy, but he did look resigned. He turned to Charles. “Um... If you wouldn’t mind.”

  “You’d like to take the sweater.” Charles had a bad feeling that that was not what he was going to ask.

  “Yes, yes. That would be helpful. But, well, as I’ve said before, it is easier to determine the problem if she can see the result.”

  Charles knew what was coming. “You want me to go with you.”

  Melissina gasped.

  “It’s too much to ask. I should not have even brought it up. I will bring the sweater.”

  “I’ll come.” Charles even surprised himself by saying that, but he’d come this far, and he did want to see what a real dragon looked like.

  Bobble recovered first. Charles suspected that Bobble wanted to act quickly before Charles changed his mind. “You’ll be perfectly safe. Well, as safe as is possible going to see a dragon. I’ll go first and explain everything to her. Then, if, I mean when, when it’s safe, I’ll call for you.”

  “OK.”

  “Do you have your sword?” Melissina asked.

  Charles wasn’t sure how much help it would be, but he patted the blade at his side.

  Phichorian rested his hand on Charles’s shoulder. “Be very polite — dragons like that — and run if there’s any trouble.”

  Charles nodded, although he didn’t like the idea of leaving Bobble behind.

  Bobble must have read his mind. “I’m small and hard to hit. I can get away easier than you can, so if there is any trouble, run. I’ll do the same.”

  “Swear you will,” Melissina insisted.

  “OK.” Charles was kind of glad he could run if he needed to.

  “You too, Bobble.”

  “You have my word.”

  Phichorian went back to the wagon. “Then let’s get it over with. We’ll go back to the tree line. The dragon probably hasn’t gone that far down in years. We’ll set up camp and wait for you.”

  Melissina nodded, still looking concerned.

  Charles turned towards the cave that was their goal. “Whenever you’re ready, Bobble.”

  * * *

  The scramble up the mountain took about twenty minutes by Charles’s watch, but it seemed longer with every twist and craggy climb. And then they were standing outside the cave and Charles found himself wishing the climb had taken hours.

  Bobble looked into the cave. Charles could see a thin wisp of smoke drifting out of the opening.

  “I’ll go in first,” Bobble said. “You wait here. If it looks like there’s trouble, run, but I think it will be all right.” Charles had the feeling Bobble was trying to convince himself. “So I’ll come and get you if she agrees to help.”

  “OK. And how will I know if there’s trouble?”

  “You’ll know,” Bobble said grimly, then he straightened his shoulders and turned to the cave. “But nothing will go wrong. Just wait here.”

  Charles watched Bobble as he disappeared into the darkness of the cave. When he couldn’t see the little guy anymore, Charles sat down near the mouth of the cave, off to the side so he’d be out of the way if there were any flames. Not that he thought the dragon would start breathing fire or anything.

  It had only been a couple minutes when Charles heard a rumble, then a voice, gruff, slightly lisping, and clearly female.

  “Why would a sprite disturb the lair of the great dragon of Stonerise Crag?”

  “Great One, I seek the counsel of one who is as wise as the river...”

  Charles heard a snort. “Sprites do know courtesy, I’ll say that for your people.”

  There was a pause, and Charles wondered why Bobble didn’t press his advantage.

  Charles edged closer to the opening. Maybe he could hear something that would make this seem less terrifying. At the very least, he might hear trouble be
fore it came at him.

  There was the voice again, slithery, cold, and definitely female. “I smell a human.”

  “He’s young...”

  “You dared to bring a human to my lair?”

  Charles got ready to run out of the way, but Bobble raised his voice to be heard over the dragon. “I brought him because he is part of one of the questions on which I need your great wisdom to advise me.”

  Charles strained to listen, hoping Bobble was all right and ready to run if he needed to.

  “Bring him and I will look at him.”

  And there was silence. Charles edged closer to the mouth of the cave, straining to hear anything. The voice was creepy, but it hadn’t sounded angry. Not even the cold, quiet anger Mrs. Catrill got in science class. Charles leaned against the side of the cave, wondering how badly he wanted to see a dragon. He risked a look into the darkness and saw a little glimmer, then Bobble was there.

  “I’m sorry. She smelled you. I didn’t think, at this distance, but she doesn’t seem angry, not really. I think it will be all right, I mean —”

  Charles stopped him. “It’s not your fault, Bobble.”

  “Kind of you to say. I do think it will be fine. Let me do the talking unless she addresses you directly.” Bobble sighed. “This means I’ll have to ask about the sweater first. I had planned to discuss the Kingstone first, in case she would only answer one question...”

  Now Charles felt the need to apologize. “I’m sorry, if I hadn’t —”

  Bobble actually laughed. “I’m not that old; I remember that you did not want to come, that I asked you to.” He sighed. “Maybe I should give up on the sweater. Perhaps it is too complex for me.” Bobble shook his head. “Come along, we had better go back before she thinks we ran away and gets mad.”

  Charles followed Bobble into the cave. They went into a narrow passage, which was wide and tall enough for Charles to walk through, but even Phichorian and Melissina would have had a little trouble getting through it. So how big could the dragon be?