The Dragon of Despair

by Jane Lindskold

  "And perhaps slip away?"

  "I am certain that you could prevent that. You have taken great care thus far."

  He gestured around the cave as he spoke.

  True to her promise to Edlin, Melina had made the cave more comfortable for its inhabitants, but they were permitted nothing that they could turn into a weapon. The table at which they now sat was a perfect example.

  Rather than resting on four sturdy legs, this table was supported by thin pieces of flexible wood cross-jointed to each other in an elongated X. The individual legs might have remained unbroken for a blow or two, but as their guards always wore at least light armor and were never without helmets, those blows would have been useless. The tabletop itself was made from a slice of wood hardly thicker than a piece of paper. It served to steady Edlin's drawing paper or the vessels that held their meals, but could be used for nothing else.

  Their chairs were made along a model similar to the table, but with seats of stretched canvas rather than wood. Their beds were pallets stuffed with wool and rags, and were taken away each morning. The prisoners ate from translucent porcelain as fragile as eggshells. Even their simple clay cup had been replaced with a vessel so delicate that they almost feared to use it.

  The chamber pot could not be made of such fragile stuff, so it was bolted to the stone wall, its lid attached by a short hank of chain. When Edlin wished to sharpen one of his drawing implements, he must ask a guard for assistance.

  Moreover, Peace and Edlin had been assured that if every item in the cave was not intact for each of the frequent but erratic inspections Idalia conducted they would find themselves deprived of the item in question. Thus the lanterns, which with their reservoir of burning oil offered a logical temptation, were left untouched lest they find themselves sitting in the dark.

  Melina glanced around at the precautions and smiled a slow smile of satisfaction.

  "You are right," she said. "I do believe your escape could be prevented. Let me put some thought to the matter. In the meantime, I desire that you review this flawed map and consider where your memory might have led you astray."

  Peace bowed his head in polite humility.

  "As you wish," his lips said, but his heart was singing at the prospect of getting even a few steps away from this cave. Surely once on his own ground again he could manage to win them their freedom.

  Chapter XXXI

  THE MESSENGER from Ambassador Redbriar was clearly nervous, but he delivered his mistress's words with perfect polish.

  "Ambassador Redbriar is in possession of news that she does not wish to commit to writing," he said. "If you would call on her in an hour's time, she would be willing to receive you. An important guest will also be present."

  Elise nodded, feeling her breath come fast as she realized who that guest must be.

  "Tell the ambassador that I will be there. May I bring one or more of my companions?"

  "She advises that you do so. As your own company's experiences have shown, the streets are not safe for foreigners traveling alone."

  Elise did not ask why Violet Redbriar had not sent an escort. The embassy had been the focus of much of the local unrest. Foreigners escorted by more foreigners might upset the precarious calm the local guard had managed to maintain.

  Derian had answered the door when the messenger had arrived. Now he stood by just in case there was trouble when the messenger departed.

  "He's off safely," he reported, closing the peephole they'd installed in the front door. "Had a couple of men waiting for him." Elise nodded, considering various options. "Will you come with me, Derian?" "Of course." "And see if Doc will come, too."

  Sir Jared appeared at that moment.

  "If you can excuse me," he said apologetically, "I should remain here. Firekeeper is restive and I don't trust her to stay put without me to remind her of her duty. Besides, Wendee should not be left alone."

  Elise sighed her agreement, though privately she did not think that anyone left with Firekeeper and Blind Seer nearbyùeven if the wolf-woman was woundedùcould be considered alone.

  "Derian," Elise said, turning toward the redhead so that Doc would not see her disappointment, "do you think we can get a litter?"

  "No," Derian replied promptly. "Even Oculios isn't speaking to us anymore. Hasamemorri has exhausted her credit with the neighbors just keeping her house safe and her maids unmolested when they do the shopping."

  "We must attend this meeting, even if we must walk," Elise said. "The guest of whom the messenger spoke must be Xarxius or someone speaking for him."

  "It could be Prime Nstasius," Doc reminded. "Ambassador Redbriar has relayed his messages to us."

  "True," Elise admitted, "but Nstasius has been much less interested in playing at politics since we of Hawk Haven became so publicly unpopular."

  Doc nodded. Elise felt a surge of warmth when she realized that Sir Jared had been trying to cushion her against disappointment.

  "I can carry my walking stick," Derian said. "It served me well enough when Doc and I were assaulted. It's better than a sword in that it doesn't look like a weapon. Do you think you could handle a similar weapon?"

  "Perhaps," Elise replied dubiously, "but a bow is the only weapon I've practiced with and that would be more obvious than a sword."

  They had drifted into the kitchen as they talked in order to include Wendee and Firekeeper in the discussion. Now Firekeeper spoke from where she rested propped up on a cot just outside the kitchen door.

  "I have weapon for you," she said, thumping Blind Seer on one flank. "He can wear collar and be a dog."

  The wolf snapped at Firekeeper's hand, but when he turned his blue-eyed gaze upon Elise he wagged his tail in a lazy agreement with his friend's plan.

  "And I see if I can get Bee Biter to watch from above," the wolf-woman continued. "He should be coming soon."

  "Bee Biter's too small to be much help," Derian said dubiously. "Not like Elation would have been."

  Firekeeper shrugged, but persisted.

  "Bee Biter can watch and no one notice. If someone is hurt, he know and come for help. If someone is taken, Bee Biter can follow. We have too many missing pack members to lose another."

  From Firekeeper this was a veritable oration. Derian and Elise accepted the wolf-woman's suggestion, not so much because they were certain the kestrel could help, but because it was clear Firekeeper would wait with an easier mind if she knew they were being watched over.

  Besides, Elise thought as she hurried into her room to comb her hair and put on a fresh dress, how could we stop her from sending him?

  Perhaps because of these precautions, perhaps because Dragon's Breath's city guard was out in force, Elise and Derian arrived at the Hawk Haven embassy physically unscathed, though their ears were burning from the crude insults that had been shouted at them from people who remained within their houses to be safe from Blind Seer.

  Elise thought it was a relief that Derian had understood only a portion of what had been saidùhis command of colloquial New Kelvinese being a bit less than his formalùbut what he had understood had brought the color mantling high in his cheeks.

  If Derian had understood some of the things being implied about them both she doubted he would have settled for blushing. His battle with the mob had not taught him fear, but instead had raised his martial ardor and his confidence in his abilities.

  Elise herself had kept her blushes at bay by imagining the retorts Grandmother Rosene would likely hurl back. It had been a frail defense, but sufficient to keep her walking forward in the force of the storm of hatred and her own rising fear.

  The embassy's front door was opened by an armed retainer. The man nearly slammed the door in their faces when he caught a glimpse of Blind Seer, even though the wolf was sitting politely at Elise's side on the steps, doing his bestùthough not very convincingùimitation of a docile dog.

  Derian thrust his walking stick into the aperture and announced briskly, "Lady Elise Archer and Coun
selor Derian to see the ambassador. I believe we are expected."

  The retainer admitted them, sidling to keep from turning his back on Blind Seer. Elise had learned enough about the wolf's body language to realize that Blind Seer's slightly gaping jaw and rhythmic panting was the lupine equivalent of loud laughter, but the man could not. She resisted an impulse to boot the wolf in the ribs as she had seen Firekeeper do on similar occasions. That might be taking too great a liberty.

  Instead Elise glanced past the doorkeeper and saw the ambassador emerging from her study. Violet Redbriar, too, was taken aback by the presence of the wolf, but unlike her retainer she controlled her reaction with admirable poise.

  "Lady Archer, Counselor Derian," she said, offering each of them a polite inclination of her head by way of greeting. "This must be Blind Seer. I have heard much about him."

  The wolf stood and stretched in a slight bow of his own before sitting again. The acknowledgment of her introduction was so obvious that Elise could see Violet catch herself before she bowed in return.

  "Prime Xarxius arrived shortly before you," Ambassador Redbriar said, "and is waiting in one of the front parlors. Will Blind Seer accompany you, or shall I see him made comfortable in the yard?"

  "He's coming with us, thank you," Elise said. "Don't worry. He's completely house-trained."

  Elise could have sworn that the stare the blue-eyed wolf turned on her was distinctly annoyed, but other than offering an apology for the affront by dropping her hand onto his head for a quick moment, she let it go by.

  The parlor into which they were taken was furnished in a mixture of New Kelvinese and Hawk Haven styles that proved surprisingly pleasing to the eye. Elise did not doubt that many of the choices had been Ambassador Redbriar's own. They bore a similar style to the prose in the book with which Violet had gifted Derian, though in arrangement of physical space rather than words.

  Xarxius rose from a chair with a spare, carved wooden back after the New Kelvinese style, and offered them allùincluding Blind Seerùversions of the complicated New Kelvinese bow calculated to a nicety for their social status relative to his own. Since Elise's teachers had taught her that the Dragon Speaker's Three were about the equivalent of dukes in Hawk Haven this meant that their own response should be even more prolonged and elaborate.

  I suppose the idea is, Elise thought, working through the motions Peace had tutored them all in and pleased to see that Derian was handling his own quite well, that the lower-ranking people will spend so much energy on remembering the exact form of their reply that they won't have time to think about what they're going to say.

  It was a pleasing notion and she filed it away for later reflection.

  Once greetings were over and refreshments proffered, Ambassador Red-briar surprised Elise by making excuses that she was needed elsewhere. She left briskly, shutting the door behind her with a finality that suggested no one would be listening in on the conversation.

  "I told the ambassador," Xarxius began almost apologetically, "that what I must speak of to you was strictly private. Violet Redbriar has greatly benefitted from her association with my kingdom and complied without argument."

  "I see," Elise said, though honestly she did not. "Ambassador Redbriar's letter said that you have information for us regarding Citrine. Is my ward well?"

  "Citrine is physically healthy," Xarxius said, "but troubled in her mind. Yet I believe that this latter affliction dated to before her coming to usùbefore even you had custody of her."

  Elise nodded, more as an acknowledgment that she understood that Xarxius was offering no insult to her and her companions than in agreement.

  "Then Consolor Melina is being kind to her?"

  "I am not intimate with the domestic life of the Healed One's family," Xarxius replied with a faint note of reproof, "but I have not heard otherwise. Citrine has a slave of her own and new robes. As the girl is frequently seen about Thendulla Lypella and is even taking dancing lessons with some of the other children, I must believe she is not abused."

  Elise thought, Poor Citrine, running away to cling to her mother's skirts and being farmed out to dance instructors and maids just like always!

  Even as she framed the thought, Elise wondered if Xarxius had intended her to reach that conclusion. The man had a reputation for cunning. He might want her to know that Citrine's situation was less than everything for which the girl might have hoped. Very well, Elise would remember that.

  "As requested," Xarxius went on, "the matter of Citrine's custody has been reviewed. The Healed One himself took an interest and has ruled that your claim is valid. The child will be returned to you…"

  An "if" was so obviously forthcoming that Elise withheld any comment, though Derian, perhaps because he was less schooled in the nuances of New Kelvinese, let a short, delighted laugh slip through his lips before catching Elise's expression and sobering.

  "If," Xarxius said a flicker of a smile incongruous on his hound-dog lips, "you and your companions would agree to do a service for us."

  "And this is?" Elise said, promising nothing.

  "We wish you to find where Consolor Melina has been taking herself when she vanishes from her rooms at night," Xarxius said, clearly aware that his words were going to open a floodgate of questions, "and then we will progress from there."

  FIREKEEPER ALREADY KNEW the gist of what Elise would report, for Blind Seer had filled her in when he returned. The wolf did not understand New Kelvinese very well, but Elise and Derian had discussed the matter in low voices all the walk back to Hasamemorri's house.

  Melina was up to something that even her new pack did not like. They could not find her, but trusted in Firekeeper's skills and Blind Seer's nose to search her out. Although Firekeeper didn't feel very strong yet, no cuts and bruises won through her own foolishness were going to keep her from carrying out this commission.

  Yet the others must chatter and chatter. Humans, Firekeeper thought in fond exasperation, surely must be kin to squirrels.

  At last the debate took a turn that interested Firekeeper and she propped herself up on her pillows to listen more attentively.

  "On impulse," Elise said, her tones still filled with indecision, "I confided in Xarxius that Edlin and Peace were missing."

  "Peace?" Wendee asked sharply. "Not Jalarios?"

  Elise looked even more unhappy.

  "Peace," she agreed. "I felt Xarxius could not help us without knowing who it was we sought. I'm worried I've overstepped."

  "Why?" Firekeeper asked. "We want Peace and Edlin back. Xarxius can help us find them."

  Elise nodded. "I know. That's why I told him, but I'm afraid that now that Xarxius knows how much we want to get into those tunnels and make a search for ourselves he might become less eager to return Citrine to us."

  "Why would he?" Wendee asked. "Didn't he say that the Healed One acknowledged your claim?"

  "He did," Elise said, "but I could not help but recall that Citrine is Sapphire's birth sister. If Xarxius thought he could get our help without turning Citrine over to us, then what a hostage he would have."

  "I think," Doc protested mildly, "you may underestimate the Crown Princess's ability to withstand such persuasion."

  "No, Doc," Elise said sternly. "I think Sapphire would show remarkable tenacity, far more than the New Kelvinese might realize. Who would suffer for this in the end? Citrine. It is best that we get her away from where she will be a pawn to others' ambitions."

  There was an uncomfortable silence that Firekeeper broke.

  "I think you do right. Edlin and Peace might not be in tunnels. Xarxius can find."

  "And Peace did say," Derian added, his tones less than certain, "that he and Xarxius were friends as well as fellows in this Dragon's Three. He may help us for that reason alone."

  "I hope so," Elise said, "but it does mean we must take additional care."

  "Speaking of which," Derian said, "I have a question for Doc. I know what Firekeeper insists, but do you th
ink she's ready for an outing like this? I had the distinct impression that, though he of course said nothing directly, Xarxius thought we might run into more than rock and empty corridor down there."

  Firekeeper started to insist on her readiness, but restrained herself. There would be time enough to argue after Doc said she was unwellùif he did.

  "I think she might manage," Doc replied, giving Firekeeper a critical look, "especially if I use more of my talent on her this evening. You say this venture is not going to begin tonight?"

  "No," Derian replied. "Xarxius made the interesting point that Melina usually can be found during the dayùthough she has taken to indulging in long naps, as if she isn't getting quite enough sleep at night. To prowl in these new haunts of hers when she is about is not necessaryùnot with Blind Seer's ability to track by scent."

  "Then we are set," Elise said, "as soon as one more question is answered: Do we trust Xarxius or is this an elaborate attempt to make several more of our number conveniently disappear?"

  "It would hardly be convenient," Derian protested. "Our families know where we went. Most of us have been writing home. We were negotiating with local merchants before the city's mood got so ugly. Anyhow, Xarxius came to our aid when Firekeeper got tangled up with those men and their dogs. I'm inclined to trust him."

  Firekeeper watched anxiously, not certain what she would do if the decision went against the plan, and was relieved to see each head dip in a nod of agreement.

  "Then we are committed," Elise said, rising from her chair. "Xarxius told me to put a lantern turned up bright close behind the shutter where its glimmer could be seen from the street."

  She rose and did so.

  "The next move is theirs."

  SNEAKING AFTER MOTHER took a great deal of courage, but Citrine's curiosity had become so all consuming that she could not sleep. Nor was the girl watched as closely at night. Rillon slept in the servants' quarters. For her own reasons, Melina discouraged the servants from wandering.