Dragon of Eriden - The Complete Collection

by Samantha Jacobey

Stepping down, the Mate walked calmly between the members of their group, wiping at his damp cheeks as he rotated to stand beside his wife. Taking her hand, he held her firmly as he lifted his chin to watch the ceremony.

  The king himself performed the ritual, and the happy couple knelt before him as he patted their heads and chanted an ancient blessing. Then they were allowed to stand and were presented to a cheering crowd. Clapping and shouting their own greetings, the group of friends smiled and laughed, even when a guard came forward to escort them back to their cell.

  “We will not attend the celebration?” Amicia gasped, addressing the single dwarf who would return them to their prison.

  “I’m afraid I have been instructed to remove you, quietly if possible,” he explained, looking around them at the joyous throng.

  “We will go,” Meena agreed hurriedly. “We will not poison our friend’s beautiful day.”

  “Aye,” the Mate agreed, glancing down at Oldrilin’s tear filled eyes. “Say goodbye to her, Rey.”

  Dropping to his knee, Reynard hugged the tiny creature, then pushed her away. “Take care of Zae,” he instructed. “And I will return for you if I am ever able,” he promised.

  “Unhappy Rey Daye,” she sniffed, shaking his large hand with both of hers. “Will miss most assured.”

  “Most assured,” he repeated quietly, standing tall to follow the group as they left the great hall.

  Arriving back at their cell, their mood had waned, and they found Animir sitting on the foot of their long bed, staring at his hands. “It is done?” he asked, his gaze still fixed on his fingers as he spoke.

  “Aye,” Bally sighed, sitting beside him. “I’m sorry they didn’t let you come and be a part of it.”

  “Tis no matter,” the elf disagreed. “I am surprised they have not killed me by now. The hatred between our kinds runs deep, and I fear we will never overcome it.”

  Clamping him on the shoulder, the Mate gave him a firm squeeze. “It is the lack of seeing a person when we look at each other that brings such horrid decline. It is easy to hate when we see no face, nor the heart and soul within.”

  Turning and throwing her arms around Rey’s neck, Amicia squeezed him tightly. Her tears unfettered, she sniffed loudly as he held her. No words were shared between them, as she could not bring herself to give him her secret promise; not yet. But soon, their fate would be decided, and she would confess to him her intention to take his name.

  Broken Chains

  “Our nymph made a lovely bride,” Asyng praised, walking beside her brother the morning after the ceremony. “Are you certain her magical blood will not taint us?”

  “I have consulted with our elders, and there is nothing to fear, dear sister. I have been assured they do not use their magic in the way of other creatures, such as the dragons and the wizards,” Baeweth assured her as they entered the dining hall. “They are closely akin to us in that regard.”

  “Yes, then I suppose she will do,” she sighed as she took her seat. “I am so looking forward to the sounds of tiny feet within our halls. The palace has been a lonely place since Hayt has grown.”

  “Indeed,” the king chortled, raising his glass of grog to toast her. “We have done well, my sister. May our line prosper and the Kingdom of Rhong never fall.”

  “Hear, hear,” she agreed, lifting her own as the happy couple entered the room.

  “Ah, here are our newlyweds,” Baeweth sang in a boisterous tone. Seated at his end of the dining table, he and Asyng had been discussing their plans for his young heir, but the conversation quickly fell away at their arrival.

  Taking the center chair opposite from her husband, as had become their custom, Zaendra looked about her anxiously. “Where’s Oldrilin?”

  “She no longer dines with us,” the woman to her right informed her curtly. “She is with the chambermaids who serve us, and there she will remain.”

  “But Lin belongs to us,” Hayt replied, still standing, holding the back of his. “Uncle –”

  “Sit, my son,” the king commanded. “We have much to discuss now that the union has been consummated.”

  His face shifting to bright red, the contrast highlighted by his fair hair, Hayt took his seat while avoiding Zaendra’s gaze. What had taken place between them in his chamber the night before was private, or at least he thought it had been. “Have your say,” he grunted, certain he wasn’t going to like what came next.

  “We are moving you into the palace,” the royal replied, his arm jerking back and forth as he sliced at a hunk of meat. “We have selected a suite, and it has been prepared. Oldrilin and the other maids are collecting your personal things to move them as we speak.”

  His face shooting up, the young couple’s eyes met, and he could see the deep sorrow within her mahogany orbs. “I’m sorry,” he breathed, speaking to her in a quiet tone.

  “It’s not your fault,” she replied, flicking her gaze between the two ends of the table. “How could you have known?”

  “He didn’t,” the old king laughed. “It was a surprise for both of you. Your new suite will be fit for a queen, and your husband will begin his training as to the running of a kingdom in the morn. Firen has already been promoted to the role of head engineer.”

  “Uncle!” Hayt exclaimed. “Training? I am a builder, not a politician!”

  “You are my great nephew and heir to the throne of Rhong,” Baeweth shouted back. “It’s about time you started to act like it. This is the perfect place in your life for a transition. You will take up your role as my advisor, and I will teach you all that I know about diplomacy and caring for a realm.”

  “Diplomacy,” his heir grunted. “Dwarves living beneath a mountain have little use for it.”

  Ignoring him, Baeweth turned his gaze to the girl, looking her up and down as he added, “If she is able, she shall provide you with many sons, and our halls will again brim with the life of our line.”

  Her lips forming a perfect “O,” Zaendra could not bring herself to speak. No wonder the king has taken to me. He has seen the ends within the means, and she would be acceptable in that manner.

  “Outrageous,” Hayt grunted, his fork in hand as he smacked his fist against the table. “You could have at least asked what our thoughts might have been. What our plans are. We do have our own lives, you know.”

  “No, you don’t. As heir to the throne, your life belongs to the people,” his grandmother spoke up. “You have known since your parents died when you were ten that this day would come, and I dare say none too soon.”

  Staring at the matriarch with wide eyes, Hayt’s mind slipped for a moment, trapped in the morning he had learned of their demise. “A plague. A simple stupid illness that swept through the kingdom.”

  “Yes,” Asyng nodded. “It took one-fourth of our people. A heavy loss after the third who died before we left the depths of the southern side, under the mountain. Great hardship we have faced in our rebuilding. Many of our line have fallen, but we hope the addition of the nymph’s blood will strengthen our family tree against such future events.”

  Eyeing the girl, her smile curled Hayt’s toes with fear. “What do you mean by that, grandmother?”

  “She is an earth nymph,” the old woman soothed. “Magical beings with fortitude and the blessing of the kingdom of Eriden. We have forgotten the ways of the ancients through the centuries, but her blood remembers. It will fortify your offspring and return to us something we have lost.”

  “Ah,” Zaendra gasped, understanding more clearly the simple role she would play. I will be breeding stock and little more.

  Blinking rapidly, fighting his sorrow, Hayt sighed, “I must take my place then.” Lifting his chin, he stared at the beauty seated across from him. “You will make an excellent queen, my love.”

  His acceptance of their future more than she could stand, Zaendra’s bottom lip stuck out in a pout. Her heart beating hard against her ribs, she recalled the night he had told her of his position. But it wa
s to be years before he would take his place as king. Turning to his uncle, she asked softly, “You must prepare him so soon?”

  “I’m afraid so,” Baeweth barked, chewing at his meat. “One never knows what might happen to me, and he must be ready to step in and guide our people in my stead if and when that day comes. At near one hundred and forty, I am quite aged, and infirmity might set in at any moment.”

  Nodding a few times, she sniffed, “I understand. But I will be allowed to see Oldrilin?”

  “You will see her, but she is not your equal, and you should remember that,” Asyng replied, grinning behind her cup of grog. She had warned her brother that the siren was not a servant, despite Hayt’s claim, and now the proof lay before them. “She is your chambermaid. We have few of those who serve here under the mountain, as most are free dwarves, so you should consider yourself lucky that you have brought your own.”

  “Indeed… lucky,” Zaendra agreed, looking back to Hayt with wide doleful eyes. “I’m afraid I have had my fill of breakfast. When may we be shown to our rooms?”

  The king clapped his hands thrice with loud pops, and a small dark-haired dwarf appeared. “Yes, my lord?”

  “Our new heiress requires guidance to the suite the girls have prepared for them,” the king announced.

  “Very well, my lord,” the butler replied. “This way, my lady.” Raising a hand, he indicated the exit.

  “I’m coming as well,” Hayt coughed, dropping his utensils and leaving his plate only half empty. Scurrying to catch up, he slipped his fingers into hers as they followed their guide. “Are you angry?” he whispered next to her ear.

  “No,” she clipped, her glare straight ahead. “What is done is done.”

  His gut roiling, her mate didn’t see it that way, but there was little he could do about it, at least for the moment.

  Led through a narrow passageway with one guard at the main entrance, they weaved through the special tunnels that had been deemed the palace centuries before, when the dwarf kingdom had opened the caves and begun the construction of Rhong. Making a few turns, they eventually came out in a larger chamber, the space decorated by large pillars of crystals and gems. In the middle of it, a pond with a large rock column on the far end glowed with an eerie blue light as rivulets of water trickled down the smooth surface.

  Stopping short, the girl looked around with wide eyes. “What is this?” she gasped.

  “This is the common room of our king’s palace, sometimes referred to as the garden. The pond is fed from a tarn above, where the water runs down the pillars there in the center, and enchanted stones were brought and used on the bottom to give it the light within,” her husband explained with pride.

  “It is beautiful,” she confessed with a smile that lifted her spirits. “I never expected such an exquisite thing from dwarves.” Realizing the harshness of that statement, she cut her eyes over at Hayt. “I’m sorry. That didn’t come out the way I meant it. You are such a robust and salt-of-the-earth people. Such a purely decorative place seems so unlike you,” she tried to explain.

  Staring at her with his clear blue orbs, Hayt inhaled deeply, then blew the air out gently through his nose. “You have much to learn about us, my love,” he replied calmly. “But for now, we must see our quarters, and there we can make our plans.”

  Moving once again, their hallway exited to the right of the garden and consisted of three large rooms and one small one, which would belong to their housekeeper. The largest of the rooms sat alone on the left side of the narrow passage. It held a bed and seating area for the couple. The other two across from it were smaller bedrooms, which undoubtedly would house their family as it grew.

  “How quaint,” Zae observed, her use of understatement perfectly suited to the lavishness of their new home. “I suppose the commoners among you get by on far less.”

  Nodding, her husband agreed, “Their homes are much like that which you have previously seen.” Accustomed to the king’s palace, Hayt had known what they would find. Their walls encrusted with gems and precious metals, their furnishings were the finest in all the kingdom. “I’ve been in the palace many times, and never once have I thought I would actually reside here,” he confessed as their servant made his exit.

  Alone, Hayt whirled around, quickly examining the walls and then the chairs and bed. Finding nothing out of the ordinary, he turned to Zaendra, walking straight up to stand before her. Seizing her hands, he held them between his, pressing them to his chest. “If I asked you to run away with me, would you go?” he whispered.

  “What?” she gasped, her open jaw expressing her surprise.

  “I do not wish this life. If my uncle wants to strip me of my title as head engineer and force me to live as another, then I should be the one to choose it, whatever that life might be. I didn’t fully realize it until this moment, but I hold no desire to ever be king.”

  “Then what shall we do? Where shall we go?”

  “First, we must help your friends to escape,” he plotted, releasing her and walking a slow circle around her, peering at their gaudy surroundings with distrusting eyes. “That means we will need to act quickly, as the dragon will come for them the day after tomorrow. Tonight, if we can, we will go to them and break the chains that bind them.”

  Frowning as she pictured her companions, Zae recalled that they were not actually bound. Inhaling, as if to vocalize the point, she caught the words before they tumbled out. “You speak metaphorically,” she accused instead.

  “Yes, of course,” he chuckled. “We will get the guard to open the door, or we will tie him up and steal his keys. We will walk right out through the front door if we are able.”

  “We should escape through your new vista, instead,” Zae agreed to his plan with a wide grin. “We had hoped to go over the top of the mountain, and that would probably be best.”

  “You were headed to the marshes of the gnomes?” he asked, his eyes wide as he realized how risky that would be. “The dragons might once again locate you if we choose that particular course.”

  “Well, we cannot hide in the northern woods forever,” she countered, licking her lips excitedly. “Oh, Hayt, thank you!”

  “Well, you are most welcome, my love, but please do not thank me until the task is complete and your friends stand beside us,” he suggested.

  “Then let us see what we must do to bring this plan into action,” she whispered, as if the walls might hear. “We will need to pack supplies. And the weapons must be retrieved. Yes, we will have much to do this day if we are to flee into the night,” she surmised, staring at the marriage bed they had been provided, one they would never share if they succeeded.

  Nodding, he agreed by pulling her into a firm hug. “Thank you, Zae. I could not have asked for a better wife, and I will do my best to see us all back upon your journey.”

  “Then I will pack my bag and see that Oldrilin is also ready to depart,” she stipulated. “You will see that we can exit through the new vista?”

  “Yes, I will go there now. Stay here within our chamber, and I will return for you for our dinner, as we must dine with uncle and grandmother as if all is well. Then we will take our things and leave,” he suggested.

  “A wise decision, as they will not realize we are gone until tomorrow, unless an alarm is raised,” she agreed, already sifting through his things in search of items that he might need, which she would add to her own.

  “I will return then, Zae,” he said with a smile. Catching her by the arm, he pulled her to face him, lowering his mouth to kiss her once more. Then, stomping through their doorway, his heart raced as he passed through the garden and exited the palace.

  Noting the long spear held by the guard next to the outer door, he considered how they would retrieve the group’s weapons. Someone knew where they had been taken, but how he could gather the information without arousing suspicion would be difficult. Deciding to ascertain the progress on the vista first and deal with the armaments later, he began the l
ong trek through the maze of tunnels that would take him there.

  As he strode along, he thought about the layout of their city. The vista on the northeast corner, it would be close for them to reach from the prison cell, where the group was being held. However, they would also have to pass through the great hall, where their wedding had been held the day before. It will be unlikely that we will cross unseen, he mused.

  Listening to the rocks crunch beneath his thick leather boots, he scowled as he contemplated the conundrum. There has to be a way. Arriving at the gaping hole that had been cut into a clean arch, he grimaced.

  “What’s wrong with it?” Firen demanded, sauntering up to his former boss.

  “Who said anything was wrong?” Hayt demanded, still studying their work.

  “Your face, that’s what. You look as if it will crash in upon us at any moment,” Firen laughed anxiously. “I’ve only held your place a day, and I’m already in trouble.”

  Turning to look down at his old friend, Hayt also chuckled, “It is not your work that brings my frown. I am not a politician, and it pains me greatly to have all that I have worked for taken from me the day I wed my wife.”

  Catching him by the shoulder, Firen gave him a firm squeeze. “I am sorry that I have been promoted in this manner, as well. But it is the king’s order, and his word is law.”

  “Bah, I know this, my friend,” Hayt agreed, catching the other dwarf in the same manner and returning the fond gesture. Dropping the connection, he marched through the arch into the new tunnel, where he came out a moment later in the cave on the other end. The supports were all in place, and the front would soon be completed. “You have done fine work,” he praised.

  “We followed your plans,” his successor agreed. “Your uncle is wrong to force his life upon you. There are others in your line, more distant kin he could have chosen. Some who are eager to sit upon the throne.”

  “Yes, but I believe he fears their desire to wear his crown,” the king’s heir sighed. “I am the only one he feels he can trust.”