When Dragons Rage

23

Alexia shivered as she looked at Will. The flame of a half-burned candle flickered and shifted the shadows on the youth’s face and chest. He lay very still in the bed, with his hands crossed over his stomach, the sheets and blankets pulled down to his waist and folded neatly. Peri had seen to that, and now lurked back in the shadows between Dranae in the corner and Resolute’s brooding presence in the chair beside the door.

The wan candlelight did nothing to disguise the seriousness of Will’s condition. His flesh had an alabaster hue to it that brought into sharp relief the network of angry red veins that radiated out and up from the wound. Bandages swathed his neck, though the bleeding from the punctures had mostly stopped. Sweat dappled his brow and gathered in the small hollow at the base of his throat.

Worse than how he looked was how he sounded. His breath came ragged and wet. He would breathe in, then silence would reign for a moment before a labored exhalation. She feared each breath would be followed by silence unbroken.

Qwc sat on Will’s pillow, carefully plaiting a temple lock. The small Spritha beat his wings to cool the boy, and kept murmuring things in his ear. Alexia could catch none of the words, but she hoped they brought Will some peace. She even imagined seeing his mouth twitch in an effort to smile, and refused to admit she was just deceiving herself.

A gentle knocking came at the door and she opened it. “You came, Highness.”

King Augustus nodded. “Thank you for sending for me. No progress?”

“None. He lives but we don’t know for how long.” Alexia closed the door behind Alcida’s monarch and waved him to the chair beside the bed. “We’ve sent word out to healers, but without elven magick, we have little hope.”

At her comment, Resolute growled, “This is my fault.”

“How, Resolute?” Augustus regarded him with a serious expression. “You could not have anticipated this turn of events.”

The Vorquelf’s silver eyes became cold crescents. “But I could have. I heard him rush into the corridor. I was here, resting, right there in that bed. I knew his tread. I heard him hesitate and assumed he was playing some game. By the time he burst into the room and shouted at the arachnomorph, I should have been on my feet with Syverce in hand. I was late, seconds late. He’d been bitten before I could act.”

Dranae growled from the corner. “You did what you could, Resolute. I was in the common room below, warming myself with ale and fire. I saw him rush in, but thought him up to childishness, too. Not only did we mistake him, but we remained unaware of the theft.”

Augustus raised an eyebrow. “Theft? I had assumed the attack had been an assassination attempt.”

Alexia shook her head. “The Draconis Baron entrusted a portion of the DragonCrown to Kerrigan. Kerrigan told no one but Crow and me—though later he must have entrusted Will with the information. They hid it in Kerrigan’s room and set a trap for a would-be thief. It worked, but Will got hurt when he discovered the theft in progress. Chytrine sent one of her creatures. Resolute thinks, and I agree, it was likely a new-formed sullanciri created out of the Azure Spider.”

“It’s dead now; it doesn’t matter.” Resolute snorted, then stretched out his arms. “My failing is writ here in my flesh. All these sigils. All this magick, and not a healing spell to be found. Just one and he would be well.”

The king frowned. “What of Kerrigan?”

Alexia shrugged. “He’s missing. Lombo is searching for him.”

“And the Spritha?”

Qwc’s head came up. “Here, here, Qwc belongs here. Noplace else but here.”

The adamance in the little creature’s voice underscored the desperation they all felt. The Spritha were known to have a magickal ability to be at the very place they were meant to be, at the given time they were meant to be there. That ability did not dictate every aspect of their lives, but if Qwc knew he was meant to be there with Will, suggesting he be anywhere else was for naught.

The door opened again, this time with no knock to preface it. King Scrainwood slipped into the room and two mailed guardsmen crowded in the hallway behind him. They sought admittance, but Resolute reached out and slammed the door in their faces. Scrainwood opened his mouth to complain, but Resolute towered over him, glaring.

Augustus stood and looked at Scrainwood. “Did you bring Crow?”

The Oriosan King shook his head. “I took your request under advisement and decided to investigate myself. I brought soldiers to keep him safe.”

“We don’t need them.”

Scrainwood snorted in response to Resolute’s comment. “His current state would indicate otherwise. Had you been enough to keep the Norrington safe, he’d not be here like this, would he?”

Resolute raised an eyebrow. “And your soldiers would be more effective keeping a sullanciri out of here than they were keeping one out of your palace?”

Scrainwood’s eyes blazed with outrage. “How dare you?”

The Vorquelf continued. “Did you choose to have your son lead the Tribunal before or after Chytrine told you she was sending Nefrai-kesh to testify at Crow’s trial?”

The masked king pointed a trembling finger at Resolute. “Beware, Vorquelf, for this is my nation and I will not be impugned.”

Augustus reached out and laid a hand on Scrainwood’s right shoulder. “Easy.”

“No!” Scrainwood’s nostrils flared. “I am sick of this, I am sick of all of it. The lies, the innuendo. I am the king. Oriosa’s welfare is mine to safeguard and I need no homeless elfwhelp to suggest impropriety in things he knows nothing about. He’s fighting for his homeland, but he’s late come to all this. Had he been with us a quarter century ago, we’d not be in this fix. We would have been done with Chytrine.”

Augustus shook his head. “It is unfair and simplistic to blame this on Resolute. He could not see the future. None of us could. You could just as easily accuse me of having abandoned Norrington when I went to Okrannel.”

Scrainwood’s lip curled in a sneer. “I’ve never made that accusation, my friend.”

“No, my friend, you have not, which is why I still consider you a friend, though you sorely tax my patience.”

“What do you mean by that?”

“You know quite well.”

“Enough!” Qwc buzzed into the air and hovered there between both kings’ faces. “Go, go, go, now. Go, now, now, now. Out, out, out.”

Scrainwood flicked a hand out to swat the Spritha from the air, but missed as Qwc dodged back swiftly. The little creature pointed all four of its hands at the Oriosan king, then it spoke. Whereas its voice previously always had a high, keening quality, it dropped several octaves and throbbed out in bass tones.

“Drotha car est jynda pros!”

“Aaahhhhh!” Scrainwood screamed hoarsely and dropped to his right knee. He clutched his right hand to his chest, his left hand around his wrist. The ring of state on his right hand pulsed red, as if molten. Scrainwood had a spell worked into it that would warn him of another’s hostile intent, and the magick clearly was working.

Resolute rested a hand on Scrainwood’s shoulder and let his voice slide into a whisper. “Anger not the wee ones, Highness. When a Spritha laughs, all is right with the world, but when one snarls, even the most mighty is brought low.”

“Out, out, everyone out!” Qwc’s voice returned to its normal soprano pitch as he flew around the room. He drove the others before him. Peri crowded in behind King Augustus, and Alexia squeezed close to Resolute as the Vorquelf opened the door and propelled the king into the hallway. They exited the room and Qwc managed to shut the door. Peri opened the door to Kerrigan’s room and they entered it, with Scrainwood’s two guards leading the way.

The two men gasped and drew back as they saw the arachnomorph hanging there by one hand. The light from the DragonCrown fragment still splashed against the inside of the roof, painting it red save where black splotches of sullanciri blood had been sprayed.

Scrainwood rubbed at his hand. “That is the thing?”

“Yes.” Alexia stepped closer to the sullanciri’s remains—not because she had any real desire to do so, but because she knew Scrainwood would keep his distance. “We think Chytrine fashioned it out of the Azure Spider.”

“The thief.” Scrainwood looked up. “To what is it clinging?”

The princess hesitated, then looked at King Augustus. The Alcidese leader nodded. “It is a portion of the DragonCrown, Highness. It was brought from Fortress Draconis by Kerrigan Reese.”

“A portion of the crown here, and no one told me?” He flexed the fingers on his right hand. “I am the king, and this is most important. Why was I not informed?”

Alexia lifted her chin. “The information was imparted to me in strictest confidence. I deemed that the fewer the people who knew about it, the better.”

“I am not people, Princess Alexia, I am the king.” Scrainwood shook his head and flicked a finger toward the fragment’s hiding place. “Get it for me.”

The two guards looked at each other, each one shaking his head at the other. They hesitated, then slowly moved forward, as carefully as if they were crossing thin ice over the Reydo River.

“Hold for a moment.” Alexia’s raised hand stopped them. “Highness, there are spells worked on the fragment to prevent its theft. They stopped a sullanciri. They will stop these men.“

The guards took two big steps back.

Scrainwood tapped a finger against his lips. “No, no, this will not do. You have sorely used me, all of you, and I will not stand for it. I will have to confiscate the fragment of the Crown and make sure it is safely kept.”

Augustus shook his head. “My friend, do not look upon the secrecy here as an affront to you, but see it for what it was. Princess Alexia determined, quite rightly, that the fewer people who knew of the fragment, the less chance it would be taken. We already know your palace is not proof against the predation of sullanciri, so her caution was not misplaced.”

The Oriosan’s head came up and he blinked at Augustus. “Oh, my friend, I think you mistake things. This fragment is doubtless what provoked the aggression against my realm. Had I known of it, had I taken charge of it, the Norrington would not be dying across the hall. By deciding that she knew better than I, she placed my realm in jeopardy. She is as much a threat to Oriosa as is her supposed husband.”

Alexia watched an iron expression settle over Augustus’ face. The Alcidese king looked past Scrainwood at his two bodyguards. “You are dismissed. Fetch Crow here.”

“Move and I’ll have you slain.”

Muscles bunched at the corners of Augustus’ jaw. “He’ll do nothing of the sort. You have my word. Go. Get Crow, bring him here.”

Resolute loomed forward and Peri flashed talons, convincing the two guardsmen to leave their liege.

“Come back here! Cowards! Your livers will be feeding crows before the week is out.”

Peri closed the door behind the two men.

Augustus kept his voice even and strained almost all of his fury from it. “Understand something, my friend. While I appreciate the desperate situation in which Oriosa finds itself, and while I have appreciated your information about the activities of Chytrine’s troops, her armies are moving south and have already plunged into Sebcia. If Muroso falls, she will race through Oriosa and then into Alcida. I will not fight her on my land. I will meet her in Sebcia or Muroso or, if I must, Oriosa. One word on an arcanslata and the southern third of Oriosa is mine. I can cut Meredo off against Bokagul, then fight Chytrine in your northeast corridor. Croquellyn will secure my flank.”

Scrainwood shivered and toyed with his ring. “You threaten my nation.”

“No, Scrainwood, I threaten you, because you threaten my nation. Will you listen to reason, or must I weep as I tell your son that the sullanciri, regrettably, still had life in it and killed you? I shall be most eloquent in delivering your eulogy.”

“You cannot do this! I am king!”

“Oh, I know, my friend, and I am your friend. I shall give you a chance to prove that you are yet mine.” Augustus pointed toward the arachnomorph. “You will be given custody of the Crown fragment.”

“Yes!”

Scrainwood’s avaricious hiss twisted Alexia’s guts around. “Sire, are you certain that is wise?”

Augustus nodded. “In exchange for it…”

Scrainwood’s eyes tightened. “Exchange? It is my right!”

“A right that shall not confer to your heir, Scrainwood.” The Alcidese king sighed impatiently. “You will deliver Crow to his wife, and you will cease your persecution of him. You will support the efforts against Chytrine. You can no longer play one side against the other. The time for that is well past. You have to be with us, in opposition to the Aurolani. You have no choice.”

Scrainwood looked up at the fragment. “I am not stupid, Augustus.”

“No, but you are not nearly as clever as you believe you are. This is the bargain I offer you. Accept it and I shall not feel the need to invade your nation. What say you, my friend?”

Scrainwood’s nostrils flared with a snort. “I accept, my friend, and I shall remember. You will get Crow, though formalities need to be observed. You do understand the need for that, yes?”

Augustus nodded. “I do.”

Alexia frowned. “Sire, is this really the time for little political games?”

“It is just one point in a grander game, and we are winning that.” The Alcidese leader sighed. “Grant him his point.”

Alexia nodded reluctantly. She knew well enough that politics at the highest levels required exquisite manners to cover vicious uses of power. Augustus had openly threatened to murder Scrainwood and take his nation. The choice he offered Scrainwood was to accept a portion of the DragonCrown and to turn over Crow. Scrainwood had no choice but to agree, but the illusion of power parity needed to be maintained.

Augustus clearly did not want to invade Oriosa. The Oriosans, despite their current king, were known for their fighting spirits. If Alcida invaded, the Oriosans would oppose them, sapping both nations’ strength when they both needed to be fighting Chytrine.

Likewise, the offer to entrust Scrainwood with the DragonCrown fragment was one that really cost Augustus nothing. Because Scrainwood knew of it, there was no way to prevent him from getting his hands on it. All he had to do was cordon off the inn, have his troops take possession of the place, and it was his. And while it might have been a mistake to reveal its presence directly to him, Augustus had to have assumed that since Chytrine knew it was here, she would pressure Scrainwood to get it for her regardless.

The bargain did work. Alcida would keep its army intact and could be later invited into Oriosa to preserve the nation. They got Crow back and elation filled her at this prospect. What she hated about the bargain was that she knew Scrainwood had in mind to fashion some trap for Crow that he could spring later. The very idea that someone would hurt him, and that someone would pull them apart, angered her.

Scrainwood’s right hand convulsed down into a fist and he glared at her. “Something not to your liking, Princess? You are getting all you want. We are all working together now.”

“Now, yes. I fear for the future.”

“As do we all.” Scrainwood gave her an oily smile. “A black bargain today, for a brilliant tomorrow. It is not what we would wish, but in dark days like this, we could not have done better.”