Flight of the Dragon Knight Read online

  The king made a speech first, explaining to those worried about an untested young woman taking over his stead that his job had always been to protect those he loved, not to rule. As a valkrean it was Beatrice’s gods-given right to ascend to the throne, and it would be she who would be guided by the divines. Beatrice expressed her desires and designs after her father, doing her best to amplify her diffident voice. It was difficult not to imagine her second sister being better suited for speech and governance, but I suppose that required far too much misfortune to befall for such an ascendancy to happen.

  The ceremony ended once the palace priest of day and night spoke a few verses memorized from the Tome of Duality and placed the crystal tiara on the new queen’s golden head. An all day celebration for the citizenry started from there, temporarily alleviating the trepidation of having a fledgling ruler at the helm of their homeland. Trepidation of a different kind inhibited celebration on my side. Bell informed us beforehand to wait in our spots for a while until someone we recognized found us.

  The “someone we recognized” turned out to be the former king himself. He strode to us with practically skipping steps. His face had regained the fullness I had seen when I first met him, and the heavy bags his eyes hung only days before lost much of their burden. His beard had also been cut to the point that only thick stubble remained, giving him a younger bearing. Knowing he stood to take action against those that had wronged him brought back meaning in his life. His quest for retribution may not have been the best for his kingdom’s standing among his people and their traditional enemies, but it certainly appeared to be the best for him.

  Eudon ignored the nobles still scattered in the area and went straight up to us.

  “You must be more of a morning person, Your Highness,” noted Ghevont.

  “Ha! Were you not present, scholar? My firstborn now carries that designation. I’m nothing but Eudon Hallam now. I was no lord before her, and I shan’t be now. Truly, by this hour tomorrow I will be nearer a pirate than a monarch. Your commands should be taken with greater severity than my own while at sea, Master Eberwolf.”

  “You have fine captains sailing your family waters, Master Hallam,” said my father. “For this reason I’ve avoided Alslana waters when I could, so I suspect your men will do the sailing while you and I will drink to lost loves.”

  “Aye. Our long voyage will allow anguish and joy to be experienced in equal measure. Come, you shall meet the captains that will steer us across half the world. They await me in my old war room.”

  The assembly marched into the main palace grounds. As a show of respect, every soldier bowed on catching sight of their past king. He was good-humored enough to wave or say the name of that soldier in response. We ultimately made it to the underground room of a tower standing next to the central edifice. There were three captains to meet in a room overtaken by one very large table.

  The first two were grizzled brothers, who each might have been the father of my father if physique had anything to say about it. The oldest of the pair was William Aslett. His younger sibling called himself Terence, though he stated that he had always been referred to as “Junior” by those who befriended both brothers. The third captain was a thirty-year-old Myrtle Quince. I had never seen such a thin woman who was supposedly of good health. All her muscle seemed concentrated in her throat, for her voice carried as much brass as her male counterparts.

  The mariners explained that four frigates would be manned, with Eudon taking command of the fourth vessel as an honorary captain. They expounded on which routes we would take, and which islands and docks to stop in for supplies and information. We were to head four thousand miles in a northeastern direction until we could follow the northern coastline of Kozuth for three thousand more miles. The last phase had us going straight east to Uthosis’ shore, a journey of another twenty-five hundred units of measure. Looking at the maps made me seasick already.

  They might have been highly regarded captains of a respectable navy, but the pirates had greater experience when it came to navigating the seas beyond Alslana waters. Everyone, except Yang Hur, added something to the planning of the route. They told of islands that could be used as backup ports and warned which sections of trading lanes were most apt to be patrolled by the brashest of pirate crews. Even with Eudon vouching for the group’s importance in finding the Advent’s home territory, the captains had been leery of the pirates at first, but their palpable understanding of the aquatic realm and my father’s cheery candidness brought them into the fold halfway into the conference.

  The captains still must have held reservations about those who knew nothing to give. Clarissa stayed in the thin shadows of the round room as best she could, and none of the captains were told anything about what I had the potential to do. Ghevont should have stayed quiet, but he disclosed his ignorance of the sea by asking thirty too many questions. Eudon indulged him, however, so at least many of his questions got answered.

  With eighty percent of the early part of the voyage planned, a messenger came down to inform us that our noontime meals were ready. All of us walked up to the main dining hall when five percent more was done.

  Waiting for us were Eudon’s daughters. Beatrice sat at the head of the drawn-out table, one of nine in the huge dining room. To her right was Odet and Elisa sat on the left. Their father went to sit next to his littlest girl, who didn’t appear as vivacious as I last remembered her. I think she was mad at her father for wanting to leave, so she was more or less ignoring him. I predicted her tears and entreaties would come pouring out well before morning. For now, they sat in a subdued mood.

  Beatrice in particular did not appear thrilled at having that nigh transparent tiara on her tightly bound hair. She had gained an air of taut sternness in her green eyes, determined to replace her apprehensive mien with a harsh one. Regardless of the unnatural nature of her expression, its smothering ambiance was real enough to deaden the buccaneers’ bonhomie somewhat. The disposition did nothing to diminish her painless beauty, looking very much like a slightly taller and less toned version of Odet.

  Posted by the doors and windows of the sunlit room were several High Guards, including but not limited to Gerard and Captain Savoy. Clarissa and I sat together, not only out of habit, but so I could help her pretend to eat her food. I didn’t get much of a breakfast, so I gladly scarfed down our grilled fish, firm fruit, hot soups, and sweet bread portions placed in front of both of us. The best thing I enjoyed was a spell cooled juice mixture that started off sour before leaving a sweet aftertaste. I wanted to ask what the drink was called, but I didn’t want to draw attention to myself when everyone was busy talking within their own groups.

  The royals mostly stayed quiet among themselves, the captains continued speaking to Lorcan and Lucetta about their marine adventures, and the rest of the pirates talked in a lower octave than normal. That left Clarissa, Ghevont, and I at the end of the assembly. The table was so large that another dozen people could sit on the empty chairs next to us. It was bad enough that I felt inept at the meeting, but now I likened myself to a little kid separated from the grownups.

  I watched the ruling family when I could, so I noticed Beatrice straighten when Eudon began speaking to the captains about the voyage. For the first time since the coronation, I heard her speak.

  She said, “I thought you promised not to speak of your departure in front of us, father.”

  He sighed. “I’m sorry, but the time is almost come, darling. I cannot go on pretending when there’s planning yet to be done.”

  “I know!” she said, getting everyone’s attention. “I know I can’t go on pretending that I might lose you to sea or war tomorrow! I know I can’t pretend to see that you’re almost happy to leave behind what’s left of your family!”

  The whole table shook when Eudon slammed a fist on its surface. Not matching the act, his tone remained the same. “Happy? Aye, I suppose you can put it that way. However, I am not happy about leaving my girls, or ha
ppy that I no longer have a crown. The first hint of happiness I’ve felt since your mother’s murder comes from knowing I can avenge it. The gods decreed that I should not be there to protect her, but by showing me where her assassins lie, they have pronounced that justice will be done, and I will see to it.”

  “And if that justice requires your own life? What then?”

  “The key to my life has always been tied to your mother. Her wisdom, patience, and strength convinced a lowly soldier that he could become a king, that he deserved such a title. Without her, I am but a lowly soldier again. A soldier who now seeks to bring peace to her soul, to the soul of a kingdom who lost it. Order it and I will stay here with you and your sisters, but you will witness the anguish churning inside me return to etch itself onto my face. You will learn that your father is no longer the king this kingdom needs.”

  “Everything you say is true, but that doesn’t change the fact that what you need and what Alslana needs is not what I need. I need my father alive and alongside me. Is that such a selfish desire for a daughter to have?”

  Taking her hand, he answered, “Of course not… but it is for a queen.”

  “Then I am cursed.”

  “And I say Alslana is blessed.”

  She shook her head and looked away from him, but her hand clutched his tighter. When she remembered there were other people in the room, she emitted a watery chuckle and stood up. “Please, finish your meals, and if I have any influence over your minds, please forget my self-indulgent outburst.”

  Elisa wanted to follow after Beatrice and the High Guard captain, but Odet said, “Don’t. This is one of those times she needs to be alone.”

  The youngest sister consented, instead choosing to scooch closer to her parent.

  Mainly at Odet, Eudon said, “I would never leave if Beatrice didn’t have you two to look after her.”

  “I only ask that you look after yourself, father.”

  The clinking of silverware once more suffused the room, though the talk about voyages did stop. Afterward, Eudon invited the pirate group to take a dip in the hot baths as our food digested. The giant basement where the steaming mini-lakes were located was always open to those residing in the palace, meaning we joined two dozen others in the process of bathing. The space was split down the middle with a thin wooden screen. The men took one side and the women the other.

  I kept my left arm under its course linen wrap at first, but Eudon insisted I shouldn’t feel self-conscious about hiding my unique scab in front of men that would come to depend on one another. On seeing it, everyone agreed that the fiend’s tail spiraling up my limb won the contest of scars, but that didn’t stop everyone else from going over their own marks. Half of them didn’t even come from battle, but scorned lovers and alcohol induced blunders when trying to impress those same lovers. Ghevont was the only one without major battle scars, though he did own several self-inflicted cuts that came from one of his more prying experiments on human anatomy.

  The tournament of wounds also reminded me of the powerless mind rune that had been carved into my back. Being that I rarely had the opportunity to get a good look at my back, I took a glimpse at it through a foggy reflection in a mirror. Remarkably, my back showed little in the way of evidence that I had a rune carved into my back not so long ago. Pinker, plumper skin did still trace the rune’s design, but the thickness was no more than a fine quill point. I assumed that releasing my corruption had healed it faster and more completely than normal.

  The muscle relaxing, hour long soak convinced me that I needed to conquer a nation one day and become its king just so I had full day access to a heated pool. My domain would be on a secluded tropical island where only the most beautiful women in Orda would be allowed to live on. With an astute speech I could even convince Odet to leave her family and become my queen. She would also need to be okay with being one of twenty other queens… Could I make my servants fill a big tub with that mixed juice I liked, or was that too impractical?

  Our clothing had been taken to be washed, so I put on the long-sleeved white shirt and trousers the servants offered after stepping out the bath. The baths we had used were under the guest tower my group was permitted to reside in until morning called us away. Clarissa and Ghevont chose not to stay, opting to find Ethan and Marcela to spend their last hours in Alslana with them. The pirates pestered the servants with their demands, treating the guest tower like one big tavern, which they might call The Rabid Raccoon for no damn reason. Hmm… Maybe that’ll be the name of the tavern on my island?

  The pirates’ form of revelry didn’t suit me for long, so I ended up alone in my room by early evening. I read a little, tried sleeping, but nothing diverted my attention like I wanted. Aranath was in one of his two day long naps, making him unavailable as a conversation partner. I would have to smack my sword against something to disrupt his torpor, so I let him be.

  It was well past midnight before sleep finally became a possibility, but that’s when I heard a light rapping on my door. I opened it to first see Odet, but when more of the candlelight in the hall and in my room reached her, my vision corrected itself to instead see Beatrice. The queen walked herself into my room as her High Guard defender posted himself outside. I stood there dumbly until Beatrice told me to shut the door.

  With the door shut, I asked, “Can I help you, Your Highness?” Her entire body was tense, as though she were bracing for an incoming blow that was slow enough to be evaded.

  “Yes. I have a request and an offer.”

  “I assume the request is to keep an eye on your father.”

  “More than an eye, dragon knight. I need you to bring him home safe. I need you to help him find the peace he seeks. A peace that will hopefully come once my mother’s assassins are brought to justice.”

  “I mean no offense, Your Highness, but as their victim, I was already willing to lay down my life to make sure the Advent do not harm your father or anyone else in this realm.”

  “Yes, of course. Odet has explicated some of your story to me, but that does not make the goal itself any less lofty or perilous. Ridding the world of the Advent and keeping my father safe would be achievements worthy of regal consideration. In fact, beyond consideration. Return with my father unharmed and the Advent destroyed and I’ll be prepared to offer my hand to you. In marriage, I mean.”

  I didn’t think, I only reacted. I burst out a laugh, then a second one. When I had regathered my bearings, I said, “I’m sorry. I was only thinking it was quite the coincidence that-”

  Commotion coming from outside my door stopped the rest of my reply. It opened to permit Odet’s words and the girl herself to enter. She hushed an order to the captain before shutting the door. Her expression was a blend of eyeballed exasperation, heavy breathing from her mouth and nose, and scrunched worry.

  “Beatrice… don’t tell me…”

  “I have, dearest sister.”

  “And?”

  “He laughed at me.”

  “What?”

  I almost laughed again when Odet gave me an offended face. She had clearly come running to stop her sister from doing what she did, but now she looked insulted that I laughed at the delicate situation her proposing sister presented. It obliged me to say, “I wasn’t laughing at you, Your Highness. Only your idea.”

  Snapping back at her eldest sibling, Odet said, “Gods, are you mad, Beatrice? You haven’t said a word to Mercer before this day, and you throw this his way?”

  “But you’ve spoken highly of him. His actions helping to uncover our enemy proves his worth as a cunning warrior, and what better king to spur our people than a dragon knight?”

  “All fine points to begin an acquaintance, a pleasant dialogue, not to offer a kingdom and your heirs! Gods, Beatrice, I swear Elisa is more sensible sometimes.”

  “Swear all you want, Odet. I feel this is what’s best for Alslana’s future. Or would you have me ignore the opportunity to strengthen the odds of getting father back? To streng
then Alslana with a knight of legend?”

  “I would not have you ignore it. I would only have you take slower, smaller steps. There is no reason to dive headfirst off a cliff. Start with a low bough, a wall, anything.”

  “I don’t have the luxury of taking things low and slow. His journey is long, and the hunting of the Advent will take longer still. Even if he succeeds in his goals he might meet someone else, marry, sire children. In this way he knows I and a kingdom could be waiting for him.”

  “That’s true,” I said in half jest. Conflicted judgments bounced between my head and heart as I heard myself being talked about like a pawn—an important pawn, but one nonetheless.

  “Stay out of this, Mercer,” said Odet.

  She tried sounding harmless, but she said it too sharply to succeed. I thus could not stop myself from saying, “Careful now, I might be your future brother-in-law. Not to mention a king.”

  “Stop treating this lightly.”

  “He already laughed at me,” said Beatrice.

  “Our first fight, buttercup,” I said.

  “I see through your attempt at immaturity. An indication you’re trying to appease Odet’s side, perhaps? It doesn’t matter. Odet has already explained your serious minded demeanor, and nothing I’ve seen contradicts that. Even among your pirate friends you stay even-tempered.”

  “I’m not trying to appease anybody, Your Highness. I’m merely bemused by the whole thing.”

  “Bemused or not, you’ll have the time and opportunity to think things over. If father doesn’t return or the Advent continue to run amok, then everything is moot. Succeed and I still reserve the right to change my mind, though I remain firm for now. And even if I do change my mind about offering my hand as freely as my sister thinks I am, I’ll be certain to make your recompense as grand as I can make it. There will be plenty of noble daughters open to forming a relationship with a hero dragon knight, for instance. Now then, I wish you a good night’s rest.”

  When the queen and the captain walked out of sight, I said, “I found a talking sword under a mountain and I would still count that as less surprising than this.”