Book of One 04: A Child of Fire (28 page)

"If yer willing," Fergus said, his expression still skeptical.

"I am," Brian replied.

"Then watch yerself, Brian," Fergus told him. "It might sound like somethin' easy, but things can happen with nary a moment's warning, an' then ye find yerself in trouble an' on your own. Things are seldom simple as they seem."

"That is something I have learned," Brian said then he rose from the table. "I will leave at once. The tournament will begin in a few days and if I can find things out now, then I can leave the city before it begins."

"An excellent plan, Brian," Jax said, flipping his knife around and stabbing it into the tabletop. "

Brian nodded then turned and walked out of the room, leaving the two men sitting silently for a moment. Fergus reached for the dagger that Jax had stuck in the tabletop but the nimble thief grabbed it first and tucked it back in his sleeve then he leapt to his feet, leaned in and kissed the big man on the cheek.

"What was that?" Fergus asked, red faced.

"A distraction," Jax said with a grin and he held up the dagger that Fergus had taken from him then slipped it up his sleeve.

"Always with the tricks," Fergus said, shaking his head.

"Always," Jax agreed and he smiled widely. He walked over to a large shelf and began rifling though the various items it contained, collecting biscuits, pieces of dried fruit and a wedge of cheese that was wrapped in a cloth, all of which disappeared into the sleeves of his shirt.

"Are you hungry, Jax?"

"Not at the moment."

"Then why must you pilfer my kitchen?"

"Brian has never been on his own in the big city of Maramyr," Jax said. "And you're right, my dear Fergus, chances are he will run into trouble, so I think I might take a little trip to see what there is to see."

"What of White Falls?" Fergus asked.

"The walls will hold, and I have the utmost faith in you to make sure they are well defended," Jax said and with a wave, he was gone.

The snow swirled around them as Ariana, Keira and Margo trudged through the thickening drifts that gathered on the mountain trail. They had left their horses in a valley, turning them loose to graze upon the short grasses and caching their tack behind some rocks, hoping they might still be there upon their return. The three women climbed higher into the thinning air of the northern range, each of them silently wondering at the wisdom of traveling into such a desolate and unforgiving place. At first, it had taken some coaxing to get Keira to wear the heavy boots that Arian had brought for each of them, but after the air grew cold and the snowsqualls began, she relented.

Wrapped in heavy furs and laden with their remaining supplies, the journey over the mountains had been long and arduous, and they were relieved when the ground began to run downhill and the air became thick again, making it easier to breathe. They were less than pleased when they emerged from the narrow mountain pass they had traveled to discover that the land on the other side of the range was flat, snow covered and desolate, offering no respite from the chilling cold. Still, they pressed onward at Ariana's insistence, sure was she that they would find the prince of Kandara somewhere in these forbidding lands.

"I have never felt cold such as this," Keira said, pulling the hood of her cloak tighter around her neck.

"Nor I," Margo agreed.

"It is bone chilling," Ariana said. "When I was trapped in the winter snows among the mountains to the west of Maramyr, there were times when I thought that all life had ended and yet the spring came and the leaves returned to the trees, but here there is nothing and it is as though there never was. It is truly a desolate place."

"And you are sure we will fine Borrican here, somewhere?" Keira asked.

"He is here," Ariana said, her voice turning sharp and eyes flashing angrily for a moment then, as quickly as her ire had risen, she appeared calm once again. "I can feel it. I know he is."

Ariana pointed ahead and continued forward, walking ahead of them through the snow. Keira and Margo traded a look, acknowledging what they both knew. Ariana's moods had grown increasingly erratic, especially when either of them questioned the wisdom of the journey they had undertaken. Neither of them spoke of it openly, but they were becoming increasingly concerned there might be something wrong with the princess. Keira caught up to Ariana and grabbed her arm and stopping her.

"It is time to rest, Squirrel," she said. "We have crossed the mountains and a great distance lies ahead. If we do not rest, we will fall to the mercy of the elements."

"We must keep going," Ariana said. "Time grows shorter. I must help him."

"You cannot help Borrican if you're dead and frozen in the snow," Keira said. "We must rest. You must rest."

"Keira's right, Ariana," Margo said. "It is unwise to push so hard in the cold like this. We have not stopped moving since we left the elven lands, and even then we spent little time to recover from the battle of Kandara. You cannot continue like this, and neither can we."

"And where will we stop?" Ariana asked. "There is no shelter here, no trees, no rocks to hide us from the wind, no wood to build a fire."

"We can backtrack," Keira said. "It is only a short distance back to the pass and I noticed a few small trees growing among the rocks. We could bid them to give us dry wood for a fire."

"Go back?" Ariana was incredulous that Keira would suggest such a thing. "After we have come all this way? We cannot turn back. No, we must carry onward."

"To where?" Keira asked. "There is nothing ahead except wind and snow. Look, Ariana. What do you see? It is a wall of grey that goes on forever."

"Turn back if you want," she said, her voice sharp with determination. "If you are too cowardly to brave a little cold weather, then I will continue alone."

Ariana continued forward, leaving Keira standing in the snow.

"You would call me a coward?" Keira glared, her own temper flaring at the insult and she stepped forward, to chase after Ariana but she felt Margo's gloved hand grip her arm.

"She is not herself," she said.

"No, she is certainly not," Keira agreed. "We must turn back. Our purpose is to protect her and if we must protect her from herself then that is what we must do."

"And if she is right?" Margo asked.

"There are no trees, not even grass. Nothing grows in this place," Keira said.

Margo wondered what she meant then she realized that Keira must be feeling completely lost in this land of ice and snow. She knew the elves were attuned to the forests and the things that grew from the earth, even eschewing wearing boots so their feet would always touch the ground with every footfall, so it was not surprising that Keira would be on edge herself, cut off from the constant reassurance of nature to which she was accustomed. Margo relaxed her hold on the elven woman's arm.

"Keira," she said. "Our purpose is to support Ariana and protect her as we can, but I do not believe that she has not come all this way on a whim. If either of us thought that, we would have said so before we set out on this journey. We are both Rangers, you and I, and it is our duty to walk the paths that extend beyond our realms, to know this world that we may better protect those in our charge. If there is life in this land, then it is our duty to learn of it, and if there is some chance that we can find the prince of Kandara, then it is our duty to try."

"I know these things," Keira said. "I swore a vow to protect the girl, and I will not let her die on my watch."

"I know you were a member of her mother's guard," Margo said. "I understand you wish to protect Ariana, but do not let those events influence your sense of duty. It is our role to die, if need be, to assist those who fight for peace, to protect them on their path, not prevent them from their journey. It is our duty to guide, not to lead, as is our oath."

"You do not need to lecture me on my duties," Keira said and she started walking, trudging through the snow after Ariana, who had already gone a fair distance ahead.

"No, I do not," Margo replied as she walked beside her. "I apologize if my words have offended you. I only thought to strengthen your resolve."

Keira stared at the woman, curiously and she realized how little she knew about her other than the fact that she was an exceptional fighter, as quick and fierce a warrior as any elf, and that she was a Kandaran Ranger, a branch of the order to which she herself belonged, but knew very little.

"It is I who should apologize," Keira said. "Your words ring true, and being reminded of such things is hardly an affront. Might I ask how you came to be in the service of Duke Boric?"

"His brother, King Eric made the request," Margo told her. "The truth of the matter is that Eric was convinced that someone within the court was working against Kandara."

"And he suspected his brother?"

"No, he feared for him," Margo said. "Eric discovered that someone in the court was poisoning him, and he worried that Boric was also a target. Unfortunately the war broke out and we were unable to discover who was responsible, though I have my suspicions."

"Who would do such a thing?"

"There is little point in making accusations now, but I believe Prince Elric may have been involved."

"Why would the prince do such a thing? He already wore the crown, did he not?"

"Yes," Margo said. "But I do not think he wanted it. According to his father, Elric feared the power of the dragon and thought he would lose his mind to it. He also blamed that power for his mother's death."

"How did the queen die?"

"In her sleep, peacefully," Margo said, but the look in her eyes told a different story.

"There is more," Keira said.

"Yes," Margo replied. "There is a price to being a queen in Kandara, to giving birth to the dragons of the Akandra and only the very strong can endure it."

It occurred to Keira that she did not know the name of the former queen of the mountain kingdom. Though the elves took little interest in the affairs of neighboring lands, the order of Rangers made efforts to keep track of such things. She cursed her own lack of interest in the world outside the elven forest during her years of self-imposed penance for her failure to protect her queen.

"What is the name of the queen?" Keira asked. "I have only heard her referred to as the queen, or by some, the queen mother. Who was she?"

Margo smiled.

"It is the tradition of Kandara to refer to her only thus," she said. "IBefore she became the queen of Kandara, she was a member of our order. She was called Morwen and she was one of our best warriors, quick with a blade and stronger than most and she was true of heart in all things. Her name was Morwen."

"Did you know her well?"

"Well enough," Margo said. "She was the reason I became a Ranger."

Keira was curious to know more about the former queen but she was distracted when she saw Ariana, who was still some distance ahead of them, fall to the ground. Margo saw it as well and they both broke into a run, sprinting through the deepening snow as fast as they could.

"Ariana?" Keira lifted her face from the snow and Margo helped to roll her over.

As soon as they touched her, they could feel Ariana's body shaking and her breathing was hurried and erratic. A moment later, it stopped, but the mist of breath from her mouth in the cold air assured them that the princess was still breathing, though she remained unconscious. Margo pulled her leather glove from her hand and put her thumb on one of Ariana's eyelids, which was dark and purple in hue, and she slid it up and saw that her eyes were rolled back in her head. She checked her other eye, which was the same.

"She is under great strain," Margo said. "She needs warmth and rest."

"Then we should turn back," Keira replied. "Between us, we can carry her."

Margo stared out into the swirling snow that surrounded them, looking back the way they had come then ahead in the direction Ariana had led them and, in the distance, she saw something. She stood and squinted her eyes, looking toward the grey horizon ahead and she sniffed the air.

"Do you smell that?" she asked.

"I believe my senses have been frozen," Keira said, but she did notice something on the air. "It is the smell of smoke."

"It is," Margo said. "Often smoke signals fire, and though you elves prefer as little of it as possible in your forests, fire usually means people, and it certainly means warmth. I say we continue."

She bent down and helped Keira pick up the princess, and the two of them trudged through the snow, carrying Ariana between them, with her arms hung limply over their shoulders.

*****

Borrican awoke, his thoughts a swirl of images, of faces he recognized but could not name, of dragon scales and claws, writhing in the darkness, of wings and fire and of heavy, iron chains. He heard his own voice, screaming beneath the angry roar of the dragon, raging at the minds that would not answer him. He slowly opened his eyes and saw the orange glow of lava flowing nearby, illuminating the inside of the cavern that surrounded him. Borrican realized that he could barely move and he glanced from side to side, and saw that he was bound by thick chains, made of black metal. They stretched to every side of the cavern holding him in place, with his arms and legs outstretched and his neck held tightly, allowing him to move only a little.

Borrican looked down and saw a girl, sitting naked with her back to him, by the edge of the lava, her feet dangling in its heat as though it were a stream of water. Her skin was golden underneath her dark brown curls and the red glow of the molten river made illuminated her face as she turned at the sound of the chains moving. Her eyes glimmered with fire in the heat of the lava and when she rose and walked toward him, Borrican could see that her fingers and toes glittered at their tips with long, pointed nails that were seemingly adorned with gemstones. Though her form was not that of a dragon, Borrican knew her by her scent.

"Vale," he said. "Why am I chained?"

"You do not remember," she said, staring up at him.

"I do not remember," Borrican said, repeating her words and knowing the truth of them. "What happened?"

"You fought the drakes and went wild," Vale told him. "I could barely get you away from them, Borrican. You are much stronger than you seem."

"I didn't hurt anyone, did I?"

"Nothing that a few days in the flows won't heal," she said.

"Then why am I here, like this?"

"I tried, Borrican," she said. "Before the others found you, I attempted the bonding, but it did not take. For a short time, it seemed as though it had, but it slipped away and you became wild again. The others agreed to let me keep you here for a time, but you must remain in chains."

"And then what?"

"When your thoughts have become truly lost, they will come," she told him. "You will die."

"What?" Borrican felt the rage burning inside him and he pulled at the chains that held him tight. "Let me free, Vale. I will leave. I will go far away, where there is no one."

"Please, Borrican, try to be calm," she said. "Your anger feeds the wildness and without a queen to temper you, the rage of a dragon will consume you. It would be better if such a thing would not happen, but there is no sense in rushing toward it."