Dragon Seeker (21 page)

Prince Kalman looked at him thoughtfully but said nothing. Questions could come later.

“To be frank,” he said gently, “it’s a better death than he deserved. He was, truly, a vicious man.”

It was then that the grey dragons swooped down from the sky and landed in a tangled heap of wings and claws beside them. Nostrils flaring, they hissed in relief at the sight of the serpent whose body lay sprawled in the dust. She was dead! Dead at last! They looked at Nestor, their eyes shining with relief.
She
would no longer terrorize the valley.

The great castle at Trollsberg was a scene of bustling
excitement
. Never had it entertained so many visitors at one time. The kitchen staff had doubled overnight, working in shifts to cope with the new arrivals — they’d even set up special field kitchens in the meadows outside the town where the MacArthur’s army was camped.

Sitting by the fire in the Blue Salon, Neil relaxed and watched Major Sallis and Clara idly. They had found a pack of cards and were playing some sort of Snap. He shifted slightly in his chair, feeling guiltier with every moment that passed, for he still hadn’t told Clara about the magic coin — and the longer he left it, the harder it became. He hadn’t mentioned it to the prince either and he knew that he should have handed it over to him straightaway while Lord Jezail was lying dead in the dust.

The prince, to give him his due, had coped with everything with his customary efficiency. He’d mended Nestor’s wing with a hex and set a dragon guard round Lord Jezail’s body until he could arrange for it to be transported to Trollsberg. As for the serpent, Neil shivered slightly at the thought — the dragons had taken care of it themselves. Strung out along its length, they’d lifted it in their claws, carried its heavy, lifeless body over one of the deep chasms that cracked the valley floor and dropped it into its depths. She would trouble them no more.

So many things had happened all at once that there hadn’t really been time to say anything about the coin. It had all been
so
horrible and a million things had been crowding his mind. He surely couldn’t be blamed for not mentioning it. And when Prince Kalman had brought him back to the top of the cliff on his magic carpet, he’d still been more or less in a state of shock. The magicians, although horrified at his appearance, had greeted him with relief and Clara had run forward with tears in her eyes — his magic carpet had returned without him and she’d obviously been thinking the worst! Even Arthur had surged forward, looking at him with concern.

And, once again, the moment had passed — for the prince barely had time to tell Lord Rothlan and Count Vassili of Lord Jezail’s death when Nestor, once more in charge of the grey dragons, flapped out of the sky to land beside them. He bowed low to the magicians and to Arthur and hurriedly announced the arrival of the MacArthur’s and Lord Onegin’s armies.

And
that
, Neil smiled ruefully, had kept everyone busy for the rest of the day. Not that either he or Clara had known anything about it, for the prince had immediately instructed Arthur to take them both back to Trollsberg before the rest set off on their carpets. Perhaps a hex had accompanied his words, Neil thought, for once they’d arrived at Trollsberg on the dragon’s back — to the stunned astonishment of the guards, who’d never seen a dragon before — all they could think of was hot baths and sleep. Worn out by the excitement of the day, they’d tumbled into bed and slept long and heavily, waking up sluggishly the next morning to the crowing of cocks.

It was Major Sallis who had told them over breakfast how the two armies had joined forces and between them had rounded up the scattered remainder of Lord Jezail’s army. The black-clad Citadel Guard, he said, had put up no sort of fight but had surrendered immediately on hearing of their master’s death. Then he described the return of Lord Onegin to Trollsberg,
the arrival of the MacArthurs on a fleet of magic carpets and the burial of Lord Jezail in one of the vaults in the wall of the castle. It had been an exceedingly formal occasion, he said sombrely, and one that all of the magicians had attended. The death of a Dragon Seeker was always marked by special observances and Lord Jezail’s body had been buried with all the honour and ceremony that was his due.

Clara’s voice interrupted his thoughts. “What’s the matter, Neil?” she asked, looking across at him as she pushed the cards towards the major, who’d won handsomely. “You’ve been very quiet since we got back.”

Neil looked uncomfortable but was saved from
answering
by a murmur of voices as the high, double doors opened and Prince Kalman entered followed by Lord Rothlan, Count Vassili and the MacArthur.

The two children stood up respectfully, smiling a welcome as Amgarad flew over and landed on Clara’s shoulder.

“Well,” the MacArthur said once the initial greetings were over and they’d settled themselves in a group round the fire, “you seem to have had an exciting time. Prince Kalman’s been telling me all about it!”

Clara smiled and raised her eyebrows. “
You’ve
been fighting battles,” she pointed out. “That must have been exciting, too!”

Neil said nothing but looked at them warily for there was an air of seriousness about the four magicians that told him they’d been discussing him and his hex.

It was as the conversation petered out that Prince Kalman looked at Neil thoughtfully. “Before we go any further, I … er, I think that you might have something to tell us, Neil? About Lord Jezail’s medallion?”

Neil looked apprehensive for there was little warmth in the prince’s voice.

Count Vassili, however, noticing the shocked surprise in Neil’s eyes, intervened quickly. “What happened, Neil? Please … just tell us. It
is
important, you know.”

Neil by this time was sitting straight up in his chair. “You … you don’t think I stole it, do you?” he said, looking at them disbelievingly.

“Stole what?’ Clara looked from Prince Kalman to her brother and back again. “Neil never stole anything in his life!”

“I didn’t say anything of the sort,” the prince pointed out, slightly taken aback at Clara’s hot defence of her brother, “but we didn’t find the medallion on his body when we brought him here to Trollsberg,” the prince continued,” and Neil did throw a hex at the serpent.”

“Serpent?” Clara echoed in bewilderment. “What serpent?”

Neil ignored her question. “A medallion? Is that what it’s called?” He frowned but looked interested at the same time. “I thought it was a coin. No, he didn’t give it to me,” he answered. “You know that perfectly well! It’s a magic coin. He’d never have given it to me.”

“Then how did you get it?”

Neil didn’t answer. The question brought back all of the dreadful memories he’d been trying to push to the back of his mind. His face reddened and he clenched his hands together as unexpected tears clouded his eyes. He looked at the ground so that no one would notice but stumbled over the words. “Actually, I wasn’t going to say anything,” he said, eyeing Clara sideways, “but … well …”

“Well what, Neil?” Lord Rothlan asked softly, throwing Kalman a warning glance.

“It was really quite horrible,” Neil answered, lifting his eyes and looking straight at Prince Kalman. “Lord Jezail,” he
whispered
, “I … you see, I managed to catch him when he fell off
the cliff. I thought he’d be grateful but he … he grabbed me and threw me off my carpet.”

“Lord… Jezail … what?” The prince’s voice cracked in
disbelief
as the others jumped to their feet. Whatever they had expected to hear, it hadn’t been that!

Neil looked at the prince through a sudden blur of tears. “I caught hold of his shirt but it tore and I think that’s when the chain broke …” he swallowed and managed a feeble grin, “I didn’t notice it at the time. By then I was falling and I’d more to worry about. Fortunately, Nestor saw the whole thing. That’s when he swooped down and caught me just … just before I hit the ground. That’s … that’s how he broke his wing.”

Prince Kalman took two steps forward and hugged Neil tightly. “Forgive me for doubting you, Neil,” he said. “I never dreamt that such a thing could happen. None of us did,” he added, stepping back and holding him by the shoulders. “You see, we just couldn’t understand …”

Clara had never seen the prince look so upset. He’d
misjudged
the situation completely and didn’t know how to put things right.

Neil fished the coin out of his pocket and held it out to the prince. “It was Nestor who saw it lying in the dust,” he explained.” He thought I’d dropped it and maybe I did when I was falling. I can’t remember, really. I just picked it up, shoved it in my pocket and more or less forgot about it. I was still a bit shaken, you see, and Nestor’s wing was broken and … anyway, he’ll tell you if you ask him.”

There was complete silence for a long moment as the
magicians
looked at one another very oddly indeed. Prince Kalman, however, barely heard what Neil had said; he’d stiffened abruptly as he felt the power of the coin that lay heavily in the palm of his hand.

It was the MacArthur who broke the silence. “Well,
gentlemen
,” he said quietly, “it looks as though we have a brand new magician in our midst. I think we’d all agree that the medallion made a wise choice in Neil.”

As Neil and Clara watched curiously, the coin passed from hand to hand. The MacArthur took it and, drawing a sharp breath, looked at the prince in disbelief before passing it on to Count Vassili, who shuddered as he held it and, with a horrified look on his face, passed it quickly to Lord Rothlan.

Pale with shock, Lord Rothlan’s face was unreadable as he handed it back to the prince. “Well,” he said heavily, “now we know why Lord Jezail acted the way he did. Whether or not
he
influenced the medallion or
it
influenced him, we’ll never know but …”

“No, Alasdair,” Count Vassili interrupted. “There was
nothing
wrong with the medallion when Jezail inherited it from his father.
He’s
the one who corrupted its magic!” He paused and looked at the two children. “And I don’t need to tell you that there’s no
way
Neil can wear it. Not in its present state, at any rate. It would control him within days.”

Prince Kalman pressed his lips together in a thin line. “You’re right, of course, Vassili,” he said grimly, “except that it didn’t take days. It controlled him from the start.” He looked at them all in turn. “Neil’s honest. We all know that. Yet he didn’t tell me about the medallion when he hexed the serpent, did he?”

There was a silence as the magicians looked at one another, eyebrows raised.

“You mean … it was the medallion that stopped me from telling you?” Neil said slowly.

Lord Rothlan nodded.

“Then I don’t want it,” Neil said sharply. “It made me lie!”

The MacArthur smiled wryly. “It’s not as easy as that, Neil. It’s a magic coin and … well, the fact remains that
it
chose
you
.”

“Only because I was there,” Neil pointed out, biting his lip in disappointment as all thoughts of being a magician faded rapidly from his mind.

“No, no, you’re wrong, Neil,” Lord Rothlan said slowly. “First of all, the medallion would sense the magic in your firestone and secondly,
I
rather think it was looking for a new master. Lord Jezail was very old, remember, and in the end, went completely mad. And madness, you see, was the one thing the medallion couldn’t control …”

The MacArthur nodded. “Yes, I think Neil was a deliberate choice but as Vassili says, he can’t wear it in its present state. It’s much too dangerous!”

“I know it made me lie,” Neil said hesitantly, “but otherwise, you know, I didn’t feel all that different. Yet, you … all of you, looked so horrified when you held it …”

Count Vassili smiled and put an arm round his shoulders. “You must remember, Neil, that apart from the firestone, you have no real magic in you; but we are magicians and when our magic met that of the medallion we immediately knew how evil it was.”

“There
are
ways of removing the evil from the medallion,” Prince Kalman said slowly, turning it over in his hand, “but quite frankly it’s a job for the Lords of the North and … it’ll take time.”

Neil looked anxiously from one to the other.

“What do you think, Neil?” Lord Rothlan asked. “If you agree, we could rid the medallion of evil and give it to you when you are older. You see … the medallion
is
yours. You didn’t take it from Lord Jezail. It chose to give itself to you.”

“May … may I hold it?” Neil asked, his spirits rising at the
thought that one day he would wear it. “Just for a minute.”

“Of course,” Prince Kalman answered, smiling reassuringly as he handed it over.

Neil looked down at the circle of gold that was going to change his life. Lifting it closer, he looked at the strange
symbols
that curved round two intertwined crescent moons. It was beautifully made and his fingers closed over it protectively. It was his but he knew within himself that the magicians were right. It had to be cleansed of evil before he could wear it. Taking a deep breath, he gave it back to the prince. “Please keep it for me,” he said.

“When you
do
wear it, Neil,” Prince Kalman said, “you will be one of us. You know that, don’t you? And your magic will be just as great as ours.”

“But in the meantime, you’ll be our pupil,” Lord Rothlan said with a smile, as the others nodded in agreement, “for there’s a lot more than magic tokens to being a magician, believe me! I’m afraid it’ll be a bit like being at school all over again!”

Neil nodded, looking confused as Clara hugged him. Thank goodness for the medallion, she thought. It’s really evened things out between us! I really wasn’t happy at having the
talisman
when Neil only had a firestone. He wasn’t jealous, exactly, but he must have felt a bit left out. She smiled happily at him.

“Now then …” she said aloud, “I’m absolutely dying of
curiosity
. For goodness sake, tell me about the serpent!”