Legends of the Dragonrealm, Vol. III (88 page)

“She sssays that—”

The guard did not wait for him to finish. He took hold of each of the two by an arm and began to steer them inside the room. “Bessst not to talk out here, my lord! What Toma cannot see he may not find! Hurry!”

Valea wanted to protest, but Ssgayn—she had recognized his voice at last—already had them through the doorway. As he led them through, Faras, standing nearby, closed the door and bolted it.

“We can’t simply wait here!” the sorceress finally shouted. “Toma will come here before long!”

“I agree.” Kyl hissed in obvious nervousness. “Toma! I was jussst ssspeaking of him, wasss I not?”

The two guards nodded solemnly.

Valea had no time for this. Again she took hold of Kyl. Another time, such close contact would have thrilled her, but now what mattered was their lives. “Listen, Kyl! I tried to contact my father, but I couldn’t find him. I’ll try my mother, but you have to know something first. He’s
Benjin Traske
, Kyl! Benjin Traske!”

The heir apparently misunderstood her. “Toma hasss the ssscholar? Where? How?”

“No! Benjin Traske
is
Duke Toma! I discovered it by accident. He caught poor Ssarekai, who tried to kill him.”

Kyl simply stood there, as if unable to accept what he was hearing. “Ssscholar Trassske isss
Toma
?”

The two guards said nothing, but both had grown very tense. Valea could hardly blame them; how many times had they left their lord with the tutor, not realizing the truth? “I have to try my mother. Everyone is in danger! I think he dares not hide any longer, Kyl! He had to fight Ssarekai and he knows that I saw him!”

“No more talk, then, my enchantress! Do what mussst be done.” He gave her an encouraging smile.

Strengthened by that, Valea put as much will as she had left to muster into the magical summons. She had no idea where her father must be, but her mother was usually in the same place at this time of day. If she failed to contact Lady Bedlam, Valea then planned on trying a scattered call, which, theoretically, would send her message to all parts of the Manor. Valea had trouble with that method, though, which was why she hoped that she was successful with her first attempt.

However, a peculiar thing happened when she tried to reach out and make contact with her mother. Valea felt the summons stretch forth from her mind, felt it building in strength, but when she tried to reach out beyond Kyl’s chamber, it was as if she had run into a mental wall. She tried to push harder, but still could sense nothing beyond the room. Valea tried again, but the results were the same. Try as she might, she could not have contacted her mother even if the emerald enchantress had been standing on the other side of the door to Kyl’s suite.

Toma knew where they were. It was the only answer.

“What isss wrong? Why are you shivering?”

Shivering? Valea had not even noticed that she was shivering, but under the circumstances, she did not think that she could be blamed for doing so. Quickly, Valea explained what had happened.

After she was done, Kyl glanced at his two guards, but their faces betrayed nothing. Valea simply assumed that they would follow whatever command he gave them. She had never been close to either Ssgayn or Faras, but then, they had never tried to be more than what they were. It was as if they had been born to be bodyguards all their lives.

“Perhapsss . . .” Kyl began. “Perhapsss if we pool our abilities, Valea. I have alwaysss thought that between the two of usss, we could accomplish mossst anything!” He gave her a brief smile. “But talk of that can wait. What do you think? If your power and mine were combined, we might be able to contact one of your parentsss or, if need be, even deal with the renegade.”

This at last caused the two guards to move. It was clear that they did not relish the idea of Kyl fighting Toma.

“My lord—” Faras began.

“Sssilence! Well, Valea?”

Someone rapped on the door. A moment later, a familiar voice hissed, “Kyl! Let me in!”

Grath! Valea had completely forgotten about Kyl’s brother. She had simply assumed that he was in one of the connecting rooms. If Grath had been elsewhere all this time, then he, too, had been in danger. In fact . . .

The heir hissed. “I sssent him to talk to Benjin Trassske! Thank the Dragon of the Depthsss that he isss safe! Open the door! Quickly now!”

Faras had almost unbolted the door when Valea called, “No! You can’t!”

The drake paused, then looked to Kyl for guidance. “My lord, your brother isss in danger while he is out there. You know that your chambersss are alssso spelled against intrusion by sssorcery.”

Kyl waved aside Valea’s protests. “I know my own brother’s voice . . . and his mind.” He turned to face the door. “Grath! Did you ssspeak with Ssscholar Trassske asss I asked you?”

“No!” returned the voice. “I—Kyl, you would not believe what I have to tell you! Let me in!”

“Let him in,” whispered the emperor-to-be to Faras. “But I want all of you ready. Even Toma would not think to take the four of usss on, now would he?” The last was obviously for Valea’s benefit. She was certain that he was making a mistake, but there was nothing that she could do. Besides, it was cruel to let Grath remain out there. If he
was
alone, each second he was forced to wait left him vulnerable.

Faras unbolted the door and peeked around it. Ssgayn and Kyl stood ready, the guard with a sword and Kyl with a spell of some kind. Valea readied a crude but powerful spell of her own. If Grath was the puppet of Toma . . .

Slowly, Faras swung the door back just enough for a single person to slip through. Grath, or at least someone who looked exactly like him, did just that. Once the figure was through, the draconian guard immediately shut and rebolted the door.

“There isss sssome reasssonable concern that you might not be who you look like, Grath.” Kyl’s tone was incredibly apologetic. “I hope you will forgive usss for having to determine the truth.”

Grath stood still, his arms hanging at his sides. “I am me, but if you need to verify my honesty, please do so in whatever way you feel most suitable, Kyl.”

Kyl looked at the guards. “Are you ready, jussst in cassse?”

The two nodded. Satisfied, the dragon heir stepped in front of the one who might be his brother. He carefully reached out and put one hand on Grath’s shoulder.

Valea felt the power that passed between them. All those with even the most minor tendency for sorcery had a special magical signature, a particular touch, that other mages could sense if they knew how. For two with as strong a bond as the brothers, it was virtually impossible to fool either one of them with a false signature. Even Toma would be hard-pressed to mask his own magical pattern as that of Grath.

Kyl exhaled as he removed his hand. “You are Grath.”

“Of course I am.”

“We could not be certain. We could not trussst that it wasss you, brother.”

Grath eyed him, an enigmatic expression on his face. He glanced Valea’s way very briefly, then returned his gaze to Kyl. “
Do
you trust me, Kyl?”

The heir was surprised by the question. “With my life!”

“And you should know that I want nothing more than to see you on the throne. That is why you must trust me now.”

Valea did not care for Grath’s tone. She took a step toward him, not quite certain as to why he was making her nervous. “What do you have in mind, Grath? Do you have some sort of plan in mind for dealing with Toma?”

He looked at her. “You have tried to contact your parents?”

“I couldn’t find my father and something prevented me from contacting Mother.” Grath’s calm was annoying her. Did he not realize how dire a situation they faced?

Grath reached up and put a comforting hand on her shoulder. “That’s what I wanted to know. Thank you.”

She wanted to ask him what he meant by such an odd response, but then she noticed the buildup of power within him. Too late did she realize that she had yet
again
been betrayed. As she tried to pull free of his grip, a grip suddenly tight and painful, her body refused to follow her desires. Instead, Valea found herself unable to move, unable to even speak.

“What have you done to her?” snarled Kyl, realizing too late that his brother had cast a spell on the startled witch.

Grath looked beyond his brother. “Faras. Ssgayn.”

She could still see, and so at the edge of her vision Valea was able to watch as Kyl’s two trusted bodyguards seized hold of their emperor-to-be and kept him pinned by the arms no matter how much he struggled.

“We are sssorry to do thisss, Your Majesssty,” Faras added with much anxiety.

Grath stood before his brother. “If you will calm down and listen, I can have them release you that much sooner. I am sorry about this, but you didn’t look as if you were going to wait for me to explain. Will you please do that now, Kyl?”

“I ssseem to have little
choice
in the matter,
brother
!”

“Actually, you have much choice. Do you remember our conversation just a short while ago? How we talked about the throne and the troubles it has brought? We talked about Toma, didn’t we?”

Grath’s transformation dismayed the frozen Valea. She had always known him to be a studious, somewhat shy person. He had always walked in the shadow of his brother, although even she would have been willing to admit that Kyl had always benefited from his advice. Now, however, Grath more resembled a smooth, cunning courtier, like some of those the young Lady Bedlam had met among the aristocracy of Penacles or Talak.

Kyl did not reply to his brother save to reluctantly nod.

“We’ve talked about Toma, our
brother
, before. You and I both know that he wasss loyal to our father and remained with him long after the other Dragon Kingsss had abandoned him. You know that he wasss there to rescue us from Lord Ice when we became caught between the machinations of the mad lord of the Northern Wastes and Master Bedlam. Among all the drakes, Kyl, you will have to admit that no one hasss been more loyal to the throne than he.”

That was not quite the history that Valea had grown up knowing. It was close enough to the truth, however, to disguise itself as fact. Her father would have been able to relate the entire tale, but she doubted that anyone but she would have listened.

“I remember the Northern Wastes, I think,” Kyl admitted with reluctance.

“Toma can never be emperor. You know that. I know that.
He
knows that. He has known that for years. Therefore, only one path was left open to him. Despite the need to hide, despite the enemies who have sought to kill him because he represents the might of the emperor, the duke has continued to work to see the day that a new, stronger leader will bring our kind back to the preeminence we once held.”

Slowly, Grath stepped back to the bolted door. He reached for the bolt. “No one is more regretful than he that all his work had to be done under the guise of another. He had hoped to present himself to you after your crowning. His life would have been yours to take or end there. At least the goal he has sought for the last several years would then be secure.”

Valea tried her best to break the spell that held her, but Grath had cast it too well. She doubted that even Aurim would have been able to escape.

Unbolting the door, the younger drake seized the handle. He looked so very apologetic to his brother that Valea wanted to spit in his face. “Kyl, I present to you one who isss not your enemy, has never
been
your enemy, but rather has been your most loyal servant . . . even moressso than I, I have to admit.”

The drake swung open the door. Valea’s heart sank as Benjin Traske entered.

“Ssscholar . . .” Kyl muttered, more awestruck, the sorceress was sad to see, than fearful.

“Not scholar, my lord,” said the massive figure, and even as he strode forward, he resembled less and less the bearded tutor and more and more something terribly inhuman. Then the scholar began to melt. The heavy girth became a river of glowing liquid that faded as it poured away. Yet, while Benjin Traske grew thinner, he also grew taller still.

Traske’s clothing also changed. Quickly the scholar’s robe became armor, scaled armor that covered the teacher from head to toe. His hands twisted and the fingers lengthened, becoming much like those of either of the brothers.

Kyl gaped and Grath smiled as the face also became something different. The stern, bearded visage pulled in and the head reshaped itself, at last forming a partial shell. The shell defined itself into a helm within which the last vestiges of Benjin Traske reformed into the flat, incomplete features of a drake warrior. Yet, unlike most drake warriors, the helm of this one had as elaborate a dragon head crest as any of the drake lords themselves.

Crossing the little distance that still remained between the two of them, the immense drake warrior stopped, then knelt before the dragon heir. Within the false helm, the lipless mouth curved into a toothy smile.

“Your Majesssty,” announced Grath as he shut the door and bolted it again. “It pleases me to presssent your mossst humble and
loyal
ssservant,
Duke Toma
of Kivan Grath.”

XVIII

CABE WOUND HIS
way through the vast underground cavern of the Green Dragon, his escorts trying their best to keep pace with the hurrying warlock. Having known the Dragon King for as long as he had, Cabe could have transported himself directly to the main hall of the subterranean labyrinth without asking permission, but he had needed the time to think. Think and plan.

“This way,” he muttered, turning down yet another corridor. The guards and guide stumbled after him. None of them thought to order him to slow down, for everyone who followed the master of the Dagora Forest knew of the warlock and how powerful he was said to be. He was also known to be a friend and ally of their lord. If there
had
been some question as to his motives, then they would have tried their best to either capture or kill him, but it would not have been something any of the guards would have looked forward to with eagerness. They were quite aware of their chances against the robed figure stalking ahead of them.