Omensent: Princess Of Dragons (Book 5) (55 page)

"My god!" Delilah looked stunned. "The queen was a blood elf?" She shook her head numbly. "I-I can't believe it! H-How could she turn her back on everything that we have ever known? How could she betray her own people like that?"

"Yrinn convinced her that Petra had turned Her back on our people, and that Hetris could help us regain our ancient homeland from the Etazk." Anallia frowned. "She was convinced that He could return our people to our former glory, and lead us into a new age of prosperity."

"After they had killed Damion, and given the Dragon Sword over to Hetris, they planned to force the rest of the elven people into worshipping the dark god." Captain Harper sighed wearily. "The queen completely lost it when she realized that Damion had managed to survive, and had followed Yrinn back to Celestia. All of her plans had failed, and she knew that her betrayal would be exposed."

Dozens of the elven guards suddenly rushed into the courtyard, followed closely by Damarius and Shirk, whose shoulder was now heavily bandaged.

"What, in the name of the gods, is he still doing alive?" The bearded bandit growled, staring angrily at Yrinn, who was still sobbing over the dead queen's corpse.

The elven soldiers quickly moved in to surround the despondent elf, but he didn't even seem to notice as he continued to weep uncontrollably.

"Once Queen Serena was dead, he lost the will to fight." The huge warrior shrugged helplessly. "I guess old Marken was right when he claimed that Yrinn was in love with her."

"What are we going to do with him?" Damarius asked in a weary voice.

"Let's let the elves figure out what to do with him." Damion murmured with a sigh. "He's their problem now."

"What are we going to do then?" Raven asked in confusion.

Damion glanced back at Yrinn and the dead queen, then turned and started off towards the harbor. "We're going home."

Chapter 22

"Gods, that was boring!" Leia groaned, hurrying out of the Serpent's Keep, and into the open courtyard outside. "I thought we were never going to get out of there!"

"It
was
a rather long day, wasn't it?" Lady Skie agreed with a weary sigh. "Now that the goblins have returned to their hollows, and the merchant caravans are free to travel safely through the mountains again, new trade agreements are literally pouring in from every continent. Even the Arleians have sent us a few proposals."

"I'm sure that Shirk would find that interesting," Leia said as they started to leisurely make their way through town. "though I can't, for the life of me, think of what they could possibly have to trade, other than slaves, of course."

"The slave markets in my country are there for my people to purchase slaves, not sell them." Juco informed her with a troubled frown. "We do, however, have a number of plants that grow in our swamps which are highly valued for their medicinal properties, and can't be found anywhere else in the world. We also have a numerous iron and copper mines that produce some of the purest ore found anywhere in the world."

"Really?" Lady Skie looked impressed. "I never knew that your people had any active mines."

"Few do." The heavily muscled warrior shrugged. "My people tend to keep such information to themselves. We Arleians have always valued our privacy."

Ever since arriving in Sevria a few weeks earlier, Juco had been spending most of his time hanging around Slither and Sly, though he had the habit of loitering around Damion's office during the day to watch while Leia and Lady Skie tended to castle affairs. To their surprise, the dreadlocked warrior had a quick mind, and was able to point out numerous downsides to what seemed like otherwise perfectly acceptable trade proposals, and his intimidating presence guaranteed that everyone who came to speak with the Leia was on their very best behavior.

"What's happening there?" Leia asked as they reached the center of town and saw a large crowd gathered outside one of the local taverns.

"SSSly mussst have prepared another batch of that brew of hisss." Slither hissed, licking his scaled lips in anticipation.

"I have to admit, I have never seen him work so hard at anything in his entire life." Lady Skie murmured with the hint of a smile. "He set out to brew the finest ale in the world, and it looks like he actually did it."

"Who better than Sly to make the best ale?" Leia grinned. "He has probably drank more than any other man alive."

"There he isss now." Slither pointed to the scruffy little man, who hurried towards them wearing a weary expression.

"Do you see this madness?" Sly asked in exasperation, gesturing to the somewhat rowdy crowd. "Some of those men have been waiting since yesterday!" The blisters left behind by Xaxis's fiery breath had finally all healed, and his hair and beard had begun to grow back, filling in the large bald patches where the hair had been singed away.

"That's exactly what you wanted, wasn't it?" Lady Skie asked in confusion.

"Aye, it is," He nodded dubiously. "but I just can't keep up with the demand! They drink it as quickly as I can make it!" He shook his head. "I've raised the prices threes times now, and they still can't get enough!"

"How much are you charging for a tankard now?" Juco asked curiously.

"Five gold pieces."

"Five gold pieces for a tankard of ale?" Juco exclaimed in disbelief. "That's outrageous! That's... That's..." The heavily muscled warrior seemed to be at a loss for words. "That's highway robbery!" He blurted finally.

"And that's coming from a former highway robber." Leia snickered as the short little man shot her a dirty look.

"I had no choice!" Sly said, holding out his hands helplessly. "I had to find a way of slowing the demand until I could lay in a sufficient supply. I was afraid that the people would riot if I cut off them off altogether!"

"I bet that all of the gold that you're raking in is making the trouble worth your while, though." Leia smirked knowingly.

"It helps," The little man admitted. "but there's always a new problem creeping up that threatens to put everything in jeopardy. I finally find a cooper willing to build me barrels made of the proper wood, and my supply of malted barley dries up. I find a new supply of malted barley, and my honey supplier's hives are all lost in a fire!" He shook his head. "This has been one headache after another."

"Where are all of these people coming from?" Leia asked, scanning the crowd and noticing many of them were strangers to Sevria.

"There has been a influx of new settlers to the city in the last week or so." Captain Repheth informed her as he appeared from the crowd accompanied by several castle soldiers who immediately spread out amongst the crowd to ensure things did not get out of hand. "Most are craftsmen and merchants who have come to set up shop. Word has gotten around about how dishonest merchants aren't tolerated here in Sevria, and they seem to find that appealing." He gave the young girl a pained look. "I have to admit, I had a few reservations about some of your new policies, but, surprisingly enough, the merchants seem to be quite happy with the arrangements. By forcing them to all play by the rules, business has gotten significantly better for them. They're no longer spending all of their time looking for ways to destroy their competitors, leaving them plenty of time to find ways to improve their own businesses."

"It was the right thing to do." Leia shrugged. "I will not let some unscrupulous merchant take advantage of our people. Not while I'm in charge."

"It definitely seems to be working." The old captain nodded approvingly. "Business is up, which means more revenue for the city. The caravan leaders have even given up trying to avoid paying their taxes, which makes the job much easier for the soldiers guarding the gate." He smiled. "Everything around here is running as smoothly as ever!"

"You really have a talent for this sort of thing." Lady Skie said, patting Leia on the shoulder encouragingly. "Your parents will be quite pleased to see how well have you have managed to do in their absence."

"Where were you all going?" Sly asked curiously, glancing back at the growing crowd with a frown.

"I thought we'd go see how the crops are faring." Leia told him with a shrug. "We've been so busy lately that I haven't had the chance to check their progress."

"I think I'll join you." The little man murmured with a weary sigh. "I need to get away from this madness for a little while."

"What about your customers?" Juco asked in surprise.

"Axel can take care of them while I'm gone." Sly grumbled dismissively. "He knows what to do if the supply starts running low."

"Do you think that the garden is going to produce enough vegetables to help restore our reserves?" Leia asked the old captain curiously as they pushed their way through the boisterous crowd. "I'm a little worried that it won't be enough."

"I think you'll be pleasantly surprised." Captain Repheth told her as they made their way down to the massive battlements, and through the only gate leading in and out of Sevria. "The work crew decided to try using the dung that piled up from Xaxis's..." He frowned. "
accidents
, as fertilizer for the crops. The effects were a bit surprising."

"Good gods!" Leia exclaimed in astonishment as they reached the large field on the opposite side of the road. "Those tomatoes are nearly the size of my head!"

"You should see the cucumbers!" The old captain laughed. "They're enormous! It appears that dragon dung makes quite the fertilizer."

"It looks like we have a small group of travelers heading this way." Juco warned them all, staring up the trade road at a group of people slowly making their way towards the city on horseback.

"It's not a trade caravan." Sly murmured, squinting to get a better look at the approaching riders. "It could be some merchants looking for a place to rest before they move on to the south."

They watched as the group continued to slowly make their way closer, then Leia's jaw suddenly dropped open in surprise. "Those aren't merchants!" She dashed off towards the approaching riders with a squeal of happiness.

The others watched her rush towards the newcomers in confusion, then Sly suddenly exclaimed. "That's Damion and the others! They're finally back!"

They all let out a cheer, then hurried after the young girl in excitement.

"Leia!" Raven leapt down from her horse and rushed over to her daughter, who threw her arms around her mother with another squeal of joy.

Damion slipped down from Storm's broad back and engulfed his wife and daughter in a huge hug, and for several long moments, they merely sat there together in silence, content to all be back together once again.

"It's about time your decided to come home!" Sly laughed when they finally released one another. "I was beginning to think that you decided to stay on that island paradise with the elves, and leave us here to deal with things."

"There's no chance of that ever happening." Damion grumbled with a frown. "I'll take Sevria over the elven island any day."

"I'm guessing that things didn't go as smoothly as you had hoped?" The little man asked, his expression curious.

"That would be an understatement." The huge warrior snorted humorlessly. "Let's just say that things weren't exactly what they appeared. Under that layer of pomposity and self righteousness, the elves are just as deceitful and untrustworthy as any other race on this planet."

"And that surprises you?" Sly chuckled. "The only difference between elves and humans is that elves have pointy ears and live a little longer." He gave Damion a questioning look. "What happened?"

"The entire thing was a setup from the start." The huge warrior told him in a disgusted tone. "The elven queen turned out to be a follower of Hetris, and had been plotting to force her people to turn their backs upon their goddess Petra. The only reason that she wanted our aid was so that I would bring the Dragon Sword to their island."

"You don't mean..."

Damion nodded grimly. "We spent the entire time we were there on a wild goose chase, while various elves attempted to kill us. In the end, we managed to expose the queen and her plans, and put an end to the slaughter of Petra's children, though the queen was killed in the process."

"The queen's betrayal took the elves completely by surprise." Raven told them, picking up the story. "With her death, they were left leaderless. Every elf on the island suddenly saw themselves sitting on the throne, and a number of scuffles broke out. When we finally departed, the entire island was in chaos." She shook her head. "Dar stayed behind to try and help them sort out the whole mess, but I doubt if it will do any good. Things had already gotten completely out of control by the time we sailed away."

"Father!" Lady Skie exclaimed happily as her father slipped down from his saddle. "It's so good to..." She stopped as her eyes fell upon Shirk, whose arm was still in a sling. "Oh gods! Shirk!" She rushed past her father, whose expression became faintly injured, and hurried up to the bearded bandit, who gently embraced the young woman.

"Well," Damarius grumbled to Damion and the others. "
that
was a nice welcome home."

"What did you expect?" Raven asked with an amused note in her voice. "You forced Shirk and her apart, kept them separated for months, and then let him get himself injured! Did you really expect her to jump for joy at your return?"

"What happened?" Lady Skie demanded, whirling around to stare at her father with an angry expression.

"A blood elf attempted to assassinate Damarius," Damion told her, causing her jaw to drop open in surprise. "but Shirk knocked him aside, and ended up taking the arrow in his shoulder." He nodded at Shirk approvingly, then looked back to Lady Skie. "He saved your father's life."

"Aye, he did." The old wizard confirmed as she turned to stare him in disbelief. "I guess the old bandit isn't such a bad fellow after all."

"That's good to hear you say." Shirk told him. "I'll take that as you'll not stand in the way of our joining."

"O-Our joining?" Lady Skie looked stunned.