The Dragon's Lair (26 page)

The anxious silence became anxious sleep as the wagon traveled on. Ven rested his aching head on one of the horse blankets, trying to blot out the nightmares of what was waiting for him at the end of the ride. He woke and fell asleep again time after time, each new dream bringing even worse horror with it. By the time the wagon rolled to a stop, he was totally frightened and not at all rested.

He sat up as the wagon stopped.

The night was gone. He knew that even before he looked into the gray sky from the sound of the birdsong in the moist feel of morning dew in the air. The grass smelled sweeter than it had the night before. His friends were stretching and waking nervously.

Clemency was the first to look over the side of the wagon.

"Oh dear," she whispered. "Well, Ven, it's been good to know you."

19
Alvarran the Intolerant

V
EN RAISED HIMSELF UP ON ONE KNEE SO HE COULD SEE OVER
Amariel's head.

Now that dawn had broken, he could see the vast expanse of the Wide Meadows all the way to the horizon. Rolling hills of greengold highgrass stretched until they met the lightening sky, fringed with occasional stands of trees to the north. To the south he could see the northernmost tip of the Enchanted Forest in the distance, its immense trees dark green and vibrant, like living mountains.

Between the wagon and the forest stood a massive army. Now that the sun had risen, the Lirindarc were visible. They stood in loose rows by the thousands, many more than Ven could count, fanning out in an ever-widening triangle that reached as far as he could see. The Lirindarc were tall, slender people, men and women alike, with broad shoulders and lean, muscular arms and legs. Their skin was brown from the sun, and their hair, eyes and clothing all blended in with the color of the grass.

And every one of them was armed.

"Criminey," Char whispered behind him.

Standing at the point of the triangle was an honor guard of soldiers. A semicircle of eight archers had their arrows trained on the wagon, while two more with wicked-looking spears stood on either side of a solitary man.

He was unarmed.

He wore on his head a wooden crown in the middle of which a golden leaf was carved.

The man stood straight as an arrow himself. His dark hair was long and striped with gray, framing a face that did not have even a hint of a smile. His eyes were also dark, and he stared directly at the children as if he were looking into their souls. His clothing, while regal, was also simple, made for wearing in all kinds of weather. In his hand was a long, twisted staff made of polished wood, on top of which was a golden leaf like that in his crown.

"Any idea who that might be?" Clemency asked.

"If I had to guess, I would say that's Alvarran the Intolerant," said Ven.

"Who?" demanded Ida.

"The king of the forest Lirin."

Tuck nodded. "Aye."

"We're in trouble," said Char.

As if to prove his point, the Lirin king banged his staff on the ground.

In response, the front rows of archers pointed their arrows at the wagon as well.

Alvarran cleared his throat. Even from the long distance away, the children could hear the rumble.

"You are wasting my time," he said in a voice that sounded like thunder. As if in reply, the wind picked up, making the highgrass bow down respectfully before him. "Get out of that wagon and get over here."

Ven hurried to the back of the wagon and opened the gate. He vaulted down onto the grass, as the arrow sights followed him, and held out his hand to Amariel.

"Come on," he urged the others. "No point in making him grumpy."

"I'm guessing we're a little late for that," Clem said in a low voice. She waited until Ven had helped Amariel out of the wagon, then climbed down and offered her own hand to Ida, who refused it. Char jumped down after her. Tuck climbed down from the wagon board and followed them.

They hurried through the billowing grass until they were in easy sight of the Lirin king. They continued approaching until Alvarran banged his staff on the ground again. The vibration brought them to a halt.

The Lirin king stared at them for a long time. The only sound in their ears was the gusting of the wind around them.

"King Vandemere must have lost his mind," Alvarran said finally, disdain dripping in his voice. "What would possess him to send a Nain messenger to me—a Nain brat, no less? It is a sure sign of his youth and inexperience. How regrettable. Does he not know what a grave insult this is?"

I opened my mouth to speak, but no words came out
.

When King Vandemere mentioned the task he wanted to accomplish—the puzzle of figuring out why a dragon was attacking Nain settlements, discovering what would make it stop and telling the Nain in return to give back what the Lirin wanted, which in turn would make the Lirin give him what he wanted—I was certain that he was only trying to help the kingdoms over which he was the high ruler get past their grudges. Now, however, it seemed as if his attempt to make peace by sending me there was something that could in fact lead to an even more unpleasant situation
.

I wanted to explain that. I wanted to try to fix the situation, to be a good ambassador for the king
.

But the look on the face of the man who had the words "the Intolerant" as part of his name was so terrifying that all I could do was stare at him
.

That probably wasn't helping the situation very much at all
.

"I'm sure he didn't mean it that way, sire," Ven said when he could finally speak.

"Is that so?" demanded Alvarran. "Then perhaps I should explain this to you, Nain child. Had you been an adult, coming to the borders of my lands at a time when your people are preparing to invade, you surely would have been put to death before you could deliver
any
sort of message. But rather than that happening as it should, because of your age it is necessary for me to hear you out before I kill you, rather than be seen as unfair. I have a long enough name as it has. I have no desire to be called 'Alvarran the Intolerant
and
the Unfair.'

"So what do you want? Or, more correctly, what does King Vandemere want? Speak, so that my archers can do their job, and I can return to my breakfast."

"Er—" Ven began. Suddenly his stomach flipped as beads of sweat popped out on his forehead. He could hear the sound of thousands of bowstrings being drawn just a little tighter. Whatever he was about to say disappeared from his brain as the curiosity that had been brewing there turned to terror.

Tuck cleared his throat.

Ven glanced over at the Lirin forester. His face with solemn, but his green eyes were twinkling. He nodded slightly, a gesture of encouragement. And as he did, Ven remembered what the king had told him to say.

He cleared his own throat and took in a deep breath through his nose.

"King Vandemere states that if you will send him the greatest treasure in your kingdom, he will swear fealty to you and ever after will call you 'sire'—er, sire."

The king of the Lirin stared at him even more intensely.

"Really?" His voice was low and deadly. "I cannot imagine what would possibly entice me to grant such a request."

"Perhaps if I can return to you whatever the Nain have that you want back, you would be willing to consider it."

Alvarran's eyes opened wide and his nostrils flared.

"You know of the Theft, then?"

Ven could feel his friends behind him beginning to twitch nervously.

"I know nothing of a theft, Your Majesty," he said quickly. "I'm not from this land—I came to Serendair only recently. But I'm on my way north to see if I can discover why a dragon is burning the Nain settlements in the foothills of the High Reaches. If I can discover that answer, perhaps I can persuade the Nain to give you back what you want returned. And if I can arrange that, it is my hope that you will give to King Vandemere what he asks for."

The Lirin king put a hand to his chin and rubbed thoughtfully. "Hmmm," he said. "That's an interesting proposition, Nain child. There is but one problem I see with it."

"What's that, Your Majesty?" Ven asked.

The king's eyes went black with anger.

"There
is
no dragon burning the Nain settlements," he spat. "It's all a lie, to mask their planned attack on my kingdom. I have seen the flames, I have smelt the smoke—it's not dragon's breath, but rather plain, ordinary fire, a tool they've used before to conquer Lirin lands. The Nain are liars, thieves. They hide behind such tales to spread panic, particularly west of here, where innocent folk like the Gwadd make their homes. By the time the deception is discovered, it is too late. But unlike the Nain, the Lirin remember their history. I will not be fooled by such a tactic twice. So Vandemere has sent you on a fool's errand, Nain child."

Tuck bowed. "If that be so, then, Your Majesty, what harm is there in agreeing to allow him to try?"

For the first time the Lirin king looked at the forester. His eyes narrowed. When he spoke, his voice was low and calm, but with an undertone of threat.

"Tell me, what would cause a Lirinved forester to throw in his lot with a Nain child, risking the ire of his brothers, and their king?"

"The forester's loyalty to those brothers, and their king," Tuck replied, "but mostly to the High King over us all. King Vandemere asked me to serve as guide to these children. It was my honor to agree, and to obey. If you do not wish to accept the Nain child's offer, then I ask you and your soldiers to stand aside and let us pass in peace, so that we may fulfill our quest. If, however, you wish him to try and return to you what you have lost—"

"What the Nain
took
," Alvarran interrupted angrily. "It was a
Theft
. The Nain broke trust long ago. Once we were allies, now we are enemies."

"Even so, your grudge is not against
this
Nain,
this
child," said Tuck. "Perhaps he will be able to make amends for
his
brothers. Now, sire, what say you?"

Alvarran glared at Tuck, then turned his gaze on Ven. He glanced at the other children, then returned to the young messenger standing before him.

"Very well," he said at last. "Leave this place immediately. My soldiers will escort you north to the borderlands, even though you will not see them do so. Take heed, and pass carefully. If you do indeed return to me that which the Nain stole from our lands long ago, I will consider King Vandemere's request."

Ven coughed. "Only consider it, Your Majesty? Not just, uh, grant it?"

Alvarran the Intolerant's nostrils flared.

"It is not a request I have the power to grant on my own," he said. "But I will
consider
it. That offer alone is worth far more than you know, far more than you can even understand. Now get out of my lands and away from my forest before I change my mind."

"Thank you," Ven said quickly. He turned and nodded to his companions, who darted for the wagon as fast as they could before the grumpy king could change his mind.

They ran all the way to the back gate. Char leapt in first, followed by Clem. Ida vaulted into the wagon bed, and scooted away quickly to keep from having to help Amariel up. Ven gave the merrow a boost, then climbed aboard himself. He settled down with the others among the remaining provisions as Tuck clicked to the horses and the wagon began to roll northward.

When he was sure they were on their way, and no fiery arrows were screaming toward the wagon, Ven glanced back over his shoulder.

The king and his army were gone.

All he could see was the beautiful green forest in the distance to the south.

And an ocean of billowing highgrass that stretched all the way to the horizon.

Nothing more.

I could not imagine it was possible that an army of thousands of soldiers could disappear on the wind in the twinkling of an eye. They were too far from the forest to have taken shelter there so quickly, so I assumed they had returned to hiding in the grass, something they did as easily as we breathed the air
.

I glanced over at Amariel. My eyes fell on the scars on her neck, where her gills had once been. As if she could read my thoughts, she immediately covered them with her hands in embarrassment. I looked away, but thought about how breathing the air is something we dry-worlders take for granted. It was good to remember that there are others who live among us that find it harder to do
.

Seeing Amariel begin to fade into human-dom was beginning to eat my soul
.

I only had one option if we could not find her cap
.

It was an option I had been warned to only use if I was willing to accept terrible consequences
.

Ven turned to the others in the wagon.

"Look," he said, "I know I've been a fool and a bad friend to you. I know you are suffering because of things I've done, and I'm sorry. But I really, really need to find Amariel's cap. Would you please look through your knapsacks, and help me search the wagon again? Because if it doesn't turn up—well, things might get even worse."