A Dragon Born (27 page)

"Yes, your highness," Ariana said, glancing over at Borrican, who she could tell was very frustrated. She threw the fire toward the hearth and the wood that had been placed there burst immediately into flame.

"Very good, my dear," Eric said then he walked over to the hearth and picked up a piece of burning wood in his bare hands.

"Father!" Borrican exclaimed. "What are you doing?"

"Borrican," he said. "Can't you see? The fire cannot touch me. It cannot touch you either, and now it cannot touch your lovely wife."

"She is not yet my wife, father," Borrican said, not realizing what had said. "Now please put that down, this instant. I am going to call the healers." Borrican turned and started toward the doors but Eric suddenly appeared in front of him, holding the burning firelog under his face. Borrican stumbled backwards in surprise and Ariana was amazed at how fast the king had moved, like a blur of white hair and fire, so much so that she let go of her momentary irritation at the talk of her becoming Borrican's wife, as though such a thing was already the case.

"Take it boy," Eric said, holding the burning log. "It cannot harm you."

"It is on fire," Borrican said but he noticed that his father's hands did not seem to be burning.

"Fine then," Eric said. "If you're too coward to take the fire, I'll give it to your lady wife."

Eric tossed the burning wood to Ariana. She moved back a step as the flaming log flew toward her, more in surprise than anything, but she reached out and caught it in her hand, for she already knew that it would not burn her.

"Borrican," Ariana said. "The fire no longer burns. It is a wonderful gift the king has given me. I wish I had such a gift long ago."

"We are children of fire," Eric said, his tone returning to the resonant power that it had when he had chastized Borrican a few moments ago. "Some older, some younger, but children we remain. Ariana Coromyr, you have been given the gift of fire by me, Eric Akandar, that those you may love may never harm you and those who make you their enemy may not burn you. This is a gift I have given only to one other who is not of my kind and I have pushed the boundary of a vow to my brethren in doing so. I give you one warning. You are now safe evermore from the fire of wood that burns and the fire of magic as you know it, but true fire may still touch you, so do not tempt your fate with those who possess the true fire, who would intend to do you harm."

"Thank you for this gift, King Eric," Ariana said as she walked over to the hearth and replaced the burning log. "I understand and I am very grateful."

"I don't understand," Borrican said. "Why did you give her this gift, father? Why not me? Why not Elric?"

"Borrican," Ariana said. "He already gave you the gift, long ago."

"Yes," Eric said, sniffing at Borrican. "It burns deep within you, but it cannot truly live until you accept the truth of it."

"I don't understand," Borrican repeated.

"You will," Eric said.

Ariana smiled at the Kandaran prince and she hoped he would soon come to understand what his father meant, for the sake of his kingdom and its people, for the sake of Kandara.

*****

"Are the mages in position?" Cerric asked the mage named Henton, one of Dakar's lackeys, who was overseeing the priesthood of mages in his absence.

"Yes, your highness," Henton said, looking over the vast army in front of him and the god-king, and he could easily pick out the black robes among the soldiers. "May I ask what is the purpose of this?"

"You will see soon enough," Cerric said, with a note of irritation in his voice.

"Of course, your highness," Henton replied, knowing better than to question the god-king. "May I ask instead if there has been any word from Dakar?"

"That you may ask," Cerric said. "He is far to the west, visiting your mage island. I had hoped he would have returned by now, but it appears we will have to go about things a little differently than I planned."

"As his majesty wishes," Henton said.

"No. It is not my wish. It is simply the truth of things. Tell the mages to begin the bombardment."

"Yes, your highness."

Henton made his way toward the assembled soldiers and Cerric nodded to Mirdel and Berant, who gave the signal for the siege engines to begin rolling forward. As the various colors of destructive mage fire began to fly from the mages positioned throughout the army, groups of soldiers rolled large catapults forward toward the city. Calexis walked up to Cerric and put her hand on his arm.

"Husband," she said. "I am pleased to see the Kandarans suffer for their crimes and their insolence. This looks to be a rich land, and it will provide much to our power and comfort once our conquest is complete."

Cerric smiled at the woman. He found it amusing that she thought her opinions on such matters to have value of any kind. Calexis was the queen of a poor and impoverished bit of swamp, a kingdom that had tried to conquer its neighboring lands many times over many generations and had consistently failed. The one intelligent thing she had done was to harness the power of the Darga, though Cerric found her method of doing so both repugnant and intriguing. Likewise, her lack of fear irritated and excited him, though her arrogant belief in her own value was worthy of only laughter. Nonetheless, he found her entertaining and enjoyed her company, for her lust for power in this wretched world was the only thing that came close to matching his own. It was also a good thing Calexis was skilled in other ways, and, in that sense, she was a welcome diversion, though she would soon discover just how little her importance was to this battle.

"Behold the destruction of Kandara," Cerric said. "It is but the first step on the path of the one god."

*****

The elves split into three units, the hundred soldiers of Ariana's Queen's Guard stayed within the city to ensure her safety and to assist with the defense of the walls while the two hundred Elven Rangers and the two hundred Elven Guard, who were commanded by Quenta, took up positions outside the city, just beyond the range of the siege engines. The Maramyrian soldiers under Nathas had found a low point and a rise in the land just outside the castle and they had dug a series of trenches, which they hoped would keep them safe from the mage fire and catapults, until Cerric's soldiers were upon them. The riders under Kaleb's command were waiting on either side of the city, out of the line of fire and waiting for Cerric's army to move closer to the city walls.

Ariana, Borrican, Elric, Duke Boric, Keira and Margo stood atop the walls watching the vast army advancing toward the city. A few moments later, the mage fire began to fly from the many black robes, who were interspersed throughout the army. Everyone atop the wall ducked behind the parapets as black, purple and orange balls of flame and energy smashed against the walls of the city, except for Boric, who remained in the open, laughing.

"Uncle," Elric said. "Do you wish for death? Perhaps you should move to safety."

"Cerric and his mages think such puny magic will damage the walls of Kandara," Boric said, shaking his head. "Fools." He turned to his nephew, the young man recently made the king of the court. "Elric, you are in no more danger than I am."

A blast of mage fire whipped past the walls and smashed into the roof of a tall building in the city. The stone and mortar exploded violently, sending chunks of rubble crashing down to the streets below. Boric turned and frowned.

"That was unfortunate," he said, his laughter chastened. "It appears we have built the city too high over the years. That was somewhat foolish as well."

"Why does the mage fire not affect the city walls, Duke Boric?" Ariana asked, wondering if it had something to do with the things the old king had shown her when he had touched her power.

"The walls of Kandara have stood for countless generations and they were built to withstand such attacks. These mages will not break through."

"What about you, uncle Boric?" Borrican asked.

"Bah, mage fire doesn't bother me," he said. "But see those dark blasts with the energy in them? Those smart something fierce." Boric ducked as one of the balls of energy he described whipped past him. "I would not recommend letting one of those hit you."

Ariana stepped out from behind the parapet and she felt Keira's hand on her arm.

"It's all right, Keira," I'll stay behind Duke Boric.

"Ha!" Boric laughed. "You can all stand behind me if you like." He glanced over at Keira. "That's right, you elves don't like fire all that much."

"No," Keira said. "We do not."

"Well, you might have to get used to it because I think we're going to see a lot of it in this battle, from both sides."

"Uncle," Borrican asked. "If they have mage fire, then why go to the trouble of building siege engines?"

"That's what I'm trying to figure," Boric said. "I guess we'll find out soon enough. Let's fire a few of our catapults and see if we can't lure them in a little closer. Margo, if you'll do the honors. Make sure they fire short at least thirty or forty paces."

"Right away, Duke Boric," she said and moved across the parapet, relaying his orders.

"Why not wait until they are closer then hit them directly?" Elric suggested.

"It's about finding the range first," Borrican told his brother.

"They're too far away," Boric explained. "If they think they can move closer, then they will, at which point they will be close enough for us to hit them. It's an old trick and they might fall for it, but there hasn't been a war in almost a generation, so it's possible. From what Nathas tells me, Cerric never was much of a study when it came to battle theory."

"Is there any way to get a message to the Maramyrian soldiers that I am here and alive?" Ariana asked. "Maybe they would stop fighting or leave Cerric's camp."

"That has already been done, Ariana," Boric said. "Nathas sent word to the other Captains, so I am hopeful we will see more of Cerric's army desert him."

*****

Aldos gripped the note in his hand, nearly crushing it in anger. He motioned to his subcommander, who rode over to him, navigating around the hundreds of soldiers marching in close formation.

"What are your orders, Captain? " the man asked over the cacophony of soldiers marching across the field.

"That's a good question," Aldos said. "Do you recall why we are here, attacking the Kandarans?"

"Retribution, Captain, sir," the man replied. "For the murder of her highness, the Princess Ariana."

"That's right. And what would you say if I told you that Princess Ariana, the rightful Queen of Maramyr is alive and standing atop that wall?" Aldos asked.

"I would recommend the mages cease firing at the wall, Captain," the man replied. "Then I would ask how we might rescue her. Is it true? Is Princess Ariana alive?"

"That's what I have just been told, and she's not a prisoner. The word is that Cerric tried to have her killed. She's up at Kandara and wants to stop this war. That's why Nathas and Kaleb switched sides."

"Captain, if what you say is true. We should halt this march."

"Pass the word to the soldiers and make sure they all know what it's about, then call a halt. Do not tell the mage. Apparently, they were involved in the attack on the princess, so they can't be trusted. I'm going to go have a word with his royal highness, King Cerric," Aldos said with obvious distaste when he recited Cerric's stolen title.

"Be careful, Captain," the soldier said. "There are a lot of rumors about him. They say he has the strength of ten men and he can move faster than a raptor."

"I taught Cerric how to swing a sword," Aldos said. "He couldn't lay a blade on me even if I guided his hand."

Aldos turned his horse around and rode toward the back of the formation where he knew Cerric and his Xallan Queen would be with the Generals, Mirdel and Berant. He noticed several other captains and commanders also making their way toward the royal command, and like the others, Aldos was stopped by soldiers who asked why he had left his division.

"Get out of my way," Aldos told the soldier and rode toward the king

"Captain Aldos," Cerric said. "Why have you left your assigned division?"

"I would like to know the meaning of this," Aldos said, holding up the sheaf of paper.

"I cannot read it from here, Captain," Cerric said.

"I'll tell you what it says," Aldos said. "It says that the Royal Princess, Ariana Coromyr is standing atop that wall and that she claims rule over Maramyr. She commands her army to stop attacking our ally and neighbor." Aldos decided not to mention the part about seizing Cerric and holding him for treason, though the man could have learned of it if he had bothered to read the note.

"You believe some silly piece of paper?" Cerric said. "You waste my time with these lies that are no doubt some Kandaran ploy."

"I believe it when the Captain General writes it," Aldos said. "If it is false, then we should determine the truth of it."

"No need, Aldos," Cerric said, standing up in the stirrups of his horse. "I see that a number of divisions have stopped marching. One of them wouldn't be under your command would it, Aldos?"