Draconis' Bane (10 page)

The breastplate had
shoulder pads attached to it using metal clips and grommets, and
they would cover most of his shoulder and biceps. The bracers would
do a fine job of protecting his forearms, elbows and wrists,
leaving only a four inch gap. The greaves rose up and must tie
around his stomach as there was an elongated flat section that
would protect his lower abdomen and groin. The boots had been
similarly covered in scales and between those and the greaves there
was essentially no gap to speak of.

“Where did you get
enough scale to cover a whole suit of armor?” Kevin asked as he
handed the bracer back to Tristan.

“I have my sources.”
Dion replied with a wry grin, much to Kevin’s amusement.

Tristan sat down
heavily, thumbing the bracer still firmly tied to his forearm. He
flexed his hand and arm, twisting around in various fencing
movements to test the range of motion he had. Finally, he carefully
untied the straps and placed both bracers back inside the chest. He
was fully overwhelmed with everything he’d received tonight and
thanked his father profusely.

“I also want to ask a
favor.” The King said seriously.

Both boys lost their
smiles as they leaned forward slightly in their chairs.

“Promise you’ll
both
be home for Midwinter Solstice.” He said with a crooked
smirk.

All three of them
laughed as they leaned back in their chairs, each draining their
glasses of wine and simply enjoying each others’ company.

A few days later
Tristan sat astride Pava waiting for the last of the wagons to be
loaded up for their journey to Kenting. Kevin had informed him last
night that they would be taking the Southern Road down to Irudin
first to visit their uncle for a couple of days, then onto
Kenting.

“They’re finally
ready. Euri tried to sneak into the meat wagon.” His brother
called.

Tristan was abruptly
shaken from his thoughts by his brothers’ boisterous laugh. He
turned in his saddle so he could see his mother coming around the
wagon, a guilty looking Euri being pulled along by the hand towards
them. One of her better dresses was covered in animal blood. The
brothers laughed out loud causing their father to turn and join
them laughing at the sight.

Quiet you three. It’s
not funny. His mother sent.

All three of them
laughed harder still upon seeing Eurydice smile tentatively, her
eyes brimming with tears.

“Don’t worry little
one, we’ll be back in a few months.” Tristan said.

“We promise.” Kevin
added.

Finally the
procession was ready to make way as they rode through the keep
gates. They made their way through town towards the south gate. The
journey to Irudin, Tristan was told, would take at least two days.
As soon as they had cleared the gates Tristan turned to look at his
brother.

“What’s special?” He
blurted.

“Sorry?” Kevin
replied.

“About the sword and
dagger.” Tristan explained.

“Oh! Mother had the
idea and I didn’t see the harm in it. There’s a hair of hers in
each of them.” He said.

“In the blade?”
Tristan asked, clearly shocked.

“Yes. Not really sure
why, but it certainly doesn’t weaken the metal any so I agreed.”
Kevin recounted.

“Why would she do
that?” The young Prince muttered.

“Women, especially
mothers, do strange things little brother.” Kevin replied. “Who
knows?”

They rode on in
silence for the next two days with nothing of consequence happening
along the way. At night they set camp and Kevin saw to the
disposition of the men as Tristan sat near the cooking fire
completely lost in thoughts and memories that were not his own.
Quiet times allowed him to brood and lament his failed memories and
the tortured ones that had replaced them. He tried to control these
moods by oiling his armor or polishing his blades, though nothing
seemed to completely distract him from the nagging sensation that
there was something everyone was still keeping from him. Still, his
life had become an amazing adventure and he tried to enjoy every
moment of it.

~

Early afternoon found
the brothers entering the outer wall of Irudin town. The entire
country thus far seemed to be heavily farmed, the only places not
having grain farms and ranches were the woodlands. Those were
protected by ranger stations and their main job was planting more
trees so that there would always be a forest here. They also
protected the animals from poachers in the off-seasons though. They
had passed no less than a dozen such stations on their trip down
the Southern Road, making the importance of their jobs apparent to
anyone. Before too long, they approached Irudin and passed through
the simple walls that served as a rudimentary fortification of a
largely economic town.

The procession slowly
wound its way through town, which allowed Tristan to look around at
all the buildings and people in what his brother had called ‘The
Crossroads of the Kingdom’. He could now see why it was called
this; there were no fewer than five entrances through the north
wall alone for all of the shipments coming in. The packed gravel
road here had only been wide enough for two wagons to ride side by
side, but off to the east and west Tristan could make out much
wider roads. Remembering the map in his room he assumed the road to
the east, the wider of the two roads was presumably for wagons
loaded up with tree boles and wood from the
Anton Wood
forest to the north-east. These wagons would be the slowest moving
and would need a lane all to themselves, as they made slow progress
at the best of times.

Bright colors caught
his eye from the paned windows in the shops along a brick road in a
prosperous looking area of town. The bricks were of various colors
arranged in a fashion that was drew the eye. Large ornately carved
poles stuck out of road at intervals with cross beams on them, each
of which supported an oil lamp. At the end of the block they found
a large marketplace with a beautiful fountain. The center of the
fountain held a large glittering dragon statue. It appeared to be
made of crystals and gems. Water poured from its roaring mouth in a
graceful arc.

The dragon itself was
about eight feet tall and the length of the pool at its base which
looked to be about twenty feet wide. It had a long scaled neck at
the top of which was a powerful looking head. It had narrow eyes
with a square jaw, three tendrils hanging off its chin the middle
one being the longest. Two horns swept straight back and fan-like
ears went from under the jaw to just under the horns. It had a
rounded nose and large spiked teeth. Running from its forehead all
the way to the tip of its tail was a spiked mane of dense looking
hair with spikes rising from them at intervals. It stood on all
fours with its wings pinned to the side of its powerful body, a
deadly looking talon on the end of each of three toes on each foot.
It was only when he saw the feet that he could make out a small
human in robes at its feet with its back to the mighty beast, it
held a staff raised as if to cast a spell.

“Amazing.” Tristan
muttered.

“I had something
similar built in Kenting.” Kevin admitted. “It’s not nearly this
spectacular though.”

“It’s wonderful.”
Tristan replied in awe.

“That’s Draconis.”
Kevin explained. “Some people worship him as if he were a God. I
just think he’s a very old and powerful dragon.”

“You’ve met him?!”
Tristan blurted.

“I haven’t, or at
least I can’t remember having met him. Father has of course, but
that was before.” His brother grimaced.

“Before what?”
Tristan asked.

“Before Dragon Magic
vanished.” Kevin replied darkly.

“Why would that
matter? He must be fifty feet tall! He wouldn’t need magic to
survive.” Tristan said.

“If he were facing
one or maybe two dozen men it probably wouldn’t matter. However,
shortly before you were born there was a thriving dragon hunter
trade. Companies of mercenaries with the aid of sorcerers would
hunt down dragons and harvest their blood and organs for potions
and other arts.” His brother replied.

“But, they’re
so…amazing.” Tristan said breathlessly.

“They are at that,
aren’t they?” His brother said with a wistful smile. “Father never
stood for it of course. He wouldn’t allow the companies into
Vallius. Not that they didn’t try mind you. No one’s sure if
Draconis is alive or dead, Father hasn’t seen him in almost thirty
years.” Kevin concluded.

“He must be the King
of the Dragons.” Marveled Tristan, still staring wide eyed at the
fountain.

“That he might little
brother. If dragons are truly immortal we may never see him again.
With no magic for offspring they’ll likely be hunted down if they
make their presence known. A shame really, in grandfather’s time
dragons played an important role in our lives…now we seem to be on
our own.” He concluded.

“Amazing…” Tristan
muttered again, shaking his head, as they cleared the marketplace
and headed up the rise to the Keep.

The gates to the Keep
yard opened to admit them. A group of three men awaited, each of
them was dressed in a white robe of the finest cloth with a purple
sash over their left shoulders. The man in the middle wore wide
golden bracelets with some intricate carvings on them that Tristan
couldn’t make out sitting astride Pava.

“Greetings young
Princes, and welcome to Irudin Keep!” Spoke the centermost man.

“Hello Henry, where’s
Uncle Samuel?” Kevin asked in a friendly tone.

“His Lordship is
conducting court at the moment, I would be most honored to usher
you in for presentation.” Henry replied stiffly.

Dismounting on his
right instead of his usual left so he could stand next to Tristan,
Kevin whispered to his brother;

“That’s not like
Uncle Samuel at all. Keep alert little brother.”

Confused, Tristan
nodded slightly in reply as they followed Henry into the main hall
of the keep. Looking around Tristan noticed more guards here than
his own parents employed at their keep entrances. Instead of the
usual pair, there were six. As they entered the main audience
chamber Tristan also noticed that the court was made up primarily
of armed men in full military uniform, his hand twitched at his
side as Kevin whispered out of the corner of his mouth;

“Now I know
something’s not right. Get ready for trouble.”

Tristan continued to
allow his eyes to sweep the hall, looking for anything that seemed
overly aggressive. Henry nodded to the Master of Ceremonies who
pounded his iron clad staff as Henry presented the brothers. The
younger Prince looked up towards his uncle, who sat comfortably on
a throne that spoke volumes of its occupant.

His father’s own
throne wasn’t much more than a highly polished wooden chair with
some fine jewels and gold inlaid into the carvings. Samuels looked
to be made completely out of gold; jewels caught the sun shining in
from the windows and sent lights dancing around the central hall in
a merry display.

“My Lord, may I
present Princes of the Realm; Duke Kevin Vallious and Squire
Tristan Vallious.” The Master of Ceremonies announced formally.

All heads in the hall
turned towards the brothers and more than a few eyes narrowed at
their presentation. Tristan was well used to cold receptions, but
this seemed to be as irritated and hostile crowd as he’d ever seen.
As the brothers boot heels echoed in the completely silent hall
Tristan could make out the members of court whispering to one
another behind their hands. He tried to stretch out his mind as he
had done when eavesdropping on his family; however, he was far too
distracted to get much more than a general feeling of annoyance at
their arrival.

“Welcome my nephews!”
Samuel welcomed, though he continued to sit in his opulent throne
with his head held high. “What brings you to our humble town?”

His voice was
controlled and bright, though Tristan sensed some hesitation. Kevin
seemed to have sensed it as well. Rather than show his hand though,
he returned the light tone. Clearly this production had been staged
to appear as though the Princes were nothing more than common
messengers. Kevin seemed unwilling to play this game.

“Just stopping for a
rest Uncle Sa…”

“You will address his
honor as Your Lordship.” Henry interrupted from beside Kevin.

“Pardon me?” Tristan
answered, looking past his brother at the pompous assistant.

“His Lordship Duke
Samuel is master of these lands, you will address him accordingly.”
Henry insisted, still looking straight ahead with his chin held
high.

Tristan turned to
Kevin with his eyebrows raised. If he understood his country’s
political system properly they both outranked Samuel quite a bit as
crowned Princes of the Realm. Kevin didn’t return his look; he
merely forced a smile and continued.

“We’re simply
stopping for a rest Your Lordship; we’ll be on our way west shortly
after daybreak.” Kevin replied a little more formally, though his
own annoyance with pomp was beginning to show through the fine
veneer of politically corrected terminology.

“Why did you not send
a messenger ahead to ask permission?” Henry accused, finally
looking at Kevin with a calculating look that Tristan was sure his
brother wasn’t amused by.

The younger Prince
had long since run short of patience for the irritating peacock and
it looked as though Kevin had as well. His large brother turned on
the spot grabbed a handful of Henry’s robes and threw him back down
the aisle where he landed in a heap, his face bright red with
fury.

“I will be addressed
as Your Highness, Lord or General. You will learn your place Henry
and stop interrupting me or I will stop being civil with you and
have your strung up for treason.” Kevin commanded.