Dragons and Destiny (4 page)

He had heard
shouts. He had heard them being taken away, his father complaining
in a querulous voice. Ansel had remained inside the vat, scared,
alone, soaking wet and cold. It had grown dark and Mother had not
come. When dawn had broken he had decided to climb out and find out
what had happened.

“There is
nobody
there,” he sobbed into Robain’s comforting arms. “The
animals are needin’ milked. Mother and Father are not
anywhere.”

“Did you come
here straight?” asked Robain with a worried glance at Liam.

Ansell nodded.
“Yep, no one saw me I promise. It’s strange Robain, I never seen no
one around afore.”

Robain ordered
Liam and Ansell into the safety of the dugo bush and set forth to
find out what had happened.

His worst fears
were realised soon after he had left them. The farm was as Ansell
had said, empty but for the animals. The family dog was lying stiff
and cold in the front room of the farmhouse, run through, dark
blood in a puddle on the ground by her throat.

The only
inhabitants remaining alive on Hallam apart from him, Liam and
Ansell were three children whose parents had hidden them much as
his parents had and the three families who lived on the rocky hills
on the northern tip of the island furthest from the village.

The ‘religious’
were all dead, including their young acolytes of which his next
youngest brother was one. The bodies of the old and infirm he
located where they had been killed, in the village square. Amongst
them was his father. In the village hall he found the mangled,
bloody bodies of the littlest children and the babies - the pirates
never took the very young.

As his brain
registered this final horrifying sight Robain was sick and retched
until his stomach was empty and more than empty. Once he had
stopped retching he fell to his knees in prayer.

Robain made
three vows that morning. First he promised to look after Liam and
Ansell, then he vowed to find the rest of his family and to rescue
them. Finally he assured the Goddess that he would never forget her
but that he was going to leave her island for a while to learn how
to fight.

“I know that to
fight goes against all the laws in Holy Writ,” he sobbed, “but I
will
. I
must
.”

* * * * *

AL597 -
Tala

By their sixth
birthday, the triplets’ characters had become as different as their
looks.

Hilla was the
adventurous one, the strongest and she was the one who led the more
timid Rilla into all sorts of trouble and scrapes. Rilla was always
trying to emulate her but never quite succeeding except in one
area. Rilla was the best rider of the three. She loved horses.
Hilla was technically as good a rider as Rilla but regarded a horse
more as a means of transport than a creature to be loved and cared
for. Zilla was the quietest, the sensible one, she did not enjoy
adventures, being content to stay at home and play with her dolls.
She was the one who Rilla found tying pink and yellow ribbons
through their pony’s mane. She had leapt at her sister in childish
anger at what she saw as a degradation of the little animal. Hilla
had stood, watched and laughed long and loud.

On their
birthday, their older siblings, Zak, Zala and Tala clubbed together
to buy their presents - a new doll apiece. Hilla immediately used
hers as target practice for her toy bow and arrow, Rilla ignored
hers. Zilla took Rilla’s over and rescued the much maligned
Hilla’s.

AL597 was a
momentous year for Innkeeper Talan’s family. Zala, twin of Zak was
sixteen and looking forward to her marriage to the eldest son of a
wealthy merchant from Stewarton, the largest town on Argyll and the
Seat of Government. Matt Urquhart had stayed at the Inn during the
previous summer and had been captivated by Zala. He had spoken to
Talan the very next morning. Talan had been delighted his eldest
daughter had caught such a rich man and had upped his expectations
for his next oldest daughter, Tala.

She had other
ideas. Her heart was set on an apprenticeship and not with one of
the more commonplace guilds either. She wished to train with the
Technicians Guild and they only took the best.

Dunetown, where
Talan’s inn was situated, was a large village and had a school.
Tala attended this until she was twelve years old. Talan was proud
of his clever daughter and for the last two years he had paid for
Tala to attend a large school in Farquharson where she had just
passed ‘The Exam’ with many distinctions and honours in
mathematics. She had applied for and been offered a place by the
Technicians Guild as a full apprentice. The Guild only took the
best and word had arrived only a tenday ago that she had been
accepted. Technician apprentices, unlike the other Guilds attended
classes at the University at Stewarton and when she qualified she
could hope for a lucrative position as a Technician Journeywoman.
Not many girls were accepted and Talan was justifiably proud of
Tala. Her sister Zala had not excelled academically and had left
school with the basic Leaving Certificate the same time as her twin
brother.

Tala and Zala
would be leaving for Stewarton within the month, Zala to join her
new family to learn what her future mother-in-law termed
housewifery skills as the future mistress of the family’s large
merchant establishment, Tala to begin her chosen career.

At six, the
triplets were only aware that their two elder sisters were leaving.
Hilla and Rilla were not troubled overmuch by the thought. Zilla
however, was not at all happy about the break up of the family
circle.

* * * * *

AL599 -
Elliot

Prince-Heir
Elliot of the Kingdom of Murdoch was nine years old; it was at this
age that the Boy Companions who would share his daily life were
appointed.

Great was the
competition amongst the noble houses to procure one of the five
places, especially amongst the minor nobility with sons of suitable
age.

There were
fourteen boys in the running and Elliot’s father and grandfather
were insisting that the five should be chosen from not just the
highest echelons of the ducal houses and much to the dismay and in
some cases, anger, of the Dukes of Murdoch.

“I am utterly
convinced that five boys are not enough,” so the eldest Duke,
Alastair of Gardiner spoke his mind. Only the King was older than
Duke Alastair amongst the men sitting round the table. He turned to
the King, “My Liege, more than five are eager for the chance and
should be given the opportunity.”

“I will not
agree to more than five,” said the Crown-Prince, “I want the best
for my grandson. I had not five or seven but
nine
and
know
this far too many. I
insist
on a maximum of
five, three would be better. I know you all want your grandsons and
nephews to be chosen but it cannot be.”

He rapped the
hardwood table. “We can count three of them out right away. Three
are only seven years old.”

“I disagree,”
grumbled Duke David Smith who had put forward the name of his son
and heir and who was one of the three the Crown-Prince had
dismissed. “Age should not be a barrier.”

“He is too
young and small,” said Duke Pierre Cocteau whose candidate, his
nephew James was exactly the right age. “I agree with our
Prince.”

There were hums
and haws then a consensus of nodding heads except for the Duke of
Smith.

“Small and
puny, like father; like son,” said the Lord Marshall to young Duke
Charles Graham, referring to the Duke of Smith’s heir. Charles
stifled a giggle. The young man often found it difficult to take
the machinations in Conclave seriously. It immersed itself in
trivia and as he sat there listening to the arguments promulgating
the pros and cons of the remaining eleven he wondered what would
happen if a serious emergency occurred. They would argue themselves
into oblivion.

Tempers were
fraying. The Primate, Archbishop Tom Brentwood tried to instil some
calm into the situation but he wasn’t having much success.

The Lord
Marshall made another quiet comment, murmuring that he was glad
Conclave concerned itself with these domestic and dynastic issues
and left the running of the Kingdom to those who knew how.

It took until
dusk for the five Boy Companions to be agreed upon and the Dukes
were still arguing as they left the chamber.

As the Lord
Marshall followed his King out of the room he was thinking with
trepidation about a future meeting when the bride of the young
Elliot would be chosen. He made a mental note to make sure that all
weapons, including eating knives were confiscated. The Lord
Marshall was in no mind to witness a bloodbath.

The Kingdom of
Murdoch had to be seen to be a united one.

Outside the
borders, the Larg roamed.

* * * * *

AL600 -
Isobel

Four little
girls were enduring the bumpiest carriage ride of their lives.

Their
destination was a large brownstone building which was even now
looming out of the gloomy evening dusk. The building was the mother
house of the Order of the Grey Nuns, a teaching order and where the
four would live for the next few years to complete their education.
This was not the most popular option amongst the nobility and
gentry of Murdoch. Most girls stayed at home and were taught by
their mothers and aunts and occasionally a governess. The Order
taught more, turning out young ladies well versed in the attributes
deemed necessary for all noble ladies and to an educational
standard far in excess. At fourteen they would either remain at the
convent to become postulants or would return home to prepare for
marriage.

The oldest of
them was one Margravessa Annette van Buren, twelve years old and
the eldest daughter of a Count Ernest van Buren. The other three
came from cadet branches of the ducal house of Cocteau.

Jessica was the
elder of these three, a few months younger than Annette, the young
daughter of Count Mark Cocteau. The remaining two were the
daughters of his younger brother James, Estelle, nine and Isobel,
eight. The three Cocteau girls were all motherless; Jessica’s
mother having died some months before and Estelle and Isobel’s when
the latter was born.

The carriage
came to a halt; the outrider dismounted and rang the bell. The four
got ready to climb down from the carriage.

“It looks a bit
grim,” said Jessica.

“Not as grim as
the outside of the Thibaltine Convent,” Annette disagreed, “I’ve
been in mortal terror of being sent there. This will be far more
the thing.”

“I didn’t think
the Thibaltines had a schoolroom,” said Estelle.

“That’s the
point,” said Annette. “That’s an enclosed order; you just enter and
that’s it - for the rest of your life.”

“I wouldn’t
have liked that,” agreed Jessica, “the Grey Nuns have far more
freedom. They can leave the convent to attend marriages and
funerals. We’ll have some fun here, never fear. I’ve met Sister
Earcongota. She came with Reverend Mother Breguswid to arrange our
entrance. You’ll like her.”

The door
creaked open and a dim figure dressed from head to foot in pale
grey emerged.

“Welcome
girls,” said Sister Earcongota with a smile. “Enter and embrace the
peace of our house.”

* * * * *

AL600 -
Julia

Jilmis,
Weaponsmaster of the Vada, entered the empty office.

The Susa of the
Vada was dead and it was time for the Ryzckas and the Vadryzkas to
choose the successors.

Disal had died
that morning of the wasting disease. His Lind Ranlya was grieving
beside his empty bed in a back room. Not for her the choice to
follow her life mate; not yet awhile. She had young to bring up and
death-wish was not an option, at least until they were grown and
off her paws.

When a Susa
vadeln-pair either announced their retrial or as in this case, died
(the position of Susa of the Vada was a joint-command of
vadeln-paired Human and Lind), long standing protocols came into
effect.

The
Weaponsmaster and his Lind assumed temporary command and organised
the election. The Weaponsmaster and his Lind did not have an
elective vote.

The Ryzckas of
the fifty one Ryzcks voted and also their troop commanders, the
Vadryzkas did. The other members of the Vada with voting rights
were those stationed at the Vada Stronghold itself - the Ryzcka and
Vadryzka trainers of the Vada Cadets.

There would be
two hundred and sixty-four voting duos.

This was not
such a great undertaking (although those who did not understand
Lind abilities might think it a mammoth task) even though the
Ryzcks were strung out in their duty areas along the coasts and
mountains of Argyll and Vadath. The telepathic Lind would ‘send’
the names of the Ryzcka pair of their choice to Weaponsmaster
Jilmis’s Lind Alshya. Jilmis would then count up the votes and
impart the result via the telepathic net to all the vadeln-pairs
who made up the Vada. In the event of a tie, the Weaponsmaster and
his Lind had the casting vote. This had only happened once
before.

Jilmis and
Alshya entered the Susa’s quarters and made their way to what had
been Susa Disal’s desk. Jilmis extracted the Vada roll-book from
the top drawer and began reading out the names of each Ryzcka pair
in turn, waiting until Alshya reported that the message asking for
the vote had been sent and received before moving on to the
next.

As Jilmis knew,
some of the Ryzcks were patrolling in remote and mountainous
regions and it was notoriously difficult to mind-send to these
areas. Alshya however was a powerful sender. Even so, by the time
she had informed all the Ryzcks she was exhausted. Telepathic
sendings took a great deal of energy, concentration and effort.