Authors: Andy Holland
Five, if we are in a position to rescue any prisoners, we shall do so and will return them to the Browns as soon as practically possible.
Six, if we encounter Brown Dragons in need of refuge, we'll allow them entry until they can retreat, and they shall offer our troops the same.
Seven, if at the end of the war, the Blues are defeated but surrender rather than being destroyed, we will offer
them
a treaty, under a long list of conditions, which I am not going to read out with non-members here. Look, John, I think you have some interesting ideas here, but it's going to take a long time to discuss them all. I think it's best if we continue this in private, and we'll notify you as soon as we have reached a decision."
John bowed deferentially. "Of course, sir. I will be nearby if you need anything further from me."
"John," Lord Lance called to him as he walked away from the table. "It's a brave offer and one we appreciate. For that, and returning these children, we thank you."
"Thank you, sir," John replied. "The offer was made sincerely. I know I can make it to the Brown Dragons, and that this alliance will help. I am ready to leave as soon as you make a decision."
Lord Lance nodded. "We will discuss it. Goodbye, John. Clear the room!"
Guards ushered John and the other spectators at the other end of the room out into the corridor.
"What now?" Seth asked. "Will they take long to decide?"
"Probably," Crystal replied. "Father's always complaining about how indecisive they all are."
"Darling," Crystal's mother said quietly, "perhaps you should be a little more discrete?"
"Will you really go?" Daisy asked John. "If the council says yes?"
John nodded. "I have to. You know what we saw, and what it means. I don't think we have much of a chance without this alliance, and I don't think there's anyone else who could take it to them."
"A bit full of yourself, aren't you, young man?" Daisy's mother asked. "Do you really think there's no one else who can do what you can?"
"You haven't seen John fly, Mother," Daisy replied proudly. "No one else comes close."
The princess eyed Daisy suspiciously before John replied, "I apologise if my words sounded boastful, but I have entered their lands many times and I know how to evade them. I lived on the border for a long time, and I had to learn how to do this."
The princess shrugged indifferently before frowning at her daughter, who was gazing at John with a slightly dopey smile. John made an excuse to leave, suspecting that if Daisy's mother hadn't already worked out the nature of the relationship, it wouldn't take long for her to do so.
The council meeting continued through the night, and eventually Crystal and the others gave up waiting and went to bed. She woke early the next morning and went straight to the common room to see if any of the others were up. To her surprise they were all already awake and waiting for her in the common room. John was sat in an arm chair, staring into space, a blank expression on his face, and the twins were sat together on a sofa. Seth was pacing the room.
"Has there been any news?" she asked. "Do we know what they decided?"
Arthur shook his head. "They are still in session. Someone—I think it was your father—managed to invoke some rule that meant they couldn't close the session before they reached an agreement on the treaty. They've been in there all night."
"Have we any idea of where the discussions are going?" she asked.
"None," Seth replied. "I can't believe how few of them seem to be taking this seriously. Do you think they even believed us?"
"My father believed us," Crystal replied. "No one would openly accuse his daughter of lying in that room."
"Lord Oscar came close. And actions speak louder than words, Crystal. They might not say it but their lack of enthusiasm shows they don't believe us," Seth replied.
"There's nothing we can do now," Arthur pointed out. "We just have to wait until they come out."
Seth shrugged and went back to pacing the room and Crystal sat down in one of the chairs, lapsing into silence. A few minutes later her father entered the room, looking thoroughly worn out, but still alert and determined.
"Father, have they made a decision?" Crystal asked, jumping to her feet.
He nodded. "It took a long time, but we got there eventually. Refusing to end a meeting until we reach agreement tends to focus minds. We have a draft treaty, John, based on the one you wrote, which is being drawn up officially as we speak. The council has voted to authorise you to offer this treaty to the Brown Dragons."
The room burst alive with excitement. "Excellent!" said Seth. "Who are they going to send with him?"
"What about preparing for the attack?" Arthur asked. "What have they agreed?"
"When can John leave?" Crystal asked.
Lord Robert raised his hands. "One question at a time. John will be travelling on his own. It's not ideal, but it's what he requested. He can leave as soon as the document is prepared and signed. Unfortunately, the King will need to sign it as well, so it will have to go via Furnace."
"On his own?" Daisy asked in dismay. "Do they want him to die?"
"Surely he should have some sort of escort?" Arthur asked. "And what do you mean it's what he asked for? He asked to go, but he didn't say alone."
"I wrote it in a note with the draft treaty," John explained. "An escort won't be required, or of any use."
"John, you can't go on your own!" Daisy cried, grabbing his arm. "It's too dangerous!"
John smiled at her. "I'll be safer on my own, I assure you."
"Father, this is craziness," Crystal pleaded. "Can't someone be sent with him?"
Lord Robert shook his head. "It's been agreed. John, the document should be ready to go to Furnace soon. You can leave as soon as you're ready."
John nodded. "I'm already ready, sir." He nodded to the floor next to his chair where his bag lay, having already packed.
"What? John, when were you going to tell me that you're going alone?" Daisy asked. "Were you just going to leave?"
John shook his head. "Of course not, but time is short. I should leave immediately."
"We will fly with you to the border," Crystal volunteered. "We should do at least that much."
"Wait a minute, Crystal," her father objected. "I'd prefer you to stay away from the border. It's dangerous enough at the best of times, but now it'll be even worse."
"I've been over the border, father," she replied, "and John brought me back. I think we should be alright to go near it."
He shook his head. "I'm not happy at all about this. I was planning on sending you to the West. I expect Arthur and Daisy will be heading there as well."
"So we have to run and hide while John goes alone?" Daisy asked bitterly. "At least we could say goodbye to him at the border."
Lord Robert shook his head. "What you do is between you and your parents. But Crystal—"
"Is going with John," she finished. "Father, he rescued you, and now me too. Three times, if truth be told. We owe him this much. If he is going to do this for us all, we should at least accompany him that far."
Lord Robert sighed irritably. "Does John even want you to come?" he asked. "Seems to me he's gone to great lengths to keep you out of danger."
They turned to John, who was still sitting in his chair. "I would appreciate the company, sir. Just up to the border, anyway."
Crystal looked at her father triumphantly. "I've made my mind up, Father. You'd have to forcibly stop me."
He shook his head, exasperated. "Oh alright, fine, but I want you to go straight to the West afterwards. And you can only go if someone else goes with you."
"We will be going too, won't we Arthur?" Daisy stated firmly.
"Shouldn't you ask your parents first?" Lord Robert asked.
Daisy shook her head firmly. "We will be going."
"Don't worry, sir," Seth said. "Even if they don't go, I'll go with Crystal. My parents won't mind. Or even notice." Crystal watched him carefully; if he was bothered by his parent's absence in Oldcastle he hid it well.
Lord Robert frowned. "Well, be careful. I do believe what you said you saw and I think an invasion is imminent. We've noticed subtle increases in border activity recently which had already made us suspicious. I'll be organising our defences in the South, and I'd feel a lot happier if I knew you were safely in the West."
"I'd make sure I included evacuation plans in your defence planning," John commented, standing up to speak to Lord Robert. "I know it's hard to accept, but you may lose one or more of your cities. Those who survive and escape could live to fight to defend Furnace."
Lord Robert stared at him, surprised by his statement and how certain he sounded. "Thank you, John. I'll bear that in mind. Good luck with your journey. I'm in a minority in the council, but I think you could actually make it to the Browns."
John laughed. "Thanks for the vote of confidence."
"You're welcome. Now if you'll excuse me, unfortunately I need to do some more work, despite not having slept yet. Do take care Crystal, and go and say goodbye to your mother before you leave. She'll be staying here with me for a couple of days so she won't be returning with you."
Crystal nodded before hugging her father and kissing him goodbye. The others remained quiet until he left the room.
"So, John, what's the plan?" Seth asked. "You knew we would be coming, didn't you?"
"Go and get ready," John told them. "We have a long flight ahead of us. As soon as you're ready, you should leave. I'll wait until the treaty is ready and I'll catch you up before you reach Furnace. Then tomorrow, we'll head for the border."
"Are you really going to fly there on your own?" Seth asked. "What's the real plan, John? You never tell us the whole story, do you?"
John smiled as he headed for the door. "Go and get ready, Seth. I'll see you in the air."
It was a fine day for flying, and on any other day they would have appreciated the marvellous views of the countryside, but each one was preoccupied with the events of the past few days and the uncertainty of what was to come. Seth jabbered away as they flew, but the others were quiet, letting him talk uninterrupted.
When they finally reached Furnace, John asked them all to meet him outside the palace in the evening, after he had obtained the King's signature. Crystal went straight to see her cousin, knowing she would be desperate to know what had happened and wouldn't forgive her if she didn't see her straight away.
"Crystal!" Jenna squealed when she saw her. "You're back!"
Jenna gave her a big hug, and for a moment Crystal wondered if her recent close shave had affected her cousin more than normal, as she seemed genuinely relieved to see her.
"Hi, Jenna," Crystal replied warmly. "Did you miss me?"
Jenna shrugged nonchalantly. "Come on, it's just been two days." She grabbed Crystal's hand and pulled her into the house. "Right, I want you to tell me everything."
"Everything? Can't I just give you a summary?"
Jenna shook her head. "You've met Arthur's parents, I haven't. What are they like? Did Arthur talk to them about me?"
"Don't you want to know about the council meeting? What they're going to do about the invasion?"
Jenna shrugged. "I'm sure they'll take care of it all. I doubt it will affect us."
"It'll affect John," Crystal replied. "He's flying through the Blue Dragons' territory to get to the Brown Dragons, to offer them an alliance to fight the Blue Dragons with us."
Jenna's jaw dropped. "Seriously? Even for John that's a little crazy. Does he really want to die that much?"
"Father thinks he's got a chance," Crystal replied defiantly.
"More fool him." Crystal glared at her. "Come on, Crystal, you can't possibly think that he's got a chance of getting through, do you?"
"
You
did," Crystal countered. "You went straight to John when that storm took us."
"I was upset; I didn't know what to do."
"Yes, you did know what to do, and you were right. He flew straight in, found us and brought us out of Blue Dragon territory."
"Well, this is going to be ten times harder. He's trying to fly right across their territory to get to the other side without getting caught. How would he even know the way? He can't stop and ask directions."
"Who knows how he'll do it, or how he would know the way, but I bet he does. He seems to know a lot of things he shouldn't."
"Like what?" Jenna asked. "It's mainly boring stuff from the library, isn't it?"
"Like about the Green Dragons disappearing. How to find us in Blue Dragon territory. Seth's always pointed out that he knows far too much, and how suspicious it is. Well, maybe in this case he knows just about enough."
Jenna shook her head. "You're fooling yourself. If I was you I'd go and say goodbye to him now. And get him to tell you about your mother while you can. You won't see him again."
Crystal shrugged. "I don't need to. I'm going with him to the border. We all are."
Jenna latched on to this immediately. "
All
? Including Arthur?"
Crystal nodded. "We'll be flying to the West afterwards. I'll be staying there until the war is over. I'll think of you though. I'm sure you'll be fine here. As you said, it probably won't affect us."
Jenna glared at her. "Very funny. I'm not letting Arthur spend months back in the West without me. He'll meet some soppy western girl with the legs and wits of his moronic sister and I'll be forgotten. When are you leaving?"
"Tomorrow morning. I'll be staying with one of my mother's cousins. She married well over there—some rich landowner I've never met. Apparently she was close to mother when they were younger, but forgot about her when she saw her opportunity to ensnare someone with money. Just imagine, eh?"
Jenna pulled a sour face. "Very funny. Right, come and get me tomorrow morning. We will fly together. I guess we'll be camping again. What fun. You may as well go now; I have to convince my mother to let me go. This might take some time."
"You're kicking me out?" Crystal asked. "I just got here."
"Yes, and I'm sure you have plenty of packing to do. Don't worry about the tent, I'll take care of that. Go on, I'll see you first thing tomorrow morning."
Crystal felt a little put out as she left Jenna's house, but wondered why she had expected anything else. Her cousin was always selfish and never gave too much thought to the feelings of others, especially when they clashed with her own interests.
She didn't have a lot of packing to do of course; she just had to give a list to the maid, Janet, who would do it all for her. She could pretend to supervise, but the job would be done far better without her interference. She gave her two lists: one long list of things to be taken directly to her mother's cousin's house, and a shorter list of things for the next few days. She supposed Jenna was right; they would probably camp, so she added camping things to the list, and food for the next two or three days.
She decided to go straight to the palace after giving Janet the packing list, and wait for the others there. She hadn't mentioned this to Jenna, and knew she would be cross, but she didn't really care. She still felt a little annoyed with her cousin for dismissing her so quickly. It was a bit of a walk to the palace, but John wasn't likely to be ready that soon so she didn't mind.
"Hi, Crystal," Daisy called as she approached the palace. Daisy and Arthur were sat on a bench outside the palace grounds, their bodyguards absent. Crystal was never particularly impressed with the palace. It was very large of course, but just looked like an oversized mansion rather than a palace. She guessed that being so far from the borders, the King never felt the need to build a more secure dwelling.
"Hi," Crystal replied. "Have you seen John?"
Arthur shook his head. "Not yet. We haven't been here very long."
Crystal nodded and sat next to Daisy. "So, Crystal, what happens about your lessons? Are you going to try to get John to finish them before we leave?"
Crystal shrugged. "Maybe, although I have a feeling he'll wait until we're near the border."
Daisy nodded. "I wonder what he knows about your mother."
Crystal studied her face. "He hasn't told you anything?"
Daisy shook her head. "I know no more than you do. Knowing John, he won't tell me anything about your mother without your permission. I guess that's fair enough, but I get the feeling that there's a lot of other things he's planning on telling you."
"What sorts of things?" Crystal asked.
"About John of course. How he knows everything he does. About this journey. Maybe about his connection to your mother. Perhaps you two are related."
Crystal shook her head. "He told me we're not. You know John. He doesn't bother with lies."
Daisy shrugged. "Something else then. Will you tell me what he tells you? If it affects me?"
Crystal frowned. "How could it affect you?"
"I don't know. I'm just a bit worried that John's planning to not come back." She looked down, avoiding Crystal's eye, and Crystal could tell she was holding back tears. She put her arm around her. "John wouldn't do that to you," she assured her. "He'd rather die than intentionally hurt you."
Daisy sniffed. "He's flying through the Blue Dragons' territory. Even if he makes it there, he might not make it back. He would still go if he thought he could get that treaty agreed even if he was certain that he wouldn't live to come back."
Crystal didn't reply, knowing that Daisy was right; John would do exactly that. But something told her that John was coming back—or at least he
expected
to be back.
"John believes that without the Browns, we will lose this war," Arthur pointed out. "If he thought there was a chance he wouldn't make it, he'd have a backup plan, which he doesn't, so he's going to be certain he can get there. I don't know how, but then John does do a lot of things we can't explain. If he can get there, he can get back. If you want to worry about something, worry about what he might come back to, because if John's right we might not win this war."
"That's a cheerful thought," a voice from behind them commented.
"Hi, Seth," Crystal said cheerfully, turning to greet him. "Daisy's worried about John and whether he'll come back, and Arthur's trying to cheer her up by telling her we'll all going to die anyway."
"Fantastic," Seth replied, sitting down next to Crystal and making her move along the bench. "Where is John anyway? Shouldn't he be here by now?"
"I guess the King can take as long as he likes," Crystal replied. "Is that John over there?"
A blond figure had just emerged from the palace gates, and was headed towards them. Daisy stood up and went to meet him, followed by the others.
"What's wrong, Daisy?" John asked. "You look upset."
Daisy shook her head, looking away, and John embraced her, looking over her shoulder at Arthur and mouthing a question to him.
"Daisy's worried about whether you'll make it back, John," Seth volunteered.
Daisy turned to glare at him. "Shut up, Seth. No one asked you."
John nodded. "Fair question. Here's an answer that might satisfy you. You know when we were being hunted by those Blue Dragons?"
"Which ones, John?" Seth asked. "It's happened twice now."
"When we were hiding under that tree. Do you remember, when I told you my plan, Seth asked me what my real plan was?"
"Yes," Seth said, "and you refused to answer. And you never did tell us what happened."
John nodded. "Well, Seth was right. I hadn't told you the real plan, but I was completely certain that I could keep you all safe, and I did. Just like then, I can't tell you my real plan, but I am just as confident that I can get there and back safely."
"Wait a minute," Seth objected. "Are you telling us you
did
kill all those Blue Dragons? What about all the destruction of the trees, and how their bodies were mangled so badly? You couldn't have done that."
John shook his head. "I couldn't tell you then, and I can't tell you now."
Daisy brightened up. "I don't need to know. What's next, John?"
"Wait, are you seriously going to let John leave it at that?" Seth asked.
Arthur nodded dismissively. "Apparently. John, what's the plan? Did you get the treaty signed?"
John nodded. "We're ready to go. I'll cross the border at a point that isn't particularly near a town, so we will need to camp. I want to make the most of the daylight, so I want to leave at dawn. Shall we all meet at Crystal's house?"
"Jenna wants to come as well," Crystal told them. "She told me to come and meet her."
John raised his eyebrows. "Fine. We'll meet at her house. I need to see the Keeper and explain where I'm going, so I have to go. I'll see you all tomorrow morning."
"Wait for me, John," Crystal called as he walked away. "I just want to ask you something."
John nodded. "Tomorrow night. Final lesson. Was that your question?"
Crystal smiled and nodded. "Thanks, John. I know you'll come back, but it might be a while."
John shook his head. "You misunderstand. I have to tell you tomorrow. I have to, because you'll have a decision to make. You'll understand when I tell you."
With that, he walked away, leaving a slightly confused and apprehensive Crystal behind.