Fortress Draconis (72 page)

The elf frowned. “From what you are saying, however, it will eat up the wood, destroying it anyway. What’s to be gained by letting the spell do it instead of a fire?”

“Time.” Kerrigan looked down at the block and past it to Orla’s body. “Time to study the spells, see how they work, and see what can be done to make sure they no longer spread Chytrine’s evil.”

Princess Alexia felt a bit conspicuous wearing the uniform of a Loquelven Goldfeather. Her clothes matched those worn by Dunerlan, who, as her host, led her into the Rellaence council chamber. Dunerlan, despite being of royal blood and the queen’s consort, had served with the Goldfeathers and wore the rank of Master at cuff, collar, and shoulder. The waist-cut jacket with gold body and black sleeves trimmed with gold gave way to black pants and knee-high boots.

The chamber had been meant to house the city’s deliberative body, but the vast majority of seats remained empty despite the coming discussion. In many ways the chamber reminded her of a wooden bowl that had been turned on a lathe, then set with high benches along one semicircle opposite the delegate seats. The benches had a gap between them with a throne occupying a recessed and raised dais.

All of Alexia’s companions were present, but not all of their hosts. Trawyn occupied the throne as her mother’s representative. Though Dunerlan was the queen’s consort, he was not Trawyn’s father—Alexia had been led to believe her father had been the consort a century before Dunerlan rose to assume that post. Arristan and Dunerlan each took up positions behind the high benches, while a handful of other Loquelves filled the four remaining seats.

Alexia sat next to Crow in a row of four chairs in the center of the room. Resolute and Will filled out that row, with Kerrigan, Dranae, and Qwc behind them. Lombo would have nominally been part of that row, but he sat on the floor. His chair had been pulled back into a third row and there Perrine perched.

Trawyn smiled and Alyx could not avoid thinking the slender woman wasn’t much more than a child, despite her having lived for centuries. The clear skin and large blue eyes suggested youth, and her high voice did little to dispel that illusion. The Loquelf even wore a simple gown that, were it not made of so fine a red silk, might have been the sort of thing with which a young human girl would clothe herself.

“In my mother’s name, I thank you for coming here. We will discuss the petition Princess Alexia has made for us to convey you to Fortress Draconis with all dispatch. Before that, however, I have news of Svoin, sent to us by the Blackfeathers. I apologize for the lack of details, but it is all that General Adrogans would permit to be communicated.”

Alyx smiled, knowing that if Adrogans was still censoring communications, he was alive and concerned with Chytrine’s people learning about his position and disposition of forces. This suggested victory in the siege, and that boded well for the campaign’s continuation in the spring.

Trawyn creased her brow. “He reports that Svoin was taken. It has subsequently been burned.”

Will’s cheer at the news of the victory died aborning as Trawyn completed her statement. “What happened?”

The Loquelven princess shook her head. “We do not know. The Vbrquelves were saved almost in their entirety.

The Blackfeathers will continue to serve beneath Adrogans. There is no indication of casualties, but requests for Blackfeather supplies would suggest they were light for our people.“

Alyx frowned. Clearly something had gone horribly wrong at Svoin.IfChytrine had used a dragon to set the place alight, why wouldn’t she have used it to destroy our sieging force? And if Adrogans had to burn the city, what could have induced him to do that?Whete he would go, what he would do without Svoin as a base remained an open question, since the Zhusk plateau had not been a place where they wanted to winter.

She shook her head. /will trust Adrogans knows what he’s doing. I have no choice.

Trawyn pressed her hands together. “Princess, the queen’s consort did communicate your request to my mother. Your plan, of going to Fortress Draconis in one of our galleys while sending theWhite Shark south as a decoy, is wise. We would further disguise your movement by adding to the force heading north. Our Steelfeathers and Iron Horse legions will accompany you.”

Alyx smiled. “Thank you, Highness.”

The Loquelf nodded. “We will pay theWhite Shark’s crew to make the journey south under the command of one of Lombo’s Panqui lieutenants. Their journey should suffice to make Chytrine think the DragonCrown fragment from Lakaslin will be in King Augustus’ hands.”

“Good. That will let us get the real one to Fortress Draconis.” Alyx nodded. “Your assistance is greatly appreciated.”

Resolute glanced at her, his argent eyes flashing. “Not so quickly, General. There is more.”

Trawyn smiled indulgently in Resolute’s direction. “You are so quick, Resolute. It might be an endearing trait.” Alyx cocked her head to the left. “Is there a problem?” Dunerlan splayed the fingers of his right hand on the benchtop, then arched his palm and spider-walked his fingers back a bit. “The concern we have is that you plan to take the Lakaslin fragment to Fortress Draconis. Given the rumors of Chytrine’s troops massing to assault the fortress, you would be providing her more incentive. She will learn quickly enough that you are there and she will assume you have the fragment with you.”

Crow stroked his beard. “You mean to say, my lord, that there will be increased incentive if we are recognized as being at Fortress Draconis, and you want to avoid the possibility of further rewarding Chytrine if she succeeds in her siege.”

The elder elf nodded. “A good point, Crow.”

“Then why let us go at all?” Crow opened his hands. “The handful of us, even supplemented with your troops, are not likely to tip the balance against Chytrine, and you seem to think her intended siege is a credible threat.”

A blonde elf in a military uniform tapped her bench with a forefinger. If the steel-grey of the uniform bodice and the rank insignia were any clue, Alyx assumed she was the mistress who commanded the Steelfeathers. “To assume the threat is not real, that victory is not possible, is imprudent. The very presence of the Norrington could make a considerable difference in the fight.”

Resolute waved that comment away. “Speak clearly, mistress, for my companions do not know the shadings of the Elvish terms in which you think. Because the prophecy says Chytrine’s defeat will come at his hands, you need to have him brought into direct confrontation with her. Any conflict where they oppose each other is one she could lose. Without the boy being there, you think she cannot be defeated.”

Alyx narrowed her eyes. “If Resolute’s right, then incentive is not germane, but reward is. Chytrine has one fragment now, which gives her control over at least two dragons. There are three more fragments at Fortress Draconis. We would bring a fourth.”

Trawyn nodded. “And there is no good reason for you to do so.”

“Not true.” Alyx sighed. “Vionna pointed out that we would do nothing with the DragonCrown fragment, so she might as well give it to Chytrine. By doing that she could increase the chances of Chytrine paying her for the fragment. This got me thinking that perhaps what we truly want to do is to assemble the pieces of the DragonCrown we do have, and use them to oppose Chytrine….”

The majority of the elves reacted frigidly to her explanation, so Alyx let her voice trail off for a moment. ,“You clearly do not think this a wise idea.”

Dunerlan folded his hands together on the bench. “Its wisdom could be debated for centuries, but the horrors of the war caused by the DragonCrown’s first employment do still haunt those of us who lived through it. I fought against Yrulph and his legions, losing many friends and even my brother. The simple fact of the matter, though, is that your plan will not work. Aside from Chytrine, a handful of elves, and perhaps some of the urZrethi, there’s not a mage in the world capable of wielding that sort of power.”

Arristan shook his head. “That’s not true, my lord.”

Dunerlan’s brown eyes widened. “What? Who?”

The elven mage nodded toward Kerrigan. “I believe the young Adept there could do it. Yesterday I witnessed his great facility for magick.”

The queen’s consort recoiled. “Put the power of the DragonCrown in the hands of a child? Yrulph Kirun was twice that boy’s age when he conceived of the thing. What it did to him, what it did to the world … No, it cannot be permitted.”

Resolute shot to his feet. “What if it is the only way to destroy Chytrine? What if doing that is the only way to free Vorquellyn?”

Dunerlan’s nostrils flared. “A child arguing in favor of a child does not a swaying argument produce.”

Crow rested his right hand on Resolute’s left forearm and dragged his friend back into his chair. “His point still stands, my lord. Will conveyed the fragment to Kerrigan. Perhaps Kerrigan is the means by which Will defeats Chytrine.”

Before Dunerlan could reply, Trawyn cleared her throat. “Adept Reese, you have had time to study the fragment?”

Kerrigan nodded. “A bit. On the ship and then again a little, yesterday, with Magister Arristan.”

“Could you use it?”

The fat magicker shifted his shoulders uneasily. “We talked about that after studying the magick. It would be akin to playing music on a fiddle with only one string. I could get sound, yes, but music would only come with more strings.”

Dunerlan pointed a hand at Kerrigan. “An apt analogy, into which should be factored this: Chytrine has the songs written for that instrument, but you do not. You would have to learn to use it, in a short time, and under pressure. I am given to believe you do not function well in such situations, Adept, do you?”

Kerrigan’s jowls quivered and his lower lip trembled. He shook his head, then glanced down at the ground.

Trawyn frowned. “My lord consort, your opinion on this matter is well understood and you need not embarrass our guests.”

Dunerlan blanched. “Yes, Highness. Please, Adept Reese, accept my apology. The strategy suggested is a dangerous one, but one worth investigating, including your role in it.”

Resolute laughed. “If that is true, my lord, and we leave you the Lakaslin fragment, will you produce the Vorquellyn fragment so Kerrigan could have two strings to study?”

Trawyn shook her head. “We have no knowledge of that fragment’s location, Resolute.”

“Loquellyn always says that, but we know the fragment came here.”

The princess wagged a finger at him. “You may have seen it evacuated from Vorquellyn, Resolute, but you do not know it came here. I remember the night the refugees began arriving, and I saw no fragment. But this is an old discussion, and bears not on our current topic. While it might be agreed that reassembling four segments in Fortress Draconiscould help defeat Chytrine, the possibilities of that are slender, and the consequences of letting her get those four segments would be catastrophic.”

Will raised a hand. “Why don’t we just make a new DragonCrown?”

Stunned silence greeted his suggestion, so he filled the silence with an explanation. “She’s trying to put together the old one, but with Kerrigan and Arristan and other magickers you ought to be able to assemble something that was better. After all, there’s more than one fiddle in the world, isn’t there?”

Dunerlan’s voice grew distant. “Alas, it is the strings that are so rare, Norrington.”

Trawyn’s brows arrowed in with concern. “The question would remain, Will, about whether or not such a concentration of power is a good thing. Yrulph Kirun was, by all accounts, a good man before he created the DragonCrown. Could we chance creating another monster just to defeat Chytrine? Setting your own house on fire to deny your goods to a thief is effective, but would be cold comfort once the thief and your house are gone.”

Will sighed. “Well, it was a suggestion.” Alyx smiled over at him. “And one we might still have to use.” She shifted her gaze to Trawyn. “Given your comments, I would assume that we can have your assistance if we choose to leave the Lakaslin fragment here. We would only do so intrust, since it belongs to Jerana, not us.”

Dunerlan dismissed that idea with a quick shake of his head. “Lakaslin lost it, you took it from pirates. Legally you have a claim to it under the maritime laws by which most nations abide, including Jerana.”

“I wasn’t speaking of legality but morality. Jerana still has a right to it and we acted as their agents in retrieving it. It would be held in trust.”

“Until such time as Jerana could prepare a proper home for it, yes, it would be held in trust.” Trawyn nodded. “We would then be pleased to convey you to Fortress Draconis.”

Resolute and Crow gave her quiet nods and Alyx opened her mouth to agree with it, then closed it quickly. She hesitated for a moment, then nodded herself. “When do we leave?”

Dunerlan smiled. “Tide runs just past midnight, if that will suit you.”

“It will, thank you, very well.”

Alyx sat back and nodded as Dunerlan told her he would be waiting for her outside. She let the elves file out, then turned her chair around and faced her companions. “That was the proper decision, right?”

Resolute-and Crow reiterated their agreement. Will shrugged, Kerrigan less vehemently, and Qwc with all four shoulders. Dranae smiled and said yes, while Peri gave her one of those easy I-trust-you expressions.

“Good, I wanted to make certain.”

Crow frowned. “You almost said no.”

“Not no, per se. Look, they want Will there because, as Resolute said, he’s the key to defeating Chytrine. There was room to ask them for more things to get us there. More troops, anything we wanted.” Alyx rested her hands on the back of the chair, and her chin on top of them. “I almost asked them to stop treating the Gyrkyme like animals.”

Peri laughed. “Just as well you did not, sister, for that would have forced some Gyrkyme to stop hating elves.”

Dranae scratched at his beard. “Do you think they would have done that?”

Crow shook his head. “The princess wouldn’t have had that authority, and the debate about it would have lasted longer than I have. Your hesitation, Highness, speaks well of you. You knew it was a political impossibility, even though it is the just and right thing, so you held off.”