Hatch (The Dragons Of Laton) (41 page)

After Boris had left, he and Fulgid waited at the Hall door while the page announced him. Numbly, he climbed the steps of the platform to stand in front of the large, gaudy throne. A kings duty. A life not his own. The last glimmering hope of a life of farming finally faded away to nothing and he idly wondered if he'd ever see his plantations or find out what type of crop coffee was.

A thin old man leaning heavily on an elegantly carved cane stood unsteadily beside the throne. His back stooped low and his hands were twisted harshly with arthritis. He thumped the cane loudly three times against the floor and cleared his throat. When the room was silent he spoke in a frail voice. “As the next senior speaker, it is my duty to perform the ceremony of Merger by Marriage. The wisdom of the Hall has accepted and approved the proposal set forth by the House of Celest. The Merger of these two Houses will mend the rift and bring unity back to the DoTarian nation. Bring forth the Heads of the Houses! House of Les, step forward!”

Ammon hesitantly moved forward to stand silently beside the man. Ancient fingers reached down and grasped his wrist with surprising strength then forced his hand into the air. “I see before me, Ammon, House of Les! Now step forth the head of the House of Celest!” A long silence filled the room. Annoyed, he banged his cane against the floor. “I say again, House of Celest, step forward!” There was a long, silent pause, and he dropped Ammon’s hand and in irritation motioned to one of the pages. “Go to her chambers and find her!” He shifted his weight from one foot to the other and mumbled just loud enough for Ammon to hear. “You’re a braver lad than me to marry that lizard of a woman, I’ll say that much!”

Several long moments later, the Hall doors opened and the page entered leading El who carried a small bundle in her arms. The page hurried up the platform and leaned forward to whisper in the ear of the speaker. The old man’s eyebrows suddenly rose, and he stood up as straight as he could and shouted, “I have an announcement! This young lady has terrible news I’m afraid!” In a soft voice he coaxed El to come closer. “Go ahead my girl, tell them!”

Ammon could see El’s face was pale and streaked with tears. She held up the bundle she carried and her voice broke as she spoke. “My grandmother Sasha…is dead! The Kala-Azar…” The bundle in her hands unraveled to reveal heavy blood soaked stains in the rags that Sasha had worn. “This is all that was left!” She sobbed. “She’s dead!”

The Hall was silent except for her weeping and Ammon could take it no longer. He stepped forward and wrapped his arms around her, and as she buried her face in his chest, she dropped the rags on the floor. They stood there for a long time, with the whole Hall watching in quiet respect.

The withered old man finally stepped forward and gently separated them. His old voice creaked like a broken hinge as he spoke. “Listen to me, my dear. She lived her life the way she wanted and refused to change for anyone. I’ve never known her to even consider a compromise until she set this motion before the Hall, and that agreement still must be fulfilled. Now child, you must answer me. In the absence of your elder sister Eithne, do you, Eliva, represent the House Celest?”

El nodded and closed her eyes as the old man raised her hand with Ammon’s and clasped them firmly together. Then from his pocket he produced a long gold and silver ribbon and in an intricate pattern, carefully bound their hands together. “Ammon, head of the House of Les. Eliva, head of the House of Celest. In the name of unity, the authority of the Hall declares your Houses as one! In the eyes of God and before the Hall of Knights and all of DoTaria, this union is forged and cannot be broken. As Speaker of the Hall, I declare Ammon and Eliva, House of Les-Celest, the rightful king and queen of DoTaria! The Merger is complete! Long live your majesties!”

As the speaker stepped back and bowed, the hall erupted in a deafening roar as the knights of both DoTaria and
Gaul rose to their feet and applauded. Dazed, Ammon leaned down and spoke into El’s ear just as Fulgid leapt onto his back and perched on his shoulder, “Could you tell me something?”

She nodded as she wiped a tear from her cheek.

He leaned even closer so only she could hear. “Did we…just get married?”

***

A large pile of paperwork lay neatly stacked in the center of the desk in front of Ammon. Several times a day a representative from the Hall brought him
important
documents that needed to be reviewed and signed. Each time he pretended to stare at it thoughtfully before placing it aside with a promise to look it over carefully. Later, Erik would read it to him and make his recommendations. He shook his head in wonder. How the kingdom managed to accomplish anything with so many projects that required approval was beyond him. If it was so important, why didn’t someone just take care of it? Why did everything need to be written down as a proposal and presented to him before it could be carried out? If the roof needed repair, just get it fixed instead of wasting two days for a signature while the water poured in! It was enough to make him want to pull out his hair.

Fortunately, Erik was skilled at seeing through the
fluff
as he described it, to determine what the writer of the proposal wanted. Once, Erik laughed as he read off the price of twenty gold talons for the repair of a fountain in the square. At his advice, the document was sent back with orders from Ammon to strike the man’s name from the palace workers. Although harsh, word would spread, and there would be less chance of another trying to overcharge the palace.

Today he was alone in his chambers with Fulgid, who had curled up comfortably on one of the overstuffed chairs. It had been a month since Sasha’s death and the merger of El’s House with his. He was relieved that it was El instead of Sasha, but it still made him uncomfortable. He hadn’t had the opportunity to find out how El felt about it yet, he’d only seen her once briefly since they were married. No sooner had the ceremony ended and she closed herself into her chambers and refused to see him.

He felt torn. Although it was true he had not been a willing husband, for reasons he couldn’t explain, he wanted to see her again. He had grown to relish the awkward conversations with her and how his stomach fluttered when they talked. She teased him terribly, yet he enjoyed her company. It was all very confusing.

He leaned back in his chair and stretched as he gazed out the window. The morning sun streamed through a cool foggy mist rising off from the mountains in the distance. “Fulgid, I need to get out of this room for awhile. Want to go with me to the Nest and visit Derek?”

He knew he didn’t have to ask. Fulgid liked Derek and at the mention of his name the little dragon was off the chair and bounding for the door, looking back to see if Ammon was following. “Just a moment, I have to wear my sword any time I leave my chambers remember? Palace rules.”

He rolled his eyes as he belted it around his waist. Each day Boris and Stalwart came to instruct him in his sword lessons. At first the two men bristled at each other, each one interrupting the other’s lessons as if trying to out do the other. By the end of the first day. they’d spent more time arguing with each other than teaching. As the days passed, they began to view each other with mutual respect, and both agreed that he should carry his sword anytime he was outside his quarters for both protection and as a symbol of honor to the DoTarian’s.

He followed Fulgid out the door of the royal quarters and headed towards the stairs. The halls were crowded with various craftsmen who respectfully stopped working and bowed as he walked past. He acknowledged them as politely as he could and quickened his pace so they could return to their work. Repairs to the palace were progressing slowly but steadily as the scattered population began to return, bringing with them skilled workmen.

The fourth floor badly needed attention to make the knights quarters habitable, as well as most of the top two levels. Derek had taken it upon himself to oversee the repairs of the Nest using the few
Gaul craftsmen that had accompanied them through the tunnel. Despite his gentle nature, the DoTarian’s kept a respectable distance from him at all times and few would venture onto his floor.

Ammon knocked politely before entering the Nest. It looked far different now than the dark and dingy place where he and El had discovered the large clutch of dragon eggs a month ago. Oil lamps glowed brightly in every corner, casting a warm glow on freshly swept floors and walls cleared of cobwebs. On a large table near the tender’s room was a mound of fresh fruit, blocks of cheese, and breads. He couldn’t help but smile at the feast when he remembered the cold gruel he had lived on. A few well-placed words to the royal kitchen from him had insured that Derek would be well fed.

The big man was diligently stoking the coals of the furnaces, and Fulgid gleefully ran to greet him. Derek’s broad face broke into a grin as he lifted Fulgid with a massive hand and plopped him onto the shoulder of his thick leather shirt. “Hi, Fulgid! Hello, Ammon!”

Ammon smiled. After the ceremony in the Hall, everyone would only address him as ‘your majesty’ or ‘my king’ and treated him as such. Derek however, acknowledged everyone in the same, simple way regardless of his or her position. Ammon liked that. “How are things here, Derek? Are they bringing you enough to eat? Do you want me to have more sent up for you?”

Derek scratched Fulgid under the chin with one huge finger. “No thanks. I barely have time to eat. I don’t want to neglect my duties!”

Ammon chuckled. “I don’t think you would ever neglect your duties, but you do need to eat properly so you can take care of those eggs.”

Derek looked down at Ammon thoughtfully. “Yes, I guess I hadn’t thought of that. I suppose I should eat more. Could you ask them to bring me more fruit? I don’t like the taste of meat.”

Ammon frowned slightly. He’d never known anyone that didn’t eat meat, but Derek was undoubtedly different than anyone he’d ever met before. “I’ll make sure to take care of that for you. Anything else I can do?”

Derek tugged thoughtfully on his white beard and nodded. “Could you look at the eggs for me? There is one that is much bigger than the others and it wasn’t like that before!”

Ammon followed Derek down to the eggs to inspect the egg in question, and he whistled softly in surprise. The egg was almost half again larger than the others and was an impressive sight. Slowly he ran his hand down the leathery shell. It was warm and gave slightly to the touch. “It seems to be okay, just extremely large. Some hatchlings are larger than others, and the soft shell stretches as they grow. I don’t think it’s anything to worry about yet.”

Derek gave a huge sigh of relief and gently rubbed the egg with a big hand. “I was worried! I want them all to hatch and be like Fulgid!” He reached above his shoulder to scratch beneath Fulgid’s chin again.

Ammon knew it wasn’t likely that all twenty-five of the eggs would hatch and was about to say so when a voice called from the doorway. “Derek? Are you in the Nest?”

Ammon’s heart skipped a beat. He would know El’s voice anywhere.

Derek grinned. “Oh that’s El! El, I’m down here!”

Fulgid leapt to the floor and sat in front of Ammon as Derek squeezed past the large egg. Ammon could hear the clatter of the ladder as she climbed down into the Nest, but he couldn’t see past Derek to see her. The big man stood in the narrow gap between the eggs, and Ammon couldn’t get around without climbing over them, so he waited for Derek to move. He desperately wanted to talk to her, but what would he say?

Derek opened his massive arms and hugged her. “Now all three of you are here to visit!”

El’s voice sounded confused, “Three?”

Derek nodded, his thick beard flapping up and down. “Yes! Ammon and Fulgid are here too!”

Faintly she repeated his name. “Ammon? Ammon is here? I’m sorry…I…I can’t stay Derek! I’ll see you later!”

Ammon pushed against Derek’s back and tried to squeeze past. “El! Wait! Please?”