Draconis' Bane (33 page)

“My slayers are
always on the lookout for dragons. One of my better slayers is with
the Terum force now.” She added, smiling coldly.

“Yes, well the Terum
army is routed and those that didn’t flee are held prisoner.” The
consul raged. “How will your slayer report to you they’re shackled
to the keep wall!?” She bellowed.

Slayer Eberts stood
there, seething in anger, unable to voice her irritation for fear
of being annihilated in another characteristic emotional display of
controlled fire from her master.

“You’ll hunt down
Socolis in Sutten and bring me back one of his eyes. Maybe then
your failure will be overlooked.” The Consul ordered.

Amanda bowed, turned
on her heel, storming out the front doors of the keep. Glowering
she mounted her horse and took off at full gallop through the
modest town and the open southern gate. She had no intention of
traveling to Sutten; she was going someplace much closer where the
prey was easier to come by and the rewards far more lucrative.

~

“How are they?”
Tristan asked, standing up from the bench he and Kevin had been
sitting on, pacing around and dozing on for the last seven hours.
Kevin stood next to his brother, still looking strangely weak and
shaky.

“The women will be
fine, my Lords.” The apothecary replied.

He smiled
comfortingly at the Princes and motioned for them to sit back
down.

“They’re both rather
bruised and battered you understand.” He explained. “I’ve given
them both a tonic to induce a peaceful sleep. When they wake,
they’ll be a bit disoriented but they will make a full
recovery.”

The pained look that
had cast its shadow over Kevin’s face visibly lifted. Tristan could
sense he was still disturbed by todays near tragedy, though he
could feel the relief from his older brother and he shared it. The
apothecary ushered them out of his shop and asked them to return in
the morning.

Wordlessly the two
brothers walked through Heatherington town and into the nearest
pub. Tristan walked up the bar and ordered two ales while Kevin
shuffled over to the table nearest the fireplace and sat down with
an audible sigh as rubbed his face with his large hands. Tristan
set the flagons down on the table and slumped into the seat
opposite his older brother, rubbing his hand over his face as
well.

“Me too.” Kevin
grunted, taking a sip of the ale.

“I don’t think I’ve
ever been this tired.” Tristan observed as his brother nodded
agreement.

“It’s the stress.”
Remarked William as he pulled up a chair and put his own flagon of
ale down.

“How are the girls?”
Robertson asked as he joined them at the table.

“They’re fine.” Kevin
replied. “Though a little worse for wear.”

Each of them was
occupied with their own rambling thoughts while they drank deeply
from their flagons. Finally, Tristan broke the silence.

“I’m going to finish
this.” He blurted, looking up at the men around him. “Once and for
all.” He concluded, draining his ale.

“I’m coming with
you.” Kevin and William echoed one another.

Tristan motioned for
the barmaid to bring another round of ales and then turned to his
cousin and brother. After she had placed full mugs in front of each
man and collected the empty ones, Tristan took a long drink.

“No.” He replied,
intending to leave no room for argument.

Both men started to
object, but Tristan cut them off.

“You two have wives
and people that depend on you.” He said, looking into the fire.

“And you don’t?”
Kevin probed.

“Not so you’d notice,
no.” Tristan replied with a smirk. “Durshire got along just fine
before I got there and has continued to do so since I left.”

“And a wife?” William
insisted.

Tristan’s mood turned
dark. He’d certainly wanted to marry Mina when he’s been wrapped up
in her arms. Putting aside his self-deprecation, he took a deep
breath and replied.

“Never got around to
it.” He said quietly.

Tristan turned to
look at Robertson. “No insistence from you?”

Lance looked him
squarely in the eyes and replied in even tones. “Lad, if you think
for one second I’m not coming with you…”

“You’re not.” Tristan
cut across him.

“Listen pup. I took a
vow. I’m with you no matter what the end is.” Robertson observed
darkly.

Tristan took another
drink of his ale and sighed. “So I’m stuck with you then?” He asked
seriously.

“Fate is a…”
Robertson replied.

“Yes, yes. I know.”
Tristan chuckled in spite of his dark mood.

Four days later,
after many heated arguments and shouting matches, Tristan sat
astride Pava dressed in his dragon skin armor again. His sword and
dagger were belted to his hip. He also carried a bow, quiver of
arrows and a shield strapped across his back.

The shield had been
delivered a short time ago along with a reply to Kevin’s letter to
their father.

The shield was a work
of art in Tristans’ opinion; it was metal painted black with red
trim, much like his armor. The inside appeared to be packed dragon
scales with leather soaked and dried repeatedly until the inside of
the shield was stronger than the metal exterior.

Another surprise had
been a long dagger in a sheath inside the shield. It was cleverly
hidden behind the arm straps, but made of some material that
Tristan couldn’t identify. Holding it in his hand the night of its
arrival he could have sworn it was alive as it vibrated slightly in
his palm.

Robertson and the
four remaining
Shroud
members rode up next to him and nodded
their greeting. Another carriage waited to take Euri back to
Irudin, which Tristan was going to ride escort for. The carriage
was filled with Kenting soldiers, armed with spears, bows and a
princess in a foul mood.

“I’m not a baby!” She
protested from inside the carriage.

Ever since the girls
had recovered from their crash, Eurydice had been mounting more and
more insistence that she be included in Tristans plans.

Kevin and Tristan had
bluntly denied her, largely because she was still so young. She
would argue endlessly about thirteen being old enough for her to
marry, let alone take the fight to people who were bound to turn
their attention on her sooner or later.

Finally Alison and
Gail had spoken to Euri in private and this had more or less taken
the wind out of the young Princesses sails. Though she was still
rather upset at her older brothers for limiting her involvement,
she had at least relented to acting more ladylike in public. With
the exception of this morning though, when she found out she was
going to be crowded into a carriage with a dozen soldiers for
days.

“That’s it!” She
screamed. “Tristan! Tell these fools to quit trampling my dress and
get on the roof. I’ll ride with my luggage!”

Tristan sighed as
William and Kevin approached laughing.

“Do as the Princess
requests.” He ordered.

Several soldiers
emptied out of the cabin and climbed on top of the carriage and
began passing down trunks as they muttered darkly among
themselves.

“She’s going to be a
handful.” Kevin observed.

His mood had been
much lighter since his wife had recovered. She bore a bad limp in
her left leg, and the left side of her face had a healing poultice
on it as a terrible burn had mutilated her ear.

“Most likely,”
Tristan mused. “I should probably ride near the carriage so she has
a focus for her ranting, rather than put your men through it.” He
joked.

Tristan turned Pava
around and trotted her over to the carriage. Eurydice cast him a
baleful look before wrenching the curtains closed; causing the
young Prince roll his eyes. Gail and Alison walked forward; Gail
was supporting Alison’s left side as Kevin’s wife hobbled along
wincing from time to time.

“Take care of her
Tristan, and yourself.” Alison asked, squeezing his knee with her
free hand.

“She’s just upset you
won’t let her help you.” She advised.

“I will.” Tristan
began; he raised his voice just high enough for Euri to hear. “I’ve
told her already that it’s nothing to do with her, I just can’t
protect us both. I’ve got enough trouble protecting myself.”

The curtains whipped
open as the headstrong young Princess stuck her head out, staring
daggers at her older brother and shouting.

“That’s exactly
why
you need me you stubborn…”

Kevin scolded her
with a glare. She stopped mid-sentence, stick out her tongue and
retreated back behind the curtain. Everyone smiled as William and
Kevin bade Tristan goodbye as Alison and Gail stuck their heads
into the carriage offering their love to Eurydice.

Tristan straightened
up after shaking both men’s hands, waited for the women to finish
their goodbyes and motioned for the procession to move out. As they
rode towards Vallius, they passed three enormous rotting corpses
being burnt by some soldiers. The stench of the giants themselves
had been unbearable, however their burning corpses were far worse
than the young Prince could have imagined. Even Euri, in her anger,
couldn’t stifle a sneeze as they passed the pyre.

Two days later they
were pulling up on the Golshy Pass and as the soldier’s setup the
first camp they’d assembled in two days. Eurydice had been steadily
beating Tristan into submission about her involvement with his
plans. As the soldier’s setup camp, Euri took the time to present
her case, again.

“Look, you don’t know
what you’re likely to run into.” She persisted over a cooking pot
of venison.

“Euri.” Tristan
began, sighing as he chose his next words carefully. “It’s not that
I don’t think you know what’s ahead.” He explained. “Enough people
have died on my account. I don’t want to add family to that
list.”

She looked at her
brother, finally understanding his hesitation and loving him for
it. Tristan knew she would eventually ferret out his true feelings
about her involvement. It was only a matter of time, and he was
also aware that she would be torn between love and hate at his
rationale. As predicted, she persisted.

“These
Bane
idiots have our whole species on the chopping block Tristan.” She
explained. “The dragons won’t do anything to protect themselves,
and the
Bane
will eventually come after me. It’s just a
matter of time.”

“That’s not true.”
Tristan replied calmly.

“What’s not true? She
asked, looking up from poking the fire with a stick.

“The dragons
are
taking a hand.” He said evenly.

“I thought the old
ones were all dead.” She blurted.

“Not at all Euri.” He
began. “As a matter of fact, I spoke with grandfather a short time
ago.”

“
What?!
” She
replied dropping her bowl.

“Well, you were too
busy raising a storm for me to tell you.” He replied.

Tristan explained, in
agonizing detail as Euri kept interrupting him, his run-in with the
dragons Lesariu and Socolis, and then his meeting with Draconis
deep in the Sutten forest. When he had finished Eurydice had worked
herself into a state.

“You
have
to
take me with you now.” She insisted.

“Oh?” He asked,
bemused at her insistence.

“Yes. But we need to
stop in Irudin and Metao so I can get some of my things.” She
replied matter-of-factly.

Tristan had long
since grown weary of her constant stream of reasons why she should
be allowed to tag along on his mission. This time she gave no
outward reason for her insistence. More than any of her statements
before hand, she’d finally convinced him that she might have been
right all along. Since recovering from the
Nightmare Spell
,
he’d become accustomed to following his instincts. Who was he to
deny his sister the same boon?

“Fine.” Tristan
finally replied.

Euri squealed and
embraced her brother, knocking the bowl from his hands. He laughed
as she apologized for the last two days of her dark mood.

“I know what it feels
like to be left behind all the time.” He told her.

Eurydice shot him a
confused look.

“Sometimes that spell
and my real life intertwine.” He explained as Euri nodded
sympathetically.

A shout went up from
somewhere in the camp, interrupting their conversation.

Robertson rushed over
shouting orders as an arrow flew past his head and struck the
ground in front of Tristan. The guards began pouring out of their
tents and took up a defensive circle around Tristan and Eurydice.
The young Princess looked about in fear, possibly for the first
time realizing what traveling with Tristan meant and with any luck,
reassessing her desire to help him. Her eyes were wide with
surprise and fear as she tried to get a better look at who was
attacking them. Knight-Captain Robertson laughed at Tristans’ side,
causing the young lady to look over at him, surprised at his lack
of fear in the face of death.

“Just another day on
the road, my Lady.” He chuckled.

Tristan cast him a
smirking glare as he drew his sword and pulled the shield off of
his back for its maiden battle.

~

“A wise choice
mistress.” The man intoned.

“What on earth are
you babbling about Antonious?” The Consul demanded.

“Domiscus betrayed
you m’lady.” He replied suavely. “It’s only a matter of time before
your Slayer and Spy Masters do as well.”

The Consul pulled her
hood down; looking over the tome she had been engrossed in moments
before. She was a beautiful woman of middle years; the strength of
youth had yet to fail her. More than one of her servants knew of
the dark magic she employed to keep her young appearance.
Thankfully none of her sycophantic commanders had any idea.