Guardian Dragons (5 page)

Two doors up from the Prince’s
rooms a loud repetitive banging vibrates through a large thick
wooden door. Leon’s Grandma Dahlia repeatedly hammers her stick on
the bedpost with the intention of gaining her maid’s attention.
Fedros observes a small plump woman, dressed in a long blue tunic
and a bleach white starched apron, flurry up the corridor with
clean linen in hand and flushed cheeks. She pats her hair into
place before entering the noisy chamber of the old lady.

From his chamber, Leon could dimly
hear his grandmother creating her usual wakeup routine. He felt a
stab of pity for her maid and remembers a childhood belief that his
grandmother’s maid never ever slept, but she was still in the
services of the palace caring for the old lady, so they must be
fond of each other.

Stretching his arms up in the air,
he climbs off the heavy feather mattress of his large lumpy bed,
reminding himself that he must ask someone to give this bed a good
beating to smooth out the lumps and bumps. Strolling stiffly to a
small rosewood table holding his washing basin, he swills his face
with cooled water to wash away the sleep sticking his eyes
together. As he peers around his chamber, drying his damp eyes, he
notices that the oil lamps were still burning, although quite low.
This seems a little strange as he always turns them off at the
moonsleep, he dislikes any light when trying to get to sleep. Not
lingering on this detail for too long, he approaches his tall dark
wooden wardrobe and dresses quickly into a short white cotton
tunic, belted at the waist with a thin leather rope.

He then slips easily into lose
white leggings, all very befitting for a normal hot sunny moonwake
in the life of a normal Prince.

Picking up a bone comb from his
table, he tug through dark brown strands of thick long straight
hair. Quickly tying it into a tail with a smaller leather rope and
not delving too much on how he looks, it was just another normal
moonwake.

Certain that his Grandma Dahlia was
not yet ready to surface out of her chambers, he decides now is a
good time to leave his room and go see if any of his brothers have
woken yet. He loves his grandma dearly but was only too aware that
once she had spotted him she would fuss and bother and it would be
a long time before he could escape her clutches. He would be forced
to sip herbal teas and she would ask her maid to plait his messy
hair and then she may decide that he should spend the entire
moonwake with her, walking in the gardens. Therefore, it had to be
now, whilst her maid still dressed and bathed her. Slowly he opened
his door and peers out a little at a time, looking like a naughty
boy escaping a punishment locked in his room.

Fedros gawped at a slowly peering
head, wondering if the Prince suspected something amiss. The Prince
smiled as he exited his door and quietly closed it behind
him.

‘Good moonwake,’ the Prince
greeted the guard. ‘Oh, what happened to Samuel? He’s done my guard
duty for as long as I can remember. No-one told me I was getting a
new guard.’

‘Er, er you need to speak with my
sergeant,’ Fedros nervously replied. ‘All I know is your guard was
taken ill suddenly.’ Fully aware that the poisoning had already
ensured he would never return to any more duties, not in this life.
Feeling a sticky wetness of sweat on his palms, he hid them behind
his back as best he could, knowing that his Master would be
observing his actions, he did not want to appear suspicious to the
Prince.

‘I will, yes, I’ll speak to
Sergeant Blackeley, because I should be told these things. What’s
your name sir? If I’m to put my trust in you for a while, we may as
well get acquainted,’ Prince Leon enquired innocently.

‘My name’s Fedros, son of Rikka who’s a herb nurse.’ Fedros
decided mentioning his mother may soften his introduction to
the
Prince. Who would suspect
a man who talks of his mother? Leon thought the new guard looked a
little nervous but put this down to his new duties and anyway, he
did not want to linger too long in these corridors, Grandma Dahlia
would be sure to hear his voice.

‘I bid you a good moonwake Fedros
and I’ll see you at moonsleep no doubt, assuming your duty is ended
now. By the way, my grandmother may be interested to hear of your
mother’s skills, she’s always seeking new remedies for her aches
and pains. Do you mind if I mention this to her?’

‘My mother would be honoured,’
Fedros grinned with an extra wide smile becoming more confident at
how easy things were falling into place. ‘As you wish, I’ll return
at moonsleep for my duties.’

This was an excellent line to use
on his sergeant, the boy as good as requested him to return to this
duty at moonsleep, Sergeant Blackeley could not argue with a
Prince. He walked towards the servants exit to head for the
kitchens first and then he planned to go on to the barracks for a
well-earned sleep.

Unexpectedly, a voice echoed in his
head, his Master called to him and he listened intently to the
Mindtalk of the Emperor.

Fool, you seek to go to your bed
when I have trusted you with this task.

Master
, Fedros
Mindtalked defensively,
I‘ve
poisoned the old guard and I have gained the position of his
posting to the human Prince. All moonsleep I have spied in his
chambers so now I go and seek rest at the ...

Silence, there is more yet to be done,
the Emperor had no interest in his needs.
Follow the boy’s movements closely.
I must know if he is the Changeling. My sources imply that he
serves that bloodline, but they are not clear on
how.

As you wish Master,
his devotion to his Master quickly vanquished his own
needs. Feeling the release of his Master’s Mindtalk, he wearily
began to follow the trail of Prince Leon.

Chapter 7 Brotherly
Bond

L
eon crept quietly
down the candle lit hallway outside his personal chambers, slender
lines of white sunlight attempting to pierce through thinly slatted
windows. He made his way to the end
of the corridor where a yellow sandstone stairwell spiraled
upwards. Still worried about capture by his grandmother, he quickly
made his escape.

Reaching the top of the stairwell,
he strolled down a corridor similar to the one he had just left.
Heading towards the dining hall he planned to join his brothers in
sharing the breaking of their fast. If his younger brother was too
ill to join them then he would visit Raphael in his sleeping
chambers later on, he liked to see Raphael at least once every
moonwake. He was pleased to spot his elder brother Amos, seated
with Raphael at a long dark wooden table.

‘Ah splendid, Leon has finally
lifted his head from his soft pillow to honour us with his
company.’ Amos threw up his arms in a friendly gesture to welcome
his younger brother. ‘Tell me Leon, how does your neighbour, our
Grandma Dahlia fare these days? Does she still pine your company
young fellow?’

‘Ha, ha you can laugh Amos.’ They
all knew perfectly well that Grandma Dahlia could pounce on any one
of them, she did not just target him for her tender loving care. ‘I
tell you, my legs move quickly once I leave my chamber. Anyway she
much prefers the company of our little brother here,’ he pulled out
a heavy wooden chair and seated himself next to Raphael.

‘What fine food are we to start
our moonwake with Raphael?’ Leon wondered as he lifted a silver lid
from a pot of steaming porridge. ‘Aah gruel for a change. I think
this must make us all such big strong boys that the girls will be
fighting over us, don’t you agree Amos?’

‘Most certainly I do brother,’
Amos replies teasingly, his mouth chewing on an Ensaimada yeast
bun. ‘Just look at the flowers sent up with Raphael’s tray and
these lovely sweet buns made by a fair maiden’s own pretty hands.
I’ll wager a guess that our little brother here already has a few
secret admirers,’ he finishes, pointing to a delightful little posy
of pink and yellow sweet scented petals.

‘You two can laugh all you like,‘
Raphael smiles. ‘You know perfectly well that it‘s only Clara the
cook who sends them. No girls are going to be running after me, not
in my condition, unless they are old, bossy or a nurse of
course.’

‘Raphael, you think far too old
for your young age of only twelve suncircles,’ Leon said concerned
at his little brother’s sad thoughts. ‘For every span that the sun
reaches around the horizon, you age five suncircles, instead of one
as do the rest of us. That makes you about sixty suncircles of
age.’

‘I say my little brother is the
handsomest of us all,’ Amos proudly announces. ‘Any girl who
doesn’t swoon in his presence is surely half-witted.’

‘The pair of you are fools.’
Raphael bit back, trying desperately to keep a straight face. ‘You
know perfectly well that in my unhealthy state I could never cope
with any girls, pretty or not. I’m destined to enter into the Realm
of the Dead chastened and pure.’ Raphael finished on a morbid note,
all three brothers knowing the truth of his words, he was not
expected to live a long life.

The sadness of losing their mother,
while she gave birth to him, hung heavily over his young shoulders.
Their blood had intermingled, whilst he nestled in his mother’s
womb, causing toxins to enter her bloodstream and resulting in his
premature birth. He was born with many health problems that he
could not overcome without the gentleness of a mother to feed his
strength. With weakened twisted bones, he had never been able to
walk unsupported. His blood was thinned and he bruised and bled
easily, only able to watch as other children played at rough and
tumble. The Healing Mages could do nothing for his deformities and
each suncircle saw him grow ever weaker. With so much time to pass
alone, he had become an avid reader and very well learned in the
art of literature. To some this appeared that he was a wise young
man for only twelve suncircles. Although he never appeared in the
public eye, many of the staff at the palace know him well and love
his bright personality.

Clara the cook truly has a very special fondness for
Raphael. She had proudly delivered him into the world, in her role
as midwife. In happier times, she had performed these duties to
many a noble birth, but the three Princes were always the closest
to her heart. Having lived in the palace all her fifty suncircles
she had been a daily playmate with the King, as a boy, in her own
childhood. Her loving father had been the best palace cook ever and
once she had
reached
apprenticeship age, she had gained the respectful position of
palace nursemaid. King Alfred’s wife had cherished her friendship,
but upon her death, the King had refused to speak with the midwife
ever again, blaming her skills for his loss. She had quietly
retreated to the kitchens mortified, and away from his
wrath.

Raphael cheerfully received her
modest token of flowers with the breaking of every fast every
moonwake, knowing that the King’s rejection had taken its toll on
her and led to her demise. Rumour had it that the pitiable cook was
habitually inebriated, following the Queen’s death. The young
Raphael could do nothing to aid the old nursemaid because his
influence on his father was so insignificant. He wearily sighed at
the thought of the troubles his birth had wrought upon
all.

‘You look tired Raphael. Do you
think we should go back to your room?’ Amos asked, affectionately
draping an arm gently over his younger brother’s frail
shoulder.

‘I’m fine brother, and aren’t you
needed anyway, to do more important things this moonwake?’ Raphael
retorted. He hated pity, even from the people he loved.

Hmph! I think we’re quite free of
any major troubles at this point in time, young man,’ Amos happily
announced. ‘So, I will be spending the first part of this moonwake
in your talented and witty company. That is if you’ll have
me?’

‘I suppose I can put up with you,’
Raphael mockingly replied. ‘But only if we you’re willing to do
military strategy with wooden soldiers on my battlefield?’ he
demanded, excitedly. ‘You have to see the new barracks that I’ve
added to the castle. All I need now are some horses and then I’ll
have my cavalry,’ he eagerly explained, this truly was his
favourite pastime.

‘Done,’ said Amos, ‘but first we
have to go into the gardens for a bit, little brother. Your nurse
Abby says that you’ve been refusing to go out into this glorious
warm sunshine. Is this true?’

‘I just find my room’s cooler, but
in your company I’m happy to put up with the heat of the sun,’
Raphael compromised, ‘and we can sit in the shade where it’s
cooler. Is it an agreement then?’

‘Indeed it is.’ Amos would have stayed indoors if Raphael
had insisted but he was relieved that his brother had agreed to
go
outside. ‘We can sit in the
shade by the dome in the upper gardens, and take your wooden army
with us. We’ll see you later brother Leon, young Raphs and I are to
fight a battle this very moonwake. Care to join us in our brave
endeavour?’ Amos enquired of Leon.

‘Whoa, I don’t want you to
consider me cowardly for not joining in this manly combat thing,
but I’ve got other plans with a fair maiden named Heather,’ he
smiled affectionately. ‘I’ll look in on Raphael later to find out
who won the glory,’ Leon promised.