Kethril (14 page)

The general wiped a hand over his face. “And
what of the other woman? Who is she?”

The woman in question stepped out from
behind Tathan and raised her chin. “I am Princess Anilyia Felicia
Romenia Illiath Turllisa Wannita Ullbra of Mayncal. These
individuals are my rescuers and have been charged with returning me
to my father, who will be very upset if we are delayed.”

General Bormann was beginning to appear pale
and nauseated. The female wizard who had recognized Vevin as a
dragon stepped forward. “Dragons eat princesses. How is it that you
travel with one?”

Vevin raised a finger. “I promised not to
eat her. It’s been difficult as she looks and smells very tasty,
but I’ve succeeded.” Anilyia took a step away from Vevin, then she
took another larger step, and then she moved around to the other
side of Sir Danth for protection. He patted her on the shoulder in
comfort while Vevin pouted at the distrust.

“This is a bit more than I bargained for and
a matter above my rank,” General Bormann said. “You will all come
with me to appear before the king. He can make the decisions.”

Liselle put her hand on Tathan’s shoulder.
“We’re not going to fight them. Unless you have some other way for
all of us to escape, I think we should take the offer.”

Tathan sighed and nodded. Turning to the
general, he said, “Very well, but we’ll need horses to ride and
will be treated as guests of the state, not prisoners.” The rogue
had to bargain even when in an un-winnable situation.

“Yes, of course,” the general agreed, happy
to get off so easily. The soldiers and wizards visibly relaxed. “I
will escort you to get your things and we will leave right away.
It’s a nine-day journey to Tillg by horse. May I trust your honor
and the honor of your companions not to attempt an escape?”

“You may,” Tathan responded, speaking for
the group. Those words put Sir Danth in the position of being honor
bound to do so. He hoped Tathan realized that. They led the general
along with the older wizard up to their rooms. A couple of soldiers
came to help with the bags.

When they were ready to go, Tathan asked the
general, “You said you don’t know why I have to see the king. Don’t
you have any idea at all?

General Bormann held his arms out to the
side. “I really
don’t
know. Technically, I’m not arresting
you. I’m escorting you as the guest of the king.” His mouth
twitched in a restrained grin. “It doesn’t matter if you’re a
willing or unwilling guest. I’m to use force if necessary. I must
tell you that I’m
extremely
grateful I don’t have to try.
Your reputation precedes you.”

“What reputation?” Liselle and Anilyia asked
in unison.

“I must admit curiosity as to the details.”
Sir Danth had asked Tathan about his past but the rogue always left
out details. There were many mysterious things about his
friend.

The officer raised an eyebrow. “You mean you
don’t know?”

“Never mind that,” Tathan interrupted. He
pushed the general out the door, leaving the companions to exchange
glances. The older wizard followed to make certain his officer
stayed safe.

When they went outside again, the soldiers
were all on horses. Five more were waiting for the companions. Sir
Danth was impressed by how efficiently the entire regiment seemed
to do things.

As they rode off, patrons began to re-enter
the inn, all the while staring at the departing riders. They would
have quite the tale to tell about Tathan of the Shadows and his
companions.

Twenty minutes later, they were on the road
to Tillg, ducking their heads from the rain that had begun to fall
in earnest. More troops of the regiment joined as they rode. Sir
Danth realized that a thousand soldiers had been sent throughout
the city to capture Tathan of the Shadows and he began to wonder
just who his mysterious friend really was.

The rain stopped that evening and a tent was
set up for the officers in a large meadow. General Bormann ordered
another pitched for the companions while the troops pitched smaller
ones throughout neighboring fields. There was laughter and talking
while the encampment was set up in a flurry of activity. The grassy
field was turning muddy from all the movement and rain had
strengthened the smell of chainmail, leather and hair. Cooks made
quick meals for the rank and file out of chuck wagons. It was a
well-run regiment as far as Liselle could tell.

A lieutenant escorted them to the officer’s
mess tent on the other side of the camp. Liselle wondered why they
were so far away. Perhaps the thought of having a dragon in camp
bothered them. Liselle was curious why so many troops had been sent
for her cousin.

A few of the men stared at her and Anilyia.
The princess seemed upset that they would dare to look, but Liselle
wasn’t sure how she felt about it. She knew how Vevin felt about it
though. He was doing an angry jig and glaring at every single man
there. Upon seeing his sharp teeth, they became very industrious.
She wasn’t sure how to feel about that either.

Eight tables had been placed together to
make one long dining table inside the tent. General Bormann was at
the head and the grey wizard at the foot. Other officers sat on the
right side of the table and six open seats were on the left side
next to the female wizard who was thoroughly cleaning a fork with
her napkin. She was the only one who didn’t stand when the
companions entered.

Tathan was about to sit next to the
wizardess, but Anilyia firmly directed him away, ignoring his look
of innocence. Liselle sat next to her instead. Vevin whispered in a
way only Liselle could hear. “She smells yummy. I think she might
have royal blood, but I promise not to nom her.”

Liselle studied her as inconspicuously as
possible. The wizardess’s robe was rich burgundy with pink stars
and runes that matched her eyes, whereas the other wizard’s robes
were the same blue as the uniforms the armed men wore. She was
average height and had high cheekbones and a strong jaw. Liselle
had seen a few people in Puujan and Alluu who had pink eyes and she
liked the color. Tathan had told her they were common in northern
kingdoms.

“Thank you for joining us,” the general said
as he and his men sat. “And thank you for your cooperation.”

Neither Tathan nor Sir Danth responded. They
weren’t happy about the situation and had been sulking the entire
ride. Liselle responded to the thanks. “We appreciate your
hospitality, General. You’ve been very gracious.”

He beamed a surprised smile. “But of course.
It is the least I can do under the circumstances. The dragon called
you Liselle. That is your name then?”

“Yes, and the dragon is my mate. His name is
Vevin.”

A few officers choked on their food. General
Bormann paled. The only one who didn’t react was the wizardess who
was wiping her plate before putting any food on it. “I’ve never
heard of such a thing,” the older wizard said. “Does it violate the
treaty?

“No,” the wizardess replied. Everyone turned
to her. It took her a moment to realize they were staring. She set
the plate down and waved at Liselle even though they were sitting
next to each other. “Hi. I’m Emmaoen. There’s no provision against
dragons mating with humans, although it’s never done. It doesn’t
matter since you’re not human . . . not completely human anyway.”
She started putting food on the plate.

The officers were looking very
uncomfortable. Liselle didn’t like the attention being on her, so
she cheated by turning to the general and asking a question that
had been bothering her all day. “What has my cousin done that you
had to bring a regiment?

“Tathan of the Shadows is your cousin?” the
general asked in surprise. “He is the most notorious criminal in
the western kingdoms. I find it hard to believe you don’t know his
reputation. Have you lived in a secluded valley all your life or
something?”

“Why yes, yes I have.”

“Oh.” The general stabbed a piece of meat,
stared at it and then set the fork down without eating. “I didn’t
realize. Well it makes sense. You’re obviously too fair and
innocent to travel with him if you knew.”

That made Liselle angry. “I
do
know
that only fools go out of their way to insult him, even if they
have a thousand troops at their back.” She knew it was a stupid and
bold statement, but she hated hearing her cousin insulted.

The color drained from Bormann’s face. “You
are correct, Liselle. My statement was unacceptable and I apologize
to both you and your cousin.”

“Thank you, General.” She took a bite of her
food and concentrated on making the flames in her eyes settle
down.

Anilyia wasn’t satisfied though. “We’re
still curious. Please tell us about Tathan’s escapades.”

Tathan narrowed his eyes at the general.
“Please don’t.”

General Bormann gulped. He stared at both
the princess and Tathan. Then he looked at his officers who found
their food fascinating and refused to make eye contact. “Ahh . . .
I think perhaps it would be best if you heard it directly from
him.”

“Your refusal says a great deal in and of
itself, General.” Anilyia rested her elbows on the table and put
her chin in her palms. “You’re not an especially brave officer, I
must say.” The color came back to General Bormann’s face in
anger.

Liselle considered interrupting, but
something told her to leave Anilyia alone. It was clear that she
was mad at the general for insulting her boyfriend.

“Your Highness, I noticed you’ve been
holding Tathan of the Shadow’s hand,” the older wizard said. “Does
your father know of your feelings toward him?” His lips twisted in
an over-confident smirk.

“You won’t be the first wizard I’ve killed.”
Tathan’s voice was dark and sinister, slithering across the table
to caress the wizard’s ear. The man’s face whitened.

Emmaoen screamed. A lightning bolt darted
from her finger to hit the middle of the table. Everyone stood up,
drew weapons or prepared spells and looked for the danger, with the
exception of Sir Danth who calmly remained sitting.

Emmaoen jumped on her chair, looking around
in a panic. “A spider! There was a spider on the table. Who knows
how many more are here?!” She pointed at General Bormann.
“
You
promised me there wouldn’t be any spiders here.” She
scanned the tent ceiling and raised her arm to point. “There’s
another one!” A thin lightning bolt from her finger zapped it,
making a flame appear in the canvas.

Vevin started dancing. “There’s hundreds all
over the ceiling of the tent!” Then he started shooting out mini
lightning bolts. Emmaoen screamed loudly again. The two of them
shot off rapid-fire bolts all over the fabric of the tent. More of
the spiders fell onto the table and surrounding area. The officers
started jumping around, thwapping themselves about the head and
shoulders to get them off.

Guards ran in with weapons drawn, only to
see the tent catch fire in a great whoosh. Liselle grabbed the
moisture in the air, solidified it, and then cast it to the fabric
like rain falling upwards. Steam hissed while Vevin and Emmaoen
turned their attention to the spiders that had fallen on the table
and officers. By unspoken agreement, Vevin zapped the ones on the
table so as not to be seen taking hostile actions.

Emmaoen had no qualms with setting the hair
and tabards of the men on fire. Many of them cursed aloud in pain
and shock before running outside. Liselle was helpful in
re-solidifying the steam to pour water over the little fires on the
men. It was very effective and the three of them were getting into
a rhythm.

The remaining fabric of the tent fell,
exposing them to soldiers who had gathered around with drawn
weapons, certain that something terrible was happening. They were
treated to the sight of their commander ducking with arms over his
head. All other officers were in the process of running away. The
older wizard was standing with his arms folded, fuming. Tathan was
holding the princess protectively while Emmaoen was zapping the
last two spiders on the table. Throughout all of it, Sir Danth had
remained seated.

In a great booming voice, General Bormann
informed the troops what had happened with a single word.
“Spiders!” The men put their weapons away, nodding as though it had
happened many times before.

Emmaoen took her plate and finished putting
food on it. Liselle sat down and went back to eating her food too.
She had to pick out a bit of burnt tent fabric, but it didn’t
bother her too much. The rest of the companions followed suit, as
did the older wizard, though he still looked mad. General Bormann
rubbed his temples before sitting down too.

As soon as possible, both the general and
wizard left without any kind of parting. When everyone was gone,
Emmaoen leaned forward to talk to Vevin on the other side of
Liselle. “Thank you for helping me with the spiders.”

“Oh yes. I saw they were bothering you. That
was a lot of fun!” Vevin exclaimed happily.

“I hate spiders. They killed my parents,”
Emmaoen said.

“Oh, that’s terrible.” Vevin was very upset
for her.

“What happened?” Liselle asked.

Emmaoen picked at her food. “Mommy and daddy
were having sex in the woods while visiting the hunting cabin and a
bunch of giant spiders slid down from the trees and ate them.”

Tathan nodded knowingly. “That’s a bad way
to go. I’ve seen the husks of bodies with all their juices sucked
out by giant spiders.” Anilyia hit him in the chest with her arm as
hard as she could. “Ow!” he exclaimed. “That hurt.”

“He’s right.” Emmaoen nodded sadly. “I hate
spiders. I just
know
they want to kill me too.”

“Why is there a cow in camp?” a soldier
asked from outside of where the tent used to be. Sure enough, a cow
was lumbering at a trot toward the dining table.