That was something he could think about later . . . always providing there was a later.
He was just about to reach forward and knock on the gate when it swung open to receive him.
There was no one within. Cabe stepped into the gloom of the cavern and looked around.
A figure suddenly stepped out of the darkness, a figure who the warlock knew quite well.
"Ursa!"
Her sorrowful smile told him that she was not under the sort of spell that Toma had cast upon Gwendolyn. Cabe was glad to see that, but at the same time, he felt worse because Ursa was clearly a slave. She was clad in fine emerald-and-gold raiment worthy of her status as drake dam of the royal line, yet being here was clearly not by her choice.
"If you will follow me, Master Bedlam, they are waiting for you."
She started to turn away, but he caught her arm. "Ursa, can you tell me if-"
"We have to go to them, Ma.s.sster Bedlam," the beautiful drake insisted, turning anxious. "I cannot sssay anything."
"Toma?"
The look in her eyes was answer enough. Cabe quickly released his hold on her. With Ursa in the lead, they began the trek through the dark cavern entrance. Creatures fluttered about above them. The warlock heard something fairly large scuttle away.
"May we at least have some light?"
The words were no more off his tongue when a dim, golden sphere materialized before them. From Ursa"s gasp, he gathered that she was not responsible. Toma was keeping a very keen eye on his old foe.
It was the longest short walk in which Cabe had ever partaken. He knew that the distance to the main cavern was but three or four minutes, yet time seemed to slow during the journey. It felt more like an hour. That might have been due to his own anxiety concerning Valea or, knowing Toma, it might have been a spell.
Certainly, his first glimpse of the main cavern when he and Ursa finally emerged seemed to be the product of a spell.
When last Cabe had left here, the throne room of the Dragon Emperor had been a fallen ruin. The huge stone effigies that lined the path to the throne had been in total disarray, with many of them tipped over and shattered. Vast portions of the ceiling had collapsed. While the ma.s.sive stone throne itself had more or less survived, the steps of the dais it stood upon had been cracked and broken. All around, the Gold Dragon"s treasures had been crushed.
Here, too, someone had tried and succeeded in repairing much of the damage. Now there were barely any signs that the destruction created in the process of bringing down the mad emperor had ever taken place. Only a few telltale cracks and some missing fragments gave any indication that the warlock"s last visit had not been a delusion.
On the throne once occupied by his sire sat Kyl.
To his left stood Valea.
At the sight of his daughter, the mage started forward. Ursa shook her head and tried to grab hold of his sleeve, but Cabe moved too swiftly for her. He stalked toward the path and the effigies, his only concern being to get Valea safely away.
"That . . . will be far enough, warlock."
From behind the statues nearest to the dais stepped Toma. The renegade duke wore the form of the knight, but instead of his more normal green coloring, the drake was a resplendent gold and green. Cabe had seen him like this only once before, when Toma had invaded Talak and had captured both Gwendolyn and him.
A movement near Valea tore Cabe"s gaze from the deadly drake. To the sorcerer"s shock and amazement, he watched as Grath, materializing out of the shadows, seized hold of the young witch"s arms. Kyl"s brother bore an expression of interest in the proceedings, nothing more. Cabe did not even have to utilize his skills to know that Grath was no prisoner, no enchanted victim. He was a willing partic.i.p.ant in Toma"s madness.
It was all the mage could do to keep his fury under control.
"It isss cussstomary to kneel before the emperor," Toma announced.
"I am not a drake, as you know," returned Cabe. He gave the renegade a slight smile. "Besides, I recall the ascension being some days away still . . . if it still comes after what you"ve done."
At that, Kyl leaned forward. There was something in his manner that the warlock thought bespoke of built-up tension. The heir resembled a trap set much too tight, so that the slightest touch would set it off. Cabe thought it an interesting contrast to the att.i.tude of the other two drakes. "What do you mean by that?"
"He meansss nothing by it, Your Majesty. He isss seeking to undermine you, to ssstir phantom fears in the hopesss that you will be a less able monarch becaussse of them." Toma took a few steps upward as he spoke. Almost midway to the top, he turned to again study the human. "He ha.s.ss never desired a strong ruler for our race. That would be too much a danger to growing human control. That would be too much a danger to the power that he and hisss friends wield."
Cabe wanted to laugh, although the duke"s words were anything but humorous. "I"m hardly you, Toma. I never asked for or desired my power the way that you covet not only yours but everyone else"s. Neither I nor any of the others have tried to seize the entire land . . . unlike you."
"I did what I did in the name of my father, the emperor."
"And now you do it in the name of your brother?"
"Of course," replied the duke in all solemnity. "Ssserving the emperor ha.s.ss always been my duty . . . but perhapsss you cannot fathom sssuch thinking, warlock."
Cabe took a defiant step forward. Kyl leaned back in the throne, his eyes darting from the warlock to Toma and then back to Cabe again. Grath tightened his hold on Valea, who was clearly under some spell that did not allow her to move of her own accord. Cabe was, however, fairly certain that she could both hear and see him. "Oh, I can fathom such thinking, as you say, but not in regards to you, Toma. I know you. I remember. Perhaps you did have some loyalty to the Gold Dragon, but I wonder just how much of that has been transferred to the one who, because he bears the markings that you feel life cheated you of, sits on the throne that would have been yours, otherwise."
The duke hissed in anger, but said nothing. Cabe noted with interest how Kyl studied his supposed champion. It was not the type of look that he would have expected. The heir was not so pleased with Toma as the warlock had first imagined. What else have I been mistaken about?
"You have ssstill not anssswered my question, Ma.s.sster Bedlam. What do you mean when you sssay that my ascension to the throne isss now in jeopardy?"
He had Kyl listening. That was more than Cabe could have hoped for under the circ.u.mstances. Toma clearly wanted to find some reason to prevent the warlock from answering, but to interrupt again would only serve to indicate the danger the duke felt Cabe"s response represented.
"First, I must a.s.sume that it was not the duke"s original intention to cause such chaos so close to the culmination of his plans. I must a.s.sume that he wanted you to be firmly ensconced on the throne . . . with Grath beside you acting as his mouth." The last was only a guess, but from the way Kyl"s brother behaved, Cabe had to a.s.sume that he had spent most of his life misreading Grath. The younger drake was no innocent; he was definitely allied with Toma. The reasons behind that alliance would have been interesting to know, but now was hardly the time to pursue such questions.
Toma laughed, a harsh, raspy sound containing little humor. He turned partially toward the heir and pointed an accusing finger at the warlock. "You see how hisss mind works! You need to forget whatever supposed friendship he extended to you, my liege, and recall only hisss dissstaste for you whenever you were near hisss daughter." The renegade"s eyes burned bright as he returned his attention to Cabe. "Hisss Majesty isss well aware of the circ.u.mstancesss that forced me to abandon a plan ssso well conceived and executed that I walked among you for years! An accidental encounter that could have been forgotten if not for your precocious ssson! No one would have had to come to harm or trouble. You would have all sssimply been made to forget. What your get did to my ssspell I do not know, but by meddling when he should not have, he forced me to defend my emperor."
Now it was the sorcerer"s turn to laugh. ""Defend my emperor"? Nothing would"ve happened to Kyl if you"d left. In another day, he would"ve simply met with Lord Blue and, I"ve no doubts about this, Kyl would have gained his support without trouble." Cabe"s expression turned grim. "I wonder, too, how you planned to make us forget Ssarekai"s death on top of matters, Toma. He remembered you, didn"t he? Poor Ssarekai. Knowing him, he tried to stop you himself. You didn"t have to kill him, especially not the way you did, but that"s typical of you-"
"Toma!" hissed Kyl. "You told me that Ssssrekai wa.s.ss alive but bessspelled!"
The duke"s taloned hands folded into fists. Cabe felt a mild tug on the powers around them. Toma was doing something, but it was too weak to be a spell of any danger. What then?
"An accident, my liege," replied the sinister drake. "I acted without thinking, for a knife wa.s.ss at my throat. I a.s.sure you, I did not want the ssstable master"s death-"
"I"ve told you about Toma, Kyl," interrupted Cabe. "Others tend to die around him."
"I will have you sssilent!" roared Toma. This time, there was the definite buildup of power. Cabe quickly threw up a magical shield, all the while silently praying that he had not underestimated the intensity of the duke"s a.s.sault.
The area surrounding the warlock flared bright orange.
"Toma! Ssstop! I forbid you!"
The renegade did cease his attack, but was otherwise paying little attention to Kyl. He descended to the last step, eyes wide with hatred and lipless mouth open to reveal the sharp, predatory teeth. Cabe strengthened his shield again, but Toma unleashed no new spell.
"Ssso much planning wasted after ssso much success! Daysss from my goal and children ruin everything! Ever ha.s.ss there been a Bedlam acting as a thorn in my hand! The cossst of the ssspell that allowed me to masquerade as the tutor left me without physical ssstrength for days and little ability to touch upon the powers for monthsss." Here, Toma clasped a hand over the blade that Cabe recognized as the one Traske-the drake-had always worn. Now the sorcerer knew what it was and the knowledge made him curse himself for never noticing. Small wonder that Toma had been so weakened after endowing the blade with his spell. The complexity of such a design staggered Cabe. Toma would have to look, act, sound, and even feel like Benjin Traske, a human, at nearly all hours. He could never be certain that someone might need to speak to him in the middle of the night. More dangerous was the fact that, with so many others around him, the drake would have to be concerned over an accidental touch by a pa.s.serby. Yet, despite living among his enemies for so very long, Toma had been able to succeed with his masquerade. Cabe had shaken his hand on many occasions. He should have been able to note the difference. Worse, the warlock should have sensed the sorcery at work.
Something must have happened that night that Aurim had noticed Toma. Perhaps Toma had lost control of the knife. Aurim probably recalled now. If Cabe survived . . .
"Jussst a little longer," Toma continued, oblivious to the intense interest Kyl now had in what he was saying. "Jussst a little longer and then he would have been emperor. I could have been introduced to him ssslowly, firssst as Benjin Tra.s.sske, his advisor, and then a.s.ss myssself."
Someone would have had to pave the way for that to happen. Cabe looked up at Grath, who was growing uncomfortable. That was why Toma needed Grath. Kyl had always looked to his brother for advice; if the younger drake recommended leniency, even a position of importance for the renegade, Cabe did not doubt for one moment that the new emperor would eventually grant the duke both.
How long after would Toma be all but emperor? Could Kyl not see what Toma"s plans would ultimately mean?
Cabe was not quite certain how he hoped to end this situation, but he knew that much of it rested on Kyl now. The heir was obviously neither the steady ally nor the outright p.a.w.n the mage had expected him to be. If Kyl no longer supported Toma . . . "Kyl, the Dragon Kings will never accept Toma. Ask Blue what they think of him. You already know how Lord Green feels about him. When I spoke of the danger to your ascension, I was referring to this. If you support Toma-and have no doubts that even if I should remain silent, the Dragon Kings will discover what happened today at the Manor-they will reject you." The warlock shrugged. "Some might not-I suspect that Toma has support from some quarter-but that will only mean a potential civil war among your kind. I can"t allow that to happen. The fate of the drakes is tied to the fate of my kind as well."
Kyl brooded on this in silence, which Cabe took as a good sign and Toma, it appeared, took as the opposite. The drake turned toward his supposed emperor and, forcing himself to remain calm, again pointed at the warlock. "Subtle wordsss in their own way, my brother, but surely you sssee what lies beneath them?" At the heir"s puzzled look, Toma quickly continued, "He says give in to the Dragon Kingsss in this and give in to the Dragon Kings in that. He tellsss you not to be a ssstrong emperor, but rather a weak puppet of theirs, fearful of offending them. Let them sssee you back down once and they will make you back down again and again! You will be an emperor in name only. A mockery to be paraded around whenever they have need to impressss the humansss. It will be Black, Ssstorm, and the others who will dictate and it will be you who obeysss!"
As opposed to you giving him sage advice, Toma? The trouble was, there was something to what the duke had said, just enough, in fact, to lend credence to his warning. It was clear that Kyl thought so, too, for his face took on a troubled expression, as if Toma had reminded him of something he had already feared.
The renegade drake saw that he had touched a nerve and pushed his advantage. "It wa.s.ss what they tried to do to our father, Kyl, but he persssevered . . . at lea.s.sst until they entirely abandoned him." Toma"s tone grew sad. "They tried to overthrow him, but when that failed, they turned their backs on him in his hour of need. Left him to be driven mad by the very human before you! That isss the thing you mussst truly remember, my brother and my liege! The creature resssponsible for the fall of our father, our emperor, ssstands before you now spouting lies!"
Kyl raised a hand, silencing everyone. He rose from the throne and peered down at both the duke and the warlock. The heir"s expression was unreadable. He clasped his hands behind his back, then glanced at Grath, who had remained by Valea all this time. Cabe did not like the way the younger drake held his daughter so possessively. He was almost willing to swear that Grath was obsessed with her, which would be yet another thing he had failed to notice during the past several years. What have I been doing all this time? There were obviously many things he had failed to notice and realizing that now did not in any way a.s.suage his guilt. Should this situation somehow be resolved, Cabe swore that he would be more careful . . . and more caring. How much of what Toma had accomplished might have been avoided if the warlock had not suffered from his own prejudices against drakes?
Kyl faced him again. "There isss much merit in what you sssay, Ma.s.sster Bedlam, but at the sssame time, there isss much, even you will admit, to what the duke saysss. a.s.ss emperor, I will have to make decisions on mattersss far more complex than even thisss. I mussst consider what ssserves bessst. I cannot be weak, but I cannot try to be too ssstrong, for that, alssso, ha.s.ss itsss dangers. I mussst learn to heed the advice of many," here the heir indicated Grath, Toma, and Cabe, "but make the final choice ba.s.ssed on my own evaluation of the sssituation."
Triumph returned to Duke Toma"s expression and Cabe could not blame him for reacting so. While Kyl"s words impressed upon the warlock the fact that the drake would make a more able emperor than he had once supposed, the tone left little guesswork as to his decision regarding Toma.
"I will not bend to the Dragon Kingsss. With or without an official coronation, they mussst learn that I am emperor. They mussst accept my decisions. Lessst they think that I will have no sssupport without them, the duke ha.s.ss informed me that the legionsss of the drake confederation will act as my handsss. They are more than a match in number to any Dragon King"s army."
At this revelation, Toma hissed in dismay. Cabe, on the other hand, found it interesting that Kyl would reveal such a secret. It was almost as if he was trying to warn the warlock.
The confederation. After the debacle with the Silver Dragon, survivors of those clans without a Dragon King had finally banded together, first slowly and then quicker and quicker as the benefits of an independent "clan" became clear. They held lands to the west and, if the rumors were true, kept on fairly good terms with the human kingdoms there. However, among the clans of their kind, they had no recognized status. The backing of the emperor, even an embattled one, would give them some recognition in the eyes of both the drake and human races.
No doubt Toma had presented it to their leaders in much that way.
Kyl looked at his brother, who appeared almost as upset as the renegade, then returned his gaze again to Cabe. He nodded slightly to the wary sorcerer. "I have made my decision. If you have no other rea.s.sson for being here, then thisss audience isss at an end."
That suited Toma. Recovering from his consternation, he started to point at Ursa, no doubt to tell her that the warlock was to be escorted out now. Cabe, however, did not give him the chance to speak.
"You know that I can"t leave yet, Kyl. Even if I grant you all that you say, I can"t leave here without my daughter."
Grath held Valea"s arm in an even tighter grip. Toma backed up a step. Kyl, oddly enough, did not seem put out by the demand.
"I once thought to make her mine," he began almost apologetically. "She doesss fa.s.sscinate me, Ma.s.sster Bedlam. I would have treated her like a queen."
"But not an empress. At the very least, Kyl, as emperor you would have to take one of your own kind to be your prime mate, the matriarch of the hatching chambers." Dragon Kings took several mates, mostly because many eggs were either sterile or were damaged before the young could hatch. Young drakes also often perished in their first several months.
"True." Kyl stared long at Valea. There was something more than fascination in his eyes. Cabe was unnerved by the notion of the heir actually caring for his daughter.
"Give me back my daughter, Kyl, and I promise you I won"t interfere in whatever comes of your fight for the throne. Leave my family alone-make him leave my family alone-and we will remain distant."
Toma gave him a mocking look. "I find that a-"
"I agree to your termsss."
Duke and warlock stilled. Cabe could hardly believe his ears. Kyl was giving up one of his strongest cards so easily? Without Valea as his prisoner, his hold on the Bedlams was almost nothing. Under the same circ.u.mstances, Toma would have laughed in the warlock"s face and threatened the young witch unless Cabe and the rest of his family agreed to obey the renegade.
The differences between Toma and Kyl were becoming more and more evident with each pa.s.sing moment.
Grath would have none of his brother"s promise. "Kyl, are you insssane? Give her up? I-you cannot do that! Think of what you are saying!"
Toma, too, was incensed. "Lisssten to your brother, Your Majesty! If you give up the female, what"s to ssstop the mage from trying to bring you down next?"
"His word." Kyl, sounding a bit tired, gave Cabe a polite smile. "In all the yearsss I have known Ma.s.sster Bedlam, he ha.s.ss rarely broken his word, and thossse times were not generally by choice. Thisss time, I know he will hold to his word, becaussse he truly does want peace. Ssso do I, Ma.s.sster Bedlam. After all this, I mossst definitely do." He reached a hand in the direction of the ensorcelled woman. "She isss yoursss, with no ssstrings, no tricksss, involved. I ssswear this by both my sssire and the throne of the Dragon Emperor."
Cabe found that he believed him. It hardly seemed possible, but he could find nothing in the heir"s manner to make him suspect a ploy of some sort. Kyl wanted to release Valea to him.
Unfortunately, the emperor-to-be"s brother did not feel so. Still holding Valea by the arms, he turned with wild eyes to Toma. "He can"t do that! It would ruin everything!"
Toma was seething, his breathing an audible hiss. Yet, he restrained himself where Grath could not. In a very quiet, overly calm voice, he told the young drake, "He isss our emperor, Grath. He may do a.s.ss he pleases. Release the female from the ssspell and let her go to her father."
Grath was aghast. He had clearly not expected such words from the duke. It was only with effort that Kyl"s brother slowly released his grip on Valea. He did not step away, however, instead continuing to stand uncomfortably close while he began to unravel the spell he had cast on her.
For the first time since Cabe had followed the drakes to the cavern, his daughter was able to act of her own accord. He expected her to come running to him, but instead, she suddenly whirled on Grath, who resembled, of all things, a forlorn lover, and slapped the drake hard on the cheek.
"That is the least you deserve!" she snapped. Ignoring him from there on, Valea turned to Kyl. Unlike her tone when speaking to Grath, the young witch"s manner was now cool yet polite. "Thank you for doing this, Your Majesty."
Kyl"s expression shifted, indicating that he would have preferred a slap.
Moving a bit unsteadily, Valea made her way to the steps of the dais. She carefully avoided descending anywhere near Duke Toma. The drake clasped both hands behind his back in a manner reminiscent of Kyl"s earlier stance, but in the renegade"s case, it was evidently more to a.s.sure that she need not fear him trying to grab her.
As she neared the bottom, Valea"s expression finally turned to joy. Cabe could not keep the happiness from his own face.
"Father!" Valea cried as she began to hurry across the remaining distance. At the edge of his vision, the warlock caught Kyl staring directly at him. His attention was pulled somewhat away from his returning daughter. Had he not known better, he would have sworn that the drake was trying to tell him something, but it could not be what Cabe thought it was.
Valea stretched out her arms to hug him. Forgetting Kyl for the moment, Cabe opened his own arms to receive her.
"No! You cannot!"
The horrified voice was Grath"s, but he was not protesting his brother"s decision again, rather something that Toma was doing.
Cabe cursed silently for forgetting the duke even for as long as the blink of an eye. As his gaze snapped back to the renegade, something flashed in his direction.
His first thought was Toos!, despite the differences between what had happened in Penacles and what was happening now. Cabe only knew that a knife-no, the knife-was hurtling toward his daughter. Everything around him slowed as the warlock threw Valea to the ground. He knew that his shield would not hold against the ensorcelled blade. Toma would not, of course, have forgotten the original use of the object that had controlled his shaping spell. A knife was made to be used. Trust Toma to ever remember that.
Cabe tried to transport them away, but for some reason, his spell failed. He had no time to consider the reason. Cabe Bedlam now fully expected the blade to strike him and knew that, at long last, Duke Toma would have his death. The drake would not have thrown the knife if he had not been certain of the results. Cabe threw himself onto Valea and closed his eyes, wondering just what form his death would take. From a blade magicked by Toma, it would not be a painless one.
Valea gasped as she struck the floor. Cabe"s shoulder sc.r.a.ped against stone, but the pain was muted by the realization that he had suffered no other injury. No knife had sunk into his side.
Rolling onto his back, he discovered the sinister blade frozen in the air above him. From where it floated, the warlock estimated it would have struck him squarely in the back. The thought was an unsettling one even despite the knowledge that he had in some way escaped.
The reason for his survival stood gasping at the top of the dais. Grath, face covered in sweat, had one hand stretched toward the blade. From the look on his face, he was struggling with something. It slowly dawned on the warlock that Kyl"s brother was still battling the magical knife.
Kyl, furious, had taken a step toward Toma. "Ssso thisss isss an example of your loyalty! Ssso thisss isss a sssign of your complete obedience!"
Toma said nothing, but abruptly glanced at the dark blade.
The knife spun around and flew toward the top of the dais.