"Only if you take a chair and cease to be so formal, Master Bedlam." She indicated one of the half-dozen elegant and padded chairs situated in the carpeted room. A slight smile played at her lips. "And you need not fear my husband"s presence. He is engaged in some proper time with his daughter, someone he sees too little of considering the great love he bears for her."
"My thanks, Que-Erini." Although Cabe"s body was tense with anxiety, he forced himself to sit across from the queen.
The warlock waited until she had picked up her book and put it on the tiny table beside her. The ball of light, which had bobbled about during her initial fright, remained situated above her head. Cabe nodded at the magical lamp. "I see you"ve been practicing. It"s very steady."
"I only wish I"d practiced years ago. To think of the time I"ve wasted!"
He shook his head. "I wish you"d quit thinking that. Erini, if there"s one thing I know, you"ve not wasted time. You have a husband and a beautiful young daughter. You"ve made Melicard a king more accessible to the people"s needs." Cabe waved a hand at the rows of neatly arranged books. "You"ve encouraged learning to read. The only access I ever had to reading was what Hadeen the elf owned. In fact, the only reason I ever learned to read was because of him. Now, you threaten to make Talak second only to Penacles in the education of its subjects." He folded his arms. "I could give more examples, but that should be sufficient."
"I threaten to make Talak second to none, actually," the slim monarch replied. The smile had not only returned, but it had spread. "You are correct, Cabe, but I still cannot help feeling angry at myself for all those years I left my power to languish."
"You"d seen too much death and destruction. It wasn"t what you were raised for."
"Neither were you."
Cabe shook his head. "I am Nathan Bedlam"s grandson and the birth child of Azran. If I wasn"t raised to be in the midst of trouble, I don"t know who is. Somehow, trouble generally finds me . . . which brings me back to why I"m here." The warlock leaned forward, his voice quiet. "I"d hoped to find Darkhorse here. I can detect traces of his presence, but nothing strong enough to tell me if he is near or where he might have gone. I need his aid, if he"s willing to give it, on a journey into the midst of the Legar Peninsula."
"You are talking about the Crystal Dragon"s domain!"
"I am. This is no ordinary trek, either. If it were, I might be willing to travel alone. Under normal circ.u.mstances, the Crystal Dragon would ignore me unless I tried to invade his caverns."
Erini"s gaze was steady. "And now?"
"And now, there may be an army camped in the very midst of his kingdom. An army under the banner of the wolf."
"The Aramites? The rumors are true?" She paled slightly. "I think that perhaps Melicard should be here. Commander Iston, too." Iston, a native of Erini"s homeland, had, for the past several years, been Talak"s chief intelligence gatherer.
"Please!" Cabe almost jumped from his chair. "Not until I"m gone. Then you can tell him everything. The important thing is that I need to discover just exactly what is happening. That"s why I was hoping to find Darkhorse."
"And if you don"t find him?"
"Then I"ll go there alone."
Her left hand tightened into a fist and her voice grew deathly quiet. "Gwendolyn would never accept that."
"She won"t know until it"s too late. I"ll make certain of that if I have to, Erini. I won"t have her coming after me."
It was clear that she did not agree with him, but she finally nodded. "As you wish, Cabe. This means that I must help you find Darkhorse no matter what. I would never be able to face Gwen if something happened to you because I failed to locate him for you."
"She"d never hold you responsible."
"No, but I would." The queen rose, smoothed her dress with her hands, and stared off into s.p.a.ce, her perfect features twisting into an expression of intense concentration. "He"s not been here of late and I"ve not been expecting him. Therein lies our greatest problem. There are two places that we generally meet, though. One lies within the palace and the other far beyond Talak"s high walls."
"Outside?" The notion that Melicard would allow Erini to wander beyond the safety of the city rather surprised the warlock.
"If you think that your relationship with my husband has its tentative moments, you should ask Darkhorse about his own experiences. The only thing that truly holds them together is me, Cabe. Melicard is grateful for what the shadow steed did for me when Mal Quorin, my husband"s traitorous counselor, sought to take Talak for his master, the Silver Dragon. Darkhorse knows that I love Melicard. Both of them, however, remember the circ.u.mstances under which they met, when my husband-to-be had poor Drayfitt snare and imprison the eternal and even torture him in his quest to make Darkhorse his servant."
Cabe shivered. He recalled that. Darkhorse was not a forgiving sort, either, not that anyone could blame him.
"Sometimes, especially when I am around, they are very cordial, almost friendly, but their mutual past always returns. That"s why there are times when it is better to visit Darkhorse in a place far from the eyes of my husband. I love my husband but I will not abandon my friends . . . as you know."
"I do." Rising, the blue-robed spellcaster readied himself for what was to come. "Where"s the first location? The one in the palace."
"My private rooms." She took his hand. "Please. Allow me."
Even as the queen finished speaking, the scene around them shifted. They now stood in the midst of a vast, elegant suite of the like that made Cabe stare in open awe. Huge columns stood in each corner of the chamber, the white marble decorated with golden flowers so lifelike he at first thought them real. The floor was also marble, but of different colors arranged in a beautiful abstract pattern. Long, thick fur rugs ran from the ma.s.sive wooden bed to each of the four doorways. Where there were no doors, gay tapestries decorated the walls. A row of closets spoke of the volumes of clothing royalty wore, as did the wide mirror to the side of the closets.
The bed and the rest of the wooden furniture in the suite had all been carved from the now-rare northern oak. The wood had not been so rare at the time of their creation, but the winter of the Ice Dragon had created enough damage that the oaks had still not yet recovered. Despite the magic that had been used to reverse the effects of the magical winter, the most northern places had still suffered much too much.
As impressive as his surroundings were, they paled in comparison to what the queen had just done. "You did that without flaw, Erini! I waited, thinking I"d probably have to help you along, but you brought us here as if you"d been practicing for years."
"No, for some reason I find that spell easier to perform. It only took me three or four attempts to master the proper concentration for it. Why is that, do you think?"
Cabe shrugged. "Gwen is the one who usually has the answers. With me, magic came almost full-blown. That saved my life in the beginning, but it means I never really had the incentive to learn why spells work the way they do. Gwen"s taught me much since then, but that still doesn"t mean I understand completely." He gave her a rueful smile. "Which is why for the fine points, my wife has been instructing you."
"You have both been excellent teachers."
"I muddle through." The warlock again glanced around at the sumptuous apartment. "A room definitely fit for a queen, Erini."
"It is exactly the way it was when I first arrived in Talak. Such a waste of a room," the queen commented dryly. "Since I do not sleep here, the only use it usually gets is when I must be dressed for yet another interminable ball for some amba.s.sador and the necessary gown is not among those in my closets in our royal suite. Still, there are times when it"s nice to be alone . . . and it gives Darkhorse and me a place to talk. The library is too cramped, too."
"Then why do you need the other location? This seems private enough."
"Darkhorse rarely talks below a roar, Cabe. You should know that." Erini strolled around the room, visibly recalling memories. Cabe knew that this was where she had first stayed after her arrival in Talak. This apartment had been her refuge in the days when she had first struggled to be accepted by the disfigured king, whose torn mind had been further turned to the dark by his malicious counselor. He did not doubt that she kept it as it was rather than alter it to some other use simply because of those precious memories.
As loath as he was to interrupt her reverie, he knew he had to. The day was advancing quickly. "Your Majesty . . . Erini . . ."
"Yes, he is not here, of course." Her memories put aside for now, the slim monarch pondered the matter at hand. "That only leaves the hills. I wish I could be more help to you. Can you not follow his trace?"
"Too old and too faint. It also crosses itself so many times, I couldn"t tell which way he went last. If he teleported, that makes it even closer to impossible."
"And I thought magic made everything easy."
"Sometimes it makes things more convoluted and frustrating, not to mention life-threatening. There"re times when I wish I was back in that tavern, still waiting on tables and getting threatened by half-drunk ogres. Dragon Kings, Seekers, Quel . . . I could do without all of them."
"But not without the Lady Gwendolyn, I imagine." The queen moved to the center of the room and reached out a hand to him.
"Makes everything else worthwhile." Cabe took her hand and steadied himself, more comfortable now that he knew that Erini was adept at this spell.
"I hope you tell her that on occasion," Erini responded even as their surroundings shifted from the planned elegance of civilization to the raw beauty of nature. She released his hand and stepped away from him in order to better survey the region. The hills were actually the beginning of the Tyber Mountains, but somewhere in the planning, they had been cheated of the great height of their brothers. While few folk ever cared to make the journey through the treacherous chain, the hills did garner some traffic of their own. There was good grazing land here, not to mention the only decent wood within a day"s ride of the city. Talak, for all it had, was forced to go to its more outward lands to fill its wood needs.
There were dangers here, of course, but generally only the ordinary ones such as wolves and the rare wyvern or minor drake. Since the death of the Dragon Emperor, Melicard"s vast forces had worked hard to clear every corner of the kingdom of the monsters and larger beasts that had once preyed on travelers. For the most part, they had been quite successful.
"I was afraid of this, Cabe. I doubted he would be here, but it was the only place left that I could bring you."
He nodded, his smile one of resignation rather than pleasure. "I didn"t think it would be easy. I"ve got a few other ideas, but I was hoping that I"d find him with or near you."
Erini was downcast, but then her face brightened. "I can help you search for him! The teleportation spell is my best. I should have thought of that before. It will cut your searching by nearly half!"
"No."
"No?" Her tone became frost. "Do you think to command me, Cabe?"
"In this instance, yes, Your Majesty. You are too important to Melicard, Talak, and, because of both, the rest of the Dragonrealm. If anything happened to you, what would the king do? Think on that before you answer me."
She did. He watched as her face fell. Both of them were too familiar with Melicard"s moods. It was Erini who had changed him for the better, but those changes might slip away if she was injured or even . . .
Her eyes suddenly widened. "There"s . . . I think there might be one more place to search, Cabe. It"s a thin possibility, but it just might be . . ."
"Where?"
"I"ll have to take you there; it"s . . . it"s the only way to make certain we arrive at the proper location."
The warlock caught the hesitation in her voice. "Where is it, Erini?"
"In the Northern Wastes."
"I forbid you from coming! Tell me approximately where and I"ll go there my-"
Erini stalked up to Cabe and gave him her most royal glare. He hesitated just long enough for her to interject, "You can forbid me nothing this time, Cabe Bedlam! As frustrating as it is to me personally, I concede to you that it would be better for us if I did not risk myself! I love Melicard, but I agree that if I were injured or even came close to harm he might, in his unreasoning anger, do something that we would all regret! I have a very good reason, however, for needing to lead you to this one last location. The Northern Wastes are nearly half the size of the rest of the continent and far more troublesome to search. You could pa.s.s within yards of the area and not see Darkhorse standing before you. I can lead you to the exact spot; like him, I will never forget it."
Her skin was pale and her body trembled. Queen Erini stared at Cabe in such a manner that he knew she would have actually preferred not to make this final trek. Only the importance of his mission compelled her to do so.
"What is this place, Erini?" he asked quietly. "And why would it have such a hold on both you and Darkhorse?"
"Because it is where the warlock Shade died."
HE HAD NEVER been able to convince himself that the blur-faced warlock was dead. At the same time, he had never been able to convince himself that Shade was still alive.
So Darkhorse had searched the world and beyond for nearly a decade, always wondering if the human who had been both his friend and enemy was merely one step ahead of him, watching and waiting for the proper time to emerge. One part of the shadow steed hoped and prayed that the weary sorcerer was at last at peace. The other missed the good incarnations of the man, for only Shade had ever come close to understanding Darkhorse"s own emptiness.
Which was why, Erini told Cabe before they departed for the Wastes, he often stood for days at the site where the warlock had simply faded away after expending all his might in a last effort to make up for what he had become.
When they materialized in the midst of the freezing, windwracked tundra of the Northern Wastes, it was almost as if he had been waiting for them. The queen brought them to a point barely ten feet from where the huge ebony stallion was situated.
Darkhorse slowly turned his ma.s.sive head toward them. His ice-blue eyes seemed to burn into the warlock"s very soul. The eternal"s voice was a thunderous rumble even despite the rather subdued tone. "Erini. Cabe. It"s good to see both of you. This is not a place for your kind, however."
"We . . . we came in . . . in search of you, Darkhorse," the queen managed.
Studying her, Cabe Bedlam grew worried. Erini was a competent sorceress, but it was possible that she had overextended herself. He had provided himself with a heavy cloak to offset the cold, but she had not done the same even though the need should have been obvious. The warlock quickly remedied the situation.
Erini gave him a weak smile. "Thank you."
Darkhorse"s hooves kicked away snow and ice as he moved closer. At his present height, he was half again the size of a normal steed. Size, however, was irrelevant to a creature who could manipulate his form in ways no other shapeshifter could. Had he chosen, the ebony eternal could have become as small as a rabbit, even smaller. He need not have resembled a horse, either. Somewhere in the far, forgotten past, Darkhorse had hit upon the form and found it to his liking. The black stallion rarely shifted anymore, although occasionally his body would resemble more the shadow of a horse than the real animal. Cabe had decided that this last was an almost unconscious action. There were things that were normal for a human to do; the same likely could be said even for as unique an ent.i.ty as the black leviathan before them.
"You should not be out here in the cold, Queen Erini!" roared Darkhorse. It was almost necessary to roar; the wind had picked up. A storm was building. It was hard for the warlock to believe that anything could live in the Northern Wastes, but many creatures did. "We should return to Talak! It will be much more cozy there . . . at least for you two!" The demonic steed chuckled.
"I-" was as far as Erini got. Suddenly she was falling toward Cabe. He caught her at the last moment and stumbled back under her sudden weight. Darkhorse"s eyes glittered. He trotted a few more steps toward them.
"What ails her?"
Cabe adjusted his grip. "She pushed herself too far! She insisted that she be the one to bring us here and like a fool I agreed!"
Darkhorse snorted. "I doubt you had much choice with her! Best take her back to her chambers quick!"
"The private ones where you two sometimes meet?"
"You know them? Good! Take her there! I shall follow! Perhaps, if we are fortunate, good Melicard will be out running down drakes or some such foolishness! Hurry now!"
Tightening his hold, the warlock teleported- -and found himself face-to-face with King Melicard, who stood within the suite, one hand on the door handle. Another moment and it was likely they would have missed one another, for he was turned as if just planning to depart.
There were still those to whom the lord of Talak was an effrontery or even a thing of horror. Melicard no longer cared what those people thought. Erini and Princess Lynnette were the only two whose opinions mattered to him and they, of course, loved him dearly.
Despite the yoke of leadership he had worn for almost two decades, Melicard at first glance still looked very much like the handsome young prince that Cabe, with his own rather ordinary features, had always secretly envied. Tall and athletic with brownish hair just now turning a bit to gray, he had once been the desire of many a woman, both royal and common. If Erini was the storybook princess, then Melicard, with his strong, angular features and commanding presence, was the hero of the tale.
He was still handsome . . . but now more than half of his face was a magical reconstruction. The left side from above the eye down to the lower jaw was completely silver in color, for that was the natural shade of elfwood. Much of the nose was the same and there were even streaks of silver stretching across to the right side, almost like a pattern of roots seizing hold of what little good flesh remained of the king"s visage.
Magic had stolen most of his face and because of that, the damage had proved impossible to repair. Only elfwood, carved into a reproduction of his very features, could give King Melicard the illusion of normalcy. The wondrous wood, blessed, so legend said, by the spirit of a dying forest elf, was capable of mimicking the movements of true flesh. The more the wearer believed in it, the better it pretended. It could never replace what had been lost, but for Melicard the choice had been the mask or the monster beneath. For the sake of his own sanity and the princess he was to marry, Melicard had chosen the former.
He was clad in a black riding outfit that covered him from neck to foot, including his hands. Melicard generally wore outfits with long sleeves and always used gloves, but not for reasons of fashion. The ravaging forces that had taken much of his face had also taken from him his left arm. Had he removed his gloves, Cabe knew that the king"s hand would also be silver. The king could not so easily disguise his features, but he could at least hide his arm.
"Warlock! What are you-" His eyes, both real and not, focused on his beloved queen. "Erini!"
"She"ll be all right, Your Majesty," Cabe quickly said. "Just help me carry her to the bed, if you please."
Melicard was already moving. The two of them helped Erini walk to the bed; the novice sorceress was not actually unconscious, but seemed lost to the world around her.
When they had her lying down comfortably, Melicard hastened to the door and flung it open. Cabe, glancing up, saw two very nervous guards come to attention.
"Get Magda!" the disfigured monarch roared. "Get Galea! Get someone for the queen! She"s been hurt! Now!" He did not wait for them to respond, but rather turned immediately back to the bed, slamming the heavy door shut behind him as he did.
Cabe immediately stood up and faced him. He could not allow Melicard"s anger any leverage. He had to meet the king man-to-man and make him listen.
It was at that time that Darkhorse made the unfortunate decision to materialize. Melicard fell back from the newcomer, but Darkhorse did not notice him at first. "Does she fare better? How-" The pupilless eyes froze when they fell upon the furious king, who stood against one side as if the shadow steed filled the entire room. "Melicard . . ."
"I should have known you would be involved, demon! You may be virtually indestructible, but my queen is not! My Erini-"
"Is to blame for her troubles, my love."
The three turned to the bed, where a still pale Erini was forcing herself up to a sitting position. She succeeded only as far as leaning on one elbow. Lines of strain marred her beauty.
"Erini!" Melicard, forgetting any pretense of dignity, ran to the side of the bed and hugged the queen.
"Gently, dear Melicard," she gasped. "I"m not yet fully recovered."
"Praise be!" Darkhorse bellowed. "You had us all fearful, dear Erini! You must take greater care in the future!"
"Greater care . . ." The king turned to face the warlock and the steed. "What did you make her do?"