Dragon's Son, page 12
“Yes, you’ve said that. The gods brought you back from the brink!” Sebastian threw up his arms theatrically and then glowered. “Was it patriotic fury, though? Or was it for vengeance against Villian? Was this ever for Beotia?”
“Yes!” Alexis cried. “I love Beotia! You know that! Everything I’ve done is for Beotia! Everything I ever wanted was Beotia! If I am awash with hatred for Villian, let me be so. He squandered what he should have treasured. I hated him for it then, and I hate him for it now. He will never have Beotia, whether to rule it or destroy it.”
“Yes!” Sebastian snapped, giving a curt, approving nod, but he did not blink. “And then?”
“I will obliterate Villian and all his children. I will leave none of his army alive!”
“And then?” Sebastian pressed.
Alexis’s fervor went as cold as the mountain peaks. He quivered, looking away.
“And this is why I fear,” Sebastian whispered. Hurt and grief ached in his accusing tone. “You don’t know whether you’ll be human after this. You have no idea. You told Beotia what they wanted to hear—”
“What they needed to hear.”
“But it was a lie.”
Alexis tried to shake his head, but he couldn’t. He stood bent like a broken man. “It was patriotic fury, Sebastian,” he murmured, “but it happened so fast. Villian left me for dead, and I shouted. I was delirious with pain. I felt fury. I was drowning in fury. I would not let Villian destroy Beotia. I felt that resolve stronger than my wounds. Then, I awoke in Unimar, and I had changed. It was hardly even a choice. I mean, I chose it. But I didn’t want it. It happened so fast.”
“You do not know if you can change back.” Sebastian’s voice was crippled.
“I know nothing,” Alexis confessed. “I don’t know if I can beat Villian, and I don’t know if I can change back. I wonder now if I would rather have died. I’ve lost everything. How can I go home after this? I’m a dragon; I can’t have Beotia any more than Villian can. I suppose, in a way, I actually have died. I’m dying. I’m slipping into a mindless doom, bound to salivate over treasure and meat and mischief. I don’t know what’s going to happen to me. I told the kingdom I would change back because I had to tell them something, and I wanted to believe it was true, but it was all just politics.”
The corners of Sebastian’s mouth were arched downward.
“I’ve not been letting myself think about it,” Alexis added. “All that matters is that Villian is destroyed.”
“Much more matters than that,” Sebastian growled.
Alexis sat with a sigh. “Yes, well, the rest is beyond my hands, isn’t it? I’ve done this to myself. There’s no turning back, not that I can see. All I can do is kill Villian and hope that my father recovers. Maybe then I’ll have time to think of something. The kingdom will need a new crown prince.”
It was quiet for a moment.
“You know, I’ve never much cared about your father,” Sebastian said. “Prior to this, I really didn’t care what happened to him. My loyalty has always been to you.”
Alexis smiled. “I know. I’m sorry for abusing you tonight. I’m…” he faltered, conscious of a new but already wearisome urge to deny his guilt. “I’m not who I used to be. I’m losing, Sebastian. I knew I would change. I didn’t think I would change this fast.”
He half expected Sebastian to give him the nauseating drivel about challenging the gods.
Quietly, the Eldonian prince approached, crouching so their eyes were level, and laid a gloved hand on Alexis’s arm. “You are my brother, no matter how you change.”
“What plans we had,” Alexis chuckled softly. “Eldenon was to be Beotian at last!”
“It will be. Beotia is my country, and you are still my captain. Be strong, like you’ve always been. Unbreakable, unflappable. Make it to the end, brother.”
Alexis studied him, seeing despair battling the stubborn hope that was ever in Sebastian’s face.
“You know, I rather wish we really were brothers,” Alexis said at length. “At least then I’d know what to do after killing Villian.”
“Kill me, too?” Sebastian guessed.
“Make you king.”
Sebastian scowled, but then seemed to realize Alexis wasn’t joking. “Oh, enough doom and gloom. Amarea will rule if you die or exile yourself to the mountains. Or better yet, you’ll discover your lie was the truth and you’ll transform into a human again. We don’t know what will happen.”
“Maximor’s blade, idiot, I thought for a moment I could rely on you to be sensible.”
Sebastian grinned.
Alexis looked at the dirt.
Several minutes passed.
Sighing, Sebastian stood. “Get some rest. I read in a book that dragons heal rapidly when they sleep. Is that true?”
“Yes.”
Sebastian nodded and turned, but then hesitated. “The cavern is big enough for you to sleep in whichever form you prefer.”
Without looking back, he then moved away a goodly distance, settling on the opposite side.
Alexis yearned to change into dragon form, but the idea of doing so made his soul sick. Finding a blanket, he curled beneath it, grimly determined to make it through at least half the night as a human. His thoughts rolled through his brain, however, and after an hour, his eyes still hadn’t closed.
Sitting up, he went quietly to the barrels of supplies. Sebastian did not stir—he had always fallen asleep easily, even during that siege three years ago, where they’d almost run out of food.
After finding what he was looking for, Alexis resettled closer to a brazier for light. His right hand quivered a bit, weak but functional.
“Dear Amarea,” he wrote.
Yet then he stopped, as he’d done every time he’d tried to answer her on this mission. Writing to her would mean lying again. What feelings could he truthfully convey without confessing that he may be lost to her?
She loved him, or at least she wanted to. A certainty filled him that his death would break her heart. The thought of paining her prematurely crushed him. He wanted to give her what she was hoping for: a letter that was genuine, but how could he paint pictures of hopes he’d surrendered? He would not let his last words to her be deceit.
He inked his pen again and tried afresh.
“I cannot write you letters, sweet one. Whatever might happen to me, I don’t want you to think of it, not yet. But I must write to you somehow, and since I’ve left the journal at home, I will write on these loose papers. I will give them to Sebastian, and then, regardless of my fate, be it death by Villian or death at my own desperate hands, you will read words that are at last honest. Burn all my older ones. Remember me only by what I write to you here. Now that I’ve met you, I cannot have you. Now that I love you, I am bound to lose you. But I must tell you how I feel.”
Amarea
One day finished.
I am told Fort Gaius is three days from Unimar, and thus, neither of my letters from yesterday will have reached you.
It is too late to recall the heralds, but a part of me wishes I had not mentioned Publius and Gabras’s mischief involving the guards. I was not explicit in my suspicions, for I could not prove their motives, but I hoped you would read between the lines, see the signs of treason, and come home. Judging from today’s council discussion, however, it seems imperative that you stay and kill Villian as soon as possible. I suppose I could send you a third letter, counseling against your return, but I haven’t. As was determined, I will wait and let you decide.
I assembled the lords this morning, and from the start, the consequences of last night’s unrest were plain. Publius and Gabras made little effort to explain away the overstep with Barnabas and his men, and Lord Dukas did not pretend any further that he had concealed Pereas’s death from me out of pity.
We got down to the point. Questions commenced. Publius, Gabras, and Dukas were of a mind, and they were stern. “What if,” they asked, “His Highness is a dragon forever?”
They asked this question in multiple forms. Many times, I found they had manipulated the conversation in such a way that we were all debating what to do now that you were a dragon for good. Lord Scipio and Lord Targus were my sharpest, most active allies. By the close of the first hour, it was a rhetorical battle between the three of us and the three of them, with one side pretending it was a given that our prince was forever a dragon, and the other side reminding them and all the rest that they did not know what they were talking about and that you, Alexis, had promised us you would re-transform. When the dead-end became apparent, Publius, Gabras, and Dukas conceded that only time would tell. Looking back, I believe they were merely changing tactics. They began afresh, challenging, for Beotia’s sake, whether it was not wise to at least prepare for the possibility of you being doomed. Publius spoke of the succession. I found this deeply insensitive, and apparently, so did others, and a great many lords condemned him. Despite the outcry, however, the question had hit its mark. The lack of an heir suddenly weighed heavily on the room. If your dragonhood did prove permanent, what then? Even if you insisted on ruling us—and what other choice would we have or want?—what of any heir I might conceive? Dragons, it was realized, would rule Beotia ever after. I wish I had responded better to the inquiry. I should have again reminded them not to fear, for you will again be human. You promised us. You promised me. Do not prove yourself a liar, Alexis, I beg you.
In the end, nothing was decided, because on this topic, none of us had the wisdom or authority to decide or change anything. A thought had entered my head, however, and after mulling it over, I put it into practice.
You have ten adult half siblings, including Adana. Despite her legitimate birth, Adana’s marriage to Sebastian’s elder brother neutralizes her as a threat. She is the Queen of Eldenon, and recalling her would mean submitting to her husband. Desperation would be great indeed before Beotia submitted to the kingdom they’d spent generations working to peacefully annex. Yet you have brothers and sisters here in Beotia, most married off to various lords and ladies, and many with numerous children.
You must not have feared these siblings, or else they would have been dispatched. Yet I fear them. You have been crown prince for over a decade, but it cannot be forgotten that you were natural born. If laws were bent for you, someone might try bending them for another.
I have given quiet orders for your siblings to be watched. If they are wise, they will keep their eyes averted from the palace and numb their ears to any treasonous suit.
Yet if they turn their sights on your throne, I will know of it.
Alexis
When he woke, Alexis’s arm was vastly improved. He had written fourteen sheets to Amarea before fatigue overtook him, and, after folding them and wrapping them in a cloth, he’d wearily given into his craving and transformed into a dragon. This proved to be for the best. His instincts had warned him that his human form did not heal as quickly as his dragon form.
Alexis did not wake until dawn, and by then, Cassius and Sebastian had long been active. According to Sebastian’s report, Cassius and his company had gone out two and a half hours after the attack, as protocol prescribed. As Cassius had predicted, the dragons had gotten bored and departed in the expected time frame, leaving the hale Beotians free to recover the wounded and the dead.
A couple of hours after sunrise, the cave had become the new headquarters. Fort Gaius, impregnable for hundreds of years, had lost most of its ballistas, rendering it defenseless. Of the men who’d stayed behind to defend it, few had survived.
The brotherhood of a dragon slayer company was iron-strong. The ten-member groups trained together for years.
Many had lost soul brothers that night.
Strolling amongst the incoming trickle of survivors, Alexis Comnenus looked into the eyes of man after man and felt his human heart shouting at his dragon heart. A tragedy of this scale should have sent him into the aching, stoic resolve that such defeats always brought. He should be fighting crippling desolation with a steely determination to rise again and a grim understanding that such tragedies were sometimes the way of life. Yet today, Alexis’s spirit nigh broke because he knew how little he cared.
He truly was dying. How had he not seen it happening? Had Villian always been so heartless? How had Villian not been dismayed by the lack of empathy?
Alexis forced himself to look into as many faces as he could. He would feel their grief. He would care. Inside, he felt anger, but it was mostly an animalistic indignation that Villian had gotten such a high upper hand. Where was the grief for his men?
Alexis eventually gave up, retiring to the cave to make plans with Sebastian and Cassius.
Sebastian looked positively ashen. Alexis had encountered a shine of optimism in his eye that morning, but when he’d handed over Amarea’s letter, quietly requesting that Sebastian see she receive it when the time came, the shine had left and not returned.
“If we keep the companies hidden amongst the mountain hideouts,” Cassius said, “Villian cannot again inflict such massive casualties. But he will begin searching for us, and he will find us, one hideout after the other, if we do not find him first.”
Alexis nodded without enthusiasm.
Sebastian didn’t even bother with a nod.
“You should search for Villian’s lair in this area today.” Cassius circled the location on the map with his finger, looking at each prince in turn until they met his eyes. When they did, he nodded and continued, “You are bound to discover him at some point. We cannot afford to slow down. I summoned reinforcements this morning—I asked your permission, Your Highness, and you gave it. I’m not certain you were paying attention. We could set a trap, try to kill several dragons at once. How, I don’t know, but with mass assault having worked so well, they are bound to try it again, and we should make use of it.”
“It would be another slaughter,” Alexis muttered. He shook his head. “Small traps. Lure the dragons one by one. Villian can clearly muster them for large assaults, but so far, he’s proven inept at keeping them out of your snares. Where are we going today?” He leaned dutifully over the map.
“Here, sire.” Cassius circled the area again. “There are several locations of interest. There’s a cave deep in this forest here and another here. Five miles south of this lake is a mountain with a cliff face called King Rock.”
Alexis looked up.
“It is an old lair, and—”
“Wait, King Rock, you say?”
Cassius hesitated, looking at the map briefly and nodding. “Yes, King Rock. It’s a good location. With a lake nearby, it’s undoubtably occupied.”
Alexis gaped. “That’s it! That has to be it!”
Cassius and Sebastian exchanged glances.
“Are you sure?” Sebastian prodded.
“It’s just like him,” Alexis breathed. “King Rock—of course! He wouldn’t be able to resist, the tyrant. When we were children, we used to play games, and he was always the king. Nearly every time, even when we pretended to be silly things like animals, he would end up crowning himself somehow. It couldn’t be me, and it couldn’t be any other child we met. King Rock—if a place named that existed, he wouldn’t settle anywhere else.”
“We should go straight there,” Sebastian said.
“Get your armor.” Alexis was certain his eyes were glinting, but he had never felt more Beotian in his life.
Amarea
My letters must have reached you by now. You will have learned at last of your father’s death. You will have learned of the guards being switched.
The city is stable, or I am being deceived again.
I continue preparing for your father’s funeral, but tonight, Barnabas’s suspicions gnaw at me. Perhaps it was coincidental that Barnabas and his fellows were dismissed shortly before the king’s death. It was not as though their presence would have prevented an assassination, for none of them were stationed near the king. More likely, they were removed in anticipation of your return. Publius, Gabras, and Dukas would not want your devoted soldiers in the palace if they found a coup to be necessary. The physicians insist Pereas’s wounds were enough to kill him.
I have no proof of poison, and thus, I make no arrests or accusations.
A dread fills my bones tonight, however, for I do not feel myself. I am never ill, and yet today, I found myself somewhat bilious. It came on suddenly and went away slowly. Twice. Perhaps I have merely overtaxed myself.
But I am writing it here, regardless.
Alexis, I do not feel myself.
Part Five
Alexis
In a little over three hours, Alexis spied the peak and the lake, and was soon soaring over the water. They found the cave in short order; a gaping hole in a cliff face that overlooked a wooded valley. The cave was accessible by no visible trail, and it was difficult to say which stone was the “King Rock”, as there were several large stones attached to the cliff above and below the cave.
Alexis landed in a forest glade some two miles away. Sebastian dismounted, Alexis transformed, and the two men walked a mile and a half on foot, coming to a promontory above the valley, directly across from the cave.
“We should fly closer,” Sebastian said, breaking the protracted silence that had fallen over them. He had removed his mask at the start of the hike, attaching it to his belt. “I will fetch a pebble for you.”
Alexis shook his head, eyes fixed on the cave. “No need. I can smell him from here. It’s faint, but I can smell him. He’s lived here for a long time. We have him.”
“Then let’s go back.” Sebastian’s whisper quaked with excitement. “We’ve found him! Let’s go get the others and kill him!”
“No! No, Sebastian, we have him! We can kill him together!” Alexis seized his friend’s arm.
“No, don’t even think it!” Sebastian gasped.
