I spun around and called up to Rabbit. “Do you still have the shaman’s flower?”
She nodded and gave me a thumbs-up.
We could do this.
“You three, take some!” I called up to them. “Then have Laya toss down a package!”
The distance had me worried. I could have had our teleporting half-elf go up and get it, but I felt the press of time. There was no telling when the dragon—dragons—would return for us. When Robin left for those two, I wanted him to have company.
In a few moments I saw Laya back up, then run forward. She had rigged her belt into a sling, and she swung it up and forward with a snap, sending a small bundle tumbling into the air. It arced up and started falling toward us. Krys ran up as the package bounced off the cliff wall about ten feet above her and perilously close to the near edge of our ledge.
She plucked it out of the air before it tumbled back out over the thousand-foot drop.
Okay. What’s the plan after we escape?
We’re not escaping, Lucille. They are.
You better explain that.
Just listen as I tell Robin what I want him to do.
• • •
To her credit, Lucille didn’t start calling me insane until I told Robin what to do after leading Sir Forsythe to where Dracheslayer had fallen, and the girls back to Lendowyn Castle.
That can’t possibly—
Events prevented me from elaborating on our dearth of options. I heard Laya yell, somewhat slow and distant, “They’re coming back!”
I glanced back and saw a trio of large shadows cross the front of the mountain. Looking up, the three dragons were just dots in a cloudless blue sky.
Oh crap.
“Move now!” I called as I turned back. Robin had anticipated me. He was already gone. Krys and Sir Forsythe held hands and looked past me with somewhat dazed and unfocused expressions. Krys reached toward me, and her hand shimmered and passed right through my body. I saw her eyes widen as she took a step toward me and vanished.
I spun around to look at the ledge where Laya, Thea, and Rabbit had been, and they were already gone.
I didn’t realize I’d been holding my breath until I exhaled in relief.
I looked to the other side, and saw Elhared standing on his ledge, the odd man out, along with me and Lucille.
I followed Elhared’s gaze with my own and watched the dragon trio descend. In a few moments Sebastian would be here and all four of us would be together for the first time since that cave over a year ago.
Princess. Thief. Dragon. Wizard.
I lifted the elf-king’s pendant and gazed into the tiny hourglass. As I watched, the final few grains of sand started to tumble from one side to the other.
You better be right about this.
I know.
CHAPTER 28
A trio of dragons descended from the sky, the familiar blocky black form of Sebastian, flanked by two smaller companions, the left one green, the right one cobalt blue. As they closed on our section of the cliff, I could see Sebastian’s blocky head swing back and forth. I saw Sebastian’s eyes widen at what he saw.
Actually, I suppose, what he didn’t see: the missing prisoners.
He looks angry.
Yeah.
Sebastian the Dragon bellowed. Even from a hundred feet away, I felt the hot brimstone wind from his breath and the sound was enough to knock me back on my heels. The sound was filled with roars and painful screeches and I initially thought it was an expression of inarticulate rage. But then his companions screeched in kind, and I realized that I was listening to dragons’ native speech.
It was the kind of language that would have made an idle comment about the weather sound like a battle cry from the depths of all the Seven Hells. I leave it to the imagination what actual anger sounded like.
After a midair brain-melting exchange consisting of syllables sounding as if they’d been manufactured by the torture of molten granite, Sebastian’s two companions flew away. The green one flew up, over the top of the cliff. The blue one flew down, to follow the cliff’s base.
Looking for escapees?
That’d be my guess.
Remind me why we’re not one of them?
Remember the plan.
I had to stumble back all the way to the cliff wall, as Sebastian chose my ledge to make his landing. The downdraft from his massive wings pressed me against the stone. Then a wall of black scales and muscle blotted out the sky, the distant mountain, and every other thing in the world.
Sebastian landed offset to my right, toward the ledge where Rabbit and Laya had been. He lowered his massive head, snaking his neck in front of me to look at me from my left, blocking my view of Elhared.
“Hello, Francis.”
I hate it when people use that name.
How long is it until nightfall?
Diplomacy, remember?
It took a moment to find my voice. “Hello, Sebastian.”
“And how was your year?”
I opened my mouth, then I closed it.
“You transformed from a useless, lowly thief into a noble hero.”
“That’s not quite—”
Sebastian slammed a scaled hand down in front of me, the taloned fingers just missing me, peppering my legs with gravel as they dug into the stone at my feet.
“You stole my life!” Sebastian screamed into my face with marrow-boiling rage. “Abandoned me to the tender mercies of the elf-king!”
“I don’t think—”
“You don’t think?” He lifted his massive head and screamed into the heavens in a jet of crimson fire. My skin burned from the proximity, and I felt dozens of pinprick burns from the resulting shower of ash blowing from the superheated rock above.
Diplomacy, he said.
Bad timing, Lucille.
“Can we talk about this?” I don’t think I could have made Lucille’s voice sound more like a little girl.
“Talk?” Another belch of flame came perilously close, and I think the dragon was laughing at me. “Talk then, Francis. Explain yourself.”
“I’m sorry about the elves. Really. I should have done that different. But I was concentrating on Lucille . . .”
“Of course.”
“I had more leverage than I realized. I didn’t think I could get more than I did.”
Sebastian shook his head. “No.” He raised a taloned finger from near my feet and tapped the point of it on my chest hard enough to push me back against the stone wall. “You knew exactly what you had. You chose to leave me bound there. You chose.”
I nodded. “Okay, I chose. I’ve been known for bad decisions. But there are other things going on now. The elf-king is going to war as we speak.”
“Should I care?”
“Your debt—”
The talon fell from my chest and Sebastian laughed at the sky.
“—is funny?”
“The debt was the service of this body, Francis. You absolved that debt to free your dear Lucille. There are no liens on me now, nor will there be.”
“I see . . .”
“Do you?” He withdrew his head and leaned back on his haunches so he towered above me. “Why did you and your entourage come to my domain?”
I straightened up, now that I wasn’t being backed into the wall. “Do you have any idea how many people you killed and injured at my banquet? In the villages you and your companions have attacked? In the war that might result?”
“I am a dragon. What else do you expect? Death, mayhem, screams of terror, that’s what we do.”
“And you didn’t expect anyone to come after you?”
“Oh, the knight was expected. You? You’re here for different reasons.”
I nodded. “I’m trying to prevent—”
“I
know what you’re trying to prevent. Again, why should I care? I have no love for you and yours, and even less for the arrogant posturing of Timoras. I will have them all burn.”
I stared up at him, gaping.
“You think this was all unplanned? If the knight had not saved me the trouble, I would have ended the prince myself once he served his purpose.”
“Why?”
“To see the elves fall. To see Lendowyn fall under the weight of its arrogance. To see all my enemies burn.”
“So you wouldn’t consider surrendering to Timoras to avoid a pointless war?”
“Still trying to avoid the consequences of your own decisions, Francis?”
I shook my head. “This is your doing now.”
“You inspired me. And I wasn’t the only one.”
“What?”
“You think you and Timoras destroyed just one life with your deal? You think I was the only . . .”
A voice interrupted us. “Are you just going to babble on forever?”
Sebastian snorted a cloud of steam and turned to look in Elhared’s direction. The wizard stood impatiently on the ledge, staring at both of us.
“I was enjoying our chat.”
“Yes, I know, but if you want this done, it should be quick. Before moonrise, and before the escapees return with reinforcements.”
“My harem will find them.”
“Across trails in the fae realms? I think not.”
“Want what done?” I asked. They ignored me.
“Did you get it?” Elhared asked the dragon.
“Yes, yes.” Sebastian jumped backward with a powerful rush of air from his wings. He flew sideways just enough to face the ledge with Elhared. He extended a taloned fist toward the wizard, not the one that had struck grooves in the stone by my feet. He uncurled his fingers, and in the huge palm rested a small carved box.
I recognized it.
That’s the Tear of Nâtlac!
Yeah.
What do they want with that?
Elhared retrieved the box and opened it. His wrinkled face turned up in a cadaverous grin.
“Please tell me you’re still going with our plan,” I whispered to Elhared.
You were right about not trusting him.
That doesn’t make me feel any better.
The dragon retreated from Elhared’s ledge, flew past us, and landed on the far side above us, where Laya and Rabbit had been. Gravel rustled down the cliff as his talons gripped the stone ledge.
“What do you think you’re doing?”
Sebastian cocked his head, “Watching you squirm.”
I spun around and called to Elhared. “You’re still the royal wizard of Lendowyn, right?”
He ignored me. Instead he was using the tip of the jewel to scratch arcane runes in the stone of the ledge.
“You owe us something for getting you away from Timoras!”
Elhared kept working.
“You have an annoying habit of not expounding on your diabolical plans when you have everyone at a disadvantage!”
“Allow me.”
I spun around and looked up at Sebastian. He should have been too far away to loom over us, but somehow his size made up for it.
“You see, after I got myself free—thanks to you, despite your best efforts—I simply planned to destroy you. Simple. Flaying, gutting . . . maybe let you watch your kingdom burn and your friends die first.”
Thanks to me? What does he mean by—
You were going to negotiate with this monster?
Wait a minute. He said earlier, that my deal with Timoras destroyed more than one life.
How close is moonrise? You better be ready to strip that armor.
Queen Fiona.
I’m going to burn that smug expression off his ugly face.
That used to be your face.
I have a prettier one now.
Sebastian continued, oblivious to my own internal dialogue. “But Elhared’s back. That means we can finally fix the original plan.”
“The original plan?”
“The one you disrupted, in a cave, a year ago.”
“But you said . . . Your debt was cleared when I freed Lucille.”
“Yes.”
“Why go on with this then?”
“That was only part of it.” Sebastian stroked his scaly torso. “After all, it was inevitable that the odds would shift in my favor. But he offered more for my body than a canceled debt.”
“What?”
“You were never supposed to be the princess, Francis, and I was never supposed to be the wizard.”
Oh crap.
What?
Now I see what Elhared’s doing.
I stepped toward the center of the ledge and kicked around, my boot scuffing the stone.
“It should have been Elhared and I who married a year ago.”
Oh . . . that just sounds . . . weird.
We’re in no position to criticize.
I’m still burning his face off.
My foot found a good-size rock.
“Control of one kingdom would have been the step to much greater things. And thanks to you, we can pick up where we left off, and I get to keep my body this time.”
I grabbed the rock and hurled it toward Elhared. It arced up and sailed toward his ledge, falling down into the gap between the ledges, bouncing off the cliff on its journey a thousand feet down.
“We don’t even need a ceremony. By Lendowyn law, this body is already the prince.”
“Elhared! You bastard! You were already planning this back at the palace!” I grabbed another rock and threw. This one barely made it two-thirds the distance.
I spun back to look at Sebastian. “What’s the point? The elves are going to raze the kingdom. If not them, there’s the dozen other kingdoms, duchies, and principalities that you’ve incited to war against Lendowyn! They’ve probably already begun. There’ll be nothing left to rule!”
“But the Dragon Prince and his harem will swoop down to save the day. Immolating elves and any other invaders. Meanwhile, Timoras’s army will attack other kingdoms, destroying them as he destroys himself. Our Lendowyn will survive to absorb what pieces remain.”
In my head Lucille’s words burned with brimstone and frustration. Where’s the moon? My moon should be here by now!
I hurled another rock, and it fell far short. It was obvious at this point that I did not have the upper body strength to reprise the last time I’d disrupted Elhared’s spellcasting.
Okay, were-dragon, right?
Right?
I drew a dagger from my belt, shook off my left gauntlet, and slashed myself across the palm.
Ahhhh! That hurt! What are you doing?
The blade’s not silver.
As I watched, the lips of the wound in my hand sealed themselves shut, leaving just a smear of blood behind. I started backing away from Elhared’s ledge.
Sebastian echoed Lucille’s words. “What are you doing?”
Incongruously I realized that Sebastian and Lucille now seemed to have distinct voices.
Frank?
We survived that impact into the palace.
Oh no, you’re not—
Got to stop him, right? Before moonrise.
I unbuckled the straps of our armor as I backed away. I dropped the leather to lighten my load, to the relief of our boobs. I reached the end of the ledge farthest from Elhared, then I sprinted right toward him.
This is insane!
Got a better plan?
I was fast. My legs had much more strength than my upper body. I was under no illusions of my chances in clearing the distance. But I figured I could get close enough for the dagger to count. As for after . . .
Like I said, we h
ad survived slamming into the palace. This fall was about ten times greater, but the same principle should hold.
I hoped.
I sprang up from the ledge, leaping with all the strength my legs could muster. I lined up my aim and, at the top of my arc, I let fly with the dagger. It sailed true, right toward the wizard’s head.
I glanced down at the thousand feet of nothing below my feet.
YOUR PLANS ARE STUPID! Lucille screamed in my head as we began falling.
A huge, scaly black hand plucked us out of the air with a neck-straining jerk. It pulled us back from the drop and up onto our ledge, suspending us over the space between our ledge and Elhared’s.
I was deeply disappointed when I saw the wizard standing there, blotting a bloody cheek with the sleeve of his robe. “Sebastian, you dolt! After what happened last time, you didn’t restrain her while I worked?”
“I wasn’t expecting her to jump.”
“Just hold her.”
“If you—” I started to say.
“Hold her, cover her mouth, and make damn sure her arms aren’t free to throw anything else.” He pressed his sleeve to his cheek and winced, muttering, “At least this time I wasn’t in the middle of the spell.”
He wasn’t? Lucille thought at me as the dragon’s massive fingers covered our face and arms. Then Sebastian brought up his other hand and wrapped it around us as well. Held so tightly, the only parts of our body I could move were our eyebrows and the toe of our left boot.
Elhared sighed and resumed scratching runes into the stone.
I guess he’s writing down the spell, not casting it.
Maybe you caused him to misspell something.
I can hope.
“I’m sorry about—” Sebastian began saying.
“Please. Just be quiet until I’m done here.”
I heard a massive sigh rumble behind us.
That was a stupid risk.
I know. But I think I ran out of smart risks.
Like stalling them till moonrise?
I have to work with what we have.
What about the others?
If Elhared pulls this off, it might be better if those plans don’t work out. I’d been planning on reinforcements, but if Elhared was in the princess’s body, I didn’t want to think about how many complications that would cause, especially if he and Sebastian planned to impersonate me and Lucille.