Darkhorse. More than ever I fear that he’s in grave trouble.”
“I think you are correct.” With a shake of his head, the Gryphon added, “Why is the process of peace always so violent?”
Cabe had no answer. Instead, he simply wrapped his arm around his wife and asked, “Are you ready?”
“Yes.”
Their surroundings altered. The scene of the regent’s assassination became the extravagant chambers put aside for the visiting emperor-to-be. Several draconian guards leapt to action as the pair materialized, but the Green Dragon, standing to one side of the room, signaled for them to relax.
Kyl sat in a tall, cushioned chair next to his bed. At first he stared ahead, but upon the Bedlams’ sudden arrival, he turned to the mages. His eyes gleamed with a combination of anger, confusion, and fear. Grath stood beside him. He looked at the two spell-casters with an unreadable expression.
“They tried to
“Did they catch the assassins?” the Dragon King asked in a quieter, calmer voice.
“The assassins are dead. They either killed themselves or were killed by whoever sent them.”
“Ssso no one claimsss to know, then. Convenient.” Kyl looked to his brother, who only shrugged. The heir leaned back, his hands gripping the chair arms tight. “I want to go back to the Manor.”
“There are still-” began the Green Dragon.
“I want to go back
Under the circumstances, Cabe could not really blame him. Kyl had been confronted with the ugliest of all aspects of rule: the desire by someone to remove him from the throne even before he was allowed to sit on it. The only reason that they had not succeeded was due to the quick but unfortunate interference of Toos. “Kyl, I hope you don’t think that Penacles was responsible for this-”
The handsome face twisted into a look of incredulity. “I think it pretty clear that it wasss not, or at leassst that it wasss nothing to do with the lamented regent, but the fact remainsss that I am not sssafe here!” Kyl’s hands were shaking. He turned to the enchantress. “Missstresss Bedlam! Will you allow me entrance to the Manor?”
Gwendolyn met Cabe’s gaze. “It might be for the best right now.”
“Someone should stay at the Manor, anyway,” he returned. “It might be that Darkhorse will still turn up-”
“Darkhorse?” asked the Green Dragon in a confused tone.
“He’s missing. It may be that he’s fallen prey to the same forces behind this assassination.”
The Dragon King’s only response to that was a low hiss and a nod.
“Will you take usss, then, my lady?” Kyl asked again, more plaintively. “Myssself, my brother, Faras and Ssgayn, and Lord Green?”
The Green Dragon straightened. “With your permission, my liege, I would like to conduct my own invessstigations into this terrible event. Between Massster Bedlam and myself, I think then that we shall have most probabilities covered.”
Kyl was clearly on the edge of collapse. He waved a dismissing hand. “Then by all meansss, go. If you can find the fiendsss resssponsible for this disssassster, then so much the better . . . but I want them brought before me.”
“Of course.”
“If I may,” said a voice from behind Cabe. “I would like to return to the Manor with the others. I can serve no true purpose here.”
The Bedlams turned to find Benjin Traske standing next to a small wall table. He had been so still and quiet that the warlock had not even noted his presence, an unnerving thing to Cabe. Still, it was not as if he had been consciously searching for the man.
The emperor-to-be gave his former teacher a cursory glance. Kyl now seemed only half-aware of what was around him. “If you mussst. I don’t care. I jussst want to go back
Traske bowed, then joined his two former students.
Cabe hugged his wife goodbye. As they pulled one another close, he whispered in her ear. “Keep a very good eye on Kyl and wish me luck. This could be more complicated than we imagined.”
“What are you saying?” she whispered back. “Was Toma responsible for this, too?”
“I don’t think he’s any more responsible than Talak or Zuu is. I . . . I have some strange suspicions.” Cabe released her without explaining further. She looked him in the eye, then finally accepted his enigmatic response. The Lady Bedlam knew that her husband would not long hide things from her. If Cabe did not want to tell her now, it was only because he did not have much to support those suspicions.
Stepping away from her husband, Gwendolyn Bedlam joined the two drakes and the scholar. She waited just long enough to assure herself that they were prepared, then, with one last glance at Cabe, vanished with her charges.
The remaining drakes looked to Lord Green for guidance. He seemed to consider their position, finally commanding, “Rejoin the rest of the caravan. Someone will be there to take command before long.” Facing the warlock, he asked, “Friend Bedlam, do I have your permission to have sssomeone take charge of the caravan and return with it to the Manor?”
Cabe had not given that part of the situation any consideration, but he realized that they could not just abandon the drakes and humans in Penacles. “Yes, I think that would be fine.”
“You have your orders, then,” the Dragon King told the guards. “Be certain that you have a human essscort, however, and by all meansss, do not become involved in any altercation with our hosts here. Those who do and survive to tell about it will
“Perhaps we had best escort them as far as the arena, Your Majesty,” the warlock suggested. “With tensions the way they are at this moment, we don’t dare let any of your people wander around without guides.”
“Yes, that would be best.”
As it turned out, their return to the arena was uneventful. The Gryphon was still there, as Cabe had rightly assumed. He was talking to two warriors clad as champions of the chess game. Brow furrowing, the curious sorcerer stepped up his pace.
Noticing the mage’s return, the lionbird dismissed the two combatants. He acknowledged the Dragon King but focused his attention on Cabe. “I have been speaking with the two warriors who did battle when the assassination occurred. They told me one or two interesting things.”
“What would those be?” the drake lord asked before Cabe could speak.
Looking at both of them, the lionbird replied, “During their battle, at the moment just prior to the attack, both had difficulties keeping their grips on their weapons. The man who wore the armor of king, especially, claimed his weapon seemed to have a life of its own. He reports that it fairly flew out of his grip and headed straight for where the heir and Toos stood.”
“It fell several feet short, if I recall,” commented the Green Dragon.
“Yes, it did. The timing is too good, however. At the very least, the flying weapon was a decoy, I believe, designed to draw the attention of the victim and those around him. No one would be watching. The assassins would then strike . . . and die. Someone invested much sorcery to make this work, but they underestimated poor old Toos.” The Gryphon blinked. “How is the emperor-to-be doing?”
“He requested to be brought back to the Manor,” Cabe replied, judiciously avoiding mentioning the manner in which Kyl had put the request.
“No longer trusting Penacles and its ability to protect him, eh? I cannot blame him. My Lord Green, Cabe, I’ll tell you now that any agreements made between Toos and the drakes will be held to. I will see to that-” the lionbird sighed “-as the ruler of this realm.”
“That isss good to hear.”
The king of Penacles bristled, but it was not due to anything the Dragon King had said. “I will not let Toos die in vain. He wanted peace more than I did. I will do anything I have to to see that peace succeed.” He closed, then reopened his eyes, visibly trying to keep himself calm. “But you desire something. How may I help?”
Cabe quickly described the situation, emphasizing his need to hunt down Darkhorse before any more time had passed. As much as he tried not to think about it, the fear that it was already too late to save the shadow
