he realized that Dostin wasn’t going to get up until he told him to. “If you want to meet up with the elven girl, she will be in Dreen in a day or two. You are welcome to stay at the castle there, both of you. You helped the realm with your bravery and skill. I am in your debt.”
“You saved us from the priest’s cage, so we are even,” Dostin replied without thinking about it. “How do you know about Telgra? Do you know the short man and the heavy one who are helping her?”
It took Mikahl a moment to figure out that the monk was talking about Phen and Oarly. “How could you know about them?” he asked.
“Corva saw the tracks and told me it was a big, heavy man with little feet and a really short man who helped her into a boat.”
“Corva is an excellent tracker then,” Mikahl nodded. “That’s exactly what happened. She is on her way to Dreen with two of my most trusted friends. Should I give her a message? I will see her later this day.”
Dostin scratched his head and thought about it. “Tell her to wait for us in Dreen. Corva and I will come along as soon as we can.” He glanced at Corva. “Is he going to be all right?”
“Aye,” Mikahl nodded. “He’ll come around. I will tell your friend Telgra to wait for you. If you stay put until a boat gets here, you should be safe. Tell Corva I said thank you for his help and that he is welcome anywhere in my kingdom, as are you, mighty Dostin.”
Mikahl laughed at his choice of words. The brave monk was mighty.
He looked at the sky. The sun was starting up into the day with vigor. “I’m off, my friend,” he said. He checked to make sure that the broken Spectral Staff was still lashed to his back, then he drew Ironspike. At once, the bright horse appeared under him, and in a single rising leap he was off.
He flew straight to Low Crossing and ordered a boat to be immediately sent to pick up Dostin and Corva. “Treat them like royalty and escort them directly to King Jarrek,” Mikahl ordered. “Tell him to have the monk and the elf escorted to Dreen as soon as possible.”
The boat captain gave a head bow and promised to comply with his orders. After that, Mikahl was on his way to Dreen where his young queen waited.
“Where are we?” Corva asked after he fluttered his eyes open and saw that they weren’t near the ceremony grounds and it was broad daylight. His head had a throbbing, egg-sized lump on it. His fingers discovered how tender it was when they found it.
“Oh, hello, Corva,” Dostin grinned happily at the elf. “We’re waiting on a river boat right now. Telgra is on her way to Dreen, and we are supposed to see King Jarrek for help getting there. The High King says that we get to stay at his castle. He says that he owes us for helping him.”
“Shhh,” Corva hissed with a half grin on his face. Dostin’s voice made his head hurt worse. He'd always wanted to see the great city of Castlemont. The elves who had seen it all agreed that it was a wonder to behold. The idea that he was about to betray his Queen Mother, though, wasn’t lost on him. He decided that even she had to agree that if Telgra was in Dreen, he had to go get her.
Dostin loaded grass on the fire. The pillar of smoke it created was reassuring, but the amount of insects and strange noises around them kept them uneasy. When the old river boat finally arrived, they both found they couldn’t wait to get on it.
Chapter 13
Phen was too heavy to ride a horse so they had to take a horse-drawn wagon from Fork to Dreen. The only wagon available had just been used to haul a load of fruit to the docks at Fork. The bed was sticky and pungent and was drawing insects. Luckily, the farmer put Phen on the bench seat in the middle. He drove his two-horse team from Phen’s left, and Karee road under her hood on Phen’s right. Oarly was too drunk to mind the bed of the cart.
Phen offered to pay the farmer handsomely for the trip, but the man wouldn’t hear him.
“It’s my pleasure to give Marble Boy and his companions a ride,” the farmer replied proudly. “My boy Brendley was sacked at Seareach by those Dakaneese bastards. A ride is the least I can do for you, sir.”
During a rough section of road about halfway through their journey, they were jostled to and fro dramatically. The driver looked back over his shoulder to the wagon bed and cringed. Nervously, he nudged Phen, who followed the farmer’s pointing finger with his eyes.
Phen burst out laughing at what he saw. The farmer visibly relaxed and continued urging the horses along.
Oarly was out cold. Phen couldn’t contain his mirth as the jolting motion of the wagon tossed the dwarf around. Oarly’s hair, beard, and every inch of his clothing was matted with sticky fruit juice and bits of leaves and debris. A swarm of bright yellow bees hovered around him like a cloud.
Karee chuckled quietly when she saw. “At least he won’t smell like a goat now.” She gave Phen’s cold hand a squeeze.
“Aye,” Phen replied. “We might have to shave him to get all of that out of his hair.”
They arrived at the low, but seemingly endless, red block wall that surrounded the city of Dreen. It was just after dark, but the gate guards let them in with no questions. Once they recognized Phen, they all saluted. Karee watched with sleepy eyes as they rode past street after street of low built one- and two-story red brick structures. She asked through a yawn why they were built so far apart.
“See the fences between the homes? During the day, those pens are full of horses and cattle. Some still are.” Phen pointed at a large yard full of cows. “The whole city’s commerce is based on horse flesh. It’s probably the biggest city in the realm, but it has far fewer people than Xwarda or Seaward City.” Phen looked at Karee to see if she was still listening, and found her nodding into sleep against his stony shoulder. He hadn’t even felt her lean against him. A few long hours later, they finally reached the castle’s palisade wall. By then Phen was fighting sleep as well.
The fatherly look of concern on Lord Gregory’s face when he quietly escorted Karee into the castle was overpowering.
“Phen, you should never leave without telling someone where you're going or what you're about,” the Lion Lord scolded. The man’s gaze made Phen feel a visceral sort of fear. “Now let us take in this elven girl who has caused such a stir.”
Phen looked at Lord Gregory inquisitively. “How did you know I was traveling with an elven girl?”
“The same way I know that master Oarly is going to sleep in the hay barn until we can get all that muck washed off of him.”
Karee chuckled at that then peeled back her hood.
Lord Gregory had traveled, for a time, with the elf Vaegon and had attended many a Summer’s Day festival where the elves dominated the archery competition. He was still taken aback by the wild look of the girl.
“Lord Gregory, may I present Lady Karee,” Phen said in a somewhat official manner. “Lady Karee, this is the famous brawler, Lord Gregory. He’s also known as Lord Lion, or the Lion Lord.”
“That’s enough, Phen,” Lord Gregory said. “I was told that her name is Lady Telgra.”
“It is!” Telgra exclaimed with a happy clap. “I’m sure of it.” Her tired gaze evaporated and her look became serious. “Who told you about me?”
“The High King returned from the Isle of Salaya earlier this evening. He would have greeted you himself, but he is already in his bed chamber.” Lord Gregory looked at Phen and grinned. “After relieving the high priest of his life, he was exhausted.”
Phen started to say something, but Telgra cut him off. “But how does he know my name?”
“She can’t remember anything about herself,” Phen explained. Phen was a little disappointed, but it wasn’t the fact that she would not be going by the name Karee now. It was the news that King Mikahl had killed the priest who had turned him into a statue. That man could have reversed the spell on him. It was a last-resort hope that he had been holding on to, just in case the Leif Repline fountain didn’t restore him. Now it wasn’t even a possibility. At least the bastard could do no more harm.
“…told the High King about you,” Lord Gregory was explaining to Telgra. “A monk named Dostin and an elf
