back door just enough to peer out onto the ledge, and he was rather startled to see Sir George Kirbey staring back at him.
'Oh, honestly,' the dragon muttered, sighing. 'You're the
last person I expected to find loitering on my ledge. I suppose your companions must be just behind you.'
Marthaen stepped back so Sir George could hurry inside with his travel bags, followed closely by Kharendaen and Thelvyn. In spite of his outwardly inhospitable mood, Marthaen recognized it was important to get the Dragonking inside before he was seen. Kharendaen paused a moment to rub her cheek against her brother's, as if trying to put him in a better humor before she stepped quickly aside. Thelvyn entered last, bearing himself with the pride and dignity befitting the king of the dragons. Marthaen was so startled to see Thelvyn wearing the Collar of the Dragons that he could only stare.
'Dragonking,' Daresha breathed softly from the doorway leading into the bedroom. She lowered her head in a gesture of respect.
'So you found the collar,' Marthaen said, then hurried to close the door. 'I know it's the middle of the night, but did you have to come here to Windreach unannounced and wearing the thing like some kind of conqueror?'
'I don't seem to have a pocket large enough to carry it,' Thelvyn remarked.
'Still, the dragons are going to have to become accustomed to the idea that there really is a Dragonking before they can easily accept your being here,' Marthaen said. 'I realize Jherdar already knows you have been seeking the collar, but I would have preferred some time after you found it for him to get used to the idea and to try to gain his support before you came here.'
'I agree with what you say,' Thelvyn said. 'But things have changed, and matters are far more desperate than you know.'
'I'm aware of the attacks that appear to have been by dragons,' the First Speaker answered impatiently. 'That makes our situation here all the more uncertain. The dragons are ready to explode into war as it is, and your sudden appearance is only going to upset things all the more.'
'I no longer have the luxury of time,' Thelvyn said firmly, speaking with a calm authority that put an end to the disagreement. 'I'm not here for the sake of power or fame. I have always been a protector, and that is all I remain.'
Marthaen paused as he suddenly understood. He bowed his own head as a sign of respect. Thelvyn was no longer the awkward outcast under Marthaen's guidance as he had been since first becoming a dragon the previous year. He was now the Dragonking, wise and confident, and he meant to claim the authority that was his right. He might trust Marthaen as his advisor and friend, but he was now the master.
'There is much that you do not yet know,' Thelvyn told him. 'The warning that we received from the Great One has proven true. Our world faces a war that only the dragons can tight, and we must move quickly. Kharendaen and I fought and slew four dragons to claim the collar.'
'Dragons?' Marthaen looked up sharply, alarmed. 'Renegades?'
'We found the Collar of the Dragons in another world, one where the Flaem dwelt for a time before coming here,' he explained. 'We found it in the possession of dragons who were not of our own race.'
Thelvyn and Kharendaen quickly related the events of their brief journey into the world of the Masters, telling Marthaen all that they knew, all that they could surmise or even only suspected about the gemstone dragons. The older dragon listened in silence, staring at the ground with his ears laid back.
'I understand your concern,' he admitted when they were done. 'And I agree that these strange dragons must have had some contact with our own people at some time in the distant past. But if the clerics remember nothing of such a thing, then I do not know what to say.'
'I will speak with Saerna about it as soon as I can,' Kharendaen said. 'She is the oldest living dragon in the world. Perhaps there are some things she might recall that are not recorded in any book, some legend out of the days of her own childhood about strange dragons. Anything might help.'
'It would help more if the Great One would speak with me plainly on this matter,' Thelvyn said. 'He obviously knows much more than we do.'
'Of course, we can't count on his being willing or able to do that,' Marthaen said, then looked up at the Dragonking. 'I share your need for haste, but I still recommend some caution.
Many of the leaders among the dragons may still be reluctant to give you their support if you declare yourself Dragonking in one breath and call upon them to follow you into war with the next. Especially since you ask them to go to war in defense of a world that fears and rejects them. I will call them to parliament in the morning to give them a brief time to consider what has happened.'
Thelvyn had to agree that Marthaen's plan made sense, partly because he no longer had the strength to argue the matter any further. The time that he and his companions had spent in the world of the Masters had been quite brief, actually little more than an hour, yet both Kharendaen and he were very tired from their battles with the alien dragons. They had rested only a brief time before making the desperate flight all the way from the Highlands to Windreach in distant Norwald, beginning that long journey just after noon and arriving a couple of hours after midnight.
Unfortunately, Marthaen was at something of a loss to know where he could keep them in hiding for the remainder of the night. Kharendaen hadn't kept a lair of her own in Windreach for more than a hundred years. As it turned out, Daresha was honored to have the Dragonking and his mate spend the night in her lair, which was only a short walk through the deep inner passages of the ring wall of the city. Sir George had to be content with a cushion thrown on the floor of the main chamber of the lair, but a dragon-sized cushion was easily large enough to serve him for a bed.
The two dragons were awakened by a knock at the inner door the next morning, fortunately not too early. They were both a bit surprised to find that Sir George had gone out somewhere; he had caught some sleep in the saddle during their journey, and had arrived not much the worse for wear. Since he was gone already, they could only hope that he would be able to keep himself out of trouble. It seemed best for Thelvyn to remain discreet about his own presence in the city, so it was Kharendaen who went to open the door.
Their visitors were not dragons but elves, of a race that Thelvyn had once believed to be his own. They were both males and quite tall for elves, or even humans, with powerful builds, black hair, large, dark eyes, and slightly pointed ears. He realized immediately that they must be Eldar, the most ancient race of elves in the world. He had worn their form until the time when he had first taken his true form as a dragon. The younger of the two was pushing a large cart that bore trays of roasted meat, bread, cheese, and drink.
'Your brother Marthaen sent us,' the older one explained simply. 'We know of your secrets and will respect them.'
Kharendaen stepped aside, and the two Eldar entered, bringing in the cart. They paused a moment and bowed in deep respect when they saw Thelvyn farther back in the room, recognizing him even though he no longer wore the Collar of the Dragons. The younger elf bowed once more, this time to them all, then departed in silence.
'I am the wizard Alendhae, a longtime friend of Marthaen's,' the remaining Eldar explained. 'I am also honored to serve from time to time as his advisor, so he thought it best to send me to attend to your needs while he is occupied with the parliament.'
'Yes, I remember you,' Kharendaen said. 'I was very young when I last saw you. It must have been nearly a hundred and fifty years ago.'
'Gold lady, you are still very young,' Alendhae told her with the gentle amusement of the old. He turned to Thelvyn. 'Dragonking, I am of the Eldar, the ancestors of the elves. Perhaps you have heard of us.'
'I had not heard of the Eldar until recently,' he said. 'But in a way, I know your people well, since I wore the body of your people until recently. You are all but forgotten in the outside world.'
'Yes, even the elves remember us only as a vague legend of their forgotten past,' Alendhae said sadly. 'We are all that is left of a dying race. There are very few of us remaining, but it has been thus for a very long time. All that remains of our people have lived here in Windreach since the founding of the city three thousand years ago.'
'But why do you choose to live with the dragons?' Thelvyn asked.
'Don't you know?' Alendhae asked. 'It is said that there is
