'Do you think that I am disappointed in you?' Kharendaen lifted her head in astonishment, suddenly realizing what was bothering him. She laid back her ears, looking very sad. 'What a life you have been asked to lead. Never allowed to know who or what you are, never allowed to know your own place in the world or find your own sense of worth. Having been raised among the Flaem, always having to prove yourself to them, you might come to think that the only measure of worth in the world is by what you have done or what you should be able to do. All that you have ever known is what was expected of you.'
'So?' he looked up at her, confused and annoyed. 'What else is there?'
'Our deeds and abilities count for a great deal, but they are by no means the only measure of a person's value. I know you do not judge others by such shallow standards, so why do you expect yourself to be judged in that way? Did you think you must earn my companionship by the honor that I received from the dragons from being your mate?'
'No,' Thelvyn muttered, not quite certain what he wanted to say. 'But I feel that I've let you down.'
'There are some things that dragons are. . especially poor at saying,' Kharendaen explained haltingly, rising and walking in a tight circle before she returned to sit beside him. 'We always leave certain things left unsaid, tilings that should have been said, so perhaps I can't blame you for coming to your own conclusions. You've always been able to make it clear to me how much I mean to you. I've taken it for granted that you understood how much you mean to me as well.'
In spite of himself, Thelvyn had to hide his smile. There were indeed some things that dragons had a hard time saying, and Kharendaen seemed to be doing anything she could to avoid saying what she really meant.
'I wish we could have had more time to get to know each other better,' he said. 'All the hundreds of years of a dragon's lifetime.'
'If our time together is indeed coming to an end, then there arc certain things that should be said,' she said, lowering her head to rub the side of her cheek against his own. 'You see, I mn going to lay an egg.'
'What?' In spite of the pain, Thelvyn lifted his head sharply to stare at her. 'How. . how do you know?'
'Because I've developed a craving for nonvirgins,' Kharendaen declared, amused by his reaction. 'Oh, honestly. Female dragons know such things.'
'But how long have you known? When will it come?'
'I've suspected it since before we left Shadowmere,' she answered, rubbing her cheek against his again. 'That's why, when you decided that it was important for you to remain in dragon form, I welcomed your decision. It is no longer wise for me to change from my true form. But don't get overly excited just yet. A dragon does not lay her egg until shortly before it hatches. I don't expect it to come for almost another year yet.'
'Merciful heavens,' Thelvyn said softly to himself. 'I can't imagine how this happened.'
'Didn't Sir George have a little talk with you when we first arrived at Shadowmere?' she asked with tolerant amusement.
He quickly searched his memory. 'Yes. . yes, he did say something about eggs. But what you taught me was much more interesting.'
'Then you prefer a practical education over a theoretical one?'
Thelvyn lowered his head, his expression becoming one of determination. 'We have to get away from here.'
'That simply is not possible,' Kharendaen told him. 'Even if there were a way to escape, you cannot move. If you tried to move, even if you changed form so that I could carry you away, you would almost certainly not survive. And my clerical powers are gone. I cannot help you.'
Thelvyn didn't seem to hear her. He stared aimlessly while he desperately searched for some means that would allow them to escape. Perhaps it was foolish for him to return to his old trust, considering how much the Immortals had underestimated the powers of the Overlord, but he had to believe that the Great One had intended him to be able to defeat his enemies. Surely the Great One had made certain he would be powerful enough to at least have a chance to defeat the Masters and the Overlord. He was convinced he must have far greater powers that he had not yet discovered.
All the same, this was the worst time and place for him to try to discover powers that he had not yet mastered. He would need the guidance of the Great One, something that was not available to him now. Then he realized that he might be looking for bigger answers than he needed when simpler answers were at hand. The free clans of the Veydran had escaped domination for centuries. If he could only recall their secret. .
'They know his name,' he said at last.
'Who knows what name?' Kharendaen asked, cocking her head in mystification. 'The Overlord?'
'The Veydran know his name, and therefore he cannot control their will,' Thelvyn said as he lifted his head. 'If I could remember the name they used, that would give us a strong tool in planning our escape.'
'I don't recall that they ever spoke his name,' she said, still perplexed. 'All I ever heard was 'the Overlord.' '
'That was the word we heard in our minds,' he explained. 'But I tried to pay attention to the language of the Veydran as they spoke. I was curious to know if there was any relationship between their language and that of the dragons. I was especially interested in learning their name for the Overlord, but I'm not certain now what I heard.'
Thelvyn laid his head on the cold stone floor, trying very hard to think back over their brief encounter with the Veydran, but he found that he was growing incredibly weary, and the pain in his back assaulted him anew. The true seriousness of his injuries was making itself known to him, so that it was difficult to direct his thoughts toward anything but his struggle to hold to the fading edges of consciousness. His efforts to remember just what the Veydran leader had said were already forgotten.
He wasn't even aware he had slept again until he was startled back to awareness, and even then he found himself in a nightmare of fear and pain. The walls of the cell were gone, and once again he lay in the shallow pit in the center of the large chamber where the Masters had gathered to witness his humiliation. The gemstone dragons were gone, or else they remained hidden within the dark mists that had closed almost to the very edge of the pit. The Overlord was glaring down at him, his immense, hideous face half hidden in the mist. Kharendaen stood over him protectively, but the posture of challenge she presented seemed halfhearted and desperate.
Thelvyn lifted his head painfully. It seemed to him that his back and shoulders hurt more than ever. He recognized one important difference from the first visit of the Overlord, however. The first time, he had not even been aware that the Overlord had taken control of his will. This time, however, his will remained entirely his own, at least for the moment.
'Then you are back, Little One?' the Overlord asked condescendingly. 'You dragons are very slow to die.'
'I have no plans of dying any time soon,' Thelvyn responded. 'And I won't allow you to make a fool of me again.'
He realized that he had to act quickly, while he still could. If the Overlord were to look within his thoughts, his secret would be betrayed. He would never have a second chance. Looking up, he caught the gaze of the Overlord, staring into those large, malevolent eyes. That seemed to catch the Overlord by surprise, giving Thelvyn a momentary advantage over his opponent. Then Thelvyn spoke a single word, his voice loud, deep, and clear, the sound of it echoing through the hidden depths of the mist-filled chamber.
The Overlord drew back suddenly in alarm. The sound of his name apparently did him no' physical harm, but it obviously alarmed him. He hadn't been challenged directly in centuries, and it shook his confidence. Kharendaen stared at her mate for a moment, then turned back to the Overlord and repeated his name, protecting herself from his control. The Overlord hesitated in apprehension and then drew back into the concealing darkness of the mists to consider his next move. His captives had proven stronger than he had expected, and he wanted to avoid confronting them until he felt certain that they would not surprise him again.
Thelvyn knew he had to act quickly. The Overlord had withdrawn, but Thelvyn had no way of knowing how far he had gone. He closed his eyes and concentrated, reaching deep within his own powers, and for a moment his entire form began to glow with a soft golden light. When the light faded, he rose stiffly, moving slowly and with great uncertainty at first but gaining strength quickly. Kharendaen hurried to his side, fearful that he might harm himself, until she realized that he was calling upon his own powers to repair his injuries.
'We don't have a moment to waste,' he told her quietly. 'If we don't get out of here right now, we never will. The Overlord might not be able to control us now, but he can still fight us.'
