'That may be an advantage we can use,' Marthaen said, quick to understand matters of strategy. 'If you have to face the Overlord in battle, we might be able to draw away some of his strength by pressing the battle against the Masters at the same time.'
'We will see,' Thelvyn said. 'If the Overlord has any fault, it would be that he seems to be overly cautious, preferring not to risk himself when his enemies can still fight back. But I also believe that he will fight me himself rather than see his carefully laid plans frustrated. There must be some powerful reason for him to leave behind his old, established empire to come here, considering that he has gathered his strength for centuries for that purpose.'
Sir George frowned. 'Considering how the two of you looked when you first got here, he might just be longing for a good bath.'
Once again Thelvyn ignored the old knight. 'I don't expect that he will be willing to fight to the death,' Thelvyn continued. 'He will flee before it comes to that. But he must not escape, or yet another Dragonking may be forced to deal with him centuries from now.'
Solveig and Sir George left to prepare for a meeting of the council of the Grand Alliance. Many of the delegates of the larger and more powerful nations had returned since the lifting of the siege of the Highlands, while others would have to be returned by dragon couriers. Even though all the delegates of the council weren't present, Thelvyn decided to assemble those who were in the Highlands at once. Arranging the defenses of their world could not wait, and there was one other matter he wanted to have decided.
Marthaen hesitated when the others left, although he was reluctant to interrupt now that Thelvyn and Kharendaen were finally able to eat their dinner in peace. But there were certain matters that he thought needed to be addressed.
'I am curious about one thing,' he began. 'I have always been suspicious of one aspect of the Overlord's plan for conquering our world, which seems to suggest that he is doomed to ultimate failure. Either he believes that he can defeat even the Immortals, or else he has never bothered to consider them in his schemes. We have seen in the past that the Immortals will react once a situation has become serious enough. Certainly this is the greatest crisis our world has faced since the fall of Blackmoor.'
'I have wondered about that myself,' Thelvyn said thoughtfully. 'I've arrived at one possible explanation, one that fills me with dread but seems to explain everything. Perhaps the Overlord isn't concerned with the Immortals because he has long since allied himself with the chaotic elements among them, perhaps even some of the Immortals of neutral alignment who would not oppose his conquest of our world. He can never become an Immortal himself unless they wish it, but he would make an exceptionally powerful lieutenant who could finally bring all the forces of evil under a unified leadership.'
'I see your point,' Marthaen said softly, turning his head away and glaring in cold fury. 'If a large enough faction among the Immortals support the Overlord, the rest of the Immortals could not oppose him directly. That might be why they chose you to be their champion.'
Thelvyn nodded. 'I am like the Overlord in that respect. We are both very much like the Immortals in the powers that we can command, but we are not Immortals, and therefore we are not bound by their restrictions. It remains to be seen which of us will prevail in our final battle. If nothing else, we did gain one advantage from our journey. I now know how to prevent the Overlord from controlling anyone who is not already under his command. Whatever alien magic he commands has one flaw, for he cannot command the will of someone who knows his name.'
The delegates of the Grand Alliance were to gather that afternoon in the garden of the palace, which was the most convenient place for the dragons to speak with them. Thelvyn made a point of arriving early, before any of the delegates had arrived, together with his human companions and Kharendaen and Marthaen. The dragons reclined under the trees while the others sat on the stone benches of the garden. Thelvyn was a bit surprised when Perrantin turned up soon after they had arrived. Thelvyn had almost forgotten until that moment that the wizard was in Braejr.
'Since I was here anyway, I found myself nominated to represent Traladara in the Grand Alliance,' Perrantin explained.
'That's good news,' Solveig said. 'Everyone there respects you enough to listen to you.'
'You're still something of a hero in Traladara yourself,' Perrantin reminded her. 'Having you hosting the Grand Alliance here in Braejr carries a certain influence.'
'That's all very well and good,' Sir George commented. 'But do they like the two of you well enough to send an army?'
'I'm not sure it matters much,' Thelvyn commented. 'Except for the dragons, I'm not certain we'll be able to move any other forces to the northwest in time to do any good.'
He paused when he noticed that Ambassador Serran, the Alphatian delegate, had entered the garden, together with his adjutant and a couple of bodyguards. Thelvyn rose and walked slowly over to meet them, trying hard to appear unthreatening. It was a wasted effort; not many people could remain unconcerned while watching the approach of a dragon, and the Alphatian ambassador was no exception. Since Thelvyn once again wore the Collar of the Dragons, he was sure Serran knew who he was. He sat down, facing the Alphatian.
'Ambassador Serran?' he said.
The Alphatian bowed to him, recovering some of his lost composure. 'I understand that you were away for a few days, Dragonking.'
'Everything is going well,' Thelvyn assured him. 'However, there is something that I must discuss with you. A very urgent matter about someone that I met in my recent travels. Perhaps you have heard of him.'
Watching the ambassador closely to see how he would react, Thelvyn spoke the secret name of the Overlord. The Alphatian's expression remained blank, as if the name had no meaning to him at all. For a moment, Thelvyn began to wonder if his guess about the identity of their spy had been wrong. But then he noticed that the ambassador continued to stare with that curiously blank look, as if he had been stunned. The other Alphatians noticed that something seemed to be wrong with their leader, and they watched him with concern.
'Ambassador Serran?' Thelvyn said softly. 'Wake up, Ambassador. You might feel as if you've been asleep for a long time, but now your mind is once again your own. Are you familiar with the one whose name I spoke?'
The Ambassador shook his head distractedly. 'No.'
'It is the secret name of the Overlord. Can you say his name?'
The Ambassador blinked. 'I don't remember it.'
Thelvyn rolled his eyes, then moved his head forward and repeated the name quietly. The Alphatian blinked once more and repeated the name. Everyone watched him closely, but there was no obvious change in his condition.
'Do you have a jewel of some type that the Masters gave to you?' Thelvyn asked. 'A red jewel, perhaps? Why don't you show it to me?'
The ambassador reached inside his jacket and brought out a red jewel attached to a light chain, to all appearances just like the jewel that Thelvyn had taken from Alessa Vyledaar some weeks earlier. It looked like nothing more than a piece of cheap glass, glowing with a pale red light that faded as soon as he took it out. Finally showing signs of emerging from his trancelike state, the ambassador removed the chain from his neck and held it up. Thelvyn reached out and took it carefully in one claw.
'How many of your people have one of these?'
Thelvyn had not spoken in a threatening manner, but suddenly the Alphatian turned pale and began to shake in fear. It was obvious that his terror was not directed toward the gold dragon; he was beginning to realize the truth of just how deeply he had been entrapped. 'The Masters are careful not to enlist too many people to serve them. There are probably no more than a dozen people under their control in all of Alphatia.'
'That's not so many,' Thelvyn said, sounding bright and reassuring, as if he were already in control of the situation. 'What kind of promises did the Masters make to your people?'
'They promised that we would be their lieutenants,' Ambassador Serran explained. 'They said that if we helped them conquer this world, they would permit us to rule it for them when the conquest is complete.'
'They probably said the same thing to the Fire Wizards,' Thelvyn said. 'What they didn't tell either of you is that the Overlord wants this world for his own. What were the Alpha-tians going to do for them in return? They expected more than your services as spies, I should think.'
