“And that’s how they get the plague,” Gwennore concluded.
Silas nodded. “And the healer says it spreads easily among humans. Handling food, physical contact. That’s all it takes.”
The healer approached Gwennore and bowed. When she spoke, there were tears in her eyes.
“She says she has done all she can to figure out the plague, but she has never been able to heal it. She’s begging you to find a cure, so you can save her people.”
Gwennore swallowed hard. “I’m not sure I can.” She looked over all the villagers, who were watching her with hope in their eyes.
“I may have saved you three times.” Silas took her hand. “But you could save an entire country.”
Tears crowded her eyes as she faced the villagers. “I will do my best.”
* * *
Silas glanced at Gwennore as she rode her horse beside him. She’d been quiet since they’d left the troll village. They’d found their still-tethered horses happily munching on grass close to the giant redwoods. After putting her wooden horse in the canvas sack with the crown, he’d tied the sack to his horse’s saddle. Gwen had been so preoccupied that she hadn’t even noticed when he’d let his hand linger on her bottom too long as he’d helped her onto her horse.
She must be worried about finding a cure for the plague, he thought. “If you need any help in collecting plants or distributing tonics, I have an army at your disposal.”
She gave him a distracted look. “Thank you.”
“We’ve made some important progress today.” He motioned to the sack containing the crown. “We know what has been poisoning the kings and queens.”
She nodded. “And we know that the tainted rings made Queen Freya’s condition much worse. Did you find out who gave those rings to the king?”
Fafnir. “I’ll talk to my brother about it.”
Gwen sighed. “Unfortunately, knowing the truth isn’t going to help the queen recover. And knowing how the plague spreads to humans doesn’t really tell me how to cure it.”
“I believe you can do it.”
Her smile was strained. “I appreciate that, but I still think I’m in over my head. I’d like to ask Sister Colleen and the court physicians in Eberon and Tourin for their advice.”
“All right.” Silas thought it over. It would take well over a week for messengers to make the trip. “How about we send Brody to gather information for you?”
“Oh.” This time her smile was more relaxed. “That’s an excellent idea. Thank you.”
“I have to prove myself useful or you might decide to elope with your troll admirer.”
She snorted. “Can you tell me about them now?”
He scanned the forests to make sure they were alone. “I didn’t want to tell their story where they could hear it. They don’t like to be reminded of their past.”
“Why not?”
“Over a thousand years ago, the Ancient Ones took over the land of Norveshka because they wanted the gold and jewels that could be mined here. They terrorized the people into submission by breathing fire and burning any person or village who objected to their rule. They used the Norveshki people to tend livestock, and then they took most of the cattle and sheep to feed themselves, leaving the people to go hungry.”
Gwen shook her head. “They sound awful.”
“They were. They chose the smaller Norveshki to work in the mines for them, for they thought those with a shorter stature would be able to work better in the tunnels. Basically, they used them as slaves. For hundreds of years, the trolls were bred to become shorter and shorter. They spent their lives in caves, hardly ever seeing sunlight. It caused their eyes to grow larger. In their isolation, even their language became different.”
“How terrible.” Gwen tilted her head, thinking. “You said earlier that they have a longtime hatred of gold and jewels. Is that because of the mining they were forced to do?”
Silas nodded. “It reminds them of the centuries that they were enslaved. They won’t step foot in a cave now. They don’t even want to enter a castle or a house, for they view it as a form of entrapment. They need to be free now to roam as they please.”
“How did they get free from the Ancient Ones?”
“Toward the end of the Great Dragon War, the Ancient Ones were losing, dying off. The trolls saw their chance to rebel and turned on the Ancient Ones, helping the rest of the Norveshki people take over the country. But having a common cause wasn’t enough to reunite the trolls with their Norveshki cousins. They have never sworn allegiance to the Norveshki kings.”
Gwen narrowed her eyes. “They don’t feel that they can trust you?”
Silas sighed. “I think they must feel that we abandoned them for all those centuries that they were enslaved. They resented the Norveshki for being able to live in the sunlight. And their culture developed differently than ours. We’re not entirely comfortable around each other, but I think it’s getting better. I want it to get better.”
Gwen nodded. “I think they’re willing to reach out now.”
“I hope so. But I can understand why they don’t trust us. After all, we have … dragons, and the trolls hate dragons with a passion. That’s one reason why we keep the nature of our dragons secret. There are some who would want to kill us.”
“So the trolls don’t know that you’re…?”
He shook his head. “Outside of the Three Cursed Clans, very few people know.”
“So all the dragons come from the Three Cursed Clans?”
“Only a few men from the Cursed Clans. There aren’t that many of us. Only about a dozen.” Silas winced. “That’s a secret, too, by the way. We’ve
