The Crown Of Yensupov (Book 3) (14 page)

“I see,” Saxthor said. “That’s most impressive.”

Saxthor looked at the guests seated at long oak tables perpendicular to the host’s table. Servants heaped picked carcasses on great trays amid scraps littering the boards. Dogs snarled over bones tossed behind the guests, whose pretentious costumes were stained with grease from eating with their fingers.

“Flatter him,” Tournak said in Saxthor’s ear.

The attendant prodded Saxthor.

“Go on, the prince is waiting.”

Saxthor walked to the hall’s center, where he began his introduction after a sweeping bow. “Good evening, most illustrious prince. Tonight, we present for your amusement, the most amazing marvel of our age. This beast is ferocious, so please don’t provoke him. He’s half-man-half-deer and rages at his misfortune. He gored to death a dozen men before my troupe subdued him. Be careful lest he break free and do harm to this most illustrious company.”

“Yes, yes,” Prince Pindradese said. “Get on with it, man.”

Saxthor bowed and turned to his assistants.

“Bring forth the Astorax, the Beast of the Forests,” Saxthor said, bowing and backing his way to the door. Tonelia led Tournak and Hendrel, tugging on the ropes to force the ferocious and flailing Astorax into the great hall amid the gasping throng.

“I left something back in our room,” Saxthor told the entertainment master who focused on the act. “I’ll get it and return in a moment.” The man nodded without taking his eyes off the performers or the prince. Saxthor disappeared down the hall.

*

Tonelia danced around the grimacing keepers, tugging on ropes, pulling the resistant monster forward. Astorax snorted and stamped his hooves. His head thrashed wildly from side to side, struggling to tear loose a rope or stab it with his horns. Tournak and Hendrel groaned in the relentless strain to maintain control.

“Behold the raging beast!” Tonelia’s fluid dance on dainty slippers sent her pleated skirt swirling with each graceful spin. Her blouse was tight, and her breasts topped the spinning undulations, contrasting her loveliness against the rough and dangerous beast she danced around.

Astorax snorted, bellowed, and pulled back on the ropes as if to break free. Hendrel cracked a whip and Astorax danced to escape it. The troupe kept inventing tricks, gaining time for Saxthor, who slipped back and down the hall unnoticed by all but Tournak.

“Stay back!” Tonelia said to an approaching guard.

Astorax bellowed, lowering his head as if to charge. Hendrel cracked the whip and Astorax spun around at him.

“Did you see that?” a spectator gasped.

Astorax spun again to the voice and the lady fainted. The awed crowd stared following the acts’ every perceived threat. They’d gasp in unison at some unexpected turn, then laugh and applaud others. The men appeared barely able to restrain the beast; he’d almost break free. Then Astorax jerked unexpectedly and snatched the rope from Hendrel’s hands.

“Hold him!” Hendrel shouted.

Surprised, Astorax looked about then began charging Tournak.

“Grab the rope!” Tournak yelled.

Astorax backed away out of the entertainment circle and toward the Prince’s table. The prince’s guards surged forward with swords, singing out of their scabbards. Immediately, Tournak realized the danger and jerked Astorax to the side and away from the prince. The guests at the side table jumped up, knocking over benches turning to run.

“I have it!” Hendrel yelled. He jerked the rope all but pulling Astorax off his hooves.

A collective sigh of relief came from the panicked guests, while cheers rose from their counterparts at the opposite table. The entertainment continued, but the tricks now seemed anticlimactic.

Tonelia realized the prince was getting bored. He was animated and laughing, when they entered. Now he was getting drunk and yawned.

“Whip the beast!” Pindradese said. He rose, wobbled, and slumped back onto his seat.

Hendrel cracked the whip and it snapped on the stone floor beside Astorax. Astorax gave Hendrel a sharp glare. Tonelia thought it too close.

“Again! Whip the beast”

“I fear if I strike the creature he may go berserk and tear free, Lord Prince,” Hendrel said. “He might harm one of your guests.”

The prince guzzled more wine and frowned. He stood up and yelled, “Who cares about the guests; whip the beast!”

Hendrel cracked the whip again, and this time, Astorax snatched the whip out of his hand. The raging beast cracked the whip near Hendrel. The crowd roared as the handler skipped and hopped, dancing to avoid the whip. Astorax scanned the hall, then threw the whip against the far wall.

“Clever beast, this Astorax,” Prince Pindradese said to the man on his right.

The prince chugged the last of his wine and hurled the goblet at Astorax, who just dodged it. The silver goblet clanged across the floor, bouncing off a table leg before a servant retrieved it.

If the crowd became restless or looked bored, one of the two “keepers” would let the rope slip, appearing to lose control of the beast. They kept the crowd entertained as the prince slouched into drunkenness. His head nodded and finally, he slipped and almost slid onto the floor. Meanwhile, Astorax's performance transfixed the official overseeing the feast.

*

Saxthor noted the lay of the austere palace when they entered earlier. He knew he needed to get behind the great hall to the keep’s back tower. He hurried along the corridor, through which servants moved food and goods without disturbing the prince. Twice choosing the wrong staircase, Saxthor backtracked until he found a more imposing staircase.

This is the one to the highest tower,” he thought. I must hurry; they’ll soon notice my absence in the banquet hall. He opened the tower door; a guard thrust a spear across his path.

“What’re you doing here?” the guard asked. “This leads to private quarters.” His rough weathered face had dark eyes that held Saxthor like a vice.

“The prince sent me for his sword.”

“Prince Pindradese wouldn’t send a stranger to get his sword.” The guard moved closer, lowering the spear, pressing the point in Saxthor’s chest.

“Look there,” Saxthor said, pointing behind the guard.

The guard looked away an instant. Saxthor pointed his dragon ring at the man. In his excited state, he vaporized the soldier. Spear and sword fell, clanking on the floor.

Saxthor stuck the weapons behind the door. He rushed to the tower room balcony taking off his ring and necklace. He held the ring so the moonlight shot through the gemstone and the loop in the necklace. Although weak, the message flashed on the tower wall.

In Prertsten Palace, standing tall,

Within the Great Reception Hall,

Upon the aged throne of princes,

There is a dragon for defenses.

Through the ring’s blue stone at night,

Focus well the moon’s silver light

To fall upon the ruby’s eye,

A beam to strike the wall nearby.

Where the ruby shines its beam,

The spot it marks, there by does gleam.

The stone it opens in the wall,

The hiding place within the hall.

The red/blue light opens the place,

Where rests the emerald in the space.

Its brilliant green will help you cope,

And give the world a brand new hope.

Saxthor’s stomach turned; the jewel was back in the crowded great hall. The troupe could entertain just so long before the prince called for another act. As the group’s leader, people would notice he wasn’t among them.

He hurled the guard’s spear over the balcony edge down into a deserted courtyard and hid the sword atop a rafter. He hoped with nothing missing, and no guard, the trooper’s superior would think the man deserted his post. That would at least, gain them time.

Saxthor hurried back down the stairs and almost rushed out into the corridor, when he heard voices along the hall. His heart pounded. I’ve no time for a delay, he thought. What if they come in and discover me, or they linger in the corridor, preventing my escape in time to get back.

They stopped just beyond the door talking. Saxthor waited for what seemed like an eternity, before the voices diminished and disappeared. Then he slipped out into the corridor, hurrying along to the great hall just as the attendant was looking about for him.

“Get your act out of there. The prince is getting bored, and he wants something different.”

“Very well.” Saxthor joined his troupe as the prince and his guests applauded the performance. The troupe bowed. As Saxthor withdrew, he motioned for Tonelia, Hendrel, and Tournak to follow him with Astorax. The performers wrestled the beast from the banquet hall to the guests’ applause.

“Did you get it?” Tonelia asked. “I think Prince Pindradese liked me more than Astorax. I’m ready to get out of here.” She looked over her shoulder at the official by the doorway. He was fretting over the new act performing and not paying attention them.

“No, getting this jewel isn’t going to be simple,” Saxthor replied.

Tonelia rolled her eyes and shook her head, then crossed her arms, but said nothing.

“I was afraid of that. What do we do now?” Tournak asked.

Saxthor didn’t answer, but walked back over to the twitching official in charge.

“May we stay the night? The winter winds are very cold, and we had no time to arrange lodgings.”

The official was concentrating on the prince’s response to the current attraction and didn’t look at Saxthor.

“You may stay the night, but I’ll deduct the cost from your fee.” Then he waved them away, clearly indicating they should not annoy him further. “I’ll pay you in the morning if all goes well with the evening’s entertainment.”

“Very well.”

The official waved them away. The troupe returned to their rooms on the lower kitchen level. Together and alone there, Saxthor started a discussion as to what they should do. “I have to get back to the great hall tonight after everyone leaves,” Saxthor said.

Tournak, Tonelia, Hendrel, and Astorax looked at each other, then to Saxthor.

“Did you forget something up there? Is there a good reason for going back?” Astorax asked his voice hoarse from bellowing. “You know there’s no telling when the festivities will end.”

“Yes, well, the jewel is up there,” Saxthor said. “I have found it by moonlight, when it comes through the high windows in the early morning hours. The instructions didn’t say what time it will work.”

“Great,” Tournak said.

“So how’re we going to get back in there?” Saxthor asked.

Tonelia shook her head. “I only planned one performance.”

“We could sneak back up there and start a fire. That would empty the hall fast,” Hendrel said.

“No, the smoke could diffuse the moonlight. I think I’ll need that at full intensity,” Saxthor said. “It would also bring more servants to put it out. Who knows how long that would take? Any other ideas?”

“If we got a message to Bodrin to start trouble in the city, that might lure the court away from the great hall,” Tournak said.

“That might make them more alert and inclined to stay up and remain in the great hall,” Saxthor said. “Besides, how would you get a message to Bodrin from in here? No, we’ll have to wait and hope the people leave in time.”

They took turns listening to the chatter in the kitchen corridor. Just after two in the morning, there was an argument, then the palace was quiet. Tournak woke the others.

The moonlight is just coming through the window here so it should be doing so in the great hall, Saxthor thought.

“Hendrel, crack the door and check the kitchen.”

“The kitchen is quiet, the staff has gone to bed,” Hendrel said, closing the door.

“I’ll take only Tournak with me, since, if we’re caught, we can say we’re trying to find a lost item,” Saxthor said. “If we all go and are discovered, it’ll raise alarms.”

“I’m going, too,” Tonelia said. “If the two of you are wandering around in the dark, it’ll still look suspicious. With me, you can claim you are escorting me to find my lost necklace.”

“No point in arguing with her,” Hendrel said.

Saxthor shook his head. “All right, but let’s get going.”

The three slipped out of the room and up the hall, tiptoeing past a sleeping guard. They crept up the stairs and along the passage until they saw two more sleeping guards beside the great hall’s door.

I hate to use the Peldentak Wand this close to Dreaddrac, the Dark Lord might sense it, he thought. However, it’s the only way I can think of to get in there. He pulled out the wand and with wrist down, drew a veil of invisibility around the three of them. Then he tossed a copper coin on the floor across from the guards.

The sentries jerked upright, hearing the tinkling. When they realized it was unattended money, they both rushed to grab the coin. In the scuffle, Saxthor and his companions, slipped up by the door. While the guards argued, they didn’t notice one of the great arched doors slip open, then close again.