The Dragon's Lair (5 page)

Ven helped him push. "Because of the Thief Queen?" he asked nervously.

"Yes. Grateful as I am that you were willing to go into the Gated City to discover the story of my father's lightstone, I fear that you have made a very powerful and very vengeful enemy because of it. From the time that penal colony was established, no one has ever escaped from the Queen of Thieves, as far as anyone knows. The Raven's Guild in that market of thieves is all-powerful—or at least it was until you got in, then got out again, taking the Queen's daughter with you. Felonia does not forgive—
ever
. And she seems to be intent on finding you."

"When we were in her chambers, she said that every exit, even the secret ones out of the market, had been sealed, at least temporarily, so that we couldn't escape. Of course, we did, er, escape, but I thought I had a couple more days before anyone could get out of the Gated City to come after me."

The king shook his head. "I doubt that," he said. "You have less time than we originally thought. There have been huge flocks of ravens flying across Westland and even the open fields past the river all the way to Castle Elysian all night."

"Ravens at night? I thought ravens only flew by day."

"That's true most of the time," said the king. He stopped in front of the icehouse, lifted the latch, and opened the door. "But there is a breed of bird known as the night-hunting raven. They are very rarely seen in Serendair because they live in lands north of the equator. It seems that the Raven's Guild is using them as spies.

"Additionally, the fishermen in Kingston have been reporting a large amount of noise and underwater disturbance off the shore outside the walls of the Inner Market. It has long been rumored that tunnels exist into the sea below the ground there—if they were sealed quickly, as you say, it now seems as if the thieves of the Raven's Guild are trying to get them reopened. They are looking for any exit they can find. The harbormaster has ordered all the fishing and shipping vessels away from that area, to keep them from danger."

"Felonia can even threaten the
harbor
?" Ven's throat went suddenly dry.

"The Thief Queen has eyes
everywhere
, Ven, and will stop at nothing to get what she wants. From what you told me of your adventure within the Gated City, I am certain that her anger is raging, especially toward you. You escaped from her prison—and you took her daughter with you. You cost her an important alliance, since the marriage Felonia planned to force her daughter into is now ruined. She may be angry enough to make use of every tool she has to find you both. I am sending you away, out of Westland, across the Great River, to the eastern lands, long enough to escape her clutches. This is imperative, Ven—I fear for your life if you don't leave quickly. I want you out of Westland by sunset.

"While you're gone, we can make it seem as if you've left the island on a ship. I'll make all the arrangements to have that rumor released into the Gated City. I'll also get Captain Snodgrass to bring back word from the sea that you have been sighted in a far land. If you can stay away for a month or more, I believe that Felonia will think you got away and she will give up the search. Then you can come quietly back from the eastern lands to the Crossroads Inn."

The prickling excitement in Ven's scalp was fighting with a hint of anxiety.

"I don't know anything about the lands to the east of the river," he said, trying not to sound nervous. "The only place I've ever been past the river is your castle."

The king slammed the icehouse door shut and reset the handle.

"I know," he said, heading back to the wagon. "I have everything arranged—well, almost. We just need a few more provisions, and Tuck will take care of that this morning."

"Tuck?"

"Polypheme, you idiot—make certain that door is closed!" Cadwalder's voice rang out from inside the dark stable.

The king glanced over his shoulder, then looked back at Ven.

"That would be your house steward?"

Ven groaned. "Yes. Vincent Cadwalder."

"The one who framed you for theft?"

"Again, yes."

"He's still here? Why?"

"Mrs. Snodgrass has a kind heart," Ven said, "and an iron fist. She knows he has nowhere else to go—his parents were killed by brigands at the crossroads when he was just a baby. But she is getting extra work out of him, and it's smelly, unpleasant work to boot."

"Hmm. Seems like all things point to this being an excellent time for you to be leaving for a while. When you come back, be careful of that young man, Ven. These days it's important to know who you can really trust. And you're about to be introduced to someone you can." The king returned to the wagon with Ven at his heels, trying to keep up with him in the dark.

The king stopped in front of the other driver, removed the hood of the wagon's lantern and leaned up against the buckboard.

"Ven," he said, "meet Tuck."

The driver lifted the brim of his hat and nodded politely.

I knew immediately there was something different about him, even though I could barely see him in the shadows of the small flickering light. He also seemed familiar somehow, though I was certain I had never heard his name before
.

Tuck seemed to have a very pleasant face, oval with high cheekbones, and not a tremendous amount of hair underneath the straw hat. His eyes were both bright and piercing, a light color that I learned was green once I saw him in daylight. They twinkled merrily, and he was smiling slightly. Then he dropped the brim of his hat and faded back into the shadows again
.

"Good day, Tuck," Ven said. "Have I met you before?"

"You may have seen him in the gardens of Castle Elysian," King Vandemere said. "Tuck is my chief forester. He is in charge of all the new plantings you saw last time you were there. He designed all of the topiary hedges shaped like dragons and griffins and such."

"Oh yes," said Ven excitedly. "They're quite beautiful."

Tuck chuckled. "They might be when they grow," he said. "Now they're just plantings with wire cages around them." His voice was clear and low, his words clipped. It sounded as if he did not speak very often, and when he did each word was important.

"In case you can't tell in the dark, Ven, Tuck is Lirin," the king continued. "I know you have met very few Lirin, and there are lots of kinds of them. There are Lirindarc, the kind of Lirin who live in forests, and Liringlas, who live in open fields. There are even Lirinpan, who live in cities. Tuck's people are known as the Lirinved, the In-between, who are equally at home in forests and fields, but live in neither. They wander, a little like Rovers. Tuck knows the lands east of the Great River better than any man I know. I would trust him with my life, and I think you're safe trusting him with yours, and that of any of your friends you feel might also be in danger."

Ven thought about Ida, the daughter of the Queen of Thieves who lived in Mouse Lodge, the girls' dormitory behind the Inn. He had no doubt that her mother was looking for her as well as for him. Then he thought about how interested the Thief Queen had been in Saeli, the little Gwadd girl who also lived in Mouse Lodge and had an almost magical way with flowers and plants, as all Gwadd did. The Thief Queen loved poisonous plants, and was very happy to have Saeli to tend her collection of them. Saeli's escape probably made her as angry as Ida's had.

Finally, his mind went to Char. Felonia had taken an instant dislike to him, instructing her soldiers to shoot him first if any of them tried to get away.

"I think we have to get everyone who went into the Inner Market of the Gated City out of Westland," he said at last. "We all managed to make the Thief Queen angry in our own ways."

The king held up his hand, and Ven fell silent. "Tuck knows the plan, Ven. It's not safe to talk too much more about it out here in the wind. Even though we're standing at the blessed ground of the crossroads, I don't want to take any chances. He's on his way to town now to get the rest of your provisions and supplies. Then he will return to pick up you and your friends, and off you'll go. Are you ready?"

Ven exhaled. The excitement of adventure was dancing in his brain along with the urgent need to get out of Westland. His thoughts were jumbled, so he shook his head to try and straighten them out.

"Let me tell my friends to get ready," he said. "If it's all right with you, sire, I'd like to go to town with Tuck. I have some things to take care of there before I leave."

The king looked solemn. "If you do, stay low in the wagon and keep away from the Gated City," he said. "There's no sense in tempting fate. The Raven's Guild is doing the best it can to find you while they are still trapped within the walls of the city. You don't want to make their work easy for them."

"No," Ven agreed.

"There is one thing more," said the king. "The last time we spoke I believe I mentioned to you that a dragon was burning the Nain settlements in the foothills of the High Reaches."

"That's right," Ven said. "You did. I forgot about that."

"It's early in the morning still," said the king, looking at the dark fields around them. "You are probably still partially asleep. You need to wake up, though, Ven. I'm not sending you out looking for hidden magic this time. I'm sending you away for your own safety. Your parents are far away—someone needs to look out for you. And even though you are a wise young man—er, Nain—it's still very easy to be overwhelmed by new sights and mystical places. You must keep your head about you now. It's very important."

"I'll stay alert," Ven promised. "But I assume if I see any magic hiding out there, you will want to know about it, won't you?"

The king chuckled. "Always," he said. "But first and foremost, stay safe. Listen to Tuck, and keep your head down." He glanced around him again, and leaned closer.

"I do, however, have a task I would like you to accomplish if you can do so without putting yourself or your friends at risk."

"Yes, Your Majesty!" Ven blurted. "What is it?"

The king sighed. "First, you must understand that each of the kingdoms over which I am high king has its own ruler, its own set of laws. I may be in charge of all of them, but only loosely. Some of the kingdoms don't get along very well. There has been an old grudge between the kingdom of the Lirin and the kingdom of the Nain for a long time, something that may soon lead to war if it's not settled. Apparently the Nain have something belonging to the Lirin king that the Lirin want returned to him. And the Lirin have something
I
want. How to make all that happen, well, it's a tremendous puzzle—and you know how I love a good puzzle."

"Yes indeed, sire," Ven said. His favorite room in the king's palace was filled with nothing but puzzles and thinking games in all sorts of sizes and colors, made of every material imaginable.

"You are the perfect ambassador to send to the Nain. Do you speak their language?"

Ven flushed with embarrassment. "I do," he said. "But my family has been upworld for four generations—more than six centuries. This means we speak our version of the Nain tongue—but I'm not sure it's what real downworld Nain speak. I'd hate to say the wrong thing and start that war you're trying to prevent by accident."

"I wouldn't worry about that," the king said. "Downworld Nain also speak the common tongue, so you can converse in that, if nothing else. The Nain ambassador to my court says he doesn't know why the dragon is attacking them. If you meet with the Nain that live where the dragon is burning settlements, you can ask them questions that might help puzzle out the reason. Remember the puzzling rules I taught you, and you might be able to find the solution. The only other thing to do would be to ask the dragon directly, and somehow I don't think that's a good idea."

"Right."

"If you can help figure out why the dragon is so angry with the Nain, without putting yourself or your friends in harm's way, you might be able to trade that information to the Nain in return for them giving back what the Lirin want. And if you can give the Lirin back what
they
want, the Lirin king may give you what
I
want. You can bring that to me, and in return I will give you something
you
want."

"I—I don't really want anything, Your Majesty," Ven stammered.

The king smiled. "Of course you do," he said. "You've told me about your quest for the Ultimate Adventure, the thing that is so amazing, so inspiring, so wonderful, so
magical
that it satisfies your endless curiosity once and for all. While I can't give you that, since neither of us knows what it is, I can at least give you the tools to help you find it. I'm working on one of them right now, as a matter of fact."

"You
are?"
Ven's head felt like it was going to explode.

"Yes. I'll tell you more about it after you come back. It might be ready by then. We'll see." The king's smile faded. "Here's one last thing to remember. The king of the Lirin who live in the great Enchanted Forest far to the southeast is a proud, great man. His name is Alvarran. He's occasionally known as Alvarran the Intolerant, because he does not have a lot of patience and he does not suffer foolishness well. It is he, and he alone, who has what I want in the Lirin kingdom.

"If you reach the Enchanted Forest in the course of your journey, say this to him: 'I am the herald of His Majesty, Vandemere, high king of Serendair, and as such I claim his protection. King Vandemere states that if you will send him the greatest treasure in your kingdom, he will swear fealty to you and ever after will call you "sire." ' Can you remember that?"

Ven's eyes opened so wide that his eyelids hurt.
The king is willing to give up his throne?
he thought.
For a piece of treasure?
"Uh, yes, but Your Majesty—"

"Memorize it just as I said it to you, please, Ven." The king's voice rang with an authority that made Ven stop breathing for a moment.

"I am the herald of His Majesty, Vandemere, high king of Serendair, and as such I claim his protection," Ven repeated. "King Vandemere states that if you will send him the greatest treasure in your kingdom, he will swear fealty to you and ever after will call you 'sire.' "