Arillia by Illuminati Architect

Chapter Fifteen, The Dragon

While Amelia prepared breakfast on the morning of Thursday, 2nd Befur, I recalled the Elvin earrings and pulled them out of my belt pouch.

“Rebecka, choose one of these and put it on my right ear and the other one on yours.”

“For Your Highness to suggest that I require some sort of ornamentation is merely a comment about her own features?”

“These are magic items.”

“What do they do?”

“Telepathy.”

“Will Your Highness use these to order me around?”

Though Rebecka’s tone was ironic, Sharon stopped browsing, swallowed, and turned to face me.

“That wouldn’t be helpful. As you never tie up your horse, I rely on your judgment and reflexes. We’ll need this for our upcoming infiltration mission and on those occasions when we pretend to be each other in the future.”

With the earrings in place, I extended a tiny bit of mana into mine.

Rebecka, can you hear this?

“Yes, Your Highness.”

Reply through the link, please.

Like this?

Exactly.

I rode next to Amelia on the road to Letodo and went over with her again the basic facts about dragons that everybody knows: they nest in the Ishpat Islands to the north of Quickhatch, which is on the northwest border of Ioa. I then launched into speculation Greg and I had worked out.

“The greatest factor distinguishing dragons from the other flying creatures such as insects, birds, and bats, other than their size, is their breath weapon. I suspect that this evolved in the past sixty-five million years to fumigate their nests, but the giant dray rats of the Ishpat Islands have also evolved in this time, giving them some resistance to this attack.”

“Arillia, surely the world isn’t sixty-five million years old?”

“Yes, the world is four and half billion years old. Please tag along once Carnel is confident enough to ride outside Kristophoro as I show her the clues to the age of the world written in the rocks. The oldest rocks nearby would be in the Ishpat Islands, the only parts left above the waves of the ancient continent that now lies beneath the Spectral Sea. We won’t be traveling there due to the dragons of course. Just as with humans, dragons shouldn’t be able to drink the seawater as they skim the ocean waves for days at a time reaching down with their long bills to catch fish with their sharp teeth. However, their guts have evolved to break down the salt in seawater into its basic elements. The sodium is deposited in their guano, which our alchemists make use of, and the chlorine is another matter. You remember what I said about keeping a damp cloth over your nose and mouth and those of your horse?”

“Yes, Arillia, you said this was vital but not dependable.”

“Yes, when the dragon inflates his throat sack, you must hold your breath and run away. The deadly Chlorine gas he belches forth dissolves in any water to create a strong acid. Having this in a cloth on your face is better than in your lungs. Whatever you do, don’t take any chances.”

We crossed into the duchy of Calus around noon and arrived at the gates of the city of Letodo late afternoon. Only when we reached Letodo castle itself did the guards question us.

I threw back the hood on my cloak. “I’m Arillia Aurora Angleland, a former classmate of Wayne Duenits’, here to wish him a happy birthday.”

“Young miss, you will address the young lord by his proper title. And I don’t see your name on the guest list.”

At this point, another guard who seemed a little older ran out of the gatehouse and yanked the list checker around by the shoulder. “You fool! Go fetch the young lord this instant.”

“But his lordship said not to bother him.”

“Did you not see the Angleland coat of arms patch on her jacket? Bring the young lord here now!” He then turned back to me. “Your Highness, I apologize for the discourtesy. Somehow we were not informed of your visit.”

“Oh, I was just riding by, remembered the date, and decided to drop in. Don’t worry about it.”

Wayne soon emerged from the keep. “Arillia?” Then, remembering the current context, he knelt and bowed. “Your Highness honors us with her visit.”

I dismounted, walked over, bent down to grab him by the shoulders and pulled him to his feet. “Surely you don’t mind my dropping by?”

He glanced down in surprise at the supernaturally boosted strength of my hands then, as he looked me in the face, his initial expression of annoyance was swept aside. “No, of course we are honored to have Your Highness as our guest.”

My smile was genuine, for I had captured another pawn on the board. “And I am honored to be your guest of honor, for your eighteenth birthday party. Do you have a room where we traveling women may freshen up?”

“I will make that available immediately. Captain, please ensure that Her Royal Highness’ horses are properly stabled.”

Two maids met us in the stables, showed us to our room, and assisted my warrior women in dressing up for the ball.

Wayne was waiting just outside the great hall. “What are you planning, Arillia?”

“Come, your guests are waiting!” I put my arm through his and marched him into the great hall.

“Lord -” The announcer was stopped by another attendant and after a moment started over. “Princess Arillia Aurora Angleland and Lord Wayne Duenits.”

Wayne whispered to me. “I have a fiancee, you know.”

“I know.” I winked at Lady Margaret Tibious, who had been waiting just inside the hall for Wayne, and waved to the other guests.

When we reached the great table, I took the seat that had been reserved for Wayne and had him take the seat reserved for Margaret next to me.

Margaret looked around and finally sat at the same table as my lesbian adventurers.

After everyone was seated, I showed the assembled guests my empty goblet, pulled out my wand, and summoned water to fill it.

“Is our wine not fit for Your Highness?” Wayne asked.

“It’s my own special formula. I take both the water and the carbon dioxide from the air to make a fizzy drink.”

“The carbon what?”

“Here, have a sip.” I held my goblet up to his lips.

After the dinner, the various young nobles lined up to pay their respects.

“Good evening, Your Highness.”

“Oh, pay no attention to me. I’m just here with Wayne.” I reached over to grab his hand, interlaced my fingers with his, and smiled at him.

After the queue was processed, Wayne attempted to pull his hand back, but I kept my grip.

“Come, it is time to dance. Musicians, please play something slow and romantic to dance to.”

The center of the hall was cleared for us, and I could see that Margaret and Amelia were asking the server for more wine.

As I pressed up against Wayne, he whispered to me. “What are you doing, Arillia?”

I whispered back. “Wayne, smile, enjoy the dance, and listen carefully to what I have to say.”

“As you wish.”

“Tomorrow morning, you will inspect the town guard, then at eleven AM, you will line up all the best archers in your guard on the battlements of the city’s western wall while you ride your horse outside the wall with lance at hand to inspect them. When the dragon appears from the west, you will order your archers to drive it off. You will wait until three minutes after the dragon flies out of sight before following after it alone.”

“That is absurd. A dragon hasn’t been sighted in Ioa for over a century.”

“Then there is no risk in humoring your silly princess, is there?”

“Very well, I will do these things.”

“That’s a good boy.” I kissed him on the cheek. “Now, go dance with your fiancee. After the ball, have the two of you meet me at the high balcony overlooking the courtyard.”

I exaggeratedly sighed, took a dozen steps, paused for five seconds as I looked back at Wayne talking to Margaret, then walked with my head bowed back to my seat. My semesters of studying drama seemed to have served me well, for I was left alone for the remainder of the ball.

I stepped out early but did not have to wait long for the young couple to join me at the balcony under the light of the waning moon.

“Arillia!”

“Good evening, Maggie. It’s been a few months, hasn’t it?”

“What in the three hells are you doing?”

“Well, before I die and go to one of those, I really must know. Maggie, tell me truthfully, what are your intentions with Wayne?”

“My father is to have me marry him, catch him in some scandal, and then I shall inherit the duchy and have my pick of suitors.” Margaret stopped as she realized what she had just said. Her eyes went wide. She covered her mouth with her hands and turned to leave.

“Stand and face me, both of you! Wayne, I can guess from your expression that you weren’t expecting this?”

“I thought Margaret loved me back. I never knew.”

“Now, I will fix this. Maggie, that is not the question I asked. Those are the intentions of your father. You two are deeply in love, desperate to consummate your relationship, and will have none other as lovers. You will have as many children together as you can practically arrange and will raise these children to share in your devout loyalty to the Angleland royal family. Am I understood?”

“Yes, Your Highness.” The two said in unison and reached out to hold each others hands.

“You can have a big ceremony in a few weeks’ time, but by my authority, you will now kiss and be wed.”

They did.

“Now, before you two rush off to Wayne’s room, which is, of course, now your shared room, to consummate your relationship, and you will find unmatched enthusiastic joy in your sexual coupling together, there is one final command for Maggie.”

“Yes, Your Highness?”

“Maggie, you will gather incriminating evidence on your father to hand over to me when next we meet. You will feel no sadness in his passing, for you do this out of your total loyalty to me.”

“Of course, Your Highness.”

“Now hurry along and get to the consummation, you two, for Wayne has a busy day ahead of him.”

I returned to the room assigned for my party and told Elizabeth and Rebecka to give us an hour. I had my way with Amelia and soon had her crying out, “Arillia!” as enthusiastically as Alice and Polly ever did.

The next morning, I accepted the expected invitation to a private meeting with the duke and duchess, which I attended in my traveling clothes, with the haunted saber at my side.

“Your Highness, what exactly happened at the ball last night?”

“Duke Duenits, I thought my shame was clear for all to see. I confessed my love for your son, but he turned me down and said he would marry Lady Tibious within the fortnight. So I gave them my blessing and must be on my way.”

“I will have him accept Your Highness.”

“Please don’t. We must all accept true love where and when it is found. It is a blessing for others and not for myself. Please accept Lady Tibious as your devoted daughter-in-law and do not torture my tender heart with this any further.”

Duchess Duenits then added. “I’m sorry that my son put you through this so soon after the problem with young Lord Glister.”

“Do not be sorry for me, Your Ladyship. The love I saw in Wayne’s eyes for his beloved has given me hope that someday my curse will be broken, and I will find a prince who looks at me the way he looks at her. I thank you for this glimmer of hope that will carry me on until that happy day arrives.”

Wayne had the city guard lined up to see us off, and we went three miles down the south road before cutting west through the woods. Then I followed Greg’s instructions to a clearing, which he said looked right, and we waited.

I had a good view of the dragon as it passed overhead towards the city and, as expected, saw that it was a lizard-like creature without a tail that flew via bat-like membrane wings that extended from its ankles to the tips of its extremely long outstretched pinkies, with claws at the mid front of the wings. It clearly wasn’t a bat as it wasn’t a mammal and had a long, narrow head that extended from a horn behind the head in a single shallow curve to end at the tip of its sharp beak. It also was many times larger than the most giant bat anybody had ever seen. This terror of the skies was all exactly the same as the paintings I had seen since childhood without any hint of this “translation issue with the art team” that Greg had mentioned.

I pulled out my wand and sent Rebecka north and Elizabeth south while I waited with Amelia. We all remained on horseback, to regroup or evade as needed.

The minutes passed, and I worried that Wayne had somehow failed to turn back the beast. I activated my earring and asked Rebecka, Do you see the dragon?

It has turned back this way and is almost within range.

Good, drive it south towards me.

As Your Highness demands.

I heard a bowshot in the distance, then the flapping of great wings. As soon as I spotted the dragon, I conjured a fireball to pass right in front of it. This was too far away to damage such a beast, but it had the intended effect of causing the dragon to pull back, stall, and settle to the ground.

“At last!” Amelia leveled her spear and charged in on Goldeneye.

“Amelia, turn back! The dragon is inflating his throat sack!”

She ignored my cry and stabbed the beast straight through the heart, only to be enveloped in a cloud of green gas. At this point, she released her spear and turned her horse around, with both of them coughing. Goldeneye made only a dozen steps before throwing Amelia, and both collapsed to the ground.

I urged Emberstep forward and dispersed the cloud of chlorine gas with a Wind spell as soon as I got within range.

I dismounted next to Amelia, tore off the damp cloth on her mouth, cast Cleanse on her, and then Heal over and over with all of my wand and all of my strength.

Amelia passed out and woke coughing an hour later after we had gathered and wrapped her in all of our blankets in front of a campfire. She suddenly rose to sit, then leaned over to vomit up blood on the ground.

I held her until she steadied, and then she looked over at the sound of the horribly labored coughing of her horse. “Goldeneye! Is there anything you can do for him?”

“I can’t feel any of my own strength which means that it is entirely gone just saving you. That is why I am sitting and resting quietly. As soon as I feel it is safe, I shall take off the swordbelt and collapse overnight, for I retain my senses only through Lord Sparot’s strength. Is there anything you wish to say to your father’s horse before I have Elizabeth end his torment?”

“No, do it, but please don’t make me watch. So I killed the dragon. I guess that makes me a dragon slayer, after all!” She had another coughing fit and then looked at the dragon for a bit. “What happened to the dragon’s head?”

“I had young lord Wayne take it back with him so he could be proclaimed a dragon slayer.”

“What! Why him and not me?”

“Now, Amelia, did you devise the plan to turn back and defeat the dragon all on your own?”

“No, it was you, Arillia. You saw all of this. You should have the credit.”

“If I add dragon slayer to princess and wizard, do I get any bonus points? If you agree that the credit is mine, then I owe it to your brave and noble sacrifice to spend that credit where it will do the most good.”

“But why him?”

“Perhaps once in three generations, Quickhatch welcomes a new dragon slayer. They hold no title in higher esteem, and no army of theirs would dream of marching against a castle defended by one such. With one simple lie, I have secured one of our borders. For the cost of one stable maid, I have advanced the chance for peace for all the land.”

“Wait, am I going to die?”

“Yes, someday, but not today. I think I can keep you going to see your future in-laws, and with one look at how you are now, they’re sure to reject you. Then we can ride back to Kristophoro, where Polly can heal you fully.”

“Who’s Polly?”

“A Blessed Girl I rescued from Suskan.”

“You mean that blue-haired girl at the castle is a healer?”