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Chapter 46
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“We need to get something to eat.” Esmarilla said to Ardwella. “That healing took a lot of magical energy. Vanador and I are going over to McDonald's”
”Don't pay him full price. He probably has more cows than he can easily milk by himself right now, so remind him of that before you take one. You had better leave Siophra here with me. McDonald is probably going to be looking for a new wife soon”
”You can’t think I would be interested in a relationship right now, especially with a human dairy farmer!” Protested Siophra.
“No, but he seems quite angry right now." Said Ardwella. "Beautiful elven women might bring out the worst in him. I think everyone but the dragons should give him some distance. They will be doing him a favor by eating some of his surplus cows.”
The two large dragons lumbered into a position to make a run and quickly jumped into the air, furiously beating their wings as they swung out over the lake and headed for Della.
“Ronette took one of the bulls, so make sure to leave the other one alone,” sent Ardwella through her bond with Esmarilla.
”No problem. Don’t eat the Bull. They can be a lot of trouble anyway, “ sent Esmarilla
Ardwella looked up from being distracted by her thought communication with Esmarilla just in time to see a huge red dragon bearing down on her at speed. Mo-Rungs sudden motion had caught her totally by surprise. He looked furious. The loss of his mate had clearly caused him to snap. He would have quickly reached her but somehow got tangled in the fallen clothesline. That tripped him up, and he fell. He rolled forward, and the line snapped. He got up and headed for her again, dragging clothes, only to pull up short as Cantrell jumped between Ardwella and the angry dragon. The elf looked small, standing before the furious red dragon, but he positioned himself to block him. The dragon looked like he would plow through but suddenly hesitated, stopping with mere inches to spare.
“Why are you stopping me?” Asked Mo-Rung angrily.
”I’m saving your life! Do you think Esmarilla and Vanador would let you live if you laid a claw or tooth on her?”
”They are not here. Only my poor dead Aleena is here. This is my only chance. Elves have taken everything from me!” He swayed precariously. It looked like he might fall over.
Ardwella watched in delayed shock and amazement as the big red dragon's anger broke, and he began to weep.
”Not all elves. Only those aligned with the emperor! The royal family is the problem,” said Cantrell. “Since we met, you and I have become friends “
”Yet you will not bond with me,” said Mo-Rung.
Cantrell looked awkwardly over at Mavis, who still seemed lost and broken, kneeling next to Aleena’s body.
”We are all learning that bonding and friendships can be very fluid and complicated matters,” said Cantrell.
An immense boom and the sound of shattering wood blasted them, and Cantrell ducked below a flying tree branch. Esmarilla and Vanador crashed through the foliage and together pounced and pinned the somewhat smaller red dragon to the ground. He whined pathetically. Esmarilla was snarling something angrily in Dragon.
“Esmarilla! Vanador! It’s alright. Cantrell stopped him,” said Siophra
Esmarilla looked at Cantrell in disbelief.
“It is lucky that he did! Said Esmarilla. “It is only because he lost his mate that I haven’t already gutted him”
”Please do not do that,” came a quiet voice. “Aleena’s children will need their father”
Mavis walked shakily over between the two huge dragons, pinning Mo-Rung to the ground, and grabbed a black talon. She tugged at it, and in surprise, Esmarilla allowed her to pull it off the red dragon’s shoulder. Vanador stepped back too. Mo-Rung rolled to his feet. Whipping line and clothes about haphazardly. Mavis bent down and began to pick some of them up. Siophra walked over, bent down, and started to help.
Together they gathered all the remaining clothes and walked into the house.
“I must check the nest,” said Mo-Rung as he shook himself off and stalked away stiff-legged toward the lake.
"Again, you have placed yourself between me and death," said Ardwella as she stared at Cantrell.
"Don't get used to it," replied Cantrell. "I did that more for Mo-Rung than for you."
"So you say," said Ardwella. "That dragon's charge caught me by surprise. But not you. You seem to be paying quite a lot of attention to me"
"You thrive on that, don't you?" said Cantrell. "What are you doing, building a fan club?.... Wait! You are! You are so vain."
"Let us just say that no one has ever become detached from my influence as fast as you seem to have. I am just surprised."
"And it hurts your ego to think that I don't......"
"Ardwella! Come and see this," came Siophra's call from the house...
"I suppose this discussion must be delayed," said Ardwella walking away.
Cantrell watched her go. He watched until she climbed the porch and went inside. He didn't want to. But he did.
Esmarilla watched Cantrell as he watched Ardwella.
"This will not end well for you," she said. "Ardwella loves her husband"
"Has she done this to a lot of people?" He asked
"You are the only one that I have ever seen that has managed to break free," the dragon answered. "You should bond before you fall back under her spell. It is the only way."
"I refuse to believe that," said Cantrell. "Esmarilla, you and Vanador should go finish getting something to eat"
"I wanted to thank you before we left." said the black dragon. "For saving her again. You jumped in front of Mo-Rung."
Cantrell nodded. "Yes, I did. It was probably a stupid thing to do."
"Cows are waiting," said Cantrell. "After all you have done, you will need to eat. You are looking a little grey. Thank you for saving Mavis. She is special to me."
"And unmarried," chuckled the dragon. "Think about what I have said"
The two large dragons jumped and then climbed into the air again. The flapping of their wings blew a small recognizable apron out from under a fallen tree branch. Cantrell picked it up and got a strange look on his face. He smoothed it out and tucked it away. When did life get so complicated?
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In the house, Ardwella looked at her sister.
"You called me?"
"Put out your hand..." said Siophra. "It's grandfather's ring. The one Lothinar gave to Ardwynn. She is sending him... and well, us.. a message."
Ardwella took the ring shaking her head. She tucked it into a pocket.
"Where is Mavis?" she asked.
"She has some sort of magic clothes cleaning machine in the back of the house somewhere. I think she is washing those clothes we just picked up," said Siophra. "And crying"
"I may want to get one of those," said Ardwella. "A magical washing machine! Who knew?"
"You probably have to be one of the imperial family to get one. I didn't have a reason to do much laundry while I was being held captive in my cell.....naked!" shouted Siophra as she grew angry at the memory.
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"Again, I am so very sorry. I didn't even know you were still alive," said Ardwella.
"Yes, I know. I don't mean to complain to you about it. I guess I just have unprecedented deep-seated clothing trauma. I should probably talk to someone about it. Perhaps a dressmaker"
There was an awkward pause. Ardwella didn't laugh.
You know Ardwynn played this very smart." said Ardwella. This whole attack on Mavis might have been a big distraction to keep us from chasing after her by air"
"She couldn't have known that Mavis would have survived, even if Vanador got involved"
"Perhaps she didn't actually care. She couldn't know we would actually try to save the Emperor's daughter; that was a long shot, but it sure distracted us long enough to make sure she could get away. We are pretty low on dragons now that could pursue her," said Ardwella. "And she now has a good head start."
"She also chose to take Tundor while we were distracted by Lothinar's disappearance," Siophra reminded her.
"I don't know how I could have misread that girl so badly. She is clearly the Emperor's tool. The whole family was. What was I thinking?"
"She assisted in killing her own parents. I don't think there is anything that says that you are loyal to a cause more than killing your own parents for it. I can see how you might let your guard down.”
"I don't think Ardwynn even realized how much she had been affected by Lothinar." There is no way that this whole scenario was planned by the emperor." said Ardwella. Yet now he has the white dragon he has always wanted," said Ardwella. "Except it will be Tundor and not your Vanador"
"And if this succeeds, he will gain immortality through the dragon bond. Our hope of killing him by cutting him off from the eggs may no longer work," said Siophra. "Well, we can hope that somehow Tundor can break free or resist the switching of the bond. If he's anything like Vanador was, then I don't think he is going to give in willingly,"
"I just realized something. Argent has had access to viable eggs this whole time. I wonder why he never tried to hatch one and try and get a young dragon to bond with him?" pondered Ardwella.
"Perhaps he did, and they rejected him. We don't know much about how very young dragons think or how old they have to be to form a bond. Perhaps we should have a talk with Mo-Rung's daughter Firestorm"
"Candasar should be watching her by now, along with the unhatched eggs." Said Ardwella. "I will go over to the nest in the morning. Right now, I'm going to ask Cantrell to get some wardens together and see that Aleena's body gets a proper burial."
"Do you think he will do as you ask?"
"That's a question that I am very interested in the answer to," said Ardwella. Seeing what Cantrell is going to do has become a recent hobby of mine."
"You've changed," said Siophra.
"Haven't we all?" said her sister.
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The little kitchen was comfortable. They had finished breakfast and were still sitting at the table. A fresh cup of pine needle tea sat steaming in Lothinar's right hand. Sunlight streamed through broad windows that had pictures of dragons flying on the trim. It looked like someone had tried to make it beautiful as well as functional. It didn't look lived in, however. Lothinar observed that there was a place for an herb garden in a box below one of the larger windows. The place where the herbs might have been growing was empty. Ronniflass caught him looking at it.
"She was not my mother"
"What's that?" asked Lothinar.
"The one that decorated this house. This kitchen especially. She was not my mother. I have heard stories about her my whole life from my father. She was beautiful and had powerful magic. He never really got over her."
"That must have been hard for your own mother." said Lothinar.
"She was only human." Ronniflass smiled at the joke. "She fell deeply in love with my father. He didn't try to hide anything from her. My mother knew she was never going to take her place. She accepted this. As I do."
"What do you mean by that?"
"I lied to you. I am not your fiancee'"
He nodded.
"Why did. you feel the need to do that?"
"You seemed like you had forgotten her. Your wife. I thought, with a little push, a few omissions.... I could somehow take her place in your heart. But when you didn't take me up on my suggestions in the bedroom.....I knew that it wasn't going to be that easy to win you over. I understand what it is to be second to someone else.”
"It's not you...You are certainly beautiful"
She looked down. Doubt clouded her eyes.
"She left you. Do you remember that?"
"I remember being sad and angry, so that seems to make sense. How did I come to be here with you?"
"You really did drown. You must have overextended your magic when you were helping Firestorm. You fell in the water. I really did save your life!"
"That name, Firestorm. It seems familiar. I guess I was lucky that you were there"
She blushed.
"Well, I might have been following you. Stalking you. I don't ever remember doing anything like this before. I don't know what's come over me, It's like you are my whole life."
"I don't understand," said Lothinar, but perhaps we can unravel this mystery together. Friends? For now?"
She nodded, dropping her eyes.
"Her name was Ardwynn... Your wife. And your dragon's name is Candasar."
"And she is little and red?"
Ronniflass looked puzzled.
"No, she is large and definitely blue. You gave me a ride on her recently. She must be looking for you"
"I appreciate you telling me the truth about all of this Ronniflass, but I still don't remember any of it"
"Perhaps, then, there might be hope for me," she said smiling, "Because I'm not going anywhere unless you make me."
Lothinar didn't answer because just behind the glass in the broad sunny window box, a little red dragon's face was peeking in.
The face was scowling.
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"Sitting on eggs all night on the side of a lake can make you cranky," said Candasar as Ardwella and Siophra approached the nest.
"Where is Mo-Rung?"
"Firestorm wasn't here when I got back. Mo-Rung's out looking for her"
"All night?"
"Yes, he hasn't come back yet. It's frustrating because I think I could do faster searching from the air"
"It's unfortunate that Cantrell hasn't bonded with him. We could ask him for an update through the bond," Said Siophra.
"I think I've learned an awful lesson about encouraging someone to bond before they are fully ready," said Candasar. I told Lothinar to have sex with Ardwynn and then strongly suggested Tundor bond with her. I did it for selfish reasons. I wanted to have the perfect double pairing"
"It did make sense at the time," said Ardwella. "I didn't disapprove."
"You must have known that Lothinar had influenced her with his natural pheromones"
"Yes, but that was always going to be the case with anyone else as well. I'll admit I should have been more suspicious about her family connections. She did originally hide them from us."
"Wait a minute," said Siophra in a shocked voice, "You mean you knew Ardwynn was related to Argent..."
"A niece"
"...You knew she shared blood with that monster and still allowed her to marry your son?"
"I know, it seems impossibly stupid now. The dragons could not sense the problem either. Something about how Lothinar affected her acted like a perfect camouflage. She helped us in the battle against her father! It's almost like we were played."
"I don't know any other way that Argent could have gotten his hands on a white dragon. Perhaps you were. It actually would make me feel better than to realize you were just that foolish," said Siophra sadly.
"What am I going to do about these eggs?" asked Candisar. "I can't just stay here all day?"
Ardwella laughed
"Why do you think I waited so long to find a husband and have Lothinar? It is very hard to set aside the things you want to do for others. Even your own children. I thought this is what you wanted?"
"Maybe if I had a little help!" Where is Mo-Rung!?"
Three water dragons approached. Candasar recognized them. They swam up to the nest, and if Ardwella were any judge of dragon's expressions, she would think that they looked embarrassed and ashamed.
Candasar snorted and rolled her eyes.
"Ardwella, I'd like to introduce you to Maud and Clay. They are Tundor's parents. The little one there is their daughter Vanessa."
"These are the ones that left him to drown?" Asked Ardwella.
"The same"
The water dragons seemed to squirm and began to hiss.
"We are S-sory for what we did Candasar" said Clay. "The council forced us! You know this is true"
Candasar sighed. "Perhaps you can make it up to me."
"Yessss. Anything," said Maud.
"You heard that Aleena was killed yesterday? She died a hero trying to save her bond". She left these eggs unattended and she has another daughter that I need to go looking for. Can one, or all of you take turn watching and protecting this nest until Mo-Rung or I come back?"
"We will do this. I have no eggs of my own right now." said Maud.
"I will help also" said Vanessa.
"I know that you love your son, Maud. said Candasar. "I watched you swim around frantically on the night the council tried to drown him. They really didn't give you a choice."
"I told you she would say that," said Clay.
"You were no help at all, Clay!" Even after everything Grandfather told us about where we came from you still listened to the council"
He hung his head and didn't say more.
"Well, nice to hear the family has made up!" said Siophra cheerfully. "Perhaps if we can GO FIND LOTHINAR! we might be able to actually get wings on some of these water dragons before Argent arrives!"
"He may delay now that he has the opportunity to bond with Tundor," said Ardwella. "He's still going to want the eggs, but it's not going to be as urgent as before"
"Did you hear that Maud? Our son is going to bond with the emperor! We'll be related to royalty! How exciting," said Clay.
"Listen, you idiots!" cried Candasar, "That is going to be very, very bad for Tundor. We need to try and stop that if we can!"
Clay and Maud hung their heads.
"It sounded like a good thing," said Vanessa.
"It's not!" said Candasar. "Just watch these eggs. I'll be back as soon as I can. Mo-Rung is their father."
"Like our grandfather Mo-Rung? I thought he died," said Clay.
"It's obvious we need to start getting information out to the dragon population about what is going on," Said Siophra. "Who is left on the council?
"You should probably talk to Killingsworth," said Clay. "You fought him. You took his eye, Just in case you forgot"
"Great. Yeah, I remember that," said Candasar. "Ok. At least I'll recognize him. One of you go and find him and tell him to meet me here tomorrow morning"
Vanessa looked at her parents and began to swim away. Maud climbed up onto the nest as Candasar hopped off.
"Thanks for watching these eggs Maud. They are all we have left of Aleena. She put a lot of herself and her magic into them. I'm sure that they will be special"
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The elven capitol was ablaze with lights as Ardwynn directed Tundor toward the palace. She had forgotten how beautiful true elven construction could be. The small outpost in the mountains that had been her home over the last five years or so just could not compare. She landed before the great golden doors that swung open silently when she and Tundor landed in the courtyard. Tundor was terrified. He had never seen anything like this. He could feel it through the bond. She soothed him and forced him forward. He was getting stronger, but she still had the upper hand. She walked through the doors and down the various well-appointed halls until she reached the throne room. There, on a raised white marble dais, sat the emperor on his throne. He raised a grey eyebrow as she approached and knelt before him.
"You’re very, very late, Ardwynn. I didn't think that you weren't going to make it!"
”Getting the dragon to bond with me was challenging, Uncle, but the ability to control people through pheromone magic was a harder task.”
“You have this information now?”
”Not yet, but we will be able to experiment on the elf that does”
“Why would he choose to come here and risk capture?”
”He will come when he learns that I am carrying his child, and to save its life, he will surrender to us”
‘Excellent! The prison tower is almost repaired. Now you should introduce me to Tundor. We have a great deal to discuss.
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