Michael Stackpole - When Dragons Rage

The guards took two big steps back.

Scrainwood tapped a finger against his lips. “No, no, this will not do. You have sorely used me, all of you, and I will not stand for it. I will have to confiscate the fragment of the Crown and make sure it is safely kept.”

Augustus shook his head. “My friend, do not look upon the secrecy here as an affront to you, but see it for what it was. Princess Alexia determined, quite rightly, that the fewer people who knew of the fragment, the less chance it would be taken. We already know your palace is not proof against the predation of sullanciri , so her caution was not misplaced.”

The Oriosan’s head came up and he blinked at Augustus. “Oh, my friend, I think you mistake things. This fragment is doubtless what provoked the aggression against my realm. Had I known of it, had I taken charge of it, the Norrington would not be dying across the hall. By deciding that she knew better than I, she placed my realm in jeopardy. She is as much a threat to Oriosa as is her supposed husband.”

Alexia watched an iron expression settle over Augustus’ face. The Alcidese king looked past Scrainwood at his two bodyguards. “You are dismissed. Fetch Crow here.”

“Move and I’ll have you slain.”

Muscles bunched at the corners of Augustus’ jaw. “He’ll do nothing of the sort. You have my word. Go. Get Crow, bring him here.”

Resolute loomed forward and Peri flashed talons, convincing the two guardsmen to leave their liege.

“Come back here! Cowards! Your livers will be feeding crows before the week is out.”

Peri closed the door behind the two men.

Augustus kept his voice even and strained almost all of his fury from it. “Understand something, my friend. While I appreciate the desperate situation in which Oriosa finds itself, and while I have appreciated your information about the activities of Chytrine’s troops, her armies are moving south and have already plunged into Sebcia. If Muroso falls, she will race through Oriosa and then into Alcida. I will not fight her on my land. I will meet her in Sebcia or Muroso or, if I must, Oriosa. One word on an arcanslata and the southern third of Oriosa is mine. I can cut Meredo off against Bokagul, then fight Chytrine in your northeast corridor. Croquellyn will secure my flank.”

Scrainwood shivered and toyed with his ring. “You threaten my nation.”

“No, Scrainwood, I threaten you , because you threaten my nation. Will you listen to reason, or must I weep as I tell your son that the sullanciri , regrettably, still had life in it and killed you? I shall be most eloquent in delivering your eulogy.”

“You cannot do this! I am king!”

“Oh, I know, my friend, and I am your friend. I shall give you a chance to prove that you are yet mine.” Augustus pointed toward the arachnomorph. “You will be given custody of the Crown fragment.”

“Yes!”

Scrainwood’s avaricious hiss twisted Alexia’s guts around. “Sire, are you certain that is wise?”

Augustus nodded. “In exchange for it…”

Scrainwood’s eyes tightened. “Exchange? It is my right!”

“A right that shall not confer to your heir, Scrainwood.” The Alcidese king sighed impatiently. “You will deliver Crow to his wife, and you will cease your persecution of him. You will support the efforts against Chytrine. You can no longer play one side against the other. The time for that is well past. You have to be with us, in opposition to the Aurolani. You have no choice.”

Scrainwood looked up at the fragment. “I am not stupid, Augustus.”

“No, but you are not nearly as clever as you believe you are. This is the bargain I offer you. Accept it and I shall not feel the need to invade your nation. What say you, my friend?”

Scrainwood’s nostrils flared with a snort. “I accept, my friend , and I shall remember. You will get Crow, though formalities need to be observed. You do understand the need for that, yes?”

Augustus nodded. “I do.”

Alexia frowned. “Sire, is this really the time for little political games?”

“It is just one point in a grander game, and we are winning that.” The Alcidese leader sighed. “Grant him his point.”

Alexia nodded reluctantly. She knew well enough that politics at the highest levels required exquisite manners to cover vicious uses of power. Augustus had openly threatened to murder Scrainwood and take his nation. The choice he offered Scrainwood was to accept a portion of the DragonCrown and to turn over Crow. Scrainwood had no choice but to agree, but the illusion of power parity needed to be maintained.

Augustus clearly did not want to invade Oriosa. The Oriosans, despite their current king, were known for their fighting spirits. If Alcida invaded, the Oriosans would oppose them, sapping both nations’ strength when they both needed to be fighting Chytrine.

Likewise, the offer to entrust Scrainwood with the DragonCrown fragment was one that really cost Augustus nothing. Because Scrainwood knew of it, there was no way to prevent him from getting his hands on it. All he had to do was cordon off the inn, have his troops take possession of the place, and it was his. And while it might have been a mistake to reveal its presence directly to him, Augustus had to have assumed that since Chytrine knew it was here, she would pressure Scrainwood to get it for her regardless.

The bargain did work. Alcida would keep its army intact and could be later invited into Oriosa to preserve the nation. They got Crow back and elation filled her at this prospect. What she hated about the bargain was that she knew Scrainwood had in mind to fashion some trap for Crow that he could spring later. The very idea that someone would hurt him, and that someone would pull them apart, angered her.

Scrainwood’s right hand convulsed down into a fist and he glared at her. “Something not to your liking, Princess? You are getting all you want. We are all working together now.”

“Now, yes. I fear for the future.”

“As do we all.” Scrainwood gave her an oily smile. “A black bargain today, for a brilliant tomorrow. It is not what we would wish, but in dark days like this, we could not have done better.”

Her mother had been correct. Even with the thick layer of snow blanketing Meredo, the city’s stench proved strong enough to bring tears to Isaura’s eyes. Cart wheels churned horse dung, mud, and snow into a soupy brown sludge that spattered pristine snow and passersby alike, then slowly froze as night came on.

The people unsettled Isaura. She had traveled with Nefrai-kesh and Vionna via arcane ways that left her and the pirate queen on the verge of exhaustion. Nefrai-kesh, being a sullanciri , did not suffer from the journey and had been about his appointed tasks. Likewise, Spyr’skara weathered the journey well in his shell. Vionna released him and he quickly grew from the size of a large spider into a man-sized arachnomorph. Isaura linked Spyr’skara to the decoy fragment, letting magick direct the sullanciri to its target. Spyr’skara snapped its mandibles at his former lover, then leaped away to the rooftops.

They watched the new sullanciri for a while, then Vionna led Isaura off to secure rooms in the King’s Masque Inn. The place appeared, as nearly as Isaura could determine, to be largely populated by Okrans refugees in service to some noble or other. They were to wait there for the return of Spyr’skara and the ruby fragment of the DragonCrown.

The innkeeper did have two rooms available, though he was reluctant to rent them both to Vionna. The pirate found this curious, since Isaura, wearing a hooded cloak of whitest ermine, stood behind her as she made her request. The innkeeper refused to acknowledge Isaura’s presence, but acquiesced when Vionna paid double the night’s rate in gold and in advance.