Chapter 31 #2
As they arrived at Balthazar’s chambers, Tashama recognized the familiar royal blue curtained bed trimmed in gold braid, while drapes hung from the windows in the same color scheme.
A crystal ball rested on a gold stand next to one of the windows, and dusty books on potions and spells filled numerous shelves on one of the walls.
Two gold dragons held a bench in another corner of the room while a carpet of blue embroidered with the figure of Balthazar as he mixed a potion, lay across the gold-tiled floor.
Tashama studied the rug while Aleron ran his fingers over the spines of the sorcerer’s books, and the thief stood guard. As Balthazar’s figure changed, Tashama knelt at the foot of the rug. “What are you trying to tell me, Balthazar?”
Aleron walked over to the rug. “What is it?”
“Balthazar is trying to show me how to mix some kind of potion.”
Aleron studied the rug, then hastened back to the bookshelf. He searched for a book on potions, then found one bound in purple and orange with gold lettering. He returned to Tashama. “It’s the only one there with this coloration.”
“The lieutenant is coming!” Jaran said from the doorway.
“Yes?” Tashama said to the lieutenant as he hurried into the room. He stared at Balthazar’s figure, pouring liquid into a cauldron, then shook his head.
“Lieutenant?” Tashama said. “What word have you for us?”
“Oh, my lady, the guards have discovered the missing prisoners and are searching the palace room by room.”
“Can you see that two of the 4th royal house come here at once?”
“My lady, you and King Aleron must leave here...”
“Two from the 4th royal house. No other will do,” Tashama said, then turned her attention to watch Balthazar again.
“Yes, my lady,” the lieutenant said and hurried out of the room.
Within minutes, the thief ducked back into the room. “The lieutenant is coming with two men.”
“From the 4th royal house, I would hope,” Tashama said. “You and King Aleron must hide momentarily.”
“I will not leave you,” Aleron said.
“Nor I,” the thief added.
When the three men walked into the room, the two guards unsheathed their swords.
Tashama studied the older of the two, and he nodded, then sheathed his sword.
“What are you doing?” the other asked his companion.
“The princess has work to do. We will leave her in peace.”
Tashama concentrated on the younger man, and he nodded. “We must guard Balthazar’s chambers.
“Yes, they’ve already been searched, and we’re not to let anyone in.”
The two men hurried back out into the hallway and shut the door behind them as Aleron and the thief stared at Tashama. “Only with members of the 4th royal house.” She turned to study Balthazar.
“That’s good to hear,” Aleron said.
Tashama smiled. “Had I been able to use such powers on you, Your Highness, there’s no telling what I might have had you do.”
Turning back to Balthazar’s learning rug, she said, “All right, he’s mixing the fine green powder of emerald crystals and ground tooth of dragon. I believe it’s some sleep potion, or, hmm, a transformation potion. I never could keep the two straight.”
Aleron turned to the section on transformation potions and showed them to Tashama. “Here’s the transformation potions. It’s number three.” Balthazar waved his fingers in the air. Aleron turned to the correct page. “What are the ingredients?”
“The first two you already named, then there is the speckled mushroom of the fairy glade, a cup of the lake water of Curacao, a cup of Elorian elven ale, a dash of the poison of the prickling burs of the forest, a teaspoon of Mordavian tea, and a drop of sweat from the reigning sovereign of Karthland.”
“Loran.” She shoved her hair behind her ears. “Balthazar knows I’m not much good with spells.” She took a deep breath. “We’ll need to get the ingredients, then return here.”
“And then?”
“Hopefully, Balthazar will guide us further.” She turned to Jaran. “Can you lead us out of here? We need to return to the caves near where the Elorians live.”
“Certes, my lady.” Jaran bowed low. The thief soon led them to the nearest sewer system as Tashama wrinkled her nose. “The same man as ours designed your sewers. This is how I got into the city.”
“We weren’t always at war.” Tashama squeezed Aleron’s hand.
“About the ingredients, Tashama…”
“Yes, we must hurry to get them…”
“But the dragon’s tooth…”
“They shed teeth all the time. I’m sure if the dragon is still courting his lady love…”
“Is it not necessary that the tooth comes from the dragon’s mouth?”
“Heavens no.” Tashama smiled at Aleron, then kissed his hand. “I wouldn’t want such a task as that.”
For a day, the three traveled to Ramoria and were warmly greeted by the Elorians.
“You came for Elorian ale,” one of the leaders of the elves said to Tashama.
“He speaks.” Aleron’s raised brows indicated his surprise.
“They’re pleased we are working together in an attempt to end the conflict. They have sent some of their bowmen to help our forces.”
The king of the elves nodded. “We will feast and escort you to the emerald mines.”
“Thank you, my lord.” Tashama followed the men to a large area set under trees and stars, while Aleron and Jaran stayed close to her.
As they took their places at the honored head table, the queen leaned over to Tashama. “He has met all of the tests?”
“Nearly.” Tashama smiled at the queen.
The next day, the Elorians escorted them to the emerald mines. The dwarves met them and offered the fine powder of emeralds…for a price. Then Tashama, Aleron, and Jaran continued with their escort to the dragon’s lair.
“He has returned,” Tashama whispered when his heavy breathing roared in a hush. “How can we safely find a tooth scattered about his lair when he is still here?”
“A female rejected him, and he is in the worst of tempers,” the elf said.
Before anyone could stop him, the thief disappeared into the caves.
“Where is he going?” Aleron readied his sword.
“You’ll never be able to fight the dragon,” the elf said.
“He’s a thief. If any can slip in undetected, the young man can,” Tashama said.
They waited for ten minutes, then the dragon roared. The elf said, “He has been doing that several times a day. The wounded heart is the worst any creature can bear.”
When they saw the thief running out of the cave, his colorless face showed he had failed in his mission. Tashama sighed deeply. “We must convince the female he is worthy.”
She nodded at the elf, then headed south.
Aleron and Jaran joined her while the elves stayed behind. Aleron frowned. “They will not aid us?”
“They wish us every success.”
“But they will not aid us?”
“They cannot interfere where the dragons are concerned. Unfortunately, if we cannot succeed, we will all have failed. If only a simpler potion would have sufficed.”
“I take it there is a female in this direction?”
“The Elorians said she is the one who rejected their dragon, yes.” Tashama surveyed the mountains for signs of her.
“If you can convince her she should unite with him, I will have to tell Carissian you are indeed more powerful than he,” Aleron said.
“Ah, but have you ever asked him if he could do such a deed? Perhaps he can as well.”
Aleron chuckled. “I don’t believe he would think it was something his job required of him.”
“What do you propose to do, my lady?” Jaran asked.
“Sweet words and comforting actions are what women like to receive from their prospective mates.”
The thief scratched his head. “She is not human.”
“What if we were to wound her slightly?” Aleron asked.
“Then the male will come to her rescue…”
Tashama took a deep breath. “If she did not finish us off, he would. Of course, their interest in each other would produce offspring, but it wouldn’t do us any good.”
“What if we were to steal something of hers?” the thief asked.
Tashama shook her head. “Same result, I’m afraid.”
She studied the ridge looming before them and pointed at her silvery-green scales, the sun reflecting off them like a mirror of shimmering light. “There she is, just on the tip of that peak right in the middle.”
“What is she doing?” the thief asked.
“Studying us,” Aleron replied.
Tashama sat on the grass. “The male has done something to perturb her. No other males are around for miles…so the Elorians have told me. The dragons’ urge to mate is as great as that of many of the beasts of the forests. But they’re a sensitive lot and he might have offended her.”
Aleron poked his boot in the dirt next to Tashama’s knee as he smiled at her. “Such as?”
“He moved too quickly with her, perhaps? He demanded something of her that she wasn’t willing to give up freely?”
Aleron shook his head. “Dragons aren’t like people.”
“I had one as a pet dragon once—Loralee.” Tashama ran her hand over the top of the grass, allowing it to tickle the palm of her hand.
“She was offended when I tossed a ball to one of my handmaidens, and the girl missed it, and it hit Loralee on the nose. She sulked for a whole day over the incident, no matter how much I tried to convince her it was an accident.”
Tashama stood.
Aleron said, “What is it, Tashama?”
“She’d be the right age.” Tashama pulled the pendant out of her dress and held it up to the sun.
“They don’t go very far from their home.
” As the blue sphere shone a light across the valley, Tashama studied the dragon’s reaction.
The dragon didn’t move, and Tashama shook her head.
“It would have been too good to be true.”
“Look.” The thief pointed at the dragon when she spread her wings.
“Is she the one?” Aleron asked.
“I don’t know.” Tashama held up the crystal to the light again. “Find some buttercups. If it is she, it is her favorite treat.”
Aleron and the thief dodged through the field looking for the golden flowers. The dragon flew overhead, then hovered over Tashama.
“Loralee,” she called out to her. “I’ve come home.”