The Royals

Chapter 31

'Ginni, it's Wanton Tom. Run to Grosik. Run to the dragon, Ginni! Run!'

She only looked at him.

The total absence of understanding broke his heart.

'It's useless, Grosik!' he shouted, not knowing whether Grosik could hear him. They have us. Save yourself!'

Grosik's wings flapped fruitlessly. He moved as if his wings were pinned in a myriad of different places all up and down their length. For the moment Tom forgot all about his plight and focused his will on the dragon. If wishes alone… He almost laughed at the old saying, which ended, "Then dragons would fly.'

The witches must have underestimated the dragon's claws. He struck at the unseen bonds with his back feet. Lightening flashed in the darkened sky when claws met the arcane magic. Again and again, the dragon reached out until one wing sprang free. After that it was inevitable. The witches could not hold him. In a moment, the second wing fluttered loose and Grosik was off the ground.

He glanced once toward the place where Ginni and

Tom remained captive. With a mournful sound, he rose into the air.

He'll be back, Tom thought, with reinforcements. But who would the solitary dragon find when his only two companions were beyond his reach?

Outwardly impassive, the Revered Novice watched the entire strange episode. Inwardly she felt like a cauldron of turmoil. She was sure she owed these witches her life, but a small part of her argued this assertion was nonsense. The man who tried to save her had sacri . ficed himself on her behalf, yet she couldn't fathom why. Still he seemed to know her, even if she didn't know him.

The dragon was an even bigger puzzle. She almost thought she might have played with a dragon long, long ago, but this seemed as improbable as the possibility that she had ever lived anywhere but here among the Forty-nine Towers.

The man stared and stared at her. Disappointment stronger than any she had ever known shadowed his face. It changed to complete outrage when he faced Revered Mother.

Ginni found him fascinating. She couldn't remember having ever felt such strong emotions toward anyone or anything and she wondered if this was true of all women. Were only men this excitable? What a nuisance it must be. She'd have to ask the Mother later when all the fervor died down.

Only when they took him away did she feel a twinge of regret. He seemed so sincere that it would be a shame if they hurt him. As nice as they were to Revered Novice herself, she knew they could harden themselves when they felt threatened. It was the way of all mothers.

Revered Novice supposed she herself would have to learn the trait one day.

But for now, she had knitting to tend to. She bent back to her task.

Henry understood the trolls better than any of his men, but what could he tell them? That only so much could be ascribed to intelligence was no comfort when everyone knew how few people survived whenever the beasts attacked.

He had hoped he might win by organizing the assault, because he didn't think the beserkers were capable of ambush. He didn't expect humans to lead the trolls' onslaught.

He was wrong.

He was wrong on all counts, wrong on everything that mattered.

Archers caught the troops well before they reached the scouts' reported sightings of the trolls. His front line was down and bleeding in the snow. His men fought but he needed two of his own for every one of the trolls. The changeling beasts were slow and stupid, but they'd been created to destroy.

It was almost worse when a soldier succeeded in killing one. The battlefield was littered with steaming bodies collapsing in on themselves. The obvious magic unnerved the men, distracted them from their duty. Not a few simply ran away.

Reeling from the weight of his looming failure, Henry rallied his men and urged them forward. No use. The trolls were on them before they could gather a defense. Fire burned all around them. He shouted orders, but he might as well have been standing inside a glass jar.

Quickly, Henry called retreat. The handful of men followed him, crouching or crawling to stay under the smoke. He covered the horse's nose, but she balked and fought. When she stepped on one of the men, he let go of her rein and wished her Sisters' speed.

A wall of fire appeared from nowhere and nearly blocked escape. Henry threw down his cloak and kicked dirt to smother the flames. Others jumped up to join in once they could see what was happening. Together they managed to clear a space and dive through. Safe for the moment, Henry called a halt. Mumbling dispiritedly, the men straggled to a stop.

The prince squared his shoulders and surveyed the remaining soldiers. He was utterly dismayed as he counted up the casualties. The elfwitch had taken well more than half his troops and completely demoralized what was left.

He winced inwardly as he thought back to the day on the parapet. Where that earlier bunch had been boisterous and invigorated, this one was subdued and beaten down.

Here were men who could barely gather the courage to look past the ends of their swords for fear a troll stood ready to rend them limb from limb.

Henry didn't know what he planned to say, only that he needed to stop this leeching of their wills. 'You've done a good job, men.'

'Don't have very high standards, do you, sire?' mut tered one of the men.

'My standards are higher than you'd expect. We won't beat her this way, but we can slow her down.'

'Slow death, there's an honorable way to go.'

"There is nothing honorable about this war, Henry said. The elfwitch doesn't know honor. We'll have to find a way to remain honorable while fighting dishon or.'

'Bugger honor and dishonor both!' someone shouted.

'Here, here!' another joined in.

This isn't going to inspire them, Henry thought. He cleared his throat and dry-swallowed. 'I don't have to tell you it's going badly. We all suspected the odds were less than even.' He exaggerated a shrug. 'So now we know the odds. But we're not here to place bets.' Henry felt an old anger surge within. He nurtured it and let it inspire all who heard him.

'We are here because we are men and this is a just cause.