The Dragon Master's Son 11

Chapter 11

Princess Lujain rode into the clearing and drew up alongside John's horse. Heilbronn followed the princess into the clearing and instinctively threw his gaze in the direction of the boy. John stepped out from behind the tree, which made the princess start.

“What are you doing down there?” Lujain demanded. “Why aren't you on your horse?”

John blushed. “I fell off,” he began, “and I was, er, just...”

Now it was Princess Lujain's turn to blush. “Right,” she announced and jumped down from her horse. She guided John back to his horse and almost threw him onto the animal’s back. She proceeded, over the next few hours, to teach him the fundamentals of riding. She was a good, if impatient, teacher. John listened and improved, though her beautiful face and fascinating clothing were a distraction.

In the afternoon, their riding brought them to a clearing in the forest. In the clearing was one of the small, single room cottages the woodsmen used when working in the forest. Lujain jumped down from her horse, then signalled to Heilbronn. The knight sat more erect in his saddle, to be more on his guard. The princess helped John down from his horse and led him towards the cottage. “I have a little surprise for you.”

John looked at Lujain. Her fingers twitched in nervous excitement. Whatever was inside the cottage, Lujain was evidently desperate to reveal it to John. She opened the cottage door and disappeared inside. The dark interior of the building enveloped her. John, a little unsure, hung back and waited outside the door. Though Lujain had disappeared from sight, he could still hear her voice. Another voice inside the cottage responded. John knew the voice in an instant. With new found courage, he entered the cottage.

Initially, the gloom of the single room, after the bright light of the forest, blinded him. Swiftly, his eyes grew accustomed to the poorer light. First, he saw the smokeless fire, which filled the room with an orange light. Then he spotted the cauldron, which sat upon the fire and bubbled gently. John saw Lujain, sat in a chair by the fire. Sat opposite her, deep in conversation, was his mother.

The effect was instantaneous. John could neither move nor speak. The joy and relief that welled inside him, held him in a petrified rapture. The two ladies broke off their conversation and looked his way. Lujain addressed him first.

“I have been wanting to tell you since we first met. We just needed to know you were on our side first.”

John turned to look at his mother. She didn't speak. She just stood up, gently walked over to him and folded him in the warmest, most loving embrace of his life. Eventually, she released him, kissed him on the forehead and seated him in a chair next to herself.

“I had to leave,” his mother began to explain. “Crispan was gaining in power every day. It was obvious that he would soon try to control me; use my power to aid his plans. When I found out you were being brought to the castle, I placed a charm on Lujain, so you would know to trust her and treat her as a friend.”

“I knew Crispan was after your mother,” continued Lujain, “so I watched and waited. When your mother decided to leave, I brought her here. The King owns all the woodsman's cottages and this one was empty. It is quiet and out of the way. Out of Crispan's way.”

John looked afresh at Lujain. She was excited and her features were animated. She was more beautiful now than he had ever seen her before. “Crispan has made alliances with the Sharms, the Ipaceans and the Apotians. They are massed on the borders ready to strike. Crispan has many of the King's men secretly working for him, he has a dragon and your father is working for him.”

“Not through choice,” John replied angrily.

“How do you know?” Lujain demanded.

“John's right,” his mother interrupted. “Clive probably isn't working for Crispan through any desire. But that is Crispan's way. His power is his ability to make people work for him, do his bidding, usually in the knowledge that if they didn't, they'd otherwise be killed.”

John looked in alarm at his mother, but she merely smiled in response. “Your father is too clever to get himself killed,” she reassured him. “He'll just do the bare minimum he needs to stay alive and keep on Crispan's good side. That's what I'd like you to do. Stay at the castle, keep an eye on what Crispan is up to and I'll let you know what to do through Lujain.”

John glanced across at the princess. He was beginning to realise that he really didn't know this girl at all. She wasn't just a pretty girl who rode horses.

“We had better be going,” Lujain stated. “Crispan will notice if I am not there for the evening meal and will send out soldiers to search for me.”

John's mother nodded and all three stood and walked to the door. Just before he left the cottage, his mother took his hand. “Be very careful around Crispan. He has no magic of his own, but he can sense magic in others. And he can make people do things they wouldn't normally do.”

“Are you coming outside?”

She shook her head. “I don't go outside. The risk of being seen is just too great. Goodbye, John. I'll see you again very soon.” She placed a kiss on his forehead and then John set foot outside the cottage.

Lujain and Heilbronn sat waiting in their saddles. If anything, the knight seemed to be seated even more erect than when they had entered the cottage. His head moved from side to side, searching as far into the woodlands as his vantage point would allow. He seemed on edge, to be anticipating some imminent event. John decided not to keep him waiting, so clambered, as best he could, back onto his docile horse.

“Good,” Lujain affirmed, “Shall we ride?”

A long strip of wood flew into the clearing. It struck Heilbronn square in the shoulder. The knight responded with an ear-splitting bellow. John gawked at the arrow sticking out of Heilbronn's body. His ears became aware of cries to arms and the charging of feet. Lujain made to help the knight.

“Get away!” the knight roared. John and Lujain sat in their saddles in shocked disbelief. “Ride!” Heilbronn demanded, drawing his sword and turning to face the advancing hoard.

Lujain heeded the command first. She turned her horse and sped expertly from the clearing. For a split second, John wondered how he would be able to get his horse to do that. Before he could give his horse a command, the beast decided to chase Lujain’s horse all by itself. John lurched violently backwards in his saddle, clenching with whitening knuckles to the reigns. With his full weight on the bridle, the horse's head lifted and the animal slowed its pace. John seized the opportunity and regained his saddle. With his complete concentration on riding, he was unaware of the arrow flying through the clearing. Its barbed tip sliced with speed through the woodland air. John felt the familiar sensation in his stomach. The arrow homed in on its target. The horse sensed John's leaving. The arrow passed clean over the horse, without stopping.

John found himself once more in the cavern beneath the castle. John looked up at the Welsh Red. “What's happening?”

The dragon looked at him with the wisdom of millennia. “Crispan has made his move. The war has begun.”

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