"Why did no one tell me of this?" I asked.
"There has been much activity, Sire," the guard said. "It's possible that they were simply overlooked."
Yes. Another one of Arthur's assumptions that had come true. We were too busy to pay attention.
"He's been here all along," I told my mother, as if she needed to be told. "He's been inside the kingdom and so the spells that were cast were of no use. He knows everything we've been plotting, everything we've been training to do."
Suddenly, I was wracked with a searing pain that ripped through my head. It drove me to my knees. Every thought was overtaken, every sense commanded by a force outside of myself. I heard nothing, saw nothing, felt nothing.
One single, overwhelming thought overtook me. I was presented with an image of a crag I knew to be a number of meters away from the castle and the kingdom. I had flown over that very place many times; it was on the ground at the base of that crag where my father's body had been found. That one place was all I was consciously aware of – and then it was gone, and I was back in my chambers with my mother on the floor at my side.
As my senses returned to me, I heard the anxious cries of the others in the room. There was no longer any hiding the dire situation in which I'd found us.
"Caside!" my mother called to me as from a great distance. "Can you hear me?"
I nodded, still unable to speak. Water was brought to my lips, and I drank gratefully. My hearing and sight were returning to their full strength.
"He's shown me where we are to meet," I told my mother. We were both kneeling on the floor, facing one another. I clasped her hands in my own and brought them to my lips. "I must go; I cannot run the risk of him returning here to harm anyone in the kingdom."
I saw tears in my mother's eyes. "Caside," she whispered, and ran one hand over my hair. "I love you, my son."
"And I you, my mother. Tell Morgan my orders are for him to remain here, with you and Anabelle. I will feel much more secure knowing that he is here with you both. I will do my best to return to you, and soon." I rose, and crossed once more to where my Queen lay in her frozen repose.
I leaned in and whispered in her ear. "I love you, Anabelle," I told her. "You have made me so very happy, every minute I've known you. You are the joy of my life. Everything of mine is yours, including my heart. I will do everything in my power to protect you and our child. I will live for the moment when I see you again."
Just then, a single tear rolled from the corner of Anabelle's eye and down the side of her face. Even as I loathed the idea of her being trapped in her frozen body, my heart rejoiced in the knowledge that she could hear me. "I know you hear me, my love," I told her. "But save your tears. I'll need them not. I'm going to kill that devil and return to you. We will raise our child together." I placed a gentle hand on her belly. "So help me, my love. I will return and all will be well again. I love you."
I placed a single kiss on her lips, which were cold as ice compared to my own. Then I rushed toward the balcony in order to make the shift and meet my foe.
I heard the chamber door open and saw Gaeth rushing toward me. "Your highness," he called to me, "take this with you."
He was holding a satchel out to me, and I was perplexed by its presence and the seeming significance which Gaeth attached to it. "Why do you wish for me to carry this?" I asked.
"It would take time to explain … " he said. But I had no such time, and even though I knew I owed much to the wise man, I was somewhat perturbed by the way he had so easily been duped by the dark wizard. The knowledge of this deception, and how easily it had slipped by the highly-revered wizard standing before me, left me questioning his abilities.
Still, I took the satchel from his outstretched hand. "Thank you," I said, though I still did not understand why I was being made to carry the parcel. "I must go."
I looked at my mother one more time. "I love you," I said. Then I shifted, rapidly, and took to the sky in search of Arthur.
CHAPTER TEN
When I took off from the balcony of the castle, I knew not how this battle would end. I hoped, of course, that I would be the victor. I told myself that I would be, and that I would see my Queen again. I told myself that I would hold her and grow old alongside her, and continue to take endless joy in her for many years to come.
I told myself that my child, the one sleeping within Anabelle's womb, would grow to be a great and mighty warrior and King. He would be wise, and fair, and fiery and bold … just as my father had. And I would live to see him grow into the exceptional dragon he was born to be. I would be there with him. I would teach him and guide him, along with the many other children Anabelle would bear me.
I told myself that the dragons would be safe. There would no longer be a need to fear, or wonder when we would come under attack. Our numbers would grow once again. We would be the mighty force we had once been. The Celtic dragons would rule Ireland and the surrounding lands once again, as we were meant to do.
I told myself these things, and I wanted with all my heart to believe them. But even in my dragon state, when I thought and acted most like a beast for whom all was either black or white, yes or no, with no middle ground … I was overtaken by nagging doubts. I pushed them far back into my mind, reminding myself that I didn't need any doubt plaguing me when it came time to do battle.
Speaking of battle, when I looked down upon the open fields only kilometers from the gates to the castle, I saw my troops marching off to do battle with the forces of Arthur's evil army. And marching toward them in a sort of grotesque mockery of military formation was the band of restless souls Arthur called an army. I swooped slightly lower so as to be within reach of them, and rained fire on their heads.
There was little else I could do, such was my haste to meet Arthur before he took greater pains to gain my company. I glanced behind me as I flew away and saw a column of "men" burning and flailing. I hoped it helped my troops in some way.
On I flew, faster and faster, toward my fate. I felt the weight of the satchel Gaeth had handed me, which now was clutched tightly against my chest. I wished I'd had a chance to find out exactly what it was he had entrusted me with; perhaps I had been too hasty, as always. I hoped to have a chance to examine the satchel's contents once I had reached the spot which Arthur had designated for our battle.
Soon that very place loomed before me; I was familiar with it, of course, having visited it many times in the days and weeks immediately following my father's death. Arthur would have known that, of course. I wondered how many other bits of information he was privy to, how long he had spent watching me. I guessed he had been watching me from a distance for years, perhaps since before my father's death and my ascension to the throne. The thought rankled me and I roared in disgust and a feeling of powerlessness I hated to admit even to myself.
I landed lightly, then quickly shifted to my human form. I knew that I could rapidly shift back if called upon to do so; what I needed now was reason and rationality, neither of which would be found while I existed in dragon form. I quickly opened the satchel and found a robe in there; at least I would not have to fight without clothing on. Of course, which I was grateful to Gaeth for providing me some clothing I was unsure why he insisted it was so vitally important. Perhaps he had cast some spell on it to protect me? I left the satchel by my feet and held the shield and sword before me.
No sooner had I poised my weapons than the air around the edge of the cliff swirled as if stirred by some invisible finger. And in the center of that swirling vortex appeared the figure of a man. I braced myself, ready to face my foe.
What I saw before me was hardly what I'd expected. I had imagined Arthur to be an old, wizened man. He had existed for centuries, after all. But the man before me was young, and handsome, with a vitality and healthy ruddiness that normally bespoke a much different sort of man. He wore a long black robe tied with a gold cord.
His long, angular face held a haughtiness, thanks in no small part to the delicately arched eyebrows and the way he held his head high; it was as if he was looking down his thin nose at those around him. His long, dark hair was tied with another gold cord.
"Surprised by me?" he asked, and laughed cynically. His laugh was like the shattering of glass; so different, I realized, than that of my Anabelle. Her laughter charmed and delighted me. His spoke of destruction and hatred.
"I'm sure you can take on whatever face and form most suits you at a given time," I observed drily. The smile on Arthur's face slipped slightly when I spoke, but it was recovered almost instantly.