The Return of the Dragonhawk

Chapter 6 - Ride into Danger

"Enough!" Rhoz shrieked with laughter. "I yield!"

Alyn stopped splashing, and lay back in the water. "Do as I do, Your Kynship," she urged. "The water will hold you up."

"You must not call me that. It is not only tiresome, but dangerous. I am Pym."

"If anyone were to see us now, I doubt that calling you Pym would make any difference," Alyn said.

She looked approvingly on Rhoz's naked body. Her Kynship's time at Drawynsdell had wrought an impressive transformation.  She was still a little pudgy, but much of her baby fat had given way to muscle. Her manner had greatly changed as well, and her precise speech was beginning to acquire something of a country accent. On her arrival at Drawynsdell, Alyn's heart had felt a curious yearning towards the stable boy with the yellow pony, but it had taken time to puzzle out the reason for it.

Just before sunrise, Alyn and Rhoz had begun their journey down the forest road with Panax and Polly, a sound but elderly white mare. When the sun grew hot, they had forsaken the road and found a sheltered area of the river to rest, bathe, and share their stories.

"I have not had a proper bath since I arrived at Drawynsdell!" Rhoz exclaimed. "What would mother say?"

"'Tis most scandalous indeed! I have trouble finding privacy too, but Count Grigori knows my plight, and tries to help."

"He knows who you are?"

"Indeed. I fled south to plead with the Dominions to send troops to defend us. Dominator Pavlento understands the peril, but the Regulus of Tansis is more like Muktar -- he thinks he can manage everything on his own and become supreme ruler of all he surveys."

"What is this mission of Grigori's? Has is something to do with the war?"

Alyn laughed, and started to wade towards shore. "There is no mission. The purpose was to return me safely to Praxen in disguise."

Rhoz followed, and sat beside her on a rock, savouring the sunlight. "This is no time to return to Peregret, while Muktar seeks to destroy all who live there."

Alyn set her jaw. "It is my duty to lead my people."

Rhoz looked away. "I wish there was something I could do besides hide."

"Your time will come. You have the royal blood of both Helion and Akynadar in your veins, and you will become a bridge between them."

"That is too elevated for me," Rhoz said. She took Alyn's hand. "All I want is peace, so we can be together again."

She is the enemy, Alyn reminded herself for the thousandth time. I cannot entrust myself to her. But she did not pull her hand away.

"I cannot tell how long that will be," Alyn said. "All I know is what I heard the elder Drawyn tell Count Grigori -- that the soldiers he saw crossing the bridge back into Akynadar did not seem particularly triumphant."

"Young Drawyn says they speak of strange happenings," Rhoz said. "Lightning spooking the horses and mysterious flames springing up in their path."

Alyn smiled. "Mayhap some mages from Helion have joined our cause after all. But the Akynadarians will soon become accustomed to the illusions. Though their faith fail them, fear of Muktar will drive them on."

"And you -- what will you do if they overrun Praxen?" Rhoz asked.

Alyn sighed. That time seemed uncomfortably close. When Muktar's troops poured into Peregret, destroying everything in their path, Abbelard had wavered so long before mounting a defense that half the country lay in ashes. She had dreamed of marching northward from the Great Wall with an army of Southerners; instead, she was pulled away from the negotiation table by the news that Abbelard's nobles had revolted against their lord's indecisiveness and declared the Tirena S'Alyn "Battle Queen", the sole head of state until the war ended. Every man and woman in the land was a soldier now, even farmers with no weapons but pitchforks, giving all they had to halt the relentless horde. Though she had nothing to offer but herself, her place was with them.