Prince of Dragons

Chapter 33 - The knight and the earl

The day after the group had arrived at their camp, sometime around noon, a loud horn resounded through the forest. They heard the clatter of hooves, many, many hooves.

Maréin, Arwund, Vaciana, Enorwin and Bedreigh all instantly got up. In the distance, they saw riders approaching.

"It's my father!" Enorwin said, suddenly more enthusiastic than Vaciana had ever seen him.

"Looks like it," she said.

Arwund, who was standing next to her, muttered under his breath, "This should be good."

It was a long line of riders, some of them wearing elaborate suits of armour, others merely wearing gambesons. Once more, one of the riders blew on a horn; several birds flew away in panic.

In front of the line, to the right of the rider who had blown on the horn, rode a man in shining plate armour. Two long, white feathers were attached to his closed helmet. By his side, he was carrying a sword in a heavily decorated sheath. The caparison of the black horse he was riding was white, covered in depictions of the coat of arms of the Flaming Lands: white and gold in colour with a sword at the centre. Vaciana immediately realised that this man was Enorwin's father, earl Raynnard of the Flaming Lands.

The riders slowly came to a halt at the campsite. Earl Raynnard opened his visor, revealing the face of a man in his late forties. He looked at Enorwin. "I see you've gained some new companions," he said. His voice was low and serious.

The others bowed to him. "My lord," Arwund said, a hint of sarcasm in his voice.

"Marholdson," the earl said. "I do hope you've kept your end of the deal."

"He has, father," Enorwin said. "He has been of great service to me."

The earl raised an eyebrow in surprise. "I see," he said, before dismounting his horse. Now standing in front of his son, he asked, "Do we have duke Hadufried's permission to enter the duchy?"

Enorwin's eyes widened in surprise. "Er..." he muttered.

"Is there something you're not telling me, Enorwin?" the earl asked. Vaciana suppressed a chuckle: he spoke in the same tone of voice her father had always used when he suspected his young daughter had broken some rule behind his back.

The prince of the Flaming Lands looked at his friends, his panicked eyes asking the others, Should we tell him?

"There has been an uprising in Dracherwold, my lord," Bedreigh said. "The duke has fled from his castle. We have no idea where he is now."

"An uprising?" the earl asked, briefly looking at Bedreigh. Then his gaze shifted back to Enorwin. "Why did you hesitate in telling me that?" He paused, then added, "You're not hiding something from me, are you, son?"

Ouch, Vaciana thought.

Enorwin was silent, his face growing redder and redder by the minute.

"Enorwin," his father said sternly.

What if Enorwin told the truth? Would the earl vent out his anger on his son's friends? Suddenly, Vaciana felt a strong urge to run away to safety, but she thought that would only look more suspicious.

Enorwin sighed and looked at the ground. "The truth is," he said, "that I was there."

"You were there?" the earl asked. "What do you mean, you were there?"

"I mean that I had a part in the uprising," Enorwin admitted.

"You WHAT?" the earl shouted, taken aback. "What got into you?"