PART I Chapter 9

The feast was in full swing, with people lining the tables in the main hall and the cook and his helpers scurrying in and out with platters and bowls heaped high with delicious foods. Ashanta had ordered the tapestries beaten and rehung in honor of the occasion and the floors scattered with fresh rushes. The tables had been scoured and covered with fresh clothes, and the wine from the cellars was flowing freely. The guardsmen had been encouraged to participate fully in the feast, and Firth sat at the head table, surrounded by plates and glasses. Now, Ashanta stood up.

"It is my great pleasure to announce to you," she began, "that we have had a letter from King Rafe. I will read it to you all now." She picked up the small scroll of parchment and unrolled it carefully. 'Dearest wife, I write to tell you that our allies, after many weeks of pigheaded stubbornness, have finally recognized that if the Kreign overrun the kingdom of the Shauvrin, then it will only be a matter of months before their own kingdoms fall. They have agreed to throw their lots in with us, in the belief that together we can accomplish what none of us could accomplish alone: the utter defeat of the Kreign. It remains to agree on the details, but I hope to return to you, dear wife, within the next two moons.'" She paused as the hall erupted in cheers and shouts. "In light of this letter," she continued, "I have ordered Sharra, the high priestess, to sacrifice to the gods in gratitude for a positive letter, and in hopes of a brighter future."


The applause that echoed through the hall was deafening, and Ashanta smiled to hear it. "And now," she continued, "I ask that the jester come forth and entertain us in our joy."

Lingqui tumbled into the hall, and popped up right in the center of the tables. "I shall recite a poem of victory for King Rafe," he began, "for surely he will be the victor against the barbarian Kreign." He somersaulted away from the center, toward the high table. There was an audible crack as his head hit the post of the table, and he lay sprawled and senseless on the flagstone floor.

Ashanta reacted quickly, hoping that this was part of the act so that he could go and hide himself in her chamber, rather than a miscalculation that resulted in an actual injury. "Firth, detail two men to carry the jester to his chambers," she ordered, "and send word to the priestess so that she might tend to his hurts." She sat down again. "As we will not, apparently, be permitted to hear the Ode to the Victory of King Rafe, let the benches be cleared for dancing, and let the musicians begin their show."

Everyone, old and young, set to with a will, and in a short time the tables and benches had be pushed to the outsides of the room and the musicians were tuning their instruments on the dais. Ashanta nodded to Firth, and took his hand, and the two of them began the dancing together. Ashanta danced until her feet hurt with all of the men of the guard and many of the others before she excused herself, pleading exhaustion, and prepared to return to her chamber. Two of the guards prepared to accompany her, and she smiled gaily at them.

The chamber reached, the guards looked around in a cursory manner, clearly more interested in the celebration below than in any threat to their queen, and allowed Ashanta to enter, closing the door behind her.

"Highness," whispered a voice at her ear, "we have come, though I fear that my head hurts something fierce. Had I realized the pain involved, I should have pretended to break my leg instead, but then I should have needed to be laid up for some weeks, and I would rather not have that."

Sharra laughed, "Or better, you could have pretended to break your head without actually doing so. I hope that you are well enough to provide us with wise counsel, for I fear that we may have a situation that is beyond our expertise to handle." She turned to Ashanta, "Highness, do you wish to tell Lingqui about the current state of affairs, or shall I do so?"

Ashanta hesitated, but only briefly. "I think that I must speak of things," she told Sharra. "You can add in anything that I have forgotten, so that Lingqui might have the most complete picture possible."

She turned to Lingqui. "The kingdom is badly in need of your wisdom. As you have probably been told by Sharra, the letter that I read this evening was a forgery, created by Sharra and me to provide cover for the feast that is currently happening down below. It has become nearly impossible for me to speak with you without my faithful guards overhearing every word, but it is crucial that I seek your counsel and Sharra's together as soon as might be arranged.

"Do you remember the dreams that I had some weeks past, in which the dragon appeared to me in my dreams? That he said that he should not return after the third visit? That he spoke of a child who would save the Shauvrin during a time of grave danger, and who would be the child of his loins, and the daughter of my womb?"

Lingqui nodded. "His first promise, that he would not return a fourth time, has been true. I know not of the truth of the second."

"My moon time has come and gone, and I have not bled," Ashanta said simply. "I believe that I am with child, and a child that cannot be the child of my husband. I have lain with no man during his absence, and the child in my womb must needs be the child of the Dragon King."

Sharra spoke then, "But what should we now do? It will soon become obvious to all that the queen is expecting, and unless King Rafe returns imminently, which seems unlikely, it will likewise be obvious that the child is not his."

"And then, for the queen, the wife of the king, to be with child, and for the child not to be the son or daughter of the rightful king…," Ashanta's voice trailed off. "I fear for what will be done to me. Not for myself, but for the child that I carry in my womb, and if the dragon's prophecy be true, for the kingdom of the Shauvrin."

Lingqui rubbed his head in thought, flinching as his hand passed over the tender place on the back. He sighed loudly, then looked up at the queen, "The dragon has set us a pretty puzzle, there's no doubt about that," he said. "When the king realizes that you are expecting, and that the child is not his, he is likely to be very angry. I do not know what he will do, but I fear that you will be imprisoned, and perhaps even executed. The line of the kings is very important to the Shauvrin, and the child that you bear is not of that line. Hence, he cannot permit the child to inherit the kingship."

"If the dragon is right, the child is a girl, and could not inherit the kingship in any case," pointed out Sharra, "but the general thread is well taken. We must prepare for the eventuality that the king will order Highness imprisoned, or even killed."

Ashanta shuddered. What had she done to deserve this? Surely she had been a faithful queen, staying behind when the King went off to councils and wars, and leading the kingdom as best she could in his absence. She had not called the dragon, had not, indeed, known of his existence prior to his arrival in her dreams, and had not, even then, realized that he was real. It was not until Lingqui had spoken of the legend of the Dragon King that things had begun to fall into place in her mind, and even then she should not be responsible for the way that she had behaved in a dream. Surely King Rafe had had dreams in which he cavorted with lovely young girls.


"Do you think that he will wait until I have been delivered of the child before he has me executed?" demanded Ashanta. "Nay, he will see the child in my room as a direct threat to the line of the ruling kings. He will not wait for the child to be born."

Lingqui and Sharra were silent, thinking. "Then," replied Sharra, "we must find a way to save your life, and the life of your unborn child. I did not imagine when you told us of the dragon's prophecy that the threat we needed to protect the child from would be death at the hands of your own husband. We should make plans immediately for your escape."

Ashanta shook her head, "I do not believe so. So long as the king is away, I rule from the castle in his name. Were I to leave now, the entire kingdom would be thrown into disarray. Then, surely the time of great trials would come before this child can be old enough to deliver the kingdom. I must stay in the castle until King Rafe's return. Who knows, it may be that the king will not execute me, but will simply throw me in the dungeons, to be executed after the birth of the child, and alongside the child should it prove to be a son."

"But Highness," Lingqui protested, "how can you choose that? Your life would surely be forfeit, and that of your unborn child as well. King Rafe is a kind king, and a wise one, but surely he will brook no threat to the line of succession that has remained intact since the beginning of the kingdom. You must flee, I think."

"I will not flee now," Ashanta declared. "To do so would be to put the kingdom at risk now. And I do not believe that the king will execute me out of hand. Rather, he will throw me into the dungeons that he might have a trial and disclose my indiscretions to the world. If he kills me out of hand, in anger, he will lose the respect of his subjects and he will not wish to do that. So let us plan for an escape from the dungeons, knowing that we may have but a few hours of time in which to make the escape good.

"Lingqui, I believe you said that the Dragon King flew as dragon from the dungeons. Think you that we might use that route?" Ashanta continued.

"I know not," replied Lingqui. "Had you asked me a month ago, I would have said that the story was just a legend, out of the mists of time, and that searching for such a route was foolishness." He hesitated, "But surely the story of the Dragon King seems more true now than ever it has in the past, and so, perhaps, that route out of the dungeons exists as well."

He held up a cautionary hand as Sharra and Ashanta jumped up in excitement, "Remember though, that the route may have been a magical one, that closed as soon as the dragon was through, and even if not it may have been blocked off in a cave-in or walled off in further work on the castle. Be that as it may, it seems to me that a trip into the dungeons to search for it is warranted." He paused, "Perhaps I should search for information in the library tomorrow."

Ashanta smiled, "Yes. Tomorrow evening we travel into the dungeons to search for an exit."