Cormyr_ a novel - Ed Greenwood [51]
All three warriors had a blade in the creature's death, thrusting like madmen as the naga screamed and eventually died. It sounded chillingly like a woman sobbing as its lifeblood flowed out of it.
As the serpent-thing lay dying, thrashing about in oily, spreading black gore, Alusair leapt over it in frantic haste. Brace saw her snatch another gem, some last gewgaw of magic, from her belt as she leapt.
She threw the gem at what stood, flickering, behind the naga. Her target was an upright oval of blue magical fire cradled in the depths of the cavern. It was the magical gate she had spoken of, a door created by the Zhentarim. The gate collapsed with a roar, just as a red creature like a gigantic upright crab lurched through it. The magical radiance of the gate winked out as the gem struck it, and the crablike monster tumbled forward, cut in half.
Brace allowed himself to exhale, then heard a general roar of approval from behind them. The impatient nobles had flooded into the cavern. Apparently they had been unable to wait until sundown, particularly once they heard the naga's screams.
"Hurrah! Our work's done, then, Princess!" Ulnder Huntcrown, one of the young hotspurs, bellowed exultantly.
"No, Ulnder," the warrior princess told him grimly, hands on her hips. "Our work is just beginning. We have to hunt down and close all the other gates like this one."
"Huh," the noble growled in exasperation. "Why are victories never so clear and final as when the minstrels sing?"
"Because singers don't clean up after themselves. Warriors do," Alusair told him tartly
"Or they soon die," Harandil Thundersword murmured from nearby. The princess looked at the soft-spoken nobleman sharply, then nodded in agreement. The warrior princess regarded the others, and they, too, nodded, slightly embarrassed.
Alusair allowed a smile, teeth flashing white, and shouted, "That's enough of great battles for today, lads! Let's find a good guardable place to camp and get some rest. We'll be in the saddle scouring the Stonelands on the morrow!"
There was a general sigh of breath let out as the nobles relaxed. A chorus of good-natured groans answered her words, but she saw more than one man raise his blade to his forehead in salute. She smiled in genuine pleasure. "That's my bold band! Gods, I'm proud to think of Cormyr in the years ahead, with all of you sitting in your halls as the lords and barons of the realm!"
The watch fires crackled and spat sparks as their flames reached orange fingers for the stars. As Alusair walked softly among them, a dark night cloak thrown around her shoulders, she could hear laughter and even some less than tuneful singing. The men were happy this night. The deaths of Dagh Illance and the others had already become tales of renown and heroics, in which each survivor had a story of his own legendary ability in the face of the orcish hordes.
The six men at the southernmost watch fire didn't see the warrior princess approach, or they'd surely never have said what they did.
"Damn you, Brace Skatterhawk, you always take the other man's side in any argument! How many sides d'you want?"
"Just like the king at that, he is!"
"And why not? He's a son of Azoun, after all. Haven't you heard the tales?"
Threldryn spoke up now. "We all have, Kortyl, but most of us have the wits not to say such things when we're riding with Azoun's daughter!"
"Aye, Kortyl. What if she heard you?"
"Bah! I don't fear her! Why, if I…" Kortyl's voice trailed away suddenly, and the others around the fire looked up, feeling a sudden tension. The princess stood over them like some dark shadow of the night, the firelight gleaming in her eyes.
"Yes, Kortyl?" she asked softly. "What would you do?"
"Uh… well, I… that is, I…" The young knight looked away.
She knelt down by the suddenly abashed nobleman, took hold of his ear, and said into it, "Well, if I were you, Kortyl Rowanmantle, I'd have the basic wits to look all around to see if someone's listening before I talked about them!"
The princess playfully shoved the kneeling Kortyl backward onto