Death of the Dragon - Ed Greenwood [122]
Lord Edryn Braerwinter looked at his friend and said, "Well, I guess we'd best-"
That was as far as he got, through a vain shout from nearby, before a dark form swooped down out of the sky, cruel talons spread, and tore off both their heads.
Cold laughter trailed the ghazneth as it soared into the sky again, pendants clutched in fingers that trailed blood, as the torn husks that had been Lords Braerwinter and Tolon toppled to the ground in bloody ruin. Arrows stabbed into the sky after the laughing scourge, but as usual they were too few, too feeble in flight, and too late.
35
It might have been the brisk way the door opened or the odd heaviness in Alaphondar's step, but Tanalasta knew at once something terrible had happened. She stepped away from the great map table and waved the others in the room silent.
"What's wrong?"
Alaphondar stopped inside the door, scanned the gathering of weary faces, and opened his mouth without speaking. His eyes were red-rimmed and glassy, his expression numb and vacant. Tanalasta tossed her pointer onto the map, not really caring as it scattered the company emblems she and her war council had just spent the last hour arranging, then went to the sage.
"Alaphondar, what's happened?"
She gave him a little shake, and he emerged from his daze.
"The queen…" He glanced around the room again, this time seeming to see the faces before him, and looked at Tanalasta. "The queen received a sending. The dragon has destroyed Princess Alusair's army."
Tanalasta tried not to think the worst. The loss of the army hurt, but Alusair had faced any number of such calamities and always returned. "And the princess?"
Alaphondar looked away. "They found her helmet and shield in a heap of scorched bones."
Tanalasta felt a sudden stillness in her chest. "But not the rest of her armor?"
Alaphondar shook his head. "It was something of a mess."
"We'll pray for the best, then." Tanalasta turned back to her war council, putting on a brave face, but also placing a hand on the map table to take a little weight off her shaking knees. "Our thoughts go to the dead and wounded, but Alusair has a way of surviving these things."
"Highness, I'm sorry, but there is more."
Tanalasta stopped and tried to pretend she did not notice every eye in the room watching her. The act must have been unconvincing, for Owden Foley came to her side and took hold of her elbow.
"Yes?" Not wanting to appear distressed in front of her war council, she motioned the priest aside and faced Alaphondar again. "Go on."
This time, the sage could not prevent tears from welling out of his eyes. "Your father's army is under attack, and the king has fallen."
"Fallen?" Tanalasta's legs lost their strength. She forgot all the eyes watching her and stumbled over to a wall, barely pivoting into a chair before her knees buckled. "Is he dead?"
"Not dead," Alaphondar said. "They say he was burned badly and also opened from collar to groin."
"But is he with his healers?" Tanalasta demanded.
"I fear his healers were killed in the battle. Lords Tolon and Braerwinter were trying to carry him to safety when they informed the queen. They promised another sending the moment it is safe."
"Then the battle continues?" asked Korvarr Rallyhorn, now recovered from the murderlust Lady Merendil had roused in him when she broke his arm.
Alaphondar nodded and said, "The queen has ordered a troop of war wizards to ready themselves to teleport there."
Korvarr turned to Tanalasta. "If I may, Princess, my company is standing inspection at the moment and could leave on the instant."
Still too shocked to speak, Tanalasta simply nodded and waved him out the door.
"Are you sure that's wise, Princess?" asked Lord Longbrooke. "We are already stretched thin in the south."
"And hunting only two ghazneths," countered Hector Dauntinghorn.
"Only two ghazneths, but Sembia's ten thousand already equal us man for man," noted Melot Silversword. "We must not forget they are fresh…"
Tanalasta barely heard the debate. She was too stunned.