Kendra sniffled, too. She didn’t have to discuss it more because she believed the same as me. Then she stood. “I’m going to Mercia.”
“Even with a dragon and its captor or captors waiting for you?”
“Yes.”
“You may die there.”
“I may die at home in my bed. Don’t try to persuade me to leave this alone. It’s something I must do. You and the others can return home if you wish, and I’ll understand.”
“You will not.”
“If you say so. Go back to bed. I have some more thinking to do. Alone.”
“Mercia is almost in sight. We’ll be there by mid-day at the latest.”
She paced in circles and finally said in the fiercest tone she’d ever used, “Let’s go stir the pot, Damon.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
We woke at daylight ready to stir Kendra’s pot. The horses were saddled, our blankets rolled tightly and tied on them, and weapons were at hand. My sword slapped at my side, and on the other hung a quiver. The bows were substandard, but we hadn’t yet replaced them. There was little conversation as we ate a cold breakfast consisting of dried fruit and an apple each.
Alexis was ready to leave, and probably hungry after finishing my apple core. The barren ground held little grass and shrubs, but she could survive a day without food. Still, I slipped her another whole apple when nobody was looking. As I turned to the others, feeling somewhat guilty, Tater had his back to me. He extended his arm, and there was the barest hint of red as he fed his apple to his horse. It took a good man to treat animals like that. The stableman had been correct in suggesting him and was owed my thanks.
The sport and intrigue of Crestfallen seemed a lifetime away, but there would be more ahead, I feared. There were people who needed to explain their actions, and enemies to face. However, with those I rode with, my confidence swelled.
The morning had dawned with the fog hiding the sun and sky. Only damp gray light filtered through. Now, the air itself seemed to grow brighter, and my mood changed from the same damp and gray to one of cloudless sunshine.
Kendra called, “I see it.”
Her observation was unnecessary because ahead lay a hundred more low hills covered in scrub, and then the side of a craggy mountain held Mercia, not as I’d pictured it, but better. Instead of existing on the valley floor, it was built on the sterile rock sides. A raging white river fell down the slope, splitting into four fairly equal parts as it made the final plunge.
Mercia lay there, between four waterfalls. The sunlight glinted and sparkled off the water, and the gray buildings of Mercia blended into the background. All the buildings appeared to be made of the same granite. They clung to the sides of the mountain like barn-swallow nests.
Alexis felt my heels as I moved beside Kendra. “How is the beehive of buzzing?”
She moved her chin to her right a fraction. “Wyverns.”
“More to your left,” I told her as if I knew.
“See any smoke coming from a chimney? They do have kitchens, right?” she asked.
While we searched for signs of people, another thing came to mind. “Anybody up there can see us on this road long before we see them.”
Kendra said, “They know we’re coming.”
“Do you know something I don’t?”
She snorted in the joking way she has since a child. “I know lots you don’t. But, there is one serious thing we need to discuss. Without being too obvious in case, look at the three peaks? Look above—in the sky.”
At least a hundred wyvern flew in tight circles, all together. My impression was they were upset. “Did you do something?”
“Not intentionally or knowingly. But I don’t think it is natural for them to act that way.”
I followed up with another question. “The dragon, the pounding in your head. Is it louder?”
“Yes, but that’s not all. It knows I’m near. There is excitement and . . . there is anticipation, you might call it.”
My sister, the Dragon Queen. “You can tell all that from what you hear in your head? Does it scare you?”
Kendra shrugged and closed her eyes for a second, then spoke again in a far-off voice, “It scares me. The dragon. But there are other beings trying to scare me away from here, and as we get closer, they are threatening. Telling me not to go to Mercia or we will all die.”
“That would be those aligned with the Blue Lady.”
She didn’t answer. Her breathing was shallow and slow. Her eyes were closed, but her fingers gripped the reins so tightly her fingers were white. I couldn’t fathom what was happening to her, but if she needed my help, she would let me know.
Elizabeth turned to say something, and the words seemed to stick in her mouth. She yanked her horse to a stop and leaped off. She was sprinting to Kendra before her feet hit the ground. She called, “What’s wrong?”
Kendra didn’t answer.
Tater rushed up behind her, “Help her get down before she falls and breaks her neck.”
The packhorse reared up and snapped the reins. It landed on all four feet and ran off the road into the scrub, the cargo tied to its back bouncing and jostling until it slipped a girth strap and the entire pack leaned to one side. The horse continued to buck and sway as it ran.
The other horses also acted skittishly, but we didn’t have time to deal with them. Tater reached for Kendra’s waist and pulled her to him as Elizabeth freed her feet from the stirrups. I watched and worried.
Elizabeth freed the ties for her wool blanket stored behind Kendra’s saddle and spread it on the ground. Tater lowered her to the ground, and Elizabeth knelt at her side and examined the eyes rolled back in my sister’s head, the slack mouth, and limp body. “What’s wrong with her?
“She’s fighting them,” Tater said.
Tater, who was supposed to know nothing about Kendra and myself seemed to know far more than he should. Distrust welled, and I stepped in front of him. “What do you know?”
“Know? Nothing, but what I hear.”
Elizabeth shouted, “Down boys! What’s happening? I’m not asking again.”
Tater locked eyes with me for an instant, then turned away as if deciding to obey her instead of speaking to me, which was probably the right choice. He said, “Can’t you hear it?”
I heard a faint breeze rustling across the landscape, a few faraway birds, and nothing else.
Elizabeth had Kendra’s head cradled in her hands. She turned my way. “Get me something to use as a pillow. Tater, what do you hear?”
“Anger. Fear. Maybe some hope mixed in.”
“What else?” she snapped at him.
“There are walls being built. Walls to keep her away from Mercia. There are several of them attacking her mind. Mages, I think.” He seemed unstable and distracted, his voice coming in disjointed sentences. His knees crumpled.
I caught him in a bear hug before he hit the ground, then placed him beside Kendra and grabbed my blanket off Alexis for their heads. A wild look all around revealed nobody in sight. The wind picked up, blowing dust made the morning feel cold again.
Elizabeth said to me, “Start talking.”
She soon knew what we did. I held nothing back despite her eyes flashing in anger at learning we’d withheld information. She was not angry because of the information but because we’d betrayed her trust. I knelt beside her and watched Kendra’s face as I talked. The words spilled from my mouth, and I couldn’t stop them. She finally placed a hand gently on my shoulder and told me she’d heard enough.