There were easily a line of seven or so metal dragons in the front of Inyene’s army, and I could see more again – maybe another two lines of the metal beasts – coming behind. Looking behind me in a moment of worry I could see the makeshift stand of our own warband. Forty, sixty souls maybe – with the Daza standing forward of the Red Hounds, scattered across the pass in the way that we people of the Plains fought. Behind them, and tawny-hair was haranguing his mercenaries into long lines that looked incredibly thin and stretched across the pass.
Inyene’s dragons will punch through our lines in a heartbeat, I thought. Even though not all of them would be able to fight at the same time – I just couldn’t see a way that we could win.
And with that, I came to the terrible realization: Was this where our fight ended, out here amongst the mountains and under the burning skies?
“BWAAAR!” There was another blast of the work horn from somewhere behind the metal dragons, and a shape – a truly gigantic shape, leapt over the mechanical dragons to land on the dirt in front of her army, as the mechanical abominations halted, and every one of them raised their unnatural snouts to regard their leader.
It was Inyene, seated on a new dragon that was even bigger than Ymmen was. I could see her clearly astride the beast, sitting in small, built-up saddle like a throne surrounded by spikes in the same spot that I would sit on Ymmen’s shoulders. Her dragon was covered in a motley of scales like the others, but I could see the far superior craftsmanship that had gone into her chosen steed. Someone amongst her craftsmen had gone to great lengths to make the scales match and fit as much as they could – unlike the ragged and shabby scale work of the other mechanical dragons. The thing’s head was broader and flatter than Ymmen’s and, as it opened its maws to release drifts of smoke, I caught glimpses of the sword-perfect teeth at the front, and a smaller row behind the first.
“BWAAR!” Out of the thing’s double-fanged mouth came the clashing sound of the Masaka work horn, making me flinch before seizing onto one of Ymmen’s legs and climbing easily up his leg to sit astride my dragon. If this was the day that I was going to die, then I would do it my terms, and on the back of a dragon – not down there on the pass floor.
“So, it is you!” I heard Inyene call out coldly with a sneer. Her voice doubled and echoed as it hit the cliff walls all around us. I could also hear the motions of my own warband behind me, hurriedly assembling as Inyene continued her tirade.
“The little Daza girl who caused me so much trouble. I knew that it was a Daza girl who had stolen my crown from me! Who had never learned her lessons!”
Anger flared through me, and it was matched with both the fury of Ymmen beneath me and the rising buzz of the Stone Crown on my head. Ymmen was holding onto his flame longer, as together both he and I waited for the perfect moment to strike.
“So you know who I am, Inyene,” I scoffed back, throwing back my hair with a flick of my head, letting her see the Stone Crown that I was wearing. Let her see it and cringe! I thought vindictively.
“You know that I am Narissea of the Souda. A child of the Western Wind. Friend of dragons. And I have done the one thing you are incapable of doing. I have the Crown – and I will do everything I can to stop you!” I bellowed at her, remembering Naroba’s words in my heart. Maybe it was time to be a difficult woman, I thought.
But Inyene, to my surprise, only laughed. It was a cold and mocking laugh, with no real humor or hilarity in it. It made my anger flare, but it also made me feel a little unsteady. I might have the Stone Crown – but SHE had enough mechanical dragons, right here, that could easily kill us all. How many would have to die for my words this day?
And, as if Inyene could somehow read my misgivings, her laughing stopped and she addressed me again.
“Narissea of the Daza, I see that you have the Stone Crown. And, because I am a busy woman, and a natural queen, I will offer you this. Just give me the Crown and you can have the Empty Plains for yourself—”
The Plains aren’t Empty! I thought, once again, that familiar burst of indignation at a westerner’s ignorance.
“I have no interest in the lands beyond the Masaka Mines, I really don’t.” Inyene sounded tired, bored of this discussion now. I wondered if she was trying to sound like a superior High Queen, or whether she was enough to believe that she really was one to me.
“There can be two queens of this world – the sorcerer Narissea of the Plains, and the High Queen Inyene D’Lia of the three Kingdoms,” she offered. “All you have to do is to take the Stone Crown off of your head, right now, and drop it in the dirt on the floor…” she was saying.
And suddenly my headache at my temples and the buzzing in my ears vanished like water evaporating on a hot day. I blinked and gasped in shock, as I hadn’t felt this empty and free ever since I had first placed the Stone Crown on my head. And, wait—I was also suddenly very aware of how heavy the whole thing was. It weighed on my brow like a millstone, and I had to straighten myself up to even keep it there as it slipped a fraction—
Slipped!? I put one hand up to its cool stone surface. Under my touch, I became dimly aware of the hum and buzz of the Stone Crown, like many hundreds of voices behind a locked door.
And the Stone Crown gave a little under my hand. It budged against my temples.
What!? I thought in surprise. Was the Stone Crown…free? I thought, tentatively pushing at it again, for it to budge a tiny hairsbreadth. I knew in that moment, that if I had wanted to, I would be able to slip the hateful thing from my head and cast it to the ground in an instant. But how had it happened? I blinked in surprise. It didn’t make sense – unless…
Montfre had told me something about the ancient artifacts of Torvald. And it was something that even my god-Uncle Tamin had tried to tell me, in his own way. That they had deep fates and terrible destines woven right the way through them, and Montfre had even opined that it was almost like the objects had a mind of their own…
Was I meant to give the Stone Crown to this dreadful tyrant? I thought. Did the Stone Crown itself want to leave me, for her!?
In my shock at the sudden change, I found myself considering what life would be like without the Stone Crown. I wouldn’t have the crushing headaches and strange dreams, clearly. I would be myself again. Perhaps I could be a new sort of protector for the Plains… But how could I believe in Inyene’s promises? I thought. Could I ever really imagine Inyene just leaving one part of the world to its own peaceful existence? Wouldn’t the power-hungry greed I had seen in her come rising once again…?
However, even I had to admit that it was a tempting offer. My people could finally be free of her ravages. The Plains would be ours once again. And besides – didn’t even Ymmen think that I should get rid of the Stone Crown?
“And if you do not give me the Stone Crown, now,” Inyene said, “then I will destroy your army and all of your friends and your family. I will hunt them to the ends of the world, and I will crush their bones under my dragon’s claws. I will take your head from your body, and I will take the Crown from your skull!”