Keman laughed. "Of course you could! In fact, I think I will ask Lorryn and Shana if Dora and I can be the Wizards' liaisons with you. They don't need us particularly to spy on the Great Lords, and the advantage of having us with you rather than Wizards is that we won't disguise our true nature with illusion. We can pose as a Lesser Lord and his Lady. Should you have any more visits from—say—Lord Kyndreth, no matter how many illusion-dispelling magics he casts, we'll pass his test."
"I hadn't thought of that!" Kyrtian said, in weary surprise, feeling a renewed stirring of pleasure. "Consider the invitation tendered, then. That would solve any number of problems."
Dora nudged him with her snout affectionately. "I think that would be lovely, my Lord," she replied. "I don't suppose you have any caves on your property, do you?"
Kyrtian repressed the automatic shudder; after what he'd just been through, he never, ever wanted to go underground again—
But he looked over at Lynder, who grinned sheepishly, and answered for him. "Quite a few, mi—ah—your—"
"Just Dora," the female dragon said, in a kindly tone of voice.
"Ah." Lynder rubbed the side of his nose with his hand, self-consciously. "Dora, then. Yes, Hobie and I have found quite a few. Limestone caves, water-carved, with lots of formations."
"Lovely!" the female dragon said with enthusiasm. "Lord Kyrtian, you wouldn't mind if we took over one, would you?"
"We," is it? he thought, holding back a chuckle at the way Keman's expression changed from startlement to pleasure. No wonder the young cock is starting to strut! Might be a very good thing for all of them to separate this young fellow from the rest of his peers, so he's less tempted to act—well, like a young cock. With the current state of things ... best to get him settled. The next time there was a situation involving young Keman, the urge to try and prove himself could have some serious consequences.
"I would consider it an honor," he said, to both their satisfaction.
"Shana's so used to depending on me, you know, and I think it would be better for her if she got out of that habit and started—well—depending on Lorryn instead," Keman said in a slightly patronizing undertone, with a glance at the nowoccupied tent. "I practically raised her—with Mother's help, of course, but I did most of it."
That concept made his head swim for a moment! "Ah— really?" he asked.
Keman chuckled. "I had all sorts of pets. So far as the others of our Lair were concerned, she was just one more! Until she started talking and acting like a person, of course."
It made Kyrtian's head swim a little more. "In the very near future—when you're settled on my estate and we have the time—you are going to have to tell me all about that," he said, as firmly as he could.
He was not going to disabuse the young dragon of his notion that Lashana "depended" on him. He did feel a pang of jealousy though, over that young Wizard, Lorryn....
No, he corrected himself. Not jealousy. Envy.
It wasn't that he wanted Shana—she was a handsome young woman, but not, well, not the type he was attracted to, really. Except, perhaps, for those characteristics of mind and spirit that he admired. No, what he wanted was the kind of relationship that she and Lorryn so clearly shared. What his mother and father had once had together.
Ancestors. Won't that be a surprise for Mother. But he didn't think he'd give her free rein to go hunt him up a wife. Not at the moment. There were a lot of difficult days ahead of them; they were all going to have a great many more important things to occupy their time.
Like how to survive, for one thing.
He was under no illusion that with Aelmarkin gone, all of his troubles were about to vanish. Quite the contrary. He was now into the morass of the politics of the Great Lords, he had the Young Lords to worry about and—
And I'm technically a traitor. I'm conspiring with the Wizards to create a slave rebellion.
All that, in addition to trying to keep his own people safe. If he thought about it too long, it seemed impossible, and he began to doubt he'd even manage that last, and in some ways most important task, much less all the rest.
But he wasn't alone in this, now. For once, it didn't all depend on him and his paltry skills. We'll be doing it together, dragons and Elvenlords, Wizards and humans working together. At last.
And with that formidable combination—he had to believe there was no problem that they could not ultimately defeat.
EPILOGUE
Triana had never been particularly afraid before she'd entered these caves. She'd only thought she'd encountered terror before the construct came alive.
But the moment that the thing arose out of the rest, like some terrifying metal insect with a screaming Aelmarkin in its claws, she knew true and paralyzing horror.
By then she had been beside the Great Portal, and as the thing blundered back and forth across the cave in pursuit of Kyrtian and his people, she shrank into the shelter of one of its curved sides, praying that it wouldn't see her, wouldn't blunder into her. That was all she could manage; her knees scarcely held her up, and she couldn't have run if she wanted to. She was drenched in a cold, cold sweat; every time the thing came anywhere near she held her breath until she nearly passed out, lest it hear her breathing.
She was sure she was going to die. For the first time in her life, she stared mortality in the face, and realized that she couldn't bear it....
She couldn't bear it. In a moment, she was going to faint, or scream and betray herself. She trembled and sweated, and clenched her fists until her long nails bit into her palms and made them bleed.
One moment, there was the metal monster. Then the metal one—was attacked by a dragon.
It was impossible. It was too much. She clutched at the Portal side, and turned her face into it and refused to look. It didn't matter which one of them won—the survivor would find her and kill her—she'd die like Aelmarkin, screaming in terror and pain; she didn't stand a chance—
She fought down the scream that threatened to escape—tears scorched her face and her throat ached with the need to shriek and shriek, but if she did, she'd die then and there, and she wanted to live....
Something snapped inside her. Her mouth opened, but nothing came out. She felt herself start to collapse, then blackness swooped down on her like a dragon, and took her senses.
When she woke, the cave was quiet, and she lay sprawled at the foot of the Great Portal. The cave was still illuminated by the uncertain yellow light of Kyrtian's lanterns, or what was left of them.
Suddenly, she did not want to know if Kyrtian had met the same fate as Aelmarkin. It was one thing to see mere human slaves die; it was another thing entirely to know, to see the hand of death cut down another Elvenlord.
No. The caves were not entirely quiet... in the far, far distance, out in the entrance cave, perhaps, something battered monotonously at the stone. Since the "something" sounded like metal, it must have been the metal monster that survived.
So it was between her and the only way out.
For a moment, she thought she was going to faint again, but as her hands closed convulsively and her nails bit into her palm, so did the band of the heavy signet ring she wore—