A Dragon's Tale Ch. 53

She still wasn't paying much attention as she followed them onto the ship and she let Ellis take the animals and lead them below deck to their hammocks without comment. Sarah said a silent prayer of thanks to Illuminar for both Lord Delmar and Ellis; she didn't know how she could do this without them after what had happened with Lady Ekthros earlier.

Illuminar...

With her things stowed and the animals taken care of, Sarah wandered onto the deck of the ship and started praying in a whisper. "Illuminar -- blessed be you -- please, please help."

She felt her throat get tight and her eyes get watery.

She didn't know what else to pray.

It was all just so much.

* * *

Ethan hopped out of Kendra's airship with Lucien right behind him just after it had touched down outside the Blue Circle orc camp.

"And you're sure that battle plan will work?" Ethan asked.

"Of course not; almost nothing is certain in war." The lord replied. "However, I believe it stands a good chance of striking a decisive blow."

"Okay." Ethan nodded, not entirely convinced but willing to trust the man. Apparently his tactical expertise had almost single-handedly won a war seven or eight years ago, so trusting him seemed like a good idea.

Lucien turned to his son. "You will remain in the airship with Kendra; listen to her as you would me."

"Yes father." Taiven nodded.

"Come on." Ethan inclined his head towards the orc camp and the two men started walking.

Like the Red Hand camp, the Blue Circle camp was situated on a hilltop for defensive reasons. The largest central teepee was in the center and the other teepees were arranged radially out from it. As usual, a large number of orcs were milling about and doing various things. Several of the orcs appeared to be sparring while the goblins in groups of three were constantly getting up to some mischief or other.

Grobozlesh had clearly seen their approach and came bounding down the hill towards them with a huge grin on his face. The six-and-a-half-foot orc towered over both visitors, but his body language was the exact opposite of threatening.

"Tree elf wife finish bow?" The orc asked Ethan when he'd reached them.

Ethan almost asked Alana telepathically, but then remembered that he was trying to keep their group chat secret. "Not yet, but it should be any day now."

"Grobozlesh excite!" The orc grinned with unconcealed glee. He then turned to face Lord Kalus, his gaze more suspicious but also curious. "You tactician?"

"I am." Lucien nodded, then gave a small bow. "Lucien Kalus, Lord Regent of Timarou, at your service."

"Grobozlesh." The orc thumped his chest once. "I get clan chief; test you strength in combat."

"That is not a strong plan." Lucien replied.

Grobozlesh opened his mouth to reply, stopped, and then closed it again.

"Your clan chief is very strong in combat." Lucien continued. "While I am very strong in combat for a man, I cannot hope to defeat a strong orc like Drazglent in single combat. Fortunately, I am not here for my strength in single combat; I am here for my strength in tactics. Test the strength of my mind, not the strength of my body, for it is my mind that will aid you, not my body."

"Strong word." Grobozlesh grunted. "I get Drazglent, elders. They test you strength of mind. Wait." He pointed to the spot they were on. "Not strong, not enter camp."

"I shall remain here until you return." The lord nodded.

Ethan turned to Lucien after Grobozlesh left. "That was rather impressive."

The lord smiled. "Shara is an incredibly perceptive woman and has been trained in diplomacy since her youth. I have learned many things from her and the other members of my court. Foremost among them is the wisdom of adopting the language of those to whom you are speaking."

"Still, I'm impressed."

"Thank you." Lucien said.

The two of them waited about ten minutes before Grobozlesh returned with Drazglent and the orc elders. The elders were moving slower than the younger orcs and Hobdrizen was moving the slowest of all of them. The ancient orc took slow, plodding steps supported greatly by his cane. His wolf-tooth necklace rattled as he walked and gave the impression that it was the orc's bones making the sound.

Eventually they all arrived.

Drazglent did to Lucien exactly what he had done to Ethan; he stepped right up into Lucien's personal space and towered over him. Lucien was a few inches taller than Ethan, but the lord was still dwarfed by the immense orc. Apparently that didn't bother Lord Kalus because he took a small step forward into Drazglent's space. The dynamic was interesting as the two locked eyes. Lucien was as cool as a cucumber while Drazglent seemed slightly irritated that Lucien wasn't cowed.

"It seems your chieftain is more interested in gauging my posture than the strength of my mind." Lucien observed as calmly as he had spoken to his son earlier.

Drazglent grunted, clearly not expecting Lucien to take control of the situation so well.

"I suggest you commence your testing." The lord said to the chieftain. "Unless you see value in continuing to assess my posture."

Drazglent frowned but nodded and stepped back. He wasn't retreating, but somehow it came off more like a retreat than anything else. Despite Drazglent being twice Lucien's size, the smaller man had clearly come out on top in that exchange.

Ethan smiled.

"I have heard that you test the strength of someone's mind with riddles." Lucien continued, looking slowly around at the assembled orcs in a tone that seemed to indicate that he was bored. "Please begin."

"You not want to know our names?" Drazglent grunted, clearly not happy with how this was turning out.

The lord raised his eyebrow. "If you are not strong in mind, you don't matter. Prove that you are strong in mind and then I will remember your names."

Ethan knew that Lucien didn't actually think that way, but what he'd saiddefinitely caught the attention of the orcs. They were all nodding their heads in respect, especially the elders.

"Strong word." Hobdrizen said.

"Begin." Lucien said. His tone wasalmost commanding and yet fell short of a command. Somehow, he had already taken charge of the entire situation in only a few minutes.

It was impressive.

"I come in night without call, I lost in day not being stolen. What I am?" Drazglent said after several long moments.

"What am I?" Lucien corrected. "And the answer is stars."

The orcs nodded at him.

"You ask." Hobdrizen said.

Lucien stroked his short beard for several seconds before speaking. "I crunch when without mercy I kill, and yet give life to that which is still; I greet the day with colorful light, and yet I come stealthily in the night; I will have arrived by dawn, and yet by noon I am gone. What am I?"

Nearly as one, all of the orcs frowned.

Ethan followed suit.

He had no idea.

He thought the riddle to his wives, then added: *Any ideas?*

There was a long pause, then Rachel replied. *None my lord.*

His other wives echoed her.

After nearly a minute of contemplative silence, Lucien spoke. "Well?"

Drazglent frowned.

Even Hobdrizen looked flummoxed.

*Dew!* Rachel finally thought to the group chat.

Ethan grinned. *I knew my wise redhead wouldn't let me down.*

A few seconds later, Hobdrizen spoke. "Dew. It is crunchy and kills plants as frost. It waters plants, that which is still, to give them life. It has color in sunrise but stealth at night. It is here at dawn, but the sun will make it gone at noon."

"Correct." Lucien inclined his head respectfully to the ancient orc. "And your name is?"

"Hobdrizen." The old orc gave Lucien a nod of respect. "Strong riddle, strong mind."

"It takes a strong mind to solve a strong riddle." Lucien indicated him.

"We ask next." Drazglent interjected. "We use very strong riddle."

"Proceed." Lucien replied, and it somehow came across like he was giving the orc permission.

Drazglent bristled.

Hobdrizen spoke. "I have one color but many sizes, I am stuck to ground but I fly; I am seen in sun but not in rain, I do no harm and not feel pain. What am I?"

Lucien took a deep breath and stroked his beard. He got a thoughtful frown on his face and it took him about ten seconds to reply. "A shadow."

"Strong mind." Hobdrizen nodded. "You ask final riddle."

Again, Lucien waited several seconds before saying his riddle. "I am greater than God and more evil than Saidow, the poor have me, the rich need me, and if you eat me, you'll die. What am I?"

"Saidow?" Drazlent said with a skeptical expression.

"The enemy of Illuminar, the Great God of light." Lucien replied. "Saidow was created by Illuminar and then rebelled against him."

The orcs nodded and Hobdrizen spoke. "We have different name for him."

"You speak blaspheme!" Drazglent growled. "You say one stronger than God."

"We can discuss that after you answer the riddle." Lucien replied calmly, almost dismissively.

It was interesting to see how the lord handled different people. He had been excellent company at dinner on the Argo, had given Matthew a challenge to help him grow, was a teacher and mentor with his son, and now he was incredibly strong when confronting the orcs. He remained himself throughout all of it, but he clearly tailored his approach to his audience and Ethan thought he could learn rather a lot from the lord.

Ethan relayed the riddle to his wives and almost instantly Rachel replied. *Nothing. The answer is nothing.*

Drazglent huffed and scowled at Lucien but didn't make any other aggressive moves.

After perhaps twenty seconds, Hobdrizen spoke up. "Nothing. That is the answer to the riddle: nothing is stronger than God."

"Correct." Lucien nodded.

Drazglent appeared to be fighting with himself for several moments before he too spoke. "You... not weak in mind."

"Not weak?" Hobdrizen put both his hands on his cane and leaned towards the orc chieftain slightly. "Merely, 'not weak'."

Drazglent scowled, but after a few seconds of the ancient orc's gaze, he nodded. "He... he strong in mind." He looked at Lucien. "You tactician, strong in clan war?"

"Indeed he is." Ethan piped up, figuring that it would be better if Lucien wasn't praising himself. "His clan was losing a war until he began to plan the battles, then his clan won the war."

Drazglent inclined his head in concession, but frowned nonetheless. "Strong tactician."

"A strong tactician is weak without strong fighters." Lucien replied and then looked pointedly at Drazglent. "I hear you are among the strongest of fighters, even among the other clans."

The orc chieftain grunted and his demeanor shifted slightly. He didn't exactly look happy, but he did seem less miserable.

That was good.

Interestingly, Grobozlesh had watched the entire exchange rather intently. The orc hadn't spoken but he was clearly paying a lot of attention, especially when the topic of tactics had come up.

"What happens now?" Ethan asked, rather eager to help stop the Red Hands from eating the miners.

"I would like to see how the orcs fight." Lucien said to the assembled orcs. "Knowledge of your fighting style would go a long way towards choosing effective tactics."

"I gather dozen orcs; they fight, you watch." Drazglent said.

"That would be ideal." The lord replied.

"Come." The orc chieftain turned towards the village and all the other orcs except Grobozlesh followed.

"You're not going?" Ethan asked him.

The orc shook his head. "I know how orc fight." He looked at Ethan for a long moment. "Can orc learn tactician?"

"I don't see why not."

Grobozlesh nodded his head slowly. "Groboz want become tactician."

Ethan didn't miss that he had said 'Groboz', not Grobozlesh. He guessed that had some significance but wasn't sure what it was. "Really? Why?"

The orc shrugged. "Groboz want."

Ethan got the distinct impression that there was more to it. "But why do you want it?"

"Make Groboz strong."

Hmm. Ethan frowned slightly. "But aren't you one of the strongest in the camp with a bow?"

The orc nodded.

"I understand that growing stronger is part of your culture, but this seems like more than that." Ethan said.

Groboz grunted and it sounded like he was agreeing, but he didn't explain.

Hmm.

Interesting.

* * *

Sarah had spent a large portion of the afternoon praying for help. It took nearly that entire time for her to notice the scenery around her.

It was gorgeous.

That really shouldn't have surprised her because Ivernia had some of the most beautiful scenery in the Ten Kingdoms, but it had. The large barge was currently floating down the Bolavine River, which was huge, almost a mile wide in several places. Karnas sat on both sides of one of the rivers feeding the Bolavine -- the one to the North -- but that tributary river was far smaller than the Bolavine itself.

The barge was currently only a few hundred yards from the shore and the nearby shore was lined with beautiful trees on one side and a small cliff face on the other. The cliff face was only a mile or two long, but the exposed rock was awesome in its majesty. Perfectly complimenting that were the trees on the other side which were as lush as the rest of Ivernia. She didn't recognize all the species, but they were magnificent.

The gentle rocking motion of the boat had a wonderful calming effect on her as well, at least since she'd calmed down enough to notice it. The wind was blowing gently, catching the barge's sails as it floated down the river. The river air was invigorating and helped to lift Sarah's mood, but nothing could restore it completely.

At almost any other time of her life, she would've loved this.

Still, it was somehow easier to trust Illuminar when surrounded by the massive river, rock faces, and trees. If Illuminar had created all of them, then surely He could help with her problems.

"Sarah?" Amy's voice came tentatively from behind her.

"Hi." She said as she turned to greet her friend.

"I made this for you." The artistic girl said, holding up a small piece of paper with a sunflower painted on it. "I only have a little paint, but you seemed like you could use some cheering up."

"Thank you." Sarah felt her eyes get slightly watery at the thoughtful gesture as she took the small picture. It was only the size of her hand, but it had an outsized effect on her mood.

"I um... I don't know what's wrong but I have been praying for you." Amy replied. "I think I heard Ellis praying as well."

"He seems like a good man." Sarah replied, still looking at the tiny picture.

"He's..." Amy hesitated. "I guess he is."

"Oh?"

Amy nodded. "I showed him my 'Honesty' picture and he said that he didn't know anything about art and so couldn't say if it was good."

"And that's bad?"

"No, it's notbad." The girl's face fell slightly. "People do that when they don't think it's good but they don't want to lie. I think he's honest, but not..." She seemed to search for the right word for a few moments before continuing. "...I like when people tell me the truth without honey-coating it."

"Okay, that makes sense." Sarah replied, grateful for something to talk about other than what had happened earlier. She leaned up against the railing and looked out towards the front, the Bolavine river stretching out endlessly before them.

"Did Lady Ekthros have really bad news?" Amy asked after joining her at the rail.

"She..." Sarah hesitated, not sure what she should say.

"It's okay, you don't need to tell me." Amy said when Sarah didn't answer. "I just can't believe that you know Lady Ekthros; she's such an amazing person."

"What?" Sarah looked at her friend, not quite believing what she was hearing.

"She interviewed me when I first came to the castle and I showed her my 'Honesty' painting when she asked what I like to do in my spare time." Amy replied. "She had the most perfect response that anyone has ever given me. I know all the servants think that she's not very nice, but I disagree."

Sarah held her tongue.

It was hard, but she did.

Fiona and Conner's lives depended on it. Besides, it was highly unlikely that Amy would ever meet Lady Ekthros again so there was little risk of her deceiving Amy about anything. Sarah assumed that Lady Ekthros had used her telepathy to know what was going on with Amy's 'Honesty' painting and thus had tailored her response to be exactly what Amy would want to hear.

*Just like she did with me.* She thought to herself.

"If I may ask, how did you two get to be such good friends?" Amy asked.

Sarah let out a half laugh at the absurdity of the question. "It's... it's a long story."

"Oh, well I won't pry then." The other girl replied even though Sarah could tell that she wanted to.

"We were imprisoned together." Sarah said after a moment. Lady Ekthros had said that she could tell the story, just not what she'd learned afterwards. "The Ivernians came to arrest me and she ended up being arrested as well."

As Sarah thought back, she couldn't believe how much things had changed.

How muchshe had changed.

She had been a weak, gullible, naïve girl not that long ago. She almost missed that, but as hard as life was now, she definitely preferred being aware to being oblivious. It was her naïveté that had landed her in this position to begin with.

"Oh, I've heard that can really make a strong bond." Amy nodded, then grimaced and asked in a tentative, halting way. "Was... was it as bad as I've heard some Ivernian prisons can be?"

Sarah shook her head, guessing that her friend was trying to tactfully ask if she had been raped. "No, they didn't do that."

"Oh good." Amy breathed a sigh of relief. "That would've been horrible."

"Aye." Sarah replied, realizing that she'd picked up one of Fiona's speech mannerisms. She kind of liked that though; it was a good reminder of the friend she didn't see anymore. She decided to keep that in her speech as a small memento from the woman who had helped her so much.

"I bet Lady Ekthros helped keep your spirits up." Amy added, obviously trying to cheer her up.

Sarah resisted the urge to both laugh and cry at the same time. "She was... well, it would've been hard to go through that alone." That much was at least honest.

"I'm sure. I'm glad she was there with you."

Sarah swallowed and sighed. There was so much that she wanted to say but so little she could say.

"I'm sorry, I can stop talking about it." Amy said from beside her at the ship's railing.

"I don't mind." Sarah replied almost automatically. It was even mostly true. It helped to have someone else talk about it, if only so she could think through everything that had happened. She felt like she had lived a small lifetime in the past few weeks.

She found herself wondering if anything that Lady Ekthros had said or done was genuine. As she thought about it, she could only think of two or three things that stood out, things that might possibly be more than just layers of deception.

Assuming that Lady Ekthros was the old woman who had cut the muscle out of her arm -- which seemed certain -- then Sarah didn't think her forgetting to use anesthesia was intentional. The woman had truly seemed apologetic about that. Then as an apology, she had taken her to the roof and given her a hot meal. While up there in the warming Ivernian sun, the woman had said that she didn't like Lady Ekthros very much.

Hmm.

That didn't seem fake.

Then there was the fact that while she was in the middle of her final deception about Ethan, a ray of sunlight had come in through the window and illuminated Lady Ekthros's face. When that happened, her dark grey eyes had lightened slightly to a more medium gray. She had told Sarah that she knew of at least one good man in Arcanum.