Antoinette woke to the eerie sounds of war horns echoing off the dark mountains of the Prince’s Crown. Startled, she rose to look out her cell’s single window. It was just barely dawn, and a sickly red haze enveloped the Grimwalk far below. Antoinette saw a dark line of knights snake slowly out from the Prince’s fortress. Antoinette had never seen so many soldiers—some on foot, some mounted—row upon row upon row. And now visible flying above them were huge black dragons. They were thick-limbed and had impossibly wide wings. Each dragon carried beneath it, dangling from a web of cables, what looked like a carriage filled with yet more troops.
There were waves of these dragon-transports, and they soon outpaced the soldiers on horseback and on foot below. But they all went to the northeast.
“Behold the power of Paragor’s hand!” Kearn said from behind her.
Antoinette jumped and spun around. “Kearn!” She sighed forcefully. “How long have you been here?”
“Oh, for some time,” he replied, walking casually to the bars of her cell. He ran a long, pale finger up one of the bars. “You seemed so anxious for news, and that, among other reasons, is why I am here.”
“And what news do you have?” Antoinette asked, suspicious of Kearn’s motives.
“Why, good news, m’lady,” Kearn said. “Today is a momentous occasion, for Paragor has unleashed the first wave of his final campaign. A force four times that of the one we spent on Mithegard and double that of the army we used to lay waste to Yewland. In a day’s time, the stubborn Glimpses of the Blue Mountain Provinces will be dealt such a blow that they will be unable to supply the help that your precious Alleble requires!”
Mallik’s folk, Antoinette thought. “This is not good news.”
“Did you think I meant good news for you?” Kearn laughed.
Antoinette ignored the slight and asked, “Why the Blue Mountains?”
“I would not expect you to understand my master’s strategy,” Kearn said. “Your Sentinel, Kaliam, saw firsthand the devastation at Clarion. And he knows full well that even now the Wyrm Lord is being nursed back to the strength he wielded of old. He knows the walls that surround Alleble will fail under the withering heat of the Wyrm Lord’s breath. So to whom would your mighty King turn to have the walls of his city rebuilt? The Blue Mountains, of course. Should they be allowed to fortify King Eliam’s walls, our conquest of Alleble would be . . . delayed. Paragor will strike first, and the Blue Mountain Provinces will go the way of Clarion!”
“King Eliam will go to their aid!” Antoinette said defiantly.
“He may,” Kearn replied. “This too works to our advantage. You see, King Eliam will know nothing of our attack until it is too late. Alleble’s forces will not arrive in time to stay the damage we will do to King Brower’s stoneworking equipment. They will have no way to transport their precious blue granite, and Alleble’s walls will remain vulnerable. Then the true strength of Paragory will be unleashed, and Alleble will fall!”
“Kearn, you seem so confident,” Antoinette said skeptically. She twisted at the silver ring on her finger. “Do you really think it will be that easy to defeat King Eliam and his allies?”
“War is never easy,” Kearn said. “King Eliam has daunted Paragor at every turn. But the advantage is ours now . . . in numbers, strength, and strategy. We will win.”
Kearn and Antoinette stared at each other in silence as if the war between Paragory and Alleble were being waged in their gaze. With a flourish of his cloak, Kearn turned to leave the chamber.
“Wait!” Antoinette called to him.
“What is it, Lady Antoinette? I have duties.”
“Tell me something before you go,” she said, seeking his eyes with her own. “Why did you take my Book of Alleble?”
Kearn immediately looked away. “I did no such thing.”
Antoinette ignored his response. “You’ve been reading it, haven’t you?”
“Do not be absurd,” Kearn replied. He opened the chamber door and was halfway through. “What in The Realm would lead you to believe that?”
