Antoinette risked peering over the fallen tree and saw Kearn stand up and face his men. “Feast a little longer, recover your strength!” he said. “We have a hard ride still before us. Put all thought of fear and doubt out of your minds. Tomorrow we begin a season of victory.”
Kearn leaned over and whispered something to one of his lieutenants and then stepped out of the firelight into the trees on the other side of the clearing. Where’s he going? Antoinette wanted to know. She ducked down and turned to Trenna.
“I’m going to follow him,” she whispered. “Maybe if I corner him one on one, he’ll listen.”
“And maybe he will put a dagger in your back!” Trenna replied. “That is your plan?”
Antoinette frowned. “Have you a better one?”
“Yes,” Trenna said. “How about we both get out of here, right now? I do not know anything about this Wyrm Lord they spoke of, but I know enough of the Seven Sleepers to convince me there is great danger on the horizon. There are many in The Realm who must be warned!”
“I know, but I can’t just leave without trying,” Antoinette said. “Go back to the dragon. If I don’t come back in twenty minutes, or if you hear them coming for you, fly out of here. Go to Acacia. Find my team from Alleble. A tall knight named Kaliam leads them. Tell him all that we heard. He’ll know what to do.”
“I will not leave without you,” Trenna said indignantly.
“If I don’t come back, you have to. Remember, you are not bound to me. You are a servant of King Eliam. This news must get to Kaliam.” Trenna nodded grimly. She embraced Antoinette quickly and was gone.
What have I gotten myself into? Antoinette asked herself. She shook her head and crept away from the fallen tree. Careful to stay out of sight, she made her way around the clearing and into the darkness under the pines. She followed as best she could the direction Kearn had taken moments before. She moved slowly, placing each foot deliberately upon the carpet of needles. All the while, she scanned the trees.
The tension made her heart race, and her side throbbed in rhythm. Finally, she saw him. Antoinette crouched behind a wide pine trunk and stopped moving. He was standing at the edge of a fold in the land where perhaps a creek or rivulet flowed. His back was to her, and he gazed up into the western sky, seemingly at the moon.
“Come out of the shadows, Antoinette,” he said without turning. Antoinette’s heart hammered.
“How did you know?” she asked, and she stepped slowly out from behind the trees.
“I heard something among the horses,” he replied. “There was a sense of disquiet with them, but not much. You were quite stealthy by the campfire. I heard only the rustle of a branch, the snapping of a twig.” He turned around and faced Antoinette. His eyes flashed red.
“It was very brave of you to follow me alone,” Kearn said. Antoinette sighed inwardly, for he did not seem to know anything about Trenna.
“I must confess,” Kearn said, “it relieves me to discover that you survived the wound I dealt you. But it vexes me to wish anything other than your swift demise. I ought to kill you now.”
There is something different in his tone. It might be humility, Antoinette thought. Respect? Maybe.
“I am unarmed,” Antoinette said, lifting the edge of her cloak so that Kearn could see the empty sheath. “I sold it in Baen-Edge.”
“Pity, that was a marvelous sword,” he replied. “But that explains how you were able to follow me. Those greedy fools in Baen-Edge will do anything or tell anything . . . if the price is right. And any price is right.”
Kearn circled slowly around Antoinette as he spoke. “You should have killed me when you had the chance,” he said angrily. “Twice now, you have delivered me—your sworn enemy!”
“Does that bother you?” Antoinette asked.
“Yessss!” And he was practically in her face. “I bear the shame of being at the mercy of my enemy not once but twice!”
“It’s more than that, Kearn, isn’t it?” Antoinette asked. She tried to take his arm, but he shrugged her off.
“Do not touch me,” he hissed and drew his sword. “It is harsh enough that I cannot get your face out of my mind. And I fear that killing you would do nothing but make your words ring in my head all the louder.” He slashed his sword in the air. “Tell me, what did you mean when you said that I would go into forever not knowing my own peril?”
“I believe,” said Antoinette, and she took a deep breath. “I believe that there is still time for you to change. If I had killed you, that time would have ended.”
“Change?” Kearn scoffed. “What? To follow the weak ways of Alleble? I am Kearn, the left hand of Paragor!”
“You don’t think I’m weak, do you?” Antoinette asked. Kearn rubbed his jaw and was silent for a moment.
“Yes, you are weak,” he said finally. He began to march again, gesturing in the air with his sword. “You should have taken my life. And you are weak-minded if you think that I would renounce the power that I have, and the glory! In Paragory, I can snap my fingers and ten thousand knights are at my disposal. I am hailed a victorious champion, and they bow when I pass.”
“But that’s not all there is,” Antoinette said quietly.
“What?” Kearn stopped suddenly. “What did you say?”
Antoinette stared into Kearn’s eyes and felt an intense conviction growing in her heart. “I said, the power and the glory—that’s not all there is.”
Kearn laughed. “What is this nonsense you speak? Power and glory—and the riches they bring—that is everything!”
“No, no it’s not, and when you die, you’ll lose all of it. And then you’ll know; only it will be too late.”
“Nay,” Kearn argued, growing angry. “Paragor has foreseen it—when he looked into the first scroll and saw our destiny. Our victory will be final, and death will not rob us of anything. We who have served the master well will be remembered in the world to come, and we will rule it!”
“But King Eliam wrote the first scroll,” Antoinette quietly said, hoping the others would not hear her. “Don’t you get it? King Eliam was here before Paragor was even born. It is King Eliam who holds the future in his hand. King Eliam offers peace, unyielding love, and the promise that we never have to be alone again! But if you refuse his offer, your death will bring you just what you asked for: an eternity of discord, hatred, and isolation. That’s what I meant! That’s what I came here to rescue you from!”
Kearn sheathed his sword, and his mouth hung agape. He clutched his hair as if he might rip patches of it from his scalp. “Why me?” he asked finally. “That first moment in Kismet, you looked at me like you knew me, but I have never seen you before in my life. Why did you pick me?”
“I didn’t pick you,” Antoinette replied, reaching into a pocket. “But someone from my world did. He’s a hero of Alleble, and at least in my world, he’s a good friend of yours.”
Kearn looked up. His eyes narrowed. “That is not possible,” he whispered.
“Here,” Antoinette said as she handed him the photo of Robby.
Kearn clutched the photo with both hands and stared. He looked up, and for a moment, Antoinette saw something flicker in his eyes. But it was quickly gone.
Kearn straightened, and his eyes darted right. “Lies!” he hissed. “Sorcery! Guards, bind her!” And suddenly, Paragor Knights had her by the arms. They roughly clasped manacles upon her wrists, manacles with heavy chains. Antoinette struggled, but it was no use.
Kearn stood before her and his eyes flashed red. “You will come with us to the Shattered Lands,” he said. “And tomorrow, you will see just how wrong you are!” He tore the photo of Robby in half and let it fall to the ground. He laughed and walked away. The soldiers dragged Antoinette along behind him.
Trenna stroked the white dragon’s neck and feared for Antoinette. She had been gone for much longer than twenty minutes. Much longer than an hour. Still, Trenna could not bring herself to leave. She paced by the white dragon, wishing she had a good bow and a quiver full of Blackwood shafts. Then I might be of some use! she thought. But she had nothing. To go charging alone into the enemy camp, she knew, would just give the enemy another prisoner. And the longer she waited, the more she thought about the legend of the Seven Sleepers and what it could mean for her homeland—what it could mean for The Realm—if it was true. Trenna leaped onto Honk’s back and flicked the reins.
“I am sorry, Lady Antoinette,” she said, and the white dragon soared away into the night sky.
