Chapter 33: The Dragon in the Castle

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“Your Highness,” Tempos called out in greeting as Loisette walked the length of the throne room up to him. “I am so glad to see you are safe.” But though the words themselves might have seemed kind, there was no warmth in his voice. There never was.

“I am sorry to hear about your brother,” she said in a soft voice when she was finally a few feet in front of him. She curtseyed to him, and he responded with an aloof nod. He was flanked by a pair of guards and was lounging in an unRegentlike manner on the great chair that was Loisette’s by birthright. He obviously wasn’t upset about his brother’s death. In fact, it was possible he had been sleeping when she first came in--there was a lethargy to his bearing that went a bit beyond his normally casual manner.

“These things happen, Your Highness. But don’t worry--I won’t handle the funeral details until after your coronation,” he said casually, as if he were simply talking about delaying a picnic. “We don’t want to take away from your shining day.”

Loisette almost breathed a sigh of relief. He was going to let her have her coronation ceremony after all. There had been a part of her that wasn’t sure he would. But she was no fool--she knew he could care less as to whether something detracted from her “shining day,” and the fact that he was letting her have it meant he had plans of his own. She was going to have to tread carefully. It was certainly possible he intended to do nothing bad, but Clarkent had made her paranoid despite herself. In this instance, it was better to be safe than end up miserable.

“How did you escape anyway, Your Highness?” he asked, one eyebrow lifted. “We were preparing a rescue attempt, but I was not aware it had been successfully made yet.”

“I ran away,” she returned, curtseying. “Please excuse me. I must go prepare for my coronation.”

“Your lady-in-waiting should be . . . well, *waiting* for you,” he called out after her.

She frowned to herself. Had he *expected* her to return so quickly? Or had he just told Mishal to wait until she returned? Or was she simply reading too much into it? Her paranoia only seemed to be increasing.

Her thoughts turned to Clarkent. A flash of frustration spread through her. Even if there was no truth to Clarkent’s claim that Alexander had intended to make her marry him, the stableboy had spoiled the time leading up to her coronation. He had made her unnecessarily anxious. Though he wasn’t with her, he had utterly ruined her day.

But then a small and annoying voice pointed out that he had been her friend through thick and thin. Even when she had disagreed with him, he had always had her best interests at heart. He had never shown any desire to purposefully hurt her in either of her personas. He was all kindness and sincerity, even though she had frequently been unkind to him.

She left the throne room bogged down in such thoughts, and as she traversed the halls to go to her chamber, she noticed there were a lot of guards patrolling the castle. It made her feel ill at ease. What if she wanted to leave the castle without being noticed? Or to sneak around after the coronation ceremony and see if she could find out anything about Tempos’s plans? She had the feeling that it wouldn’t be easy. The best way for her to do it would be as Gawain--but what if the guards started poking around in her secret alcove and made it hard for her to change? The whole situation made her nervous.

Before going into her room, she went to her special alcove and retrieved her Gawain clothing, which was wrapped in an old blanket. Replacing the loose bricks quickly and holding the items in her hand as if they were nothing special, she took a deep breath and went to her chamber. Inside, Mishal was waiting for her, as Tempos had said.

“Your Highness!” exclaimed Mishal, curtseying. “I was worried about you. I am glad you are safe.”

Loisette gave her a nod of greeting as she crossed to the trunk by her bed and stuffed the blanketed clothes into it. “After I rest a little, I will need some assistance in getting ready for my coronation,” she said, immediately getting down to business in hopes that it would distract Mishal from what she had just done. She suddenly felt really tired, and she did not want to have to deal with any prying questions.

“Of course, Your Highness,” Mishal said, seeming suitably distracted (to Loisette’s relief).

Princess Loisette took in a shaky breath. Soon, she was going to be Queen Loisette. That thought was frightening.

****

At the coronation ceremony, Loisette wore a white and gold dress. Over it, she had on a red robe bordered by a golden pattern and trimmed with ermine. Mishal had brought her a diamond necklace to wear with the outfit, but Loisette had refused it. She’d wanted to wear the necklace Clarkent had dropped at the ball. He wouldn’t be there to see it, but she had felt the pegasus would serve as an important symbol.

After all, she intended to keep the royal line as strong as the pegasus looked--she intended to protect her people. She wasn’t wearing the necklace because of the person she had indirectly received it from . . . but because of that symbol. She had always wanted a pegasus, and now, in a way, she was to become one. Just as the flying horse symbolized the royal line, so would she symbolize the fortitude of her people. And if Clarkent’s face happened to pop up in her mind’s eye whenever she thought about the necklace, well, that was just unfortunate. The reason she was wearing it had nothing to do with him.

Though nervous, she bore herself unwaveringly throughout the coronation ceremony. Both the recognition of her as monarch and her oath to be a proper queen to her people went off without a hitch, and then she was given the royal scepter and the ring which represented marriage between her and the nation. These objects made her nervous--particularly the latter--but she did not allow herself to show it in her face. And when the crown was placed upon her head, she gave a regal smile to the people watching. And then the Nobles came forward to swear their fealty to her as their ruler, and she looked down at them from her throne with a kind but firm expression.

But during this part of the ceremony, she noticed that Tempos slipped out of the room after swearing his own oath, and the slightest of frowns wrinkled her forehead before she wiped it away. She was intrigued by his disappearance, but she knew she couldn’t investigate what he was doing until afterward.

So she simply concentrated on the final part of the ceremony that made her queen, unable to shake the disconcerting feeling that everything was different now.

****

After her coronation, Loisette tried to return to her room. But before she even got to the door, she ran into the castle librarian.

“Hello, Herbie,” she greeted warmly.

“Greetings, Your Majesty,” he returned with a bow, blinking furiously at her. He lifted a hand to wipe it over his mustache nervously. After glancing around to make sure they were alone, he said in a quiet voice, “I’m worried about Tempos.”

“What do you mean?” she asked, a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach. What had happened?

“I saw him disappear behind a tapestry in the west corridor, and I fear he is up to no good, Your Majesty.”

Loisette furrowed her brow. She had heard of rumors of secret passages, but she hadn’t actually found any herself. She had her own secret alcove, of course, but that was nothing like this. She had always hoped her father would one day tell her about the castle’s secret passages--if they did exist--but he had died before she had asked him. Perhaps now she would find one of them.

But if Tempos knew of one secret passage, it was likely he knew of others, and that thought made Loisette uneasy. She swallowed nervously. “Which tapestry was it?” What was Tempos up to?

“The Solarian tapestry, Your Majesty,” he replied. When she didn’t appear to know what he meant, he further specified, “The one with the pegasus and the d--”

“I know which one you mean now,” Loisette cut in, realizing what he was talking about. “Do you know what Tempos might be doing?”

Herbie shook his head. “I saw him take a man in there, Your Majesty--somewhat forcefully, I might add. The man looked frightened.”

“Thank you,” she told him. “I’ll take care of it.”

He nodded in relief and started to leave, but then he paused and turned. “You won’t be taking care of it yourself, Your Majesty, I hope? You will send someone else.”

She smiled at him. “Don’t worry, Herbie.”

He gave a brief bob of his head. “Quite right, Your Majesty.”

She watched him leave. It was true that she didn’t want him to worry--but she had no intention of sending someone else to check out what Tempos was doing. She didn’t know who she could trust. She would have to take care of this herself. Luckily, her queenly duties wouldn’t start until the next day.

****

Loisette went to her room to change out of her coronation outfit. Unfortunately, Mishal and a rather nosy maid were there, so she was unable to change into her Gawain clothes. Instead, she quickly put on a blue dress, rejecting the red and gold one the two girls tried to get her to wear. She was beginning to be sick of the royal colors and the fact that everyone wanted to foist them on her.

She slipped away from Mishal and the maid and hurriedly went to the tapestry in question. Two great creatures were rearing up opposite each other, and though they were very different in appearance, in some ways they appeared to be mirror images of each other.

“Here goes,” Loisette whispered to herself, reaching a hand out to pull back the golden tapestry. All she saw was the wall, so she put her hands on it, feeling for anything unusual. She finally found an indentation and applied pressure, part of the wall pushing away from her. A secret door and a secret passage. It sent a thrill of excitement through her. What was she going to find? And how many of these secret passages were there? Had several things happened inside her own home that she had no knowledge of?

She padded quietly down the dark passageway, her heart pounding as it curved around toward a light source. What if this was where Tempos kept his dead wives? What if he brought people in here periodically to murder them for pleasure? She shivered, less than comforted by the morbid thoughts.

As she continued, she heard the sound of voices, and she began to move slower, wanting to make out the two men’s words but not wanting to be caught.

“--don’t take kindly to people whose noses are bigger than their brains,” Tempos was saying.

“I wasn’t spying on you,” the man pleaded desperately. “You have to believe me.”

Loisette peeked around the corner into a small chamber where Tempos was pointing a dagger at a man’s throat. The room itself was plain, with a pair of chairs, a table that had a few books on it, and some weapons against the back wall. The stony ground was red in places, as if this wasn’t the first time that blood had painted the floor.

“That’s what you have been telling me--save it for someone who cares,” Tempos said, sounding bored. “I certainly don’t.” And with one quick movement, he drew the dagger across the man’s neck.

Loisette gasped and then reached a hand up to cover her mouth. But it was too late.

Tempos swiveled toward her, his eyes widening. “Your Majesty!”

She turned and ran, barreling down the secret passageway as fast as she could. She had just reached the tapestry and was about to burst out into the corridor when a hand yanked at the bow on the back of her dress, causing her to jerk backward.

“Your Majesty,” Tempos breathed into her ear, his dagger now hovering by her throat. “What a surprise. Most damsels have to prick their fingers or eat poisoned fruit before the villain can have any control. You just gave yourself to me. It feels like my birthday.” With a chuckle, he lightly pressed the dagger up against her flesh. “You’re even wrapped with a bow.”

Trying not to move, Loisette gritted, “Let me go, or I’ll--”

“Or you’ll what?” Tempos asked, sounding amused. “Huff and puff and blow my castle down? I don’t think so. Now, we’re going to take a little trip to your room, and you aren’t going to scream. If you do, I’ll kill you. And we don’t want that, now do we?”

“No,” she whispered in return. Even if she did manage to run away, it was obvious he had spies everywhere. If he didn’t catch her, they would. A part of her wished she had gone in the passageway as Gawain, but if she had, he would have surely killed her.

“Now, I’m going to put the dagger away,” Tempos told her, “but I can just as easily pull it back out. Understand?”

“Yes,” she bit out angrily.

“Let’s go,” he instructed, pushing her out into the hallway.

They wasted no time in walking to her room, and when they stood outside it, he said to her, “Tell whoever is in there to leave.”

She took in a deep breath and nodded. Opening the door, she entered with a blank expression. Mishal and the maid were talking--gossiping, no doubt--and they curtseyed when they saw her come in.

“Please go,” she said, biting her lip. “I would like some time alone.”

They murmured their acknowledgement and left. Loisette was glad that at least they would be safe.

Tempos stepped into the room and shut the door, pulling his dagger back out and pointing it almost lazily at her. “Here are the rules, *Princess*.”

“I’m a queen now,” she snapped.

He rolled his eyes. “I beg your pardon, *Your Majesty*,” he said sarcastically, giving a mock bow. “Here are the rules, *Queen*. You will stay here in your room until you agree to marry me.”

“*What*?” she exclaimed.

Tempos ignored her outburst. “I’ll be posting guards outside your door with instructions not to let you leave. They’re loyal to me, so don’t even bother trying to convince them with your feminine wiles to let you free. And as for your friends in the castle, well . . . remember that my people are everywhere. They are more than willing to kill anyone who opposes me. My brother did a good job in weaving a web of followers who were more than willing to transfer their loyalties to the stronger dragon in this place.”

“I’ve faced a dragon before,” she growled. “You’re nothing but a *snake*!”

He laughed. “You’ve got fire of your own. Good. I like that in a wife.”

“I’ll never marry you,” she insisted, seeing a hint of movement out of the corner of her eyes. Turning her head slightly, she saw Robert Bigmouth leaving his hole. She wanted to call out and tell him to go back where it was safe, but she didn’t want to draw Tempos’s attention to him. She doubted he would hesitate to harm a mouse. “And I’m going to tell everyone what you did to that poor man.”

“The evidence will be gone,” Tempos told her. “And you know how people feel about women--they get hysterical over the smallest things. Besides, you won’t be talking to anyone else until you marry me. And when I’m your husband, your word against mine will mean very little.” He flashed his white teeth at her. “Besides, I have a new magician to help me out. Perhaps he can concoct a love potion for me.”

Robert Bigmouth had finally scurried up a nearby table, and he now launched himself across the room, biting down with tiny rodent teeth on Tempos’s dagger hand and causing him to drop the weapon with a muttered curse.

Loisette started to run toward the door, but then she heard a thud, and she turned and saw Robert Bigmouth sliding down the wall to the floor.

“No!” she cried out in fear and worry.

But Tempos had his dagger again, and her opportunity for escape had vanished. She hadn’t used the distraction her friend had provided, and she hated herself for it. Why hadn’t she continued on?

“A rat!” Tempos exclaimed in disgust as he approached her with his weapon. “Where’s a flute player when you need one?”

“You monster,” she spat before running past him to kneel by Robert Bigmouth’s still body.

“Everyone keeps calling me that,” Tempos said in a dry voice. “But you know what they say--sticks and stones may break my bones, but a crown is worth it all.” Then he laughed at himself. “Now, *Your Majesty*, I’ll be waiting outside your room until I can grab a guard, so don’t think you’ll be able to escape the moment I close the door.” And then he left the room.

She made an angry and unintelligible noise beneath her breath before turning to her rodent friend. She picked him up and held him against her cheek, crying quietly.

****

Chapter 33 Notes

Lois’s Clothing: I was thinking of something like this for Lois’s outfit.

Coronation Ceremony: Coronation ceremonies are rather complicated. Presented here is a simplified version. For an idea of how complicated they are, check out Wikipedia .