Red Dragon's Keep (The Dragon's Children Book 1) Read online

  “Your courage in my defense is admirable, Lord Thomas. Thank you,” she said with a small bow to him. “Enough.” She gestured as if pulling on a rope and Garan stumbled toward her.

  Thomas was finally able to slowly lower the tip of his sword to the ground, his eyes wide and mouth open in astonishment.

  With negligent ease, Aeden kicked Garan's feet out from under him. As he landed hard on his back on the floor she whispered, “Stay. You will remain here until I return.”

  She gestured at the soldiers standing just beyond the altercation. “Return to your duty.” They turned and scurried back to the armory doors. She turned on her heel, slipped between the half open doors and was gone.

  Thomas sank to the ground, staring after her. “Who is she?” he murmured with dread. He’d never seen anyone use magic before.

  § § §

  Thomas jerked in surprise when the doors slammed open and thudded against the walls on either side of the salle doorway. He jumped to his feet, leaving the sword and scabbard lying on the floor.

  His father, but an aspect of his father he’d never seen before, strode into the hall. Two guards followed close behind him.

  The Duke's face was flushed, filled with controlled fury. His bearded jaw was clenched, eyes narrowed, lips thin. The black and red tattoo of a Dragon that rode his arm, curled up his neck and over his shoulder, seemed to writhe. His left hand gripped the pommel of the sword at his side with white knuckles. Lady Aeden glided in his wake like a sleek mountain lion.

  Garan, still lying on the floor as if tied to it, swallowed audibly. Eyes wide, he began to struggle to rise. Aeden looked at him, releasing her spell with a wave of her hand. He scrambled to his feet.

  “Boy, where do you come from?” rumbled Duke Tom.

  “Sir, I am from North Meall. My father is Earl Tildon,” muttered Garan, staring at the ground.

  “And your father has called me a - I believe you said - a jumped up captain from the guard? And said that my son is nothing?” the Duke snarled through clenched teeth. “Puppies usually repeat what they’ve heard.”

  Garan started to tremble.

  “Lord, I didn't mean to insult you or your son,” he choked out.

  “Then you should have kept your mouth shut,” roared the Duke. “Gather your gear. You leave under guard within the hour. I'll not harbor a snake in the middle of my Keep. Go. Now!”

  The guards grabbed Garan by either arm and shoved him quickly out of sight through the doors.

  Thomas stood stunned. The dust in the air tickled his throat and irritated his eyes, making tears run. Of course. That was it. The dust. He wiped his eyes with the backs of his hands, bent and picked up the sword and scabbard.

  His father turned to him. “Thomas, you are first born and my heir. You need fear no one. While your mother and I are gone, Lady Aeden will be your teacher in all things having to do with weapons and tactics. You will learn states-craft and strategy with Gregory. I’ve been putting this off, waiting until you were older and I had more time. I just ran out of it.” He ran his hand distractedly through his hair. “I thought I’d kept you safe from danger.” He shook his head with regret. “Well, it’s done.”

  Thomas stared in shock at this stranger who inhabited his father’s body. Slowly joy crept in. He could hardly contain it. He felt like jumping in the air and running around the hall. He'd not known that his father cared.

  “Thank you, Father. I promise I’ll work hard.”

  The Duke reached out and clasped Thomas by the shoulder. Giving it a little shake, he said, “Come. Let’s put the sword away. There's much to be done before we leave, and you can help.”

  Chapter 2

  Thomas, his younger brother Owen, and sister Breanna, helped the Duke and Duchess prepare for their journey. Thomas and Owen picked up the next boxes of supplies stacked in the hallway. They hurried down the stairs and handed the boxes to the skullies standing at the bottom. The skullies carried them to the wagons waiting outside. Thomas wiped the sweat from his face with his hands and then wiped them on his tunic.

  The two boys carried load after load down to the wagons, working the rest of the afternoon in the sweltering heat and into the cooling breezes of the evening. Breanna worked with her mother, putting the small things she would need on the trip into bags and then into boxes.

  Duchess Jenni stuck her head out of her bower and shouted, “Thomas, come here. I need you.” She looked down the hall at him with tired brown eyes, a crooked smile and hands on her hips as she stepped into the hallway. She was dressed in old grey trousers, a blue shirt that had seen better days and a pair of very well broken-in black boots. Her face was covered with sweat and dust from moving trunks and boxes. Her long dark brown hair was braided down her back, almost to her hips.

  She’d filled a traveling trunk with all the clothing she’d need for this hurried trip to the seat of the kingdom. She struggled to move it once it was packed, and found that she could not.

  Thomas was taking a break, leaning against the wall at the top of the stairs, tired from the many trips up and down. He took a deep breath, put his hands on his lower back and arched backwards. Every disc in his spine cracked. He twisted slowly from side to side, then sprinted down the hall and grabbed the door frame, swinging around it into his mother’s bower. His stomach rumbled with hunger.

  “Sorry, Mother,” he said as he grinned. “I’ve had nothing to eat since mid-meal.” He grabbed the side handle of the trunk she had finished packing and pulled it into the hallway.

  Laughing, Jenni patted him on the back. “Let’s gather everyone up and go see what there is for dinner. I’m hungry, too.” She raised her voice. “Tom, Owen, Breanna. Let’s have some dinner.”

  His father walked out of the bedroom. “Good idea,” he said.

  Breanna, short and sturdy with red-gold hair braided down her back and smudges of dust framing her green eyes, walked out of the bower to stand behind her mother. Owen, taller than Breanna but still shorter than his brother, ran up the stairs from his latest trip down, brushing his sweaty dark brown hair out of his blue eyes.

  His father smiled at Thomas. “Come on. Let’s make this trip down count before we eat.” He grabbed one of the side handles and Thomas grabbed the other. They walked to the stairway and Thomas turned and started down the stairs backwards, his father pulling back against the weight of the trunk and taking one step at a time. Once at the bottom, they hauled the trunk to the doorway leading to the forecourt and set it on the floor. The stablemen waiting there lifted the trunk and carried it down the stairs to the wagon slowly filling as supplies were loaded.

  The others followed the Duke and Thomas down the stairs.

  “Thank you, Thomas. That was well done. I can’t believe you’ve grown so strong.” Lady Jenni reached up and gripped his arm, rubbing lightly up and down. “Look at you. When did you get so tall? Taller than I am.” She shook her head.

  They made their way to their places at the head table as skullies brought food and drink and placed it in front of them. They started eating as soon as they dished the food onto their plates. Breanna was so tired, she fell asleep in her chair, her head pillowed on her arm resting on the table next to her plate.

  As soon as he finished eating, Duke Tom pushed back from the table and stood. He gently lifted Breanna into his arms and carried her off to bed.

  The boys and Lady Jenni finished the last of the apples they had been served for dessert and started back to work.

  Everything was finally packed and loaded. The wagons stood ready for the horses and drivers that would accompany the Duke and Duchess to the capital.

  “Go to bed now, Thomas”, the duchess murmured to her son as they stood in the great hall. “You’ve been a tremendous help. Go on now.” She patted him on the back.

  Thomas gave her a hug good night and then trudged up the stairs to his room.

  Muscles he didn’t know he had protested as he grabbed the bottom of his tunic and pulled it ov
er his head. He stripped off the remainder of his clothing, leaving it where it landed, fell into his bed and was instantly asleep in the very early hours of the morning.

  § § §

  At mid-morning the next day, the Duke called Thomas to him in the forecourt as he checked the saddle and bridle on both his and the Duchess's warhorses. He tightened the girth on his big red roan. The horse squealed and kicked. Both the Duke and Duchess refused to ride in their carriage, wanting the freedom and maneuverability of being ahorse.

  “Pay attention to Lady Aeden and Gregory. Gregory has forgotten strategy that I'm still learning. That’s why I appointed him as my seneschal. He can help you with any problems. Captain Mathin is in charge of defenses for the Keep, but he’ll be bringing you in to council for instruction. Listen to him as well. Continue your lessons.”

  Thomas nodded. “Yes sir.”

  “It will take us at least three weeks to reach Cathair Ri. I expect we'll be gone until spring, maybe late winter at the earliest.

  “Remember, you are my heir. Look after your brother and sister. Watch your back.”

  The Duke turned to him and pulled him into a rough hug. He released Thomas, turned and put his left boot into the stirrup and swung into his saddle. Duchess Jenni strode out of the Keep doors, pulling a pair of riding gloves over her long fingered hands. She descended the stairs and took the reins of her destrier from the groom. Turning to Thomas, she hugged him tight. “Stay safe,” she whispered huskily in his ear. She gathered the horse’s reins and mounted, as graceful as her husband. The horses tossed their heads and danced across the cobbles. They were firmly checked back into a sidling walk and then halted by both riders.

  His mother leaned down and ruffled his hair. “See you soon,” she said. She smiled and reined her horse around to follow the Duke to the head of the column.

  Thomas turned and took the stairs two at a time to the top of the staircase that fronted the doors into Dragon Tower, the better to watch the cavalcade get under way.

  Owen and Breanna waved from their second story balcony. “Goodbye, Father. Goodbye, Mother. Ride safe,” they shouted as loudly as possible. They were not allowed into the forecourt with so many horses, men and confusion.

  The Duke and Duchess, thirty guards and the supply wagons rumbled into motion. They rolled through the gates and were on their way. The Duke and Duchess raised their arms in farewell to those left behind.

  § § §

  Thomas hurried across the forecourt and ran up the stairs to the rampart on top of the wall surrounding the central towers of Red Dragon’s Keep. He watched until he could no longer see even their dust trail. Fear and sorrow at their departure battled with joy at the changes in his life.

  He looked down over the rampart walls to the dry moat surrounding the Keep. The dark grey granite walls rose three stories above the ground at this point. Thomas hoped they were tall enough if war with Demons was coming.

  The Keep rose above a hanging valley reached by a switch-back road on the side of Slieve Geal, the Shining Mountain. Songs were sung of the last battle of the last war with the Ciardha Demons fought on its flanks. Red Dragon’s Keep guarded the farthest north of the four passes that cut through the Dragon Spine Mountains rising north to south, forming a backbone for Ard An Tir. The territory that the Duke controlled was the largest in Ard Ri, covering an area ten days ride in any direction from the Keep.

  A large walled town overflowing with shops and cottages filled the valley to the west of the Keep. Villagers bringing produce, meat and other goods from the countryside hurried along the streets and set up shop on almost every corner. A livestock market claimed space on the side of the town furthest from the Dragon Tower. Thomas watched a cloud of dust billow into the air as cattle were driven into corrals maintained for that purpose. The noise of the town echoed against the walls of the Keep.

  A sinking feeling of panic gripped his stomach and dread caught his breath. What am I going to do? I don’t know anything about running the duchy. He thought about what his father had said. Captain Mathin, Gregory and Lady Aeden were going to teach him. It would be all right.

  He looked along the length of the rampart, marking the soldiers pacing its length to the watchtowers on either end. Two sentries were stationed at the crenellations midway on the parapet, keeping watch.

  Thomas turned and looked up the walls of the central tower of the Keep. They rose three stories higher, tall and strong. The image of a red winged Dragon laid in stone stretched its length up the eastern side of the Dragon Tower wall.

  The sun was rising noon when he turned and slowly walked down the rampart stairs and made his way across the forecourt. This was the first time that he and his brother and sister had ever been left alone at Red Dragon’s Keep. Owen and Breanna met him as he climbed the stairs into the Dragon Tower.

  “What did Father say to you?” asked Owen as they walked across the main hall and up the stairs toward their rooms. He was thirteen, stocky with dark brown hair and brown eyes. The top of his head just reached Thomas’s chin.

  “Hurry up. We need to change for mid-meal.” Breanna said as she rushed after them, turning into the family corridor. She wore dirt-stained brown leggings and a cream tunic that was too small. Her red-blond hair was braided down her back. She’d been out with the horses in the stable before the cavalcade left. Blue eyes squinted at Thomas. Her eleven years made her bossy.

  Thomas stopped in the middle of the hall. “Father told me I needed to take care of both of you. I'm going to be working with Lady Aeden, Gregory and Captain Mathin, learning weapons and strategy. I really need your help.”

  Owens’ and Breanna's eyes went round with surprise.

  “Father is letting you learn to fight? Why not me?” Owen shrilled.

  “Cause you're not big enough yet,” giggled Breanna.

  “How about I ask Lady Aeden to let you train too, Owen?” Thomas answered with a grin.

  “Yes,” Owen shouted and pumped his fist in the air.

  “Can I learn strategy with you?” asked Breanna.

  “I can ask,” Thomas said with a smile for her.

  “Hurry up. We're going to be late.” Breanna pushed past the boys and ran to her room.

  Chapter 3

  The weather had turned overnight and frost had nipped the valley. The day would be hot later but right now it was chilly. Lady Aeden sought out Thomas in the great hall at breakfast the next morning.

  He'd just started his meal when she approached the high table.

  “My Lord, I've something to discuss with you in the Solar when you’re finished, if you please. It has to do with the defense of Red Dragon’s Keep. Will you meet me there in half an hour?”

  “Of course, Lady Aeden,” he responded. “Could you let Gregory know where I'll be? I’m supposed to meet with him about battle strategy.”

  “I’ll tell him, my Lord. I’ll meet you then.” She turned and walked back toward Gregory’s office.

  Half an hour later Thomas climbed the stairs to the top of the main tower and the Solar. The bright light from windows around the entire room allowed the women of the Keep to work on sewing and embroidery, spinning and weaving. Material, trim, buttons and thread were stacked on the shelves that rose between the windows. A loom sat ready for use and a quilting frame held a quilt that waited for the needles of his mother’s ladies. With his mother gone, her ladies had taken the day to do personal errands.

  Lady Aeden stood looking out of the tower window that faced east. Her face wore a troubled frown. She turned as she heard Thomas enter the room.

  “What is it, my Lady?”

  “I'm not sure. I felt something when I looked out the window, but what it is I don't know.” She shrugged her shoulders. “We'll know if something is amiss soon enough.”

  She moved to one of the upholstered chairs next to the fireplace centered between the windows on the north side. “Come. Sit. I want to talk to you about magic.”

  Thomas jerked back in
surprise. He frowned and his head tilted in query. Magery was practiced openly by very few. Those who had no magic distrusted those who did. Suspicion that a person could read thoughts or control another with magic often created fear. Fear could lead to murder of the magic wielder, so most kept quiet if they did have the power. He moved to sit in the chair across from her.

  “Lady, why do you want to talk to me about it? I have no magic.”

  Aeden tilted her head and simply gazed at him. The silence grew uncomfortable.

  Thomas shifted uneasily in the chair. “I'm sorry,” he hazarded, not knowing what he had done wrong.

  “I can feel the magic in you, Thomas. You need to train it just like you will be training your body in the use of weapons.”

  “I have magic?” Thomas asked in amazement. “I’ve never felt any magic. I don’t even know what it is.”

  “Yes, you do. Everyone has some magic in them.”

  She looked at Thomas then gave a shrug.

  “The first thing to do is learn to center your-self and create a shield. Close your eyes and think about nothing. Feel the flow of energy in your gut.”

  Thomas did as she asked. He closed his eyes and quieted his thoughts. At first, he felt nothing. As he waited, he thought that he could feel the energy centered right under his heart.

  “Can you feel it?”

  Thomas nodded. “I think so.”

  “That’s the energy at the core of your being. When you are calm and centered, think about extending that energy through your body and down through your feet like roots, deep into the earth. It will anchor you and give you access to the power of earth. Try it now.”

  Thomas pictured a ball of energy centered at his stomach. He waited and felt warmth start to grow. His eyes flew open and he looked at Aeden in astonishment. The warmth faded.

  “That is your ki. Try again.”

  He closed his eyes and pictured the energy in his mind's eye. As the warmth grew, he pictured roots extending from it into the earth far below. Power slowly grew until he fairly vibrated with it.