Audun wasn’t nearly as confident when he woke the next day. All the previous afternoon and evening he had tried to explain what had happened, but each time he broached the topic Millie had invited someone to join their conversation or remembered a suddenly important errand that she had to see to right then. They hadn’t been alone for a minute, and after a big, formal supper, Millie had slipped off to bed without even saying good night. He’d found it frustrating, but he had no intention of telling her all he wanted to say where anyone else could hear him.
Audun had spent much of the night trying to think of something he could do to get Millie to talk to him in private. He had a few ideas, but nothing he really liked, so he was still pondering the problem when he stepped through the door of the chamber where he’d slept. A page carrying a knight’s sword and helmet almost knocked him over.
“What’s the hurry, child?” Audun asked, as he helped the boy collect the gauntlet that he’d dropped.
“Haven’t you heard?” asked the boy. “An army is advancing on the castle. The knights are preparing to defend it. They’d already lowered the drawbridge this morning, so they had to raise it in a hurry when soldiers appeared out of nowhere.”
A passing serving man carrying a knife and an old-fashioned helmet stopped long enough to say, “The call has gone out for all able-bodied men. We’re to bring whatever weapons and armor we have and meet in the courtyard. With the Green Witch protecting the kingdom they probably won’t need us, but they’re having us get ready just in case.”
“Whose army is it?” asked Audun.
The boy shrugged, but the man smiled wryly and said, “Some fool who thinks he can best the Green Witch with an ordinary fighting force. You’d think everyone would know better, considering our Princess Emma’s reputation.”
Audun nodded as the boy and the man went on their way. Even in far-off Aridia, Audun had heard rumors about the might of Princess Emma and the fire-breathing dragons that defended Greater Greensward. He’d never once mentioned that he’d met her or that she was the mother of his one true love. From everything he’d heard, anyone who would attack Greater Greensward would have to either be crazy or think he had some very special advantage that would allow him to defeat dragons and the magic of the Green Witch. If the latter were true, it was possible that the Green Witch might just need Audun’s help, even if he couldn’t breathe fire. Besides, with the alliance agreement between the Green Witch and King Stormclaw signed and sealed, he felt duty-bound to help her just as he had helped Prince Owen in Aridia.
Audun learned from a passing servant girl that Princess Emma had a tower of her own. He ran up the stairs, hoping Emma hadn’t already left the castle, and didn’t stop until he reached the door at the top. Hearing voices inside, he knocked and was relieved when someone called out for him to come in.
Although the room was fairly large, the end near the door seemed crowded. Millie and Emma were seated on a bench by the window while two men stood only an arm’s reach away. Audun had met the men at supper the night before. The younger one had curly brown hair and a pleasant face. He was Prince Eadric, Millie’s father and the crown prince of Upper Montevista, the northern kingdom where Audun had encountered the witches Klorine and Ratinki. The older man was King Limelyn, Emma’s father and the ruler of Greater Greensward. His hair was graying and his skin was lined from years of worry, but he still had the commanding presence of a king who had seen many battles. Audun had liked both Prince Eadric and King Limelyn right away and had had the feeling that they liked him as well. Right now, however, they scarcely glanced at Audun before turning back to examine a ball made of crystal that Millie’s mother held cupped in her hands.
Audun ducked as a brightly colored bird the size of a chicken with long, trailing feathers and a curved beak swooped past his head to land on the table on the other side of the room. “Lover boy is here!” screeched the bird in a grating voice. “It’s Millie’s next suitor, come to spy on her and learn all her secrets! He wants to know why none of her other suitors have—”
“Be quiet, You-too,” snapped Millie. “I don’t have any secrets from Audun.”
“Really?” said the bird. “Does he know that you—”
“I don’t know why you keep this bird around, Emma,” King Limelyn said, making a grab for You- too, who lurched off the table and fluttered out of reach.
Emma shrugged. “He was a wedding gift to Eadric and me.”
“I’d say he was more of a curse,” said her father.
“Look, that must be the one in charge,” Emma said, pointing at something in the ball that Audun couldn’t see from where he was standing.
Millie bent closer to the crystal ball. “Can you see his face?” she asked, frowning in concentration.
“Give it a moment,” said Emma.
“There, he’s turning this way,” Eadric said, “and it’s . . .”
“Prince Rudolfo!” they all exclaimed in unison.
“He must have had his soldiers waiting for him on the other side of the border,” King Limelyn said. “And went to fetch them when Millie turned him down.”
“I told you I didn’t like him,” muttered You-too. “He had shifty eyes.”
“You never said any such thing!” Millie said.
The bird shuffled sideways on the back of the chair where he had perched. “Yes, I did. You just didn’t hear me!”
Emma shook her head. “I wish I had seen those men sooner. The first thing I do every morning is check our borders with this,” she said, tapping the farseeing ball, “but I didn’t see anything out of the ordinary today. I can’t believe so many men made it all the way through the forest before anyone noticed them. If we hadn’t heard their horses we wouldn’t have known they were here until it was too late. Even then I had to cast a spell to make them visible. They must have a magic user of their own, but I can’t seem to find him.”
“My friend Frostybreath froze Olebald, but the wizard was able to use his magic to escape after he’d thawed just a little,” said Audun. “He fled into the desert, where he gathered a group of soldiers and used a spell to hide them right beneath our noses by changing the color of their skin and clothes to match the colors of their surroundings.”
Millie gave him a quizzical look. “How did you see the soldiers to fight them?”
“We didn’t, at least not at first. But I sent a small puff of poison gas their way. Smaller doses of an ice dragon’s poison gas makes humans ill without doing permanent harm. Soldiers who are violently sick to their stomachs aren’t effective fighters.”
“Poison gas?” screeched You-too. “I thought there was something odd about you. There,” he said, turning to Millie. “Did I say it loudly enough for you this time?”
Eadric strode to the window and looked out. “Rudolfo’s men are drawing closer to the moat. I don’t think they’ve spotted your moat monster yet, Emma.”
“Do you see anyone who might be a magic user?” asked Millie.
“Not from here,” her father said, craning his neck.
“I’ll try again,” said Emma, turning back to the ball. Audun noticed for the first time that it was attached to a gold chain that she wore around her neck. He took a step closer, taking the place of Prince Eadric, who was still looking out the window. Audun could just make out a swirling light before the Green Witch touched the ball and the light disappeared. Even with his dragon hearing, he couldn’t make out what she said as she whispered under her breath and tapped the ball again. A faint image appeared. It blurred and shifted and looked like it was about to become a face when it dissolved in a blue fog. Suddenly, the ball went blank.
Emma shook the farseeing ball, but nothing happened. “There must be a magic user out there, but I can’t tell you who it is. Whoever it is has done something to my farseeing ball. It’s not working anymore.”
“I need more information,” said her father.
Emma nodded. “I could turn myself into a bird and go look for the magic user. It would be easy to gather information without anyone noticing.”
“Just as easy as it would be for a magic user to find you, or for an archer to shoot you down,” said her father. “No, there has to be another way.”
“I’ll go through the secret tunnel to look around,” said Eadric. “I’m glad we put it in. I knew it would come in handy someday.”
“What secret tunnel?” squawked You-too.
“You think we’d tell you?” Eadric asked. “You have the biggest beak in the kingdom.”
“I’ll go with you, Eadric,” Emma said. “Just give me a moment while I change.”
Audun glanced at the door. “Perhaps I should leave.”
“Why?” said Millie. “She’s not going to change her clothes.”
“While you see what you can learn outside the wall, I’ll go to the parapet,” King Limelyn said. “Perhaps I’ll be able to find out what Rudolfo wants.”
A pale, green light had begun to shimmer around Emma, but it faded away when her father said he was leaving. “I need to renew your protection spell if you’re going outside,” she said, taking her father’s hand in hers. “I know I put one on you just a few months ago, but they don’t generally last very long. This should do the job.”
Keep him safe from point or
blade,
From all that’s magic or man-made.
Deflect their aim, repel their blows,
Let him be well where’er he goes.
Bright green sparkles dusted the air around the king, melting on his head and shoulders as if they were tiny, colored snowflakes. King Limelyn smiled and patted her hand. “You’re a good daughter, Emma.”
Audun watched as she kissed the king on the cheek, something that made them both smile. The young dragon was surprised by the feelings the sight of such a simple sign of affection stirred inside him. Millie had kissed him twice before, once as she was about to enter the Blue Witch’s castle, and again when she was leaving the mountain range. They were the only kisses he’d ever received and they’d given him a warm feeling inside, which was unusual for an ice dragon.
“Emma, perhaps you should change in the dungeon,” Eadric suggested. “You always complain that the stairwell is too small when you’re a dragon.”
“Good thinking,” Emma replied. Something heavy hit an exterior wall, making the castle shake. “We’d better go. It sounds as if someone is trying to get our attention.”
Emma and Eadric were already out the door when Millie started after them saying, “I’m going, too. I’m sure you’ll need my help.”
“Not so fast, Millie,” said King Limelyn. “I want to ask your young man about the poison gas he mentioned.”
“Yeah,” said You-too. “Do you have it in a bottle, or do you make it yourself ? And if you make it, does it come out your mouth or your—”
“That’s enough from you!” declared the king. In two strides he crossed the room, snatched up the bird, tossed him into Emma’s storage room, and slammed the door. Turning to Audun he gave him an apologetic smile and said, “I understand you have the same ability as my daughter and granddaughter.”
“That’s true, sir, although I breathe poison gas instead of fire.”
“Ah,” said the king. “And that’s because you become an ice dragon.”
“Actually, sir, I’m an ice dragon who can become a human. After I last saw Millie, I spent my time earning the right to learn how to make the change.”
Millie inhaled sharply, but Audun kept his eyes on her grandfather.
King Limelyn rubbed his chin and looked at Audun speculatively. “I didn’t know that such a thing was possible. Either way, we can use a man like you in the family.”
“Grandfather!” exclaimed Millie. “He hasn’t even asked me yet!”
“You go with Millie and keep her safe,” the king told Audun. “She’s very dear to me.”
“To me as well,” Audun replied, turning his gaze to Millie.