All noise in the hall stopped. The knights stared at Derek in shock. Aran lowered his gaze to his plate.
“Brother!” Edwin reprimanded. “You don’t mean that!”
Derek blinked, glancing around the room, then rubbed his anger-blotched forehead. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean that,” he said wearily. “But Gunthar’s left us virtually helpless to bear the brunt of the enemy forces.”
“There’s little here for the enemy to be interested in- no offense, Derek,” Aran responded. It was true enough. Whereas the Crownguard family had once been one of the most powerful in Solamnia, Lord Derek now had little domain. The family’s prestige had long been in decline, and only years of careful, constant maneuvering had brought the seat of Lord Knight within Derek’s grasp.
But now even that was beginning to come apart, and the realization made Derek jab the table with the tip of his knife. “They will attack,” he said.
“But why?” demanded Aran. “What use is there? Even Lord Alfred wasn’t sure why he should draw troops away from Solanthus to send to defend Crownguard, when the enemy can simply pass us by and attack rider targets.”
“They’ll attack us,” Derek replied, his gaze steady, “because they can win, and quickly.”
“They have dragons,” Edwin added.
This time, even the servants stopped and stared. Derek flashed a hot glare at his brother-he hadn’t told the others of Linbyr’s tale yet. Not that his telling was necessary; they’d all heard the rumors. This was the first time the news had been spoken aloud. Pax and the other knights looked stricken.
Aran broke the silence with a hollow laugh. “Dragons! Oh, ho!” he cried, trying to pass it off as a joke. And, indeed, he did not believe it. “You’ve developed quite the wit, Edwin! Hasn’t he, Derek?”
The other knights weren’t laughing. Aran glanced sharply at his old friend. “Hasn’t he, Derek?” he repeated, more urgently.
Derek poked at the cold meat on his plate. “My brother speaks aright, for all of his bluntness,” he said harshly, taking a gulp of beer that tasted like dirty rain-water to him. “The dragons slew Aurik and his men, and leveled Castle Archuran. One and all the survivors told the same tale.”
Aran blew a long sigh through his lips. He knew now why the quiet conversation that had buzzed at the table throughout the feast had been so forced and half-hearted. Now, at last, he realized how desperate Derek truly was. He laid his knife aside-his appetite had fled him-and stared up at the rows of gleaming shields that hung high on the walls of the hall. Each bore the crest of a Crownguard, marked with the sigil of a Knight of the Rose. The Tallbows were a less noteworthy clan, but Aran understood the pride Derek took in his heritage. That heritage was doomed now, meaningless.
“What’s this, then?” rumbled Sir Pax, thumping his fist on the table. “Gloom in the face of honorable death? Surely these aren’t Knights of Solamnia all about me, brooding over their flagons that they might face a dragon in worthy battle!”
That cheered the other knights somewhat, but when the feast was done, they dispersed quickly, off to stand the night watch on the battlements. Before long, only Derek, Edwin, and Aran remained, sipping brandy at the map table.
“How long before the armies arrive?” Aran asked at length, shaking his goblet so the golden brandy sloshed around its edges.
“The villagers said the enemy drove them part of the way here, then withdrew near the Axewood,” Derek answered, pointing to a small cluster of trees on the map. “Their supply wagons will have to catch up, but I suppose we’ll sight them two days from the morrow.”
“Then Brian’s company likely won’t arrive in time,” Aran said flatly. “We can’t count on using anything more than we already have.”
“The defenses have been raised,” added Edwin. “We’d be glad if you would command our archers.”
Aran nodded. “I was hoping you’d ask. I’d be honored. With your leave, Lord Derek, of course.”
Derek nodded and grunted absently. It went without saying that Aran, one of the finest archers in Solamnia, would lead the castle’s bowmen. But Derek’s mind was elsewhere. “What do you know of dragons, Aran?” he asked.