“I’m glad you and your companions were able to make it here in time,” Princess Inama said, greeting Ivan formally with a hug and kiss on each side of the cheek, as custom dictated among their people. She did the same to Natalia as Ivan introduced her. Anders noticed she made her pecks short, making sure not to linger as Ivan had.
“Princess Inama, this is Nadir, recently named King of the Everlight Kingdom,” Ivan said introducing him. The princess proceeded to greet him in the same way she had Ivan. “And Remli, Dwarf King in Hardstone.”
Remli puffed out his chest trying to make himself look taller. He grinned through his thick red beard and said with a chuckle, “It’s a pleasure to meet such a lovely young warrior like yourself. Careful when you kiss these cheeks, my dear, they’re shrouded by fire. If you’re not careful they might warm you, leaving you with a longing to be near the flames.”
Ivan and Nadir shook their heads as they often did when Remli spoke, and Anders chuckled to himself as the princess eyed the dwarf curiously before continuing with her greeting. When she was done kissing him, she acted as if she’d been startled.
“What is it, my dear?” Remli asked more seriously, concern spreading across his reddened face.
“Why I’ve just kissed fire and my lips are unburnt. I must be the only woman in history to be able to resist your charm,” she said mockingly and with a devious smile.
Remli bellowed a hearty laugh and said, “And she’s got a good sense of humor! Oh, what a catch this one is.”
“You’re too kind your majesty,” the princess said and turned her attention to Anders. “And I think I can guess who this is.”
“You can?” Anders asked, surprised at her confidence in being able to identify him.
“Why of course. You are the dragonrider, Anders. And this is your beloved dragon, Zahara. You don’t think the tales of your accomplishments at Black Water Bay went unnoticed, do you?” she asked incredulously.
Anders blushed almost as darkly as Remli had. “I wasn’t aware that people knew about us. The elves have known for a while, but other than the Rollo Islanders and dwarfs, we’ve not had much contact with the rest of Kartania,” he replied modestly. As he spoke, he realized he’d been introduced to over half of the nations in Kartania over the last several months.
“Surely you don’t think you could take on Merglan’s forces and go unnoticed for driving him away. Why our people have heard about it ever since Merglan returned to Southland. It has given us hope that he can be stopped.”
“Really?” Anders asked, thinking that he was among the outliers in thinking that Merglan could be defeated.
Princess Inama greeted Anders in the same way as she had the others. He blushed when her lips touched his cheeks and returned the kiss on hers. He quickly felt embarrassed as he glanced to Natalia, wondering what Maija would’ve thought about the way they greeted each other. The princess smiled, stepping away from him and addressing Zahara with a polite and straightforward bow. Just then Nadir piped in.
“I think that is enough of pleasantries; why don’t we discuss strategies.”
“As you wish, your majesty,” the princess said. She turned sharply and waved for them to follow her.
Nadir and Remli barked a few orders to several elves and dwarfs who’d been awaiting assignments. They were directed to conduct preparations at the ships as the group of leaders began following the princess. Anders wasn’t sure if he should follow them or help the dwarfs and elves offload supplies. His expression must have been telling because Ivan motioned for them to follow the princess.
Anders and Zahara trailed the other leaders as they walked uphill into the dense forest near the beach. The forest acted as a great barrier and protective shield from anyone or thing searching from the outside. If it weren’t for the flight, Zahara and Anders would never have known anyone was camped there.
Once deep enough into the trees, they began to see tightly formed groups of tents, rows in neatly constructed lines, organized in such a way to be screened from a visual scan of the area by the thick, low-hanging canopy. In addition to the strategic placement, the tents were woven of a fabric designed to blend in with the forest canopy. The closer Anders looked as they walked, the more Lumbapi people he saw. Where once he only recognized a few tents, he now saw hundreds, disguised in the forest undergrowth.
Anders and Zahara walked past sentries standing guard along the outposts of the tent community. Campfires rolling a shallow smolder somehow remained undetected under the forested area. The fires were hot enough to cook on, but not large enough to produce a column of smoke. Many of the Lumbapi soldiers wore no uniforms like the elves and dwarfs. Instead, they wore clothes similar to those Anders saw on people living in Westland, not the typical attire of a highly functioning rebel army. They passed people tending to livestock and other domesticated animals raised for food. Dogs the size of small horses wandered the camp, sniffing at Zahara as she walked by.
Finally, the princess stopped at a larger group of tents that appeared to be army headquarters. When they approached the largest of the tent doors, the fold in the tent wall separated and two small spiked creatures scurried out. Anders watched a familiar figure emerge from the tent door to call after the creatures, “Rufus, Ulgna! Come back here.”
Solomon, the small old wise man Anders had visited back in Brookside, lifted his arms in joy upon seeing the travelers. “Jumping grasshoppers, look who it is!” the old man shouted, scuttling over to them.
Ivan smiled and held out a hand in greeting. Solomon swiped Ivan’s extended hand out of the way and wrapped his thickly dressed arms around the sorcerer. At first, Ivan’s arms didn’t move an inch, but when he realized the old man wasn’t letting go of him anytime soon, he returned the gesture, patting him on the back as he quickly hugged him.
“It’s good to see you,” Solomon said, releasing his grip on the weathered warrior.
“You, too, old friend,” Ivan replied.
Solomon peered down his half-moon spectacles at the remaining four of them. His eyes went from one to the other and when they landed on Anders and Zahara, he gasped. “Oh dear.” He put his hands over his mouth. He came over to Anders and said, “I recall the last time I saw you, you were starting out on an adventure.”
Anders nodded, “Yes, and you gave me some strange advice before I left your house.” Anders eyed the old man curiously.
“I did?” Solomon asked.
“Yes. You told me the path ahead was a dangerous one and that I should follow my heart.”
Solomon looked to Zahara and back to Anders, “Well, it seems that you took my advice.”
Anders nodded, “Yes. I guess I did.”
Solomon smiled the quirky smile he always seemed to wear and turned his attention to Remli and Nadir. The way they greeted him made Anders think they’d been old friends, reuniting again after a long time apart.
Once the pleasantries were finished, Anders and Zahara followed the others inside the large tent where a fire roared in an iron fireplace. The smoke funneled up through a chimney and out the top of the tent. The smoke burned clean and hot, so it didn’t emit a large plume. Upon entering the tent, Ivan, Natalia, Nadir and Remli began discussing strategies with Solomon and the Lumbapi over a large map laid out on the center table. Rugs lined the floor of the room and Anders chose to sit with Zahara in the back of the tent close to the fire. The talk of war and where Merglan’s forces were gathering quickly turned to murmurs in Anders’ ears. He and Zahara soon fell fast asleep, nestled together on the tent floor comforted by the fire’s warmth.
Chapter 41
Ryedale
Anders opened his eyes and looked out at the hazy space inside the sizable Lumbapi tent. He and Zahara were still nestled, laying comfortably on a thick rug that spanned the floor. He sat up slowly, stretching his arms wide and yawning long. The once-crackling fire at their backs had burned out, and he noticed the absence of the furnace-like heat pulsing against his backside. Anders examined the room. Sweeping his sleepy eyes around the darkened innards of the enormous tent, he couldn't see anyone else inside. As his eyes adjusted to the dim glow of light coming in from outside, he became sure that he and Zahara were the only ones left inside.
Anders rose to his feet and walked around to Zahara’s head. Shaking her gently, he called to her, “Wake up. Zahara, it’s time to wake up.” She stirred but didn’t open her eyes. Anders placed his mouth near the edge of her cone-shaped ear and said again, “Zahara, wake up.”
This time Zahara’s head bolted upright, nearly tossing Anders through the air when she came to full attention. Her head passed quickly back and forth sounding out the room. Her scales clacked against themselves as she did so.
Anders caught himself on a chair that had been pushed away from the long table in the center of the room. Hey, wow. Nothing to be startled about, it’s just me, he said connecting with her mind and soothing her instantly. He felt her worry subside when she realized where they were. I was just telling you that we should get up. I think we slept here through the night.
It looks like it. Where is everyone else? she asked.
