“Crap!” Kirsten mouthed. “What do we do know?” she whispered.
Looking around the room, Maija said, “Hold on, I got this.” She went over to the desk and grabbed some dirty dishes stacked on the corner and handed some to Kirsten. Then she led them down the stairs and out into the hallway where Chantal stood, obviously looking for them.
When they opened the door leading out of Merglan’s chambers, Chantal immediately chastised them, “What in the world were you two doing in there? You’re not allowed to be in there, only I and…”
Maija cut her off, “The master asked us before he left if we would be so kind as to return his dirty lunch dishes to the kitchen.” Chantal looked at her with hands on her hips angrily tapping her foot. Maija continued, “We told him that we were explicitly told never to enter his chamber room. He said to forget what we were told and follow his orders. He wanted the place tidy and clean when he returned.”
Chantal scoffed and said, “Well that’s ridiculous, the master has never complained about his dishes remaining in his room for too long. I clean them up before dinner every day.”
Maija handed her the dirty dishes and said, “I was just obeying his direct orders.” Kirsten loaded more on top of those Maija had handed her.
“Anyway,” Chantal continued. “You’re needed to help prepare for tonight’s dinner. The master will be entertaining special guests and there is much to do beforehand.”
Maija and Kirsten rushed off to the dining hall, leaving Chantal with an armful of dirty dishes.
“That was brilliant,” Kirsten said as soon as they were out of earshot.
“Thanks,” Maija said, blushing. “I saw those dishes when we entered the room and thought that they’d serve as a good excuse if we got caught leaving.”
“It worked beautifully,” Kirsten said happily.
They reached the dining hall and began helping the others set up tables and chairs.
“Is there any special reason why the master is having guests tonight?” Kirsten asked one of the kitchen servants.
“I heard something about a battle. It seems the master is hosting a strategic planning meeting with some of his commanders tonight,” the servant told her. Kirsten thanked him and kept the news to herself.
She briefly entertained going back to Merglan’s chambers while he was busy at the dinner, but Chantal had told Thargon to place two guards at Merglan’s chamber room door, which made a second visit impossible.
That night after they had cleaned up the mess the orc, kurr, and men made during the feast, Kirsten and Maija stayed up talking with Thomas about the events of the day. After making sure no guards were spying on them, they told Thomas about finding the crystals in the secret room with the sleeping dragon. They followed up with details about the meeting Merglan had with members of the orc, kurr and human armies at his command.
“I heard about a fight with the Rollo Islanders,” he said. “The orcs attacked a group of Rollo Island warriors, taking them by surprise in their sleep, but the warriors fought them off.”
“I hope they kill every last orc and kurr in Merglan’s army,” Kirsten said angrily.
“Me, too,” he agreed. “And the crystals, you said they were behind a secret door or something, guarded by a dragon?” he asked.
“Yeah, so they’re definitely important,” Kirsten said.
“They must be used for magic,” Maija said. “It’s the only explanation that makes any sense to me.”
“So, how do we get to them if they’re guarded by a dragon?” Thomas asked. “I didn’t even know dragons still existed. Father told us the last dragon left this world after it destroyed the castle at Highborn Bay.”
“But Merglan’s got one. We saw it,” Kirsten said. They perked their heads up as they heard guards coming through the hallway to the courtyard.
“We’ll talk more tomorrow,” Thomas said and quickly ran to his cell. Kirsten and Maija did the same.
Once the guards were gone, Kirsten said to Maija, “There has to be a way to get the crystals. If they are, in fact, the key to the magic here, then maybe we could use them to escape.”
Maija said, “All we have to do is get past that dragon and we are home free.”
When Kirsten awoke to the banging on the cell door, she still hadn’t come up with an idea on how to get past the dragon guarding the crystals. She spent all morning thinking about it. Every possible scenario she dreamed up ended with either the dragon eating them or Merglan killing them for attempting to steal the crystals. They were cleaning the rooms near Merglan’s chambers when Maija stopped mopping the floor and leaned over with her ear. Seeing her do this, Kirsten came to her side.
“What is it?” Kirsten asked.
Maija said, “Merglan is arguing with Thargon.” She walked to the edge of the room and leaned her head out the doorway into the hall to get a better angle. “Merglan says he’s leaving,” Maija said, looking back at Kirsten. “Oh, get back to work; Thargon’s coming.” They continued to mop and scrub the floors and watched as Thargon left in a rage.
“Did you hear where Merglan was going?” Kirsten asked.
“No, just that he was leaving at once,” Maija said.
They kept cleaning the rooms long after they were spotless, but Merglan never left his chambers.
“Shouldn’t he be gone by now?” Kirsten asked. “I thought he said he was leaving right away.”
“Yeah,” Maija agreed. “He should’ve left by now.”
“Should we check to see if he did?” Kirsten asked. “Maybe he’s got more than one secret passageway out of his room?”
“Okay, let’s do it,” Maija said. “But be careful; we can’t get caught.”
The two silently snuck up the stairs. They examined the room at the top of the staircase, but Merglan wasn’t there.
“He’s gone,” Maija said
“Now is our chance to get the crystals,” Kirsten responded.
“I just hope that dragon is gone,” Maija added as they rushed over to the secret doorway.
