Dragon Eyes

Chapter 18.

To Find Help.

Later that day the three children sat around the fire, well rested and dry.

“Alright, ladies,” Lynwood stated. “I came up with a plan, but I’ll have to run it through you.”

“I told you he would come up with something.” Sofia’s eyes sparked with pride for her brother.

“To start off, Collyn, is there anyone in the palace who would be able to help us?”

“What do you mean?” Collyn was a little puzzled.

“I mean is there someone loyal to you and your brother? Someone we can trust. Someone who won’t betray you to the king.”

“Um...well,” Collyn searched her memory. “There is Eadbehrt; he was the councilor to my father when he was still alive.”

“Who is he now?”

“Now he’s just a nobleman who lives in his castle. Why do you ask?”

“Becuse my plan is that Caderyn will take me to meet up with someone we can trust and then we both go to the prison and try to find your brother and get him out.”

“Lynwood, that’s suicide!” Collyn firmly stated

Lynwood crossed his hands in front his chest. “You know, Collyn, I noticed that for you everything is suicide.”

“Well, this time I really mean it! It’s impossible! How do you plan to get into the dungeon without getting noticed?”

“That was why I needed your nobleman friend. Without him this won’t work.”

“I’m sure Lynwood can do it,” Sofia decided it was time to put her two cents in. “He has done pretty radical things ever since he got a hold of that letter I think he would able to pull off a stunt like this. Besides, this is the only plan we have got.”

Collyn nodded her head slowly as she pondered. “Very well. Let us assume you are somehow able to get into the prison and somehow able to get my brother out. What are you going to do then?”

“Probably come back here. This is a safe cave where we can plan our next move. Caderyn won’t mind having us here because in the end it will mean saving the kingdom and having everyone return to their own homes and he can have his space again. Look, Collyn, I know it is a random plan, but I am asking you to have a little faith in it. At this moment, faith is the only thing we really have.”

Collyn let out a sigh. “Very well, if you think it can be done, I’m game.”

“So am I,” Sofia grinned.

“Good,” Lynwood smiled. “It is settled then. I’ll leave as soon as it gets dark. Caderyn doesn’t like flying places during the day. I’m afraid you girls will have to stay behind. I have no idea what I am doing and I don’t want to get you into trouble. Father and your brother, Collyn, will no doubt hold me responsible.”

“That’s alright, we don’t mind.” Sofia reassured. “We’ll find plenty of things to do. It’s so nice to have someone else in this cave with me. I was starting to go crazy from all by myself. I wish I could go with Lynwood, but this silly foot keeps me in the cave.”

The children kept busy as best they could until the sun began to set and Lynwood and Caderyn prepared for yet another venture out into the open.

“So what is the name of that fellow again?” Lynwood asked Collyn.

“Eadberht,” Collyn said.

“Ea what?”

“E-ad-berh-t.”

“What a complicated name.”

“Blame his parents for that,” Collyn laughed. “You should be able to find him at his castle. It is about a quarter of a mile from the palace.”

“A quarter of a mile in which direction?”

“West. Fly due west from the palace and from up high you won’t be able to miss it. It is a large, stone castle that has his coat of arms waving in the breeze”

“And the coat of arms is?”

“A lion devouring a snake.”

“That is some coat of arms!” Lynwood’s eyes widened.

“When you meet him give him this.” Collyn handed Lynwood a pendant that she had taken off from around her neck. “This will help him know that you are really from me and want to help.”

“Thanks,” Lynwood tucked it away into his vest pocket. “I’m all set, Caderyn, we can go now.”

Caderyn spread his great wings and soared off. In time they were descending on the large estate of the Lord Eadberht. There was a faint light in one of the windows. Caderyn landed on the roof just above it and Lynwood slid down his tale and into the room.

“What the!” Came the exclamation of a nobleman who was very surprised at the crash landing of a young boy into his study. “Who are you and how on earth did you get in here?” He angrily asked, rising from his desk

Lynwood picked himself off the floor and rubbed his sore spots (it had not been a soft landing). “Please sir, don’t’ be mad, I came in through the window. I am glad it was open or I might have broken the glass.”

“That would have been a great pity indeed,” the man replied. “Now tell me who you are and why you came here or I shall surely call the guards and have you taken away.”

“My name is Lynwood, I’m the son of a woodsman,” Lynwood humbly stated. He was very intimidated by this large man who stood towering over him. He seemed to be in his late fifties with pale blue eyes gazing angrily and suspiciously at Lynwood. He had two rings on one hand and another ring on the other. His graying hair was balding at the top, but was long in the back and gathered into a ponytail. He wore a rich tunic of red and white and had golden trimming on his boots. His nose was a little crooked and his eyebrows were rather close together.

“And tell me, Lynwood,” he was saying. “How in the world did you manage to get up on my roof without alerting the guards?”

“Well sir,” Lynwood shrugged a little. “I would tell you, but you might think me someting of a lunatic.”

Eadberht lifted one of his thick eyebrows and gazed at the boy in the worn out and rather dirty clothes.

“The dragon I flew on descended on the roof and I slid down his tale and into you study.”

“The dragon?”

“Yes sir.”

“You flew here on a dragon?”

“Yes sir.”

“And where is the dragon right now?”

“He is still on the roof, sir.”

“What is this nonsense boy? Dragons don’t exist anymore.”

“Oh but they do sir, at least this one does. He lives up in the Great Mountain.”

“What Great Mountain?”

“The one near my home sire, it is part of the Great Mountain Range. It is such a majestic and fearful mountain that it was never given a name.”

“Is that where you live, boy? Near the Great Mountain Range?”

“Yes sir.”

“And you mean to tell me that this dragon actually let you ride him all the way here?”

“Yes sir.”

“I don’t believe you.”

“But how else would I have gotten up on that roof sir?”

“I don’t know, but I can’t believe that you flew over here on a dragon, that is simply too farfetched.”

“Maybe sir, but then I am not asking you to believe me. I came here on behalf of Princess Collyn.”

“You know the princess? Who do you take me for, a fool?”

“No sir, I don’t. I am the boy who rescued the princess yesterday morning. I am sure everyone is talking about it now.”

The man blinked a bit, the caught his breath as the truth dawned on him. “Oh, so you are the boy who came with the dragon and took Collyn away? The king was fuming about it yesterday. Tell me boy, what is the name of your father?”

“Lyndon sir, he was a woodsman.”

“Lyndon hmmmm,” Eadberht looked at the boy. “And you are his son, the one who slipped from the guards?”

“Yes sir. Have you heard of me?”

“Of course of course. Why didn’t I realize sooner. By now everyone has heard of you. Involved in plots against the king, eh?”

“Oh sir, Collyn asked that I give you this.” Lynwood suddenly remembered and reaching into his pocked pulled out Collyn’s pendant and handed it to Eadberht. “Just so you would know that I am really friends with her and that I want to help her brother.”

Eadberht took the pendant and looked at it for a while. “What do you want from me?” He finally asked

“Well sir, I figured since I helped make the mess, I should clean it up. But I know I can’t do it on my own, so I came to you for help.”

“Oh the mess was started long before you,” Eadberht stated. “You just sort of added the finishing touches. But first, show me this dragon of yours. We can’t have him sitting on my rooftop, someone might notice him. Why don’t you better have him settle in the garden, away from prying eyes? Most of my staff has already gone to sleep, so there is no fear of frightening the gardener.”

“Yes sir,” Lynwood grinned and sticking his head out the window called. “Caderyn, you can let your tail down.”

Eadberht nearly fell over when he saw a red scaly tail suddenly appear in the window. Lynwood nimbly grabbed it and climbed back up

“Okay here is the deal,” he stated once he was up. “Lord Eadberht is a rather nice fellow, he said that you must wait in the garden while I talk with him. It will be safer for you there. Once I am done I’ll come back for you.”

Caderyn paused for a moment as he thought about what Lynwood had just said, then nodded his consent and flew from the roof into the large garden. He found a secluded spot that has big enough for him to land. Lynwood slipped off his back.

“Don’t you worry,” he patted Caderyn’s face. “Everything is going to be just fine, I’ll be back before you know it.” With that he ran off in the direction of the castle. Walking up to the large front door he knocked on it. The butler, a balding man in his late sixties, opened the door and looked Lynwood up and down with great disapproval before leading him down several halls and up several flights of stairs.

“Welcome back, Lynwood,” Eadberht smiled slightly. “Have a seat won’t you. Now tell me, do you have any idea what the contents of that letter you delivered are?”

Lynwood shook his head, “All I know is that that letter has caused me a great deal of trouble, and it seems it is causing everyone trouble. It must be a bad letter based on my observation.”

“Well, that depends from which side you look at it,” Eadberht suggsted. “I’m afraid, my boy, that you have been entangled in a very complicated story, and I can’t say how sorry I am for that. How old are you?”

“Thirteen, sir, I’ll be fourteen in the winter.”

“Still such a sapling,” Eadberht shook his head. “You are so young and already having to be tangled in the dirty world of politics. Anyway, this is how the story goes. A long time ago, long before you were born, King Gordon ruled this land. The king had two sons, twins, Elhon and Farran. Elhon was the elder twin and hair to the throne, that meant that when Gordon died, Elhon was crowned king. He married a woman named Katherine and had two children, Wilheard and Collyn. However, only a month before the birth of the princess, King Elhon died under mysterious circumstances while out hunting. On his deathbed he proclaimed his twin brother, Farran, heir to the throne. It was a shocking statement, but no one argued and Farran was crowed the new king of Northhurt. Katheriene, however, could not help but help but think the whole thing odd. Why had the crown gone to Farran? After all, it was her son, Wilheard, who was the rightful heir. Why would he deny the crown to his own son? Katherine did not want to endanger her children and so said nothing, but in secret she began an investigation to try and figure out the death of her husband. The whole thing had been terribly suspicious, only the king’s brother and another nobleman had been there when the king had died.

Sadly, only seven years after Collyn was born, Katherine also died from an unknown disease. Here some people began to wonder at the irony of it all. Katherine had been a healthy woman and it was strange that she should have died so suddenly. One man, Coldbert, began an investigation of his own and after years of diligent search and careful study he was able to discover the real truth. Farran had killed his brother during the hunt and then proclaimed himself king, saying that was the dying wish of his elder brother. When Farran realized Katherine was trying to discover out the real truth he had her food poisoned.

And so Coldbert decided it was time to throw this self-proclaimed king off the throne and put the rightful heir, Wilheard on it. This was easier said than done. Farran is a jealous king; he will not just give up the throne like that. In the end what Coldbert decided to do was collect all the facts and evidence in secret and then present it to the king’s council and the king’s generals. Once their eyes would be opened they would put the rightful heir on the trone. But I suppose the king somehow got whiff of the whole thing and began investigating himself, the plot was discovered and all those involved in it were arrested.”

“But how did my father get involved?”

“Ah, King Elhon was killed while hunting near the Great Mountain Range, your home region, so naturally a lot of the investigation was going on there, I suspect that is how your father found out and decided to help.”

“But why didn’t Wilheard try to take the throne earlier?”

“Why should he? He no doubt believes that upon his uncle’s death he will be crowned, since he is the son of Elhon. ”

“But he won’t be?”

“Of course not! King Farran has a son of his own. When Farran passes away the crown will go to young Prince Oliver, Wilheard’s cousin. If Wilheard tries to stop this he will be arrested and banished.”

“But if the king hates Wilheard and Collyn why didn’t he kill them too?”

“I suppose because it was too risky. Lots of people already had suspicions about how King Elhon died and if Farran went and killed his brother’s entire family that would be far too obvious.. Besides, while Wilheard was ignorant of the truth he wasn’t much of a threat. The young prince hardly ever spent time in the palace as it was. But then Wilheard found out and he decided to do a very foolish thing. He confronted his uncle, which led to his arrest. Foolish boy, he probably didn’t understand that in confronting his uncle he not only put himself in danger but also his sister. Well thanks to you Collyn is safe, but we must still do all in our power to get Wilheard out of jail and onto the throne. So this is the story of where the trouble came from Now we have to decied how to right the many, many wrongs.”