the south. Do you understand?"
The women nodded silently as they heard the sound of the guards approaching.
"This is it," Tanis said softly. "Back to your work."
The women scattered. Tanis beckoned to Tika and Laurana.
"If we have been betrayed, you will both be in great danger, since you'll be guarding the women-" he began.
"We'll all be in great danger," Laurana amended coldly. She hadn't slept all night. She knew that if she released the tight bands she had wrapped around her soul, fear would overwhelm her.
Tanis saw none of this inner turmoil. He thought she appeared unusually pale and exceptionally beautiful this morning. A long-time campaigner himself, his preoccupation made him forget the terrors of a first battle.
Clearing his throat, he said huskily, "Tika, take my advice. Keep your sword in your scabbard. You're less dangerous, that way." Tika giggled and nodded nervously. "Go say goodbye to Caramon," Tanis told her.
Tika blushed crimson and, giving Tanis and Laurana a meaningful look, ran off.
Tanis gazed at Laurana steadily for a moment, and-for the first time-saw that her jaw muscles were clenched so tightly the tendons in her neck were stretched. He reached out to hold her, but she was stiff and cold as a draconian's corpse.
"You don't have to do this," Tanis said, releasing her. "This isn't your fight. Go to the mines with the other women."
Laurana shook her head, waiting to speak until she was certain her voice was under control. "Tika is not trained for fighting. I am. No matter if it was 'ceremonial.' " She smiled bitterly at Tanis's look of discomfiture. "I will do my part, Tanis." His human name came awkwardly to her lips. "Otherwise, you might think I am a traitor."
"Laurana, please believe me!" Tanis sighed. "I don't think Gilthanas is a traitor any more than you do! It's just-damn it, there are so many lives at stake, Laurana! Can't you realize?"
Feeling his hands on her arms shake, she looked up at him and saw the anguish and the fear in his own face-mirroring the fear she felt inside. Only his was not fear for himself, it was fear for others.
She drew a deep breath. "I am sorry, Tanis," she said. "You are right. Look. The guards are here. It is time to go."
She turned and walked away without looking back. It didn't occur to her until it was too late that Tanis might have been silently asking for comfort himself.
Maritta and Goldmoon led the companions up a flight of narrow stairs to the first level. The draconian guards didn't accompany them, saying something about "special duty." Tanis asked Maritta if that was usual and she shook her head, her face worried. They had no choice but to go on. Six gully dwarves trailed after them, carrying heavy pots of what smelled like oatmeal. They paid little attention to the women until Caramon stumbled over his skirt climbing the stairs and fell to his knees, uttering a very unladylike oath. The gully dwarves' eyes opened wide.
"Don't even squeak!" Flint said, whirling around to face them, a knife flashing in his hand.
The gully dwarves cowered against the wall, shaking their heads frantically, the pots clattering.
The companions reached the top of the stairs and stopped.
"We cross this hall to the door-" Maritta pointed. "Oh, no!" She grasped Tanis's arm. "There's a guard at the door. It's never guarded!"
"Hush, it could be coincidence," Tanis said reassuringly, although he knew it wasn't. "Just keep on as we planned." Maritta nodded fearfully and walked across the hall.
"Guards!" Tanis turned to Sturm. "Be ready. Remember- quick and deadly. No noise!"
According to Gilthanas's map, the playroom was separated from the children's sleeping quarters by two rooms. The first was a storeroom which Maritta reported was lined with shelves containing toys and clothing and other items. A tunnel ran through this room to the second-the room that housed the dragon, Flamestrike.
"Poor thing," Maritta had said when discussing the plan with Tanis. "She is as much a prisoner as we are. The Dragon Highlord never allows her out. I think they're afraid she'll wander off. They've even built a tunnel through the storeroom, too small for her to fit through. Not that she wants to get out, but I think she might like to watch the children play."
Tanis regarded Maritta dubiously, wondering if they might encounter a dragon very different from the mad, feeble creature she described.
Beyond the dragon's lair was the room where the children slept. This was the room they would have to