Legends of the Dragonrealm, Vol II - By Richard A. Knaak Page 0,57

rendering the whole thing useless. Someone standing on the other side of the door pushed it forward.

The eyes of the Princess Erini stared at him in awe and growing recognition.

“You. You were the shadow in the hall. The one that—that followed me and then vanished.” While she talked, her hands continued to twitch, as if they were eager to perform yet more sorcery.

Darkhorse dipped his head in acknowledgment. “Princess Erini, I would assume.” He indicated the door. “A trifle overdone, I’d think.”

She looked embarrassed. “I was only trying to open it. Drayfitt said that if you concentrate, you can manipulate the spectrum and unlock it with little more than a look.”

“Can you try that with my accursed cage here? Have you come to set me free?”

“Are you—are you Darkhorse?”

That made him laugh loudly. “Of course. Who else could I be? Who else would dare to be Darkhorse—or want to be, for that matter?”

“Not so loud, please!”

His manner became subdued. The shadow steed knew that this human held his freedom in her anxious hands. “Why did you come down here? Won’t Melicard become wroth when he discovers his future bride has uncovered one of his secrets?”

“Melicard is busy. Quorin”—the look of disgust on her young face was evidence enough of her hatred for the man. The shadow steed’s opinion of the princess rose further—“has convinced him that the time to move is now. Melicard is completing final preparations.”

“He was here earlier. This is madness, you know.” The ebony stallion shifted impatiently in the confined space of his prison. Free me! he wanted to shout at the human.

Erini looked up sharply. “I don’t know if I should. I don’t know if I can.”

“Your powers are very formidable, gentle lady. I think you could undo the spell the elderly human wrought. The key is in the symbols on the floor. Look closely at them.”

She started to, but then shook her head. “I can’t! If I do, Melicard will never forgive me! If I betray him, he’ll find out about these!”

“Your hands? They seem lovely, though I’m no judge of human standards….”

“You know what I mean. These powers. I do not want them. They are a curse. If I thought that cutting off my hands would rid me of them, I’d be tempted to do it.”

“It will not, so do not think about it again.” Madness! Am I to be tormented by the key to my freedom?

If Erini caught that thought, she did not respond to it. Instead, the princess said, “Drayfitt told me the same thing. I know that.”

“Is that why you came to me? To tell me you don’t like your gifts and you won’t use them to release me? Are you a greater sadist than the ‘lovely’ Counselor Quorin, then? He has only assaulted my physical form; you’ve torn at my hopes!”

“No! I—”

“Princess!” Drayfitt stood at the doorway. He had become even more worn and pale since the shadow steed had seen him hours before. Caught up in their own thoughts, neither Erini nor the eternal had noticed his nearby presence. He, on the other hand, had felt them all the way in the main hall, where he had just left the king after an unsuccessful attempt to, if not call off the march, postpone it until events became clearer. The intensity of the two had been enough to pierce the cloud of worry smothering his mind—and probably would have been enough had he been outside the walls of Talak itself.

The elderly mage inspected the damaged door and grew even more dismayed. “This will never do!” He touched the torn handle and lock. Before the eyes of Darkhorse and the princess, the metal reshaped itself, returned to what it had been like before Erini’s impetuous entrance. Drayfitt glanced up again. “Your majesty! What do you hope to gain by coming here? I warned you to stay away!”

“I could not help it, Master Drayfitt!” She stepped back from both of them. “I saw the three of you come down here hours ago, then leave a few minutes later. When I saw the guards depart as well, I knew something had happened. I—I was not thinking properly. It took me this long to build up my determination, but eventually I had to come down here—I do not know why. Perhaps to see… to understand…” Erini trailed off, at a loss.

“She came to see a curiosity, sorcerer!” Darkhorse bellowed arrogantly. “She came to see the demon her love had chained to this world! Rest