He was much taller than anyone around him. His subjects were just regular people, after all. Farmers and tailors and soldiers. They didn't really need soldiers in his kingdom, because ... Well, because Mad King Van was all they really needed. He seemed to have senses that extended to the border and beyond, eyes that flew to him on invisible wings, ears that listened behind every door.

The city itself was paranoid as hell. Why wouldn't they be? They never quite knew when their immortal lord would go off on some crusade or tirade. They never knew when his enemies would try to strike. And how could he make enemies? He never left his keep, that they knew of.

He did leave, of course, but they wouldn't see him do it. He would seal himself off into a chamber now and again, perhaps once every ten or twelve years, and perform certain rituals. It transformed some nearby piece of meat - a guard for instance, or literally a slab of dead meat meant for the kitchens - into a doppleganger of himself that would last for approximately one week.

In that time, the havoc that he could wreak was tremendous. He would travel far and wide, teleporting or scrying in arcane ways. Sometimes he would use a mirror that had been stolen from its owner almost two thousand years before - by him - and sometimes he would take a nice plain horse.

He liked horses. That itself was something a little mad, because only a couple Sangers could stomach the smelly sweaty beasts. He liked these though, because he had had a hand in their creation. A team of horses once was left in his path while he was summoning or fighting in some magical way. And when the fight was over, or whatever it was he'd done (no one was sure, this was a thousand years ago), the eight steeds had been transformed into gigantic black beasts with shining fur and sharp metal hooves. Their hooves would spark the paved street stones, sometimes cause fires.

He liked that too.

They were apparently both immortal and fertile. Though only once in a while would a mare be willing to allow one of the stallions to mount her, and only once in a great while would a normal stud come to play with the females in the courtyard of the Mad King.

The steeds, like their king, roamed where they would. No one got in their way, that would be deadly. But by now most of the people living in their proximity had gotten used to their clatter across the streets, and they simply ignored them. A newcomer to the place could always be spotted as they ran or stared.

The people of this kingdom without a name were hardly humble. However, they also rarely were called upon to be warriors. Even more rarely, were they required to do anything for their king. He did tax them. Sometimes, in fact, he would tax them outrageously. But then everyone knew, history would show, that in about twenty odd years, everything would go back to normal.

Besides, he kept the weather stable, no flooding (since that one time in the 1200's) and hardly ever a drought (except a couple in the 1600's and 1800's). Crops were always plentiful (unless you count the various fires started by the steeds, the occasional invasion that tromp through the fields, the magical battles that blackened the land for miles, and that big locust invasion in 1420), and in general life was normal in this kingdom.

And normal fare included the occasional group of idiots who thought they could steal back some treasure that had gone missing from their own land's coffer. About every fifteen or twenty years in fact, like clockwork, there would be some idiotic group of intrepid adventurers who would come to town, looking for a place to stay while they worked out how they'd break into the Keep.

A family line of innkeepers had stories to tell about these many groups. In fact Mad King Van had comissioned them as scribes of such events, because the groups would habitually stay at their inn. It was a position of some importance, and the family always appreciated it.

Sometimes they would try to run away and hide from their duty, but in any case, most of the time, they recorded events and were rewarded. It was just that getting the reward often meant some minor family disaster. The time he wanted to take the innkeeper's daughter as a wife, that was bad.

It was always bad when he tried to take a wife. Because for all his power, his handsome looks, his grace, and magical prowess? Mad King Van was still cursed to walk the world alone and sad. He had sired sons and daughters, certainly. He had raped and taken women of the town in madness. Those were the lucky women, in fact. Because certainly the ones he fell in love with were the ones which fate handed the most cruel turns.

Dying in childbirth. Family burnt in a freak firestorm. Afflicted by boils. Mauled by rampaging wildlife. Any thing that would eventually take his love from him in some horrific manner - they'd all happened. It was one of the things that the township just didn't talk about. It wasn't worth the trouble. And it was always very very sad.

These days, Van had gone out and apparently come back with a tapestry that showed something mysterious. No one in the town knew quite what it was that you could see by looking at this thing - none of them had tried asking to see it. Who would dare? It was unclear in fact how rumors started about his exploits at all, since there only seemed to be about a dozen people working in the keep at any time, and most of them were cooks, maids or stable hands.

Terrified stable hands.

This time though, word had gotten around. It had gotten so far around that it made it back to the kingdom which had comissioned this piece of cloth. Enchanted items were becoming rare, because too many young mages had got it into their heads to come to this kingdom to "prove themselves". And they wound up dead, naturally, because Mad King Van was immortal, insane, and more powerful than any living mage had ever been.

He was not more powerful than the gods, apparently. But that wasn't something that either the group of men and women coming to retrieve the tapestry knew, or could affect.

Unless he fell in love. And that was a long shot - they didn't plan on being in town long enough for that.

Little did they know.

"I don't know, it's awfully steep," the thief said. She looked at the sheer wall of the keep, which was in fact set in the tall cliff mountainside overlooking the town. The keep was well known as impossible to breech.

It had been breeched. Five thousand eight hundred and sixty two years before.

By Mad Van. Before he took the kingship for himself. They didn't know that. And plus, the rock face that he sheered off in the process of gaining entry (the big piece of it was still laying on the ground underneath) no longer looked so visible. It had weathered nicely, blending in. He didn't want anyone getting any ideas after all.

If only they could put two and two together... That gigantic slab of stone upon which the town square was now built? Right below the big rectangular 'clean spot' on the cliffside? Hello?

The girl whose expertise was surveying overhead and climbing walls to gain entry to second stories shook her head. "It's too steep, guys. No way."

"You haven't tried it," sang the mercenary. He was tall, broad shouldered, and annoying as hell. He sang half the time, though his voice wasn't bad it was that he didn't seem to know too many tunes. "You don't know if you don't try it!"

"Fine," the blond haired girl snarled, "you do it." She stood up and turned sharply, muttering a string of words below her breath, "sheer rock face idiot no one climbs straight up without attracting attention but nooohono, no, I can do it because I'm a little yellow-haired goddess, idiot mercenary, freaking idiot who does he think he is telling me my business he can just--"

"Adae," said a soft voice, it was the tall mage in training Oraldo. He was usually able to calm their bad tempered thief. "I know you don't like Dag, but he's the best we could get on short notice. After..."

Her bright green teal eyes met his dark brown, and they shared a silent moment mourning the loss of their burly fighting companion. "I know but... He's such an idiot."

"I know he is. But at least he can cook." Oraldo tried to coax a smile out of their thief. It worked, this time.

"Don't even bring up food," Adae chuckled, "I don't even want to remember that. No matter what they say, Ogres can't cook properly for humans."

"Nope." They shared a little bit of silence, not heated. "Dag's an idiot. ...But he has a bit of a point," Oraldo remained just out of Adae's reach, knowing that her temper could break and she would suddenly swing at him. She had quite a hard little fist. "I mean, we have faith in your abilities."

"There's a huge difference," Adae said, looking up at the rock wall, "between able and miracle." She sighed, and Oraldo dared to place a hand on her shoulder. It wasn't shrugged off, so he remained closer. "I can't climb that. That's just crazy."

"Well..." Oraldo said, looking up and talking without thinking. "Maybe you're right. Maybe it's impossible. There'd be no way you could get halfway up that, really."

When Adae tensed up a bit, Oraldo knew that he'd made a terrible error. "I - I meant, I didn't mean to say that - I -"

"I know what you meant," Adae spat, and turned on her heel. Her braid of flaxen hair swung behind her, as she slammed the door to the rooftop entrance at the inn.

The shorter and burlier medic-fighter Bendek stood up and leaned against his mage friend. "Well that did it. She won't come out for another day. Good job."

"Hey - " Oraldo said, "I was trying to get her to meet the challenge."

"You blew it, then," Bendek muttered. "You know how she gets. She misses the subtle things. And maybe you were a little too subtle. You want to challenge her, you tell her 'I dare you to climb that'."

"Then why don't you do it, Bendek?" Hissed the mage, at his wits end. Dag was humming to himself sitting on the edge of the roof top cafe, admiring the city. "And shut up for a minute! I can't even hear myself think!"

Then Oraldo too swung himself around and slammed back into the inn. Bendek waited a moment, and then grinned to himself, and sat back down next to Dag.

"Sire?" Asked a timid voice. When there was no response, he asked again, "Sire? I bring news."

Van's hand moved and the guard saw it, he was addressing his king who was sitting in a large high-backed chair, and all the guard could see was Van's rich black hair and one shoulder. Apparently the king was not asleep before the fire, as the guard had first thought.

"I'm listening," the king said. His voice was deep, soft, and faintly bemused for some reason.

The guard hoped that it wasn't because he was plotting some bizarre end for him.

"There is word from the inkeeper, he says that there is another group. Smaller than the last one, but they seem decently competant."

"I dare say they are," Mad King Van said with a chuckle. "They want their tapestry back. As they should."

"Well, sire, did you want me to ... do anything about this?"

"No, no," Van stood, and again the guard was reminded that no matter what they said, he just wasn't human. Their king was head and shoulders bigger than all the rest. And his presence was somewhat intimidating. He cared little for fineries such as ... clothing. He liked silks and that was what mainly got imported. The only reason that their kingdom had relations with anyone else was to bring decent cloth in. Apart from the occasional robe or suit, though, Mad King Van wasn't much for wearing anything. Leather and silk - the guard gulped back a bit of a gasp when he realized that this time he was in fact wearing something. A loincloth-girdle thing of some kind. And he wondered briefly at who had to do the measuring for such things.

That would either be an honor or extremely dangerous or both. Probably both.

"Once you're finished staring at me," the king said with a smirk crossing one half of his face, "you could have one of the spies keep track of the group. But otherwise don't interrupt them. If I tell you to mobilize, then you will. I would like to see them try getting this thing back."

He thumbed at the big dark tapestry which hung on the wall next to the big hearth. In the shaky light though, the guard couldn't quite make anything coherent out in the weave.

"What does it do, sire?" He asked, tentative.

"It's showing me those who desire it. Up here," he pointed to the top left, "the king and queen of ... where was it I stole this from? Ah - Nelband. The daughter, she wants it because it would show her her lover. The boys here," he indicated the lower section, "are the mages who imbued it and they're trying to figure out a way to break the enchantment without being near it."

"What about the group of adventurers?" The guard asked, peering closer now.

"They're off to this side, they do not quite know exactly enough details to want it precisely. They will probably fumble around in the treasury if they make it that far." Mad King Van looked at his guard, and tilted his head oddly, "do you have any idea how many tapestries are hung in this keep?"

The guard shook his head, slowly.

"Four hundred and twelve, this makes four thirteen. I wonder if I should put it among the others, just to make it harder..." He pondered for a moment, but then merely smiled at himself and with a nod, dismissed the guard. Before the man was out of sight, though, Van called out, "and let the Steeds have their run tonight. They could use a little exersize." He heard the guard acknowledge this, and also heard the muttered 'so that's what he'll do' as he turned a corner.

Instead of leaving the room, Van sized up the tapestry again. Once per day, it seemed, it could be commanded to display things as requested. Van wasn't sure if it was one time in twenty four hours, or once before midnight and then it refreshed, or what. He had time, he'd sit up through the night watching it.

But first, to get a couple more tapestries in here. The enchanted ones. They were fun to play with. One he had, was able to stiffen and become hard as stone - handy in a fight, certainly. Another glimmered with daylight sewn into every golden thread and moonlight into every silver. It was annoying, because it was way too bright for Van's sensitive eyes.

Another had birds that chirped and a brook that made soft noises, woven into it. Perhaps that one would be a pleasant companion to the new arrival. Van briefly concentrated and summoned it and several others with a wave of his long arms.

He unrolled them one by one, and each he placed with a magical flourish onto the tall stone walls. A couple dangled into the middle of the room from the wide ceiling, different from every angle they could be viewed. He moved the new one to the left side of the hearth, and put the bird-brook one where it had been. The enchantment faded after an hour or more, so Van watched the men and women who desired this tapestry as they fretted about their lives.

He himself wasn't even on it. Well, yes, he was - there down in the left hand corner, about a handspan wide and tall. Not much compared to anyone else, really. Grinning, he left the room as the tapestry faded to a rich royal blue and navy colored pattern.

"It's a well-defended place," Dag commented when he met back up with the group. Adae had calmed herself, and Oraldo had apologized, Bendek was on the prowl for some supplies, and Dag wasn't even humming. Maybe that meant he was getting down to business.

"Yes, but it does have weaknesses," said Adae. "There are deliveries, the stables are open air, and there don't appear to be any guards on the walls."

Dag nodded. He'd been actually mapping the city from their rooftop cafe, he had a gift for it - mentally recording ups and downs, streets, and then later on he seemed quite happy to draw it out on a sheet of paper that he had taken from the mage's spare folder. At first Oraldo was furious with him for even touching his things, but when he saw the brilliance that the otherwise dull merc showed in topography and cartography, why... He acted as though he'd been the one to have taught him everything he knew...

"Here and here," Dag pointed out two parapets with guards - they were on distant corners from the castle entrance, but they had a strong clear view. "Their view overlaps here," he indicated a swath, "but there are gaps because of the heights of the buildings here and here," again there were little notations - higher, lower. "If you had taken the time I did, you would know that there are guards, and they change every four hours." He glanced at Adae with a smile, "and there is a weakness then."

"I don't know about calling twice the number of guards with weapons out a weakness..." She muttered. "I've been caught in a guard change before. It's not pretty."

"So have I, and no it is not pretty - it is glorious." Dag said. "But these do not appear to be very aggressive."

"I wonder why," Oraldo said quietly. "I mean, the city's been attacked several times in the last decade, right?"

"Four, yes," Dag said. "But all unsuccessful."

"Why then?"

They pondered this in their large suite. By the time Bendek got back with armloads of items and goods, they had worked out a rudamentary plan to infiltrate the lowest level of the castle's grounds. Bendek refilled canisters with water and ointment, added powder to one salve to make a bright yellow paste, and watched what they were doing from his own table.

"The city is old, but it's been almost exactly the same for the last five thousand years. It's expanded twice," Dag said, showing where old city walls had once stood. "And at those wall points there are also probably ways to get into the castle."

"How do you figure?" Oraldo asked, "wouldn't they be long closed off?"

"If you wanted to get guards to the middle of the new town, quickly, wouldn't you leave them open?" Dag said.

Even Adae was begining to appreciate the savant of his abilities. He wasn't much as a person goes, but as a tactician? Dag seemed to know what he was talking about.

"So assume they are open, won't that leave us vulnerable? They could surround us if we're on our way in or out," Adae said. She seemed quite uncomfortable with this idea.

"Tonight we should count the guards," Dag suggested.

"Our employers the king and queen would like their tapestry back soon, Dag," Bendek reminded them.

"If they want it at all, we're going to need time," Oraldo said. "He's right. Better that we know the odds, and not rush in."

So that night, preparing to view the castle from their rooftop, they got a bit more of a show than they had planned.

The Steeds were let out at dusk - which meant that the towering sheer cliff rock face that loomed over the northern side of the city was illuminated brilliantly with sunset and somewhat blinded the group. But as the sun dimmed, and the blanket of stars crept overhead? Stars formed on the streets. At first, it was the lamps and candles of people's homes and businesses like the taverns which remained open all night. But then...

"What is that noise?" Asked Adae. The others came to her side and listened, and Dag was the one who first saw them.

"Dark - look at them, they're huge!" He said. The steeds had been led - well, they'd been escorted by armed guards (Dag counted the guards, adding four more to their tally) - up to the wide gate entrance of the courtyard. Then the gate was opened, and lights on the streets went out abruptly. Apparently the town knew when this was to take place.

That, or it was the snorting and pawing of the cobblestones, the sheer size of these horses would put the biggest Shire to shame. But it wasn't just that... Their manes seemed to glow faintly, even from the distance the group was seeing them. Their eyes too gave off an eerie catlike yellow glimmer.

It was the pounding of their sharp metal hooves across the cobblestones that produced showers of bright white sparks. There were twelve of these beasts let out tonight, Dag didn't know how many more there might have been, but even he was standing in awe as they passed around the streets. They illuminated the street as they ran past - though they made little sound than their heavy breathing and snorting. They weren't completely unearthly after all.

But they were huge. And scary. Not one person was out on the street when the group looked. They had two spy glasses, which were passed between them regularly, and with them they saw that the biggest stallion of this group of steeds could see into second story homes windows.

Shortly after the steeds had their run through the place, they returned to the castle. And life on the streets of this town got back to a more normal pace. Just like clockwork? Except that there wasn't a good regular schedule for things.

"I don't want to cross them," Bendek announced with a grunt.

"We might have to," Dag said. "They are housed right next to the courtyard, and between them and the kitchens is the best entrance."

They all let that stew around in their heads, and then they went back to counting guards and comparing notes.

But he wasn't all that interested in keeping them out. Of late, Mad King Van had been bored. He went out into the city and scared people with his presence, he would have to remember that they scattered when he was around. It would be interesting to see if these new adventurers would get through any of the already-present defenses the place had.

They'd been around for centuries. There were probably some that Van was forgetting. He went to a room buried deep within the castle's cliffside area, and found maps of the place. The oldest map had been preserved with magic, the newest was made entirely by hand and embellished with small figures and horses here and there. He rather liked that one, if he wanted to, he could enchant it to move.

But there were many changes between that first old map and the new one. Yes, the city had grown a lot since he got there. Slowly, but surely. Their roads were maintained well, the walls of the city were guarded by things that no man could see.

Van smiled to himself. His city had thrived, and he was proud of it. He was also remarkably posessive of it. While this group were hardly anything that the rest of the city had to worry about, Van wondered... Word couldn't get out if they did succeed. They would surely spread information if they left the city again.

That had to be avoided. At what cost?

***

Adae slept fitfully. She dreamed of sneaking around in dark places, and then had a scare when her pleasant dream turned to a nightmare of dangling off a high precipice and dropping to the stone forest below.

She sat up with a jolt, holding in a gasp and shuddering. She hadn't woken the others, they all slept well enough. If it wasn't Dag's mindless humming - thankfully absent during his sleep - it was Bendek's snoring. He had such a small nose, how could he have such a wide mouth?

Adae curled her knees up under her chin, hugging her legs. She stared out of the window. Their third story room was expensive, but the king and queen had offered them a large sum of gold even to start their work. They were promised more, on demand, if they remained in the city of the Mad King. As needed, then, couriers would come with aid.

How long would they be here? How long would it take for them to figure out where the tapestry was, and get it out?

Adae's breathing turned gentle, and she slept with her back against the headboard of the bed.

***

In the morning, everyone but Adae was rested and felt like exploring the city. She complained of neck pain, and went off to locate a hot bath. Luckily, the town had several quality bath houses, and she suggested that the men take a little time to clean themselves up. If they were to be here for any length of time, they might as well fit in.

It was mostly merchants at the bath house that Dag, Oraldo and Bendek found. But they were mainly local, and so the trio listened in on conversations that were probably best left private.

They learned of a parade that would be coming around, a local or country-side carnival that practiced in the hills during the winter months and returned to their trips during summer. They would be making a production of it, apparently, so the merchants were going to be gearing up to sell and trade that day as well. Might as well make it an event.

Of course, all the men could think of was 'distraction!' Though whether it would work was another thing entirely.

They got more information about this event from another merchant, outside. They all seemed to know about it, and the men posed a bit as two merchants and their burly bodyguard. Where could they find stalls, how much would it cost to get cloth banners... They played their roles well.

Then they went back to their inn and discussed this with Adae. She had gone to the city wall after her relaxing bath, and found that there were children who played in the dark corridors below the surface. The walls were, as she hoped they'd be, hollow and fit for troops to walk through. They were somewhat neglected, though, as the troops usually just walked through the streets.

With the news that there would be a big parade and all, though, Adae's grin spread to a broad smile. "They'll be unable to walk very easily through the crowds," She said. "But they're also going to have some trouble with the tunnels. Since they're not in full repair, they would be slowed down."

"If we were to be on the other side of this parade route, toward the castle," Dag said, leaving the rest of his sentance unspoken. It was going to work. They would get in.

Then what?

They had two weeks to formulate the rest of their plan, get any supplies they needed, and figure out exactly what to do once they were inside the castle.

***

Van watched the tapestry the next morning, leisurely decoding a key word and adding some complexity to the enchantment. He touched it with his long, strong fingers, and said, "Kerem mutasson nekem hitsuyo hen egy."

To his surprise, what he asked for took a moment for the magic to detect. He felt it reach out to him, first, then sweep out of the castle. Where did it go? What was it looking for? Van was just as curious about this request and how it would be implimented, as much as the results of the search.

He'd asked it to show him his great need. Something that he needed. He wasn't even sure what it was he would see. When the tapestry went into motion, the fine weave of silken threads mixing into new colors and patterns as though they were alive, they formed several odd pictures.

One was a strange looking creature, as a dragon of legend. They had been all but wiped out on this world for millennia, though it was said that dragons still roamed in distant uninhabited lands. Why would he need a dragon?

The other thing, most prominent on the tapestry, was a young woman's face. She was lovely, with a heart shaped face and a strong nose, brilliant yellow hair in a braid that fell to her waist. She looked strong, healthy, lithe. She ... Was with three men, men that Van recognized from the edge of the tapestry the night before. She was to come for the tapestry?

And he needed her. That could mean several things, but any of them immediately made a lump form in his throat. The last thing he needed was a woman like her. The very last thing. He didn't want to hurt her like he'd hurt every one else.

His wounded eyes turned away, face more sad than angry at the results of a foolish request.

"Kodulni tomeru." He said, and the tapestry faded to its neutral colors.

She would come here, he knew that. She would come into his life whether he wanted her to or not. And he would fall in love with her.

And she would probably die a horrible death. Was that what the dragon meant? Was there to be a dragon involved in this?

It was messy, this strange enchantment had confused him and that was never good.

Van went to the balcony and looked at his city to try and clear his head. The breeze was warm, it would be a warm summer, and the spring had just barely left the land with a coating of bright flowers.

All he could think of was whether she liked flowers and what sort of smell she would bring with her.

***

With a sack full of cloth and tailoring equipment, Adae was ready to work on their 'costumes'. They would need to blend in, at least for a while, and if merchants they were playing then merchants they would be. If the clothing was inexpert in design, it was hardly less than masterful in execution. The seams were sound, there was talent in her hands.

Dag commented to her that she could have had a reputable career as a seamstress. Adae told him that was how she got into thievery in the first place, by sewing clothing for the local guild. She continued to work and he hummed as he always did.

Oraldo and Bendek worked out more of their plans. Posing as merchants gave them a wide range of people to talk to in the city. They could speak with city planners, builders, workers, other merchants, and finally they were bold enough to actually approach the city guard.

"I get the feeling that this is a good location," Bendek said, as he waved his arm at one building. It was uninhabited, apparently the result of a family feud that left the place on neither side of the family's good list. "But it's a bit cramped in the back. Where would we bring carts with supplies?"

The guard was meant to over hear this, and he did so dutifully. "If I may sirs," the young guard said, "there is a gate on the north side. It isn't used right now."

"You know a bit about the place then?" Asked Oraldo.

"I do sir, it's been almost a year since anyone's been in it, it used to be a wood crafts shop. What is it that you'd be bringing in?" He suddenly realized how presumptive that had been and straightened up, "if you choose to buy the property of course."

"Of course," Oraldo said, and turned to his short friend.

"We've got cloth interests, tailoring, dress making. And it has a nice flat at the top, doesn't it?" Bendek tried to sway the conversation. It worked.

For the next hour or so, the pair discussed the way that the street was laid out, how easy it would be to transport things if the tree overgrowth on the north side was removed. In fact, if the tree was removed entirely there would be a good line directly to the castle.

"Or from the castle, eh?" Oraldo said with a consipiratorial grin, and the guard chuckled nervously.

"Well, yes," he said. "Our king is known to stare."

Whatever that meant, it probably went over the men's heads. It was a local thing. They should have taken it literally.

***

The King was pacing, chewing on a piece of roast and clearly going over something in his head, when one of the castle attendants came to his chamber. "Sire? More news from the innkeeper," the man said.

Van nodded, waved his hand for the man to come in, but he didn't stop pacing around. He reminded the attendant of one of the steeds below - pawing at the ground, impatient for something, and unable to reach it.

"They've paid for another month in the inn," the man said. "And he said that they've had three couriers all from Nelband, my source said that they were given a reasonable amount of gold. Enough to fund whatever they are doing."

Mad Van nodded, still not looking toward the attendant. "Go on, is there anything else?"

"No, sire. But the men have been seen through the city. They seem to be doing a good job of blending in. Our spy had a hard time finding them yesterday."

"Then leave them to me, now. Call the spy off, and pay the innkeeper. I'll take it from here."

Wordlessly, the attendant bowed and exited the room. There was never any question that he'd do what the King had asked him. Every once in a while someone would raise an eyebrow, try and argue some other course of action. At dinners - when there were people to visit - sometimes one of them would pipe up about guarding this or that and why didn't they have archers, and what was this nonsense about magic? No one did magic any more.

Well here they didn't because Mad King Van didn't want them to. He knew that the mage in the little party had tried to use a scrye spell already, which failed.

But the questions that would be asked of Mad King Van when he was entertaining? One time, not too long ago, a little under forty years back, he'd killed and eaten someone who questioned his reasoning behind some course of action. That pretty much shut everyone else up who had any dissent.

It also cleared Van's entertainment schedule for the next decade right out.

Sometimes he felt like working on that. But then most of the time, he realized that no matter what he did, he was not going to be happy. He would have to settle for powerful.

And he was.

***

A week later, the group had bought the property and settled in there. The inn was no longer needed. Of course they had to field the endless questions by locals - when are you going to be open? Can we start comissioning pieces now? What about for the kids? Do you do children's sizes? Can you import that colorful cloth from the west?

Adae had to keep a civil tongue in her mouth. It was hard. She was a good tailor, she wasn't that hot at anything fancy. She also wasn't that hot at interacting with people who had money. She was apt to want to slit their throat and take that money.

They had to invent some story about her being a bit addled from a fever, anything to keep people from pestering them.

At night, though, as the city went more quiet and dark, Adae sat in the tree that blocked their gate. She could in fact see right up into the castle's main ... well, whatever it was, it was a large well lit chamber. The building they bought was perhaps a quarter mile from the courtyard to the castle.

The castle itself was oddly built both on and in the stone of the great cliff that towered over the city. The place had been built in the lee of this grand half-hill, there was a river that swept through the place from west to east. On the east side of the city, were large fields and many farms. Their goods went both into the town and further east, to other smaller townships and finally off to other countries. This country was small, but vital to trade, it had to be dealt with by many who wished to move their goods farther west. Into the hills on the west, mining communities and abrupt difficult to traverse rivers led to a prosperous set of countries, one of which was Nelband.

Their little group had actually come from several other towns and countries. Put together over the course of four years, they had disovered that it was easier to get through goblin territory with a good fighter at your back, but a thief could swiftly carry you through a dense city. Oraldo was the one who suggested they travel together. At first, there was another fighter - a female half-ogre with a heart of gold and a taste for more spice than any human tongue could handle. She had died in a major battle the fall before this, and was replaced with-

"Dag, could you get the spy glass for me?" Adae said, into the window. He simply passed it out with a confident hand, whatever they were doing in there was taking more concentration than he wanted to spare her. Adae placed herself in the crook of three branches, and leaned back. She could get a better view if she just...

Adjusting the focus on the spy glass, she wasn't sure what she'd be seeing.

She wasn't expecting this.

"What in the world..." She breathed. Was he just standing there posing or what? How queer was that?

But she didn't put the glass down. Instead, she watched as Mad King Van moved up and down the carpeted main hall, muttering to himself. She wanted to know what he was saying, but either it was in another language, or he was just making up words - she could read lips fairly well even at this distance with a spy glass.

He was incanting something, but she didn't know that. Adae wasn't sure what to think now. She knew that they called him Mad King Van, but she wasn't up until that point positive of why. Not a native, of course, how could she know?

He was Mad, he was their King, and his name was Van. Why not?

***

Oraldo noticed that Adae was acting oddly the next day. More odd than usual, not that snippy 'woman thing' oddly that she was known for, but ... Actually when he thought about it, she was acting entirely too normal.

"Adae, is something the matter?" He asked. The others were out collecting information and supplies, as always, so they had the house-shop to themselves.

"N... no, I guess not," Adae said, unsure suddenly. Maybe there was something... "It's silly, girl stuff."

"Different from woman stuff?" Oraldo said, with a bit of a grin. She poked him in the ribs, and nodded yes.

"The festival will be coming up soon, the shop almost looks open," Adae said. Almost wistfully, she glanced around the place. She noticed Oraldo staring at her with an odd look upon his boyish face.

"You having second thoughts about this mission?" Oraldo asked. "I've done another scrye, and our path is pretty clear. I can't do too many more, though, because ..."

"Because what?" Adae tilted her head, interested. He didn't do much magic, but when he did it was important. Otherwise he was kind of the brains and communication expert of the group.

"Because of these," he said, and pulled something from his pocket. It looked like a large moth, it had a large head with big clouded eyes, and strangely shaped fire-patterned wings. "I think they're attracted to magic, and I noticed a whole bunch of them around last time. If someone does magic here, they appear. I haven't seen them anywhere else, though."

"So ... someone could track us by your magic," Adae said, and Oraldo nodded. "Great."

"Well, is that any worse than your girly goggle-eyes at the King?" Oraldo said, and Adae spun around angrily. "It's what you were doing, we had another spy glass too, you remember."

"He's-"

"Insane, cruel, immortal, cursed," Oraldo said, listing off all the things that the locals had attributed to the man. "Gigantic, dangerous, and powerful."

Adae was silent. Why did they always mess her up? Why did they always find some way to poke fun at her for being who she was? And what she was - a young woman? Oraldo might not care if there was a beautiful woman in the city, he'd never openly expressed interest in anyone but Adae herself. And, knowing that that would never go anywhere - they were friends, partners, companions, but they would not be lovers - he seemed content to just look at anyone else too.

Oraldo took her silence for anger, and backed away gently. But she stopped him with a quick hand on his elbow. "Look, I won't mess this up for us. We're going in and doing the job and hopefully we'll get out. Maybe you should look into spells to transport us, while we wait."

"That's a good idea," Oraldo said, surprised by her sudden change in thoughts. "What are you going to be doing?"

"I'm ... sewing," she sighed. "Someone came up, they had cloth and those big pleady eyes, and..."

"You're making an honest living? Adae! I'm shocked!" Oraldo laughed and left the room. Adae did pick up her sewing kit, and while her hands moved across the cloth, she wondered...

She repeated his words - insane. Cruel. Immortal, cursed, gigantic, dangerous, powerful. "Left some out, Oraldo," she whispered to herself, "beautiful, graceful, magical..."

***

Van saw the moths gathering over the little building. There were few others in the area - one place where the magical energies were strong was at the library, that made sense, there were always people there doing research. The forge was filled with them, they had an enchanter. Good man. He fit all the guards with their shields and weapons.

But this new kid? What exactly was he doing? He couldn't possibly penetrate the natural aura that the castle had. It was there before Van claimed it for himself. Maybe he was looking for ways around it, there were loopholes in magic, and if one worded something correctly the spell could weave its way around what would normally be considered a sound defense.

He doubted that was what the kid was doing, though.

Van set about looking around the lower regions of the castle for things to do. The cooks all looked like they were about to scatter when he came in, but they realized that he had no mad on for them, so they went back to their business. There would be a banquet with some visiting dignitaries, the cirque, and a couple local patrons of arts. Maybe the kids would try to break in during that banquet? But it didn't seem yet that anyone's invitations had gone missing or duplicated, so maybe they didn't even know about it.

Would he invite them? Or let some slips of paper loose to them? That would be too easy, let them regret not knowing. Van walked through the darker recesses behind the kitchens, where the old tunnels let out. The city walls were a complete mess right now, and he knew it. All the guards would be out keeping the peace and looking out for thieves at the festival parade, so they were gearing up for that - talking about it in excited words. Perhaps the adventurers were conspicuous only in that they didn't seem to know the normal ways of the city.

The hidden ones, though, Van looked for in the bowels of his castle. The big rock that had fallen, upon which the lower courtyard rested, was home to a riddle of passageways. Most of them were blocked up, collapsed or just never big enough for a human sized person to get through. Certainly not a person his size, but most children could do it with a squeeze.

They couldn't get through those, directly. There was another way, the old city wall had an opening next to the stables.

"Now that's mad," he muttered to himself, "who would want to get that close to my horses?" But it might be their only option. Of course, the steeds would be confined to their stables for the next few days, as the festival and finally the parade went through town. There was no use in frightening off the paying customers, right?

But the group didn't know that.

They would find out, Van surmised as he examined the walls of the stables and the courtyard beyond, right about here that the steeds were locked in. They could get nipped at, bitten or even struck if one of them got too close to the fencing, but that was a danger every day for anyone living at the castle.

With a strange whinny, one of the big black steeds came trotting up to Van, head high and ears forward. Though this wasn't the leader of the small herd, she was a highly placed female. He scratched her glistening black muzzle, and promised her that when the festival was over, they could go up on the hill and do whatever they liked. She seemed to knicker with glee, and went back to the others.

Van went on with his search. Here he placed a small trigger spell, that would block the wall only after they'd come through it. They might not even hear the collapse, over the sounds of the angry steeds and the festival.

There, a place where water came up from a large natural fissure below the cliff. That was a big cavern, Van had explored it only once and since then only through magical means - he was a Sanger after all and they don't generally swim. Certainly not under fifteen million tons of cliff. This would have to be flooded, too full to offer a good exit. That could be arranged with another trigger spell, should they step into the water at any time - he waved his hand and encanted quietly - the water would double in width fifteen feet past, that would be right at the entrance to the fissure. Enough to block it and make it clear that they could not leave that way.

He continued, over the afternoon. This would be a good game, anyway, but it gnawed at him that the tapestry had shown him those things before. More than the girl, now, he was concerned about that dragon. Why a dragon? What did that mean?

***

Bendek deposited another armful of things onto their big table, in the main shop part of their building. Candles, sundry things that people living in a house had to have. They had largely been eating at different taverns and inns recently, because their stock of their own camping provisions had gone days before. Plus it seemed odd that they would be eating camping food, in their own home.

"Everyone is excited about this event," Bendek said, sorting through the perishables and selecting an apple for himself. Dag picked up the sacks of flour, sugar and other heavy mixtures and placed them in their kitchen pantry. It was almost like a real home, even he felt it.

"Why shouldn't they be? It's a festival, everyone benefits from a festival," Adae said. She was still sewing.

"We've got to get in there and get out," Oraldo said, "quickly. The festival isn't going to last all day. It will start about two hours before noon, and the parade itself will be at dawn the next day. That whole day most of the shops will be closed or on low activity, everyone's expected to be partying all night."

"Including the castle," Dag said, and that perked up the others ears. "I found out that there is a banquet for the performers and some visitors there."

"That makes things both easier and harder," Oraldo said, and Dag agreed.

"The streets will be confused, filled with people. But the castle will also be active. Cooks, cleaning servants, probably a few guards left over." Dag said. "That might work better to our advantage... to go in later."

"Later?" Bendek asked. "But while the confusion is all-"

"We could get in during the festival itself. The parade will draw out everyone again, in the morning, but they're all going to be back asleep again - everyone, including the guards. They can't possibly have enough guards to replace the ones from the night."

"They could, we might not have seen them all," Bendek said. "But ... you might be right, there would be a good window of inactivity during that time..."

"While everyone is at the banquet, we're sneaking in," Adae said, "and then what? What about getting out? We can't just walk in and expect to find the tapestry." She paused and then swished her head around, "what if the tapestry is in the banquet hall?"

They all groaned at that. It was a possibility. "Remember," she added, "the king said they kept the tapestry in one of their common rooms - it was a privelege to use it, but if someone needed it, they could."

"But that's how it was stolen in the first place, wasn't it?" Dag said. "Walked right in, took it from under their noses, and left?"

They pondered this. Their Mad King was a thief of some ability, a very powerful mage, unkillable... He seemed to hold all the cards.

"Let's just worry about getting in during the festival," Oraldo decided. "Everything will still be in chaos at that time, so we need to take advantage of that. Any all-nighter is going to wear on the guards, they'll be groggy and distracted in the morning too."

So they agreed again that their original plan of going in under the cover of the festival outside, and escaping if they could via some transport spell from within the castle, would be the best.

***

"There is just enough potato left sire," said one of the cooks, "would you like something to eat today? You haven't been eating."

Van tilted his head at the old plump woman offering him a plate of potatoes covered in cheese and onions. He had to admit, she was right. He hadn't been eating. Not since he saw the girl... Holding out his hand, Van took the plate and fork, and thanked his cook. Ever since she got to the castle as a child she had always seemed to just like him, not be entirely afraid of him, and as she grew older and had a family of her own here, she mothered him on occasion. He enjoyed it - who wouldn't?

"Thank you Tahare," he said. Distractedly, he started eating, and noticed only faintly that she was still there. Either there to take the plate or...

"Something is bothering you, sire, when you go off your food it means nothing good." She said, frankly.

"You are right, as usual, Tahare," Van said. He wanted to tuck into the food like he did when he was really hungry - but even though they were really good, seasoned perfectly, they would be great for the banquet, he just couldn't force himself to eat. He placed the plate of half-eaten potatoes on the small table beside his chair, and leaned around to face Tahare. "There ... was something that I saw the other day and it has thrown me off my stride."

"May I ask what it was? Perhaps I can-"

"It was a girl, Tahare, in the tapestry that she's come to fetch. The one I took last year."

"It showed you - someone you know?" She was a bit confused.

"No, no, but... I made the mistake of asking it something too deep, and it showed me this girl. I knew she was here already, in the city, with her companions, to fetch the thing for their king. And you know how I have ... issues. With women."

"Yes, sire, you certainly do." She said, but she found herself smiling. "Perhaps this one won't be like the others. There is always hope, sire."

Van's throat tightened. He couldn't even say anything to that. It's what would always be on his mind, whenever he slipped into this state - maybe this time, his love would turn out to love him back? Maybe this time, his mate wouldn't die a horrible painful death at his own hands? Maybe this time, her family wouldn't disown her and be killed in a fire?

There were so many, too... Over the generations of this city there had been mistakes he made. He wouldn't take a wife from their population - they grew cold about him then. This time, it would be different.

There was always hope. But there was always worry. "I don't know, Tahare, I ... just don't know. I saw other things and they confused me even more."

"That is not a normal state for you sire," she said. "I've known you for all my life, and you never seem confused. Perhaps you really know what it is, you just haven't realized it yet. I'll leave those there, you can warm them up with your --" she made wiggly fingers, her way of saying 'your magic'.

Van smirked at her, and nodded. "Thank you Tahare. I'm sure that the banquet will be perfect as always. Thank your staff for me."

She left the room, smiling. Van eventually got back to eating.

***

The night of the festival, banquet and party arrived quickly. The group dressed in their normal dark warrior clothing, but on top of that, Adae had given them robes in bright colors to fit in with the rest of the city. It worked beautifully, really.

Some folks recognized them, but only a little, and they could fade in and out of the big crowd easily. Dag was observant as usual, and since he was only ever announced as a body guard, he could still do his job and look like he was doing his job - without anyone thinking differently about him.

"Almost all the guards are here," he said, "I would guess that another three or four are on watch, but beyond that, anyone else is either asleep or -"

"Or in the castle for their banquet," Oraldo said.

Slowly, they made their way up to the wall. The inner city wall, the first area of the city. When once it had been a mere farm community, this seven foot tall wall was a blessing. Now, it had buildings surrounding it and acted almost as a high road around certain parts of the place. It was covered by people, mostly children wanting a better view of the festivities.

Once they got to the side of the wall, and were somewhat sure that the eyes of the watch in the towers above couldn't see them, they removed their bright cloaks and robes, stuffing them into their sacks. Their plans to get out meant they had to keep at least a fair amount of their posessions with them, some food supplies for road travel, and their money. Everything else was left in their 'business home'.

All of them felt a pang of guilt, sadness, wistfulness about the place. It had served as a home for only a short couple of days, but it was a home that none of them had ever had before. They fell into a domesticity rather easily, and all of them didn't quite know what to think about that.

The dark tunnel was quickly lit by a soft blue-black light. Coming from Oraldo's wand (yes, he had a short wand made of wood), they could climb over or under things as they needed to. The sounds of the festival outside was dimmed, echoing through the old chambers here.

"We just follow this until we hear the horses," Dag said. They did so. In almost complete silence then, the only noises occasional rats running out of their way, and the now distant sound of the party behind them.

The steeds were near, and everyone felt it. Oraldo extinguished the light, and they waited for a minute as their eyes accustomed to the natural light coming through the break in the wall nearby.

Oraldo got the faintest impression of magic, a fleeting sensation. But he had to ignore it, because they were now on their way out. They would be headed to the kitchen entrance, which was soundly against the cliff face. The stable - actually little more than a series of roofing and some open air stalls, surrounded by a wide dirt and hay yard - was directly to their right.

The horses - if one could call them that any more - were nervously pacing around. Angry snorts occasionally came from one or two, and ...

"Their eyes!" Adae hissed, clutching on to Oraldo's shoulder. She was quiet as a mouse, but still they looked at the steeds. They all had the same redly glowing eyes. Perhaps it was just that they caught light like cat's eyes. Maybe that was it.

Right.

Well, they hustled off to the side away from the stables as quickly as they could. Before the horses could sense them and come at them... One of them did notice, but he was more interested in asserting his dominance on another steed, so they were lucky.

Dag was leading, Bendek in second, and Adae was last. She was best at looking inconspicuous or invisible, Dag was best at seeing where any eyes were upon them. So far, so good, nothing but space.

Bendek thought he heard something rumbling, almost like rocks against stone, behind them. But they were too close to the kitchens now for him to take a moment to look, and it was probably just the steeds making that sound. It couldn't be important.

The kitchen entrance was unguarded, and Dag pointed out the stream to their left. It wove its way behind the whole slab that the castle rested upon, went down into what was clearly a natural passage below the cliff, and came out about a quarter mile away to the west. Or one could say that it started its way there, because it did in fact flow to the east.

Sounds now of the party above, in the castle, came to their ears. The group wore their darkest clothing, Dag's leather armor creaked a bit but even that small sound was hidden by the laughter and talking of the guests in another part of the hall. Oraldo's soft clothes made no sound, he'd made small pockets for each of the magical components he needed, his wand, pouches, and the like. He was a veritable armory of magic. Not that he ever used any of that stuff... Not while anyone was watching, that was true.

Bendek had more solid clothing, softer leather armor than Dag's, but surely more protection than the little silken garments that Oraldo preferred. And Adae's thiefly garb was common to every city and village in the world that had something worth stealing. She made no sound, soft foot falls of her companions masked any sort of noise she gave off. She was quite good at her job.

She wanted to climb these walls - they looked so easy. Big stones, not even leveled off, they were just fit to one another and cemented in place. It made the whole building look bumpy. The walls made way to brick, the floors of stone eventually were set with more fine marble. Carpets everywhere got richer, but were all uniformly very old and very worn in their centers.

The place was immensely old. Suddenly all four of them got that impression. The feeling also of the tons of solid stone looming above the castle, vertigo would surely claim them if they had a good view above the castle.

They sulked around, Bendek snatched something from the kitchen scraps. The potatoes were remarkably good. Oraldo gently smacked his hand when it looked like he was going to reach for something else. "We've got to get going," he hissed.

Along the one hallway, they crept. Two guards walked past, while they were hidden in a nook, the guards headed toward the banquet room, which they were headed away from. But that got Adae thinking about where the tapestry would be.

"I should look at the banquet room, just to be sure," she whispered to Oraldo, who nodded.

"We will wait here, go while the guards are distracted." He said. She scuttled away, blending in with the shadows of the hall perfectly. If they didn't know better they wouldn't have seen her at all.

In the big banquet hall, the one directly below the rooms where Adae had seen Mad Van posturing to himself, there were close to thirty people. Most of them looked like they belonged to the circus, long limbed and slender folk, some out of proportion - strong men, daring women, but mostly they were the oddly flexible seeming folk who twisted themselves into acrobatic knots and flew across a stage on thin wires.

Adae didn't enter the room, but she could see several banners hanging from the walls and ceiling. It was festive, if a little weird, in here. The feel of the place didn't much lend itself to a circus atmosphere. She counted the tapestries, looked at the ones on the opposite walls, saw nothing that matched the description. But she knew there were three hanging over her own head, on the wall where her doorway was. Dare she enter the room and look up at those even briefly?

For some reason, Adae decided to do it. There were guards around the room but they were all glancing away. Like a shadow, she went into the room - where the first carpet was laid, about five feet away from the wall. The room was lit brightly in the center, where the big banquet table was. But here along the walls there were only torches high above, between the banners.

She looked above, no - no and no. None of these in this room were even close to the description that the king and queen had given them. So she was about to leave, hastily, back to the shadows.

"I was wondering if you would come," said a man's voice, deep and smooth and faintly bemused. It made Adae's heart race, her hair stood up on her arms. She turned - head bowed down. "I wasn't sure whether you were going to be wearing your proper festive clothing, though," Mad King Van said, "but you look just fine wearing your work clothing, I think."

The king stood casually, towering over her. He wore a dark shirt of rich violet, leather leggings, and a black vest, nothing more. He wore no crown, he never had, his hair was long and loose and dark as the Steeds' fur outside. His eyes were vividly blue, they had faint wrinkles around them but not because of age, more because of the smirk that he had drawing over his face.

Beyond him, the group of circus men and women, the merchants, and the passing dignitaries had continued their conversations and were laughing at some joke that one of the men had said. Adae knew that her group could hear the louder bits, the echo chamber of the hall that they were hiding in would carry her voice.

"I wouldn't dream of being late, sire," she said, trying to sound casual. But then she added in an oddly broken loud and soft voice, "But you wouldn't let this party go on without me, would you?"

"I wouldn't dream of it, my dear. I do not know your name yet. I have been waiting for you." The strange sound of the tightness in his throat made Adae wonder - how did he know her? How had he known they would be there at all? And did he know about the others?

***

When they heard her voice more clearly above the quiet din beyond, telling them to go, Dag shook his head, and Oraldo muttered, "she's been caught."

"I don't think caught is the right word," Bendek said, "but she's not going to come out alone, if she comes back down that hall."

"Let's go," Dag said, and they struck out along the hallway.

They explored where they could - several doors were locked soundly, and without their thief they couldn't open them. Oraldo said he could try using magic, but they all knew that might be their doom. Some places were trapped for magic use, and they strongly suspected this place was too.

That might put a dent in their escape plan, but Oraldo would deal with that when they had the tapestry. Perhaps ... they would be able to escape the same way they got in, at this rate. As long as they didn't lose anyone else to wandering parties...

They made their way twisting down the maze of corridors that went in and out of the stone slab. Many rooms had pantry items, cloth, stone masonry that was half finished, or other daily work that had just been left while the party went on. Some places were clearly servant's quarters, and they knew better than to rifle through some poor cook's items for a valuable tapestry. Even Mad King Van probably wasn't that stupid.

And eventually, they found the treasury. And it was unlocked, which made all three men worried.

"Don't touch anything," Dag said. "Unless you know it's what we need."

"Good advice," Oraldo said, and Bendek nodded. His pleasure was more food than gold. Yet even so, this place housed a great many chests that looked full. Sacks of items, shining things poking out from their old cloth. Weapons were slung on every wall, and there were carpets...

"There are some cloth items," Bendek said. He and the others snuck over to the corner, and he looked at the pile oddly before speaking again. "These have recently been disturbed, see the dust on the other rugs?" It was true, there were patterns of dust that had clearly been rousted off, and a drag mark or two.

"Then it isn't here," Dag said. "But then where?"

"The castle's large, but it's also empty," said Oraldo. "And I think... one look won't kill us. We have a time table now, anyway. If we have to run, we run. Let me look..."

He waved his wand a little, and spoke some quiet arcane word. Then it appeared he was able to see somethign that the others could not.

"There," he said, pointing at the air. "It went this way, I don't know if it was the tapestry we are looking for but at least it'll give us the right direction."

So they followed him up the stairs, Dag and Bendek all the while glancing back and forth for guards. It seemed none came this far back up and to the top of the castle. They found themselves in a large dark room, the hearth was huge, there was a black open window - it overlooked the city? The city sounds came in softly from the balcony, and though the hearth was dark, there were still embers glowing in it.

Oraldo hazarded another sweep with his wand, and they could now see that there were five or more tapestries in this room. One of them though, the one to the left of the hearth, met the description of theirs.

"Take it down, quickly," Oraldo said. He noticed with his magical eyes that the other tapestries were the ones brought to this room. Perhaps that was on purpose, but maybe Mad Van didn't realize that he could see in the magical spectrum? It would have confused them if they'd merely stumbled upon the room by accident. But knowing that what they were looking for was here at all, made a difference.

Bendek and Dag found a chair and climbed with difficulty onto the hearth's mantle, then reached over to dislodge the tapestry.

It was almost eight feet long, and about three feet wide, a squat looking thing when it wasn't being used. They watched it fold down on the floor, then jumped down with a grunt to roll it back up.

Oraldo watched for anything out of the ordinary, but no one was on their way, not that he could see.

***

"This is a strange group of people, to have at a king's table," Adae commented. Others wondered why he'd left one seat empty and why this woman, who was hardly dressed for the occasion and was certainly not noble in birth, was sitting in it now. But they wisely said nothing.

"Certainly is," Van said, smiling, he offered her a glass of wine and she politely declined.

"Water, please," she said. The servant glanced at his King, who nodded him on. It was not polite at all to decline the King anything he offered...

The discussion went on to the circus, where they were headed, what they did in their acts. Adae found herself swept up into the wonder of it, even though they weren't doing anything odd just now, the group had a grace to them that was astonishing. Even she could appreciate it, and she was the little quick flexible one in her own group.

At that thought, she sipped her water, and wondered where they were. They hadn't come to the doorway, so she assumed they sensibly went on without her as she asked. She could catch up to them some day. She knew where they would be going.

If they got out.

Mad King Van watched this girl, Adae by name. He'd had to almost beg her for the name, she was so resistant to normal means. The fact that he could have simply smacked her across the room and demanded it, yet did not, impressed both him and her.

When the night had worn on, and everyone was yawning or belching or excusing themselves to the restroom, Adae realized that Mad Van had been simply watching her with a strangely peaceful smile on his thin lips the whole time.

"Sire, you stare at me as though you know something about me I haven't told you." She said. The servants cleaning up the table noticed this, but of course said nothing. "Why do you stare at me so?"

"I've seen you, in the town, and elsewhere." He said. She looked a bit peeved.

"Well, that's hardly polite, spying on a girl."

"If I said you did it first would you be angry? Or would that satisfy your curiosity about my staring?"

"I would be angry, sir," she stated, "because I am a woman after all. And I hardly like to be told that I'm wrong."

At that, Van laughed loudly, startling several guests who had slipped into a light slumber at their seats. It also rose Adae's hair again.

"That's right, that's right," he said, more softly. He extended his hand, and stood from the table. "Come, Adae, thief in my midst. If your friends have found their quarry, I wish to meet them."

"I -- I don't-"

"Of course you know what I am talking about, Adae," Van said, more seriously. "But you know that I cannot allow it."

He took her from the banquet room into another stairwell, one which reached his room above more directly. But the men weren't there, and the tapestry was missing already.

"Ah." Van said. "Well then I suppose I must find them the hard way."

He let her hand go, and in the darkened room, Adae saw his blue eyes go golden, the tips of his long fingers glowing with that same powerful magic. He moved his hands, spoke two words, and -

***

Startled, the group of men turned to see Adae and the Mad King himself.

"How - you-" Adae said, putting her hand on her forehead and looking a bit confused.

"Simple teleport spell my dear, but it won't work for anyone else at the moment." He glanced at Oraldo, then Dag, then Bendek. "Not that I believe for a moment you'd be powerful enough to teleport through my castle's shields." He drew in a sigh, "that would be a messy end for you, actually. I wouldn't recommend trying it."

The men were briefly shocked, but Oraldo mostly. He was angry that Adae was with him, suddenly. And without thinking, he drew a step closer.

"If you've harmed Adae, you're going to pay for it." Oraldo said.

While Adae sucked in a startled breath, Dag and Bendek both assumed defensive postures. If there was going to be a fight, they would surely join it.

But Mad Van merely chuckled. "If you count embarrassing her with a joke not fit for women's ears, and plying her with fine wines she didn't drink 'harm' then perhaps. But perhaps you should ask her whether she is all right or not." And he backed away from her.

But his heart was pounding. The closeness of the girl, her smell, her beautiful teal colored eyes... He didn't want her to leave his side. She would of course, she would go with them and claim her prize from the king and queen...

He would kill her, if he tried to love her. He knew that. Yet... There was hope. Always maddening hope. He thrived on it, it was the only thing keeping him alive.

That maybe this time, the woman who appeared to be what he needed most, would actually return the favor...

"Adae," he said, his voice broken suddenly and quiet, unnervingly quiet, "please... stay." This giant of a man, who towered over her - she came perhaps to the middle of his expansive chest - whispered to her with a plea. "Stay here with me."

"What?" Oraldo said, more bold. "We've got what we came for. You stole this, and we're going to return it. That's how this works."

Dag almost bit his tongue. His grey colored eyes were wide, as he glanced at Bendek, who was also similarly amazed at their mage friend's idiot deathwish.

"... You're right, of course," Van said, to Oraldo. "But I already knew you would come for it, and I already knew that I could hardly let you get away from me. My castle is impermiable, and everyone must know that."

"We got in," Bendek pointed out.

"Yes. But how would you get out?" Van said. "Look around you, gentlemen," he said, waving his hands a bit. They were in a room filled with many mirrors and precious standing screens, imported things that glowed brightly to Oraldo's magical sight. "Do you know where you could go from here?"

"Anywhere," Oraldo said, a whisper.

"But you do not know how to command any of these mirrors," the King said. "I do. I could send you back to the country where I took that," he indicated the rolled carpet that Dag had in his back pack, "or I could send you to the very pits of hell. Would you take that chance?"

"What other choice is there?" Bendek asked. "What choice do we have? Die in a fight with you, or die trying to escape?"

"But you knew there would be that risk before you came here to my city," Van reminded him.

"Let us go, then," Adae said, quietly. "Let them go. I... I will stay if that will give them their freedom."

Van could hardly think. She would offer herself for them, they were that close. And clearly the mage would die for her. He loved her, it was plain to see. But did she bother to love him back? Could she ever do that for anyone? Even the King?

He moved his hand to her chin, touching her face gently. She winced - though it was just a flinch by reflex, not because he'd hurt her. She looked up at his face, it was long and sad and tired. He seemed to long for something, and she suddenly realized that something was her.

He closed his eyes, and then opened them again. They were harder, his jaw more firmly set. He'd made a decision. "Go," he said to her.

"What?"

"Go. Pick a portal, go. While I am giving you this chance, just take it. You do not know where you're going to wind up. But... I will not detain you, I cannot do that to you." He sighed, "I can only hope you'd find your way back."

"This is madness," Oraldo said, but he was busy looking at the mirrors. "This one, turn it on, activate it, send us." He insisted.

"Bold boy," Van said mostly to himself. "You would fancy yourself a mage?"

"I am a mage sir," Oraldo said.

"Then you should know better than to challenge me. Unless you're just a bad mage, or a novice."

"You are the most indecently full of yourself person I have ever met!" Adae said, making Van turn toward her with a furrowed brow. "I mean, I was trying to be polite and all, and they can tell you that I am not polite. Let us go, if that's what your game is."

"It's hardly a game," Van said. "You played it well enough, but ..." He sighed again, his face softening.

Every time he looked at her he wanted her more. Just to talk to, to find out more about, to listen to her voice. She spoke in curt words, but could be smooth and noble. She was very smart, but hot headed. Her mood changed in a heartbeat.

How could he let her leave?

He could because he believed that love was stronger than that. It was a mistake of course, but ... It was all he had. If he couldn't be happy, would he just be miserable with or without her?

"If you're not going to, then I will," Oraldo said, of the mirror nearby, and he prepared to use a spell. When Van heard the words he was using, he knew there was something wrong.

"Novice," he spat, and went to move the boy's wand to point somewhere else. But it was too late! The magic words he spoke impacted the air around the wand, which amplified and focused them.

Right onto the mirror which opened to a dark swirling spectacle.

Then it started sucking things in.

"Ooooh, crap," Oraldo said, suddenly realizing that the pronounciation on that spell wasn't quite what he thought it was... He tilted sideways, and was drawn in beside Bendek who had already lost his footing. They were being dragged into the mirror - anything else in the room that wasn't already solidly on the floor was swinging toward it too.

Adae felt her braid tightly moving toward it, and it hurt. Dag glared at Van, and tried to keep his footing, but the three men were already halfway into the mirror!

"Oraldo! Bendek!" Adae said, she wanted to add Dag, but honestly there wasn't time. They hadn't noticed either, though, that Van was also tumbling toward the vortex. He picked up Adae with one arm, carrying her like a child, and swept up to the men.

"If you're going, then we might as well all go," Van said, and then turned to look at the rim of the mirror. He spoke three words, that apparently would seal the mirror on the other side, close the portal once they were through it.

Then he turned to Dag. They were all tumbling, but close to one another. With his right arm holding Adae, Van stretched with his left toward Oraldo. The mage wisely realized that their only chance of survival was with one another. So he grabbed on to Dag, who had ahold of Bendek. As a chain, then, they were falling...

***

Van spoke words that Oraldo recognized, ones which the king had said would activate the tapestry.

"What are you doing!?" Oraldo yelled. The tapestry came to life, while still rolled up in Dag's backpack. Then, the colors around them tilted sideways, making them spin wildly and almost causing Bendek to lose the few bites of potato he'd had in the kitchens.

And then they landed somewhere firm, somewhere that wasn't tilting against reality. A place that had a sky, and trees, ground, and...

"Dragons," Mad King Van said. He lay tossed in the pile with the others, less shaken than they. He still clung on to Adae, who was wrapped around his arm and holding on strongly. She felt him move, and scrambled out from under his strong arm.

"What?" She said, and then fell to the ground, dizzy.

"You might rest a moment," Van said. She stuck her tongue out at him, and flopped to the ground to watch the sky spinning. The big colorful dragon that swept into view scared her into leaping vertical again.

By now, the others were trying to stand up, with more success than Adae because of course they weren't leaping around screaming at the sky. Van sat up, still gazing at the dragon above. His eyes then moved back to Adae, who pranced around half dizzy like a child who had been spinning around for fun.

It was the same kind of dragon that he'd seen in the tapestry. That tapestry combined with the power of the mirror, took them right here... Wherever 'here' was.

They all felt the presence of the other dragons, two more, landing nearby. Van stood finally, taller than Dag by half a head, dwarfing Bendek.

"Where is this place?" He asked. The rider of the dragon pulled up his riding helm, and moved the long lance that he clearly used in combat.

"This is Nidus Ryslen." He said.

Adae muttered to Oraldo, "not very welcoming, are they?"

"We welcome many people," the other rider, a woman, said, "but not too many of them simply fall from the sky after it turns that weird color it turned..." She glanced up and was satisfied that the sky was no longer swirling with motion.

"That would be his fault," Bendek pointed to Oraldo, who sputtered.

"I thought you were my friend," Oraldo said.

"I am. I know you didn't mean to, but ..." The short medic turned to Van. "Thank you for saving our butts, then, I think that's needing to be said."

"You are very welcome," Van said. "It was a long shot, but I hoped maybe to learn about these dragons anyway."

"And how would you know?" Adae spat.

"I saw them at the same time I saw you," he replied, "when I asked the tapestry to show me what I needed most."

That shut her up. It shut everyone up, actually.

"Come along then, we're going to have to see if you're here for the eggs or not."

"Eggs?" Bendek asked. Hungry.

"Not those kind," Oraldo muttered and jabbed his friend in the ribs. "Dragon eggs, right?"

"Yes," nodded the female rider.

The bi-colored dragons they rode swept into the air and more took their place. One per dragon, with a rider each, to carry everyone up to the actual Nidus.

Where they were shown the eggs. The dam and sire were brightly colored, storm colored.

"It's a strange clutch," said one rider, as they were led around the place. "But it's pretty clear that you're ready for them. You'll get set up in dorms, if that's all right."

"Ask him, he's the King," Adae said, thumbing at Van.

"Such remarkable disrespect from a girl not even one one-hundreth my age." Van paused, looked at the others, who had that strange 'huh' expression. "That would be sixty," he muttered. "Do the math yourselves..."

The others split up, but Adae remained quietly by Van's side.

"But you let me get away with it," she said. "Why?"

"Because," he said, "I need you. I need the hope that you could give me. But ... you should be warned that all of the women I've ever -" he stifled a choke, for some reason, "every woman I've ever fallen in love with has met a messy end. I am sorry."

"Thanks for the warning," Adae said, annoyed. "You don't even know me, how could you love me?"

"So far you're doing everything that I admire. You have a brain, strong will, you're clever, you can sew."

"You were watching?"

"I had people asking about you, of course. Do you think I would be a good king if I did not know my enemies had infiltrated my own city?"

"I suppose not," she replied. "But I don't want you to get your hopes up that I'll love you back... sire."

"Van," he said. "I'm not king here, and I would like it if you called me by my name."

"Then, Van, don't get your hopes up. I mean, you're ..." She was about to say something flattering.

He knew that, because of the way her voice went, her sigh. So his eyebrows danced around and he got a bit puffy in the chest.

"The most vain person in the world!" She finished, looking at his reaction to even the thought that she would compliment him. But she laughed, relieved, and took his hand in hers. "You did save us, you didn't have to. I understand the thought of not wanting us to escape."

"You're welcome," Van said. "Now, if you don't mind, we should find our ... dorms."

"Heh - you, living like the peasantry," Adae said, as they came back to her friends. "Maybe if you learn 'humble' you'll be on your way."

"I am many things, Adae, but humble is not among them..."

Eventually they settled in. The clutch would hatch perhaps once everyone who matched an egg was there? They didn't know. All they knew was that a proud king and a thief and a young mage would have to decide what was what... some time soon...

Ryslen was proving to be an interesting place, to everyone. Adae wedged herself into the women's dorm activities and refused to come out save for meals and duties in the classrooms. Oraldo watched Van every moment he could, but also found his time being consumed by research and study.

Dag lent his hand in the caverns guarding and hunting, while Bendek put in a good showing with the healers. And eventually, once they had all relaxed, they would meet at the dining hall tables and talk about things.

His arrogance knowing no bounds, vanity still putting in the huge show of force that it would always do being a Sanger, Mad Van told them how it was going to be possible for him to bring them back to their world, once he found out how to do it.

"Dragons can do it," Oraldo said, guardedly. "Everything I've been told her says they can. It's not just up to you."

"It takes a team of dragon and rider," Bendek said, putting a muffin onto his plate and eyeing the peas. "Both have to know what they're doing."

In no way humbled by this discussion, Van smiled. "Yes. The relative differences between this world and ours are subtle. Getting lost between here and there would be quite easy."

At that, someone else passing by said something odd. Of course, he was quite odd himself, being the spitting image of Van, but smaller and older looking, and... maybe friendlier. He said, "it's all we ever do, is drift around getting lost and living to tell about it." He glanced around at the others, smiled mysteriously, and then moved on. The others were a bit stunned at that, but Van took it in stride.

"Of course, there is a difference between just being lost, and exploring."

"And you would be... wanting to explore, then?" Adae said quietly.

"You want to," he replied. She quickly sat straight up and was about to become angry but then... She lowered her eyes, and with a sheepish smile nodded once. "Eventually we would get back to our home. But think of all the things to find between here and there?"

"That would require having a dragon to ride, in the first place," Dag said, "and the eggs are getting harder by the day..."

***

It only took a short while before the group was summoned to the sands along with everyone else. It was a stormy wet day, blissful rain coming down in sheets outside. The air was still quite hot, but it was no longer oppressively humid, just raining.

With the small number of eggs that were actually moving, Mad Van noted that perhaps there was a chance he wasn't going to bond this time. If he ever did - but the tapestry couldn't have led them here without meaning ...

After one or two beautifully marked hatchlings broke their shells, a golden-bronze colored male, large and in charge, split his shell open. Dramatically he moved around until he saw Mad Van, and opened his wings to reveal a fantastic lightning bolt pattern.

The dragon sent waves of some emotion toward Van. Something about confusion, multiple personalities, or something - but Mad Van was positive that this dragon was his own. In fact, he knew the name: Dreikoth, and spoke it aloud for everyone to know that. "Hiya Dreikoth!" He said. As they then moved away from the sands, a vivid blue with the same kind of lightning wings paired off the otherworldly doppleganger, maybe they'd learn more about each other.

Perhaps that other Van would be able to give the Mad King some advice about his love life. Probably not - and Dreikoth couldn't care less about that.

Food, my 'king', I require food and care now. Your girl is watching - and she has not gotten herself a dragon yet. I will certainly be able to convince her of our greatness once she has befriended a queen.

"How perfectly fitting, then," Van said, smiling. Perhaps there would be more to his life after all, than endless irony...

Adae and the others didn't bond that day. But their disappointment was measured - if someone like him could bond, then... Surely there would be dragons that would want them.

Because they had to wait for other hatchings, the young group that had come with Mad King Van were not subjected to him for the next few months. He and the large bronze and their egos were too big for nearly any den, it seemed, so they had their own private quarters somewhat earlier than others in the clutch. The only other afforded this luxury so early was the queen.

Yet they showed up for classes just like everyone else, and were happy to learn how to work the skies as well as the ground. At last, Dreikoth spread his wings and flew unfettered, knowing the feeling would last only as long as Van remained on the ground.

"But you know I am going to have to ride you sooner or later, my friend," Mad Van said with a smile. "That other Sanger is doing it, how about you?"

I am more noble than that little blue, the bronze snorted.

"You're only as noble as you feel, I suppose," Van agreed. "But we will have to practice with me upon your shoulders someday soon." He stole a glance at the fledge trainer, whose baleful glare told him 'sooner' than soon. "You'll have to swallow some of that pride and do it like the others. That is why we bonded, after all, I'm called your rider for a reason..."

Oh that, the dragon pish-poshed with his tail swishing, it's a technicality.

Laughing aloud, and telling that to the fledge trainer who also laughed, put it into Dreikoth's head that his rider was having a bit too much fun at his expense.

When you do ride me, I will roll on you. That will finish this idea that you're going to be on my back all the time.

"Only when I need to ride you, Dreikoth!" Van said, still laughing.

With Mad Van tending his bronze flashy fledge, the group finally had time to bond again. No blame was laid, no one said anything about how they got here. They'd thrown themselves into studies, and work, and were able to ignore the obvious pressing problems.

When they were going to do that was a mystery. It went on being one, as they were called to the warm red sands yet again. Excited, they all filed in with their scarves flying. They almost flew right back out, running from the huge red queen that protected her eggs.

But those eggs were hatching, and there was little anyone could do to stop them, least of all their mother.

How she was angry, particularly at her black hued mate, who smugly watched as Ruoal'Shon's rider boldly shooed the red out of the way of the hatchlings.

When the dragoness raised her large red wing, a purple colored hatchling came striding out. Compared to the other dragons that had hatched recently, this one was huge. Like his mother, apparently. He walked carefully around, glancing at the candidates. However he moved toward the group, and even Dag backed away a little when he came near.

Oraldo did not flinch, though, instead he watched as the purple male proudly displayed his huge wings.

My name is Orero'Rust, the dragon said with confidence. That was what Oraldo was waiting to hear. Look at this beauty, he thought, and oddly the dragon thought right back - thank you.

Unfortunately, the others did not bond that day. Perhaps they would, soon. There were always eggs on Ryslen's sands - someone had said so and they realized it to be true. From a less-intimidating queen, perhaps, the others would call a hatchling their own.

No one will call for me, Orero'Rust bespoke his bond, You and I are one. I ... sense a great need to ...

"To what?" Asked Oraldo, peering intently at the large hatchling.

To eat. Show me the food and all will be well. Oraldo couldn't shake the smell and taste of brine, every time Orero spoke to him.

Oraldo was busy with Orero'Rust when the next hatching occured, so he hadn't had time to clean up from his fledge training before rushing down to watch it. The others were still waiting for their dragons, Dag and Bendek and Adae all stood nervously near a batch of very small, very odd candidates. Those guys recieved these incredibly colorful tiny dragonets - but none of them came to the three.

Oraldo heard his dragon mentally conferring with another, and then asked him what was being discussed.

We are betting on who bonds the dragons, was his reply. Oraldo laughed out loud, and then quieted down when he noticed Mad Van over there on the other side. Near the flight ledges, of course, where he and that obnoxious lightning-struck bronze would gloat about how cool he was.

He is not as cool as I am, and we will show him who is boss. Orero'Rust announced with a mental grin.

"We sure will," Oraldo said. But then after the brightly colored Lians paired off and were causing a sensation wherever they were brought, the next clutch of real dragon-sized-dragon eggs began to hatch.

Oddly though, the first hatchling was starkly grey in color. No one had ever really seen any that shade, no one was sure what to make of it. He bonded, Golyrith was happy about it, so another broke shell. And...

The next was female, apparently, and without the Ryslen crest and knobs, but with the style and grace of a fox. She slunk quickly up to Adae.

Oraldo watched Van's face as the dragoness took her place beside their thief. Down on the sands, Adae smiled wildly and said that the dragon's name was Bakkhanri.

Oraldo tried to get down there to congratulate her - the other two eggs didn't go to Bendek or Dag, they'd be waiting yet longer. Van had already moved to her side, but Adae was more interested in what the dragon's mother had to tell them. That perhaps they would change color and mature into something other than there mere grey-coloration.

"Perhaps I want you to stay grey, Bakkhanri," suggested Adae with a still-delirious grin, "after all we can't be all flashy if we're going to be doing what I do for a living..."

Apparently that shook Van a bit, and Oraldo smiled privately. Then again, Orero'Rust was kind of put off too. What sort of female is she that won't glow or out grow her males?

Indeed. Adae fed and scrubbed and oiled Bakkhanri, who remained steadfastly small and lithe. If anything, she ran faster on the ground than she did taking to moving her wings - would she fly? Of course. But Adae had a fancy idea that perhaps they'd only fly at twilight, or only during cloudy days. That way, she reasoned, if the color remained this grey, they'd always blend in.

Adae watched the reactions of the others, as her dragonet strutted around with the other young hatchlings. They were now good on their feet, but sometimes didn't know how to stop or turn in time. A lot of hay bales kept them from really hurting themselves as they learned to march and work their muscles.

"Wings high!" called the fledge master. "Don't forget to keep those spars apart!"

"Every muscle is important," Adae muttered along with him as he chanted to them. She felt so exposed out here, and the feeling wasn't lost on Bakkhanri.

I am afraid that my wings are not going to shelter you... The sun is so bright, my one. I think I will never be big enough to shelter anyone but myself. That is so selfish.

"Don't worry, Bakkhi," Adae said, "you're growing every day, just like the others. As long as you're just big enough to ride, I can carry my own sun shield." She smiled, and the dragon seemed to like that idea.

From another part of the field, Orero'Rust and Oraldo watched, and were shortly joined by Mad Van.

"Hrm," Oraldo said, "where's the zappy pest?"

"Pest? Dreikoth is hardly a pest," Van said. "But today he's catching fish with the others, the lake was just jumping with them."

Oraldo muttered something about why can't he join them and jump in a lake? But Van ignored him.

Eventually Dreikoth joined them on the terraced area above the field. He was barely fitting, if he grew even another half a meter he'd be too large to stand on a ledge comfortably.

"The fish easy to catch?" Van asked.

You should have come in with me, they were everywhere!

"You know I don't swim ... very well," Van said, hesitating when he realized that Oraldo had heard that tidbit. No, he didn't swim. In fact Van - as most Sangers - had a bit of a fear of water. Not as much as some, he could probably survive being drowned. But still, it wasn't a favorite activity and now Oraldo had something to hold above him.

Dreikoth snorted, but then dropped something on the dirt between the men. It was a huge fish, dead but only just.

I have saved a good one for you. Share it, rider, because that is the proper thing to do.

"Want to help me cook dinner?" Van asked Oraldo.

The mage grew a bewildered look. Just about then, Adae and Bakkhanri joined them. The tiny grey dragonet looked so miniscule below the shadow of the lightning-zapped bronze, and Orero'Rust was trying to look even bigger though he still had some growing left to do in him. Eventually they would match size.

Both of them seemed to know it. The dragons did not necessarily share every nuance of their rider's dislike for one another. Orero in fact started nosing at the fish, and glanced up at the big bronze. I almost wish I'd been there too! Do you think they will be easily found tomorrow?

Do you not have flight training tomorrow? Asked the bronze, almost as though he wanted to see the purple's shoulders slump.

FISH! Cried Bakkhanri, and a mad scramble ensued. She was trying to get to the fish - which she insisted would be yummy - while Van and Oraldo both balked at attempting to block her. Adae still didn't even have a clue why they were all standing there looking like idiots - but she seemed to be having that effect still on both men.

Finally Dreikoth's expert claws folded over the fish, and picked it up away from Bakkhi's grasp. This is for the humans. I will get you another, you and Orero'Rust may share it. I am sure I can still find one.

"It's getting dark," Van said. "Be careful."

With that bronze-snort of his, Dreikoth said I am a bronze dragon and an adult. I can fish in the dark, my one. You just wait here... He deposited the fish back on the dirt - Van and Oraldo looked at one another with a bit of disgust. Now it was just covered in scratches and dragon slobber...

Though Orero'rust was in fact pretty darn big, it seemed that he would always be just this side of smaller than Dreikoth. That fact festered in the huge purple's mind until it finally was just enough. Oraldo's annoyance and anger at Van had slowly worn off on the purple. His competitive streak grew as he did.

Oraldo stood below Van's ledge and summoned up his courage. Since he couldn't really summon anything much else here - Ryslen's magical climate wasn't as condusive to his art. He wasn't ... Oraldo knew he wasn't as good at practically anything that Van could do. But he was young and in love, and had a young passionate purple dragon who really wanted to show that big blowhard up at something.

Whatever it was. Oraldo magicked a rock up into the ledge, sweeping it around until it hit something - hopefully something breakable. It turned out, he had found something to break.

The bellow that Dreikoth gave told Orero'rust his rider had hit a nerve. Good job, he said.

The bronze's powerful snout shot out from over the ledge, eyes whirling redly behind fierce teeth. YOU! Your rider just broke my rider's mirror!

With a jolt, Oraldo hoped that it wasn't that mirror, or even a mirror that could be used to send them home. But yet, his dragon's wings flared and Orero'rust snorted and gave off a laugh.

Is that all? It sounded like your flight sail, to me!

The dragons faced off, one on the lower ledge standing on his haunches and the other crouched with his neck craned around the stone. Their angry sounds and mental heat started to bleed out around them, alerting other riders and dragons. Soon enough they were both in the air, two gigantic males sweeping at one another with claw and fang. Neither seemed willing to really go for broke, though Orero had drawn a bit of blood on the big bronze's side as Dreikoth took to the air above him on the ledge.

Hissing, snarling, snapping with bright teeth - and a long line of viewers collected on the ledges below - drew the attention of a couple people walking around Ryslen.

"Oh no," Adae breathed, her still-grey colored weyrling walking beside her. Suddenly the thief bolted away and left Dag and Bendek to care for her. "Those infernal stupid MEN! And their DRAGONS are no better!" She could be heard huffing and angrily cursing at both of them - though neither man was even within earshot. They were all the way across the bowl, squaring off in a different way.

Adae sprinted into Van's den, and found it empty. Though she could see the forms of the two male dragons flying in the air outside, still screaming at each other. Then she heard a familiar dark deep voice, coming from below.

Expertly she climbed around the exterior of the ledge, finding herself where else but on the edge of Oraldo's den. Van and he were standing at opposite sides of the den's ledge, glaring.

They practically didn't even look up when she entered the fray - but they did very shortly, when she cleared her throat angrily.

"What are you two doing?" She demanded.

"Having a conversation about ... our dragons," Van said, not quite lying.

"We were trying to decide which of our dragons is superior in flight techniques," Oraldo said, stepping a bit closer. Van did so as well, and Adae stiffened, holding her arms out to both of them and switching her gaze from one to the next.

"Your dragons are fighting," Adae said sharply. "And I can easily guess why."

Just about that time, Dag and Bendek and Bakkhanri arrived to the lower den. The men looked at the trio beyond, and Dag held his arm around the grey dragonet's neck to prevent her from going any farther.

"This is all about which one of you 'gets' me," Adae shouted. Beyond, the dragons looped around one another and Orero got another good swipe in, while Dreikoth managed to bite down on Orero's tail spade eliciting a creel of pain. "Well guess what? Van, I do not love you - yet! You're trying so hard, and you've actually really impressed me with everything, but I am not a prize to be had after a contest! And Oraldo! I do love you - as a brother! We've done so many things together but I'm just not romantically attached to you!"

Dag and Bendek just stood there, as Bakkhanri tilted her head and wondered why her rider was so angry at both of them. The grey - who hadn't changed even as the rest of her clutch mates began to show signs of other colors on their hides - knew that her rider's words were mostly true. She did love Oraldo, she'd idolized him a bit whenever he would come up with something good, and she was falling for Van, in a bad way.

But my rider, I do not understand why you must choose, they will both always want you. Just like their dragons are going to fight over me when I rise. I will rise when you are ready.

That thought - not broadcast, but sent directly into Adae's mind - stopped her from continuing her rant. Instead, after a moment's pause, and both men knew that she'd been speaking to the grey, Adae turned on them both again.

More calmly this time, she said, "I would recommend getting those idiot dragons of yours back inside and apologize to one another for causing such a ruckus, and you're probably going to have to apologize to everyone trying to get anything done, too - they're distracting everyone who can see or hear them."

With that, Adae brushed past them, nudged the weyrling and squeezed back out into the hall. Bakkhanri was barely small enough still to walk down the halls with the humans nearby, soon she wouldn't be able to. But in the mean time, as they headed to their own den, Adae's mind spun.

The truth of what her dragon said stung. "I understand that dragons look at romance a little differently, my love, but ... I can't just 'have them both'. They hate each other."

No, they do not. Oraldo respects Van because he is an expert mage. And Van is a bit jealous of Oraldo having known you as long as he has. The dragonet layed her head down, and found a bit of wood that had blown in during a recent storm to play with. They compete with one another because they both want you, and that is how it should be. Males should always fight for the right to breed, it is right.

"But I - don't - want - to breed Bakkhi!" Adae sobbed, "I wish I could just see it the way you do..."

You will, someday soon... Perhaps you will not even notice which it is, or if it is another.

"What is that supposed to .... you wouldn't allow some other stranger to come into a mating flight! I would - I forbid it!" Adae was now rigid with embarrassment and fear. Her dragon was betraying her...

I love you. I want what is best. I will decide for you, between Dreikoth and Orero'rust - and they will very likely both please me quite a bit. Their riders will both have ways to please you. Will they not?

"Oh Bakkhi...." Adae sighed. She wasn't sure what to do now.

After the bluster of weyrlinghood, and during the wait for Dag and Bendek to bond if they were going to, the pair of male dragons settled into a routine. They would bicker like gossipy women, hurling insults at one another while the object of their affection tried her hardest to ignore them all.

Bakkhanri turned her crestless head toward her rider. You are a thief, can't you .... do something? Steal something other than their hearts?

At that, actually, Adae laughed out loud. "If it were only so easy, my friend. Oh, do you see that cloud?" She pointed and the dragon gazed upward. "It reminds me of this tree that was outside my village where I grew up. It towered over everything."

But that is just a cloud, the dragoness said. Clearly her imagination wasn't as vivid as humans.

"Do you think we'll ever go home?" Dag asked, from the den's hallside entrance, startling Adae and causing Bakkhi's tail to flop like a cat's.

"I like to think so, but if you keep stalling we'll never leave..." Adae said. She was smiling, but inside she wondered the same thing herself. Would they ever manage to find their home?

I can find it, bespoke the electrically tinged voice of Dreikoth. It is not easy, but I will take us all home. If you let me.

Bakkhanri snorted from the ledge, if you can find your own tail it's a good day. Go back to sleep.

I would not get us as lost as Orero'rust, Dreikoth pleaded. But by then even Dag understood that they were stranded until everyone had a bond.

What to do in the meantime, though, that was the question. Bakkhanri was certainly looking .... oily and dark. It was likely that she would glow with her first real heat sometime soon, but Adae dreaded that day. It would mean fighting, surely. She was positive...

While the other dragons grew large, and somewhat arrogant to boot, Dag and Bendek were still waiting. Ryslen was a very welcoming place, though, and both of them seemed to have a good time here.

Dag would hunt regularly, and Bendek learned a lot from the mediciners and herbalists residing here. In this manner, they had hardly noticed that most of a year had passed. Adae and her beautiful slate grey colored female were busy fighting off the advances of both Mad Van and his electric bronze beast, as well as poor Oraldo and his violet colored male. Neither of them would be let near her, until she felt ready. And...

She'd never felt ready, so ... yeah.

But now there was another clutch on the sands, breaking! It was like an old habit, by now, for the pair. Dag took the lead, and Bendek held back a little, watching.

This time, perhaps he should have hurried. Because more than halfway through the hatching, a bunch of males burst shell, and one of them was a burly brown.

He was just about to start walking toward the mass of candidates, when his bronze brother nudged him out of the way. Put off, annoyed, but still rather cowed by the fact that the bronze was far bigger than he just out of the shell, the brown grumbled a little. He was in the middle of stepping backwards, when another shell disgorged its contents - another brown - so he almost stepped upon his brother.

Deftly, Dag moved through the shell fragments and dueling dragons, to the side of the first brown.

"Are you okay, Wardoketh?" He asked, his voice deeply musical - his humming of tunes had grown more tolerable, with the addition of several dozen more songs learned here.

I'm better now, the dragon bespoke. They trotted away from the others, and Dag gave Bendek a thumbs-up. But Bendek did not impress this time around either... Perhaps later on for him.

For now, he could help his friend keeping the brown clean and healthy!

***

While Bendek fiddled around with his work, Dag began to work very hard on keeping Wardoketh healthy and strong. He, like any warrior, expected the dragon to be as strong and bold as he, in battle!

Sanbart, who impressed a blue in the same clutch as Dag's brown, was an eager learner - though he had his share of odd experiences. For some reason, his dragon kept shortening his name!

"Not a clue," Dag shook his head as he helped Wardoketh bathe. He looked over at the growing blue, Thelith, and nudged his brown. "Who would win in a race, you or him?"

We do not fly yet, my rider... Wardoketh bespoke. But he is quick on the ground, certainly. I will be stronger than he.

"I bet," Dag said. They would learn to fly shortly, getting his harness soft enough and snug on the shoulders of the weyrling dragon was a chore. "Come on Wardoketh," Dag muttered, "you're going to be wearing this, because I am not riding you bareback! That's crazy!"

Crazy or not, I do not like it, the dragon balked yet again at having the harness put on his shoulders. But... Finally he calmed down and let the weight of it settle. His wings were not hindered at all by the device, so he could fly perfectly well with it on.

Flapping, he saw Thelith get into the air and come back down - a successful flight! "Good job!" Dag called out, and then it was his turn! Wardoketh reached widely with his wings, maybe too wide, and only remained in the air a little bit. But it was enough, and shortly within days, the weyrlings would be flying about Ryslen like flitters!

***

Could the day ever come when Bendek would bond a dragon? Dag would now typically hang out with the other riders, since Wardoketh was almost fully grown.

Mad Van and Adae and Oraldo would continue to bicker, while Dag kept encouraging Sanbart to race him with his blue.

"Come on, I know he wants to." Dag nudged Sanbart. "Not with us riding them, just the dragons."

"I don't know," Sanbart said, "Thelith might get hurt. I've seen how Wardoketh swings around when he flies..."

That was the truth, the dragon almost swaggered through the air, just like he had on his hatching day. Tumbling through the skies was a favorite pasttime for the brown. He was really impressive for moves like switching wing leads and changing directions. So Sanbart's blue might have some moves to make himself.

When at last the nearly-adult sized dragons did race, it was no surprise that the blue zipped ahead and cruised into their finish line (between two tall trees on the side of the hill).

"Next time we should have an obstacle course..." Dag said with a grin.

Everyone was already waiting. It seemed to Bendek that perhaps he'd never really been intended for a dragon. That thought drew his stomach into a knot though.

"One more time, eh?" He asked of the attendant who had summoned the novos to the sands. It was what, the sixth time he was there? Didn't most people just give up by then?

But he wasn't known for giving up, was he! In fact in his profession he could hardly be said to be allowed to have that attitude! He had lost a bit of his innate cheer over the last what, three years of waiting? While the others dragons grew and fought and did whatever they did, he waited. He hung out. He learned, though, quite a lot about anatomy, herbs, potions, whatever else the good people at Ryslen could afford to teach him.

He helped in the infirmary, he helped in the kitchen, he even helped in the childcare rooms when a large number of adults were on some mission or other.

Yet now, faithful as ever, he walked to the now-familiar red sands of Ryslen.

Where there were four females, waiting with their eggs. Four more chances. Well, something like forty more, of course, there were lots of eggs.

This time, the exotic four-winged furry marked female's eggs were done incubating and had started to wobble. And Bendek couldn't help but feel happy and excited again. He was like that.

And it was a good thing too. Because finally, after a number of other eggs had broken and found their bond, a largish egg cracked, and a very dark blue pushed out. He lost no time making his choice; his bond had waited quite long enough.

Bendek. He said, throwing his... royal purple and lavender?... wings open. The medic-slash-fighter looked skeptically at the little beast.

"Gwyraytta, at last..." Adae and the others (save Mad Van) cheered. They'd all bonded -- finally! Bendek looked up into the stands, seeing his friends, and Van, cheering for him. Then he could hardly see anything. There were too many tears in his eyes.

***

Gwyraytta learned quickly - mostly because the other dragons were so eager to see him grown. Now, finally, Bendek got to march on the field with the other hatchling pairs, learning formations that he'd memorized over the course of his stay already.

Perhaps it was the sheer confidence that he had now that he'd finally bonded, perhaps it was just this large blue was superior to most dragonets at his age. They passed their exams with flying colors.

Training the duowing to fly, however, was something best left to the parents and other duowings! Even Mad Van's stunning beast could hardly be asked to help out - though he tried. The arrogant electric bronze gave up in frustration.

"He can't understand the muscles," Van commented. "And I would say you are on your own, but you are not." He nodded toward the others, "they do fly, we know that much... So he must learn somehow."

"I don't think it's all that hard," Bendek said. Whether he meant to come off completely flippant, didn't matter. Van smirked at him as they joined the fledge ranks, and started the hard work of coordinating the four wings.

By this time, though, the others were ready and waiting. They gathered more frequently - without Van.

The dark blue dragon began to grow his furry fringe, while the group of riders plotted.

***

When at last, Bendek and his beautiful duowing were flight-worthy and could teleport...

"We must speak now," Oraldo asserted, in the dim morning light. It was quite early, hardly what Bendek would call morning at all.

But he dragged himself out of bed and went into the little stone room they'd chosen to keep themselves private from Van's prying ears. There was always a possibility that the man could still hear them - but they no longer cared.

"We've got to get home now," Adae sighed. "It's been too long. I can... hardly even remember the last place we were."

"Do you think that's because of his influence?" Dag asked, and the woman furrowed her brows at him.

"I hope not. I mean, I don't think so. It's just time." She said.

"It better be," Oraldo muttered, and that prodded Adae into a bit of a snit.

"Look, Oraldo, I ... I like you - don't get me wrong. You've both given me your damn hearts on your sleeves. I don't want that. From either of you. Not until I'm ready." She stood, angry. "The only place I can see in my mind's eye, and Bakki can attest to this, is that blasted castle. I don't want to go back there. I want to go home."

"We all do," Oraldo said quietly.

"But which home is home?" Bendek asked, wearily. "What if... we don't. What if we just... go back to the castle."

"What, and... stay there?" Oraldo asked, aghast.

"I know it's a bit of a stretch, but... why not?" Bendek said. "Aside from Adae not wanting to be around him, we can find home from there. At least the castle's somewhere that we all remember vividly."

"After all this time," Dag said, "I think he's right. One night on the road looks pretty much like another, you get used to tracking prey and hunting, stalking around towns, it's all the same."

"But the castle remains the same," Bendek said.

Adae was oddly quiet during this part of the discussion, and both Oraldo and Bendek thought that quite odd. But she finally spoke up.

"Sometimes," she said quietly, "sometimes, I wish that I could be two people at the same time. I wish that I could just... split up and do what needs to be done."

The men tilted their heads, only Oraldo thought he might know what she meant.

"And just... one of me stays, and one of me goes."

"I thought you said that you didn't love him," Oraldo said.

"I don't." She glared at him. "But that does not stop me from wanting to." She almost got up and stormed out, but that - while in character - was hardly what this meeting needed. She had gotten a bit more mature over the last year, especially with the duties that being a dragon rider afforded her. She could fly in a fighting wing, practice, and then fend off the advances of the men in her life with a bit more aplomb.

"Then... we should go back to the castle," Oraldo said. He clearly did not want to have said that, it looked like the words were physically distasteful to him.

"I wish you two would get along," Dag suddenly said.

"What?" Oraldo asked sharply, "who?"

"You and Van. You're so alike it's crazy, you know." He said simply.

It was the first such assertion that anyone had made - vocally. But he'd been thinking hard about it, discussing it with his dragon Wardoketh, and they agreed.

"But - but he's -" Oraldo stammered.

"He's right," Bendek said. "You are mages, and smart. He's got what, like five thousand years on you - but who's to say that you wouldn't be him in five thousand years? With practice?" The medic winked, and that even drew a grin from Adae.

"Oh my gods, you are right," she said, begining to crack under the pressure of this meeting. She giggled a little, "he's arrogant, lofty, presumptious, magical, oh-so-handsome..."

Oraldo rolled his eyes, and deflated. Part of him wanted to believe that he was none of those things. But in the time since he'd paired up with purple Orero'Rust he had gotten a bit... lofty. And did she just say he was handsome?

The others were grinning now. Oraldo was clearly the last of the group to really want to agree - but he did. They were going back to Mad Van's castle, and from there... whatever happened would happen.

But what about ...