Servant of the Crown by Duncan M. Hamilton

Author:Duncan M. Hamilton
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Tom Doherty Associates

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Amaury didn’t like how relieved he felt once he was back inside the palace walls. That meant he had to admit to himself how concerned he was about the situation outside. As unsettling as these realisations were, they didn’t detract from his excitement at what Ysabeau had brought him. A real, live dragon. Caged and slumbering. It was beyond the realm of his imagination, and he had always prided himself on his ability to think big. The prestige it would bring was immense—enough, perhaps, to soften the blow of having let the king slip from his grasp. The satisfaction he had felt at preventing Gill from taking the Cup soured completely once he had realised the attempt was merely a distraction from the actual mission. Dal Villerauvais, it seemed, had more artifice than Amaury had ever given him credit for.

Word was yet to get out that the king was no longer in the city, but it would. Soon. The news could be dismissed as misinformation for a time, but eventually it would be undeniable. Considering how angry the citizens already were, he might be better off admitting it from the get-go, and trying to twist the information to his advantage, painting those who had taken the king as traitors.

The dragon had come just at the right time—Divine Fortune showing that perhaps she still did favour him. Showing the people this great trophy was the perfect thing with which to grab their attention, and distract them from everything else that was going on. At that moment the beast was being brought downriver to a site where it was to be loaded onto a barge for transport into the city. With three armies roaming the countryside, he wasn’t going to risk disassembling part of the city wall, no matter how much value the prize might bring.

It hadn’t taken him long to work out what to do with the creature—there was an old duelling arena on Southgate Road that would be a perfect home for it. He could have a sturdy enclosure built to cover the arena floor, leaving plenty of space for his citizens to come and view their great prize. His citizens. He wondered if they’d ever think of him as their liege. Their saviour—for that was what he undoubtedly was. When the Ventish marched south or the Ostians landed on their shores, led by powerful battle mages, the people would ask where the king was and why he was not protecting his people.

Thanks to Amaury, that day would never come—Mirabaya would have its own battle mages, far more powerful than anything the Ventish or Ostians could come up with. He feared the people would never appreciate the great service he had done them, at so much personal risk and sacrifice.

He knew that he had come too far to hand power to someone else. If whoever it was had an ounce of sense in their heads, they’d have him thrown in the dungeons as soon as they sat on the throne.

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