Dragon Slayer Page #19

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CROWD:

Stir the tiles! Stir the tiles!

Horsrik picks up a wooden staff surmounted by a carved

dragon's head and stirs up the names. This done, a new chant

goes up:

CROWD:

Bare the arm! Bare the arm!

At a signal, a guard comes forward and cuts the sleeve from

Horsrik's right arm. He holds it high. The crowd surges

forward. The atmosphere is full of dread and excitement.

Valerian looking pale and determined, is jostled and pushed

to the edge of the platform.

CROWD:

Draw the name! Draw the name!

The moment has come. Down goes Horsrik's arm and up it comes,

holding one little wooden square, one young woman's fate. An

expectant hush falls over the mob. The virgins of Urland

tremble and wait.

HORSRIK:

Now, my countrymen, hear me: behold,

for I am chosen. I shall die that

many may live. I shall lay down my

life for family and fellows. I shall

go to my grave for the love of our

King and his wise policy. And my

name is --

He looks down at the tile to read the name, but no sound

comes to his lips. He looks back at the crowd, a cold sweat

breaking over his face. He swallows, but still can't bring

himself to speak. At his feet, Valerian is holding her breath.

A new chant goes up.

CROWD:

The name! The name!

By now Horsrik is trembling. He stares down at the tile, his

mouth set in a grim line. The King is getting annoyed. He

gestures and the crowd falls silent.

KING:

Read the name.

HORSRIK:

(mastering himself)

The name is:
Princess Elspeth Ulfilas,

filia regis.

There is a moment of profound shock. Then a low murmur of

wonder moves through the crowd. Galen looks at Valerian; she

sags with relief. The King turns to his daughter. She shows

nothing. He rises from his chair, comes forward and snatches

the tile from Horsrik.

KING:

That's not the name. It's been

misread.

Valerian will not stand for such hypocrisy.

VALERIAN:

There's no mistake! The name's been

chosen -- let it stand!

KING:

No, the good Horsrik has misspoke

himself.

(he looks at the tile)

In fairness to this individual, whose

name I can't make out, we'll destroy

this tile.

He quickly tosses the wood chip into a brazier at his elbow.

Led by Valerian, the crowd cries out in protest.

VALERIAN:

No! What better name than your own

kin? At last we see justice done!

KING:

Silence! We will have a new choosing.

I will draw the name myself.

He reaches into the barrel and extracts another tile. He

looks at it and his eyes widen. Betrayed, he swivels to face

his daughter. The din of the crowd reaches a crescendo.

CROWD:

Let it stand! Let it stand!

Elspeth takes the tile from her father's nerveless fingers,

looks at it with satisfaction and holds it aloft.

ELSPETH:

The name is as you heard it and as

Horsrik read it:
Elspeth.

The King moils through the tiles, finding his daughter's

name again and again.

KING:

The lottery is invalid. Another and

another. What treachery is this?

Valerian, chanting with the rest, falls silent. She looks at

Elspeth with sudden interest and respect, then awe.

ELSPETH:

Hear me, good people! It is true,

that my name appears on many of the

lots. This does not falsify the

drawing, it certifies it! I have

learned that my name has been kept

from jeopardy in all the drawings in

the past. So I have put my name among

the rest many times -- once for each

risk that, over the years, you took

and I did not.

The crowd is dumbfounded. Gradually voices erupt in a

cacophony of shouts, whistles and excited conversation. Galen

sees his chance:
there's an unguarded door near the stable.

He drifts toward it and slips inside.

THRONE ROOM:

Galen pokes his head in: the room is empty. He scurries over

to a chest, flings it open and starts rummaging. Finding

nothing he moves on to a cabinet. He breaks the lock and

pries it open. Again, nothing.

CASTLE CORRIDOR:

Galen can hear the voices in the courtyard as he rushes down

a hall. Suddenly he stops short. There in front of him is a

guard leaning out a window to watch the proceedings. Galen

hovers on the verge of panic as the guard abruptly moves.

But the man is only headed for another window and a better

view. Galen manages to fall into step an arm's length behind

him and slip by without a sound.

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