The Crown and the Dragon Page #3

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- She's the Paladin.

- What?

There' no time to spare.

You must take her to the hermit

on the shores of Lough Aislinn.

She must undergo her anointing.

Aedin, you must take care of her.

Her fulfillment has drawn the Dragon.

The two are now linked.

It won't rest until one

destroys the other.

You're a part of this now, Aedin.

Blessings of the Gods be on you. Go!

We have to keep moving.

Traitor!

We need to move faster.

Get back.

Elenn.

Back.

Come on.

If it catches our scent

we won't out run it.

We've got to keep moving.

Come on. Just a little bit further.

We're there.

Hey!

Hey!

What do you want?

Oh no! Don't you bring

your troubles around here!

We've come from the Leode!

I don't care where you come from!

Take your strumpet and piss off!

We're coming in.

What you do... What's going on?

What's going on?

Those are precious artifacts.

- So is she.

- What's happening?

She's its keeper.

She's entered the glyderinge.

Gods above!

- The Paladin...

- You've got to finish the ceremony.

We haven't much time. Candles!

Celyn berries! Do you know them?

She's going to die, man! Quick!

Leif.

I should have known.

Hello again, old man.

I've told you,

I have nothing more to sell you.

Hello, old friend.

Looks like you turned traitor.

No, it's about revenge.

- Where are your new friends?

- Where's the girl?

Miles from here.

For a smuggler,

you always were a terrible liar.

You can still just turn and walk away.

No, no.

I've been looking forward to this.

Is this the glyderinge?

Remarkable.

Like all your battles, Aedin,

this is one you cannot win.

Now tell me where's the girl.

Defiant to the last.

That girl just killed you.

Oh no.

Where is she?

He took her.

I've sold him many things

in the past...

Didn't think I had magic

left to pluck his birds.

Is she alive?

The Glyderinge... not finished.

She's fragile...

may not wake.

Elenn.

Wake up.

It's the latest fashion in Rhona,

I believe.

I am Corvus of Renonia.

You are Corvus the traitor.

Born into a family of Deiran nobility.

My father, in his wisdom,

made himself useful to the Emperor,

and I spent my youth

and education abroad.

I have seen so many things, Elenn.

Magicians in Hottonium who summon up

dueling beast of horrific size,

only often to be devoured themselves,

Sarinese shaman who lie facedown

on glowing coals, unscathed.

However,

none have intrigued me

more than this.

The missing part.

I have soared for so many years

to make it whole,

and at a great cost.

The blood of one dragon

shall anoint the other,

and the land shall be healed.

What do you want from me?

In my hands,

it's just an old unicorn horn,

broken,

inert

but reunited in the hands

of an anointed Deiran priestess,

the last of her kind...

It is a vessel of immense power.

Don't you see?

Me, to collect the necessary pieces.

You, to fulfill your destiny

and reunite the Falarica.

I knew it when I saw you in Ghel,

and I know it now,

seeing you here

before these two pieces.

It is to this purpose

that you have been anointed.

You know nothing of my destiny.

You are wrong.

Take the girl.

This is no longer a Vitalion matter!

You are beginning to vex me, Corvus.

This relic, this girl, they are nothing.

Burning religiouswomen

does not stop revolutions,

quite the opposite.

The girl will be executed immediately.

What is the charge?

- Treason and sedition.

- You have no evidence.

Two weeks ago you were bleating

on about a mountain of evidence!

There is none.

Magister Corvus,

you are very close to finding

yourself at the end of a big pike.

I petition for trial by combat.

I have no interest

in your primitive Deiran custom.

As you are aware,

the Vitalion have agreed

to observe certain Deiran laws.

She comes from a noble family.

There is no evidence.

Trial by combat must be observed.

Very well, Corvus.

She shall have her trial by combat.

But you shall represent the interests

of the Empire in this, not hers!

She shall have three days.

And if a champion doesn't emerge

she will be executed.

If they do,

you will battle them to the death.

Win, and she dies.

Lose, and she's free.

Three days.

We've got a heavy one here.

Don't you die on your own,

I want to kill you myself.

Night, night.

Am I where I think I am?

Depends...

Do you think you're in heaven?

No.

Then yes.

Sleep.

He wants you rested,

so he can kill you properly.

Tell Clooney...

Baretheon's girl...

She's the Paladin.

Come with me, Elenn.

I can get you out.

Why should you?

Because a vibrance

and an instinct like yours is so rare.

I will not...

I can not let them take you from me.

No.

Strabus will see me fall.

Forget this land,

forget these people, forget the dragon.

I want to take you to a place

where none of this matters.

No.

What difference is your death

going to make?

Well more than my life will

if I leave with you.

I have petitioned for trial by combat,

but I've been forced to fight

for the Emperor.

If no champion comes forward

by noon tomorrow,

you will be executed.

Gods above, woman!

No champion is coming!

Do you know what they'll do to you?

For the last time,

I beg you,

come with me

and forget this foolishness.

Then you'll die,

Lama's Eve will pass,

and Garrick will not be crowned.

Clooney!

Clooney you bastard, set me free!

Clooney!

Aedin!

It seems your lass needs a champion.

They're going to execute her

without one.

Elenn of Adair,

you are charged with the crimes

of sedition and treason,

for which you will be executed.

How do you plead?

I do not plead.

I am a Deiran.

And you are in a Deiran fortress

upon Deiran lands!

Very pretty for a Deiran girl.

No plea.

A trial by combat

has been petitioned on your behalf,

and it seems that a champion

has emerged.

Bring out the prisoner!

Pretty dress.

I like the color.

And do you accept this man

as your champion?

Yes.

So be it! Trial by combat!

Bring that b*tch to heel

and then throw her back in her cage.

Let go of me.

I did not expect such fervor

from Corvus.

He seems quite taken by the girl.

Survival is still the stronger

instinct, Strabus.

Who is she?

A Deiran witch.

She has an old horn

that Corvus was truly obsessed about.

He calls it the Falarica, I believe.

It is significant to the Deiran Kings?

The Emperor has interest

in royal artifacts.

The man who brings him the horn

would be smiled upon.

Do you have it?

Vitalion justice!

Finish it!

To kill the dragon

she must unite the horn...

It is her...

destiny.

I am almost grateful to you

for ridding me of the traitor.

Throw him to the dogs.

That's the problem with you Deiran.

You never have the good sense

to stop when you're beaten.

Elenn!

The dragon!

We need to get to the Summit

of lliak by dawn.

- Why?

- The coronation.

Grab that horse.

Faster, come on!

We cross into open ground,

we're dead.

It's me the dragon's after.

Here, take this to the coronation.

Corvus said you must unite the horn.

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