Chapter 3: Home for a Very Short Spell
A/N: Most of the poem in this chapter was based on the one in the book. I just added the end, and some of the middle. I also fused together Meryl and Vollys' two different versions of Drualt's battle with the dragon Yune, just because I thought it might be fun.
Also this chapter is in Merry's point of view.
Disclaimer: See chapter 1.
It was very exciting to have my aunt home with us once again. It had been quite awhile since she had supped at our table, but now my father ordered a feast prepared. While we awaited the food, my mother insisted that I declaim for our guests. I stood in front of all, preparing myself. I took a deep breath and began reciting from Drualt. I would end with The Two Princesses.
"Fiery breath,
Snapping teeth, volcanic spittle,
Soft underbelly
Ringed by living spikes,
Poison tipped.
Patient and relentless
As the desert sand,
Dealing hot death
In bitter morsels-
The dragon Yune.
"No scales, no whipping tail,
Only a shining face,
Beacon in battle.
Only a man, the laugher,
Tall among men,
The warrior Drualt.
"Yune's hoard-
Knights' bones,
Gnawed white;
Maidens' bones,
Charred black;
Ruby brooch;
Tiara of diamonds;
My lady's golden slipper-
Yune's hoard,
Tall as a tower.
"Drualt's army-
Defiance, Drualt's steed.
Gore-gouger, Drualt's dagger;
Blood-biter, Drualt's sword;
Drualt's own sturdy legs,
Mainstay and Helpmeet;
Drualt's own mighty arms,
Defender and Thruster.
Drualt's army,
Sinew and steel."
"Yune exhaled a cloud
Of vapors hot and thick,
Bitter as bile.
The cloud engulfed
Drualt's army.
Within the cloud,
Defiance stumbled,
Choking.
Hooves beat the smoke.
Drualt, the laugher,
Heard Yune's laugh.
He raised Blood-biter, and,
Glowing white, the sword carved
A tunnel, a sun shaft
To pure air
And, unseen,
To Yune."
"Within the moldering,
Noxious hoard,
Drualt's living hand
Found the sword
Of long-dead hero
Arkule. Yune's claws
Raked her festering pile
And almost plucked out Drualt's
Keen right eye.
A claw found instead
Drualt's scorched shoulder.
The dragon shrieked her triumph:
'You're mine now. Mine!
Mine to burn, mine to crisp,
Mine to kill.'
She lifted Drualt.
And on that upward journey
To his doom,
Drualt thrust Gore-gouger
Into Yune's soft flesh
And plunged Arkule's long
And ancient sword
Into Yune's stony heart."
"Yune's fire doused,
Her life fell away.
Yet still she held
A bequest, a death gift
For her enemies. From her belly,
Roiling with noxious smoke,
She belched forth
Contagion, a gray death.
"And with a long labored breath,
Yune blew her legacy
To the halls of men.
She said in a thin thread
Of voice, 'Some will be spared,
Some will be chosen. The chosen
Will die, the spared
Will live and mourn,
Heartsick, their lost loves.'
Then her voice guttered out,
And she succumbed,
Dying avenged, dying glad.
Yune, the Sly One,
Flamed no more.
"Many years passed,
Like the spinning
Of the wheels
On the peddler's cart.
Drualt, the laugher,
Tall among men,
Fought on, fought on,
Until the gryphons' massacre
Of his doughty sweetheart's life.
Nestled in the snowy peaks
Of the Eskern Mountains.
"A monster pecked
At Freya's dead lips.
Drualt arose in fury and
Slew it with one sweep
Of his angry sword."
"The imminent danger
Subsided, faded
Into the calm of the night.
The gates of Surmic opened,
Villagers stepping out.
Cowards coming out.
Drualt, the warrior,
Tall among men,
Shook his mighty fist."
"'Come you now?' roared the hero.
'Come you now, when all need
Is past? Come you now,
When my love is dead?'
Frightened, the villagers
Drew back and whispered
Among themselves, their voices
Dry as salt."
"Drualt lifted his beloved
Freya, and carried her
Away; Slowly
Down the path.
One of them,
Crone among cowards,
Followed Drualt and caught
His mighty arm.
'To Bamarre
Will you return
In our hour of need?'"
"Drualt told the crone.
'Bamarre will see no more of me
Until the timid
Go forth with the strong.
But while her heroes
Still fight alone,
Bamarre will see no more of me.'
"Drualt went then
Into the mountains
Carrying Freya,
Bold spirit, lost love.
And he was no more seen in Bamarre.
While specter haunted,
Or dragon flamed,
Or ogre attacked,
Or gryphon descended.
Drualt, the laugher,
Tall among men,
Was gone.
But the tale had not
Run out – not yet.
So be brave Bamarre!
Go forth Bamarre,
The timid with the strong.
Let not your heroes fight alone.
Then one day,
In the spring of the year
When monsters are haunting,
A hero will come,
A laugher,
Tall among men.
Drualt, hero of Bamarre,
Will return.
So rise up, Bamarre!
Be brave, Bamarre!
Be worthy, Bamarre,
Of your hero's return."
"Step follows step,
Hope follows courage.
Set your face towards danger.
Set your heart on victory-
Victory for Bamarre."
"Princess Meryl,
Strong and brave.
Lively and quick,
Gallant lady.
Caught under the merciless,
Powerful thumb
Of Sir Gray Death.
"Princess Addie,
Small and meek.
Brilliant with a needle,
Clumsy with a sword,
Sets out across the drawbridge,
A princess in disguise.
A magical gift
From her beloved mother,
Seven league boots
Carry the princess
to the forest of Mulee.
"Specter attacks,
Gryphons descends,
The princess is rescued,
By a sorcerer's gift.
High above,
The dragon flies.
Stopping to invite her next guest.
Vollys the dragon
Takes the princess
To her desert cave.
But there she is outsmarted.
The princess Addie survives.
The princess Addie escapes,
With the knowledge to
Defeat Sir Gray Death.
'The sorcerer Rhys,
Helps the princess
Along her quest,
Helps the princess
To come home.
"'I found the cure,'
Announced she.
The two princesses of Bamarre
And their loyal Rhys
Set off to the Eskern Valley.
To the village of Surmic,
The bumbling cowards,
Who did not aid Drualt
In his Freya's time of need.
The cowards were reluctant
To aid in Meryl's
Time of need.
'I'll lead them to the valley,
And when monsters strike,
I'll fight too.'
Quoth Gavin the Brave.
'Some in Surmic
Have Courage.'
Six more joined the
Traveling party.
Cowards begged the six to stay
To Stay in the
Safe city.
One woman replied,
'Be brave, Bamarre!
Go forth Bamarre,
The timid with the strong.
Let not you heroes
Fight alone.'
"Nine heroes of Bamarre
Descended into the Aisnan Valley.
The dragon flamed,
The sorcerer attacked,
The ogre charged.
The peasant shouted 'Victory!'
Joined soon by the sick one,
'Victory for Bamarre!'
Echoed by the brave one,
'Victory for Meryl!'
The gryphon descended,
The specter haunted.
The princess thrusted her
Mighty sword,
And the dragon Vollys
Breathed her last.
"Running, running to the spring.
Rain fell,
Dousing the flames,
And all of Bamarre,
In a life-saving shower.
The princess' world went black.
"Whorls of light
Descended from above,
Gathered the nine
Heroes of Bamarre.
"Of the nine,
Two would not return,
Two would not come home.
Gavin the brave
Among the cowards.
Hero of Surmic
Hero of Bamarre,
Slain by ogres.
Gavin the brave,
Tall among men.
"To Princess Meryl
A choice was presented.
Sir Gray Death had
Conquered the princess.
But she chose
To become a fairy
And fight epic battles
To save Bamarre from
Monster and disease.
But she chose
To become a fairy,
To be alive forever,
Atop the mount.
Ziriat is blessed.
But Bamarre lost a hero.
The Queen lost a sister.
And Meryl lost a sister.
"Addie the brave,
And Rhys the Brave
Were wed at the fairy citadel,
In the presence of Drualt,
King of Courage,
Tall among men.
And Orne,
Wise among sorcerers.
And Milton,
Elf healer,
And Bella,
Nursemaid of the princesses.
And Meryl,
Wise and brave,
Lost sister of Bamarre.
Their joy was spread
Across Bamarre.
But the sisters had to part.
Soon below Mount Ziriat
The Princess and the fairy
Shared one final embrace.
"The sisters embraced
And then they parted,
Their faces tear-washed.
But they wept no more,
And smiled instead, laughed
At what would come, though
Hoping, hoping, someday
To embrace again.
Now, when specter haunts,
Or dragon flames,
Or ogre attacks,
Or gryphon descends,
Bamarre fights on,
And the timid march
With the strong.
The tailor,
The cook,
The farmer, the queen-
From village, from field,
From castle, from wood-
Bamarre, land of heroes,
Fights on.
Step follows step.
Hope follows courage.
Set your face toward danger.
Set your heart on victory-
Victory for Bamarre!"
By the time I finished, every listener had wet cheeks, although my brother tried to hide it. But I was elated. Declaiming always gave me an adrenaline rush.
As I returned to my seat, supper commenced, and tray after tray of delicious foods were brought in. When all were fat and happy, we retired to a cozy chamber with a warm fire blazing. Aunt Meryl implored Father to make a cloud picture. I remembered the dancing and singing clouds from my childhood, and sat up, watching carefully.
Father used his baton to form a cloud princess and a cloud prince. He clicked his fingers, and the clouds became colored. The cloud Merry was wearing a soft white dress, with a silver tiara, and the cloud Gavin wore a bright puce tunic, and brown stockings. The cloud-people were playing catch and fire. First Gavin shot at an apple sitting on a servant's head, and then Meryl gave it a go. When they picked up the pieces of the apples, Gavin's were uneven, but his sister's apple was split evenly down the center. The cloud Merry smiled, and then curtsied before they disappeared. Gavin mad ea face at me, and I grinned back.
Shortly thereafter Bella sent Gavin and me off to bed. On my way, I stopped to kiss my parents' cheeks, and saved one for Aunt Meryl.
"I'm glad you are here," I whispered. She smiled sadly, and I realized that her visit was to be very brief. She placed a hand on my arm and her soothing touch comforting me.
In my chamber I changed into a nightgown, and crawled into bed, gathering a childhood doll to my side. I gazed out the window at the stars, and thought of the journey ahead, a long one to Frell, for Princess Lela's birthday.
I drifted off, dreaming of shimmering clouds and wide skirted maidens, gliding gracefully across marble floors.
......
Our carriage passed into the borders of Frell. The city was different from any other I had ever seen. My brother Gavin sat across from me. Our parents were ahead of us in another coach, leading the caravan. We had been traveling for nearly two weeks, and Gavin and I were both growing weary of sitting still. At least we had a break from Bella's endless rules and lessons, for she was riding ahead with Mother.
My mother had taught me her fine embroidery skills, and I was stitching a scene from The Two Princesses. I showed the dragon Vollys flaming, and my father flying towards her, sword in striking pose. My mother was running to the waterfalls, swiping at a gryphon, and Aunt Meryl was riding on an ogre's back, waving her sword, Blood-biter, in the air.
I lifted my head from my work, and looked over at my brother. In the days before he had been reading something from a book detailing past battle plans, and then jotting things down in another book, trying to strategize better, making plans to save more soldiers while vanquishing more monsters. But now he sat motionless, staring out the window. He was definitely bored.
I smiled over at him, and he glanced at me, but then returned his eyes to the scenery outside the window.
"Is there really reason to brood? We're in Frell and in a matter of minutes we'll be at the palace," I pointed out, trying to strike up conversation. Gavin looked thoughtful for a minute, and then grinned at me.
"You're right, Merry," he said mischievously. He sat up and dusted of his clothes, trying to get out the nonexistent wrinkles. We had all changed and had baths at an inn that morning, for it would not have done to arrive looking as weary and dirty as we had.
I felt the carriage slowing, for we had entered a flock of stampeding sheep. Gavin flashed me another of his famous grins, and slowly opened the door. Once he was sure no one was watching him, he hopped to the ground. He turned and held out his arms, meaning to catch me. I shook my head emphatically. Gavin's shoulders shrugged and he turned and walked away.
Not knowing what else I could do, I sat back and returned to my stitchery.