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“Stop!” said Niniane simultaneously.
A mighty clap of thunder resounded through the great hall, drowned out by the clash of steel upon steel.
Lector’s sword caught a metal boss on Cador’s leather armor, and the near-fatal blow was deflected. Although the force of it was great, Cador kept his balance, and his blade came up beneath Lector’s. He thrust it away and counterattacked. The men were evenly matched in height and strength, but Cador fought like two. He backed Lector into a corner and plunged his sword through the villain’s heart.
“Thus dies the traitor who murdered Amelonia’s true king!”
“Curse you, Cador…” Lector fell, the blade still quivering in his chest. His life’s blood gushed out, and he was dead.
Illusius was ecstatic. He dashed around the minstrel’s gallery like a mad fox. “We did it! We did it!” He lashed his tail furiously. “But…how?”
Niniane wasn’t listening. She scurried to the very edge of the platform for a better view. “Oh, dear! Oh, dear!” she squeaked. “We must do something!”
Cut off from his men, Cador still fought bravely, surrounded by Lector’s troops. It seemed that he would be struck down at any moment. With Rill directing the action, the outnumbered rebels were forced back toward the armory, where they would be boxed in.
Tressalara saw her ladies to safety, wielding her dagger left and right. She longed for her own rapier, which Lector had taken from her. But the situation demanded something more. She ran back to the dais. She must save Cador, save them all. Reaching the wooden chest on the royal table, she held it aloft. The opalescent crystal inside the opened box seemed to capture the light and reflect it back. It shone blue and purple and gold and green, sending rays of glory from one end of the chamber to the other.
“Rill!” she cried. “Call off your men, or I will turn the powers of the Andun Crystal against you!”
Her voice floated over the room with incredible power, and the fighting ceased completely. Rill joined her on the dais. She stood facing him, the box containing the crystal balanced in the palm of her hand.
“Fool of a woman!” he whispered so that only she could hear. “That is not the Andun Stone. It is only carved opal that I commissioned myself. It has no powers.”
Rill’s mouth curled with derision as his fingers reached out. A crash of thunder shook the air, and a shock of cold fire ran up his arm. Cold changed to incredible heat. The sorcerer was unable to move or breathe.
Tressalara’s voice came to his ears as if from a far distance: “You see that I was never under your puny power at all, Rill. There were only two places where my father kept the Andun Stone. One you saw. The other was in the head of the great dragon throne. And you brought me right to it. I switched the boxes earlier, during the diversion my ladies created.”
Rill remembered the spilled gravy and the confusion that followed. In his mind’s eye he saw the princess standing beside the dragon chair, her long cape swirled across it, with her waiting woman pretending to free it. That was the last thought he had. A towering pillar of flame erupted where he stood with the glowing crystal in his hand. The writhing fire burned so brightly that people shielded their eyes against the glare.
When the flames died, the evil wizard was totally consumed. Nothing left but a pile of ash, a small crystal shard, and the great Andun Stone was left. It swirled with opalescent color, intensifying the ancient letters that were engraved upon its base, that gave the crystal its name:.
A sudden cheer and the sound of booted feet from the direction of the kitchens announced that Brand’s men had finally broken through. As they spilled into the room, Lector’s men threw down their weapons and fell upon their knees, begging for mercy. In a matter of minutes it was over, and the rebels had taken control. A mighty roar went up from the crowd: “All hail Tressalara!”
She stepped upon the dais. “Where is Cador?” she demanded suddenly. Her triumph could not be complete without him to share it. This victory was his as much as hers, she wanted to celebrate the joy of the moment with him. Her moment of glory turned to bitterness. The ranks parted and Brand and their lieutenants came through to lay Cador, pale and bloody, at her feet. She felt her own blood drain from her head. “Dear God in heaven! Cador! It cannot be!”
The rebel chiefs formed a protective circle around Elani and Grette. Tressalara knelt beside Cador and touched his beloved face. Her silken sleeve trailed his blood. His cheek was already cool. All the passion, the intelligence, the lust for life was quenched. His soul had fled. In her horror she would have traded pride and wealth, throne and crown, even her very life in exchange for his. “Oh, Cador, my love!”
The words were wrenched from her. She cradled his head upon her breast, heedless of the blood that smeared her silken gown. Her heart had shattered into a thousand pieces, and every one had Cador’s name engraved upon it. A part of her had died with him. She knew that she would never love again.
Her tears bathed his face, handsome even in death, and her lips gently pressed his. His amulet seemed to grow warm against her skin, and a faint flush of life seemed to color his cheeks. Tressalara lifted her head. Once more Cador was as still and white as wax.
Again she touched her lips to his, and again a tinge of pink colored his face. A murmur went through the watching circle. Another strange thing happened then. Two rats appeared— one white, one black. They were rolling something along ahead of them, pushing at it with their naked pink feet until it touched the hem of her gown. Brand drew his dagger to dispatch the rats, but she stopped him.
“Leave be! These are surely enchanted creatures.”
Tressalara immediately recognized the object by the strange symbols engraved upon it:. It was Rill’s crystal, yet the signs were similar to the ones on Cador’s amulet:. Were their powers somehow linked? There was little to lose in chancing it.
As the princess picked up the shard that Rill had dropped, the blush of life pinked Cador’s skin for a third time. The blood that had been pouring from his wounds ceased its flow. The crowd whispered in astonishment. The white rat and its black twin pulled at her sleeve. Tressalara thought she understood. If these two crystals, so alike in composition to the Andun, could do this much, what could the Andun Crystal itself do?
The Andun Stone lay where it had fallen.
The smoldering ashes nearby gave proof of its mighty power. But Tressalara had not been handed it by her father and named true heir, as had always been the case before. If she touched it, without its being given to her by the previous heir, would she share Rill’s fiery fate?
She didn’t hesitate. Still touching Cador, she lifted her other hand. As she reached out for the Andun Crystal, the courtiers gasped in alarm. Brand stopped her. “Highness, Cador did not give his life for you only to have you risk yours in this way.”
Tressalara lifted her head with royal dignity. “I would not be fit to govern were I not as willing to give my life for my loyal subjects as they have been for me.”
Brand looked her in the eye, then nodded and released her. “So speaks a true queen.”