Chapter 3: Soldier

IN THE MORNING, they had still not determined which direction they were to go, but before they could begin arguing about the matter, the stillness of the country was broken by a whistled tune. Xandros the donkey was the first to hear it and alerted the couple with his bray. The tune was not a merry tune, nor particularly sad. It was a tune punctuated by measured footsteps tramping on the path through the forest. The tune was a marching tune.

“Now, here comes a reason to have taken the south path,” Steven muttered under his breath.

Selah smiled smugly as they awaited the approach of the marchers. Soon three soldiers marched into view and came to a halt at the edge of Steven’s camp. The leading soldier walked directly up to Steven.

“Are you Steven George the Dragonslayer?” he asked gruffly.

A truly clever and quick-witted man might have made up another name on the spot, but Steven was not clever and quick-witted enough to lie to the soldier.

“I am Steven George, sometimes called Dragonslayer, but the truth is that I didn’t really...”

“Doesn’t matter,” said the soldier. “Never met a dragon. Never want to. It’s just a name.”

The fire where Steven had been cooking breakfast suddenly flared to life, startling the soldiers. Steven spared a glance at Selah who smiled demurely.

“Well, how can I help you?” Steven asked.

“Steven George the Dragonslayer,” intoned the sergeant in his best heraldic voice, “you are summoned to the presence of Montague Magnus the Fourth, King and Liege of Sylgale, Puissant Paragon of Mariria, and the Simple Pride of Arining, to dine at the King’s table and regale our monarch with tales of your adventures; for which His Royal Highness has promised you just compensation and opportunity for magnanimous reward.”

The sergeant then turned to look at his two men, who briefly consulted with each other and then nodded back to the sergeant. It was obvious that the poor soldier was not used to delivering decrees from the King and had been practicing on his comrades in arms for as long as they had been on the road.

Agreed that he had delivered the message correctly, the soldiers began to sniff the air.

“Is that a stew cooking on your fire?” asked the sergeant hungrily.

“It is,” said Selah coming forward. “We had rabbit for dinner and made the rest into a stew this morning. Would you care to join us?”

As hungrily as the men gazed toward the fire, the sergeant still demurred.

“Now, we couldn’t eat rabbits that were poached from the King’s lands,” he said. “It’s a crime and you may be punished when the King is told. We have rations we can eat.”

“Really?” asked Selah. “And where are the King’s lands?”

“Oh, all this forest is the King’s,” said the sergeant. “Anything caught within it is his.”

“Well, that settles it,” Selah said with finality. “These rabbits were caught in the field here, not within the King’s forest. Surely now you can join us to eat.” The soldiers consulted with each other quietly, then the sergeant turned again to Madame Selah Welinska and bowed.

“Seeing as no rabbits were caught in the King’s forest, there can be no harm in our accepting your invitation, Lady. We would be most delighted to dine with you,” he said as respectfully as possible. “And there need be no report or mention of what didn’t happen should any soldier appear before the King, neither.”

With that the soldiers dropped their packs and disassembled their mess kits, standing at attention in line next to the fire as Selah dished out stew. They fell to eating with the appetite of soldiers on a long march. When they were scraping out the bottom of their plates, one of the other soldiers—who looked as much like the other as twins—spoke to Selah.

“Begging your pardon, lady,” he said to her. “But would you be the dragon-lady spoken of in so many stories?”

The sergeant rapped the young soldier on the head and reprimanded him sharply for his impudence. Therefore, none of the soldiers noticed the fiery look that Selah gave to Steven.

“So, I’m spoken of in many stories, am I?” she began. “Pray tell, what do these stories say?”

“Well, now, ‘many’ is a relative term. When a man has heard only two, one is many of them. And that was just hearsay. The boy meant no insult, Madame,” said the sergeant. “We were given specific instructions on how to identify the dragonslayer. We were told that he travels in the company of a beautiful lady that was sometimes called the dragon-lady. Personally, I never met nobody who would dare to call her that to her face. It was of no more significance than the mention of a donkey. It was how we were told to identify Steven George the Dragonslayer.”

“And does the King’s summons extend to the dragon-lady and the donkey?”

“I ain’t saying they wouldn’t be welcomed in the court, but the King made no mention of inviting the lady and the donkey. Not that the King would ever presume on her nor neglect to mention her. ‘Twas an urgent summons for the Dragonslayer only.”

“Good,” she said with finality that startled Steven. He could not mistake the fact that she looked determinedly down the southbound road.

“We should start back,” the soldier said. “If you would be so kind as to accompany us, Steven George the Dragonslayer?”

Steven was not ready to make this decision. He could see that Madame Selah Welinska was still determined to travel south. He needed to have time to convince her to go with him.