Zoran Chronicles Volume 1 A Dragon in Our Town (59 page)

            
Zdenka and Jarka were wiser this time. Knowing that they would need to be
wearing the most fashionable very high heels, they began practicing walking in them the
week before, taking tips from Chika and Akira, who had to wear them so that they could
walk. Their ankles and calves still would not allow their feet to rest flat on the floor, but
they could walk effectively now in their heels. By now, the teens were very adept in their
heels and gave Zdenka and Jarka some excellent tips. Both women vowed to look as
graceful and elegant as the other baronesses and women at the council.

            
At last, the evening before the meeting and with bags packed and shrunk, Zoran
Shadow Walked his group to Terra. Specifically, he zoomed in on their egg shaped
continent. Although barely dusk there, as the land grew closer to them, neatly tilled
fields dotted the horizon. Soon the capital city of Heddingham dwarfed their view, eight
perfectly straight roads ran out of the city — a perfect compass rose. The city was huge
by Adapazan standards, at least three times the size of Dorum. Located in the very
center where the eight roads met lay Waterton Palace, the home of Baron Tom
Witherspoon.

            
The sprawling castle complex, built from brown stone, occupied several acres,
including a grass pasture land for their many horses. Zoran estimated the enclosed space
behind the outer walls, complete with parapets, to be ten times the size of his new
fortifications. Impressive. The eight roads arrived at eight double barbicans, heavily
guarded entrances to the grounds. Instead of one castle inside the walls, Tom had three
very large ones, connected with each other by second and third story stone bridges, the
lower ones some fifteen feet above the ground below them. An enormous stone platform
with miniature parapets lining three outer sides was their landing location. Great
entrance gates allowed access into the center of the three castles. Here Zoran finally
ended his Shadow Walk, landing the seven gracefully upon the stone.

            
Baron Tom, aware of Zoran’s arrival, was there at the great gates to greet him.
Baroness Abigail, Duke John, with Dusana Matous holding his arm, waved as the seven
landed. “Welcome to Terra at long last, Baron Archmage Zoran, Baroness Archmage
Zdenka, Archmage Karel, Mage Jarka, Mage Bernard, Archmage Emil, and Archmage
Renata,” Baron Tom called out formally.

            
As each took turns shaking hands, Zdenka and Jarka couldn’t help notice the
dresses worn by the Baroness Abigail and Dusana. Abigail’s bright yellow dress, with
many colored flowers, flared out at least eight feet in front of her body. Giant hoops
draped the yards of material into a perfect shape. In stark contrast, their waists seemed
impossibly tiny; their bosoms, large. Baroness Abigail had her hair up in what could only
be described as a bee hive, complete with many embedded flowers. Dusana wore hers
curly and long, though it was fluffed out, making her head seem much larger,
proportionally.

            
In contrast, the dresses of Zdenka and Jarka, wearing the fashions of the spring
council meeting, only flared out some five feet. “Oh, dears, you must try the newest
fashions! Don’t we look fabulous?” the Baroness chatted with Zdenka and Jarka. “These
ball gowns are now the latest fashion, though I admit these corsets are terribly tight.
Doesn’t Dusana here cut a magnificent figure in her pink satin gown?” The young
woman broke into a broad smile.

            
“They are a bit much to handle, but Duke John cannot seem to let go of me,”
Dusana whispered coyly to Zdenka and Jarka. “Oh you two simply must get one of these
new gowns with all of the accessories for the big dance tomorrow night!”

            
“Oh indeed you must! Dusana and I have picked out dresses for each of you, my
small gift to welcome you to Terra, Zdenka and Jarka. You don’t mind if we don’t
address each so formally, do you? Just call me Abigail. Now then, Dusana picked out the
colors. She got them to match your sky blue one, Zdenka. Yours is cherry red, Jarka. I do
hope that you like them, though it takes two of us to get into them, and it takes ever so
long to get dressed. But you will see. After you get settled in, we’ll come by. I’m terribly
sorry that we did not know that you were coming, Renata. We’ll get you a dress
tomorrow, if that is acceptable to you.” Abigail chatted on and on.

            
Renata, unused to such formal court dialog, interrupted the Baroness. “Excuse
me, Abigail, but I am happy with my dress. Thank you for the kind offer. A dragon is far
more interested in that lovely green emerald on your neck. It is absolutely beautiful!”

            
“Oh, why thank you, Renata. Yes, it is quite large. Tom got it for me on our
twentieth wedding anniversary. You know, Tom now has twenty golden dragons flying
about Terra, protecting us from attacks. I am so glad that your kind is so willing to help
us.”

            
Renata grinned, “Oh we do almost anything for gems such as yours. I’m sure that
the dragons will be very happy here if there are more such gems to be found. Say, I
wonder, do you have a gem store in this city where I could exchange my smaller gems for
treasures such as yours?” she asked, her gem lust exceeding her court knowledge.

            
“Well, I’m sure that we do, Renata. Say, I will ask Tom about it and let you know
tonight when I come by for the ladies. If so, why, I will personally see that you can get to
that store. Oh, I see the men are waiting on us. Shall we show you all to your rooms?”

            
While the ladies were chatting, Tom took Zoran and Karel aside. “Say, Barons
Milan, Viktor, Aldo, and Etienne want a word with you two before the morning’s
meeting. Since my wife wants to abscond with your women after we get you settled in,
what say that we all get together? We can relay the news and have a sample of our
excellent ales. Here on Terra, we make some of the finest stouts and dark ales in the
Federation, though others may dispute it.” Zoran agreed and they waited on the ladies.

            
As the men escorted the women inside, Zdenka noted that both Dusana and
Abigail walked even slower than she and Jarka. Why, she didn’t know. That thought left
her as she began taking in the marvels of this splendid castle. The walls of the halls were
covered in elegant, historical tapestries, each one telling a story in the long history of
Terra. Magical lighting illuminated these works of art. Zdenka and Jarka had never seen
anything like this before.

            
Bernard and Karel were more fascinated by the standing suits of plate armor,
artistically arranged at various nooks along their passage. “This is the housing castle.
Next door is the meeting castle, where spacious rooms hold our meetings and where we
will be dining. Oh, yes, the giant ballroom is in that one as well, Baron Tom pointed out
as they slowly walked down the halls, the clicks of the women’s heels on the stone floor
providing the only other sounds.

            
They had a suite of rooms, all quite large. Indeed, everything about Tom’s castle
was large. He explained that Waterton Castle had been designed around holding High
Council meetings. Thus, no expense had been spared in its construction. Their suite
consisted of a huge living room, two baths, and five bedrooms, far more than they
needed. Zoran noted that it was luxury all the way. Everything about Waterton Castle
spoke of extravagance. Evidently, Terra was a wealthy planet indeed. Chika later
explained to Zoran that Terra and Cosma, the agrarian planets, provided much of the
various grains that the other planets needed for survival. Over the centuries, they had
become rather wealthy indeed.

            
A half hour later, Abigail and Dusana, arm in arm, returned to their suite to pick
up Zdenka and Jarka. Abigail whispered to Renata, “It’s all arranged. Tomorrow
evening, Tom will arrange a special gemstone showing solely for you and Emil at the
finest gem stone store in Heddingham!” This greatly pleased Renata, who took Emil
aside and told him of her arrangement. He was likewise very eager to go.

            
“Zoran, Renata and I need to make a quick trip back to the Tower. We’ll be back
in about a half hour.” The glow in their eyes told all. Only the thought of fine gems
produced that glow, that and of course powerful magic. Both left the room after the
ladies left.

            
“If you will take my arm, please,” Abigail asked Zdenka. “The only problem with
these new dresses and heels is that we always needing a balancing arm. Honestly, I have
to admit that Dusana and I are having a challenging time with these outfits. Still, the
effect upon our men is more than worth it.” Jarka took Dusana’s arm and the pairs
slowly walked down the long hall.

            
A bit later, Tom came for the men. Zoran, Karel, and Bernard followed him to a
side meeting room, where overstuffed chairs, small work tables, and a huge bar occupied
the elegant space. Plush rugs covered most of the floor. The other barons were already
here, sipping a dark stout, some smoking their pipes.

            
“Ah, Zoran, well met once again,” Baron Viktor said, as they entered. “Come, try
this dark ale. Superb. We have much to discuss.”

            
Zoran’s comment spoke volumes, after taking a sip of the ale. “Incredible! Best
ale that I have ever tasted! I think I need to make a trade with you, Tom!” The men
laughed; Bernard was in heaven, trying each of the ten different types of stouts and ales.
Karel gave him a glare stare and contented himself to a mug of the ale that Zoran had.
He needed to keep his wits about him.

            
“Okay, to business,” Milan finally said, putting the pleasantries aside. “We’ve
gotten the preliminary schedule for the meeting. It is a bit strange. Baron Kazimir is
holding an official wedding just before the opening statement of Tom’s. Apparently, he’s
found a wife for his bastard son, Damek Kamil. Baron’s Eckhard’s eldest daughter,
Brunhilda, will be marrying him. Why? Well, Kazimir is going to nullify his heir, Lida,
just after the presentation and acceptance of Duke Leo as the newest baron. We expect
that he will announce that Damek will be his heir. Of course, we will launch a formal
protest, in that Damek is not Duska, but we all know that is just a formality. As long as
Brunhilda is his baroness, she will be in charge of his Circle.”

            
Viktor added, “Zoran, it has happened three times in the past — a baron who is
not a Duska, that is. Usually, it is the baroness who is not. Yet, in this case, it is going to
be very strange indeed.”

            
“Why so?”

            
“Well what do you know of this Damek?” Etienne spoke up.

            
“Not much at all,” Zoran replied.

            
“No one does. That’s the point. Our spies tell us that he was a mere sergeant in
the Baron’s army — just a mere platoon leader, now become a baron,” Milan continued.
“As far as we know, he knows virtually nothing about being a baron, his duties, his
responsibilities, or even magic!”

            
“The man is way out of his league, way out of the waters!” Etienne broke in.

            
“About the stupidest idea I’ve ever heard of,” put in Viktor.

            
“Doomed to fail utterly,” Aldo added. “I don’t see how he can possibly measure up
to the task of being a baron. Lord knows how much you didn’t know and you were a
Duska and an Archmage when you became a baron. No offense intended son.”

            
Zoran grinned, “None taken, Aldo. “I am the first to admit how little I know about
many things. I cannot thank you enough for the use of Duke John and Dusana. They
have been utterly invaluable!”

            
Milan resumed control, “Hence, it is our guess that two things will occur. First,
Brunhilda will likely take control of most things. Second, we suspect that Kazimir’s allies
will be sending a large amount of, shall we say, advisors to Dorum. He will need Mages
as well as business and financial advisors.”

            
Baron Viktor concluded, “And this will make Baron Damek a mere puppet of our
enemies.”

            
“Which means, Zoran, that it will really be Baron Eckhard who is running Castle
Dorumova,” Milan finished.

            
Karel looked at Zoran and then spoke up, “Is that good or bad?” He kept Zoran
from having to ask this embarrassing question.

            
“Depends,” Milan answered. “Bogdan is a brute, similar to Kazimir. Eckhard is
sly, cunning, devious, and underhanded. He’s probably the most powerful of our
enemies, save perhaps Cheng. We’ve feared that Bogdan would simply bring in his army
and try to smash his way to Brn by brute force. Eckhard is far more treacherous and
devious.”