Chapter Seven

 

Prince Josiah reached the Castle of Faith just before nightfall. He reined to a stop at the edge of the moor and sat quietly for a moment as he debated his next move. After thinking it through, he decided not to hide the egg in the hollow tree again. He would take the egg into the castle where it would be safe. Dismounting, he retrieved the egg from his saddle bags and hid it beneath his cloak, holding it against his side in the crook of his elbow. He managed to remount awkwardly.

Turning the mare, he rode across the drawbridge and entered the castle. His heart pounded. He was taking the forbidden egg into King Emmanuel’s castle!

A servant met him as he entered the west bailey. “May I take your horse, my lord?”

The young prince turned the mare over to him. “Rub her down well. She’s run hard.”

Josiah hurried up the stairs toward his solar, determined to hide the egg as quickly as possible. He felt a sense of relief when he reached the room without encountering Selwyn or Gilda. Glancing around quickly, he opened the door and slipped inside. He surveyed the round chamber at a glance. Perhaps he could hide the egg in the fireplace, but then it would get soiled with soot and ashes. The only practical hiding place would be in one of the three drawers of the chiffonnier.

Uneasy at the idea of trying to hide the dragon’s egg in his solar, the young prince slipped back out on the sentry walk and closed the door behind him. Glancing furtively around to ascertain that no one was watching, he hurried across the castle grounds, crossed the east bailey, and slipped inside the stables.

The stable boy was attending to the mare as Josiah entered. Moving as quietly as possible, the young prince sneaked across the stable and climbed the ladder to the loft without being seen. He stepped across golden mounds of sweet-smelling hay until he reached the far corner. The perfect hiding place! He dug deeply into the hay, hollowing out a small void in which to hide the egg. He slipped the egg from beneath his cloak.

The dragon’s egg began to glow and change color, pulsating and shimmering as he held it. His heart began to pound. Just touching the egg brought a thrill that he couldn’t have explained. The egg brought feelings of excitement, adventure, the satisfaction of owning something that perhaps no one else in the kingdom possessed.

At last, he slipped the egg into the hay and carefully buried it, smoothing the hay back into place over the egg and then meticulously dropping bits of hay over the spot to disguise it.

He stepped back, silently surveying the hiding place. The hay looked undisturbed; there was absolutely no sign that anything was secreted there. No one would ever find the dragon’s egg. Satisfied that all was well, he managed to slip from the stable without the servant even knowing that he had been there.

He breathed a sigh of relief. The egg was safely hidden inside the castle, and no one had seen him. A nagging doubt haunted the corners of his mind. Possession of a dragon’s egg was a direct violation of royal law. He had consciously disobeyed his King, and his conscience troubled him. The egg was hidden, but he still felt uneasy at the thought of keeping it within the castle.

“Josiah.” The young prince jumped with fright at the sound of his name. Selwyn hurried across the courtyard. “Gilda and I have been looking for you, Josiah. Where have you been?”

“I—I went out for a ride,” Josiah replied, taking a deep breath to quiet the pounding of his heart. He squared his jaw, hoping that his face did not reveal the guilt he felt within.

“You should have invited me,” his friend told him. “I would have gone with you.”

Josiah just nodded.

 

 

In the next few days the young prince began making numerous visits to the hayloft above the stables. Although his conscience bothered him greatly, the egg somehow became irresistible. He had to see it, had to hold it, had to spend time with it. He failed to realize it, but the dragon’s egg was slowly taking over his life, slowly seizing control of his heart.

Three weeks after taking the egg into the castle, Josiah again dreamed that Lady Prudence visited his solar. Just as before, she took him through the Lake of Destiny to stand before King Emmanuel. He cringed when the fire revealed the dragon’s egg, and he found that he couldn’t even look at the face of his King. He awoke in a cold sweat, trembling with emotion.

I’ll not keep the dragon’s egg a day longer, he resolved. Tomorrow at first light I shall take it into the forest and crush it once and for all. I must not love that which His Majesty has forbidden.

He awoke to the song of a meadowlark. Dressing hurriedly, he slipped from his solar and hurried along the sentry walk. He glanced over the castle wall toward the moor. The morning air was cold. A white mist swirled just above the ground and dense clouds of fog obscured the forest and the moor from view.

He hurried to the stable, opening the huge stable door and starting slightly as the hinges squeaked in protest. He wavered just for a moment at the idea of destroying the egg, but then his resolve returned and he quickly climbed the ladder to the loft. He retrieved the egg from its hiding place in the hay. At once it began to glow and pulsate, glowing brighter and brighter until he thought he had never before seen anything so beautiful. What a shame to destroy such a magnificent egg, he thought sadly. Perhaps I shall keep it a while longer.

At that moment, his thoughts turned to his dream from the night before. He could see King Emmanuel’s face, so kind, so loving. He could see the pain that appeared in His Majesty’s eyes when the egg emerged from the fire. Once again, he relived his own keen disappointment that he had not heard the words “Well done” from his King.

He set his jaw in determination. “The dragon’s egg must be destroyed today,” he said aloud, as if attempting to strengthen his own resolve. “I shall not keep it—I shall take it at once to the forest and crush it.” The egg glowed brighter and brighter.

He hurried from the stables, crossed the east and west baileys, and entered the castle gatehouse. “Good morning, my lord,” a sentry greeted him, reaching for the chain that raised the portcullis. “Out for a morning stroll?”

“Aye,” the young prince replied, tight-lipped and not wishing to talk.

Chains rattled as the huge, iron-clad portcullis lifted slowly. Josiah waited impatiently as the sentry unbarred the main gates and swung them slowly open. “Fog’s so thick this morning you can hardly see your hand in front of your face,” the sentry remarked. “Take care that you do not get lost, my lord.”

“I shall not go far,” Josiah replied tersely.

He crossed the drawbridge and hurried down the lane toward the moor, his left hand clutching the dragon’s egg under the folds of his cloak. His heart cried out at the thought of what he was about to do, but he steeled himself and walked on. He turned. The morning mists had already obscured the Castle of Faith from view.

He stepped into the forest bordering the moor. The sentry was right—the fog was unusually thick. He found that he could barely see two paces in front of him.

He came to a large flat rock two or three yards across. The perfect place to destroy the egg, he thought. He knelt and picked up a fist-sized rock with his right hand. Fighting the impulse to take the dragon’s egg back into the castle, he pulled the forbidden object from beneath his cloak.

Josiah froze as he heard a cough nearby. The sound came from just a few paces to his left. His heart pounded as he hurriedly thrust the egg back under his cloak. Just then, a young squire materialized out of the mists. “Good morning, my lord,” the boy greeted him. “Out for a morning stroll?”

Josiah nodded without speaking.

“Never have I seen a fog such as this,” the boy remarked. “One can hardly see one’s own hand before his face.”

The young prince did not reply. He waited for the squire to move on so that he could finish the task he had set out to do. Instead, the boy seemed inclined to talk. “This is my only time to explore the forest,” he told Josiah. “In just a few minutes my knight will be calling me to assist him. I work from morning to night, with nary a moment to call my own. A lad deserves time of his own, wouldn’t you say?” The squire rambled on and on, talking about nothing. Josiah, impatient with the boy’s idle prattle, replied in monosyllables. He didn’t want to be rude, but he was trying not to encourage the strange squire. He desperately wanted the boy to move on so that he could crush the egg.

The young squire rambled on and on with no sign of stopping.

At last, Josiah let the rock fall to the earth. Thoroughly frustrated, he said, “Well, good day, lad. I must be about my business.” He turned abruptly and moved away quickly, seeking another place to finish the task of destroying the egg. He paused in a thick grove of trees. I’ll do it here. He bent over and reached for another rock.

To his dismay, the talkative boy immediately reappeared. “Have you ever seen such a fog, my lord? It’s as thick as sweet cream. And the weather is so cool. My knight says that the hens lay better in cool weather.”

Josiah groaned. Would the bothersome squire never leave him alone?

Ten minutes later, the young prince was ready to give up. The squire had followed him repeatedly from place to place, never catching the hints Josiah had dropped about wanting to be alone. “Hurry home, lad,” he finally told the boy. “Your knight will be waiting for you.” He turned abruptly and darted away, hoping that the irksome lad would not be able to follow him through the swirling mists.

He stopped in a thick grove of young evergreens. He stood, listening intently, waiting expectantly, but heard nothing. To his relief, the squire did not make an appearance. He knelt. Taking the dragon’s egg from within his cloak, he laid it on the ground. He picked up a large rock. Holding the rock with both hands, he raised it over his head.

At that moment he heard a soft cry, not unlike the mewing of a kitten. He paused, rock poised, listening intently. The plaintive sound came again, a low, mournful cry that stirred an unnamed emotion within his heart. He lowered the rock, turning his head from side to side to determine the origin of the unusual sound.

He stared at the egg. Flashes of color were pulsating weakly across the surface of the egg, slowly growing fainter and fainter as he watched. It was as if the egg was dying. He gulped. Had the strange cries come from the egg?

He picked up the rock, and the soft, mournful cries were repeated. His hands trembled as he dropped the rock harmlessly beside him. For some unknown reason, he no longer had the will to crush the egg. Knowing that possession of the dragon’s egg was an offense against King Emmanuel’s royal law, he had fully intended to destroy it. But now, after being interrupted and distracted by the young squire, he found that he no longer had the heart to do it.

Standing to his feet, he picked up the egg and once again secreted it beneath his cloak. A sense of failure overwhelmed him as he stepped from the woods and hurried up the lane toward the Castle of Faith. King Emmanuel would have him to destroy the egg—of that he was nearly certain—but he had failed. He had tried, but had somehow not been able to do it.

His head was down and his steps were slow as he climbed the stairs to his solar. Why had he been unable to crush the dragon’s egg? Entering his solar, he closed the door behind him and sat on the edge of his bed, defeated and discouraged. He withdrew the dragon’s egg from beneath his cloak and placed it on the coverlet beside him.

A knock sounded suddenly at his door, and his heart leaped into his throat. He dropped to his knees beside the bed, seized the egg, and thrust it beneath the bed. Letting out his breath in a long sigh, he stood and turned toward the door. “Come in.”

The door opened, and Sir Faithful’s bearded face appeared. “Good morning, Prince Josiah. I trust you slept well?”

Josiah nodded. “I slept well, sire.”

“May I come in?”

The young prince’s heart pounded furiously. “Certainly, sire. Come in.”

The castle steward stepped into the solar. “It’s a fine day to serve His Majesty, is it not?” He stepped to the window and gazed down at the azure waters of the bay below. After a moment or two, he stepped away from the window and then turned to face Josiah. “Selwyn’s worried about you, Josiah, and he asked me to talk with you. He says that you’ve been withdrawn the last few days, and he’s afraid that something’s wrong. He says that you’ve changed somehow—you no longer have the eagerness to serve Emmanuel that he has always known you to have. Would you care to tell me about it?”

Josiah did his best to return the old man’s gaze as if he had nothing to hide. “Nothing’s wrong, sire. I’m fine.”

Josiah dropped his eyes as he said the words, and he struggled to stifle a gasp of astonishment. The dragon’s egg had rolled from its hiding place beneath the bed and come to rest against the edge of Sir Faithful’s foot. As the young prince watched in alarm, the egg began to glow and pulsate with color. If the elderly steward happened to glance downward, he would immediately see the forbidden dragon’s egg!