The Wounded Guardian by Duncan Lay

‘He has to get it out of the country. With the Dragon Sword gone, the people will be afraid and the nobles will be terrified. It will only be a matter of days before the Dukeclaims he was asked to step in with the army to maintain the peace. Then some of his men will “find” the Dragon Sword in another country and he has an excuse to lead an invasion. By then he will be King in all but name, and, with the country at war, who will stand in his way when his tame nobles call for him to be anointed as ruler? So what if he cannot draw the Dragon Sword?’
    Merren abruptly stood and strode away from the table, her back to Barrett. The wizard could see she was fighting for control—after all, this meant the end of all they had worked for these past three years. But when she turned back, her face was impassive, her voice cold.
    ‘His next move will be to take control of the palace. He will say if the Royal Guard could not protect the Dragon Sword then it will be abolished, the men sent back to their regiment and he will replace them with soldiers loyal only to him,’ she stated.
    ‘I would say so, my Queen,’ Barrett admitted.
    ‘Then I am about to become a prisoner, and Gello will ensure I cannot see anyone who could help me stop him.’
    Again, Barrett could not lie to her. ‘That seems most likely, my Queen.’
    ‘I want you to leave now, while you still can.’
    Barrett was horrified. ‘My Queen! I will never leave you! I am sworn to serve you while there is breath or a trace of magic left in my body!’
    Merren half-smiled. ‘I know. If I could trust just half of my nobles even half as much as I trust you then we would never have come to this. No, you misunderstand me. You are my last hope. Once Gello moves in here, you will not be allowed nearme. So you must get ahead of him. You must try to find the Dragon Sword. Gello would not have sent it south, even he would dread the thought of the Berellians getting their filthy hands on the Sword. No, he will have sent his men to Tetril. It’s small and close—and its army is a joke. You must follow them there and take back the Sword. It is the only thing that could save us.’
    Barrett sat down again. ‘I will do whatever you wish. But I do not want to leave you to face Gello without my help.’ He liked to daydream about the Queen, especially about saving her. He often envisaged himself defeating Gello and his henchmen in the throne room, using his extraordinary magical skills to slay the Duke and his tame magicians, and send his flunkies running. By then, of course, he would be near to death from the enormous effort it would take, and he saw himself sprawled, dying, on the throne room floor. The Queen, tears running down her cheeks, knowing he had but moments to live, would embrace him and declare her secret love for him. At that point, of course, he liked to imagine Aroaril, or perhaps even the dragons, would take pity on him and restore him to life, enabling him to take the Queen in his arms. It was a fine dream and one he was unwilling to give up. Even if it did not come to pass, the thought of being seen as the Queen’s last protector, standing firm against Gello and his henchmen, gave him a shiver of delight. Surely she could not help but be impressed to see that? Then he realised she was speaking again.
    ‘Then do not leave me long. Get the Sword and get back here as fast as you can.’
    Barrett hesitated. Even with his formidable talents, he was just one man, and the chance offinding the Dragon Sword when Gello had obviously gone to so much trouble to steal it was slim, at best. But then he saw himself bringing back the Dragon Sword, driving out Gello and restoring an incredibly grateful Queen to the throne. He would take a wound while defeating Gello, nothing too serious, just a cut along the ribs or something that necessitated him taking his shirt off when she insisted on seeing to his wounds personally. He liked that daydream and decided it was even