Long Live the King

Urraca Amadeaus and Lord Bheatha battle to the death.

Battle looms on the horizon.  Lord Baeatha prepares for his duel with the Commander of the Atlanti army.  Lucius and Saoirse put their plan into motion.

## Plot:

Gwendolyn Snow awakens, coughing on the taste of chloroform in her mouth.  A set of poorly tied knots binds her hands to a bedpost and a gag muffles her coughing.  She easily slips the bonds and pulls out her Sending Stone to contact Saoirse, checking in and learning of Réalta’s tryst in the enemy camp, and of the argument between the group about whether or not to try to sabotage the enemy siege engines.

After some of the Dreamers settle down to sleep and others stay up around the table with Mance and Warbler, Gwendolyn arrives at the keep and seeks out Saoirse.  They talk for a bit, and Gwendolyn gently suggests that the next time she is missing for 36 hours, perhaps Saoirse should look for her.  They discuss the ramifications of the siege and the Dreamer’s options for escape.

After awhile, Lucius returns from his walk around the keep and discusses with the three of them about the plans for sabotage during the duel.  Réalta overhears her name being said and gets up from beating Mance at a game of arm wrestling.  The quartet discuss their plans, and Gwendolyn asks Réalta about the falling out between her and Doc.  Gwendolyn introduces Réalta to the concept of apology and suggests that she apologize to Doc in the morning.

Gwendolyn spends the night awake, catching up on information from her stint in the wine cellar.  She waits until the castle begins to stir in the predawn morning, and then makes a request to speak with Lord Bheatha.  In private, she suggests to him that

Doc reveals his name to Warbler, telling him that his true name is Benedict, and that he is not a good man.

Saoirse sends Mance to give her prototype flammable net to Lord Bheatha, but he says that he will inspect it after the fight, and Mance hands it off to a squire to hold onto.

Gwendolyn, Lucius, and Saoirse sneak out of the fort as the duel is being set up, making their way towards the Atlanti encampment to sabotage the siege equipment.

Réalta, Mance, and Sir John stand atop the wall and hold their collective breaths as Lord Bheatha and Urraca Amadeus of the Dragon Isles square off in front of the castle gates.  They posture, Amadeus reveals that he was once felled by Lord Bheatha in his youth, and that he now comes for vengeance.  Bhetha counters that when he felled Amadeus, he was also a youth and that Amadeus is brave to come to face him now in his prime.

The world stops for but a moment, quiet stilling throughout the two armies.  And then both men leap into intense motion.  The Dragon Commander rushes forward bearing a Greatsword of Sharpness and cleaves it down toward Lord Bheatha, who twists to the side and lets the blade glide past him before whipping his net forward and snaring Amadeus’ legs with it and then stabbing repeatedly with his bladed Trident.  The Dragon Lord roars with fire as his abjurations are shredded by Lord Bheatha’s strikes and the battle continues.

The strike team imbibes Kelpweed potions made by Saoirse and then they dive into the river, swimming behind enemy lines.  They slip past guards and approach their goal: a lone Atlanti Sky-Chariot.  But one of the blind dragons is resting just a few feet from it.  They begin to think of ways to get it to move without alerting it.

Lord Amadeus feints backwards as he and Lord Bheatha continue to fight.  He begins to glow with an inner flame, and then his armor tears itself apart in a fiery vortex.  Bheatha doesn’t even hesitate before lashing out again with his net and ensnaring the Dragon Lord once more, dragging him into his own tornado of metal and fire.  Lady Elinor hears a few men begin to chant Bheatha’s name… KING Bheatha’s name.  She jumps up to a higher vantage point and cries out for the army and the people to have faith in their king.  Chants of “Long Live the King” rise into the air as Lord Bheatha tugs Amadeus to the ground and then plants his Trident into the man’s now-bare chest.

The Dragon in front of the sky chariot roars in pain or anger as the Dragon Lord falls, and a group of soldiers grab it roughly and slit its throat in a ritualistic manner.  Saoirse, Lucius, and Gwendolyn rush to sneak aboard the Skywheel in their moment of opportunity.

The episode draws to a close as two pilots board the Sky Chariot and Urraca Amadeus’ corpse is dragged back towards the lines of his army, possibly to be resurrected.