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talons clutched an auric orb.  With bat-like wings and scales, Render decided they must be dragons.
    Edwyn clapped his hands twice.  The pikemen slapped their hands to their sides, stomped a foot, and uncrossed their weapons affording passage through the slowly opening door. 
    Edwyn gestured forth.
    As Render and his companions stepped forward, dread filled his thoughts.  His throat became so parched that he wanted to cough.  But so frightened was he that he resisted the urge.  If this was the end, would it be an execution by beheading, or a mauling by wild beasts? 
    No one dared utter a word.
    They entered, and for a moment the light inside was so bright his eyes could not adjust.  When they did, he would no doubt find himself before an executioner, or a tormentor, or mountain lions or tigers ready to make a meal of them all.  Render took a deep breath, resolved to stand in place until he felt the point of a sword in his back.
    "Welcome, my young friends!"  A strong and familiar voice said, just as Render's vision cleared.  Standing before them, a lady dressed in an extravagant scarlet gown embroidered with intricate aureate piping and patterns smiled and with a welcoming hand stretched out.  Her raven hair struck a stark contrast with paper-white face.  Her lips shone with such a deep shade of crimson they stood in stark contrast to her hair and eyes, which were dark as midnight.
    She stood there in the center of a vast courtyard with the morning sun shining down from a blue sky, in which barely a lambswool cloud floated.
    "I trust you've a healthy appetite?" She waved her slender fingers with red, claw-like nails toward the dining tables behind her.  Scores of children, all finely dressed, sat on benches along these tables.  Their ages ranged from about Folen and Stewan's to as old as Render himself.  "My fine young men," the lady said, "do join us for breakfast."
    The aroma of freshly baked bread, boiled eggs, and cooked meat made Render's mouth water.  But a thought soured his mood.  "What are they doing?" he whispered to Kaine, "fattening us for the kill?"
    "Does it matter, really?"
    Folen and Stewan had already taken their seats, their eyes large with hunger before the feast, the likes of which none of them had ever seen, much less partaken of. 
    "And now," she said, a bright smile widening across her face, "With the compliments of his Majesty, Corigan, High King of Valdshire Tor, enjoy this, your first of many such meals, as the adopted children of his kingdom."
    Without hesitation, Kaine and all the other children let out a cheer and dug into their food, forks and knives barely employed. 
    "Rejoice children!  For the High King has turned his countenance upon you.  He has bestowed his favor upon you and liberated you from the yoke of superstition, the oppressive hand of slavery."
    It was then that Render realized who she was.  The harsh, yet fetching tone of her voice, the way her ebony hair fell over one of her eyes when she tilted her head as she emphasized a word, or scrutinized some of the children.  He nudged Kaine's arm with his elbow.  "It's her."
    "What are talking about?" Kaine said, his mouth so full he was barely intelligible.
    "Dear children," she said, her voice rising above the din of happy, hungry slaves now proclaimed royal wards.  "I am Lady Volfoncé, advisor to King Corigan."
    Kaine put his fork down and took a harder look.  "Well, I think she's lovely."
    "You would."  Hadn't he heard the brutal threats she made prior to throwing Render into the wagon last night? 
    "Who is she then?"
    "Don't you see?  She's the one who abducted us last night."
     
     

 
    CHAPTER NINE
     
     
     
    To this very day, the gentrification decree which had been issued years before Sir Edwyn's birth continued to bring rescued children of all ages from round the kingdom into the citadel walls.  In fact, Edwyn himself had been one of those refugees from the zealot insurrections, to which King