Adventure of Betram Steelstream 1

Veyra sorts the captured orders while Maelor remains restrained beside the silent bell. Beneath the battle plans, a folded note bears Ser Jorren’s final seal.

The order commands an assassination attempt against Prince Caspian, staged to look like an attack by Sanbreque’s dragoons. Its purpose is written plainly: drive him to prime Odin against the countryside.

Maelor’s expression hardens, but his pinned wrist does not move. The order names the old watchtower as the handoff point, then marks the eastern pass as the prince’s route.

Veyra folds the order beside her roster and gathers every sealed proof. First light pales the high cracks of the chamber, tightening the time left to reach Caspian.

Veyra gathers the orders and pulls Maelor through the concealed passage, keeping his restrained wrist controlled without striking him. Betram follows to the quarry mouth as dawn pales the stone.

At the quarry road, Veyra signals the waiting Sanbreque dragoons and delivers Maelor into their custody with the roster and sealed orders. She gives the signed testimony to their captain before turning back toward Betram.

Betram launches across the eastern road, leaving the quarry behind as Veyra escorts Maelor toward the dragoons. The pass opens ahead beneath the paling sky, and his speed carries him swiftly toward Caspian’s route.

Betram summons Bahamut’s radiance. Two wings of white-gold light tear free from his back, while twin orbs blaze into being and wheel around him.

The first beat of his wings lifts him above the eastern road. Magic strains through his bones, and a pale mark spreads across his casting hand as the Curse answers.

Betram banks over the quarry cliffs and surges eastward, his wings beating with dragonlike force. Below, Veyra becomes a shrinking green figure beside the road.

By the time dawn touches the pass, Betram reaches its high crags in flight. His magic holds, but the pale mark has hardened across two knuckles.

Betram glides over the eastern crags, white-gold wings carrying him cleanly through the dawn wind. Below, the pass opens between black cliffs, and a Veldemarke escort gathers around a lone young rider.

Betram folds his wings and descends in a sweeping arc, landing between the rider and the armed escort. The young prince looks up, his travel cloak snapping in the wind, relief breaking across his face.

The escort raises weapons at the sudden arrival, but Caspian lifts one hand. Their blades lower as he steps toward Betram, keeping his body between the prince’s route and the waiting ravine.

Caspian’s relief vanishes beneath a sharpened stillness. Around him, the Veldemarke escort tightens formation, but no blade rises as he turns toward the eastern pass.

The prince steps closer, lowering his voice while the escort watches the cliffs. His gaze fixes on Betram, trusting the warning before demanding its proof.

Caspian raises his hand toward the escort, and the gathered riders halt their preparations. The route to the watchtower is abandoned before the trap can close.

Caspian absorbs the explanation without suspicion. The tension leaves his shoulders, and he turns toward the waiting escort with the calm authority of a prince whose trust has been answered.

Caspian faces the escort and gives a sharp gesture toward the abandoned route. The soldiers lower their weapons fully, their formation changing from ambush readiness to guarded protection.

The eastern pass settles into wary silence. Behind Caspian, the Veldemarke escort turns its attention toward the quarry road, ready to recognize Veyra and the prisoner rather than mistake them for enemies.

Relief loosens Betram’s posture as he returns to his normal form. The white-gold wings fold into light and vanish within him, followed by the two glowing orbs. The last radiance leaves his casting hand trembling.

Caspian steps close and grips Betram’s forearm, his expression softened by gratitude. Behind him, the Veldemarke escort watches in wary silence, hearing the promise that now binds the Sanbreque Dominant to their prince.

The request carries a political price. Caspian’s soldiers will become witnesses to Betram’s pledge, making his alliance with the prince impossible for either court to dismiss as a private reunion.

Betram nods to the Veldemarke escort in greeting. The soldiers answer with lowered weapons and solemn bows, their suspicion giving way to recognition of a shared cause.

Caspian turns toward the escort, his young face composed beneath the dawn wind. The soldiers form a quiet semicircle, making witnesses of themselves before either kingdom.

The eastern pass holds its breath around them. Far down the road, a green cloak appears beside the approaching dragoons, carrying the proof that will test their united word.

Betram waits at Caspian’s side, spear held ready but lowered. Dawn wind moves across the pass as the approaching figures draw nearer along the road.

The green cloak remains only a distant shape beside the advancing soldiers. No insignia or face is clear enough yet to confirm Veyra or the Sanbreque dragoons.

The Veldemarke escort remains in its quiet semicircle, watching the road with disciplined patience. Caspian keeps his place beside Betram, neither advancing nor retreating.

The figures come close enough for details to emerge: a green cloak, a restrained man between soldiers, and the familiar silver-blue armor of Sanbreque’s dragoons.

Betram breathes a quiet sigh of relief as the approaching figures resolve into Veyra, Maelor, and the Sanbreque dragoons carrying the proof. He lowers his spear fully.

Veyra raises one hand to signal the dragoons, then guides Maelor onward between them. The soldiers keep their weapons lowered as they approach the waiting prince.

Caspian steps forward to receive her, while the Veldemarke escort parts without protest. Maelor remains between the approaching Sanbreque dragoons, his restrained hands held safely before him.