The Stone of Courage

When her friends had left, Carling wrapped her arms around her body. Then she gasped. “My breastplate! My breastplate is gone!”

She looked from side to side. There was no sign of it. “Chamay! Chamay!” she called out.

She heard the soft clip-clop sound of hooves on the smooth stone floor. The white Centaur returned to her room. “You called me?”

“Chamay, the Silver Breastplate. It’s gone.”

“Do not worry your pretty little head. I’ve put it in a safe place.”

“You took it off me? It didn’t hurt you?” asked Carling, remembering how the shield had shocked the Heilodius Centaurs who tried to grab her at Fort Heilodius. And the Bat that tried to attack her had fallen dead away. They had been unable to touch her. She made a mental note to ask the Wizard about that the next time she saw him.

“Heaven’s no. Why would it?” The nurse walked across the room, bent down and opened a cupboard door. Then Chamay pulled out a bundle wrapped with a white blanket.

Carling watched as she carefully unwrapped the blanket, revealing her beautiful Silver Breastplate. The young Duende released a long sigh of relief. “Thank you for taking care of it.”

Chamay approached the bed, carrying the breastplate. “Carling, I need to ask you something. Perhaps it’s none of my business…no, I’m quite sure it’s none of my business…but…”

“Go ahead. Ask me,” Carling said.

“Well, I was just wondering if…if perhaps…this could possibly be the eminent and long-awaited Silver Breastplate about which legends have been told.”

Carling nodded her head. “Yes, Chamay. It is the Silver Breastplate whose wearer is heir to the throne of Crystonia.”

Chamay gasped. “But when your friends brought you in, you were wearing it.”

Carling nodded again.

“Am I to conclude, then, that you are to be our future queen? Can this be?”

“You can’t be more surprised than I, Chamay,” said Carling as she glanced away from the healer.

“Do Tibbals and Tandum know about this?”

“Yes. They have been sent to accompany me as I gather the stones and complete the breastplate.”