“Give it to me,” Snowden said, his voice now deep and husky as he held out both hands.

The thief moved forward and handed the object across the table to his prince. It was light-weight for its size and Snowden snatched the dragon scale from Markel, and then held it up so the light reflected off it to send slivers of color all over the room.

“Magnificent,” Snowden whispered as he admired his prize. Finally he turned back to his guest. “You have more of these, I trust,” he said firmly.

“Oh, aye, my prince,” Markel said and quickly dipped back into his sack and retrieved three more of the illegal scales. He placed each one carefully on the table in front of the prince. These were not as large as the first scale, but they too reflected the candle light in dazzling colors.

Dragon scales were nearly indestructible—neither fire nor weapons could damage them—and any warrior who fought using such items as defense would be almost impossible to stop, let alone kill. Thus, they were outlawed in Gar by decree of the king. Prince Snowden, however, was not above bending the law to his own needs, especially where it came to an advantage on the battlefield or in a tournament.

The prince ran a hand lovingly over the scales before him. With these as shield and armor he would be invincible in battle.

“We must test them,” he told Markel.

“Err… of course, my prince,” the thief said, now somewhat nervous.

“Here,” Snowden said and handed the larger scale back over the table to Markel. “Hold this up.”

“Me, my prince?” he squeaked in surprise.

“Indeed, you, little thief,” he said, his voice menacing. “You surly have no fear of the scale not protecting you.” Again, it was a statement, not a question.

“Err, not at all, my prince,” Markel said and slowly reached out to take the scale from him. Sweat began to trickle down his back as he held the dragon scale up before him, his arms stiff.

Snowden turned and removed a large battle axe from the wall behind him, hefted the weapon and then moved around the table to stand in front of Markel.

“Face me, little thief, and defend yourself,” he commanded.

Markel turned the scale toward the prince, raised it to protect his face, then closed his eyes and swallowed hard.

Snowden braced his feet, brought the axe back behind his head and swung it as hard as he could against the scale. Sparks flew from the axe-head and a loud clang echoed through the chamber. Markel felt the power of the blow slam through his shoulders and even into his teeth. He was knocked backward two steps, but as he opened one eye he discovered that the scale was undamaged and so was he. Markel sighed in relief and slowly lowered the shield.

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