‘You have asked him that before,’ Ende said. ‘I think it might be you who wants him to be King, rather than he himself.’
‘I know that he needs to be King,’ Ana said, the confidence returning to her voice.
‘I won’t make a good one,’ he whispered.
‘Better than your uncle,’ the general said.
He shook his head then and raced from the cottage.
Ana, still standing, watched him go and then turned an angry glare on Ende that made him sit back just a little. ‘You think he would hand the crown to me. But he knows he won’t do that.’
Ende wondered what she thought she wanted.
‘He is the king,’ she asserted, leaning over the table, and Ende sat back a little further. This girl was going to become something very formidable. ‘He needs to get his crown back.’
‘Are you certain?’ Ende asked.
‘She looks certain,’ the general muttered, and Ende noted that he too had taken several steps back.
‘You might be something very different on your own,’ Ende thought aloud, and she looked confused for a moment. The hard lines of her face softened.
‘Then I will stay,’ she said.
Drayton opened his mouth to protest, but she shook her head and he snapped it shut. The large soldier sighed and nodded once.
Chapter 15
Ana tried to walk as quietly as she could behind Dray as he made his way along the narrow path behind the cottage. She looked at her hands and wondered just what Ende had seen. She closed her eyes for a moment, stopping on the path, and the image returned to her of the three of them standing before the throne. It had been Ende’s image, not her own, and yet she could feel the power of the three of them and the fear it had caused in him.
At the silence around her, she opened her eyes to see Dray turned towards her a little further along the track, his face worried. She tried to give him a smile and stepped up to follow him, but he remained unmoving.
‘What is it?’ he asked, concerned.
She looked over his bright, black armour rather than into his face. ‘Ende thinks I’m dangerous,’ she said. ‘I wonder if he is right.’
‘You wanted to stay with him and learn what you could. Do you think he won’t want to teach you?’
‘What if he is right?’
He smiled broadly, then turned his back and headed along the path again. ‘He is an old dragon, what could he know?’
‘A lot,’ she whispered.
‘I know you. I’ve known you longer than he has. There is nothing remotely dangerous about you.’
‘I’m not sure that sentiment is comforting,’ she said. ‘I destroyed your career in a heartbeat.’
‘I did that,’ he said, turning back to her again. ‘I threw it away, not you.’ He turned back and stomped on.
‘You didn’t have to save me,’ she said.
He stopped suddenly, and she nearly walked into the back of him. He surprised her by turning, wrapping his large arms around her and pulling her tight. ‘I did. Ende said there is a connection and I know, little sister,’ he said with a smirk in his voice, ‘that if I had let you fall, I would have had to have followed.’
Ana wrapped her arms around him and squeezed. She was thankful he had done what he had, and she was very sure that no one else would have. Although her aunt had saved her once before, she knew she wouldn’t have done it again.
‘How did she know?’ she asked his chest.
Drayton released his strong hold and held her out, his hands comfortably on her shoulders as he looked at her seriously.
‘The lord. How did she know I was gifted? I didn’t know I was gifted. Not until I met you.’
‘Don’t blame this on me.’ His voice was light again, although she could see the seriousness of the situation in his eyes, the weathered lines of his face creased with concern.
‘Dray,’ she said, trying to get him to talk to her as seriously as he saw the situation.
‘I don’t know,’ he said, letting her go. ‘She has known you your whole life. Maybe she saw something; maybe your mother or father told her something.’
‘Could they have been gifted?’
‘That is a question for Ende.’
‘It could be why they died. The reason she pushed my father from the Walk.’
‘She may have simply wanted to remove any chance of you taking the lordship.’
‘Then she would have pushed me.’
‘She was trying to,’ he insisted, then sighed as she let her hands drop to her sides. ‘Whatever you thought you were or might be, whatever the lord and the old mage believed, it doesn’t matter now. The only thing that matters is that they tried to push you from the Walk, I managed to save you and we are here now with a dragon and the king.’
‘I suppose you are right,’ she said. ‘And if that is the only thing that matters now, then I suppose I should spend my time with the dragon and see if he can tell me what I am.’
‘I think he wants to show you what you are, or for you to learn, or for him to learn from you?’
Ana smiled despite herself and nodded. Neither of them really knew why they were where they were, but she knew they needed to stay together. Whether the king decided to return without her was another matter again, but then he wasn’t as keen to get his crown back as she thought he should be.
Dray turned again, and they headed along the path. He had promised to try and catch something for the group, and she had offered to help, thinking the time outside the cottage might be nice. Belle might have said something catty, she thought, but Dray had smiled warmly at her offer and now they were searching for she wasn’t sure what.
‘She doesn’t like me,’ she murmured.
‘She thinks the king likes you more.’
‘It isn’t like that,’ she said to his back. He stopped and held up his hand.
Ana tried not to sigh. She had never had many friends, but she had always been able to talk to people. Belle just glared at her.
‘Ed probably thinks she is very beautiful,’ she whispered, watching as Dray crept further from the path, his hand still held in the air. Other than his slow deliberate steps through the brush, he said nothing and made no noise.
Ana pulled at her hair. The loose flyaway strands were always difficult to catch, and she was sure her dark hair was not nearly as lovely as Belle’s long golden curls. It wasn’t that she wanted the king to think she was beautiful. Theirs was a different connection, and whether he thought of her as anything else, she knew she would always be at his side.
It might not be as comfortable as she imagined it, if the other woman was glaring at her from his other side.
A high scream came from the woods not too far away, and she pushed through the brush after Dray. The trees were dry and sharp, pulling at her dress and cloak. She was thankful that Ende had allowed her to keep it; it might be threadbare, but it was unbelievably warm. She yelped as another branch dragged across her arm, pulling at the already torn cloak. She clutched at her arm.
Between the trees she made out the glint of Dray’s armour, and then he was walking towards her with a young deer over his shoulder. Blood ran down from the opening in its neck and dripped down his dark cloak.
‘Why didn’t you wait on the path?’ he asked.
‘I worried for you,’ she said, her eyes on the deer.
‘And now I’m worried for you. Look at your arms.’
She looked down and saw little dribbles of blood running from several deep scratches. Ende’s cloak was in near tatters.
‘Stay behind me,’ he said, striding past her and through the brush. He moved slowly and she stayed right at his back. Most of the branches were held back from her as he made his way through, and soon enough they were back on the path. He lifted the deer down and laid it at his feet, then turned to her with a worried look.
‘Let me look,’ he said, pulling at the remains of the cloak. She sighed as she held her arms out. He sucked in a breath and nodde
d once. ‘Not too bad. You should make it back to the cottage alive.’
‘Funny,’ she murmured.
He heaved the animal back up over his shoulder and they headed back. She walked directly behind him, the deer’s head bouncing back and forth across his back and occasionally looking at her with unseeing eyes. Ana didn’t want to focus on it too much, but it gave her mind a break from the constant worry of what she would be learning with Ende and whether he really wanted to help her or keep her from the king.
It seemed too quiet when they returned to the cottage. Dray held his hand out to her again, and she stopped as he moved slowly into the cottage first. Within seconds, his face reappeared in the doorway and he waved her in.
The world was quiet as they entered. Ende looked up from his place by the fire. ‘No mountain lion?’ he asked, and Ana smiled at him. He had come to her first, she reminded herself, and sat by her when she needed him to.
She moved over and sat at his feet before the flames. His soft smile turned to concern. ‘What have you done, little one?’
She shook her head. ‘I’m sorry about your cloak.’
‘Ana?’ Ed asked, standing from the table. The blonde beside him sighed heavily, and her father shook his head subtly across the table.
‘I have something for that,’ the general said, walking to the back of the cabin.
‘It is only a scratch,’ she said. ‘I followed Dray into the brush when I should have stayed where he told me.’
‘It is more than one scratch,’ Ed said, squatting down before her and taking her arm gently in his hand. The cloak fell away as he lifted it, and even the girl showed some concern.
Ana looked down at her arm, which was crisscrossed with narrow red lines.
She pulled back from his hold. ‘Don’t fuss,’ she murmured. ‘It is only a scratch.’
‘I could use a hand with the deer,’ Dray said from the doorway. Ana tried to stand, but the king held her tight.
‘I’ll help,’ Phillip said.
Ana looked back at the king, his hand around her wrist, and raised her eyebrows.
‘What can you feel?’ Ende asked, and Ana realised she had forgotten he was there.
The king shook his head as though trying to clear his thoughts. ‘I don’t know,’ he murmured.
‘You can let me go,’ Ana said, but he shook his head.
Ende leaned forward from his seat and the air around Ana grew warmer. Ed gave the old man a strange look, as though seeing him for the first time. ‘What are you?’ he asked.
‘Lots of things. Different things to different people.’ Ende grinned and exposed his perfect teeth to the young king. ‘Your mother knew what I was,’ he said, and there was a hint of sadness in the words.
Ana opened and then closed her mouth. She wondered whether she would have learnt his true nature if she hadn’t seen him in the mountains as she had. But then as she looked at him, she wondered if that was what he meant. She knew him as both a dragon and a man, and yet she didn’t really know him at all.
‘How did you know what I was, what I am?’ she asked, and he turned his attention to her. ‘On the mountain when we first met.’
‘I knew you were coming.’
‘How?’
He shrugged and sat back. ‘I just knew.’
‘Did you always know I was coming?’
‘That is a very good question,’ he said, leaning back in the chair with a smile.
‘You did,’ she breathed, trying again to pull from Ed’s hold. She glared at him for a moment, and he shook his head.
Then the general was standing over her with a small jar in his hand. Ed reached out to take it from him.
The smile became more thoughtful on Ende’s lips as she sat back down and allowed him to apply the cream. He was overly gentle, dabbing at the cuts and taking his time, although Ana did flinch and suck in her breath on occasion as the cream stung.
‘Just wipe it on,’ she snapped after too long. ‘This is like a slow torture.’
He nodded once, his face still serious. When he wiped the cream along the next scratch, she cried out. Ende chuckled, and she turned her glare on him. Dray moved too quickly through the door, his bulk filling the room and his bloody hand already drawing his sword. He took in the scene and then slowly put the sword away. It squealed against the sheath as he pushed it home.
‘She is not an easy patient,’ Ed said by way of explanation.
Dray chuckled.
‘They are only scratches,’ she snapped, trying again to pull from the king’s hold and wondering why he was able to hold her so tight. ‘This is not necessary.’
‘There are a lot of them,’ Ed said, dabbing at the next one. She sighed, and he studied her for a moment. ‘Would you rather I wipe?’
‘No,’ she said quickly. ‘Dabbing is just fine.’
Ende laughed again.
‘There is the risk of infection,’ the general said, shooing Dray back outside. He gave her a grin before he disappeared. ‘I could help. There is a whole other arm to go. Assuming you weren’t scratched anywhere else?’
She shook her head. ‘My dress protected some of me. I just wasn’t dressed for the outdoors.’
Ed grabbed her chin then. She sucked in a breath as he gently touched across her neck. He sighed and then dabbed along it with the ointment from the jar.
‘I think you have the best nursemaid,’ the general said. ‘I might check on this deer and see if we can eat meat this evening.’
‘Nursemaid?’ Ed said, clearly hurt by the words although he continued to dab across her arm. Then he gently sat her arm down and reached for the other. Despite her complaints, Ana held her arm out to him, placing her hand in his and allowing him to pull the cloak back from her skin. One scratch appeared somewhat deeper than the others, and the blood had run down her arm in a narrow rivulet.
‘Let me help,’ a quiet voice said by the door. They both looked up at Belle. She held a small bowl in her hands, and she appeared somewhat nervous as she came over to Ana’s side. ‘I was going to take it out for the men to wash,’ she said. ‘But I think you need it first.’ She sat it on the floor beside Ana, dipped the cloth into the water and then gently wiped over the cut.
Ana tried not to grimace, for the girl was very gentle. Then Belle did the same by another cut further around Ana’s arm, which she hadn’t noticed was bleeding as much as the other. ‘Thank you,’ she said.
The girl nodded without a word and headed outside with the dish.
Ed went back to dabbing at her arm. ‘You know that I’m staying with you until you are ready to travel.’
‘I’m not unable to travel,’ she said, watching his hands work rather than his face. ‘I need to spend some time with Ende.’
He nodded. ‘You need to learn just what you are and what you can do. And I’m not going anywhere until I know you can come too.’
‘You could be meeting with the Lord of Edge Mountains,’ Ana said.
‘Or you could come with us.’
She glanced up at Ende, who nodded slowly, his eyes closed and his feet too close to the fire. ‘I must learn what you are,’ he murmured.
‘Should we look over your wound?’ she asked Ed, and he gave her a nervous look.
‘It is just a scratch,’ he murmured.
She leaned forward and reached for his shoulder, but he moved quickly from her reach.
She looked at Ende for help and found him watching the young king with concern. Ed sighed, stood and removed his jerkin, wincing as he did so. A yellow red mark stained his shoulder. Ana was on her feet, pulling at his shirt. ‘Oh Ed.’
‘You best sit down, boy, and let her help,’ Ende said slowly, leaning forward in his chair.
Ed looked down at his shoulder and then sat on the long bench seat at the table. Ana poured water from the kettle on the table into a bowl. She glanced towards the door, wondering if Belle would be better suited for this.
She took a deep breath and then carefully untied th
e makeshift bandage as his shirt fell away from his shoulder. He was far more than a boy, she realised as she looked over his sinewy chest. As the wound was exposed, she wanted to cry out in pain. The flesh was angry red around a deep gash that appeared greenish within.
‘This is more than a scratch,’ she breathed.
‘I’m sure others have faced much worse,’ he muttered, looking away.
Taking a clean part of the makeshift bandage, Ana carefully wiped warm water over the opening. He actually cried out, and although Ana heard the door open, she didn’t look away from what she was doing. She wet the cloth again and, with a hand on his other shoulder, she gently wiped around the wound. Ed shook beneath her hold. She put the cloth down and indicated the cream. He remained unmoving.
‘Ed,’ she said softly.
He looked up then and opened his hand with the small jar. She released her hold on him and took it. As she dipped her finger into the cool cream, he grabbed at her skirt, his grip strong.
‘Do you want me to dab or wipe?’ she asked.
He took a deep breath and closed his eyes. ‘Just do it,’ he murmured.
The sting had already gone from many of her own cuts, and she carefully dabbed around the wound, putting as much cream as she could over the angry red flesh. Then she took a deep breath. Hoping she didn’t hurt him any more than he was already hurt, she deliberately wiped her finger through the wound.
He grunted in pain, his fist full of her skirt.
‘Let me help,’ Belle said softly. Ana looked up to see her holding out some fresh bandages.
‘Thank you.’ Ana tried to step back, but the king was not letting go. ‘Ed,’ she said, ‘it is all done now.’
He took another deep breath and nodded, then rolled his shoulder and smiled, releasing his hold on her. ‘It feels much better already.’
They both looked at Belle, who stood frozen to the spot. As Ed cleared his throat, Ana stepped back. When the girl didn’t move, Ana held out her hand to indicate she could step in where Ana had been, but the girl shook her head.
‘How did you…?’ Dray asked, stepping further into the room. Ana wondered why she hadn’t noticed him come in sooner.
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