The atmosphere started to change the further into the mountain they travelled. He could still smell urine and other unpleasant things, but now he could also smell food that was being cooked and the sounds of children's laughter. They seemed to have placed those skilled in fighting closer to the entrance—it is what he himself would have done.
Herveus wasn't surprised by the number of people who had fled to the safety of the mountains. The people had given up on their king long before the prince gave up on his father. He knew the King was beyond help the moment he watched three brave men question one of their king's orders, and for it, they had their heads swiftly and unexpectedly removed.
Standing in the shadows watching for any danger to the prince, Herveus remembered the king's roar as bloodlust filled his eyes as his sword swung through the air and blood splattered on all those who had been standing too close. No one else wanted to bring the attention of the king to themselves. That was the last time anyone openly defied him, but was the start of secret plans being made behind closed doors.
"We don't have much space left I'm afraid. You'll have to share until we sort something out. Get some rest and I will send someone to collect you all soon, we have much to discuss," Merek said as he too put his hand over his heart and bowed to their prince before turning around and leaving.
Herveus noticed Aveline's hands shaking again, which he had not seen for a while. He didn't know if it was from all the new people or from the comfort and safety of the dragon being taken away from her. She puzzled him, which not much did anymore. Settling on one of the straw beds in the damp, cold chamber, he closed his eyes and shut out the sounds and smells surrounding him and slept.
#
Herveus was brought to instant wakefulness as soon as someone stepped into the dark cavern they were sleeping in. He slowly cracked open an eye while he stayed perfectly still. From what he could see from the shadowed figure lurking in the entrance, no threat was posed—it was that of a small child. Sitting up, he turned to fully face the young boy he could now see more clearly as he asked him, "What is it, boy?"
"Me-e-erek sent me to f-f-fetch the prince, sir," the boy stammered in reply as he twisted his hands together.
Standing, Herveus walked over to Prince Dayton's sleeping form, gently shaking him. The prince always looked younger and at peace when he slept, he thought, unlike himself, who never relaxed, even in slumber. Prince Dayton sat up with what Herveus knowing him well, could tell was a questioning look in his eyes. "Merek wishes to see you."
Nodding his head, Prince Dayton stood up and they followed the boy through the tunnels until they reached a well-lit room. A crudely made wooden table dominated the majority of the space. Merek and two other men he didn't know were standing, looking down at a map laid out on the oak surface.
Merek raised his head, smiling in greeting. "I hope you're both well rested, we have a lot to discuss. First, introductions are needed, Prince Dayton, and his man, Herveus."
The two men who Herveus had been intently studying bowed their heads towards Prince Dayton. The brother standing to the left had a fresh scar near his right eye, which made him stand out from their nearly identical looks.
"And these two fine gentlemen are Paul and David." Merek pointed to each man in turn. "The sons of the late Lord Frederick Terryn, from the outlying village, Warthford..."
"Late? I didn't know he'd died, I'm sorry for your loss," said Prince Dayton.
"Their village was attacked by the king's men and cost them the life of their father. They have been invaluable to me since arriving with their sister and other survivors."
"Please, tell us how you came to be in possession of a legendary dragon?" Merek asked, his eyes sparkling.
Herveus only half-listened to the Prince tell the story of how his father locked him in a dungeon, along with the young girl they were traveling with, and of course Aeolius. Instead, he looked over the map that was laid out on the table, which included several red X's which seemed very troubling, and the other marks and scribbles he couldn't decipher. Foot tapping, he waited for the story to come to an end. "What are all the different colored marks?" Herveus pointed down at the roughly drawn out map of their kingdom.
"The red crosses are the places that have been attacked. They seem to be targeting the villages on the outskirts of the kingdom, so far. Some of the other marks indicate where taxes have been raised or bouts of unrest have increased. We have been trying to keep track as best we can. We have also sent messages to those who are loyal to the prince, but as time passes it is harder to know who we can trust, so we are having to be more careful," replied Merek. "Having a dragon will come in handy. You said you believe the girl to be bound to the dragon, which means they will both need to be trained."
"I will train Aveline," said Herveus.
Prince Dayton's head whipped around to face him, eye's wide and mouth agape. "You wish to train her?"
"Yes, I think I do."
Excusing himself, he left them to discuss the important matters of war while he went to teach a small waif how to become a warrior.
CHAPTER 13
Sitting up, Aveline blinked. Through the dimness she could see the empty beds of her companions.
Where could they have gone?
A strange blanket of silence cocooned the cavern and a musty scent the air. Aveline’s chest felt hollow. Emptiness and the urge to be closer to Aeolius consumed her. Standing, she reached her hand out and balanced her weight against the jagged wall. Reaching into her pocket with the other hand, she rubbed her fingers along a smooth, wooden ear. Taking a deep inhalation of cool air, she felt calmness gently wash over her and straightened. A Honeyed voice reached Aveline, followed by the patter of footsteps. Rushing down the narrow tunnels she followed the sound of female chatter. Turning a corner, she came upon two young women, walking with their heads bent towards each other. She halted. Brightly colored dresses adorned both ladies.
How absurd, shaking her head, Aveline caught up. “Excuse me.”
Both women stopped and turned towards her. Two sets of brown eyes stared back at Aveline. “I was just wondering if you could help me? I need to find the way out, and this place is like a maze.”
Maintaining eye contact, she fought the urge to lower her head as a blush rose to her cheeks.
After six long beats of Aveline’s heart, the blond-haired girl replied, "Yes, yes, of course. This is Sasha and my name is Meredith, and you, of course, are Aveline."
Aveline’s eyes opened wide. How can she know who I am?
"You are the girl who arrived with the prince and a dragon, are you not?” Shaking her head, Sasha didn’t wait for a reply. “You must be, you are the only new person we have seen so far, and we’ve been searching. What is the prince like? Is he as handsome as they say? Does he—"
Meredith gently elbowed her companion in the side, her eyes twinkling. “I’m sorry for Sasha’s enthusiasm. We haven’t gotten to hear much gossip whilst we’ve been stuck here, and it’s been very boring indeed. Of course we will show you the way.”
Meredith looked at Sasha, smiling, before turning back to face Aveline. “But I would also like to know, is he very handsome?”
Smiling back, Aveline shrugged her shoulders as they began walking. “He is very courteous.”
"Well, yes, he is a prince after all, that is to be expected. But what does he look like? How tall is he? What color hair and eyes does he have..." The questions just kept on coming out of Sasha's mouth so fast that Aveline stopped listening.
Dust motes slowly danced in the beams of sunlight, breaking up the darkness ahead of them, as they approached the exit. "Thank you both for your kind help, it was very nice to meet you both.”
Both girls stopped, turning to face Aveline."Hmm, yes, it was very nice to meet you too. You’re a very tight-lipped creature, which I very much respect of course," said Meredith.
Why don’t I believe her?
"Come on Meredith, we need to get back on our hunt for
a glimpse of the prince." Sasha starting walking away without waiting for a reply.
Now her words I believe.
Stepping down onto a rugged ledge, Aveline lifted her face into the welcome breeze. Opening her eyes, she spotted Aeolius curled up on a small patch of grass, which his ever-growing large body almost eclipsed. After the oppressive feeling of being in such a small space, she stood silently and still while she enjoyed the fresh smelling air.
A few moments passed before she looked back towards her dragon; he was staring at her. Aveline smiled. “The water looks mighty tempting, shall we wash some of the filth away?” Without waiting for a reply, she jumped down from the ledge.
Aveline and her dragon traipsed down the grassy bank at the edge of the stream, and whilst she had contemplated how cold the water would be, Aeolius had not had such reservations and bound straight in. Aveline bent down, scooping water in her cupped hands. A wave of icy cold water landed on her, soaking her and her clothes. Looking up in shock to see Aeolius had been about to swish the water with his tail in her direction again. "Aeolius."
He stopped instantly and turned his head towards her. "Aveline now clean," even in her mind his voice sounded amused.
A magnificent and mighty dragon one moment, and then acting like a child the next.
Trying to keep a stern look on her face as so not to encourage him, she tromped off to go get some warm and dry clothing on before she froze.
CHAPTER 14
It took Aveline a long time to find her way back to where they had slept the night before. She contemplated stopping a few times and asking someone, but with the intense stares she kept receiving, and the encounter with Sasha and Meredith still fresh in her mind, she decided to simply find her own way, and after few dozen wrong turns, here she was.
Finished dressing in much needed dry clothing, shivering, she pulled her cloak around her shoulders. "Good, you are here. Put these on, I’ll wait outside," Herveus said as he stepped into the room and threw a bundle of rolled up clothing at Aveline.
"But what are they for?" she asked, picking up what appeared to be a set of young boy’s clothes.
"I’ll tell you when you are dressed, we have much to get done today. Please make haste Aveline."
Herveus’ words ringing in her ears, she, for the second time, made quick work of changing. Stepping out into the tunnel, Aveline joined Herveus as he turned to look at her. Nodding his head, he dropped a heap of thick braided rope onto the floor at her feet. Looking back at her, he indicated for her to turn around. Obeying, she stood frozen as he gently started to plait her hair.
Tears prickled Aveline’s eyes. Reaching up, she wiped away the lone tear that tracked down her cheek. No one had touched her hair like that in such a long time, and though she knew that he wasn’t doing it because he cared for her, the gentleness of his touch still brought back fond memories.
"Done." Herveus's gruff voice interrupted her wondering mind and she turned back around
to face him.
"Come, we have a lot of training to do if you are ever going to be ready in time," he said to her as he bent down to pick up the rope.
Turning, he walked off and she followed without a word, and as they made their way through the maze of tunnels, Herveus never once took a wrong turn. They reached where Aeolius was lying on his previous patch of grass outside of the cave's entrance.
"I’ve been tasked with making sure you and the dragon are both fully trained, and the first part of that is to actually make sure you can both work together. To get this achieved, Aveline, you have to actually learn to ride on Aeolius' back while he is flying," he said as he started to unwind the rope he had been holding.
"What? No, not possible. I’ll fall and just, no," she uttered, the air leaving her lungs in sharp gasps.
Aeolius gently rubbed his head against Aveline’s side, causing a sense of calm to come over her. "We are made for this my Aveline, I will not let you fall, trust me."
She took several deep breaths, I can do this. “Okay.” straightening her shoulders, she nodded her head and asked, "What do I do?"
Herveus, nodded his approval, and by what she had observed of the young man so far, that seemed a very rare thing indeed. "I need you to climb up onto his back, just below his neck. I’ll throw you up the rope to tie around your waist—make sure it is tight and I’ll securely tie the rope around the dragon. It’s very strong twine, Aveline, so you don’t have to worry about it breaking.
“I’ve ordered for a harness to be made for Aeolius, but that’ll take a while, so this will have to do for now."
Listening to Herveus's instructions, she did just that, and as she sat tied to Aeolius's back she realized that the young and fearless dragon had been correct. She felt like she was made for this, and the feeling of complete rightness came over her as she sat grasping on to his neck tightly.
The Dragon started to move his huge wings up and down, and then with a push from his clawed feet, he started to rise rapidly into the sky. I’m free. They soared higher and higher. Everything looked so small and far away, like a faded dream, but full of color.
She let go of Aeolius's neck whilst she spread her arms wide and felt like she was almost flying herself. Picking up the sound of tinkling laughter, which when combined with the whistling sound of the wind, created the most beautiful music she had ever heard. With surprise, she realized that the melodic noise came from herself, and she was astonished. She had never heard herself make a sound of such pure joy before.
Aeolius, turning with a sudden sharp movement of his large body, caused more laughter to spill forth from her dry, chapped lips. As they slowly descended back towards the fast approaching mountain peaks, her mouth opened wide; the mountains glistened like they were made from some kind of magic. Aveline wished they could stay, soaring in the sky forever, and never have to plummet back down to her complicated and scary life.
As her feet landed back down on the soft dirt she turned around and noticed that Herveus was looking at her strangely, with a look that she could not interpret. Ignoring his presence altogether, she tilted her head back and looked up into the sky, already wishing she could have been up there again.
Herveus coughed, bringing Aveline out of her daydreams. She turned to reluctantly face Herveus again. "That was a good start Aveline, but can you please get your head out of the clouds, we still have much to do today.”
“No, I must see the prince and Aveline. Please where are they?”
Turning, Aveline saw a young boy being escorted by two warriors. “Bramwell?”
CHAPTER 15
Bramwell turned, his red-tinged eyes looking at Aveline. His bottom lip trembling, the boy dropped to his knees. “He is gone, he is gone.”
Aveline scurried forward. Kneeling, she wrapped her arms around the trembling figure. Shifting from foot to foot, the aged warrior on the left looked down at Bramwell. “He was spotted loitering near the base of the mountains.”
“We have him from here.” Squinting his eyes at the gathered crowd, Herveus reached forward, lifting Bramwell to his feet. “Let’s get him somewhere more private.”
Aveline wrapped her arms around the boy as he huddled against her side. She shuddered, the ominous air of uncertainty caused her heart to gallop. They lead the fragile child to their allocated cavern. Aveline took shallow breaths; she felt suffocated by the heavy silence that accompanied them. Bramwell slumped onto a straw mattress, covering his eyes with his hands, his small shoulders shook.
Aveline squatted in front him. “What happened, Bramwell?”
“Men came to the village, asking questions. I didn’t get to my grandfather in time, I was running errands. They just left him swinging, I didn’t know what to do so I ran. I remember you saying you were going to the mountains. I didn’t know what else to do or where else to go.”
Aveline moved the hair that had flopped in front of his face, wiping away the glistening trail of tears. “Your safe now.”
“I have to
tell the prince.” Turning, Herveus vanished into the shadows.
#
Herveus was usually impervious to emotions, but Aveline had unlocked something in him. He was drowning in a great wave, just trying to get back to the shore. The main memories he had from his childhood were of hunger. Just the echo of the gnawing pain made him double over. The other strongest memories where of violence, beatings from strangers, leaving him unable to move for days. In all the haunting recollections, it had always been just him, alone.
How could I forget my sister?
It was like an impenetrable gate had opened in his mind, bringing forth another set of sad blue eyes from a time forgotten.
I hadn’t been alone.
When we only had a few mouthfuls worth of food, Emmeline would smile and go without.
When I’d been assaulted, she’d first stood steadfast as a shield, until she could no longer stand.
I need to get out of here.
Herveus rubbed his neck as four heads turned his way. He looked directly at the prince. “The old man, William, has been killed. I need some men and horses.”
Prince Dayton’s jaw clenched. “How do you know this?”
“Bramwell is here, he said men came asking questions.” Herveus moved his head, taking in each man individually. “They are too close and we can’t let this stand. Give me a handful of men. Landon is only half a day's ride.”
Stepping forward, the brother with the scar placed his hand on Herveus’s shoulder. “You’re right. My brother and I will join you. We have seen the devastation that can be caused first-hand.”
“Paul is right. We’ll gather the horses and men and be ready by midday.” Patting Herveus’s other shoulder as he walked past, David left, his brother following.
The Bound - Novella: Hers To Save Part One Page 5