by Serena Rose
“Oh,” I murmured. “That’s actually not a bad idea.”
“But that just begets a new plan. We’ll have Gael, but Mercedes will be theirs, so we’ll have to rescue her. You are taking dozens of extra, risky steps to essentially put us back in the same spot.”
“I do not think as much,” the normally quiet dragon responded. “Because they will not be delivering Gael to us.”
I blinked, surprised. “Why do you say that?”
“If there is one single thing that we have learned from these human royals is that they are incessantly greedy and easily offended. They will want to prove that they are more clever than Mercedes, who currently has bested them. A sort of revenge, I suppose.”
“So, you’re saying they will lay a trap?”
“Yes. I believe it is almost certain.”
Now even Myrik was nodding in agreement, a welcome change from the constant arguments. “I think Jayne’s right. So then the question becomes, if they have both Gael and Mercedes, doesn’t that put us in a much weaker position than we were to start?” Then his own darkened expression illuminated, and he looked to the map once more. “Wait. You said that one of the escapees told you of a collapsed winery hall?”
I nodded, a foolish grin spreading across my face. “Yeah, why?”
“Note that I still think that this is complete and under idiocy, but I might have an idea.”
*
I pulled at the ropes wrapped around my wrists, trying to scratch the itch just under the restraints.
“Are you alright?” Jayne murmured.
“Yeah. Just anxious.”
“I understand. This is certainly no little undertaking. Putting yourself into the hands of the enemy is a great risk. I hope you know how much I appreciate what you have done, and what you will do for my people.”
“Oh, you know, that’s just me. A regular Robin Hood, man in tights.”
“Who?”
“Never mind.”
I looked out at the landscape spreading out before me. It was beautiful, but I might have appreciated it more under different circumstances. We were sitting near the top of one of the peaks; Myrik, Jayne and myself. It was the last moment of calm I had before everything went ass up, so I wanted to enjoy it while I could.
“Are we all ready?” Myrik asked, voice low. I could tell that he was still upset about all of this, but after several more hours of planning, arguments and the like, we all came to the conclusion that this was the best chance we had.
“Just one more moment,” I said softly, looking out at the expanse. There were trees just around the edge of the range, but just beyond that were sharp cliff faces with crashing waves far below. I could still faintly hear the whitecaps breaking against the rock, and I willed it to soothe the worry brewing within me. Once I was ready I stood and brushed off my hose.
The dragons had thought it strange that I insisted on wearing what they considered men’s clothes, but they didn’t fight me on it—which I was immensely grateful for. The pants gave me a greater range of movement, as well as an added layer of protection in case anyone else wanted to get a little handsy. I also kind of hoped that it could potentially throw the Prince and whoever else he might cart along through a loop.
“Let’s go.”
“Alright. Stand back.”
Jayne and I walked to the corner of the little cleft we were on, and Myrik’s form began to violently stretch and buck. A few moments later, the ebony dragon was sitting before us, his four legs precariously perched on the small ledge. Slowly, he flapped his wings until he was hovering just a few feet in the air.
We both crossed to him, positioning ourselves so he could easily grip us in his hind talons. Once he was sure that we were secure, he took to the air.
This was now my third time being carried via dragon, and it was just as cold and uncomfortable as I remembered it. At least I wasn’t quite alone this time.
“I’ve never been carried anywhere before!” Jayne called to me, his voice barely able to make it over the winds. “This is very strange!”
“Don’t worry,” I called back. “You get used to it after your lower half goes numb!”
“That does not sound enjoyable at all!”
“Because it isn’t!”
I laughed, and it was a nice moment of levity with how serious the past seven days had been.
Seven days, wow. I was very lucky that I didn’t own any sort of pet, because they would either be dead or taken by the ASPCA. How long had it been since I had been ‘home’? Two months? Three? Six? It was so hard to tell. Time passed so differently here. A day was still a day, but I was deliriously unconscious more often in this reality. I felt like I had lost so much time, and wasted so much more.
But now all that waiting is done. I was being delivered to the enemy in what had to be the most complicated ruse I had ever tried to pull off. Not that I normally went through with dramatic, prison escape capers that spanned half the continent, but it was becoming more common by the day.
We flew for several hours, and it was about as arduous as one might expect. But we had picked such the distance on purpose. It wasn’t the farthest point from our new stronghold, as that would be too obvious. But it was far enough to protect our location. Or at least that was the hope.
Finally, we saw the very edge of the shore in the distance, and could barely make out a line of little dots.
That was the humans, coming to collect me.
Myrik suddenly soared upwards, the sheer g-force of it all making my face pull back unflatteringly. Just when the air grew too thin, and my head started to throb, he let us go.
It was back to the rollercoaster feeling, and my stomach politely requested to leave my body as we hurtled downward. There was a crackling and popping beside me, then suddenly I was being yanked upwards by crimson claws.
That was Jayne, my tap in for the journey. We needed someone refreshed for the quick getaway that inevitably would happen.
Jayne cut his speed, flaring out his wings in what I’m sure was an impressive display to the humans waiting below. We approached carefully, and I noted several groups of archers and even a trebuchet sitting just beyond the main group.
I was sure that Jayne noticed, and he confirmed by swooping hard, to the other end of the beach.
He dropped me unceremoniously in the sand, and I struggled to my feet as the crimson dragon landed, kicking up sand all around us.
And there we stood.
I could see the royals waiting uncertainly for us, no doubt expecting us to move to them, but we didn’t take a single step. They would either have to come to us, or go home empty-handed. And we all knew that they would never give up such a plush prize with me dead in their sights.
It was a very strange sort of standoff, and it was basically the epitome of awkward, but after long enough, the line of horses slowly moved forward. Leaving me to wonder, who the hell rode horses on the beach? That just seemed impractical.
It took them several minutes to come within range of us, and when they did, they still stopped in a neat little formation a dozen or so feet away.
“I don’t see Gael,” I called, trying to sound both worried and surprised.
The Prince allowed his mount to take a single step forward. The look of satisfaction was almost too much, and I was looking forward to wiping it off with my foot. “Do you think we would risk having him here, knowing your forces could descend on us with impunity?”
“Oh, but…how will we know you’ll do what you say?”
He bowed from his saddle, as smarmy and self-righteous as I expected. “You have my word.” He took in the bonds locking my arms together, as well as the one around my neck. “It seems that you can trust us more than the dragons you are faithful to trust you. I take it you didn’t like our offer?”
Jayne roared from beside me, and snapped at the air about halfway between us. I flinched away, and added a little warble to my cry.
“I knew we couldn’t trust you. I
told them that this was going to be a trap and that we couldn’t take you at your word.”
“How disappointing,” he called back. “You’re saying these shifting lizards put more stock in our word than you?”
“Seems so.”
He and the men surrounding him laughed. I hoped they found this equally amusing when I shoved their own egos right down their throats.
“Well, in the pursuit of establishing trust between us, I offer a token.”
He snapped and one of the armored knights around him slowly clopped forward. Well, it didn’t quite clop against the soft sand, but the idea was the same.
Jayne and I both tensed, waiting for him to jump off his horse and attack us, or explode, or something. But instead he just moseyed over.
It wasn’t until he was a few feet away that I noticed he had an odd sort of…wiggle to him? It was hard to put my finger on it, but it seemed like his body wasn’t absorbing some of the shock and adjusting as an experienced rider would. He just was bouncy, like he was bloated and couldn’t compensate for the movement.
Then an awful, rotting smell hit me and I knew exactly what was going on.
“I told you, it’s a trap!”
I dove to the ground just as a volley of arrows were loosed to arc over me. Jayne jumped to the air, and took off with a speed the larger dragons would have never been able to achieve. That’s why we had chosen him for this part, after all.
But little ol’ me, stuck on the ground, had no choice but to huddle into the tiniest lump I could make as arrows peppered the ground behind me. I was painfully aware that it only would take one misaimed shot to end all of this plan, but I could only pray.
The knight had finally slid out of his saddle, clattering to the ground with six or so arrows dappling his body. The shining helmet tumbled from his head, and I was greeted by the purple-black, swollen face of the Duke.
I didn’t even have to fake the scream that ripped from my throat, and I rolled away in a blind panic.
Thankfully, the arrows stopped, and I managed to pull my bound arms out from under myself and roll onto my back. Before I could get up, I felt the sand shifting, and looked up into the faces of the Prince and two other un-helmeted men who were with him. I briefly wondered if one of them was Perin, but the hair didn’t look quite right.
On another note, I needed to learn the Prince’s name, because there were far too many royals on both sides to keep calling them by their titles.
“I’m guessing that you had no intentions of releasing Gael,” I said with a sigh.
He nodded to another one of his soldiers, and they slid down from their horse to yank me up.
“The dragons should have listened to you after all. Although I was hoping we could capture at least two of them here, but alas, we will have to be grateful for what we were able to procure.”
“Yeah. You wouldn’t want to be greedy, would you?” I sniped back as I was shoved onto a spare horse that was brought to the little formation.
“In my experience, I’ve found that there’s no such thing as greed. Just those who want things, and those who want it harder.”
Of course, the Prince would have a mantra like that, but I kept any further comebacks to myself. So far, our plan had gone perfectly, so I should have been thrilled.
But I couldn’t help but feel the dark lick of fear up my spine. Once more, I was in the hands of the enemy.
I just hoped this went better than the last time.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
It was a day’s travel by horseback, and while it was much nicer with a saddle, it still was not a comfortable situation. At least this time I was conscious when I got to enter the castle estate. It was truly massive. We passed through the front, towering gates when the sprawling building was still just an outline in the distance.
I suppose I had read about this multiple times in history class, but it was quite different seeing things in person. The main street was highly taken care of, and guard posts lined it every fifty feet or so. But on the edges I saw mostly mud and shacks, rambling in no particular order and many of them crumbling.
Peasants were dressed mostly in rags, although I would see the occasional pop of color and finery of someone who wasn’t quite as bad off.
We progressed slowly, the Prince certainly making a whole show out of the procession. There weren’t any boos or otherwise objections to my existence, so I figured they didn’t know the purpose of this outing. It gave me a chance to look at everything without having to duck any rotten vegetables or what have you.
The further we got along the path, the nicer the buildings became, and the less everything started to smell like piss and manure. It was like watching gentrification in real time, and it probably would have been fascinating if the castle wasn’t considerably closer, reminding me of the fate that was awaiting me.
Or of the fate everyone thought was in store for me.
I needed to stop doing that. I was going to jinx myself.
And then finally we were past the banners, past the flags, and past the inner-stone wall of the castle grounds. It was much more heavily guarded than the back had been, and everyone was standing at attention. It would have been nice to pretend that this royal welcome was for me, like I was some sort of returning hero, but I couldn’t quite immerse myself in the illusion.
We stopped in a massive courtyard, a bubbling fountain at its center that put the one in the garden to shame. More servants came, taking horses as the rest of the party dismounted, and the plethora of soldiers disbanded to go wherever it was they were supposed to go.
I sat tight until the Prince strolled over to my mount like he had all the time in the world. “Are you coming down, or are you going to make a scene out of it?” he asked.
I didn’t answer him at first, and I tried to maintain my dignity as I responded. “I can’t.”
“You can’t?”
I shook my head. “I can’t move my legs.”
Instead of becoming enraged, he let out a booming laugh. “I suppose horses aren’t as common on the islands here. I’ll help you down, my fair damsel.”
“You don’t get to call me that while you’re keeping me prisoner.”
He pushed my leg upward, giving me the lift I needed to swing it over the side. He crossed around, and raised his arms to catch me. “See, that is where you are mistaken. I can say whatever I want to you, do whatever I want to you, and treat you however I see fit. It would behoove you to remember that.”
He set me down, and I flashed him the biggest, cheesiest grin I could manage. “Oh goodness, I will try my hardest to be the bestest prisoner I can be!”
“Sarcasm is unbecoming of a lady.”
I took a solitary step towards him, until we were uncomfortably close. I wish I was tall enough to stare him in the eye, but I had to make due with looking up at him in defiance. “Good thing I’m not a lady then.”
The effect was less than I hoped, and he merely sighed. “Creed, Saorse, check her for weapons. Then take her back to her cell. I want three guards on her at all times, and a rotation of six at the door itself.” With that he walked off, leaving me with Tweedle-Dee and Tweedle-Dum in the front and back of me.
They both took their time patting me down. Their hands slid down the front and back of my legs, my middle, even my breasts didn’t escape their search. Thankfully, they were surprisingly professional about it, not uttering a single leer—or even a word for that matter. When they were both done, they moved to either one of my sides, gripped my arms and walked me forward.
We didn’t go in through the massive front doors as I had expected. That was kind of disappointing. I wanted to stroll up those pretty white steps before I potentially faced my death.
Instead we made a sharp turn to the left, and continued far along the side of the building. I made sure to count how many steps there were before we stopped at what had to be a servant’s entrance. This one also had a guard on it, so it was either a more important door than the ones I h
ad pelted through, or they had learned a thing or two about security when a single islander had managed to bust out of their dingy jail. Hopefully it was the former.
The muscle heads on either side of me said something to the guard that I didn’t catch, and he quickly stood. He fumbled with some keys attached to his belt for a moment, then quickly unlocked the door.
Once we were inside, it was about as dark, cramped and depressing as I remembered it. There wasn’t enough room in the windowless hall for us to walk three-abreast, so my escorts let go of my arms with a warning not to run. I didn’t want to think of what might happen if I did, so I behaved myself as we made a little train towards our destination.
We kept down that hall for quite a while, and we only passed a servant or two. Both of them let their gaze linger on me and I started to feel a bit self-conscious. Was there something in my teeth? Was it the pants? I didn’t know, but it made me even more on edge than I needed to be.
And then abruptly we were out of a stupidly small door that I even had to duck my head through, and back into a main hall. I was surprised to realize I knew exactly where we were, but I guessed running for your life down a corridor tended to make it stick out in your memory. If I turned right out of here and went about two dozen feet or so, there would be another servant’s door. The very one I had barreled down in my first quest for freedom.
We arrived at the spiral staircase of the dungeon all too soon, and the decidedly unpleasant scent of mold, mildew and stale blood drifted up to me. I hesitated for a moment, and the one at the back (Saorse? Maybe?) shoved me forward, making me nearly topple into his partner. I shot him a look as I recovered my balance, and hurried along to match the leader’s stride.
As soon as we were on the landing, I was craning my head from side to side to see if they had managed to refill the cells I had emptied. A sharp smack to my temple stopped that pretty quickly though.
“Look forward!”
“Alright, geeze,” I snapped, rubbing the side of my head. I tried to catch the intel I wanted in my peripheral vision, but the hall was much too dark. If there were any prisoners however, they weren’t making any noises.