by K. E. Drake
“This is amazing!” she breathed and her voice bounced off the dark-blue rock walls. She turned back to Samuel to see he started searching between the unevenly jutted stone of the walls in the dim light. Her heart suddenly sank. “Is this the last of the Kings’ Jewels?”
He glanced back to her and gave her a grin over his shoulder. “No. The Night Ruby is the final one. We may have quite the journey to go before we locate that one.”
The weight on Ruby’s chest lessened as she sighed. She then quickly moved to search the other side of the cavern, hoping he hadn’t heard her. She tried to search but found she couldn’t concentrate. She glanced back at the prince and watched him for a few moments.
She loved him. She had known it for almost a week now, since the night at Kently. She wanted to tell him, but she never had the courage to confess her true feelings aloud. She smiled softly to herself, but then her thoughts began to nag at her. There’s no way he could feel the same way for me. It would only cause embarrassment. I could never tell him how much he truly means to me. Nothing can ever come from how I feel for him.
Samuel moved to look between the next set of jutting rocks, and Ruby was drawn out of her miserable thoughts when he pulled a small, carved wooden box from between two of the stones. He opened the lid and pulled out a glimmering, pale-blue crystal. He gave a laugh and tossed the Jewel high up, catching it mid-air.
Ruby took the satchel from around her shoulders and went to the prince. She handed him the leather bag with a happy smile, even as a bitter twinge of pain stung her heart.
Samuel accepted the satchel and placed the crystal securely in the pocket with the Danica Diamond and Teryl Gem. He stood and looped the bag over his shoulder. “Are you ready to leave?”
She only nodded, glancing one last time at the cavern before she followed the prince back to the boulder.
He boosted himself up on a nearby rock and latched onto the edge of the boulder. He pulled himself up with ease and then knelt down on the stone with both hands extended down to Ruby. “Your turn.”
“Are you sure?” she asked with a look to his offered hands and then back to his face again.
Samuel gave her a reassuring grin. “Positive.”
“Okay.” Ruby imitated him by stepping up onto the rock, and she placed both her hands within his.
He tightened his grip and effortlessly swept her up onto the rock with him.
She blinked, marveling at his strength as she landed lightly on her feet. He took her hand again, and they carefully navigated the path back down the winding stones. The icy rain of mist coated their hair and clothes, dampening them by the time they came to the last slick rock and stepped onto the lush grass once again.
Once she was safely on solid ground, Samuel released her hand and started down the riverside with Ruby trailing behind him. “We’ve accomplished a lot for one day. We’ll set up camp early and move west tomorrow.”
As the prince spoke, Ruby glanced over her shoulder. His voice faded as she slowed to a stop and turned back to view the magnificent waterfall. She craned her neck to see the flat land spread out at the top of the falls far above as the crystal water rushed over the edge and poured into the river.
She turned back and took a half step to catch up with Samuel when strong arms caught her tightly around her waist and pulled her roughly back against a hard surface. Her heart seized in panic. She tried to scream but a hand quickly clamped over her mouth.
Over a dozen men, bandits, emerged from the line of the forest at once. A slim man with jaggedly cut hair appeared in front of the men, an arrow nocked in his bow and aimed at the prince.
Samuel stopped when the figures came out, and he whirled around to find Ruby, only to see her now held captive by an auburn-haired man with stone-gray eyes.
“If my eyes don’t deceive me, I believe we’ve just stumbled upon the prince of Avon while on one of his illustrious quests.” Ruby’s captor drawled, his low, rich voice rumbling in his chest against her back.
A hint of recognition flashed across Samuel’s features before his eyes hardened and blazed emerald fire. “Let her go, Hood. She has nothing of value to you.”
Hood took his hand from her mouth, and she felt a cool piece of metal slide over her throat. “She might not, but I’m sure you do. Now hand it over, or this girl will pay for it.” He pressed the edge of the blade into her throat.
She inhaled sharply as pain burned at her neck and a trickle of blood dripped from the shallow wound. “Samuel, no!”
Samuel’s body tensed, though his face remained emotionless. He ripped the satchel from his shoulders and threw it at Hood’s feet. The flap of the bag fell open and the three Jewels rolled out of the pocket onto the leather surface, shimmering and glinting brilliantly in the sunlight.
Hood took a second look at the gems and a slow smirk curled his lips. “You carry treasure greater than I expected.”
“You have what you came for,” Samuel said. “Now let the girl go.”
“No, you can’t! Take the jewels and save yourself!” Ruby pleaded, but Hood moved the dagger to bite deeper into her throat. She cried out and then fell quiet as the pain sharpened.
The bandit suddenly removed the blade from her throat and released her. “Scarlet!” he ordered and pushed Ruby into the arms of a young man who appeared near Hood’s side on the riverbank.
The dark-haired man, Scarlet, caught a hold of Ruby’s wrist and gripped her waist with his other arm, keeping her own arms pinned to her sides. His hold on her was firm but surprisingly gentle
Samuel kept his eyes on Ruby. Blood stained her throat under her fresh cut and her eyes pleaded with him. If anything happens to her, I’ll... He cut his thoughts short and took a slow step towards Ruby.
The lone archer raised his bow higher and drew the string taut.
Hood raised a hand to the archer, not taking his dark, stony eyes from the prince of Avon. “Stand down, Drake. He’s worth more to us alive.” The archer glowered but lowered his bow to the ground. Hood continued. “Wouldn’t the king and queen of Avon pay anything to have their heir returned to them, alive and relatively unharmed?”
Scarlet’s brown eyes snapped to Hood. “You told me there would be no more captives. You said the mute girl would be the only one!”
“Now is not the time, Scarlet,” Hood warned darkly and turned back to the prince. “Come along peacefully, and we won’t harm the girl.” He lifted the knife then and the bloodied blade gleamed in the sunlight.
Ruby’s heart hammered, and she held her breath until her lungs ached. Samuel kept his gaze focused on her and watched the bandits out of the corner of his eye as he moved another step closer.
Hood signaled to one of the men, Scarlet became rigid behind Ruby. “I’m so sorry,” he whispered low, his breath brushing her ear. Before she could comprehend what the bandit was doing, he released her and shoved her into the river's icy, rushing waters.
“Ruby!” Samuel shouted and lunged towards the river as she was pulled under and out of his sight.
A twang and a sharp whistle pierced the air and pain shot through his leg, and he fell hard onto the damp grass. His vision tinged with blackness and from the corner of his sight he could see several men rushing to capture him. Releasing a yell, he slammed his fists onto the ground and erupted into his dragon form, his human voice merging into the rumbling growl of the beast. His long wings shot outward with a vengeful strength that displaced the air and blasted half the bandits back into the trees. The dragon raised his head, his shining emerald scales glinting brightly in the sunlight, and he gave a roar that echoed across the sky.
All the bandits rushed to get to safety. Even Scarlet, Drake, and other braver bandits quickly backed away from the dragon, complete horror and shock written on their faces. With terrified shouts and exclamations, the rest of the group ran back into the forest as the beast slammed his front paws to the ground, shaking the very earth beneath their feet.
As the chaos happened
around him, Hood calmly crouched and snatched up the precious Jewels from where they were thrown on the grass. The bandit stood and stepped back in time to miss being thrown back by the dragon’s wings when Samuel spun around, gouging hulking trees from the ground and sending them flying.
The leader of the bandits walked with long-legged strides back towards a line of unharmed trees. He stopped just short of entering the forest and turned back to the dragon prince, watching as he churned the wind to a roar with his massive wings and took off into the air, flying downstream.
With a cool smirk on his lips, Hood, almost in fascination and not quite in disgust, thought, Prince Samuel of Avon, a dragon.
Hood turned back and started for the bandits’ campsite. “Reece, Jonathan!” he called out to two of his most trusted thieves in his camp.
“Yes, Ryder?” Scarlet addressed Hood by his real name when he and Drake appeared on each side of him.
“How many were injured?” Ryder asked.
“Miller broke an arm when he collided with a tree, nothing new for him. Tucker is attending to him now. The rest of the boys are fine, a little banged up and shaken, but alive.” Jonathan confirmed, securing his bow over his shoulder.
Ryder nodded but said nothing else.
“What of the dragon?” Jonathan questioned when their leader didn’t say anymore.
“We let him go,” was the reply. “We have something much more valuable in these jewels.”
“What do we do now?” Reece asked, running a hand through his dark hair as they came into the large campsite.
“Start packing up camp. We continue with our original plan to lie low in Omrie for a few months. Tell the rest of the men,” Ryder ordered. He broke away from Jonathan and Reece without another word and ducked into his tent. He opened the flap of the satchel and reached in to grab the Jewels. He opened his hand with the diamond, gem, and crystal in his palm and added, “And then to Kently to kidnap a king.”
Chapter Eleven
Saved
Ruby cried out as the icy water of the river carried her quickly downstream. She craned her neck, trying to keep her head above the surface of the rapids, but she was swiftly submerged in the deep water once again.
She fought against the current and broke the surface of the river, coughing up a mouthful of water and desperately gasping for air. She flailed wildly and reached for something to grab onto, but only clutched fistfuls of mud and small pebbles that did nothing to slow her rapid speed further and further away from Samuel and toward certain death.
An echoing roar sounded above Ruby, barely reaching her ears over the thunderous river. Her heavy, water-sodden cloak snagged on a low hanging tree limb, jerking her to a stop. The collar of her cloak pulled against her throat, and she caught hold of the branch, clutching onto it with numb fingers. The branch bowed with her weight before it snapped, and she was swept under the icy water once more.
A giant shadow passed overhead a moment before fiery pain spread on her head behind her right ear and her world went black.
Beneath the numbing, bone-chilling cold, Ruby almost felt warm.
She was vaguely aware of a distant voice calling out to her and a warm pair of hands anxiously running over her face and throat. She moaned as a jolt of pain stung from the shallow cut on her throat.
“Ruby? Ruby! Come back to me. Stay with me,” the voice called louder through the hazy fog.
Samuel’s voice.
Ruby choked, startling herself back into consciousness. Twisting from her back onto her side, she pressed an open palm to the grass and coughed up mouthfuls of water.
When her coughing finally ceased, she groaned and laid her head back on the ground. She pried her eyes open and looked up into Samuel’s worried face.
At the sight of her alive and well, the deep lines marring his brow softened, and he blew out a heavy sigh, his shoulders slumping. He sat back onto the grass and offered her a shaky smile. “Hey.”
Ruby smiled tentatively, still breathing heavily. “You saved me. Thank you.”
Samuel only nodded, shoving his hand through his hair.
“Who were they?” she asked with effort, recalling the image of the man with cold, stone-gray eyes.
Samuel shook his head, his brow lining with his troubled thoughts. “They’re the infamous group of thieves known as the Hoods. The man who captured you was Hood himself, the leader of the bandits. I recognized him by his wanted posters. There are posters up for him and several of his men throughout all the kingdoms in the continent.”
Slowly shaking her head to clear it, Ruby carefully sat up and looked around. She and the prince sat near the forest, a safe distance away from the river, and she saw that her water-sodden cloak lay in a heap a few feet away.
Pain throbbed in her skull. She gingerly lifted a hand to the back of her dripping hair and winced in pain when her fingertips brushed over a raw spot behind her right ear. She drew her hand back and looked at her fingers, but no blood came off on them. Her sopping clothes clung to her skin, making her shiver. Even the warm summer air that touched her skin felt like ice.
Samuel saw her shiver and he got up in one swift movement, unbuttoning his emerald dragonscale coat. He shrugged the garment off and wrapped it around Ruby’s shoulders.
She smiled shyly to the prince and tentatively threaded her arms through the long sleeves. The chill clinging to her began to fade as the warmth of the garment enveloped her. The fringe of her bangs dripped water onto her cheek and she pushed the lock of hair to the side. “What happened?”
Samuel sat down beside her in the grass again, his lips pressed together in a grim line. “After that thief shoved you into the river, the archer shot me.”
Ruby gaped at him in horror. “Samuel! Where did he hit you? Are you all right?” Her words came out in a rush as she pushed herself forward to scan Samuel’s chest and arms for any signs of injury.
“I’m all right, Ruby. It was just my leg. Only a flesh wound,” Samuel assured, then turned serious. His eyes raked over her features. “I’m just relieved you’re all right.”
Ruby suddenly found it hard to breath. She tried to give a feeble smile but it fell and she found she could only nod.
Samuel’s gaze slipped down to her throat and he reached out and gently brushed his fingers over the shallow cut there. The blood dripping from the wound quickly dried beneath his warm touch and his hand lingered before he withdrew it. “I was so worried about you,” he confessed. “I had no choice. I turned to the dragon and chased them off. Then I flew downstream until I found you caught up in the rapids.” His voice dropped a notch. “I thought I’d lost you.”
Ruby looked like she was about to cry, but she breathed deeply and fought against the onslaught of emotions. “What will we do now?”
Samuel rubbed a hand over his jaw, exhaling. “I don’t know.”
The daughter of a once proud house watched as the penniless prince turned his gaze to the still forest. She wrapped her arms around herself and cast her gaze downward, helpless to comfort him.
Moment passed as the quiet lingered between them. Finally, Samuel looked back to Ruby. “It’s not safe to stay here anymore. These woods are still full of Bandits, and along with the Jewels, our food and supplies were taken as well.”
“Oh, Samuel, I’m so sorry. You lost everything.” Her voice shook.
He gave her a meaningful look and softly shook his head. “No. Not everything.”
Ruby dropped her gaze and wiped away a tear that fell from her eye, her heart beating unevenly.
She drew in a calming breath and finally looked back up to Samuel. “What’s your plan?”
“We can no longer continue on the journey. We’ll go to my home,” he answered thoughtfully, squinting up at the clear sky. “It will be dark soon, but if we fly, we could reach Avon in five or six hours.”
“Avon? Y-your home?”
“Yes. My parents will know what to do.”
“Parents?” Ruby squeaked.<
br />
Samuel smiled reassuringly. “Don’t worry, they’ll love you.”
“W-what about the Night Ruby?” She stammered anxiously as her heart began to race.
“That will be a quest for another day.” The prince got to his feet. He held a hand out to Ruby and grinned, a glimmer of light returning to his eyes. “Are you ready to fly?”
Chapter Twelve
The King and Queen of Avon
The sun had long set and the land was cloaked in the silvery-blue light of the late evening sky as they reached their destination and Samuel began his descent. His back paws landed lightly on the manicured grass near a mountain to the left of the gray-stone palace that was bathed in the warm glow of torchlight.
The dragon lowered his paws to the ground and Ruby crawled out of his warm hold. She carefully pushed herself up from the dewy grass and stood, her legs unstable from the hours of resting in Samuel’s grasp while he flew.
The dragon faded and Samuel appeared at Ruby’s side. He held an arm out to her. “Here, you can lean on me.”
“Thank you.” She gratefully wrapped her hands around his elbow, and they crossed the distance to the palace, stepping from the silvery light of the night into the gentle glow of firelight illuminating the grounds.
The vast palace towered before them, but even from the outside it appeared humble and welcoming. It was constructed with smooth, gray stones, and orange candlelight gleamed behind a few of the several glass pane windows positioned within the structure’s walls. Four watchtowers sloped out of the palace’s walls, two to the left and two to the right, and stretched to the starlit sky.
Ruby admired the castle, noting to herself how it appeared quaint yet graceful all at once, and she immediately felt at home there.
The pair came into the cobblestone courtyard at the front of the palace and started up the tall set of gray-stone steps toward the main doors.
As they neared the doors, Ruby peeked up at the prince’s face. “Are you sure about this?”
“Don’t worry, I’ll protect you.” Samuel said the words in a playful assurance, but they made her heart beat oddly along with the butterflies which already flittered in her stomach.