“Oh, so I did.” Remy can’t stay focused at all.
The Marksman hands over the reins to Remy. A massive stallion full of spirit. Remy is just under six feet. This horse towers over him by at least four feet. He holds on tight to the reins and pulls himself up into the saddle.
“I hope you don’t mind me riding you. What am I doing asking you? You can’t tell me how you feel.”
“He is fine with it. He does as his master commands,” Talen says, looking straight at the Marksman.
I will throw that prince off me soon enough.
Talen laughs, as does the Marksman. Her heart almost skips a beat. Can he hear animals talk?
“I’m glad that you can talk to animals, Talen.”
“You might not like what they say about you, Prince Remy.”
Kip is loving the open road. Smelling everything he can.
Remy looks back at the dragon. “I thought I’d be more excited about a dragon.”
“When he is grown you’ll find him impressive.”
“Where are we heading again?”
“The Veiled Haven.”
“My prince, keep your eyes forward,” the Marksman says.
“We can’t just go into the Veiled Haven. I’ve heard the stories as I’m sure you have.”
“What’s the matter, princey, you scared?”
“No. Why would I be scared? I don’t have to ask these people what you need to.”
“Don’t try to confuse me either. I don’t trust you.”
“Who said I would try to confuse you?”
“I know what you’re up to.”
“You think you know what I’m up to. And keep that thing away from me.”
“He’s just a baby. You’re scared of babies? How are you ever going to be married and produce an heir of your own?”
Remy pulls back on the reins allowing Talen to walk ahead of him. The Marksman keeps in pace with Remy.
“I’m not scared of babies. And that is a dragon.”
“I didn’t say a thing. I am here to do my job and leave you two at the mercy of whatever the world wants to throw at you.”
“Can you talk some sense into her?”
Talen plays chase with Kip.
Remy looks on with a twinge of jealousy. Talen is the only woman who actually talks to him. Doesn’t gawk or stare or dream about being his queen. He will fail this task, he is sure of it. He wonders what lies underneath it that his father isn’t telling him. It has to be more than her talking to animals that makes him afraid enough to want her dead.
The Marksman stops at the Dragmoore marker on a wooden post. “End of the line for me. Please take care with my horse. The Brimbar stallions don’t produce many offspring in a year and I don’t wish to bond with another so soon.”
“I’ll take good care of him,” Talen says.
The Marksman leans towards her. “You stop and see my friend. He will get you to the Veiled Haven safely. And he won’t hesitate to kill that prince.”
“Thank you, Desmond.”
“Don’t say my name beyond whispers or private talks.”
“I must say it to your friend.”
“I suppose Remy won’t recognize the relation.”
“What relation?”
“Are you ready?” Remy asks. “You can ride now if you want to.”
Remy gets down. Talen grabs the reins. The Marksman walks back towards Dragmoore. What relation did he mean? She must find out.
“Thank you, my prince.”
“You can call me Remy. I don’t want you to be formal. It might be better if you never call me prince again. A royal without a proper travelling party might spell doom for me and you.”
“I agree.” She hands her backpack to him and he swings it over onto his free shoulder. She is relieved to have that extra weight off her back while having to ride a horse.
The Marksman comes into the farmland. His eyes only see Talen’s house, and immediately regrets leaving her with Remy. He is met with a hit to the head. He falls face first onto the ground and is dragged off.
He wakes up inside one of the cells in the dungeon.
“Desmond Dragmoore. It is a treat to have you in here.”
“As long as we are giving our names, maybe I should say yours aloud.”
“Won’t matter. All that reside in here won’t live to tell anyone.”
The king comes out of the shadows.
“Even your good friend Gavin?”
“I may spare Gavin.”
“I killed the dragon as you commanded.”
“But you left the infant alive.”
“And for good reason. Don’t you need that infant?”
“I may even spare you. Will you remain loyal to your king?”
“You are not my king.”
“Good luck proving otherwise. That song has been sung and the voice has been silenced, forever. Desmond, we have to come together. Don’t let this tear us apart.”
“You already tore apart this family, Uncle.”
The king leaves the dungeon.
The Marksman sits back in the cell. Gavin is somewhere in the dungeon but he can’t see him. He has one card to play. If he uses it, no one of consequence is going to be around to help him. She’ll turn on him. For all the bad things he’s done to her. She’ll have the others turn on him too. He won’t have a safe spot left in the world. Still, she’s the one person whose allegiance to the king can’t be bought or earned, for she also carries the king’s secret.
Remy complains about his feet as they go down a rocky road. “Can we stop for a break?”
Talen stops the horse. Kip runs around in circles underneath the horse. “We need to cover as much ground as possible before night.”
He takes off his boots and rubs his feet. She notices there are blisters on his heels and up the sides. She gets down. Goes to help him put on his boots. “Please leave them off.”
“You need them to ride.”
“But you haven’t been riding that long.”
“You are a prince. Your feet are more important. Get on that horse before I change my mind.”
She grabs her backpack from him and takes out some linen cloth. She wraps the prince’s feet.
He looks down at her tenderly. “Let us both ride the horse. He is more than capable of holding two people.”
The horse turns to them. Go on.
“See, he’ll let us.”
She switches into panic mode. Did he hear the horse?
Remy gets on the horse and offers to help her get on. She takes his hand and he brings her up in one swift, smooth pull. “Now put your arms around me tight.”
She grins. “I could have got up myself.”
“What happened to us being nice to each other? Is this what being out in the world does to someone? Changes them for the worse?”
She puts her arms around his waist. Kip looks up confused. You’re friendly with the prince?
She muffles her laugh.
“What’s funny?”
“Something Kip said.”
Do you like him?
“What did he say?”
“He wants to know if I like you.”
Remy smiles as he kicks the horse’s sides to pick up the pace. “And what did you say?”
“You would have heard me.”
“Oh, right. Well, what do you say?”
“I say… there’s a map in my backpack. It shows a direct route to the Veiled Haven. But we have to stop somewhere first.”
“Where?”
“The Marksman circled the place on the map. It had no name. A friend of his lives there who will help us with our journey.”
“Why would we need someone to help us if we have a map that shows us a direct route? You think between the two of us we can’t read a map and follow it?”
“I don’t know why he thinks we need this person, but I am willing to believe that he is right.”
“Of course.” There’s that sting of jealousy again.
“I don’t see why we have to do exactly as he says.”
“Look, if this guy proves to be questionable, then we will leave without him. Deal?”
“He better have another horse for us.”
She smiles as her grip around him tightens. “I kind of like sharing a horse with you.”
He smiles. “Do you mean that?” The smile fades.
She puts her head against his back and nuzzles with him. He reaches around his back to pat her hand. He’s not sure why he is being affectionate. He has no clue what this all means for them. He’s supposed to bring her back dead. His affection for her is growing, that much he knows. And he doesn’t want to stop. He almost wishes he was back in his tower where there was no complications. No decisions to be made.
The Marksman finds a loose piece of cobblestone inside the cell. He picks at it until it comes up. He takes the piece and cuts into the palm of his hand. As blood spills out, he whispers over the wound. Si’va. Ada’mira. Octoon-devida.
The blood travels along the floor, out past the cell bars and up the stairs.
Bessy is just passing the dungeon when she gets a whiff of something that makes her nostrils flare with anger. “What can a man do without getting himself into trouble?”
She takes in a deeper breath of the smell. She knows whose blood it is. And when she gets her hands on him, she’s going to give him a wallop. She walks up to the back entrance to the dungeon. Two guards stand there. “Hello.”
“No entry through this way, Hunter.”
“I’m not looking to visit the dungeon, but I am looking for a friend of mine.”
“Who might that be, Hunter?” the other guard asks.
“The Marksman.”
“Hah, he’s in the dungeon.”
The other guard elbows his friend hard.
“The Marksman is a prisoner? What crime has he committed other than being an asshole?”
When she realizes that these two aren’t going to comply, she tries the only other option. She walks up to them, places both of her hands against their chests, and pushes as hard as she can. Their knees buckle under the pressure. They go down. She knees them both in the face and they fall over. She flings open the iron barred door and goes down.
She comes down the staircase. “I’m going to rescue his ass and then he’s going to sing my praise. But he’ll turn the table and somehow make it so I owe him a favor.”
“That I might.”
She runs to the cell where the voice came from. “Desmond.”
“Two women who will probably out me by using my name.”
“You told Talen?”
“She will need my name. And one day, she won’t feel awkward calling me by my name.”
“Did you tell her everything?”
“No. I am not stupid. Open my cell. My magic isn’t strong enough to break the bars.”
“You mustered enough magic to let your blood creep out and find me.”
He tilts his head as if looking for pity. “He won’t know it’s you. He thinks I am broken, but he has always suspected me of still possessing some lingering magic. I did just bound you to helping me.”
“Don’t remind me.”
“It was for a good reason.”
“Shut up.” She rubs her hands together fast. “It’s been a while since I’ve had to use this stuff. Do you know what I had to do to get rid of it the first time?” He nods. She blows into her cupped hands. “Reena gil. Reena bar’kla.”
“Can you pretend that you care a little? I am taking a big risk with you not betraying me.”
“I won’t betray you. Reena gil. Reena bar’kla.
The ground shakes underneath her. The tremors travel out to the cell door. The bars rattle as the tremors move up to the top. The door starts pounding back and forth in place. The banging stops. The cell door cracks into hundreds of pieces.
The Marksman hugs her. He then searches for Gavin. “Where are you, Gavin?”
“Here,” Gavin says as he puts his hands in between the bars. “You killed the dragon. I had to lie to my daughter.”
“The king wanted the dragon dead. He needs them to come out of the Veiled Haven. He thought by killing a dragon that it would entice them to visit here. He’s stupid. He has lost his mind like my father. Because of me.”
“You cannot hold yourself responsible for what happened to Hestin.”
“Can’t I? It’s partly my fault. I suppressed what I am. He did too. Then he takes it all back in and destroys his mind. I should have helped him.”
“There was no helping him”
Gavin reaches out for him. The Marksman grabs his hands and cries into them. He then wipes his tears away. He can’t allow himself to look weak.
“He’s using my daughter.”
“He’s dying. He isn’t thinking clearly.”
“Let him die. He brought this upon himself, as do most ignorant rulers. I warned him that he could never trust that bitch. Look what she’s done to my family. He didn’t want to see the truth.”
Gavin can’t begin to explain what he is feeling. Remorse. Regret. He feels so much. Things the Marksman will never understand because he’s never had to lose the love of his life.
“If Talen is successful with getting a Master to come here, both the king and the harpy queen will have their heartfruit renewed,” the Marksman says.
“They won’t do that. They destroyed all the heartfruit trees. They knew the dangers in letting them be sold, letting people sample divinity. They will never make that mistake again.”
The Marksman is not entirely in agreement. Gavin can see that.
“What aren’t you telling me?”
“Since they share the last heartfruit from when the Masters controlled the trees, someone closely involved in the production of those trees placed a spell on the one they share.”
“That’s because it was the last one. It had to be split for them to survive. That’s what happens when you let magic take over your life.”
“Yeah. But did you think that she was going to let something so precious and valuable slip away?”
Gavin wishes he could shoot himself with an arrow right now. He’s been so blind.
Chapter Six
It’s in the night that the terrible things come.
Kip stays close to Talen as she looks over the map that the Marksman gave her. It’s almost pitch black and she can’t read the map good at all, but she likes to think that they’re going in the right direction. She wishes she had inherited her father’s ability to always know what direction to go in. “We are close to the city with no name. We could keep going until we reach it.”
“Are you sure you are seeing it right? I can barely see the road.”
“It’s not far if I’m reading this correctly. The moonlight is providing just enough light to make out the circle the Marksman made.”
“I say we push on without stopping.”
“We have to meet up with the Marksman’s friend. We had a deal.”
“What for?”
“Don’t question it.”
“You are frustrating to deal with.”
She busts out laughing. “First you wanted to marry me and now I’m too frustrating to deal with. What a pair we would have made.”
“Like I ever would have married you. And technically, my father brought up the idea.” He isn’t going to tell her that he’s the one who suggested it first. He didn’t actually mean it then, but now he’s wondering if he should have took her as his bride. He could have got Gavin released. He would have told his father that it’s his wedding gift to his wife.
“Like I ever would have said yes.”
Kip looks between her and him and shakes his head.
“Hah, even the dragon agrees,” Remy says.
“We need to let the horse rest. We need to rest.”
He pulls the horse off the road. There is a large open field in the Wilderness. They
are both thankful that the Wilderness doesn’t just consist of endless forest. “Should we set up camp in the open?”
“Damn. I knew I forgot something.”
“You don’t have anything to set up camp with?”
“No.”
He jumps off the horse. “Stupid woman.”
Kip charges for Remy. Jumps on him and pins him.
“Kip, leave the prince alone.” She finds a nearby tree and ties the horse up around it.
“You heard her. You mangy animal.”
“Mangy? You’ll be looking mangy in a day or two.”
Kip gets off Remy. He finds a lightning bug and eats it.
“We need to stay close to the horse. It should alert us to anything that comes close, but we will also have to keep a fire burning all night. You want to help me find wood to burn? Or shall we start burning our clothes? We will be naked before the end of the week.”
He walks around in circles staring at the ground.”
“What are you doing?”
“Picking my sleeping area.”
“On the ground?”
“Are we to sleep in a tree?”
“Ooh, let’s go and find the wood already before I decide to burn you.”
They go off, almost hand in hand. She starts picking up whatever fallen branches she can find. He does the same. The smell of the evergreens is overpowering. It causes Talen to sneeze. Remy scratches his nose. The scent intensifies as they go a little deeper. She wonders how different the other parts of the Wilderness will smell. Will they have a strong scent or maybe something lighter like the woods near her home?
“How are we starting the fire?”
“Kip. He can create a decent fireball.”
“How are we to start a fire if we didn’t have a dragon?”
“My father showed me how. Rub two sticks together.”
Remy gathers enough wood that the pile is up to his nose. They make their way back to where Kip is standing by the horse. The pile of branches tumbles out of Remy’s arms and the few that she has collected she puts down next to his.
“We only need a few for starters. One of us will toss more onto the fire throughout the night.”
“One of us? You mean one of us isn’t getting sleep?”
Heir of Dragmoore- The Veiled Haven Page 9