FIVE
I was in pain.
A lot of it.
It was hard to process everything at once, so it set on me in waves. The first thing I noticed was that it felt like someone was sitting on my chest. It was hard to breathe and every time my lungs inflated, I was sure my ribs were crushed.
The next was that most of my skin felt like it had been scraped off, leaving me with entire patches of raw, burning hide.
Everything else came in a rattling list and I got about ten deep before my eyes finally opened.
My lids seemed like they weighed about a thousand pounds each, but I managed to lift them eventually.
And I saw sunlight.
Real, actual, beautiful, blessed sunlight.
But that couldn’t be right. There was no sunlight in the caves, only the artificial radiance of glow stones.
And yet it was there, shining in through a large window.
I guessed I wasn’t in Kansas anymore.
I didn’t smile at my own joke. I didn’t even know if I was capable of smiling at the moment. Every single muscle in my body was protesting at even the thought of moving.
I tried to lift my head to survey more of the room I was in, but it was having none of that. Instead, I stared at the stone ceiling, and tried to guess where I was. I was fairly certain I knew exactly where I was, but I didn’t want to admit it to myself.
I heard a heavy door swing open and then footsteps approach me.
“Oh, hello there! Have you awakened already?”
A face appeared over me, and it belonged to a quintessentially friendly older man. His skin was a warm, red mahogany, and I saw complex tattoos across the bridge of his nose and extending to his cheekbones before fading into his beard. There were deep crow’s feet around his umber eyes, and if anyone was the resident healer, it was this guy.
My first thought was to nod, but I quickly realized that was not physically possible at the moment. So instead I settled on opening and closing my eyes in response.
“That’s good; take it easy. I hear the soldiers pulled you from hundreds of feet of rubble. Poor thing. You are incredibly lucky to be alive.”
Slowly, carefully, my tongue lifted and tried to articulate something. It took several tries before finally I muttered something intelligible. “It doesn’t feel that way.”
“Hah! I imagine not. But there is no need to be frightened any longer. I am the apothecary of Castle Dyneroot. You can call me Master Josiah. You and I are going to be spending quite a lot of time together while you recuperate.”
“But why?” I managed to murmur.
“Because you are hurt, my lady. I’m sure you can surmise as much yourself.”
“No, I mean…why spend all these resources on me? I’m just a strange human you guys found in the rubble of what was supposed to be a dragon nest.” I paused, realizing that if I was here, and that soldiers had taken the time to extricate me, that they definitely had overrun the city I had been calling home for the past month or so. “…What happened to the nest?”
The doctor made a disappointed sound in the back of his throat. “Unfortunately, the same collapse that almost killed you allowed every single one of those creatures to get away. It took us three days to get through the cavern, and they used that time wisely. One would have thought it was abandoned for centuries if not for the food still in their cupboards.”
“About that,” I continued carefully, “don’t you find it a little weird that such giant creatures have cupboards? And other, human-sized amenities?”
Surprisingly, the older man laughed. “Many of the foot soldiers were, but you and I both know better, don’t we?”
“You—” My words were cut off with a groan. I needed to stay calm and regulate my breathing. Once I had my composure, I tried again. “You know that they can take human form?”
“Yes. It’s guarded knowledge. Something no one is supposed to know beyond the royal family and their generals. Me finding out was an accident that happened long ago. Much before your time.” He busied himself with something out of my vision before returning to my side. “I’m going to change your bandages, and apply some crushed marrow root to your skin. It should numb some of the pain, but you’re in for a fairly painful, and itchy time here.”
“Joy,” I murmured, voice devoid of humor.
“The most important thing is that you rest. You certainly must have fought hard to escape their clutches. From what little we know about them, it’s that us humans don’t normally wiggle out of those talons of theirs.”
Great, a new role I would have to play. Just when I was getting into the rhythm of unappreciated savior of the dragons, it seemed like I was going to have to switch to a damsel who just recently escaped distress. I was probably going to be terrible. Helplessness didn’t do well with me.
“Do you think you might be able to swallow a little tea? It’s something I brewed to let you get some rest.”
“I don’t want rest,” I countered. “I just woke up.”
“True. You’ve been in and out of sleep for almost a week now. This is the first time I’ve ever seen you lucid. I’m pleased to see that you’re actually quite pleasant. Must be all that Shimmering Ilse politeness you’re so famous for.”
“How did you know I was from the Shimmering Ilse?”
“Well, your complexion was a pretty dead giveaway. But even if it wasn’t, we have an old friend of yours here!”
That made my already stiff body tense. “Friend?” I managed to grind out.
“The Duke of Marlonvale. He recognized you almost the moment the war party arrived with you and a few other survivors. Do you remember him?”
“Oh…yes,” I murmured. “We met in Leryk’s village, before I was—before I was…”
“It’s fine dear. You’ve been through more than any young woman should ever have to endure. Here, just a couple of sips and we will speak more on this later.”
He lowered what was basically an ancient version of a dropper in my mouth, and although I wanted nothing more than to turn my head to the side and refuse, I remained still. At least the liquid he squeezed down the back of my throat actually tasted quite nice.
The soothing result was almost instantaneous. Once more, my eyelids grew heavy and eventually keeping them open was too much effort.
I still had so many questions, so much to find out. But it seemed like soon I would be meeting the royal family that I had heard so much about, and they were the ones I was going to have to answer to.
*
I spent what had to be several more days drifting in and out of consciousness, aided by Josiah’s tea. Each time I woke, my pains eased a bit, and my skin grew back in surreal waves.
He answered my questions when I asked them, but dancing around his perception that I was a traumatized girl from his world proved to be pretty difficult when my mind was still under the influence of his comforting tea. So mostly I just mumbled a lot of ‘never minds’ and changed the subject.
When he finally said he was willing to see if I could sit up, I was more than ready.
“Now, you tell me immediately if it’s too much for you. As far as I could tell from physically examining you, you didn’t have any broken bones, but there’s nothing wrong with being cautious, right?”
“If I don’t have any broken bones, why have I been laid up for so long?”
“This may come as a surprise to you, but the human body does not like being compressed for so long. I’ve had the privilege of studying some who have died in similar manners, and if your body was going through anything like theirs did, your muscles and even some of the organs within you were bruised quite badly.”
“Right. I knew that.”
“Of course, you did, my lady. Now, take a deep breath and grip my arms. I’ll help you up.”
I did as he said, my nails digging into the dark skin of his arms. He wasn’t kidding; it certainly did hurt to move, but it was a good kind of hurt. The kind that came with accomplishment, and getting better.
Sweat beaded on my forehead, and my abdomen was practically wailing with fatigue, but I made it into an upright position. As soon as my torso was perpendicular with my legs, Josiah rushed to stuff goose down pillows behind me, keeping one arm on me at all times until he was sure I was propped up securely.
“There we are! Now, how’s that.”
“Good,” I murmured, voice a little breathy from supporting myself for the first time in ages. “Difficult, but good.”
“I am most relieved then. I’ll watch you for a bit to make sure you can maintain this stable position, then I will send a maid to inform the Prince that you are well.”
“Gael?” I blurted before I could catch myself. That damn tea! It was going to get me in trouble.
“What was that?”
“Nothing. You said the Prince?”
“Yes! He has been most concerned with your survival. If he didn’t have a kingdom to rule over and a growing war to prepare for, he no doubt would have been at your side through this whole process.”
“I’m sure.”
He let out a small laugh. “You sound less than enthused. The Duke of Marlonvale mentioned that you were not exactly in awe of our nobility.”
Whoops. It looked like my reputation proceeded me. That would make this charade even more complicated. “People are people,” I answered. “Title does not matter much to me beyond how well you care for the people who depend on you.”
Josiah laughed again. “I could not agree more, my young lady. Perhaps our world would be a little better if we cared less about titles and lands and more about each other.”
It was hard to tell if this man was just saying the right things to butter me up, or actually believed my convictions, but I supposed that he didn’t have a reason to try to deceive me. So I just nodded, and sat back, enjoying my new position that allowed me to see the whole room that I had only known a very narrow view of before.
It was a surprisingly open and well-lit room. I saw scones from which to burn candles at night, and even an overhead, very utilitarian chandelier. There was a large work station that was covered with vials, herbs, mortars and pestles, and shelves covering every available wall space. It was almost comforting in its layout, and I spotted several potted plants peppering the room to lend to the aura of healing.
“You seem to be doing well enough. You won’t be too upset if I step out for just a moment?”
“I’ll be fine,” I murmured. “Like you said, I’m not anywhere near the edge of death, just a little battered.”
“Perfect. It will really only be a few moments.”
I nodded and he hurried out. He had a little bit of a limb, but it didn’t seem to slow him down at all. He really was a sweet old man, doing his best by me with his ancient medicine as he could. But I couldn’t allow him to put me at ease enough to lower my guard. I didn’t trust these royals any more than I trusted the dragons who collapsed the Dragonfire temple with me in it.
Was this what my Abuela had to go through? Constant doubt and worrying about the motives of people who didn’t even exist in her reality of origin? It was exhausting, and it made my stomach twist.
I heard several sets of footsteps approaching and I tried to morph my face into a mix of both grateful and innocent. I didn’t think I was pulling it off, but before I could perfect it, the door was opening and four men were stepping into the room.
One was Josiah, but he wasn’t leading the mini-procession. No, that position belonged to someone else entirely. A man who could only be the Prince I had heard about.
He was tall, almost as towering as Gael. His hair was a luscious auburn, and his features looked like they had been chiseled from stone itself. His eyes were a warm and welcoming hazel, but there was an underlying intelligence there that told me to be careful.
Very careful.
What I assumed were two knights or king’s guards or whatever you called them stood on either side of him. Although they were both fairly hulking individuals themselves, they didn’t command attention like their leader did.
“Lady Mercedes,” the Prince began, his voice just as inviting as his kind smile. Oh boy, this was going to be harder than I thought. “Apothecary Josiah had been keeping me updated on your progress. I am most relieved to hear that you have recovered so beautifully!”
“I am very grateful for all the resources you have spent on my survival.” Yes, that was right. Stroke up their ego. Flattered people were much less likely to spot holes in your story and believe the tales you spin. Or at least that’s what my Abuela taught me.
“Think nothing of it. When my men told me they had found a human who had not only escaped the dragons’ clutches, and warned them of the collapse of a tunnel that could have killed hundreds of them, I knew we had to repay the favor. I would give you the hide of a dragon, should we have run them over like we had planned, but alas.” He let out a dramatic sigh. “That was not meant to be.
“Do not worry yourself, we will find a way to squash the last of their resistance. This is just prolonging the inevitable.”
“Forgive me, Your Majesty,” I remembered to add the proper honorific at the last moment. Myrik had been very adamant about me learning nobility positions of both human and dragons. Who would have figured that he would be right about how useful they were? I would have to make sure I told him the next time I saw him.
I felt my heart twinge at that thought. There was a very real possibility that I would never see either him or Gael again. That made me much more depressed than it should have.
Belatedly, I realized I had trailed off, and smiled sheepishly at the royal. “I am only a visitor in your land. Why is it you and the dragons have such an enmity between you?”
He laughed gently, and the sliver of condescension in it did not escape my notice. “You were their prisoner. You should know better than any of us.”
Crap. I couldn’t argue for the dragon’s innocence without casting suspicion on myself. Time to play dumb. “Actually, I was mostly just left alone. They seemed more like they didn’t know what to do with me.”
The Prince took a step closer, and gently stroked my cheek. Normally I would have batted anyone’s hand away for touching me without permission, but I kept myself in check. “Oh, sweet thing. You don’t need to lie to us. Although it’s rare, you’re not the only human to make it back home. We know exactly what they do in those pens of theirs, and we do not blame you for anything that happened there. The important thing is that you survived.”
Crap. Crapcrapcrap! If they knew about the breeding pens, then there was no real way I could defend the dragons even subtly. Also, who else had escaped? Arvos maybe? Or someone I had never met? I knew there were a couple of other very sparsely populated strongholds in other mountains. Was it someone from there? I would have to see if I could meet with them without being too obvious about my request.
“I see…” I murmured quietly, looking down.
The Prince seemed to take my expression for shame, because his hand traveled to comfortingly pat the top of my hair. “Come now, this is the time for celebration! You are a soldier who survived a battle and saved hundreds. There is no time for frowns.”
Wow, cheesy much? But I plastered a smile onto my face and looked up at him happily. “Thank you.”
“Think nothing of it! In fact, once you are well, I plan to have a dinner in your honor. It’s not every day I get to sit with someone who potentially saved my kingdom.”
“Oh, I don’t know about anything like that.”
“Modest. How like an apprentice from the Ilse. When I have my heirs, I must send them abroad to study there; your manners are always truly impeccable.”
“We do what we can,” I murmured. “Apologies again, Your Majesty, but I am very tired.”
“Of course, of course! Josiah mentioned this is your first time being able to sit on your own, and here I am, keeping you up. By all means, rest. We will speak again when you are stronger. Although I can’t imagine you being any tougher than you already are. How like a lady, to look so delicate, but to be armed with a spine like a sword.”
“Surely you overestimate my character,” I answered vaguely as he turned to go. “But I thank you none the less.”
“Of course, you do. Sleep now, Lady Mercedes, and be safe.”
Josiah was at my side the moment the Prince and his men exited, helping me ease down onto my back. This time I did not need tea to sleep, but as I closed my eyes in exhaustion, I couldn’t help but worry how different my experience with this Prince would be from the last royal I had gotten involved with.