Sir Callie and the Dragon's Roost, page 13
“No! That isn’t what happened! I mean…On the outside it was, but xe would never try to kill you! I know Kensa,” Teo insists. “And I know the mission.”
Willow steps forward. “What mission?”
Teo’s gaze darts nervously between us. “To…save you.”
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
“Save us?” My laugh is an uncomfortable twisted thing on my tongue. “Are you kidding? Kensa tried to obliterate us!”
“No!” Teo insists. “We don’t instigate. We don’t kill. We defend! We protect!”
My nerves finally give out and my temper snaps. I draw Satin and level her right at Teo’s chest. “Liar. Everyone knows dragons lie and you nearly tricked us into thinking you were different. There’s no such thing as a dragon’s oath, is there? You’re just continuing Kensa’s mission, trying to lure us in to…to what? Recruit us? Curse us? Kill us?”
Teo raises xir hands, shrinking back as I advance. “Of course not! I meant every word, I swear it!”
“Why should we believe you?” I demand. “You’re on the enemy’s side!”
“We don’t know that.”
I whip around at Elowen’s soft voice, and she meets my stare squarely.
“Xe should’ve told us right at the start,” she pushes on. “But xe’s done nothing but help us. And I think it’s worth finding out for ourselves who is the enemy and who isn’t. You really want to go by Helston’s assumptions? Teo’s right—if Kensa’s goal was to kill us, xe could’ve done so. Easily.”
“Who cares!” I explode, startling a small flock of gulls into the air. “Even if the actual out-loud purpose wasn’t murder, you can’t in any way say that xe didn’t attack us! I’m not about to get tied up in semantics debating a dragon, El!”
But Elowen stands her ground, strong as if she was taking root in the earth itself. “Semantics are important,” she says. “The details matter. Otherwise we’re no better than the council, who craft their own reality. I believe you,” Elowen tells Teo. “And I want to go with you.”
My jaw drops. “El—”
“You can decide for yourself what you do,” she says. “That’s what freedom is. But I’m going with Teo to this Roost place. I want to find out the truth for myself.”
I gape at her like a fish, then shut my mouth. All my instincts tell me to run run run! But when I think about where those instincts came from and why…Well, Elowen’s right, isn’t she? There’s no point pretending we know anything about anything anymore. The only way to know is to find out for ourselves.
“I agree,” says Willow. “And I trust Teo not to lead us into danger. If we go and it’s bad…well, we escaped Helston, didn’t we?”
I nod slowly, keeping one eye on Edwyn, who looks like his body’s seizing up the way it does around Adan. “And we won’t stay for long,” I add for his benefit. “We’ll go, we’ll rest, and then we’ll leave. We’re there on our terms and our terms only. Right?”
Elowen and Willow nod. “Right.”
Edwyn presses his lips together in a hard line and says nothing.
* * *
The sun sets and we keep walking. Darkness falls and we keep walking, the magicians leading the way with lights in their palms while I trudge behind them with Edwyn behind me.
Everything is so twisted around and confusing. It has been for ages, long before it all fell apart yesterday (how is it only yesterday?). Ever since Papa and I arrived in Helston that very first day, everything I thought I was sure of has been proven wrong. And it won’t stop. It’s not gonna stop until there’s nothing left apart from me. Just me. And I’m terrified I’m gonna lose myself too. Maybe I already have. I’ve wanted to be a knight for as long as I can remember. A Helston knight. Without that compass pointing my way, I don’t know where I’m going.
It’s impossible not to think about the fact that we’re literally walking into the arms of the enemy, toward the dragon we ran from and the infamous banished princess. Everything and everyone we were warned against. And not just by folks I know not to trust, but by those I do.
By those I did.
I clench my jaw until the ache distracts me.
* * *
The moon is high in the sky when we finally stop beneath the canopy of a tree so ancient and sprawling, its branches reach out in a wide embrace that seems to go on forever.
When we sit down, it feels safe. Like nothing can touch us here. It feels like when Papa and I camped inside the ancient stone circle, guarded by the moor’s wards.
I can breathe.
Willow curls up and falls asleep easily between thick, gnarled roots; cocooned in his cloak, with Teo on one side and Edwyn on the other.
Elowen doesn’t even pretend to sleep, sitting up with her arms wrapped around her knees, occasionally tending to the small fire. I take my place beside her, and we sit with our heads touching in silence until, one by one, the others start snoring.
Then, softer than a murmur, “Callie, I need to ask a favor of you.”
“Anything,” I tell her immediately, honestly. “Anything at all.”
Her fingers find mine and our hands twine tight together. “This is my dream. My want. I’ve had it ever since we escaped Kensa before. I know that I’m meant to be in Dumoor. But it isn’t Edwyn’s dream, and he has a right to his own. Callie, I need you to promise me that you’ll help him find it.”
“What’re you saying, El?”
“I’m saying…I’m saying that when the time comes, you’ll go ahead without me.”
“No.”
“You said you would do me a favor. Anything.”
“Anything but that!”
“Hush,” Elowen begs. “Please. I need you to understand—”
“I understand that the point of getting out of Helston the way we did was to stick together.”
“No. The point of escaping Helston was to be free. Free to make our own choices and follow our own paths.”
“Edwyn will never leave you.”
“I won’t have him stay where he doesn’t want to be for my sake. I know my brother. I know what he is willing to give up for me. I am not going to let him keep doing that, and I need you to help me.”
“Why do you think you’ll want to stay? What’s in Dumoor that’s worth giving up everything else for?”
Elowen’s silence is thick and guilty, and she turns her face away before she speaks. “Revenge.”
Every inch of my skin prickles.
Revenge.
“On who? Adan?”
“Adan. Mother. The queen. All of them.”
“El—”
She swipes her hand across her eyes. “I hate them,” she whispers fiercely. “Every single person in Helston. Each is as culpable as another.”
I chew my lip until blood threatens to spill. All I can think of is: She’s including Papa and Neal in that list.
“You think revenge will make things right?”
“Yes. I do.”
Her blue eyes are fierce, gaze challenging me to argue and tell her she’s wrong.
I can just about manage, “How?”
“How?”
“How will it make things right? What do you think it’ll achieve?”
She stares at me like she can’t understand how I don’t know. Maybe I’m missing something. Then, slowly, “I want them to know how it feels to be us.”
I wouldn’t wish that on anyone. Even Adan.
“But that’s why you have to promise me that, when the time comes, you’ll go. It’ll be messy. And it’s not your fight. It isn’t anyone’s but mine.” She raises her little finger and looks me right in the eye. “Promise me you’ll protect my brother.”
“I promise I’ll protect Edwyn,” I say carefully, gripping her finger in mine. “If that means leaving, so be it. But it won’t come to that.”
Elowen’s body relaxes on a breath and she dips her head until our foreheads touch. “I hope not.”
* * *
I dream of running.
I pelt through darkness, across terrain I cannot see, from enemies I daren’t look back at. But I can hear them, snapping at my heels and cursing my existence. I can feel them, their breath hot and heavy, their feet slamming into the ground like a blacksmith’s mallet.
I know it’s useless. I know I’ll be caught. The certainty is sharp in my chest, but desperate fear spurs me onward until the very last moment. If I go down, it won’t be for lack of fighting.
Black melts into blue. Sky or sea, I don’t know. Both, perhaps. I don’t care.
I push my burning body faster, the last little distance.
The pounding of my heart is as loud as the footfalls on my heel and they, in turn, are louder than a war drum beating time to my hand.
The cliff catches me and I skid, almost falling.
In front is an abyss of the unknown.
Behind me, the enemy is familiar.
There is no choice.
I jump.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
When I wake up, I still feel like I’m being chased, adrenaline sharp and urgent and real, and the ground is shaking—
Panic kicks me up and I grab at Willow, Elowen, Edwyn. Even Teo.
“Wake up,” I hiss, jostling each of them awake. “Someone’s coming.”
Someone. Like there could be any chance it isn’t Helston snapping at our heels.
Elowen is already on her feet, alert and ready with magic in her hand, while Willow helps Edwyn rise. Teo’s eyes are bright in the dark; xir ears twitching, listening.
“How many?” I whisper.
“Six. Seven…Maybe more. Coming from the west.”
The west.
Helston.
“And…dogs too.”
Edwyn cringes. “They’re hunting us.”
“Of course they are,” Elowen growls. “We’re just beasts to them. Less than.”
“Maybe…maybe we can talk to them,” Willow whispers, gathering up our small smattering of things. “Maybe they aren’t even looking for us. Maybe it’s just a hunting party, a real one, and if we explain what happened they’ll help us. Or maybe Mother sent them to—”
“To what?” Elowen snaps, and Willow shuts his mouth. “We’re traitors. Fugitives. Enemies of Helston. If we’re lucky, we’ll be captured and taken back alive. And I don’t think we can count on luck.”
She’s right.
I take a deep breath, steeling myself back into the warrior I am. I might not be bound to Helston, I might not wear the unform or bear the insignia, but that’s never stopped me before. I know who I am. I am Sir Callie, the prince’s champion, and I know what I need to do.
Run, fight, protect.
In the distance, a dog howls.
Elowen grabs my arm. “You remember your promise?”
I swallow and nod. “I do.”
She gives one final smile, then shoves me away. “Go! Run! Teo and I will fend them off.”
She’s already turned away when Edwyn starts toward her. “Elowen, what—”
I grab his hand to hold him back. “Come on, we have to go. We’ll catch up with them later. Please,” I beg as the storm of men and horses and dogs comes closer. “We have to at least try. She’ll be fine. She’s the best of us. Come on!”
“No! She’s my sister! I—I have to—”
“You have to live!” Willow shouts. “That’s it. That’s all! Callie’s right, we need to go!”
Neither Willow nor I give Edwyn any more chance to choose.
We take one hand each and run.
* * *
Dumoor Forest is like a gaping mouth, open in welcome and eager to swallow us down. And it’s the safest place for us. We don’t stop. We don’t look back. We don’t slow. When the gnarled roots rise to snag Edwyn’s bad leg, Willow and I keep him upright. We keep each other moving. I don’t know where I’m taking us, only that we need to get as far away as possible, as fast as possible.
Elowen can handle it, I tell myself over and over. She’s the fiercest of us all. The most capable. She has Teo with her. They’ll be okay, and they’ll give us time to get away. To escape. To find somewhere safe.
And where is that? A hundred miles off in a different direction?
I push the thought away. It doesn’t matter. Safety is ahead. That’s it. Just keep going and don’t look back.
The trees are bunched and the branches are low, twisted together into an impossible maze that forces us to duck and dip and change trajectory just to keep moving. The sounds of horses and hounds surround us. In front, behind, everywhere and closing in, and I don’t know where to go and I don’t know how to save us and I need Satin but that means letting go of someone’s hand and I’ve already lost El and Papa and Neal and—
A wolf lands solidly on all four paws in front of us, teeth bared and dripping. Just like the ones that attacked us on our way to Helston. The witch’s wolves. I bet it’s got her mark on it somewhere.
My first instinct is to shove Willow and Edwyn behind me. But behind isn’t safer.
Wolves at our front; dogs at our back.
Willow’s free hand lights up but his magic is shaky—exhausted, terrified. We have fought so much, we’ve barely got anything left.
The wolf stalks toward us, shoulders up, breath hot, but when it finally lunges, it goes right around us. Straight for a dog, whose growls turn to a yelp.
I don’t pause to look or ask questions. As long as we’re in one piece, we gotta keep going.
Men shout to each other. At each other. Not so far away, someone cries out in anger and pain. It doesn’t sound like Teo or El. I wonder if they’ve been found yet. I hope not. I hope they ran in the opposite direction. I hope—
“Halt! You’re surrounded!”
We freeze in unison and I brace for teeth or arrows or both in the middle of a clearing carpeted with trampled leaves and gnarly roots.
But when I see who it is, I burst out laughing.
Peter glares down at me on a horse that’s way too big for him with a sword he can barely lift. And no backup.
“Seriously? Don’t you have anything better to do?”
“Shut up,” he snaps, jumping down and hitting the ground hard. “Didn’t you hear me? We’ve got you surrounded. You’ve nowhere to go.”
“It’s three against one,” I remind him softly. “And you’ve never beaten any of us in single combat. Just because you’ve been given a big-boy sword, doesn’t mean you know how to use it.”
Peter levels the sword right at my face. Okay, maybe he does know how to use it.
That’s fine.
I unsheathe Satin.
My stance is firm; my heartbeat, steady. I know what to do and I know I can win.
“Let’s go,” I murmur. “Best of one. Winner takes all.”
“And give you the chance to cheat again? I don’t think so, Calliden.”
The name is a knife in my throat, and I strike with a snarl and a double-handed swing.
“That’s. Not. My. Name!”
Peter meets me strength for strength, force for force, and he smirks behind his sword. “I guess it’s true what they say. Girls really are too emotional for battle.”
“I wish there was a girl here to grind you into the ground,” I spit. “If El was here, there wouldn’t be anything left of you to take back to Helston. Lucky for you.”
The next blow rings right through me. “Elowen thinks she’s something she’s not. Just like you. Just like them.” And I know he’s talking about Willow and Edwyn. “You think you’re better than us. You think you’re above us.” The blows get harder, faster, more difficult to deflect. “Well, you’re not. You’re dirt. Less than dirt—”
My heel snags on a raised root and I crash to the ground, my head thunking back against a tree. A sword point grazes my cheek before the stars clear from my eyes.
“And if we didn’t have strict orders to take you home alive, I’d—”
“Stand down, Squire Peter.”
The cool point drops, leaving a spark of pain and a dribble of something warm. I don’t try to stand.
Peter bows quickly. “Captain Jory, I was just—”
“I saw exactly what you were doing,” Jory says sharply, shutting Peter up. “You and I will talk later.” The captain dismounts and rushes to me, gripping my forearm and hauling me up on wobbling legs.
“You gonna arrest me?” I ask thickly through a swallow of blood. I guess I bit my tongue on my way down. My head hurts. My cheek stings, and when I swipe at it, my hand comes away red. I shoot Peter a glare but his gaze is planted on the ground. Cowed.
A small triumph.
“Callie.” Jory’s urgency forces my attention up. “Where is His Highness?”
“Willow? He’s—” I look around for Willow and Edwyn, but neither is here. Good. I hope they ran. I hope they got away. I level my glare at Jory. “Not telling.”
Jory pinches the bridge of his nose so tight I half expect it to come right off. “Callie, child…Do you have any idea the trouble you’ve caused?”
“I’ve got a fair idea. But I’m not sorry. I’d do it again. Over and over. And we’re not going back to Helston.”
“You’re not in trouble. We’re not here to arrest you, we’re here to help—”
“Don’t lie.” The grip on my shoulder is friendly and loose. Easy to escape from. I back up, Satin ready in my hand if I need her.
“Not lying.” Jory puts up his hands, like that proves anything. “Your dads are beside themselves with worry. Her Majesty too.” His eyes flick to something behind me, and Willow creeps out of the trees, Edwyn following reluctantly. Warm relief breaks across Jory’s face. “They charged me with bringing you home safely. All of you. That’s it. They just want to make sure you are all where you’re supposed to be. Please,” he says when none of us move. “I know you’re scared and I know you think they failed, but—”
