A Rose Amongst the Dragons, page 21
part #1 of A Rose Amongst the Dragons Series
“I can’t wait as well. However, I am sorry, but my head hurts something awful. I almost met death on my hunt. I think I will just recover in bed today.”
Princess Alashia‘s eyes widened, she liked the idea of being able to nurse her man. “I will care for you, my master. I will sit with you all day and mend you to health.”
“Nonsense, that it not a fitting job for a princess.”
The princess pouted, “But I want to.”
“Sleep is what I need. You want me to be fully recovered for our wedding.”
Princess Alashia blushed. “Yes dear,” she said and she gave him a full kiss on the lips.
Thelton looked at her; she was very beautiful, but he held no tender feelings for her. Actually, she aggravated him and he despised her.
“I will see you tomorrow at dinner.”
Thelton went back into the room and closed the door. He sat on the bed, “This is going to be a long day.”
It took forever for the day to pass, but finally the night had come. Thelton had spent most of the day sleeping. When he woke up, he noticed a present on the pillow next to him. There was a note on it.
“To my future husband.”
Thelton removed the big bow and wrapping. There was his emerald sword, golden sword, and emerald dagger.
“How in the world did they find these? There is no way that they made it to the queen’s nest.” Thelton wondered if it was a duplicate of the original. He grasped it in his hand. There was no mistake, it was his. He recognized the worn imprints that met his hand so perfectly. He smiled huge, for he was glad to have his sword back. He attached it to his side. But how did it get out of the dragon camp, and how did it end up in the princess’ care?
Knowing that his room was guarded, he went to his window and climbed out. He walked along the outer lip of the castle exterior with careful steps, for it was a long way down. He scaled his way all the way down into the courtyard and ran to the stable.
In the stable, Thelton quickly gathered the tools and carried them to the dungeon. As he went into it, he was yelling. “I have come. Please tell me you are still alright.” He heard no answer. Thelton dashed to the bars and looked in the cell. Indy was buried under the mildew straw asleep, a rat crossed over her hips.
Thelton examined the iron door that separated him from his love. It was solid and every seam was welded with perfection. There was no way to penetrate the door. Thelton dumped the pouch of tools on the dirt floor. He began rummaging through them.
A loud siren began to wail from the cell next to Indy’s. It was ear piercing. Thelton covered his ears as he peered into cell one. The blood drained from his face.
“It’s him, but how?” Thelton felt horrible. “Am I seeing a ghost?” He wondered.
“Hello, lover boy,” Flance said as he waved to Thelton. He put his hand back on the siren and kept cranking it, while his knees held it steady, the sound kept blaring. It was a strange contraption made out of wood, string, leather, and metal. With the right force, Flance used it to alarm the castle.
Thelton wanted to lash into his enemy. He wanted to make the noise stop. Since he couldn’t he realized with the warning siren, he only had minutes to free Indy.
“I am going to enjoy this,” Flance gloated.
Thelton grabbed a sledge hammer and went to where the iron door connected to the rock cell. He began hammering into the rock. He slammed it over and over again. His giant muscles contracting as he brought the sledge hammer down on the rock wall. Crumbles of rock flew about as the rock began chipping away. His biceps ached, but he kept swinging.
“Teltn,” he heard Indy’s weak voice. She began coughing. Thelton swung harder. He had removed the rock from two of the hinges and he was working on the third when he heard voices in the distance. The guards were coming down the long spiral staircase.
Thelton reached into his side pack and pulled out a log the medicine woman had given him. With a quick flick of flint he started the log smoking. He dropped the log onto the ground while smoke filled the dungeon. Around his mouth and nose, he wrapped a cloth that the medicine woman had also given him. He picked up the sledge hammer and removed the last of the rock while the room filled with smoke. His head pounded as the siren continued to wail.
Five guards ran into the center of the dungeon. Thelton grabbed the heavy door and threw it at one of the guards. It took the guard down. He reached into his sheaf and pulled out the emerald sword. The guards were on him.
Thelton fought hard and cut an arm off one of the guards. He was fighting all guards at once when the siren stopped. It was a relief for the noise to end. Thelton had made the mistake to glance over at Flance’s cell, when he did, one of the guards charged at his head. Thelton turned just in time to see the blade coming toward his face. He did not have time to counter act it. The sword came centimeters from his eye. Just as he was about to be sent to his maker, the guard fell over and landed on the ground. Another guard dropped, and then another. They had all passed out from the vapor.
Thelton ran into Indy’s cell. “Let’s go, get up, we got to go!” he yelled. They didn’t have time to waste, for he knew there would be more guards; they had to escape now!
Indy lay unconscious on the floor. “Oh, I didn’t think of that,” Thelton cursed. Indy had passed out from the vapors as well. He went in and grabbed her. She was solid dead weight. He tried to pick her up; his back throbbed, for it was a struggle to hoist her on his shoulders.
With Indy on him, he ran the best he could up the stairs; it was tiring work. When he got to the top, he slipped out of the side door into the courtyard. This was not how he had planned his escape. He needed her to fly them out, if she did that; no one would be able to apprehend them, but now with her dead asleep, he had to devise a new plan.
Thelton ran to the stable. Meanwhile, back up at the castle, the doors flew open and guards were filing out. Thelton opened a stall and hoisted Indy onto the back of a black mare. He opened another stall and climbed on to second horse. He was about to kick his heals into the side of the horse when he saw Indy sliding off the mare’s back. He jumped off his horse and onto the back of the mare. He hoisted Indy up and kicked the horse.
“We are going to have to ride together,” he said to her limp body.
The horse ran out of the stable and into the night. The guards had almost reached the stable as they galloped away. Thelton kept laying his feet into the side of the horse. They needed to go fast. There was a considerable amount of weight on the horse. It wouldn’t take long for the guards to catch up.
The horse ran into the night. Thelton could hear the presence of the guards behind him. The hounds were loose as well. The chase was on.
As the horse ran, Thelton kept shaking Indy. “You need to wake up, you need to wake up!” he called. Indy didn’t budge. The horse kept going.
Thelton continued to lay into the horse. The horse went as fast as he could. Two horses come up on either side of him. Thelton shook Indy again. “Now would be a good time to wake up.”
Thelton drew out his emerald sword, and with his other hand he secured Indy. He took several swings to the horse on the right. The guard was good and avoided all his lashings. Thelton wasn’t in the position to best anyone.
“I hate to do this,” he said as he took his sword and shoved it deep into the side of the guard’s horse and then pulled it out. The beast let out a loud grunt and dropped his pace. Thelton kicked his heals into his own horse again. Without warning, a large object met the side of his left face. He looked over where a guard had slammed him with a club. Thelton rotated his body toward the other guard. It was far more awkward. He tried to hit the guard, be he didn’t have the advantage. The club met his shoulder. The pain at once shot down his arm and across his clavicle.
“Wake up,” he tried again. Indy just slept.
Thelton kicked the horse, it advance a bit past the guard. He took his sword and started swinging it in the guard’s horse’s face. He kept swinging and swinging until the horse got spooked. With fright, the horse suddenly reared up on his hind legs and began bucking the guard. The guard tried to hold on but the force was too strong. He went flying onto the ground. Thelton kicked his horse’s side again.
Not far behind him were twenty horses, and not far behind them were twenty more. At the moment, Thelton had the lead.
“Wake up!” he screamed with all his might. Nothing.
Thelton put his sword away and reached into his pack. He pulled the cloth out that had been on his face. He put it over Indy’s mouth. He kicked the horse again.
The guards were almost up to him. Again he kicked the horse. Indy began to stir while she moved around and then looked up at him. There was confusion in her eyes.
“You’re awake,” Thelton called out in relief. Indy noticed they were going fast. She recognized what a horse was because she had eaten plenty in the past. But the dragons had always carried the horse. This one carried her. Her head hurt and she had no idea what was going on.
“Fly, fly, fly!” Thelton said. Indy closed her eyes, sleep threatening to overtake her again.
“No, no, no you can’t sleep. Fly, fly, fly!” Thelton shook her. Four more horses were almost to them.
Indy raised her head up and looked behind them. She could barely see the guards because of the darkness of the night. She could hear them. Fear overcame her eyes. She could sense that they were in danger.
“Fly, fly, fly!”
Indy sat up, her head throbbed. A guardsman reached to the left side of the horse. He stretched over and grabbed Indy’s arm. Thelton bent down and bit the guard’s hand; this caused him to recoil in pain.
“Fly!” Thelton called out. Indy wrapped her arms around Thelton. They didn’t move, for her wings were caught in her hair. Thelton realized the dilemma. The guard’s sword sliced into Indy’s leg. She screamed in pain. Thelton freed her hair. Her wings spilled open.
“Fly, now!” Thelton yelled. Indy again wrapped her arms around Thelton. The guard’s sword was coming at them again. With amazing speed, the two shot up into the air. The horse kept running, and the guards looked up in shock.
They did it! They had escaped! Indy flew and flew into the dark of the night. The more she flew, the weaker she got. She coughed a lot.
He knew she couldn’t go on much longer, but she has to push herself until they got far from the castle, and then she could rest. He felt bad at hasting her on, but he had to. Finally, they reached Arlisaine. It was not part of the tri-kingdom. The Andleburgs were friendly with them, but they weren’t under the same alliance. Thelton also knew that he was not a celebrity in that kingdom. Yes, most had heard of him, but there weren’t many that had seen him. He was more of a legend in these parts then he was a hero.
“We will be able to lie low here. I don’t think anyone will recognize me.”
They dropped into the center of the town. It was late; there was an inn that burned a torch. Indy leaned into Thelton as they walked to their lodging.
Once inside, Thelton laid Indy on the bed. She was coughing heavily and in distress. She was pale and weak. Thelton looked at her leg, blood saturated her pants. “What I would give for some Firelake water or dragon scales right now.”
Chapter 16
Indy stayed in the room for four days. Thelton brought her meals and worked on nursing her back to health. The fifth morning, Thelton took Indy to the local tavern. He asked if the maidens would give her a bath. He had warned them about her wings and the strangeness of Indy, for he wanted them to be prepared and calm when they cleaned her.
A deep warm bath was drawn where Indy was brought to. They removed her leaves and pants and put her in the therapeutic waters. The maidens tried very hard not to react to her strangeness, but whenever they had the chance, they stole a glance at her wings. She was indeed very abnormal, which intrigued them.
The sensation of the warm water penetrated every muscle. Indy had never felt anything so incredible before. She stayed in the water for several hours. The maidens kept re-warming the water for her. They washed her hair and her skin. They trimmed her eyebrows. As the maidens cared for her, they had an idea.
In the past there was a large woman that worked there. She had left some of her things behind that had been stored in the back. The maidens from the tavern fetched the prettiest of the dresses. When Indy got out of the water, they dressed her in a long turquoise silk dress, making sure to cut out the back. It was fringed in sequins and fake jewels. The dress looked exquisite on Indy. The beautiful material delighted her.
Thelton was in the dining area enjoying the pan flutes, when Indy walked in. The maiden’s smiled as they presented Indy to Thelton. They were proud of their handy work.
Thelton looked up, his jaw dropped. In all his life he had never seen any women as beautiful as Indy. The dazzle of her smile made her even more alluring, and she looked radiant in her dress with her hair styled and a slight bit of color added to her face. Indy could see the pleasure in his eyes. She smiled huge, showing off her badly aligned teeth. She didn’t know what was happening, but she liked it.
Proudly, she sat down next to Thelton. At that moment, he wondered if anything could be prettier than her.
“Bring her some eggs,” he told the server. He stared at Indy, his mind was carried away to a place he had never been. She was like no other women in the world. He was attracted to her. She had stolen his heart and he was glad she did.
The bath did wonders for Indy. She was regaining her strength.
“I will give you two more days to heal, and then we will leave. The king is after you now, and he is aggressive. We must get thousands of miles away from here. We need to go where no one has heard of us.”
During the meal, Indy made good work of both their food. Thelton wasn’t hungry. He could not take his eyes of Indy. He noticed they had cut out an area of the back of her dress so her wings could poke out. Her wings were sparkling as they reflected the overhead light. He chuckled at the strangeness of them, and yet they were starting to look so naturally set on Indy.
Hand in hand the two of them walked out of the tavern and strolled down the road. Indy was learning a few more words. They came to a lovely waterfall in the middle of the town. Both sat beside it.
“I want to teach you a new word,” Thelton said. “Kiss.”
…
The king opened his castle to the men. They were tired and weak. The tattered clothes hung from their dirty bodies. It had been a nightmare journey of failure and they were glad to finally be rescued by the king’s second party along with the deliverance magic of the wizard. Sadly, not all made it back.
“Give the men a rest in my spare room; they have earned it. It will be the responsibility of the servants to nurse these men back to health.” The king was stunned by the condition they were in.
Some of the men still had wooden qualities to them. His wizard was able to break most of Thelton’s spell, but for the men that had been given the full dose, their skin was still rough and like bark. Some of the men still had twigs growing out of their sides. The wizard tried everything he knew, but he wasn’t able to fully restore all of them.
The wizard was also able to release the men stuck by the stone mud. Many of them had lost a lot of weight and their muscles had atrophied from lack of use. Sickness had overcome everyone and the recovery was going to be a long processes.
Worn out, and with skin as thick as bark, Trevor made his way to his room.
The king was so distressed over everything that was transpiring. The men were in a horrible state and he felt responsible. The ones that never made it out of the Vegus Forest weighed down his spirits the most. He was nauseated by what he was sure was the workings of Flance. To add to his turmoil, the king kept thinking about how Thelton had rescued the wild girl and walked away from Alashia and the kingdom.
What was he going to do about Thelton? He had idolized him since Thelton was a lad. He took him in and loved him like a son. He was delighted to have him engaged to his daughter. One day he planned on turning the kingdom over to Thelton. But Thelton betrayed him and Alashia, and for what, a crazy woman with wings? The betrayal pained his heart which had started beating in irregular rhythms, giving him constant headaches. The throb in his brain was tremendous pressure. Sometimes numbness would travel down his right side. He could feel his own health breaking down. He tried to ignore it for he needed to be strong for his kingdom, for his men.
As the men were escorted in the ballroom and were triaged, the king looked over the lot of them. His stomach felt uneasy. How could Flance so callously do this to them? They were the backbone of the kingdom. Many of the men were someone’s father or someone’s husband. Flance would pay for his deeds.
“Guards, fetch me the prisoner in cell one,” he called as he watched the men separated from the minimal sick to the very ill.
The guards returned with Flance. Upon his entry, the men perked up. He was the one that turned them into trees. He was the one that left them to die.
Freelone spotted Flance and stood up. The rage overcame him. Like a mad man, he began running toward Flance. He met him with a punch to the gut. Flance crumbled forward, the breath escaping his already compromised lungs.
“Hold your anger,” the king commanded breaking up the fight. Freelone had been ready for another attack. His fist beckoned him to do it again. His body shook in his wrath. He looked over at the king; he didn’t want to go against the crown. It took every cell of muscle he had to bow and back away from Flance. As he retreated, his eyes slit into narrow openings of hate.
“I know how this man poisoned your whisky and left you for dead. I promise you, you will have your vengeance. That time is not today. Before we execute him, I want him to spend a few days in misery. I want him to see what he has done to you. I need him to take responsibility before he takes the easy way out with death. I may even set up a torture chamber, we shall see. At the very moment, I want all efforts to be concentrated on restoring everyone’s health. Then we shall deal with the traitor.”
