The Dragons Queen Saga

Part 3: The Assasin

Moonlight bathed a sea of wheat in stark white light at an odd angle. A gentle breeze tugged at the fuzzy tips, while they danced for miles around Dresden's legs. The attacker who had tried to corner him in the stables was now lurking somewhere in the field. Dresden tracked the footprints through the fence, across the road and down a hill to a creek. The water bubbled gently over stones, shallow enough to tread across safely if he chose to. Instead he waited, quietly, knowing that he was being watched.

"You may as well come out now. I know who you are." Silence replied. Water and the soft rustle of tree branches whispered in his ears. "Now, now, Lilieth, why play these games? I know your intentions." Dresden didn't even bother to draw his sword.

"You will pay for the treachery you have committed. I have sworn an oath to bring you to justice and I will." Lilieth slowly emerged from behind one of the closest tree trunks brandishing a dagger in one hand and a dark, corked bottle in the other.

Dresden grinned unabashedly. "It is not your fate to do so. Return to your family and live a good life. Sariahfina does not own your soul, only your oath to her. You know that you are not bound to her services if you never see me in your lifetime."

Lilieth spat at him. Rage poured from every inch of her tiny frame. She appeared deranged, like an angry snake ready to strike at the slightest provocation. "You know nothing of my oath! How dare you even speak to me, you cur, you dog! The Elder of the High Council of Dragons does not forgive. You know this better than most. I cannot let you slip by to ruin more lives. She will murder every single one of my children and then my husband while I watch, and only then will she exact her revenge upon me, and I tell you this, outcast of Dragons, it will not be death, for that would be too kind."

Dresden made note of her shaking hands and sweating forehead. She was no match for him at all, and she knew it. What had she hoped to accomplish, honestly? He knew what the bottle held. If she assumed for a moment that he could be coerced into drinking it, she was dead wrong. The dagger, he expected, was the means of that coercion. Her waist length hair wavered over bony shoulders as she adjusted her stance. Wispy bits teased the edges of her weathered face, worn in from hard work and child rearing. Her eyes glinted in the light of the moon, which rested behind Dresden, silhouetting him in her gaze, creating an effect that stirred fear in her heart. Lilieth raised the dagger towards him, steeling herself to the task.

"Drink it!"

Dresden didn't respond.

"Drink it you scum!"

He wanted to talk her out of it somehow. He felt an urge to be diplomatic and considerate with the desperate woman before him. A hearty sigh escaped him. His next move came from many years of reflex muscle memory. He slid forward on one foot, catching hers. In one hand he removed the bottle and pocketed it quickly, in the other he took her wrist, twisting the dagger upwards towards the sky as she began to fall backwards from being tripped. This loosened her grip on the hilt of the weapon, which fell without the need of pressure from his grasp. As she twisted, he came up underneath her waist; using his now free hand he held her firmly, released her wrist with the other hand, and used it to knock her on the head with just enough force to render her unconscious. She slumped into his lap, subdued, breathing gently. Moving with the weight, he rested on one knee next to the creek. All was silent once again around them. With a gentle hand he moved the hair from her face and looked more closely at the woman in his lap. Her features were sharp with gaunt cheeks and sunken eyes. He could almost feel the struggle in the lines on her face. He looked harder, deeper. His gaze penetrated the depths of her mind. As an observer, he witnessed the memory he'd hoped to find. A much younger Lilieth kneeling; Sariahfina, in all her Draconian glory, towering over the petrified maiden. The promise bound to the girl with a death knot and a single tear shed to seal it in place. Sariahfina growled heartily and stared down at the human girl with gigantic golden, unforgiving eyes set hard against maroon scales and a furry mantle. No words were spoken but Dresden had been present at rituals for this service, so he understood the implications. If Sariahfina had not found out by now that Lilieth had seen Dresden and not killed him, then chances were that she never would. The bottle must remain intact or this entire family would be killed. He tucked the dagger in his belt and scooped up Lilieth in his arms, then headed back to the field and the house as he considered what exactly to tell this woman's husband.

Jafen was sleeping underneath a pile of children when Dresden returned with his wife. He laid her on one of the children's beds and woke the man carefully.

"What is the meaning of this?" Jafen asked.

Dresden kept his voice steady, soothing, melodic. He had used this hypnotic tone before when it was necessary to make his leave during a potentially confrontational situation.

"Your wife has fallen ill. I found her wandering the field. One of your horses alerted me to her presence. She will be disoriented when she wakes, possibly delirious. She attacked me as soon as I came in contact with her. I was unable to soothe her rage. Perhaps some tea will help calm her. I must go as I think it unwise to be here when she wakes. I assure you I have done no harm to her. My apologies if I have brought something from the cursed forest with me that has clung to your wife. I can only assume that, since I do not know what her nature is when she is well. She seemed sullen earlier this evening when we were visiting in a pleasant way. Here, for your troubles." With that, Dresden laid three gold coins on the table and exited the house without hearing anything Jafen was telling him.

Dresden fingered the cork on the bottle; it had been wax sealed, smart. The demon within would not be able to escape as long as the seal remained. He wondered if Lilieth had been afraid to uncork it, or if her fear was solely caused by facing him directly. He recalled the woman's eyes, like hard chips of stone set on his demise to save the life of her family. He expected nothing less of a mother. For her to have this dangerous item in her possession all these years made Dresden think again of her resolve; weak as it was when she actually had to act, but hard as steel to save the lives of those she loved. Hard choices. He knew about those. He could feel the demon within squirming around the bottle. He knew what it meant to drink the contents, and he wouldn't wish that fate on any living creature. Dragons were dangerous and devious and came up with some of the cruelest ways to torture people. He felt disgusted suddenly by the whole mess.

Moonlight faded into a silvery pool on the horizon before vanishing completely. The darker the night, the easier his eyes could navigate the world around him. He stuck to the road. If people had moved this far North, what in the devil's name would Sveldin look like now? How long had it been since he'd been here last, one hundred years, maybe? Dresden let out a sigh realizing how much change had swept over the land in that time. Too much. He was not looking forward to the rest of this journey, understanding, for the first time, just how little peace he would find at the end of this road.