Indebted

38

Joe's back stiffened as he pulled his emotions back under control. Theo and Joe together led Esti through a tunnel into the stone, which opened up to reveal a clearing. Open to the sky, sheltered from the winds, over looking the ocean down below them now. There was small well kept wooden cottage, with a bright red tin roof. Esti noted a large stack of wood racked underneath a stone overhang, a bountiful looking garden in the center of the open space, where it would catch the most daylight as well as be sheltered from the winds.

Joe wanted to tell Esti more. That she needed to pay extra attention to the weather offshore separately from onshore. More time spent training Esti on the boat they would leave her with. Joe didn't think weeks would be enough to ensure Estella knew everything Joe thought she should know. Theo was in charge, and Joe would follow his lead.

Most magnificent to Esti was the almost all glass greenhouse, the crystal clear windows showed it was chock full of verdant green plants. "We have added some more modern features than were originally here, there are solar panels that ensure there is hot water, some lights and a deep freezer for meat." Joe picked up where Theo had stopped, starting to carry the bags into the house.

One was dropped near a comfortable, if well used couch, arranged to give a beautiful view of the ocean as the sun was setting down each night. Oil hurricane lamps supplemented by modern electric lights. A wood stove to cook by and provide heat. A small table and two chairs by the kitchen. There was a ladder leading up to a loft where Esti assumed the bed must be, behind the ladder was the closed in washroom. Toilet, sink, and a clawfoot tub and shower. "Word of advice, if you want to have a hot bath, boil water on the stove as the tub fills. Every single burner with all the biggest pots full. The water runs slow and will be cold before that behemoth can be filled." Theo said, his voice lighter, and more upbeat than it had been all afternoon.

Esti knew Theo was acting more upbeat to hide his own unease. "There is a small outboard motor boat in the boat house-" Indicating his head back to the cave that had brought us here. "Gas cans are in the boat house as well, take one for going and one to return. Leave the harbor and go right around the island, you will eventually come to a town." Easily Theo took control of the conversation again. "I would go sooner rather than later to get more winter provisions and anything you find lacking. in the provisions" Theo found Joe's barely contained emotions were spilling into him.

Theo drew in a slow breath. Centering himself. He knew what was needed, and it was his duty to see the mission through. His voice stern, and serious, "You can go no more than once a month, buy supplies, have a meal someone else cooks. Stay overnight, if you wish, but never more than a single night." So it went, safety warnings had been issued. "Winter isn't too far away, be prepared to wait out alone for several months before the seasons change." A final ominous warning.

Theo and Joe taking her around the property, naming all the plants growing in the garden, letting her know when the varieties she was not familiar with would be ready to harvest. Showing her how to work the outdoor water pump for the garden. Taking her around the back of the home to show her how to manage the solar panel and water boiler. How to change the water filter for the house supply. All the practical knowledge needed to live a comfortable life.

One by one every single aspect of the cottage and the terrifyingly small boat Esti wasn't sure she would ever use were all explained over the course of most of the day. Leaving her back at the marina as sunset approached, Theo and Joe preparing to board the fishing boat, to sail back the way they had come. On to their next rescue or relocation mission. They only ever had knowledge of one job at a time. It was safer for all that way.

Already on the boat, Theo turned and looked at Esti. "Dragon flight only on this side of the island, do not stray too far from the coast nor too far inland. Stay close to this cove. Avoid lights." A cold wind blew through the still marina. "Flying at night would be best." He added, nodding towards Joe who jumped to attention, near running to start the boat engine before the boat could lose all momentum of the kick off from the dock.

Esti watched the boat the entire time she could see it. Watched as the magic of the false cliffs rippled as they passed through, revealing the illusion for just a moment. Then they were gone from her sight. Daylight fading into deep twilight. Esti ran over the impossibly smooth and blemish free stones, through the cave to the cottage, able to watch he boat until it finally vanished over the horizon. Leaving her more alone, and more isolated than she had ever been in her entire life as night fell.

The sound of the waves breaking against the endless cliffs around her, the endless blue sky overhead began to mess with her perception. She was so small, and the world so vast. Everything felt like it was stacked against her. The only thing that stopped Esti from falling into a full blown panic attack, was a sudden and complete change in Atticus.

Esti sat down on the coarse grass that was able to grow on the unnatural field that magic had created by the sea. Trying to focus on Atticus. Gather everything she could from the bond. Esti only experienced a single flash before the bond was muted. She didn't need more than one flash to know that Atticus was being hurt, and there was nothing she could do to help him. He had shut her out. Was hiding himself from her.

From Esti's perspective, Atticus was no longer content to be only physically apart from Esti. He had blocked her out entirely now. The new layer of separation cut Esti. The intruding force that had been Atticus in her heart, was gone. Leaving Esti Feeling gutted. More certain that Atticus was truly done with her. She couldn't understand any other reason why he would separate them like this, unless he wanted to be done with her.

Back at court. Atticus had spent a day, a night, and most of another day locked in his very, very boring cell. Content to feel every inch of space Esti put between herself and this hell hole. He had been stupid to come here, his mother and father had spent his entire life keeping him away from the Dragon Court. The place where his father had been raised. They apparently had plenty of good reasons to keep him away from here.

Atticus had been curious, seeking an easy life while he figured out his next moves, and let his fortunes build back up to a comfortable level. Stupid, greedy and selfish. His nature had finally actually lead him to a problem he wasn't able to run away from. Karma for all the trouble he had run out on.

His proudest accomplishment was that he had saved Esti's life from an unjust end, and set her free. His greatest regret and fear was that they might have already had all the time together that they would ever have. It had not been enough. Atticus didn't even know what her dragon looked like when shifted. The teeth marks on Quwent's arm were unlike any he had ever seen before. Esti and her dragon were unique. One of a kind. 

Which of course was the problem. Atticus knew, Esti's claim mark on his body was the only proof anyone would need to prove she had murdered Quwent. A middle lord, whose engagement to a high born lady already pregnant with his child added so many layers of political complications that Atticus knew he was in no position to try and make heads or tails of how bad his situation was.

He had no idea what the hour could be. All he knew was that Esti felt heartbroken, and alone. Atticus and his dragon hated feeling such sadness in their mate. She and her dragon still felt so disjointed, it was hard to parse the complex web of thoughts and feelings through the bond. All Atticus knew, was in spite of everything, Esti didn't feel threatened. She was somewhere far away and safe.

A safe living Esti out in the world was a beautiful thing as far as Atticus was concerned. Worth this strange incarceration. Atticus had lived a privileged if isolated life. He wasn't going to balk and wither at such easy to endure hardship. Not when every moment was giving Esti and her accomplices more time to hide or destroy evidence, and secret her away somewhere Magnus would not be able to find her.

Atticus had thought he would spend another very boring and rather uncomfortable night alone chained to the wall in his cell. He had been very much mistaken on that point. The dragon was first to notice that a crowd of others were approaching. Those who did not have the same balance and control as the guards Atticus had seen thus far in his incarceration. He cracked his neck, stretched out his joints and prepared for anything that could be coming his way.