The Dragon King

Chapter 12

Aquamarine Argos

IRON CITY, SARKIN

It is the heat which Marnie feels on her skin that causes her to awaken. It isn't a searing heat like before, but rather a gentle heat like sunshine or sitting near a fireplace. "Easy." A voice startles Marnie, and she tries to sit up to see what is close to her. It is an older woman, leaning down to her, her dark skin like a shadow in the sunlight. "I'm not going to hurt you." She reaches out to touch her, but Aquamarine flinches back. "My name is Rena Mora."

"I don't care what your name is." Marnie bites out while crawling away from the woman. "Where am I?" She hates to look away from the woman, but she takes in her surroundings. She doesn't care that she is uncivil, for it feels like a prison even in the ornate and beautiful room.

"All will be revealed soon enough." The woman, Rena, voices in a calming tone.

"How long have I been here?" Never before has Marnie felt more like a mouse in a trap. It was one thing to hide from Roland, but this is something else entirely.

"Six days." Rena answers and Marnie stares at her in shock and horror. Six days...six days she has been without Zircon. Panic starts to set in, and the woman takes notice and tries to soothe her. "You are alright, Aquamarine. I promise. You are safe."

Marnie pushes her away. "How do you know me?"

"I don't," Rena answers honestly, sitting down gently on the side of the bed as Marnie backs into a corner. The younger of the two stares at the elder with questioning eyes. "I knew Topaz." Rena gives a soft, heartbreaking laugh, marveling over Marnie. "It is remarkable...the resemblance...."

"You knew Topaz?" Aquamarine asks, though hesitant of being tricked. "How?"

"She came to the Church in the Mountains." The woman reveals, and Marnie relaxes only slightly, knowing that if she were lying, she wouldn't have known that. "My...employers were very invested in the church and often sent me as a tutor. Topaz was one of my pupils. I had never met anyone hungrier for knowledge with such a gentle spirit." Marnie almost feels betrayed by the tears that fall down her cheeks. "She talked about you and your brother, and your parents. She missed you, and I was the one who granted her the wish of returning home for a visit. I was at the church when I heard what happened. If I had refused her wish, what would have happened? She died because of me, and that guilt has been eating me alive for twelve years."

"You know what happened?" Marnie questions, and Rena nods in answer. "Then you know that all I have left is my brother. I have to go home." Her anger prickles with her fear. "You sit there, claiming you knew Topaz and everything about her and us...but then I am here. Why?" Rena looks down at her folded hands, refusing to give her an answer. "You say I am safe, but I am not. How can I be? Zircon keeps me safe, and he is home, in Emberhelm. He could be dead for all I know. He could be trying to find me, and that could get him killed. He isn't going to stop trying to get me back. He isn't going to stop until he finds me alive or dead."

"You are not going to die." Rena chimes as though Marnie is ridiculous.

"How am I supposed to know that?" Marnie yells at the woman. "That creature took me away, against my will. I was going to kill it. Instead, it brought me here...wherever here is." Marnie glances around the room again and realizes that she is in a rather beautiful bedroom of a large castle, by the view out the window. Only royals have a giant castle, which means there are only thirteen castles she could be in, but deep down, she feels that she already knows. "That creature brought me to the Tyrant King."

"He is not a tyrant." Rena harshly rebukes, and Marnie jumps slightly. She has her answer now.

Marnie clamps a hand over her mouth to keep herself from screaming, terrified by the stories that haunt her memory. "I am in the castle of the Tyrant King." She mumbles to herself. "That tyrant controls the dragon." Her eyes flick to the older woman to see no argument from her. "What reason does the Tyrant King have to hold me here? Why does he want me? I am of no value. I am no one. I have no money or property. My only family is my brother, and the only information I could give is on the people who took me in and to whom I owe my life. He is foolish if he thinks I will break my loyalty to them. I would rather die. You might as well kill me now. I will never betray the people I care about."