Prince of Dragons

Chapter 43 - Law

"So what's next?" Vaciana asked Maréin at some point, speaking Southern. They were still helping to carry away the wounded, but fewer and fewer soldiers were found alive. She tried to distract her mind from the horrors before her; she feared she wouldn't be able to keep doing this otherwise. The scent of blood was everywhere; it filled her nostrils and made her feel sick.

"Next?" Maréin asked in the same language. His voice was comfortably familiar. In between the stench of death, she caught the scent of wool that accompanied him wherever he went. It calmed her down a little.

"After this," Vaciana clarified. "The war is over. Do you still want to go back to Dracherwold?"

"Yes," Maréin responded without thinking. "But I have this feeling that maybe this is not the end yet."

"You mean Arwund?" Vaciana asked. Those were two other strong scents in the cave: the scent of fire and burning and a strange, musky smell which Vaciana attributed to Darfith's body. Man, this place smelled.

"Yes," Maréin said. "I don't believe he got the chance to explain it to me, but I heard him speak Old Northern and talk about Wainur having planned all this."

"Wainur?" Vaciana asked.

"Yes," Maréin said. "And knowing Wainur, it's probably a plan that sounds absurd but somehow ends up working." He shook his head in disbelief. "And it means Wainur's still alive or that he managed to plan centuries ahead."

"And is Wainur... a friend or an enemy?" Vaciana asked.

"A friend," Maréin said. "He was, at least."

"Then that's good news, isn't it?"

Maréin nodded. "I think so. Although... I'm a bit afraid of what the earl will do if Wainur's plan, whatever it is, works out."

After that, they were silent, all the while continuing their work. And among the many smells in the cave, Vaciana unfortunately only noticed the approaching soldiers when they were quite close.

"Maréin," she said, a hint of warning in her voice; she thought it better to use his alias instead of his real name while they were among other people.

Maréin said nothing, but they stopped moving. Suddenly, the stretcher they'd been carrying was taken out of Vaciana's hands.

"Let me carry that for you," a voice said; it sounded deceptively kind. That tone of voice evoked memories of Sid Enracio, the man who'd held her captive after the Southern Rebellion and interrogated her about her scientific knowledge. She shivered as she struggled to get rid of the thoughts.

She caught the scent of two guards by Maréin's sides, close to him; they were holding him.

"Let me go," Maréin said, trying to keep calm, his powers trickling into his voice. "There is no need for this."

"His Lordship requests your presence," one of the guards holding him said. "No harm will come to you if you cooperate."

The stretcher was carried away by two other guards. Two more were guarding Vaciana, although they made no attempt to arrest her.

She was free to move.

She ran towards Maréin, grabbed a guard's arm and tried to free Maréin from its grip. "Let him go!" she shouted. "Let him go!"

The two guards who'd been watching her immediately moved in and seized her by the arms. "Stay where you are," one said.

Involuntarily, she remembered the grip of Sid Enracio's guards as they'd captured her. Her mind was overtaken by a wave of panic. "Let go off me!" she screamed, trying to wrench herself free. "Let go! Let go!"