Destroyers and the Dragons

Page 8

 I moved the wrong way and pain lanced through my wrists and ankles. I collapsed awkwardly against the soft bed. I guess I should have brought Nelax with me, I think as I fade out.

     I wake sometime later, it might have been hours or days. All I could tell was it was night. My feet and legs were now bound with shackles and clean white gauze. However, the chain linking my arms wrapped around the headboards ornate top bar. The leader stood next to the bed staring at me. He grabbed a handful of my war braided hair.

     "Women should never wear war braids," he says quietly.

     "Well, I wear them proudly," I snap.

     "You do something for me and I will let you free, betray me and I will kill you," he says quietly.

     "And what would you have a woman do for you?" I snarl pulling against my restraints.
    "We fled our northern homes, driven out by a traitor, he has set himself upon the throne of the dragons."

     "You want me to get rid of him and then I can go home, but if I die while trying no harm to you," I snap.

     "I would follow you," he says quietly. "As I am the rightful heir."

     "Sure you are and what proof do you have of that claim," I say pulling futilely against the restraints.

     "I can show you proof of my claim," he says, studying me.

     "And if I don't agree?" I ask.

     "Then you'll find other arrangements being made without your consent. I'll give you a day to think about it." He turns and walks out of the room. I finally give up on pulling myself loose from the bed and rest while my mind churned through all the possibilities.

One, I could kill the supposed king. Repercussions could reach our plains.

Two, I could kill this guy instead and be free of all problems.

Three, he could force something else on me, what I can't figure out.

Four, I escape and get back to my uncle and have his help sorting this out.

I spent the night trying to figure out my best option. Number four is my favorite, but the least practical. Escape and getting to my uncle seems very unlikely. That leaves three options Kill one dragon or the other, or whatever the third might be. I lay there and think; if he could prove his claim, then that would make one thing easier. My mind kept returning to the third option. I thought around and around over again. I must have dozed off because I was being nudged hard, but not too hard. I opened my eyes and found the leader staring at me.

     "Time to get up, sleepyhead," he said. I waited while several of his guards unlocked one shackle. They carefully unwrapped the chain from around the bed and then changed the bandages on that wrist. The shackle is replaced and the other is removed. My bandages are changed. The process is repeated on my ankles and then I'm dragged down the stairs to a small room. I am given food to eat.

     "So have you decided?" the leader asks.