Chapter 3
841 Words
3
Smoke filled the horizon, creating a swirl of smoke in the evening sunset. Zaviana had a little more freedom, but not much. Her hands were still bound, but they weren’t as tight as days before. She could actually move around a little easier.
“Where are we going?” she asked.
Derkas glanced over to her. “Somewhere safe.”
“Safe?” Zaviana scoffed. “There is nowhere safe from the Dragonia Empire.”
“It’s safer where they’re not as active.”
“And they’re not active in the east? What does that mean? Is the resistance in the west?”
Derkas furrowed his brow.
“Don’t give me that expression. I’m not an i***t. I watch the red sun. I know we’re traveling toward its sunrise.”
“East is safer,” he responded.
“Why?” she asked.
He shook his head.
“Where are the resistance?”
“I’m not going to tell you.”
“Why not?” she asked.
He sighed, brushing his hands through his hair. “Because you would try something foolish, like try to escape to warn them, or blab all over the next town about trying to save them. Like you, I am not foolish.”
She wrinkled her nose. “So, this is what it comes to then? I’m to be your slave wife?”
He raised a brow. “Excuse me?”
“You don’t trust me to let me loose. You don’t trust me with where the resistance is, though Creator knows why you’d tell the Dragonia Empire and not me. Yet, you claim to love me, to want to be with me. I am not willing, but you have forced me to stay with you. I am your slave, but you want me to be with you. What is that? That is wrong.”
“Tell me you don’t have feelings for me.”
She opened her mouth, but closed it. They’d spent over eight months together when she was free. Although, all the while, Derkas had been searching for the traitor, unbeknownst to her. Still, feelings formed. Even with his hardheaded mindset, and chains to keep her from escaping, she’d be lying if she said there were no feelings at all.
“See? You can’t even say it.”
She let out a deep breath. “This is wrong, Derkas. Can’t you see that? You can’t keep me in chains forever. What about free will? Do you really want me to love you because I’m forced to? I would be a slave wife, and I would never be happy.”
“You won’t be in chains forever.”
“I shouldn’t be in chains now!”
“Those chains aren’t to keep you locked to me. Can’t you see, Zaviana? I’ve made a deal with the empire. Deals with the empire aren’t easy to make. The last time I made a deal with the empire … well, you remember. I turned in that traitor. And I received”—he gestured toward his dragon—“Chalce. She was just an egg at the time. But they never thought she’d hatch. Only red dragon eggs had hatched. They thought the blue ones were bad eggs. When they found out, they tried coming for me. They wanted to take the deal back. I refused, and no one who tried to take Chalce from me was successful.”
“What does that have to do with me?” she asked.
He shook his head. “Can’t you see, Zaviana? I gave up the resistance for you. If they march up to the resistance and find me there, the deal will be off, and they’ll come for you. They finally backed off me over Chalce because I did win her fair and square. But if they feel betrayed, they won’t rest until I’m dead and you’re back in prison. If we warn them, the same thing will happen. If you escape, you will be ‘fair game’ to them. They gave you to me and I lost you, so they would take you back and I wouldn’t have any more leverage to get you back.”
Zaviana gulped. “I understand your reasoning. But I don’t agree with it.”
Derkas pressed his lips tightly together. “I’m sorry, Zaviana. But I must keep you locked up until the resistance is destroyed. Then, the emperor’s blood-thirst will be quenched, and hopefully, if we’re lucky, his attention will be far away from you. But right now … I need to keep you safe.”
“I won’t run,” she said.
He shook his head. “I wish I could believe you, really, I do.”
She looked away from him, toward the smoke in the horizon. It had increased. A steady flow of thick black smoke flooded the sky.
“What is that smoke?” she asked.
Derkas glanced behind him and shrugged.
“That isn’t from a campfire, is it?”
Derkas didn’t move.
“Something is burning. It’s the Dragonia Empire, isn’t it?”
“I don’t know,” Derkas whispered.
“We should go see,” Zaviana said.
“We shouldn’t get involved.”
“Why do you love me?”
“Excuse me?” he asked.
“Clearly you don’t have the same morals as me. Clearly you don’t care about people as much as I do. I want to make sure everyone’s all right. Yet, you could care less. You are selfish, and I am selfless. Why, then, do you love me?”
He gritted his teeth. “I love you because you care … because you make me care.”
“Then care … Let’s go see what’s going on with that smoke.”
“Fine,” he said through clenched teeth.
- Writer
