Relying on the Dragon

CHAPTER EIGHT

Kala

    Kala had woken to voices, mainly Martha's. She was confused at first, so she laid still and just listened to Martha speak. She had always loved listening to Martha talk, it soothed her. She didn't focus on the words, just her tones. They were hushed now and sad. Why was she sad? Kala wondered at what would make the woman sad. While she listened, she realized that she wasn't in her own bed. This bed was huge, and it was soft with warm furs covering her. She wasn't cold, she couldn't remember the last time she had woken up warm like this. She snuggled down into the furs and sighed contently. She knew that she would get in trouble if she was caught in this bed, her uncle would definitely kill her for this, but she just wanted to enjoy it for a minute longer. There was also the delicious smell of hot food, and her stomach rumbled, she could smell pork sausage and ham. She wondered if there was orange juice or milk to go with it. Maybe some eggs too. But she wasn't done enjoying the soft, warm bed so she would wait and find out in a minute or two. She went back to concentrating on Martha's voice, now she focused on the words as a few started to stick out to her. Her moment of content happiness disappeared as she became fully awake and alert. 

    "...when she comes up, she is usually bloodied and beaten. I only see the aftermath. We aren't allowed to tend to her. I only hear rumors from the staff who go down to check on her, and what she tells me." Martha had stopped talking then. Kala didn't need to ask to know what she had been telling the brothers. How had they found out about her cell? She wanted to disappear. Now they knew the rest of her shame. Her weakness. She looked around the guest room, so she hadn't dreamed this visit, and she wasn't dreaming that Martha was telling the people who raised her mother about her torture chamber. This quickly turned into a nightmare of humiliation. Knowing she needed to get it over and done with, she sat up in the bed, realizing too late that all four brothers were in the room with Martha and Clare surrounding the table of food. She knew she should have left the dress on, but it was so itchy and she hadn't wanted to wear that filthy thing into the nice, clean bed. Though her body wasn't much cleaner. Here she was naked, with four men in the room, with only furs to protect her. She was thankful to see they were all turned away from her, focused on Martha. She watched in silence, while she gathered the furs around her, as Thorne had gone to reach for Drake but was shoved away. Was rage the only emotion that man knew? 

    "Martha?" She called out, softly. She watched Drake freeze, as Martha greeted her with her usual bubbly smile as she rushed to her side. She didn't see the men turn as well as she focused on Martha. She couldn't face them at the moment, now knowing that Martha had told them about her cell. 

    "Oh my darling, child." Martha said as she wrapped Kala into a hug. She heard the men shuffle off into the sitting room, when Martha looked at them, before giving Kala her full attention. "I'm sorry to wake you." 

    "I have chores to do, you should have come sooner!" Kala realized the sun was fully over the trees now, stating mid morning. She should have been up before sunrise, to get a good start on all the chores her uncle had set for her. This was going to be terrible for her. She rushed to grab the dress that she had discarded on the floor. 

    "Stop for a minute. It's all taken care of, just relax for a little bit. Have some food. I brought you a clean dress." Martha hushed her. Kala looked at her suspiciously. 

    "Why are you stalling me?" Kala asked. She knew Martha very well, and she knew that Martha would do anything to keep her out of trouble. 

    "Not at all. You need to eat, before you go about your day. It's been a long time since you've had a good meal." Martha was definitely keeping something from her. She squinted at the older woman as she struggled to put the clean dress on. She winced at the pain, as Martha did the back up. "You need to let me put something on those lashes, they are badly infected." 

    "So you can get whipped too, or just so he can add to mine?" Kala asked, "you know the rules." 

    "If you're not careful that infection will turn into something nastier, then you'll be no good to anyone." Martha scolded her. "And those ribs are broken. You need to be in bed." Kala adjusted the dress so it didn't pull at the wounds, and winced. 

    "Tell my uncle that, and see what he says." She said, her stomach rumbled. She looked over at the table. There was enough food there to feed a family of eight. Martha followed her glance. 

    "Let's get you and your visitors fed shall we?" Martha said, standing. She wiped her hands on her apron and headed for the table. She started pulling lids off of the platters, revealing dish after dish. Clare, who had been standing quietly by the table, went to work as well. 

    "Clare, dear, go and tell our honored guests that breakfast is served." Martha said, gently and Clare nodded. Kala knew the men intimidated Clare, but then every man intimidated the poor girl. Who could blame her? Kala's father had taken the poor girl in after finding out that her own father had been abusing her. Taking her under his wing, Cecil had moved Clare into the keep and banished her father from Clarion. Kala and Clare were the same age, and despite their different statuses, they became quick best friends, and sisters. Then their lives had changed, and her uncle had moved in.

    "Yes, Martha." Clare said, and Kala watched as she slowly walked to the sitting room. 

    "Don't worry Clare, they won't bite. They might look mean, but they are quite friendly." Kala tried to reassure her, Clare looked back at her and a tiny smile appeared. How selfish she had been when she ran, she had left Clare behind. It was a wonder the girl still talked to her. But Clare hadn't been the only one she had left behind. 

    "Kala, I had to tell them." Martha said, now that they were alone. Kala looked at her old nurse. The older woman's eyes were sad and strained. "They needed to know. I know you don't want anybody knowing about it, about what happens down there. But maybe they can do something about it. Maybe they can stop it, the torture, the punishments. Maybe they can get them to stop." 

    "They can't though, Martha. I had hoped to get away without any of them knowing about my cell. Though, uncle is pretty damned proud of it, so who knows maybe he'll show it off." Kala said, bitterly. 

    "Show off what?" Drake asked, and Kala looked up in surprise. For such hulking men, and dragons to boot, if that was true, they sure moved quietly. She hadn't even heard them enter the room. 

    "Nothing," Kala said quickly. "Please sit and enjoy your breakfast while it's still hot. I really don't know what you eat, so hopefully this will suffice while you are staying with us." She stood off to the side, but nobody moved towards the table. 

    "Only if you join us, Kala." Drake said, he moved to a chair, and pulled it out for her. "You two as well, we don't need to be served and waited on. Besides you ladies need the food more than we do. You'll need your strength for the journey." 

     Kala hesitated, she and Clare exchanged glances. Neither knew what to do. It had been years since they had sat at a table to enjoy a meal like this. Thorne and Kargeth also pulled out chairs, the three women took their seats. Then the men joined them. It was strange, uncomfortable and yet Kala couldn't help but feel like her old self again. When things had been happier, simpler and not so terrifying. Drake sat to Kala's right, so she could see him. He took up her plate and started to fill it, then placed it in front of her. On it was stacked with Martha's hot cakes, the pork sausages she had smelled earlier, a pile of fluffy scrambled eggs, a hunk of bread, and he had slathered it all in syrup. Her mouth watered at the plate, and prayed she could keep it all down. It had been a long time since she had eaten, and to eat this much. This was a whole new torture. She glanced over at Clare who was staring at the plate Kargeth had prepared for her, she licked her lips, but she also looked Kala worried. She knew Clare was thinking the same thing. They looked over at Martha who had started nibbling. She was the head of the staff, and she was also one of the cooks, so she had better access to food then everyone else. So, Kala knew she had nothing to worry about. But what was she and Clare supposed to do? 

    "Eat." Drake urged her, but Kala sat there staring at the plate. "Is there something wrong?" 

    Kala swallowed, and tried to force a smile. "Nothing is wrong, it's just that..." She stalled. "Well, you see, Clare and I aren't exactly in my uncle's good graces right now." 

    "What does that have to do with eating?" Drake asked. 

    "Um, well... My uncle has no problem starving servants who get on his bad side. We don't remember our last meal, and we are afraid that with all of this good food..." Kala said, she watched Drake's face change as he caught on to what she was trying to get at. 

    "Oh, well then we'll just have to take it slow and keep to the plainer stuff." He said, she smiled. Drake took a smaller plate and created a smaller portioned meal for her, taking the heaping plate for himself. As he did this, Kala looked over at Clare and Kargeth was going the same thing. It was strange to be waited on. Familiar, but so strange. 

    "So tell me, Kala what do you do to make your uncle starve you?" Drake asked, and Kala looked away. "I actually want to know what you do that makes him think he can beat you." 

    "I really don't think that is a good topic for breakfast." Kala said, not looking at him. 

    "This may be the only chance we get to learn everything of what has been happening here, and to you." Drake pushed, placing the new plate in front of her. 

    "Fine, if you really want to know. It's very simple really, not complex at all. He punishes me because I was born, because I get under his skin and because he's bored. What other reason than to slowly starve a kid who lost everything does he need? I take care of my people, and it makes him look bad. I am respected, and he fears it will cause the people to turn on him so he uses fear and me to keep the people at bay and in their homes." Kala said, bitterly. "If someone so much as looks at him the wrong way, whispers so much as an insult about him or one of his men, not only does that person suffer but so do I. He uses the love Clarion's people has for me against them. Speaking of which, you have no idea what you brought down on our heads last night when you called me heiress to his face. People have died for less, you have no idea what you have done." Kala looked down at the plate of food Drake had so carefully made up for her. She felt sick, but so hungry. She picked at the plate, not wanting to look at him. Did Martha's stalling have anything to do with what Drake had said last night, who knew that such a simple statement could cause so much fear. 

    "I don't understand, Cedrick can't touch me." Drake said, and Kala couldn't believe his ignorance. She looked at him. 

    "He doesn't have to do anything to you. He's terrified of you, we saw it last night. I saw it at the meal. His men are terrified of you too, and he hates that. He will take it out on me, and anyone he feels is at fault for you being here." She stopped and sighed, how was she going to make him understand?  "You want to know why I was in the meadow yesterday? Because the day before, they had caught me in the village helping the blacksmith with their sick son, Tommy. Amy had snitched on me, and sent them right to me. They had waited until I was about to leave, and they overheard Blaine call me my lady, and how proud my father would be of me, that I would always be the true heiress of this place." She picked a hot cake apart, and nibbled a little bit. It was so good and she struggled not to stuff her face. "Blaine is our only blacksmith and extremely skilled, very valuable to my uncle. You can't kill something that is valuable like Blaine is, but he still needs to be taught a lesson. So, you know what my uncle did to punish him?" Kala felt the tears start up, as she remembered the day before she made a run for it. She stopped eating. The whole scene replayed in her head. 

    "Kala." Drake started and she glared at him. 

    "No! You want to know what my uncle does, you're going to hear this one. My uncle's men went into that home and ransacked it, they dragged Blaine and his family out to the town square. They tied all three of them up to poles that my uncle had erected when he arrived two years ago. When you came into the village if you went through the square, you would have seen them. I was tied up there too, that day. The poles are situated so that the one being punished can be positioned to watch, there is another pole, off from the rest, that one is mine. Tommy and Sarah were strung up side by side, Blaine was put on the watcher pole as the people have come to call it, so that he could watch what was about to happen to his wife and son. I was tied up at my pole." She paused and closed her eyes, squeezing them shut. She could still hear the screaming. 

    "You don't..." Thorne interjected. 

    "Yes, because someone on the outside needs to know what happens here. My uncle usually just ties people up, whips them or cut their throat. But what he did to Tommy and Sarah, was the worst yet. Tommy was such a sick little boy, but such a fighter, we have been losing so many of our children lately, I only wanted to help him. Sarah and Blaine had been trying for so many years so Tommy was a miracle. My uncle had ordered his men to beat Tommy and Sarah until they were dead. I can still hear them screaming in my head. Tommy didn't last very long, he was already so weak, he succumbed so quickly, and I was grateful for that, but they kept beating him well past his last breath. Sarah took longer and they were so brutal with her, my uncle's men have had a lot of practice on how to cause the most pain but not enough to knock someone unconscious, or kill them right away. They made Blaine watch as they killed his son and slowly killed his wife. Thomas, my uncle's captain, held his head forcing him to watch, I remember Blaine yelling as Sarah screamed. He fought so hard to get to her, but of course he couldn't. My uncle was standing by me, making sure I was watching, he kept telling me that this was my fault, that if I would just stop encouraging the villagers then maybe he wouldn't have to resort to such measures. I remember screaming at Sarah to just pass out, to just let go, to be with Tommy, but she just kept holding on. They tortured her, just keeping her from the brink of death. There was so much blood." She stopped again, as a sob escaped her. "When they finally let Sarah die, they had Blaine watch as my uncle whipped me." Kala stood from the table, and motioned to Martha. Martha opened up the back of the gown exposing her back, giving the brothers a full view of the damage her uncle had done. "I got 25 lashes that day to start, for all to see. Blaine had kept apologizing as he grieved for his dead wife and son, begging my uncle to stop which he had been doing since the whole ordeal had started. When he was done with me, he went to Blaine. Like I said, he can't kill someone who is valuable to him, so instead he cut out his tongue. Blaine was dragged back to his house, and I was left at my pole bleeding, and staring at Tommy and Sarah's bodies left on display to remind everyone of what happens when you talk badly about my uncle, or acknowledge my true status." 

    "My god." Tolan whispered. Martha did her dress back up. 

    "That is what kind of man my uncle is, that is what he does. He takes pleasure in it, he takes pleasure in other peoples misery and pain." Kala said, walking around the room. She couldn't bring herself to sit back down at the table, she felt suddenly sick as she relived that day. "He kills innocent people, he tortures children. He is killing Clarion, and he is slowly killing me. I couldn't wait any longer for you to show up. When my mother kept telling me that I had protection, I had truly believed her growing up. She kept telling me they were coming, and she was so hopeful. But you never showed, and I felt that she had been just telling me a story that she had started to believe was true. So yesterday, I knew that I needed to get to the mountains, I needed to be successful this time and see if my mother's promise of protection in the mountains was true. I had nothing to lose. So as soon as I was let out, I took my chance. And I almost made it to the forest. It was the furthest I had ever gotten. But I made a mistake, I had forgotten one important detail and it cost me dearly." She continued on.

    "Let you out?" Drake asked. 

    "Martha told you about the cell? My cell. My uncle, when he is bored, or feels I did something that needs punishment and he doesn't feel like making it a public event, he has a very special cell for me. That day after Blaine was punished, and my uncle felt the people got the idea of what the consequences would be for supporting me, I was put in the cell. I said that I got 25 lashes to start that day. I got a lot more than that, that day. But, I don't want to talk about that, I can't." She said, as the memories of the beating she got flooded her. "In the morning, I was let out and sent about my day. My uncle doesn't care if I can walk or not, if I can function after his torture sessions, all he cares about is that I get my work done. It just keeps the punishment going, and if I don't do my work, he just tortures me some more." 

    "What was your mistake yesterday?" Kargeth asked, quietly. The men looked a little pale. Men who claimed to be dragons, and they all looked sick. Now she was questioning if they could be able to help her at all. 

    "I have been working on making a concoction that would cause my uncle and his men to pass out for a while. I can't poison them fully, as I need my name clear for when I can claim Clarion. I can't help Clarion if I'm charged with murder. I had it almost perfect, I just need it to last a little longer. But I had forgotten that Thomas had taken a group of men with him that morning to go on a raid, they had just returned when I had made my escape. They hadn't gone straight to the hall to let my uncle know they were back, they were in the village, I don't know where but I have my guesses. They must have seen me. They were drunk when they caught me, but if I had waited for the next meal, I could have had them too, and I would have made it to the forest yesterday." 

    "In the amount of pain you are in, you shouldn't have made it out of the village." Drake said. 

    "My lord, I have been living in pain for the last year, it doesn't mean anything to me anymore. I have been forced to adapt to live with it. Yesterday's mistake has now cost me everything. I am now ruined, and the last of my hope of saving Clarion is gone. I can't run Clarion by myself, I have to be married to claim Clarion. Thomas took that from me yesterday. My mistake has doomed Clarion and it's people. You calling me heiress to my uncle's face has also now doomed me." She wrapped her arms around herself, as she sank onto the bed, distancing herself from the table and the men who sat around it. Martha stood nearby, having not returned to the table, Kala couldn't look at her. 

    "This ends today." Drake growled. She looked at him, he had stood from the table and was approaching her. "The usurper will not be putting his hands on you again, I promise you that." He kneeled down in front of her, and she looked into his beautiful blue eyes. 

    “My uncle does what he wants, you can’t stop him. The only way my uncle will stop is when he’s dead.” Kala said, defeated. “I can’t leave my people. I had thought that maybe once I was gone then my people can live in peace. If I was out of the picture they could live in safety. But, yesterday, in my cell after Thomas was done with me, he told me if I make another attempt to run, that every day I was gone someone would die.” She choked. “I can’t be selfish, I can’t let more of my people die. They can’t keep suffering because of me. I have failed my father, don’t you understand that?” 

       “When Darwin sent us here, we had come to help you, you were our goal. We were foolish to think that we weren’t needed sooner. How many times have you tried to leave?” Drake asked. 

      “Yesterday was my fourth attempt.” Kala said. “The first time I actually got beyond the walls. But I can’t leave now, I can’t risk my people. We have already lost too many.” 

      “We won’t let that happen. Our goal was you when we arrived, but this has become bigger than just ensuring the safety of the heiress, we have to save your parent’s legacy too. Years ago, this place thrived, your people were happy, I had wanted to believe the worst in your father, he had taken your mother away from us, and that was selfish on our parts for holding Oceana’s happiness against her. We were selfish in staying away. If you will let us, Kala, we want to help you. You are right, you can’t do this alone. As much as I want to take you from here, as you will be safer in the mountains, your people will die. We can’t move a whole village to the mountains, your people are too weak to make that journey, and your uncle will catch them before they get halfway there. So, we are staying.” Drake stated. 

        “Oh this is a happy day.” Martha burst out, tears streaming down her face. Kala looked at her. She was speechless, she wanted to be relieved that she finally had help, but she was scared too. 

        “I am grateful, but my uncle will not be happy with you staying here. I cannot just stop my duties, that will just cause more chaos for me and the people. I am afraid that your help may do more damage than good.” Kala said, unsure. 

       “Kala, what are you doing?” Martha demanded, her happiness disappearing. “Don’t be foolish. They have come, they are here finally! Think about it. We have dragons on our side. We have hope!” 

       “I just don’t know how this will work. I just don’t want to be disappointed.” Kala said, looking down. “I just….” Drake reached and gently lifted her chin up until he was looking at her again. 

       “You’re afraid, I get that. You just have to trust us. That’s all we need from you. Your mother trusted us once, even when we rejected her happiness she still trusted us enough to ask us to protect you. She entrusted you to us. While we have failed so far, out of our own selfishness, we would like to prove to you that we can be trusted and that we can protect you and help you claim what is rightfully yours.” Drake ran his thumb down the left side of her face, over her bruised and swollen eye. Today she had been able to finally crack it open a little bit to see, but her vision was blurry. She hadn’t realized how hard she had been hit. “You’re uncle won’t touch you again, while we’re here. He won’t be harming anybody from here on out. You will go about your normal duties, but one of us will be nearby at all times. You won’t be leaving our sight from here on out.” 

       Kala wanted so much to believe him, and trust him. There was so much on the line. So many lives. She looked at Martha who looked hopeful, and Clare who was sitting beside Kargeth, for the first time in two years Clare looked content and color was returning to her cheeks. Maybe this was a risk she needed to take. 

        ************

Drake

    Drake had seen and done some brutal things in his time. Done both by humans, demons and dragons. But to listen to Kala describe the fates of the blacksmith and his family had sickened him. He remembered Blaine and Sarah from when they had come to Clarion at Oceana's request, he had met the couple at the celebration banquet. They were kind and gentle, very loving and hopeful. He had like them from the start. He was angered immensely to hear what Cedrick had done to them, to know that Sarah had been tortured so brutally, and their son dead. He knew Cedrick was an evil man, but this put him over the top! There were no words for what kind of man Cedrick was. The man needed to die, and it took every ounce of control not to storm out of the room and go and do just that. Among dragonkind, women and children were valued and cherished as there were so few of them. To see a race who didn’t feel this way, and would ruthlessly torture and kill them at a whim, was unthinkable. He now understood fully, why Cecil had been so paranoid and feared his brother, why he feared for the safety of his family. He knew what kind of man his brother was. Drake had no doubt that Cedrick had been behind Cecil and Oceana’s deaths. He just needed to prove it. He knew in the human world, he needed to play by human rules which grated on his nerves. Cedrick’s death was coming, and it would be at his hand, he just needed to make sure it was done right. He needed to bring this to the human king’s attention. He would be damned if they left Kala though. He needed back up, he needed to find someone trustworthy to be their liaison to the king. 

    “How are you going to watch me all the time?” Kala asked. Drake knew she was uncertain of them, she didn’t know them, and they hadn’t given her a reason to trust them. They had no plan, but he wasn’t going to let her know that. He needed her to trust him. When he had touched her face, the bond flared up in him, this was the third time he had felt it while in her presence. This wasn’t possible, the bond was for mates when they found each other, but mates had to be of the same species. Kala was a full blood human, Drake a dragon, not possible! Sure he could turn human thanks to the ancient magics of their kind, but he preferred his dragon. 

    “We have our ways.” He said cryptically, “but we are going to need your help. You need to make sure you are in sight of one of us at all times. If not, you tell us where you are going. We also need you to show us all of Clarion’s secret passages. We need to know who your supporters are, your true supporters, we’ll need their help too.” There was one other way that would ensure her safety for sure, but Drake wasn’t sure Kala was ready for it. She still didn’t believe that they were dragons. She had been r***d not even a full day ago. There was no way he would be able to tell her about the mating bond. He wasn’t even sure if two different species could truly be bonded, or if it was one sided. He needed to speak to Darwin, he would know more about it and what to do. There were just too many unknowns. 

    To fully see the damage done to Kala had made his dragon roar with agony and outrage. His dragon wanted blood. To know his mate was living in agony made him want to destroy everything around him. Then it occurred to him, the figurine! Kala had told him that she would play with it as a child, the one he had crafted for Oceana. He had made it for Oceana when she was a child. She had cherished it as a child, and now so had Kala. 

    Drake took Kala’s hands and turned them over so he could see her palms. Her hands were so delicate and soft despite the callouses that had formed from her hard work. There on her right hand was a row of tiny scars he had seen her rub when she had brought up the figurine the night before. He had thought there were only three, but they were a perfect match to the spines on the figurine. It seemed like she had been clutching the figurine too tightly for them to leave that kind of scaring. 

    “How did you lose the figurine, Kala?” He asked, gently. 

    “Is that really important right now?” she asked, she tried to close her fingers, but he wouldn’t let her. 

    “It is very important, it can help us if we can find it. There is something very special about it, and I’m sure your mother was going to tell you more about it, but she never got the chance. How did you lose it? What happened?” Drake pushed. He watched as Kala seemed to sink into memories, tears flooded her eyes and she wiped angrily at them. 

    "After my uncle arrived, and he burned my mother's temple, I had hidden the figurine in a safe place in one of the passages attached to the servant wing. I went into hiding among the servants the day he arrived. Nobody knew about the passages except for my parents and I, so I knew he would never be found there. I kept changing his hiding place in the passages, but I also kept him on me on the hard days. I had a hidden pocket, and he fit so well in it, which baffled me. He fit so perfectly in my hand, but it was like he shrunk to fit in the pocket, and become lighter so that nobody could tell I had one of my mother's dragon figurines on me. I had lost everything that belonged to my parents, he was all I had left." She started. She ran her fingers over the scars, as a tear dropped down landing on one of the marks. "When I was lonely, feeling bad for myself, wanting my parents, or after a punishment, I would take him out and just hold him, he always brought peace to me, stroking his wings soothed me. It was like I wasn't alone anymore when I held him. But, I grew careless in my desperation." She shook her head, she looked up at Drake, and Drake saw the pain and regret in her eyes. 

    "What happened?" He prodded, carefully. 

    "I had been washing my uncles clothes, and while I was waiting for them to soak, I had pulled the figurine out of my pocket. I was alone, so I thought it was safe, I got distracted with how the figurines scales glinted in the sunlight, it was different from the candlelight and so beautiful. Thomas snuck up on me and tried to grab it from me. I clutched that figurine so hard, I refused to let it go. The spines dug into my hand until it bled, but I didn't care, I refused to let it go. Thomas had called for my uncle and more men. I fought so hard, not letting go. When my uncle arrived, he slammed me to the ground so hard I lost consciousness, it was a wonder he didn't kill with how my head hit the ground. When I woke up, it had been two days and I was in my cell and the figurine was gone, all I had left to remind me of it was the marks where the spines had dug in. My uncle tortured me for two days after I woke up for keeping one of my mother's figurines from him. Also for stealing it, as I was a servant, and servant's don't have belongings especially things like that figurine. He had me dragged to the blacksmith, where he had ordered Blaine to create the hottest fire he could in his forge. My uncle wanted the dragon melted down and destroyed. I will never forget the look on Blaine's face when he realized that one of my mother's dragons had survived the fire my uncle had used to destroy her temple when he first arrived. My uncle had thrown the figurine into the fire, but it wouldn't melt. It didn't matter how hot Blaine tried to get his forge, that figurine stayed solid and cold. Which infuriated my uncle as you can imagine, which meant more torture for me. He blamed me for the figurine staying in one piece, and took his rage out on me. I'm sorry, I got careless. I should have never taken it out. I'm so sorry." She apologized and Drake wanted to pull her into him, and console her, but he fought the urge. He wasn't sure if she would accept his touch.

     "That isn’t your fault, none of this is your fault. We’ll find it.” He reassured her. “It’s still in this keep, I know it is. That figurine is special because I made it for your mother. It warms my heart to know that she had held on to it and cherished it.” He was about to tell her what it was made of but, that would have to wait. He decided on a different approach. “That dragon was made from a very special and unique material.” Tolan scoffed, but Drake ignored him. “And made with a different kind of fire. It can only be melted by the fire it was forged with. Otherwise it is indestructible. It has a unique ability that I had built into it, I can track it down. Though, right now I’m having a hard time doing that. If we can find it, I believe that as long as that dragon is on your person I can keep track of you.” 

    “Really?” Kala asked, disbelieving. Drake needed her to stop questioning him like she did. It was starting to get on his nerves. Then he reminded himself, he hadn’t shown her anything to prove that anything he said was true. He would just have to prove it to her then. 

    “Well, in theory. I just need to find it first and we can find out for sure. Put it to the test. Where are your uncle’s chambers?” Drake asked. 

    “The family wing, I don’t know which room he took, more than likely my parents as it is the biggest. But it’s impossible to get in there. Only the servants that are assigned to my uncle are allowed in there and even then they are watched like hawks. That wing is a fortress. There is always a guard.” Kala explained. 

    “I hate to interrupt. But, we do need to get to work. Her absence has already been noticed I’m sure. Truly, if you want to protect her, you would rather not get her into her uncle’s bad graces right off the start?” Martha interjected. Drake nodded. They had already taken too long. 

    “Yes, well, I’ve decided that I need to go to the village. I need a guide to help me get around.” Drake announced, standing. Kala dried her tears with the sleeve of her dress, and stood as well. “Like I said, things change now.” 

    His brother’s stood from the table, along with Clare, and Martha led the way to the door.