The Dragon's Love

Chapter 9

-Laelia-

“There,” I said, and pointed to the back of the palace.

Rathilion moved closer, and I quickly put a hand on his arm.

“What are you doing?” I whispered. “They will see you!”

I looked towards the guard patrolling in the palace. Every minute he would come back out on the balcony facing us and look around for a few seconds. In the sky, two dragons were flying around all the time. If we weren’t seen by the guard, we would be seen by the dragons.

“Don’t worry,” he said. “I was only going to move a little closer. I won’t leave the safety of the woods.”

I looked a bit worried, as he moved a few steps closer, hiding behind a tree just at the end of the forest. I followed behind him but stayed a bit further away.

“So, your plan?”

“Yes. Eh, plan,” I said.

Rathilion looked at me a bit annoyed.

“You said you had a plan!”

“I did …”

“Did?”

“Well,” I said. “I didn’t think the place would be that guarded …”

Rathilion sighed before turning his attention back to the wall.

“You said there was a hidden entrance?”

“Yes, there,” I said and pointed again.

“We could wait until it gets dark, but I am certain those dragons in the sky won’t be resting any time soon. They will see us.”

“So, we … do what?”

“Turn back,” he said calmly.

“I can’t leave now!” I said and grabbed his arm again.

“Then what do you suggest we do? They were expecting your brothers. They are waiting for you as well.”

I looked at the man on the balcony. The only ones who had access to that palace were the guards, the slaves and the princes … How on earth would we get in there, unnoticed?

“I could dress like a slave?”

“You really think that will work? You are unique,” he said and touched a white strand of my hair. “They will see you far away.”

I sighed and kept trying to think of something, and that’s when it came to me.

“The children,” I whispered.

“What?”

“The orphans! They run around in this city sneaking around. They will know a way inside!”

“But they are behind the wall, right?” he asked.

I nodded.

“We just need to find a way inside, so we can find the orphans,” I told him.

“And how do we do that?” he asked. “The gate is most likely guarded well. No one enters without being checked.”

I looked up at the guard again. He was still up there. It wasn’t far from us to the balcony. I looked up at the sky again. The dragons turning away. I looked down at the bow in my hands. Then I turned to Rathilion, who couldn’t figure out what I was thinking. I swallowed hard as I focused on the guard again.

“Forgive me,” I whispered while closing my eyes.

Then, after a few seconds, I stood up, placed an arrow against the string of the bow, and pulled back … I had never taken a life. I didn’t hurt. I loved. I cared, but he was our ticket inside. He was the only way I could save my family. I aimed, but just as I was about to let go of the arrow, I closed my eyes. I could not watch. I could only feel the tears streaming silently down my cheeks. The arrow flew quickly through the air, hitting the man right in the chest. He sounded like he got chocked, and then looked down at the arrow confused. He stumbled a few steps forward, only to fall over the railing and off the balcony and then down all the way to the ground, where he landed with a big thud. He was lying there completely still, and I knew there was no time to let the guilt overcome me.

“Hurry!” I said.

We both ran towards the body, as the dragons circled the air. We pulled the man towards the forest, just as the dragons returned.

“What exactly is your plan?” he asked.

“Have you ever tried playing guard before?” I asked.

He looked down at the dead man, lying between us and with an arrow I had shot in his chest.

“No,” he said.

“Well, now you get a chance.”

***

Strange. Rathilion, despite his hair and ears and unusual eyes, actually played it off well. The guard’s clothes had a blue hood connected to the shirt, and we made sure he was covered from head to toe in both clothes and armor. Then we found some rope in our bags and tied my hands.

“You know how badly this could go, right?”

I nodded.

“When first they hear you are inside …”

“They will come looking, but as they search the place, we will be in the palace rescuing everyone.”

“I believe this will end badly,” he whispered, as he looked at the rope tied to my hands.

“Maybe … or maybe we will succeed. You can turn around if you want. I won’t hold it against you,” I reassured him. “But if you do come … know I will forever be in your debt.”

Rathilion sighed, before he took on that mask that I knew so well from seeing it on myself. It was the mask of bravery, even if you felt scared, you looked directly at death and told it to go f*ck itself.

We nodded reassuringly at each other, before we followed the forest around, until the landscape got plain, and a clear path was made going towards the entrance of the Golden City. Rathilion started to walk among the people that came and went. He kept his head down and put on a good act, pulling on my ties a little. I acted as if I was that scared princess again, knowing she would never see home again. Fake and a little bit real, tears streamed down my cheeks, as I looked at the ground in front of me. I still wore the clothes brought to me by the elves. A long thin white dress over white leather pants and tight black boots. I had a corset on again, but it was far from as tight as the northerners would bind it. My hair hung down my back and a little over my face. I had wiped some mud on it, making it look like I had been on the run or something like that.

People around us stared but did not say anything. I had a hard time figuring out if they were happy or sad to see me tied up. Some even looked at me scared and then turned to their friends, whispering. It felt awful … what weren’t these people going through as well? Did Blaze and Sirrush even treat them well?

“You there!”

Suddenly, my attention was brought back on the guards at the gate. They had finally seen us.

“Who do you bring?”

“A very important prisoner for the kings,” he answered, sounding a lot like the guards.

The two guards came over and saw who I was. They both stared at Rathilion in disbelief.

“How did you catch her?”

“She was sneaking around in the area, most likely thinking she could walk right in and save her husband.”

The others started to smile evilly.

“Such a st*pid human,” one of them said.

I rolled my eyes and hid behind my hair to make sure they could not see. I wanted to punch them so badly!

“Walk in. We will have someone escorting you.”

“Not necessary. She is one little human girl. What can she do?”

The guards nodded, and then let us pass. My heart was beating like crazy as we finally entered the place, and continued through the mass of people, but even if we were inside, the danger was far from over. We had to act fast and hope the orphans would help us. They were our only hope.

“Which way,” he whispered, as he slowed down and grabbed my arm instead.

He looked like he was escorting me through the crowd, making sure I could not run anywhere.

“That way,” I whispered, still looking at the ground.

I only glanced around, but I had gotten used to the city. I knew which way we had to go. Rathilion led us down the dark and small paths between the big houses and soon we found the run-down one, with the door barely hanging on. Some of the kids were outside. It was a young girl who saw me first, recognizing me.

“Princess!” she yelled happily.

It made all the kids look towards me. Luckily, we were far from the busy streets and the guards did not bother going here, where no one wanted to come. All the kids came running to me, and I crouched down. Smiling and crying for real this time, seeing them.

“Princess,” the girl asked, scared. “Why are you tied up?”

I looked at the ropes and then Rathilion helped untie me. The kids glanced uneasily at him.

“Don’t worry, he is a friend. He is helping me, but I need your help too.”

An older boy stepped forward.

“What can we do?” he asked.