The Dragon Bond: Heirs of Lyra

Chapter 42

Silence. He tried to get a better view of her but it hurt to sit up. He shifted slowly up onto his elbows, grunting from the effort. As he sat up the sheet fell off his torso and into his lap, exposing his upper body. He hadn't realized how bad it was. His whole torso was bruised and cut up, his arm had stitches, and on the right side just above his his hip was a wound from the knife he had apparently been stabbed with. He still couldn't remember when that happened. He couldn't see his left leg but he figured he probably didn't want to.

The girl stared. He looked at her expectantly. She looked away.

"I don't know what to do with you," she said softly. Her hair was piled up on top of her head in such a mess it looked like birds might nest there. Her feet were bare and dirty and her eyes were tired.

"You could keep taking care of me," he offered lightly.

She shook her head, her eyes conflicted. "And risk hanging for treason?"

Henry tried his best to act dumb. "Treason?"

"I know who you are, Prince Henry. You made it clear in the field earlier your father was the King. And since you don't have a dragon by your side, I can only assume you aren't Prince Ralf and must be the eldest brother."

Henry swallowed, his throat raw. He was thirsty. He was in trouble. "If your field was in Lyra what are you doing here?" There was no sense denying it now.

She shrugged. "My grandparents live there. My mother was Lyran. My father is Nieblan. I help them in their field when I can."

Henry wasn't so concussed that he couldn't deduce her mother must be dead. "Where is your father?" the only male figure he had seen was the little boy from earlier. Fear prickled at the idea of her father being around. A young lady and little boy he could ward off if need be. But an adult male? In his current condition? Not a chance. He could barely even sit up.

"Never you mind where my father is. I can handle myself. Don't think I haven't found all that armor and weapons you hid behind a bush. Once I found out who you were I knew I needed to find any evidence of you leading to my home."

Henry raised an eyebrow. "Does that mean you'll continue hiding me here?"

"It means I want to cover any trace of you before the militia come pounding down my door. I need to keep my brother safe. And to answer your question, no, I won't hide you here. At least, not once I determine what to do."

"I'll pay you," Henry said eagerly. Surely a bribe would work. He looked at the room around him. He couldn't tell what was beyond this room but he was sure there wasn't much else. "My father is the King, you know how much he'll pay for his son to return home safely."

"I don't need your money," she spat. "I told you back at the field, you make a mess, you clean it up. That's how life works. If I decide to let you stay, I'll make sure it's you and only you who repays the favor."

Henry laid back down, in defeat and because he was too tired. Too tired to argue, too tired to move.

"Mavis Mavis!" The little boy came charging in the room.

"Wilkin I told you not to come in here anymore," she warned.

"But the doctor is here!"

Henry sat upright, too hard too fast. He ground through the dizziness. "What doctor?" Any Nieblan was no friend to him. He barely trusted these two. The more that knew about him, the more chance he had of being discovered and getting killed.

"Relax," Mavis said. "He already knows about you. Who do you think set your leg? And he's not a doctor. Not really. We just call him that because he knows so much."