Dragon Heir [Book 1] [Watty Award Winner 2012]

Chapter 14

“Do you know how that’s possible?”

Hana shook her head. “No, I wish I did,” her head lowered, “there are times I think to myself that maybe if I knew what I was, there was a slim chance I would never have been locked up.” Her eyes glazed, tears streaming down her face. “I still can feel the whips on my flesh, the slaps from the guards, and even the rats crawling over my skin.” She hugged her legs, drawing them closer, laying her head atop. “The men always called me a witch, as if I knew how to cast spells. If I had that skill, I would have long ago escaped that rotting dungeon.”

The shuffle of boots had them both look towards Deklan, who now paced. Leiv wanted to point out how absurd he looked contradicting his earlier statement about her burning through the rug, but decided to let it go and give him space.

“What they did to her,” he yelled, “should not go unpunished.” Deklan’s voice shook the whole room, as even Leiv shrunk in size under his tone.

Hana’s body trembled, the harshness of Deklan’s voice setting something off inside the poor girl’s body. It was hard not to notice the wounds across her back -the thin brown garment she wore did nothing to hide her stick thin figure. The bones jutted out in places where they should have curved. Her cheeks looked so hollow, it was amazing she was still alive and breathing.

“Deklan,” Leiv said, eyeing him, “why don’t you go to the next room and start up a bath.”

He understood the underlining meaning to the statement. It would give some time to repose his nerves and take his mind off the current dilemma. It also allowed Leiv to talk to Hana in private, without a male presence in the room. Only when the sound of running water echoed through the doorway did she continue the questioning.

“How old are you?” Leiv asked.

Taking a moment to think it over, her features scrunched. “I’m not sure. How long has it been since the war?”

“Seventeen years.”

Shock passed through the girl’s features. “Has it really been that long?” Exhaling a breath, she slowly stood from the bed, and walked over to the opposite wall.

Leiv grew concerned at the silence. “At what age did they take you from your home?”

Hana’s continued to look in the opposite direction, her back turned to Leiv. “Fourteen,” she whispered.

Gasping, Leiv got up from the mattress and reached Hana within a few strides, gently spinning the girl around to face her. The sadness of her grey eyes sucked the heat out of Leiv’s heart. Their shallow pools held such an all too real understanding of how cruel the world was, and how barbarous people like the King and Talen could easily spread evil through the land.

It was clear Hana’s body had long ago given up the fight to stay alive, it was only by some miracle her heart continued to beat. As if an unseen force willed the young girl to live. The thin and wispy strands of hair shifted with every twitch of her head, the silver locks illuminating inside the dimly lit bedroom, casted over by candlelight.

The fireplace was currently stocked with new logs, as a fire had already been made by a chambermaid who most likely came before they had. The smell of burning woodchips filled the air, as well as the latent aroma of chamomile and jasmine. Both plants were similar in appearance, but each of the white flowers had it’s own special use. Chamomile helped her father ease some tension and stress the body produced, while the jasmine was purely there for its beauty. The petals wouldn’t open until it was past dusk and the temperature in the air dropped significantly.

The washroom now lay dormant, as Deklan was continuing to cool off. The ordeal Hana went through not only deeply affected the runaway prince, but it also stirred a protective instinct within her. The one reason she had prided in becoming a blade was so she could help the less fortunate, and in some way ease their suffering. Leiv was conflicted with emotions. Hana had been trapped right underneath her nose in the dungeons, and through the years of throwing prisoners in there, she hadn’t once seen the frail young girl.