The Dragon Princess

Chapter 12

"We need to get out of sight." I mumble to the other two, not even looking at them. Instead my eyes continue to scan the crowd, seeing merchants become distracted from their potential clients.

"I am not going to argue with that." Dex says, his eyes scanning the crowd as well in case of danger.

I feel someone take my arm and I am slightly surprised to look over and see that it is Jaymie. She is looking up at me with pleading dark eyes. "We can't stop, we need to find her."

"I know, but you are too exposed here." She gives a frown, but doesn't let my arm go as we continue walking. Perhaps to others we look like a couple, but that word only applies to people who love each other, which is not Jaymie and I. "This isn't Otega, which means this place doesn't have any non-violence laws like Otega has. Any one of these people could be a rebel and any one of them could attack and get away with it. We have to be very careful. Iris and Lucas are out getting information, so we will hang back and wait to meet up with them."

Jaymie suddenly stiffens, frozen in place and pulls me to a stop almost forcefully. She isn't looking at me, but rather to the ground, and I can feel her trembling. Her body temperature starts to grow ever so slightly. I am not even sure how I noticed, but now that I do it is unmistakable. "Dex." She mumbles, almost as a warning. I am on immediate alert as I look at up her guard, seeing that he stopped a few feet ahead of me and is now looking at her with a strange expression. Something has startled her, and made her become afraid. I can hear it in her voice, but Dex has a completely different reaction. "Dex." She says again, more loudly and forcefully. I hear him utter a few curse words and he grabs her arm so suddenly I begin to protest but he pulls her out of the crowd and I have to run to catch back up with them. What is going on?

When I reach them, Dex is cupping Jaymie's face with such a stern expression, one of experience and knowledge, but I can sense a hint of panic. What is happening? What did I miss? He is speaking to her, trying to calm her, but I don't understand why. She has her hands on his wrists and I can see the tight grip she has as well. I side step and stand behind Dex, concerned over Jaymie when I see something that makes my blood run cold. Jaymie's beautiful eyes are no longer the honey brown color I had seen only moments before. Instead they have transformed into a fiery red, but as though that fire is alive within her eyes like molten lava. Dex continues to talk to her, but he suddenly sucks in a breath, withdrawing his hands. I briefly glimpse the red marks on his hands before he grips onto her arms, covered by her sleeves. I have a brief moment of thought where I hope he didn't squish her dragon, but that though quickly vanishes when I hear her give a muffled scream. Silent, but enough to cause my entire surrounding to still as though time itself stands still. She clamps her eyes shut, and I can see the pain as her body trembles and her face scrunches.

"What is going on?" I finally find my words, directing them at her guard, the one who is supposed to be protecting her. "What is happening to her? Shall I find a physician?"

"Won't do any good." Dex grumbles out, before saying something more to Jaymie. "Breathe. Yes, come on. You can get through this one like all the others. Breathe, Jaymie. Breathe."

"Others?" I am practically yelling now, and I haven't felt this useless since Kayla... "What others?"

"This happens sometimes." Jaymie manages through her pain in force. "I can't control it."

"Control what?" Damn them and their vague answers.

"It is her bond with her dragon." Dex elaborates, finally looking at me with a wearisome gaze. "It is a side effect. She doesn't have the right blood in her veins, and though it didn't kill her as it should have, it is fighting her." He sighs, and looks back at Jaymie as she doubles over. "It didn't used to be this bad. It was just aches when she was younger, but as the years have gone by it has gotten so much worse and much more frequent."