The Dragon Queen's Heir [book one]

23

I BLINK AGAINST THE bright sunlight, groaning and covering my eyes with my forearm. Somewhere beside me comes the sound of banging and clanging, which is probably what woke me up. Rolling onto my side, Nikolai comes into my field of view, expertly packing away all the materials he had brought out the night before. "What's the rush?" I mumble, bringing my blankets up tighter. "It's so nice here. Why do we have to leave?"

Nikolai jumps slightly as soon as I speak, his gaze snapping my direction. "You're up." He puts down the pot he was holding and rushes over to me, crouching in front of my half-asleep form. "You okay? Some Aufero came by last night and almost killed both of us. You seemed fine after I managed to ward them off, but--"

"You warded them off?" The words come off as snarky and unappreciative, but I'm really just curious. Remembering my conversation last night with Milay, my face twists in confusion. "I thought . . ."

Nikolai's brows knit together. "You thought what?"

I shake my head. "It's nothing." I thought Milay warded them off. Not you. But I don't say that, for fear of being dragged back to the headmaster and charged with treason against Nightshorne. Or something like that. "Why are we leaving so early? Why don't we stay?" I ask instead, inspecting the clearing around us. Last night, there had been a small fire in the middle, surrounded by the pile of blankets Nikolai and I had both used last night to sleep. Now, the only thing that remains are one pot, me, and my small mountain of blankets.

"I don't know," Nikolai says, shrugging slightly. "I figured it would be a good idea not to stay here for more than one night. You never know. This could be an Aufero breeding ground. We may not get so lucky next time; I may not wake up in time if they decide to attack again." He grins and stands. "Let's not discuss such dreary things any longer," he says in a rough imitation of my father's accent. "Come, my princess, and let us journey forward."

My stomach lurches slightly at the word 'princess', but I shove down the feeling quickly, standing and beginning to fold the blankets I had used to sleep the night. When I'm done, I offer them to Nikolai, but he simply shakes his head and tells me to pack them in my own bag. "You never know; we may get separated. I don't want to be the one with all our materials." Then he turns and picks up the pot, rolling it hand once before shoving it in his pack and slinging it easily over his shoulders. "Let's go," he says, his eyes already scanning the terrain in front of us. "I want to be as far away from here as possible."

I nod and take my own, smaller, backpack, putting it on and making sure the clearing is empty one more time before following Nikolai into the trees.

~

"So where did you get all your stuff? Did your servant really give you this many materials?"

I step over a protruding root, sweat beading down my face while I wait for Nikolai to reply. The sun is already high in the sky; yellow light fills the space between trees, and I sometimes have to squint to see ahead. Exhaustion threatens to tug down my eyelids and pull me to the ground, but I push through, refusing to stop until Nikolai stops.

Stupid palace, I find myself thinking as I walk. Stupid mother. Stupid me for never getting exercise. Part of me wonders how I never became fat and lazy from all the sitting around I sit after my father's death, but then the other part of me remembers to screaming matches with my mother, the constant frustration and anger. I got my exercise by straining my throat all the time, I decide. And it kept my mind sharp, too.

Ahead of me, Nikolai speaks, pulling me from my musings and filling the air around us with the low timbre of his voice. "I guess so. He was in my room after dinner, and he just had this pack full of stuff. Said some lady had given him all this stuff and had told him to give it to me."

"You don't wonder who the lady was?" I ask. "That sounds kind of suspicious. Who would care about you that much that would give you this much stuff?" As soon as the words leave my mouth, their insensitivity hits me. "Stars. That sounded awful. I'm sorry. I didn't mean it like--"

Nikolai clears his throat, effectively cutting me off. "No, you're right. After my mom died, my dad shut me out. Refused to talk, stayed in his room for hours on end . . . He blamed me for what happened. Never came out and said it, but it was all over his body language and the way he interacted with me. I have no idea who would care enough to help me more than the next person. It was probably just some person taking pity on me."

What he says strikes a chord in me, ringing true with a part of me I've never had the opportunity to share with someone else. My mother is the same, my mouth itches to say. I know how you feel. I don't dare say this out loud, however; my identity as Ciana still stands, and while my hair is white-blonde, I cannot act as if it were red.

I'm saved from thinking of a response by a sudden break in the trees. Nikolai stops walking abruptly, nearly causing me to run into him. Stammering an apology, I move to stand beside him, my mouth falling open as my mind struggles to process the scenery spilling out before us. "It's beautiful," I breathe.

The ground beneath us slopes sharply down; what seems like miles and miles away, the terrain mirrors our side, curving steeply to form a kind of bowl-shaped valley. Unlike the side Nikolai and I stand on now, a cave is nestled into the tress and other brush across from us, jutting out like an angry gash in the otherwise-beautiful world of green.

As I stare, something in me pulls, yanking hard in the direction of the cave. I stumble, instinctively grabbing onto Nikolai's arm as I struggle to keep my footing and not fall over the edge, rolling down to the bottom of the valley. I shudder, watching the dirt tumble down, and adjust myself, forcing my gaze away from the cave. "Do you know what's in there?" I ask, taking deep breaths. My heart thumps in my ears, reminding me of the close encounter with death.

Eira's concern pours through our link, pushing through the layers of irritation she'd put up after my conversation with Milay last night. We haven't talked since then, not a speck of emotion passing through our connection until now. I'm fine, I insist, but the concern doesn't cease. At least she still cares. The thought doesn't help much.

"Ana?"

I jump slightly and return my attention to the boy beside me, squinting to see him past the now-setting sun behind him. "Sorry. I got distracted," I say quickly, brushing Eira's presence into the back of my mind and trying to ignore the trill that runs through me at the way Nikolai says my alias. Like we're friends. Like he knows me. "What were you saying?"

"I don't know what the cave is, but it seems like an awful place to go," he says, lifting a shoulder in a small shrug. "It's so obvious that anyone will be able to see it. And I'm not just talking about people. There are other things in this forest, things that would be happy to see us dead."

Before I can utter a sound, the string around my waist gives a harsh tug, and this time I do fall, tumbling face-first into the sloping ground. The sky rolls around me as I fall, my body bouncing up and down through the rough dirt and trees and tangled vines. The last thing I hear before passing out is Nikolai desperately calling my name.

Oh no! What's going to happen to Ash?

What do you think of her recent developments / decisions / etc? I may be rewriting this, but let me just say chapter twenty-three of the original was telling a very different story (think high school + dragons + drama). Needless to say, I like this version a lot more XP

Leave your thoughts down in the comments, and, as usual, please don't forget to vote if you liked this chapter!

~ Amber