Page 22 of The Dragon Maiden
I nodded silently, my voice caught in my throat.
“The comet should be visible now,” he said, moving away to stand.
Immediately, I felt the cold rush in from the absence of his body. He held out a hand and I took it, but he pulled me up harder than I expected, causing me to fall into him.
“Sorry,” he said quietly, helping me right myself, his cheeks turning red.
“It’s okay,” I said, my face aflame once more.
The thought again crossed my mind that my escape could not come soon enough. I just continued to embarrass myself.
Lord Dracul moved towards the telescope, looking through it again, sucking in a sharp breath. “I found it,” he breathed, standing still for several moments before moving aside. “Come look.”
I stepped forward, and when I looked through the glass, my mouth dropped open. A brilliant burst of light moved through the sky, leaving behind a trail of twinkles. Never before had I seen anything so beautiful, the bright colors taking my breath away.
“It’s beautiful,” I breathed. It seemed almost a sin to speak any louder than a quiet whisper. I could feel Lord Dracul moving behind me, and I jumped when he placed his face next to mine, trying to look through the telescope too. “I can move so you can see more, my Lord,” I said, starting to move out of the way.
His hands gently rested on my hips as he held me in place. “Dracul,” he prompted.
“Dracul,” I repeated, the word feeling strange leaving my lips without his title.
“There’s enough room for both of us to look,” he said, his voice tickling the back of my neck.
I leaned down once more to look through the telescope, trying to ignore the butterflies fluttering in my stomach. His hands remained on my waist and I felt warmth radiating from them, spreading through my body. He settled his head on my right shoulder so we could look through the telescope at the same time, but I tried to focus on breathing normally, my heart racing. This was dangerous.
We stayed still for several moments before I stepped away. “Thank you for the evening of stargazing,” I said, studiously avoiding his gaze. “But I-I think I should go.” I moved towards the stairs.
“Valora, wait,” Dracul said. “Please.” I turned to look at him, and his expression filled with confusion and sadness. “I’m sorry if I made you feel uncomfortable.”
“I-I…” I was at a loss for words. “I think I need to go. Good night.”
I practically ran down the stairs, heading for the cavern entrance. Dracul remained frozen on the landing, his gaze burning into me.
I was not sure what had just happened between us, something that had been building all evening, but I knew I needed to get out of there before I did something I would regret. Quietly, I ran back to the Dragon Maiden cavern and slipped under the covers, my heart beating wildly. Luckily, the other Maidens were asleep and no one was awake to interrogate me.
Chapter Fifteen
Valora
The next few days were awkward. Dracul and I did not address what had happened, preferring to keep to ourselves. We did not talk like we had been, that growing closeness suddenly froze. Part of me missed our conversations, but the rest of me was glad for the distance.
There were also rising tensions amongst the Dragon Maidens, I assumed due to the nighttime excursion, and Vimery was more volatile than ever. Rather than keeping a silent hatred of me, she purposely tried to get a reaction from me. I constantly found my things missing, and she was always there with a smirk and snarky comment.
Finally, the night of my escape arrived. I stayed awake, waiting until the other Maidens fell asleep. When the cave filled with the sounds of slow breathing, I slipped out of bed. I grabbed my satchel, filled with my family treasures and a few pieces of jewelry as payment for Henrick. Quietly, I padded through the familiar corridors, my heart pounding, until I reached an unfamiliar passage. My fingers went to Dracul’s necklace and I felt a pang of guilt as I touched the stone. Silently, I repeated Henrick’s instructions to myself, clenching my fists before moving forward, my final decision made. I did not have time to second-guess myself. I needed to find Ronan. After a few minutes, I reached another fork, and without hesitating, I took a right. Soon after that was a left. Every so often, I paused, checking to see if anyone followed me, but I heard no other footsteps.
After a few more turns, I could finally feel a breeze on my face, my pace quickening immediately. A few more yards and I could see the night sky out of the entrance. To the left, a small pack waited for me, filled with food and other rations, along with a rope ladder leading down the cliffside. I breathed a sigh of relief that Henrick had kept his word, grabbing the pack and leaving the pieces of jewelry behind before stepping on the ladder.
I had quite the distance to climb down the mountain, glad that it was too dark to see how far up I was. It felt like ages before I finally reached the ground, and I let out a shaky breath. My steps quickened as I walked through the surrounding forest, trying to put as much distance as possible between myself and the dragon-filled cavern behind me. There was a slight feeling of hesitation, a knot in my stomach tightening the further I moved away from the mountain. My heart beat furiously that this plan had even worked, knowing that I had Henrick to thank for it. I desperately hoped he would not be found out and remained safe.
I had done it—I was free.
A scream escaped me as I felt a claw grab my arm, jerking me into the air. My head shot up, looking to see who had caught me. One of the guards stared at me, his claw digging hard enough into my arm that it drew blood.
“Thought you could escape, hmm?” he sneered. “Ever since your little stunt when you first came here, Lord Verhorn has the guards randomly check in on you every night. Tonight, when your bed was empty, we knew you were going to try and run for it.”
“How?” I asked as we flew around the mountain, approaching the entrance I had first arrived through. The guard tossed me on the ground as he landed and I knew that there would be a bruise from the force of slamming into the floor. Though, I knew that was the least of my worries. He landed next to me, transforming into his human form before roughly picking me up and pulling me down the hall. His strength was definitely superior to that of a regular human and I knew this was another benefit of being a dragon.
“Lord Dracul can answer that. If he decides to let you live.” He set a merciless pace, and I could barely keep up as he dragged me down the hall. I recognized the corridors we passed through, knowing that we headed directly to Dracul’s chambers. He pulled me through the halls, treating me like a rag doll, before throwing me at Dracul’s feet, leaving me in a sprawled heap of limbs.