Dragon Sword (The Dragon Lord’s Bride #2)

Chapter 8

CHAPTER EIGHT

“Just you or all of us?” Sylvia wondered.

Will swept his eyes over our cell. “I will request clemency for you from the king, but I can’t guarantee a favorable reply.”

“You think we’ll get to see him soon?” I asked him.

He smiled down at me. “You forget that we have a very vocal supporter outside these walls. Alisa has never shied away from making her opinion known, even to the king.”

I snorted. “You raised her to be something else, didn’t you?”

He chuckled. “I tried.” A pensive expression slipped onto his face. He lifted his eyes to the ceiling and studied the structure. “However, should she prove no match for the king’s stubbornness then there we may have to handle the escape ourselves.”

“I thought you said you weren’t going to get out of here with magic?” Sylvia reminded him.

“I would rather not,” he mused as he pressed a palm against the stone wall. “These foundations are some of the oldest in the city. There’s no telling how solid they are without breaking through them. Even ripping the bars from their placement may cause the roof to collapse.”

My face drooped. “That doesn’t sound like a good plan.”

He dropped his hand to his side and sauntered over to the bed where he plopped himself down beside me. “Which is exactly why I would rather avoid escaping in that manner. We’ll wait for a day and see if something comes up.”

I sighed and curled up on the bed. The pillows were at best satisfactory and the sheets were thinner than a spider’s web. A chill hung in the subterranean air that made me shiver. I wrapped my arms around myself and tucked my knees against my chest.

Will drew off his coat and moved over to the bed. He draped it over me before he took a seat at my side. I grabbed the coat and held it up to him. “You’ll be cold, too.”

He smiled and pressed the coat down against me. “The cold doesn’t affect me as it does others. Now get some rest.” He brushed a hand over my hair and studied me with gentle eyes. “I’ll be here when you wake up.”

I was only too glad to agree as the late hour and the night’s adventure wore me down. A yawn escaped me and I closed my eyes. The feel of his hand stroking my hair was the last thing I knew before I slipped into sleep.

The eternal darkness of the dungeons meant I couldn’t tell the time but my aching body told me it hadn’t been enough sleep to wear off the tension from our arrest. I opened my eyes and beheld Will leaning against the bars. He was staring out into the hall with a creased brow.

The look made my heart skip a beat and I sat up. “What’s wrong?”

He continued to stare down the corridor as he nodded his head in that direction. “There’s something wrong with the creatures trapped in those rooms.”

The hairs on my neck shot to attention and I threw his coat off me. “What do you mean?” I asked him as I stood and joined him at the bars. My shorter stature meant I didn’t get in his way as I, too, peeked down the hall.

One of the doors rattled as something heavy slammed against it. My breath caught in my throat as the act was repeated but at another door. Growls and snarls emanated from the rooms as more beasts made their displeasure known.

“They won’t want me here.”

I whipped my head up to Will whose grim face made my blood run cold. My voice wouldn’t come out in anything louder than a hoarse whisper. “What do you mean?”

His eyes flickered over the pounding doors. “They can sense my magic and it disagrees with whatever magic has a hold over them. If they break loose I have no doubt they will try to destroy me.”

I grabbed his sleeve and shook my head. “I won’t let that happen.”

He dropped his eyes to me and his gaze softened, but not with glee. There was only worry there. “As a carrier of my blood, they will try to destroy you, as well.”

The color drained from my face and my hand that held his sleeve shook a little. I swallowed the growing lump in my throat and tightened my grip on his sleeve. “Why didn’t they try attacking us when we passed by?”

Will returned his attention to the pounding doors. “The longer we’re here the more they sense our presence.”

“What’s going on out there?” Sylvia snapped from her cell and I heard her footsteps hurry up to their bars. “What’s all the racket about?”

“Our fellow cell block mates are attempting to escape,” Will told her.

I heard a sharp intake of breath. “What the hell does that mean?”

“It means that the creatures the elves have captured will be joining us soon to devour us,” Will warned her.

“What!?” Sylvia screeched.

“What the hell?” Steve mumbled as the bed groaned. “What’s going on?”

“We’re about to be murdered in this filthy place, that’s what!” Sylvia snapped as she rattled the bars with both hands. “Where the hell is that guard?” She shook the bars again. “Let us out of here right now, you idiot! Let us out!”

“You will not be heard all the way to the barracks,” Will warned her as his sharp eyes studied our surroundings. “We will have to wait for our foes to come to us.”

My mouth fell open. “But we’re sitting ducks in here!” He paused in his deliberations to give me a confused look. I flung my arms up and gestured to the room. “There’s nowhere to run or hide in here!”

“Then we’ll have to wait for them to give us an opening,” he told me as he looked back to the pounding doors. “I doubt it will take much longer for them to break the seals on those doors. They weren’t meant to contain that much magic.”

“There’s gotta be something we can do!” Sylvia insisted.

“Easy there, gal,” Steve soothed as his footsteps walked up to the cell block. “The guy’s got a point. We can’t get out but maybe they can get us out when they’re trying to get at us.”

“But we can’t fight in here! We don’t have any weapons!” she snapped.

“Our magic will distract them from you,” Will comforted her as he held up one hand. A small fireball appeared in his upraised palm and his eyes glowed red. “Keep your distance from the front of your cell and don’t make a noise.”

“Listen to him, gal,” Steve commanded her as I heard him draw her from the bars. “And for once keep yer mouth shut.”

A low growl was heard from Sylvia but she didn’t make any other peep. The pounding on the doors grew louder like the beating of a heart. My own matched the rhythm as the frequency increased. I didn’t even realize I was holding my breath until Will slipped his other hand over mine.

He smiled down at me. “You’re worried.”

I snorted. “I’m not worried, I’m terrified.”

He squeezed my hand. “Don’t be. I swore to protect you for the rest of my life and I won’t let you down after such a short while.”

I raised my free hand and flexed my fingers. “Come on, sword. Now would be a good time to come out.” A tingling heat in my fingers warned me before the sword burst out of my palm. I jerked back a little at its sudden sprouting. “I will never get used to that.”

Will chuckled. “You will in due time and with more practice.”

My face drooped. “How much practice is this marriage going to give me?”

He glanced down the hall and pursed his lips. “More in a moment. They’re nearly through the magic barrier placed over the doors.”

The pounding grew louder along with my heart. I heard wood crack and the growls and roars grew louder. One of the doors burst outward and slammed into the wall on the opposite side of the hall. I leaned against the bars as far as I could to catch a glimpse of our foe.

The creature that lurched out was nothing I had ever seen before.