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

Chapter 12

CHAPTER TWELVE

I woke up with the afternoon sun shining on me and found myself alone again in the bed. My lips pursed into a pout before I climbed out and slipped into a fresh change of clothes. “I wonder if I could put a bell on his neck. . .” I murmured to myself as I strolled toward the door.

I opened the portal and was met with a delicious smell of soup. Alisa stood over the fire stirring something in a large cauldron. She looked up at the creak of the door hinges and looked me over. “How did you sleep?”

“Really well, thanks,” I replied as I took a seat at the table. A quick inspection of the house disappointed me. “Where’s Will?”

Alisa stared blankly at me for a moment before recognition filled her eyes. “He has gone out but he told me he would return soon.”

I frowned and set an elbow on the table before I cupped my chin in one palm. “He needs to stop doing that.”

“Doing what?” Alisa asked me.

“Leaving me behind,” I explained as I tapped a finger against the table. “He’s never done that before.”

Alisa poured out two bowls of her concoction and carried them over to the table where she set one down in front of me. “How long have you been mated?”

I furrowed my brow as I tried to recall the time. “A couple of months.”

Alisa took a seat at the head of the table and sighed. “Then I feel the need to tell you he has a stubborn habit of keeping those he cares for in safe captivity while he throws himself into the thick of trouble.”

There was a bitterness in her tone that caught my attention. “He’s done that to you?”

She picked up her spoon and absently stirred her soup while a wry smile slipped onto her lips. “Far too often.”

“So he took you places? I mean, outside the city,” I guessed.

Her mood picked up and she nodded. “Oh, quite often, particularly when I was a young maid in his care.” She glanced out the front window and sighed. “I have seen so much of the world and yet I find myself back here in my old age waiting for nothing to happen.”

I recalled the previous night’s events and winced. “I kind of wish that’s what was happening here. Do you have any idea what this shadow thing might be?”

She shook herself from her reverie and returned her attention to me. “Not at all. The forests around Turva have always been full of bright life magic. It is almost unthinkable that something so evil could invade the woods, especially when they are under the protection of His Highness’ magic.”

I lifted an eyebrow. “His magic?”

She drew her spoon through her soup and nodded. “The boundaries of this land are protected by the sheer force of His Highness’ magic, and have been since the first in his line destroyed the evil that lurked in the Rohkea Vali.”

My mind drew a blank with those words. “Rohkea Vali?” I repeated.

“The canyon outside the walls of the city,” she explained. “The translation from elven tongue would be ‘brave gap’ for anyone bold enough to traverse it would be considered courageous.”

My mouth dropped open as I recalled the extreme girth of the natural scar. “But that’s a huge distance! How could anyone jump across it?”

A smile slipped onto her lips and her eyes danced with glee. “Elves are not only long-lived but very agile. However, only those with great skill could throw themselves such a distance without falling into the vali. Will, also, has performed such a feat.”

A little color drained from me as my mind conjured the scene. “He can jump that far?”

She leaned back and her eyes sparkled. “I very much doubt even he has such strength in his legs. He conquered the distance by leaping and flying over the gap.”

I blinked at her. “But didn’t you say the test was to jump across the canyon?”

She shook her head. “The rules were never about jumping, only that one was required to traverse the canyon.” She paused to chuckle at the memory. “The elders and His Highness were less than pleased when Thorn pointed that out. They were forced to accept his brave act and allow him into the city.”

I cocked my head to one side. “Allow him in the city? To visit you?”

Alisa wrinkled her nose. “No. After he found me in the woods he tried to return me to the city. The guards at the gate turned him away and took me inside the walls but I had no relatives and no one would accept me into their home. The elders therefore decided to return me to him but they would not allow him inside to accept custody of me. When he discovered that he offered to pass any test they demanded to be allowed inside so he might raise me with some knowledge of my heritage.”

“And one of those tests was the canyon?” I guessed.

She nodded. “He passed that and a test of strength against one of the most ferocious wolves in the king’s kennel. I believe they would have demanded more of him but even Lord Thorn’s patience has its limit and they acquiesced to his entering the capital with me.”

I swept my eyes over the comfortable house. “Did you stay long here?”

“Not long. He took me to see the world and we returned after a few hundred years when he bought me this house to live in.” She took a big spoonful of her soup and nodded at my own. “Your food is getting cold.”

I had only taken a few spoonfuls myself when the door opened and Will strolled in. He shook the dust off his coat before he hung it on a hook near the door. His eyes were shining but I could see some trouble in their depths as he joined us at the table. “Do I smell your famous root soup?” he wondered as he studied our bowls.

“Let me fetch you some,” Alisa offered as she stood.

Will set a hand over hers and stood himself. “No need. I’ll get my own bowl.”

“Stubborn as always. . .” she mumbled as she resumed her seat.

“Where have you been?” I asked him as he served himself at the hearth.

“Making inquiries as to where the beasts were captured,” he told me as he returned to the table and took a seat. “The old friendships I had garnered over the years have come to naught, unfortunately. The troops have been warned that to be caught speaking privately with me would be an offense punishable by cleaning the whole of the barracks and the training field for a month.”

My face drooped. “That general really doesn’t want the whole truth coming out, do they?”

He shook his head. “It wasn’t the general who gave the orders but the king. My contacts were very blunt about that.”

I blinked at him. “Meaning what?”

“Meaning Terve may not agree with his ruler’s opinion of me. And mentioning of inquiries,” he mused as he turned his sights to Alisa. “Have your friends unearthed anything of interest?”

She shook her head. “Nothing worth reporting, or at least none of them have returned.”

I lifted an eyebrow. “Them? I thought you said you didn’t have any friends.”

Alisa opened her mouth to reply but something flitted through the window. It was one of the golden birds I had noticed in the rear garden the night before. Alisa smiled and held up a finger which the bird landed on. She drew the bird close to her face. “Have you brought me some news?” The bird bobbed its head and chirped. Alisa furrowed her brow. “I see. Keep your eye on them.” The bird nodded and flew back out the window.

“What did it say?” Will asked her.

“He saw a contingent of the troops leave the city via the old bridge only fifteen minutes ago,” she told us as she gave Will a worried eye. “And they had a captive among them.”

My heart skipped a beat. “Sylvia? Or Steve?”

She shook her head. “He couldn’t get a clear view of them. They were covered in a black cloak and walked in chains.”

“Did he see where they were headed?” Will questioned her.

“Into the forest in a northwesterly direction,” she told him.

Will pushed his bowl away and stood. “Then I had better go have a look.”

“ We had better go have a look,” I insisted as I, too, rose.

Will shook his head. “This would be faster with one person-”

I clapped a hand on his shoulder. “Then I’m going. You stay here and worry about me.”

I didn’t wait for him to reply but slipped past him and out the door.