Leo was less subdued the next morning, but even if he hadn’t been, the dragon would’ve filled up the silence with the same chirping noises that had woken them both at the crack of dawn. Now, Emily held different foods in front of its face to see what it would go for. It hadn’t seemed particularly enticed by their stale bread (to be fair, neither was Emily), nor had it gone for some leftover jerky from last night’s dinner. It had outright jerked its nose away at a scone. Carrots, turnips, and apples on the other hand—the only produce that on-road vendors had seemed to have available—were a hit. Emily hadn’t seen too many vegetarian dragons in movies but sure, why not?
After finishing her stale bread with cheese, Emily drizzled some water from a waterskin over her plate in a meager attempt to clean it. They hadn’t been able to find any streams nearby. She rolled up her bedroll, tying it shut with strips of leather that she’d hooked through the straps of her pack. Two waterskins dangled from each side. She put their cooking pot in last—it was her day to carry it. Honestly, she was getting the hang of this whole medieval camping thing, Sylvia would be proud, Claire would be appalled. They’d tried camping, Claire and Emily, last summer. The unexpected angry-squirrel-in-the-tent hadn’t gone particularly well. Claire had been just a tad bit traumatized since. Maybe they could try it again sometime. You know, once Emily figured out why she was here, fulfilled her destiny, and found a way home. Easy.
A few feet away, Leo was slowly lacing up his boots. The dragon crouched on the ground by her already-shoed feet, finishing up its carrots.
Emily shifted a few times, one foot, then the other, before the courage was there: “Do you know which way from here?” She asked softly.
Leo hesitated, then waved her over, pulling the map from his chest pocket. He spread it gingerly in the dirt, “The border is to the north of us at this point, which means…” he squinted at it.
Emily squinted at the sky for a moment, then pointed into the trees, “That way right?”
“Exactly.”
She hoisted up the pack with a grunt—that cooking pot really was quite heavy—and was nearly thrown off balance again by an extra weight pressing down on her shoulder. She turned to find herself nearly nose to nose with the dragon, perched like a parrot on her shoulder.
Emily grinned, “Okay,” she made eye contact with Leo, who almost looked to be smiling himself, “I win.”
Emily led the way as they clamored over one of the big roots, the dragon keeping its balance with more haphazard wingbeats that kept catching her in the ear. She didn’t mind one bit.
She was so focused on ducking below low hanging tree branches and particularly pointy twigs that Emily didn’t see the sword until it had nearly impaled her nose. She stepped back in shock, bumping into Leo behind her. There was a fluttering in her ear as the weight of the dragon left her shoulder. Leo stayed stock still, the swordpoint in his back wouldn’t have it any other way. From between the trees around them came more swords, and the knights who held them.
Even if her shaking legs could move, she wouldn’t dare. To the side of them both, a knight was making his way out of the trees, armor clanking. The knights blocking him from view shifted out of the way and he took their place, slowly removing his plumed helmet to reveal a swollen nose and bruised eyes courtesy of her elbow. Ah. So this was Druett and he apparently had a flair for dramatics. Emily might’ve laughed if she wasn’t positive it would get her skewered. Leo made a strangled noise behind her.
Druett gave Emily a quick once over, seemed to decide she wasn’t worth whatever this was, and focused fully on Leo. The man didn’t speak, just looked down at him from his tall height with a glare that was at once menacing, triumphant, and incredibly condescending. Like Leo was some scolded lost puppy, expected to return home with his tail between his legs. Emily didn’t dare move, didn’t dare puncture the stillness of the knights, of Leo and Druett as the latter glared. The former… she couldn’t see, but she hoped he was glaring as fiercely as he had at the knights in Raziet. Because she’d seen about five minutes of this guy up close but something about him was just off. The baby dragon sat perched on a low hanging branch over Druett’s head, she met its eyes, willing it to stay quiet.
“What do you want?” Leo finally asked. His voice was wooden, more stunted than she’d ever heard it.
He’d been getting better since their last Druett encounter, but whatever their history was, well, it clearly wasn’t great. She wanted to support him—but she doubted he would admit to anything and the plethora of swords didn’t spark any desire for conversation. Hold on, Leo.
Druett’s mouth was curled in a mockery of soothing. “Prince Leothal, enough with the games.” It was like lightning jolting through her brain, catching and ending somewhere between “Prince” and the stinging feeling of more secrets. Just like Sylvia’s. Leo was shifting behind her, she couldn’t see his face. Then again, she wasn’t sure if she wanted to look at it.
“It’s time to come home now. Your parents and I miss you, Leo.”
There was a quiet sob from behind her.
His parents, a king and queen… Leo had told her he was from Beauvais, the kingdom that “hated magic more than any other.” Oh god.
“It’s just too bad you had to go and ruin everything.” Druett punctuated every word with a footfall. He was circling around towards Leo now, out of Emily’s field of view. Secrets or not, she reached a hand behind her, ignoring how the circle of swords tightened, to grasp Leo’s tightly. His didn’t react.
It didn’t matter that he hadn’t told her. She had to do something.
Leo gasped in a breath, “I’m sorry, I didn’t-”
Druett laughed. Enjoying whatever this was, enjoying Leo’s pain. Emily felt sick.
“And now I have to kill you.”
With that, Emily began whirling around. But the sudden tingling of the ground, like a live wire, seemed to stop time entirely. Then it erupted.
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