Dragonvein (Book Two) (10 page)

“What do you want?” she demanded.

“Can I come in?”

After letting out a heavy sigh, she backed away and allowed him to pass.

Markus regarded her for a long moment, then took a seat on the edge of the bed. Lylinora turned the chair away from the dresser, picked up a hair brush, and sat down facing him.

She began running the brush through her hair. “I am busy, so please tell me quickly what it is you want, Markus.”

“What I want…
Nora
, is for you to stop playing games.”

“I’m sure I don’t know what you mean.”

“Yes you do,” he shot back. “You know good and damn well.”

“If you’re referring to what happened between us…”

“I’m referring to Ethan.”

Her brushing paused for a moment. “What about Ethan?”

“You need to stop playing around with his feelings. He doesn’t deserve it.”

“What goes on between Lord Dragonvein and myself is none of your affair. So you need to curb your jealousy and stop meddling in things that are beyond you.”

“
Ethan
is my best friend, so that certainly does make it my business,” he retorted sharply.

Though she opened her mouth to respond, he pressed on regardless. “I appreciate what you did to heal me. I can also accept that you don’t want me. Yes, I admit I was jealous for a while; I
thought
we had connected. But I was wrong, and this has nothing to do with the way I feel about you. This is about Ethan. You lead him on, then spurn him. You act like you’re practically ready to rip off his clothes, and when he tries to get close, you make him feel like he’s done something wrong.”

“Is that what he told you?” she asked.

Markus shook his head. “Not at all. He told me that he had made a fool of himself. In fact, he didn’t place any blame on you whatsoever. In his eyes, you’re perfect. But I know better. You’re just a selfish schemer, blind to anything but your own agenda. You plan to get whatever it is you want and to hell with anyone you hurt along the way.”

She swung around in her chair to place the brush on the dresser. Her face was expressionless when she turned back. “Are you quite finished now?”

“Not quite. You may not have feelings for me, and I can take that. I’ve dealt with heartache before. But something tells me you don’t have any feelings for Ethan either. And if that’s the case, what you are doing to him is wrong.”

Markus noticed that her head was now bowed and her hands folded on her lap. “When you healed me, you said that it can be an emotional experience; that you would touch my spirit and share my pain. It was too much for you. I get that. It’s too much for
me
sometimes. But I felt
your
pain too. Don’t ask me how, I just did. I know that you miss your father and mother. I know how hard it was for you to discover that everything you once knew is now gone. I know, because
I
lost everything too.”

He paused, but she remained silent, her gaze still directed downwards. “Oh yes, you can hide your pain…just like me. You can make everyone believe that you are able to handle what has happened to you. But I know you better than you think. And that’s why I know you are toying with Ethan’s heart. There is no way you can feel for him with the same passion he feels for you. You’re in too much pain to be capable of that.”

He rose to his feet. “I won’t let you hurt him. Hurt me all you want if it makes you happy. But either commit to Ethan, or leave him alone. He deserves better.”

Having delivered his thoughts, Markus turned abruptly away. But he was only halfway to the cabin door when he heard soft sobs coming from behind. Almost instantly, he regretted his hard words. In spite of his anger, he did still care for Lylinora. More deeply than he wanted to admit. What they had shared during his healing continued to haunt him. Going back, he placed a comforting hand on her shoulder.

The effect was instantaneous.

Lylinora sprang up, her arms spread out wide. “Don’t touch me!” she screamed. Her cheeks were soaked in tears - her hands clenched so tightly that her knuckles were white.

Before Markus could even blink, he found himself enveloped by a green light. He struggled to move, but was firmly trapped.

“You think you know me?” she sneered. “You think you can fathom the responsibility that I have been burdened with? And then you dare to question me?” Rage dripped from her every word. “I care nothing for you. You hear me? Nothing! And if I want to toy with Ethan, I’ll toy with him. I don’t care that he is your friend. He is far more important than that. He is the future of my kind. And if you ever try to interfere with me again…”

Markus was finding it virtually impossible to breathe. She was standing almost nose to nose with him, her face twisted into a dreadful combination of pain and fury. But even now – though she was using her magic to hold him powerless, he could feel only pity for her. She truly believed what she was saying. Suddenly, it all made sense.

She held him there for a few more seconds before releasing the spell. Markus crumbled to his knees, coughing and gasping for air.

“You… you… really think you’ll… be… able… to live…like this?” he croaked.

“I will do what I must,” she replied. “Now get the hell out!”

He struggled to his feet and stumbled to the door. “It won’t work you know. He’ll see through you eventually. He’s not as naïve as you think.”

“And why should that bother you?” Though she tried hard to contain it, there was a small quiver to her voice now. “Didn’t you come here to stop me?”

“I…I just don’t want to see you end up alone,” Markus told her. “Especially after what you have lost.” He opened the door and stepped slowly through it.

She said nothing more, but as he pulled it shut behind him he could hear the sound of her weeping once again.

This time, he left her to it.

Chapter Eight

O
nce the embarrassment
of his impulsive attempt to kiss Lylinora had eased, Ethan began to rather enjoy being on board the smugglers’ ship. The crew’s initial shock of seeing the dwarves on their vessel did not last for long either. Within a day or two they were relaxed enough to speak casually with Ethan, spending time to teach him a bit about being a sailor and even including him in a few of their drinking sessions. The latter quickly drew stern lectures from the ever cautious Jonas about how too much wine can often produce a dangerously loose tongue.

Markus spent most of his time below deck. He and Birger could frequently be heard honing their fighting skills, which, quite apart from the obvious benefits, also had the practical effect of ensuring that the crew knew their group of passengers were far from defenseless. Ethan joined in with their practice from time to time, but mostly he dedicated himself to Lylinora’s lessons. Her cramped quarters made it impossible to do very much in the way of casting aggressive spells, but he was learning quite a lot about the nature of magic.

“All magic is essentially the same,” she told him. “It is the mage that changes it. Each one has certain natural endowments given to them at birth. I, for example, have a talent for healing and altering nature.”

“Altering nature?” Ethan asked.

“Yes. I have a particular understanding for things that grow and the power they possess. An especially useful skill when you need to feed hungry people.”

“But I’ve seen you use fire as a weapon.”

“Of course. But that is not where my true strength lies. Your father could create a sea of flames that could stretch for miles. I can’t do that. But I can make a field of apples ripen overnight, or heal a body with less than a single breath of life remaining. And that’s just the beginning.”

“You said I take after my father. What does that mean exactly?”

Lylinora shrugged. “That remains to be seen. Praxis Dragonvein was tremendously powerful. As was your mother. Though
her
talents were far more like mine. You have the gift for elemental magic – that much is clear. But we’ll have to wait a little before discovering whether you possess your father’s skill as a conjurer. We can’t learn that here. It’s too dangerous.”

“Too dangerous?”

Lylinora smiled sweetly. “You wouldn’t want to unleash fire breathing wolves on board this small vessel, would you?”

“No. I guess not.”

The idea of creating such spectacular magic excited Ethan enormously and found himself more impatient than ever for them to reach their destination.

Kat joined them for most of the lessons, As usual, she remained silent throughout, though Ethan could see she had not missed a single word. He had a strong feeling she would easily master almost anything Lylinora could teach.

King Ganix chose to stay below most of the time, even taking his meals in the cargo hold.

“It’s better I stay out of sight,” he said when Ethan mentioned he was becoming concerned that he was alone too much. “The crew have all but forgotten I’m down here. And if I could, I would have them forget I ever was.”

It was early one morning, two weeks into the journey, when Ethan felt himself being roughly shaken awake. Instinctively, he reached for his dagger, but stopped on seeing Kat.

He rubbed his eyes and yawned. “What time is it?”

“You have to get up,” she said, the urgency in her voice clear.

“What’s wrong?”

“An Imperial patrol ship has been sighted on the horizon.”

Ethan immediately woke Markus and the others. Before they even had time to throw on their clothes and weapons, the captain arrived, a worried expression on his face.

“The dwarves should stay out of sight in the hold,” he said. “The rest of you come on up top with me and do exactly as I say.”

Ethan looked to Ganix, who gave him a reassuring nod.

Once on deck, Ethan saw immediately that the crew was frightened. Furtive whispers suggesting that the passengers should be killed and thrown overboard clearly reached his ears.

“Be ready,” Markus told Ethan.

Looking calm, Jonas casually walked over to the railing and stared at the horizon. Ethan could see the white sails to the east.

“Are you sure it’s Imperials?” he asked the captain.

“It’s them all right,” Jeridia replied darkly. “And from the look of it, they’ve already seen us. Now we have to wait and see if they want to come on board.”

“And if they do?” asked Markus.

“Then I can either try to outrun them, or do nothing and hope they let us go.”

“
Can
you outrun them?” asked Ethan.

“Not likely,” he replied. “That’s a patrol vessel, not a warship. If it were close to dusk I could probably lose them in the night, but…” He pointed to the sun that was only just breaking the horizon.

Just then Ethan spotted Lylinora approaching. Markus merely gave her a curt nod before moving away with Kat to join Jonas.

“Don’t worry,” said Lylinora. “If it comes down to it, we
will
get away.”

She gestured for him to follow her to the starboard railing a few yards away from the others. Once there, she closed her eyes for a moment and whispered:
“Jiora”
. Her gaze then concentrated on the approaching ship.

“There are at least twenty soldiers apart from the crew,” she informed Ethan. “But I see no heavy weapons on the deck. Just bows. Though they might have some dwarf weapons of course.”

He recalled the spell of enhanced sight she had been teaching him recently. Maybe he could see these things too?

“
Jiora,
” he said.

Nothing happened, producing a grunt of frustration. Ethan repeated the word several more times before finally giving up.

Lylinora was watching him closely. “Slow your mind,” she told him. “Magic isn’t something you can force out. It’s a companion, not a slave.”

He closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and did his best to clear all thoughts from his head. Once prepared, he tried again.

“
Jiora.
”

On opening his eyes, at first everything appeared the same as before. But only for a moment. The distant ship then rushed in toward him at a startling speed, causing him to jump back in alarm.

“Be calm.” Lylinora smiled. “I know it’s unnerving at first.”

Ethan could only stand there, slack jawed and amazed by what he was seeing. It was as if he was now looking through powerful binoculars, only much, much clearer. He could see the men on the Imperial vessel working the ship’s rigging and scurrying about.

He reached out his hand. “It feels like I could actually touch them if I wanted to.”

“In time you’ll be able to hear them too. But for now you’ve done well.”

Fascinated, Ethan continued watching until he felt Lylinora’s hand touch his arm. The moment he looked away from the ship, the spell was broken and his eyesight instantly reverted back to normal again.

Very soon it became apparent that the Imperial ship had indeed spotted them, and was now changing course to intercept.

Markus approached them. His eyes settled on Lylinora. “You and Kat should return to your cabin. It will raise less suspicion if you both appear afraid and are cowering below deck.”

Lylinora regarded him with a stony expression before answering. “Yes. You’re right.”

She called for Kat, and the two of them returned to their quarters.

“You didn’t say anything to her, did you?” Ethan asked, once they were gone.

Markus tapped the hilt of his sword anxiously. “Why do you ask?”

“It’s just that she seems…different.”

“How do you mean?”

“She’s a bit more reserved. Not as…I don’t know…not as flirty, I guess.”

Markus gave him a sideways grin. “And I suppose you wish she still was.”

Ethan shrugged. “No. Not really. Not unless she means it. I’ve already made an ass out of myself once when I got it wrong. I don’t want
that
to happen again. Ever.”

“I wouldn’t worry, mate. It’ll work itself out.”

Ethan dearly wanted that to be true. Following Lylinora’s rejection, it had taken all of his courage to face her again. That she was able to act as if nothing had happened in order to spare him further humiliation only made his feelings for her stronger.

For what felt like an eternity they watched the Imperial ship until it was less than one-hundred yards off their starboard bow. A trumpet sounded, causing a hush to fall over the deck.

“Raise the red flag!” the captain shouted. “And keep your wits about you.”

Slowly, the patrol ship maneuvered alongside. After a series of ropes had been thrown over and made secure, a long wooden plank was lowered, bridging the two vessels. Twenty soldiers charged across with weapons drawn. They immediately set about herding everyone to the center of the deck.

With the entire crew contained and disarmed, a tall man with close-cropped dark hair strode across the plank. He was wearing a long black coat bearing six red chevrons on the sleeve. After dropping nimbly onto the deck, his dark eyes carefully surveyed the scene.

“Search below,” he ordered in a surprisingly pleasant, yet still commanding voice.

Six soldiers broke away to do as instructed. As they did so, Captain Jeridia’s voice thundered across the deck.

“What the devil is the meaning of this?” he demanded, descending from his position behind the main wheel. As soon as he reached the deck, two soldiers blocked his path.

The man in the long coat waved the soldiers aside. “You are Captain Jeridia, yes?”

“I am,” he said proudly.

“And I am Captain Garon Marvdra.” He gave a long sweeping bow. “I appreciate you not forcing me to chase you. It would have been such a bother.”

“So why have you boarded my ship?” Jeridia challenged. If he was afraid, he was showing no sign of it. “We have done nothing wrong.”

Marvdra laughed. “A renowned smuggler and thief such as yourself is always worthy of notice. And when I heard that your vessel was spotted heading in my direction, I just couldn’t resist the opportunity to meet you.”

Jeridia scowled angrily. “And now we’ve met. Kindly let us be on our way.”

“In time, perhaps. We shall see.”

While this exchange was going on, Ethan had been staring nervously at the door leading below. Moments later he saw Kat and Lylinora emerge with two soldiers at their backs. They both had their heads hung low as they were taken over to Marvdra.

“What have we here?” he asked.

“Passengers,” replied Jeridia. “No law against that, is there?”

“Certainly not,” Marvdra replied. He lifted Lylinora’s chin. “Especially one so lovely. But it begs the question: Why is a smuggler taking on passengers?”

“Gold. Why else?”

Marvdra turned his attention to Kat. “And aren’t you just the sweetest thing,” he said, squeezing her arm lightly. “A bit underfed though.” He shot an admonishing look in Jeridia’s direction. “You really
must
take better care of your guests, Captain. Or perhaps they would prefer to come with us. I would be most pleased to assist you ladies in finding more…suitable transportation.”

“Thank you,” said Lylinora. “But I think we will remain here.”

“Nonsense. I have a dear friend who would love to have such elegant company aboard his vessel.”

She was saved from having to respond further by a shout from a soldier emerging from below decks. “Captain! We’ve found dwarves!”

Behind him appeared Birger and King Ganix. Ethan’s heart sank.

Ganix walked the deck with head held high and shoulders straight. In contrast, Birger glowered and grunted as the soldier at his back shoved them forward.

Marvdra clicked his tongue. “My dear, Jeridia. You are aware that dealing with dwarves is illegal?” He let out an exaggerated sigh. “I fear that this complicates matters.”

“Be ready,” Markus whispered into Ethan’s ear.

“My Lord,” said Ganix, bowing. “Captain Jeridia is not at fault. He…”

Marvdra’s hand shot up. His eyes now looked dangerous and accusing. “Silence dwarf. I did not give you permission to speak.” He turned to Lylinora. “I hope you are not involved with this pair. That would be most unfortunate.”

“They’re not,” said Ganix. “They didn’t even know that we…”

Marvdra threw back his coat to reveal a long thin sword with a heavily bejeweled gold hilt. In an instant, he had the blade unsheathed and was stepping menacingly forward. In response, Birger jerked Ganix back by the collar and placed himself in the Imperial captain’s path.

Marvdra halted. The fire in his eyes cooled and a tiny smile formed at the corners of his mouth. “Your father, is he? Or your lord perhaps? Whatever he is to you, I take it you are willing to die in order to protect him.”

Birger glared unyieldingly, but said nothing.

Chuckling quietly, Marvdra turned his back. But only for a moment. He spun back around, this time with the sword fully raised. “Then let me help you perform your duty,” he snapped, plunging the blade deep into the defiant dwarf’s chest.

Birger let out a loud gasp, both his hands clutching at the steel.

“No!” shouted Ganix.

Ethan started forward, but Markus held his arm tight.

There was no restraining Kat however. Before Lylinora could do anything to stop her, she rushed to Birger’s side. He was still on his feet, though held up only by Marvdra’s grip on the still embedded sword. Blood dribbled from his chest, and from the corners of his mouth. He smiled weakly at Kat.

With a savage grin, Marvdra jerked his sword free, at last allowing Birger to collapse onto the deck.

Kat’s face was contorted with rage. “You bastard!” she screamed. With fingers extended like claws ready to tear his eyes out, she made ready to leap at Marvdra. This time though, Lylinora was prepared and able to wrap restraining arms around her. Kat struggled wildly to free herself, but after a few moments went limp and began weeping uncontrollably.

“So you
do
know the dwarves,” remarked Marvdra, his pleasant, conversational tone never faltering. “Now I am
truly
dismayed. I was so hoping that the two of you were telling the truth.”