Shared By The Dragon Clan: Part Three

SHARED BY
THE DRAGON CLAN

Part Three

Rosette
Bolter

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CHAPTER ONE

“Take your clothes off. Give them to
me.”

With her arms
folded over her chest, and her legs crossed tightly, Stacey watched Conrad move
from one side of the room to the place where her dress lay discarded. The same
dress Zane had conjured for her with his powers.

Conrad
scooped it up and held it in front of her with both hands outstretched. Stacey
saw a flickering of light at his finger tips, and soon enough the dress had
been eaten up with flames. Conrad dumped it on the floor again and moved back
to the closet.

Within a few
moments, the burning garment was nothing more than a pile of ash.

“Up,” Conrad
ordered.

Stacey slid
up the wall, still trying to conceal her privates. Conrad turned slightly and
gave a snort. “Come here.”

Stacey
reluctantly moved around the bed towards him. Conrad reached into the cupboard
and pulled something out.

He offloaded
a bunch of grey, dusty rags into her arms.

“You wear
these now.”

He closed the
cupboard.

He then moved
towards the bedroom door. He opened it and stepped out.

“Follow me.”

Stacey obeyed
his command.

The tears in
her eyes were stinging. Her face was flushed with humiliation, and the longer
her skin was exposed, the more fragile she became. Inside, a harrowing despair
had taken hold. Not only was her protector in the hands of their enemies, but
now he no longer loved her, believing he was betrayed. She remembered Zane’s
face when he looked at her. She remembered the relentless hate that filled his
eyes. Although she had not meant to hurt him, there didn’t seem to be any way
to undo what had been done. For now at least, their love…

Was over.

A little
further down the corridor Conrad was standing in the mouth of an open doorway.
She followed him there and saw that it was a bathroom.

“You can have
ten minutes,” he said. “Clean yourself up and put your new clothes on. I’ll be
back to fetch them.”

Before she
could respond, he put his hand to her back and nudged her inside. He then
closed the door and locked it.

Stacey
stepped away and moved towards the mirror, clutching the clothes.

She let them
fall away and hit her feet below.

CHAPTER TWO

Before Zane had a chance to fight
against the other dragons in Conrad’s courtyard, the Human Mage had cast a
paralysis spell on him. Now Zane’s hands and knees were planted into the earth,
and he was unable to move.

From behind him,
Zane heard someone exit the house and move across the grass towards them. The
Mage’s gaze followed him until he had moved around to the other side of Zane to
face him.

“I’m sorry,”
Conrad began. “But you left me no choice, little brother.”

“No …
choice?
”
Zane rasped.

Conrad
crouched so they were eye to eye. “You could have gone anywhere. You could have
visited any part of the globe. They probably wouldn’t have found you. With your
strength and powers, you could have survived for years on your own. With or
without that skank.”

Zane gritted
his teeth.

“But you had
to implicate me. Because as soon as anyone here found out you were here – if
someone had even just caught a glimpse of you in town, then I’d be finished.
Because of you. Because you put your needs ahead of mine.”

Conrad stood
back up. “That’s all I’m doing here.”

Zane tilted
his head upward, the rage in his eyes saying more than any words could.

The Human
Mage reached into his robe and produced a scroll. He showed it to the circle of
dragons that surrounded them and then unrolled it.

“Zane Hunter,
Commander of the Firebound Guards, you have been found guilty for the crime of
regicide, against your clan and your king. Under the authority of the seven
grandmasters, and the Kingdom of Aries, you shall be executed as you sit now
before the court. Do you have any final words before it is carried out?”

Zane breathed
heavily. He looked from the Mage to his brother.

“Make him do it.
By the sword.”

The Mage
rolled up his parchment and tucked it away. He nodded to Conrad.

Conrad
grimaced. “Sword!”

A sword was
flung out from the circle and Conrad caught it in one hand.

The Mage backed
away from them.

Zane’s eyes
drifted upward as Conrad moved to his side.

“This will be
a great mistake for you,” he said. “Murdering your brother who comes to you in
a time of need. Bought for blood. Bought for gold. Who will trust you now that
you’re so cheaply for sale?”

“Shut up,”
Conrad murmured.

He raised the
sword above Zane’s neck.

“You think
they’ll make you king? A coward like you, who was so afraid he wouldn’t offer
his brother a final duel? That he murders him with the help of the lowlife,
degenerate Human Mage?”

Conrad closed
his eyes. The sword went higher still.

“And what
happens when they find out I was right about Horatio? Because they will find
out. And you will burn forever for your treachery today.”

Zane lowered
his neck.

Stared at the
ground.

There was a
moment of silence, and then –

The sword
landed on the ground.

“What are you
doing?” the Human Mage demanded.

“We can’t
kill him,” Conrad declared. “You can’t, I can’t. Not here we can’t.”

“What the
hell are you talking about? We’ve been given order from the otherworld –”

“Who have
given it upon your evidence. Your testimony. But if there’s a chance he’s
telling the truth about…”

“About what?”

“Come here a
moment.”

Conrad took
the Mage under his wing as the pair peeled away to talk quietly together.
Zane’s gaze moved around slightly, and he suddenly became aware of feeling in
his right arm.

Then his
left.

CHAPTER
THREE

After she had finished using the
bathroom’s facilities, Stacey stepped out of the shower and retrieved the towel
from the hook. It was dry, and hadn’t been used much. It smelt nice too – much
nicer than the clothes she was expected to wear. The rags consisted of a man’s
unwashed shirt, and a pair of paper thin leggings. She didn’t understand why
Conrad wished her to wear these as she was sure they would make her look undesirable.

She debated
with herself about putting them on, finally admitting they were better than
nothing. Once on, she stared at herself in the mirror and realized that she
could actually see through both the shirt and the pants, as they were that
thin. She didn’t want to wear these. She felt sick.

But the
decision was not up to her.

Now that she
was finished, she went to the door and called out in hope Conrad might hear
her.

“Hello? I’m
ready now!”

She waited
through the silence.

Then she
heard footsteps approaching the door.

“Hello?” a
voice came on the other side.

Not Conrad.
One of the servants.

“Hello?”
Stacey shot back. “Can you please let me out? The door won’t open.”

She heard the
sound of keys jingling. The door’s lock snapped open.

The servant
held it back, and Stacey smiled sweetly at him. “Thank you.”

She
approached the stairs.

“I wouldn’t
go that way if I was you.”

Stacey
stopped and turned.

“It’s
dangerous out there,” the servant said.

Stacey paced
back towards him. “Is there another way out of here?”

The servant
nodded. “Follow me.”

The servant
briskly moved from the bathroom’s doorway and around the corner of the hall.

At one of the
rooms on the opposite of Conrad’s study, the servant used his keys to unlock
the door and let them both through. This led out to a small landing with a set
of spiraling stairs leading down, and a glass door leading out to a balcony.

“You’ll have
to go out there,” the servant said, indicating to the balcony. “The stairs lead
to the kitchen and the others will hold you there.”

“But how high
is it?” Stacey asked, approaching. “Is there a ladder or something I can go
down?”

“There’s a
tree branch. It’s very wide and smooth, so if you’re careful you should be able
to navigate yourself to ground.”

“Let me take
a look.”

She went out
to the balcony with the servant and leaned over the edge to see the tree.

“That’s…
That’s quite a drop.”

“Do you think
you can do it?”

Stacey looked
back at him. “Do I have a choice?”

“You can wait
for Conrad’s return.”

Stacey looked
back to the tree again. The branch was too far down.

“He’s not
nice, is he?” Stacey said.

“He doesn’t
treat women that well,” the servant replied.

“Why are you
helping me?” Stacey asked.

“Just because
I work with these strange folk, doesn’t mean I’m one of them.”

“Alright,”
Stacey sighed. “I’ll give it a shot.”

“Okay,” the
servant said. “Stay there and I’ll meet you on the ground. Perhaps I can help
you if you fall.”

“Great,”
Stacey smiled. “Just don’t keep me too long.”

“I won’t.”

The servant
bowed his head and exited the balcony.

Stacey turned
back to the rail, and rested her arms against it. She now became aware of
sounds traveling through the background. People were shouting at one another on
the other side of the house. Metal, was hitting metal…

Smash.

Something shot
through the door behind Stacey, shattering glass in its wake.

Stacey looked
to the ground next to her and saw it was the servant’s severed head.

“EEEEK!”

Her jaw
dropped, suddenly consumed with nausea.

“Well, well.”

Standing in
the doorway, swinging a giant sword filled with blood, was Conrad.

Looking very
mean.

CHAPTER FOUR

Stacey felt her knees buckling in
fear, but then her mind grabbed a hold of her.

Be brave.

“It’s amazing
what a harlot can do to some people,” Conrad said dragging his sword across the
ground. “That man had worked for me for six years. But it means nothing when
confronted with a pretty face.”

“You’re a
monster,” Stacey whispered.

“And you’re a
human,” Conrad whispered back.

He stopped.
Then beckoned with the sword. “Come to me now, Slave.”

“No.”

“No? I’m
promise I won’t hurt you. I swear.”

Stacey
climbed up on top of the balcony’s rail.

“What are you
doing?” Conrad asked.

“What does it
look like?”

Stacey looked
down to the branch. She was at the wrong angle.

Conrad edged
closer. “Why don’t you come down? You don’t want to jump.”

“Step away.”

“Why? Come
on, Slave –”

“Step away or
I’ll jump right now.”

Conrad
stopped. But didn’t step back.

“Go on then,”
he said. “I dare you.”

Stacey
blinked.

“Foolish
girl. Even if you’re lucky enough to make it to the ground unhurt, I’ll have
you in my arms a moment later. I’ll break your neck in two if that’s what you
want.”

“Why won’t
you just let me go?” Stacey demanded. “I’m nothing to you. I’m not important.”

“Oh, I beg to
differ. I know one person you’re
very
important too.”

And he was
moving towards her. Hands outstretched.

“That’s it,”
he said under his breath. “Come here. Come down… Hey –”

Stacey closed
her eyes.

One. Two.

Three.