CHAPTER 26 #2
“I was looking for food. The dumpsters over here sometimes have good things in them,” she tells me.
A hand is placed on my back and intuitively I know it is Dragus.
I peer up at him. Lilith does too, before stepping back.
I scoop her up, not wanting to leave her out in the elements alone and hungry.
Turning around, I glance at Dragus, he says nothing, just looks over his shoulder at Silas who is watching us.
Silas turns around and starts walking inside, though he doesn’t say I can’t bring her, so I start following after him.
I walk across the road when Dragus pulls Lilith from me.
I peer up at him, worried he is going to make me leave her, but he keeps walking with Lilith in his arms.
Lilith looks unsure and fearful in his arms however, she says nothing. Coming inside, Silas is waiting by the door. Dragus places Lilith on the ground and she rushes over to me, grabbing my shirt and peering up at Silas. He stares back at her like he doesn’t know what to do with her.
“Where have you been staying?” I ask, staring down at her. She takes her eyes off Silas, looking up at me.
“With some other kids in the fabric warehouse. It has power there, the entire city has power now,” she says excitedly. I smile down at her.
“So, there are more kids there?”
She nods and my heart clenches. Dragus holds his hand out to her, she hesitates, placing her tiny hand in his. One of the maids comes out and Silas calls out to her. The woman creeps over nervously.
“Find her some clean clothes and set up a room for the girl,” he tells her, and she nods, smiling down at Lilith.
“Come, let’s make you something to eat,” Dragus says to her, as they wander off toward the kitchen, Lilith looking over her shoulder at me; I nod encouragingly to her.
I turn to Silas, who is watching me silently. My thoughts go to the other children Lilith mentioned.
Silas cups my cheek, his thumb brushing my cheek bone.
“Say it,” he says, his eyes carefully watching me.
“The other kids,” I start to say though I know he won’t agree.
“You want to help them?” he says, making my eyes dart to his and I nod. He kisses me softly, turning and grabbing another cloak, draping it over my shoulders.
“What are you doing?” I ask.
“You need to come, too; they will run from me,” he says, opening the door and motioning for me to go out. I dart out the door, and Silas grabs my hand, holding it in his.
“Why are you doing this?”
“Because you want me to,” he answers. “Besides, there is plenty of room until we figure out what to do with them,” he says, tugging me against his side.
I stop, wondering if he will do something else. He stops but is still holding my hand.
“What is it?” he asks. I hesitate in asking.
“Will you open the gates?”
“Well yeah, we kind of have to, to find them,” he says.
I shake my head. “No, the border gates.”
Silas scrunches up his face. “You want me to open the borders? You don’t know what you’re asking, Lora.”
“Yes, I do. people want to leave the city, and you should let them,” I tell him. He tugs my hand, and we keep walking.
“You think the borders are closed because we don’t want anyone let out?”
I nod.
“There are worse things out there than in here; that’s why the borders are so heavily guarded. That’s why no one leaves, Elora”
“What do you mean?”
“It doesn’t matter right now; let’s find these kids you want to help,” he says, draping his arm across my shoulders.
It takes us around twenty minutes to find the fabric warehouse.
As soon as I step in, I find a host of children from the ages of toddlers all the way to teens.
They are all underweight, not clothed for the weather, yet have managed to make beds out of leftover cuts of fabric.
They show the resourcefulness you need to survive in this city; the same street smarts I was forced to endure growing up here.
You make do with what you have or can make yourself.
It hits home with me. Silas, however, looks shocked, like he never really paid attention to what the people of this city were suffering.
As soon as he enters the warehouse behind me, they all take off running for their lives.
“Wait, wait, please don’t run. He won’t hurt you,” I call out, still, they hide.
A couple of the teens grab the smaller kids and take off, all except one which I approach.
She is only about three and definitely the youngest. Her dark, black curly hair is long and knotted, the ringlets sitting just above her shoulder.
She has green eyes with bags under them, hollow cheeks showing how malnourished she is.
Picking her up, I place her on my hip and she is like picking up a newborn.
She weighs barely anything. I can feel nearly all her bones along her spine.
She is freezing cold even with the makeshift blanket wrapped around her and she has a terrible cough.
“Please don’t let him eat my sister,” a little boy with the same dark hair as the girl, calls out rushing into the warehouse. He shares her green eyes, their scents are similar, indicating they are blood relatives. The little girl holds her arms out for him, scared of us, so I pass her to him.
The little boy goes to run off when I grab his arm, making him stop. “We want to help,” I tell him. The boy looks toward Silas.
“We don’t need any help, especially from the Dragon King,” he spits.
I will give him one thing: he is brave to say those words in front of him with such a tone. Silas isn’t a forgiving person, so I am shocked by his reaction. He turns and walks out, leaving me alone with the children.
“Silas,” I yell out to him, but he ignores me and keeps walking.
Should I chase after him? I don’t know what to do.
He just left me here. The kids come out slowly once he’s gone and I can feel Silas’s anger through the bond.
I wait. However, after half an hour he still hasn’t returned.
So I try to do what I can to help make them a little more comfortable.
“You’re the Fae?” one girl says, coming up to me. She has black curly hair and pale skin, around the age of twelve. I nod, not really knowing what to say.
“So, you can save us?” she says.
“I don’t know what you mean,” I tell her, confused.
“You have magic?” she asks, also confused.
“Yes, but I don’t know how to use it yet.”
She nods in understanding.
“So, you’re going to rid the Kingdom of the Dragon Kings?” she asks, her words shocking me.
“No, they are my mates.”
“So, you’re one of them?” she asks, stepping away from me.
“No, I just want to help,” I tell her, reaching my hand out to her, wondering what stories they have been told. I know humans have their own stories and legends, but do they really think I was granted magic to kill the Dragon Kings?
A group of kids are trying to light a fire with a flint. Walking over, I can tell they are wary of me, but they don’t run off.
“Let me try,” I tell them, and a boy hands me the flint.
I get it to light the kindle, only it goes out almost instantly.
I try again when suddenly all the kids take off running, making me look up and I see Dragus, Matitus, and Silas as well as Marian come in.
All of them are carrying boxes and bags.
Matitus walks over and exhales a puffed breath.
Instantly the temperature changes, the logs catching alight.
I turn and see Silas do the same with a barrel and Dragus to an old fire pit the kids had rustled up.
Marian rushes over to me with five big black bags. She places them at my feet, turning and gazing at all the petrified kids.
She places her fingers in mouth whistling loudly, so loud I have to place my hands over my ears with my heightened hearing. Matitus rubs his ears, too.
“Right, all of you listen up. They mean no harm. They want to help but seeing as you won’t come to the castle, we brought some things to you.”
I see the cooks march in with the cleaning trolleys and can smell hot soup. They walk in, with big loaves of bread and plastic spoons. The kids all peek out from their hiding places, hunger in their eyes.
“We brought food, blankets, and clothes. Now don’t be afraid, come over and stop being stupid.
If they wanted to kill you, they would have already,” Marian yells.
The kids are all staring at her. Once the first one comes forward and the others see he lived, the rest slowly make their way over to us.
The Dragon Kings stand a little bit away from everyone, not wanting to scare the children.
The little girl I held earlier walks over shyly, staring up at them.
I know just the look of them is intimidating; anyone would find them petrifying if they didn’t know them with their huge size, and just the way they carry themselves.
They command attention without doing anything at all.
Still, I can see her curiosity and she reminds me a lot of her brother with her bravery.
He walks over to her, placing a beanie on her head from one of the bags Marian has.
Silas walks over, grabbing the bag. The little girl only has on an oversized jumper and dirty socks. Silas rummages through the bag, pulling out a onesie that is a little too big but will fit her if I roll the sleeves. He then grabs some socks and mittens.
“Where did you get this stuff?” I ask curiously.