Chapter 7
CHAPTER SEVEN
TYNAN
Ijust finished bathing and wrapped myself in a stale smelling towel when Erin walked into the room.
“We can get dinner here. They have a decent menu. What are those? Oh, man, you’re pretty scarred up,” he answered his own question.
I raised my eyes to him, saying nothing. I knew very well that I was stuck listening to his never ending monologue all evening and probably a good chunk of the night.
“You know, Ty, that’s a good thing. Girls love scars,” Erin continued.
“Is that right?” That was all the enthusiasm I could muster.
“I wish I had some,” Erin would not shut up.
I sighed and dropped my towel, picking up the change of clothes that the clerk brought for both of us.
When I peeled off my flying suit, almost right away I felt bare and vulnerable.
My mind could not easily switch off from being on duty and I saw myself fighting crawlers wearing the thin fabric of the dark brown pants and a matching shirt.
It felt wrong. To top that, I could not have all my knives on me.
The belt that normally attached itself to my waist like a second skin slid back and forth, annoying the hell out of me.
“What do you think about the girl?” Erin asked suddenly.
“What about her?” I stopped buttoning my shirt.
“And he speaks! No, I’m being serious. Why do you think she was in a high-security prison? She doesn’t look dangerous to me.” He lounged on the bed.
“Looks can be deceiving.”
“I guess, but it seems strange. Why is she so important that they sent four people to retrieve her? If she’s so dangerous and all, why not leave her there to die?” Erin brought up an important point, and I had no idea how to explain it.
The girl looked frail and harmless, but she saved Frid when she did not have to.
Of course, that may also be because she was smart, and knew having more people fighting to get you free was the better strategy.
Or she was trying to look all innocent, hoping that we would drop our suspicions and then she could escape.
“Hey, Ty, I didn’t want to bring it up in front of the others, but I saw Gabrielle in the palace.” Erin stilled watching me.
I turned away, concealing my emotions. An enormous weight pressed on my chest and all I wanted was to punch Erin right in his curious face.
“She seemed well,” he continued.
I approached the table and poured myself a glass of water.
My wounds had not healed all the way. I could still feel all the pain that the mere mention of her name brought.
She was the one who gave me up when the promise of a better life in the capital and an engagement to a wealthy man from another clan was offered to her.
She tossed me aside as if I meant nothing.
I was certainly nothing to her now. I believed myself a rational man, but every time someone brought up her name, the pain would always return no matter how much time passed.
Except, all I felt was a never ending sense of betrayal from the person I believed to be the love of my life.
Against my will, my memories brought back those two years we were together and I clenched my jaw.
I was too young and naive at the age of seventeen.
I believed that there was a way for me to be happy, to have a family, to have someone who would wait for me after every mission.
And she was so striking with her dark brown, smooth hair and the tiny dimples in her cheeks.
Frid, Sol, and Victor had seen everything that happened first hand.
Not one of them brought her name up even once after she broke our engagement and left.
The truth was, I could not even blame her.
There was nothing I could offer her in return.
I was the youngest son of a lord with two older brothers who would take control of the clan after his death.
The days of glory for our house were long gone, and we had been reduced to near extinction.
Every capable man and woman left the lands to serve other clans, refusing to wear our colors and trying hard to forget where they came from.
“Good for her,” I said, knowing that I had to say something.
“You have to move on, man,” Erin continued.
I stared at him, fighting a wave of anger.
“There are so many girls out there,” Erin added.
I was already by the door. When I was out in the corridor, I bumped into Frid. She was returning to her room with a towel on her shoulder. She had changed her clothes, and her hair was wet.
“Alfrida, you look magnificent,” Erin greeted the girl.
I scowled, hating that he was following me.
“Where’s the prisoner?” I asked.
“In the room. Why?” she responded with a question.
“Don’t leave her alone,” I ordered.
“Do you think she will try to escape?” Frid tilted her head.
“Yes,” I said.
“Ty, there’s no place to go,” she pointed out.
“Do you know what they’ll do to us if she escapes?” I glanced at Erin, who was surprisingly silent.
“But there’s no place to go. The city is surrounded by crawlers,” Frid protested.
I stared at her, not saying anything else, and I could sense her confidence had lessened.
“Alright, I will shadow her every moment of the day.” Frid patted her wet hair with the towel.
“What should I do for you to shadow me?” Erin smirked.
“Why are you still here? I thought you were heading back to the capital.” Frid glanced at the blond man.
“I’m leaving in the morning. They don’t know how long it takes to travel these days and I’d rather have a good sleep before I fly for two more days. It’s time for dinner, Alfrida. Get your prisoner and come down.”
Erin was still talking as I knocked on the door where Victor and Sol were staying.
When we entered the dining area of the tavern, I spotted a busy counter behind which was a good looking girl in a low cut dress and bouncy blond curls.
An older lady was walking through the tables taking orders.
The lights of multiple candles and the musky scent of beer and liquor filled the air.
There were no empty tables and we had to share a long bench with another group.
We had been on duty for so long that it felt strange to be back with all these people.
I touched my belt, making sure that my knife was still in its leather sheath.
When finally all of us were seated together, the barmaid in a tight corset approached the table and placed herself directly in front of me.
“What would you like, handsome?” she purred.
“What are you serving today?”
“Lamb and young potatoes,” she responded, eyeing our group.
“We’ll take it. What do you have for drinks?” I asked.
“Everything, good sir. Beer, kvass, or something stronger.” She moved her shoulders, giving me a side eye.
“Kvass then,” I said.
“What’s kvass?” Alina, who sat opposite of me, asked Frid.
“Low alcohol, bread-based drink,” Frid said.
For a moment my gaze landed on the prisoner.
How could she not know that?
Her hair was braided and secured on top of her head.
A couple of dark red locks framed her cheeks.
Her large brown eyes shifted from Frid and she met my gaze.
She was beautiful in her dark brown shirt and tight suede pants.
The attention of all the guys at our table moved to her as soon as she spoke.
Did she tell us the truth? Was she really not from Talman?
“So, what’s your name?” Erin asked and the girl’s eyes landed on him.
“Alina,” she responded.
“Why were you in a high-security prison?” Erin continued and for the first time I was not mad about him talking too much.
The girl only shook her head.
“Where are you from?” Frid asked.
The girl moved her head meeting Frid’s eyes.
“Evaten,” she said.
“Evaten? Where’s that?” Erin glanced at me, I shook my head.
“Evaten? Isn’t that below?” Victor asked.
My eyes darted back to the girl, she did not look like that meant anything to her.
The level below was outside the dragon lands.
No one was permitted to cross the border, not since the council came to power.
There was a time when travel between the dragon land and the land of commoners was frequent.
But all the information we once knew about the other lands had become distant memories.
“It can’t be. It’s impossible to cross the border.” Victor smirked.
“What do you mean?” The girl suddenly looked pale.
“If it was that easy many of us would have left to escape the crawlers, don’t you think?”
“The crawlers are everywhere,” Frid added.
“There are no crawlers where I came from!” the girl said in a firm voice.
“No crawlers, huh? Must be nice,” Victor chuckled.
“I don’t know if I believe you, beautiful,” Erin said and I hated to agree with him.
While I watched her profile, I could easily detect the stubborn curve of her mouth.
She did not conceal what was on her mind very well.
She did not trust us. She would try to escape.
I could see what she was thinking, plain and clear.
And if she was successful, all four of us would surely be executed for treason.
The council barely needed a reason to send any of our clan to the dragon ancestors.
From now on I had to watch her very closely.