Chapter Ten
Valora
The others heard about the whole accident from Hyacinth, Lord Lorka’s Dragon Maiden, who had talked with several of the workers who were present that day. After that, all except Vimery began to warm up to me a little more. I was invited to eat lunch with them. They actually talked to me. Slowly, the ice that had grown between us began to thaw. I found out more about each of them and their backgrounds. I also learned that once a year, they each were allowed to go home for a week to spend time with their families.
Alonsa came from one of the towns on the mountainside, Hilcrest, and had left behind a husband and son who, for a couple days each month, she was allowed to go see because of the town’s close proximity. I could not imagine the sacrifice she had made to be there, but while she seemed to miss her family, she did not seem to regret the decision to be a Dragon Maiden.
Bethany came from a town to the east, at the furthest distance that the Dragon Lords collected their Maidens from. She was the oldest in her family, with six younger brothers and sisters. Fairly often in the evenings, she would knit some article of clothing and Lord Verhorn would send her finished pieces back with her monthly wages.
Gwen and Hyacinth, who were in fact twins, had lost their parents at a young age and had been raised by an aunt and uncle. Surprisingly, one year, they had both been allowed to be picked as Maidens, and their wages were sent to their surrogate parents. The two had not been back in several years, opting to stay in the mountains, having grown close to several of the servants there.
Vimery, unsurprisingly, remained very tight-lipped about herself, but I came to find out from the others that she had originally been picked to become Lord Dracul’s Dragon Maiden. Due to an unknown incident, she had been swiftly removed from his service and became Lord Firenze’s Dragon Maiden instead. Ever since then, when the other Maidens went to clean Lord Dracul’s caves, she was not included in that monthly rotation. This shed a little light on why she seemed to hate me so much, but it also was not my fault that Lord Dracul had chosen me.
* * *
A week after the incident in the garden, I managed to sneak away and return. This time, when I entered the cavern, everyone stopped their work, watching me carefully as I walked through the rows of crops. If I happened to make eye contact, they quickly looked away. I felt the prickles of their stares on my back as I looked around for the boy.
One bold woman stepped forward. “You should not be here, my lady,” she said. I recognized her voice as the one who had chastised Henrick. “You should leave.”
“Where is he?” I asked, my eyes still searching for him. My heart quickened as I realized that Lord Dracul had probably found out who had run into me and that Henrick had been punished. “Where is Henrick?”
After a moment’s pause, the woman said, “It was decided that it would be in his best interest that he no longer work in this area.”
“Who decided this? Where is he now?” I demanded.
“Lord Lorka gave the order,” she said, her face paling.
I realized that my hands were clenched, and I probably frightened her. Slowly, I relaxed my body and nodded.
“He’s in a place where he won’t run into anyone anymore.”
“Did Lord Lorka order anything else?” In reality, I knew it was Lord Dracul who had made the order. I could not believe he would go so far as to punish such a young boy.
The woman shook her head. “Not that I know of.”
“Then may I see Henrick?”
Everyone within earshot gaped at me.
“I guess so,” the woman said. Her face showed her obvious surprise at the request. “I just don’t understand why.”
“I would like to talk with him,” I said, my patience wearing thin. I only had so much time before I would be missed. “That’s not a problem, is it?”
“Not at all, my lady,” she said quickly, trying to backpedal. “I’ll go fetch him immediately.” She scurried off.
I looked around the cave, and everyone flinched, going back to their work. Once more, I took off my slippers and buried my feet in the dirt. Though it had only been a few days, I had missed the smell of freshly tilled soil. Kneeling, I examined a squash plant, gently probing its curling vines and the flower that was primed to soon turn into a vegetable.
After a couple minutes, I heard two pairs of footsteps padding down the corridor.
“And be sure you don’t screw up this time.” I could hear the woman coaching Henrick on how to behave. “If Lord Dracul hears about you messing up again, there won’t be another chance.”
Henrick entered the cave, walking towards me with his gaze glued to the floor. He stopped a few feet away from me. The woman who had fetched him came up from behind and nudged him, clearing her throat.
“You asked to see me, my lady?” he asked, eyes still on the floor.
“Please look at me, Henrick.” I tried to make my voice as gentle as possible, to show him that he had nothing to fear. “I promise I don’t bite.”
Slowly, he looked up at me, shame written all over his face. “I’m awfully sorry for the other day,” he said. “I promise I didn’t mean to run into you.”
“I know. I just wanted to talk. Is that okay with you?”
He looked to the woman, who gave him a look. “You can do whatever you want, my lady.”
“Please, just call me Valora,” I said, quickly growing tired of the formalities. “Come, walk with me.” I moved to exit through where they had just come from, once more feeling the prickle of everyone’s eyes. After a few moments’ hesitation, I could hear Henrick following me. I led him a few yards into the corridor before stopping.
“Why do you want to talk to me?” he asked once we both stopped. “Are you going to yell at me? Lord Lorka and Lord Dracul already reprimanded me and I said I was sorry.”
“Lord Dracul did what ?” I asked, appalled at his words. I hoped that the Dragon Lords had not been too harsh on the boy.
“He told me that if he ever heard of me doing something like that again, I would be punished. And it’s not that difficult to figure out what happens to people who don’t obey the Dragon Lords.”
I remained silent, although I did agree with him. They were dragons—of course it was easy to think up ways that they could punish someone. “Regardless, I’m not here to yell at you. I just want to talk.”
“Why?” he asked.
I shrugged. “There’s not really anyone else to talk to and I wanted to know more about you.”
He looked closely at me, a suspicious look on his face. “You want something,” he said, sensing there was more that I had not told him.
I bit my lip before nodding. “You’re right,” I admitted, figuring it was better to be honest up front. “I do want something from you. But I need information first.”
“What’s in it for me?” he asked, crossing his arms.
I had been expecting this, and took out a pearl necklace I had taken from the Dragon Maidens’ clothing stash. “How about this?” I asked. “I can give you more once you help me.”
Henrick’s eyes widened at the sight of the necklace before he snatched it from me and stuffed it in his pocket. “Deal,” he said, his eyes brightening. “What do you want to know?”
“Is there a village nearby?” I asked. “Where do all these servants live? Where are you from?”
“Those of us who work in the fields are from Yarstaff,” he said. “It’s a little further down the mountain, but not that far.”
“Does everyone in Yarstaff work here?” I asked.
He shook his head. “No, but most of us do. We have people who run shops and stuff in the town.”
“Do you all go back to Yarstaff every night? Do you ever get mail delivered?” Questions poured out of me, my mind whirring with possibilities. Henrick may be able to help me escape.
“Yeah, it’s close enough that we go home each night,” he said. He frowned slightly. “Doesn’t everyone get mail delivered to their town?”
“How often?” I asked. “How often does the mail caravan stop by? And how do you leave the caves?”
He squinted his eyes at me, a frown beginning to cover his face. “You’re up to something,” he said. “Dragon Maidens aren’t supposed to leave.”
“Please, Henrick. Tell me,” I begged.
“It stops by about once a month. It should be returning in three weeks,” he said. “And we have special hallways we go through that lead outside. But they are closely monitored all the time by dragons.”
I quietly cursed. Escaping was not going to be as easy as I thought. But I would have time to figure that out later. “Do you think I can stop by in two weeks?” I asked. “Around lunchtime? I have something that I would like to give you to pass on to the mail caravan.”
He fiddled with his hands, looking at the ground now. “I guess you could,” he said.
“I’ll bring you something else for your trouble. And I’ll have another request for you at that time.” I felt bad about involving him in something like this, but I had no choice. “And you can’t tell anyone about this, do you understand? It needs to remain a secret between us.”
Henrick nodded. “I understand.”
“Thank you, Henrick,” I said, relief flooding my voice. “I will come back in two weeks at lunchtime. Don’t forget!” I gave him a pat on the head before heading back through the garden, making my way to the Dragon Maiden cavern.