Dragonbound: Birthrights (Book 2)

That evening, Davin lounged in the sitting room of his chambers, staring absently out the open window. The sky was dark, the stars shining without clouds to stop them. He could hear insects outside and feel the cold of night creep across his room. The mantle was without a fire, the old ashes sitting cold.

There was a gentle knock on his door and he looked over curiously. Cautiously, he answered it, surprised to find Serah. He glanced down the hall and asked, “Did someone escort you here?”

“Your Highness,” she bowed. “I was told you had an unpleasant afternoon and I was asked to sing for you tonight.”

He looked around, not completely comfortable with the idea. And who's to say that she wasn't sent there to assassinate him?

He shook away the thought, having to force himself back to the present. Stepping aside, he touched her elbow to lead her in. “You do not need to sing for me,” he said, quietly closing the door after her.

“That is my job, Sire. If you wish me to sing, I shall do so,” she replied softly. "And if you wish silence, so be it."

He led her to a delicate, decorative couch where they sat together. He watched her a moment, unsure of what to say or do. She was a bit younger than he was—or his brother for that matter—and she was thin with wavy, brown hair. She wasn’t particularly unpleasant to look at, but she also wasn’t the most beautiful, either.

Her pale, blind eyes glanced around, as if looking for something to see. But she couldn’t. It was saddening, sinking his heart a little more each day.

“I apologize for asking...If I may, I was wandering if you were always without sight,” Davin asked slowly, hoping to word it without offense.

“I was born with perfectly good eyes,” she smiled, keeping her face forward. “There was an accident when I was very young, and it left me blind.”

“That is unfortunate,” he replied.

She was quiet, a question itching across her soft face. “Your Highness...Is there anything I might do for you tonight?” she asked.

He watched her, inhaling slowly as he considered. “No,” he finally said. “I should rest, actually.”

“Then I apologize for the intrusion,” she said nervously.

“Who sent you to my chambers tonight?” he asked.

“I believe he is your younger brother? Torin Holloway?” she said. “He suggested you have some company, maybe hear some songs before going to sleep.”

Davin shook his head, leaning his chin into his hand. It wasn't Walter who sent her, after all. His elbow dug into the arm of the couch as he looked out the window. Serah shifted for a moment, then quietly asked, “May I ask you a question?”

“Yes.”

“What does it look like outside? I can hear the crickets.”

He glanced over, feeling a bit of pity toward her. “The sky is clear tonight. The stars are out..." He leaned back, his arm brushing across hers.

She tensed slightly and he stood. Touching her wrist, he guided her to the open window. "There are a few lanterns lit in the streets, so they are covered in a bit of orange light. Seems as good an evening as any,” he answered.

She smiled warmly, lowering her head. Some hair fell into her face and before he realized what he was doing, Davin moved it back into place. She flushed heavily, touching the strand of hair he had just placed behind her ear. “Thank you, Sire,” she said hastily. “You are a kind ruler.”

“I am just being a good man,” he replied.

“I think you are more than simply a good man,” she said. Instantly realizing what she said, she flushed heavily and kept her head bowed.

He kept his eyes on her, feeling the unusual need for touch. He hadn’t felt that in a long time. He touched her hand and she tensed slightly, but not from discomfort. More from anticipation.

“Sir...Being a king, you have your pick of women to spend the night with...”

“I am not trying to be forward with you, Serah,” he said. She faced him in surprise by him using her first name.

“I-I wasn’t suggesting such,” she stammered. “I simply meant I am a servant, a...a nobody. You could spend your time talking with someone more worth while.”

“Now I believe you’re a woman, and you are more than just a servant,” he replied. Her lips withheld a smile as she continued to face him. “It is nice to have someone sit next to me. And I’d prefer you over half the other high-class women I’ve come to know.”

She smiled and he touched her cheek. It was soft. She was soft; nothing like Kiaran. Kiaran was a fighter, and though she was beautiful, she was calloused, inside and out.

Instinctively, Serah touched Davin’s hand before he could return it to his side. Then, he leaned in to kiss her. It was a warm and timid kiss. He hadn’t had this sort of interaction in a long while.

Judging by her red cheeks and wide eyes, it was likely the first kiss she had experienced. He withdrew, watching her a moment. "I apologize," he began. "I didn't stop to consider whether or not you had someone else in your life."

"I-I...I don't," she stammered. "You don't need to apologize, Your Highness."

She remained still, unsure of how to act. He took her hands in his--they were so small. After a moment, she relaxed, her hands easing up in tension. He placed them on his chest and he leaned in for another kiss.

However, he stopped just before contact. She was anticipating it, her lids half-closed, her lips slightly knitted. His nose was nearly against hers, his hair brushing hers.

"Sing to me," he whispered.

She remained awestruck for a moment, then nodded once. She didn't ask what to sing. After a moment of pushing through her shaking nerves, she whispered a tune.

It was a quiet hum at first, one which melted right through him. Her cheeks remained blood-red, and her hands kept to his chest, her fingertips tensing slightly.

As she sang, he leaned in, his cheek to hers. He kissed her jaw and her voice froze. "Keep singing," he whispered.

She did as told and he kissed her neck. Her muscles tensed, but she continued to sing at a whisper.

Davin awoke to his door being broken into. Six large men charged him, all in masks and holding weapons. Serah sat up, letting out a quick shout, blindly looking toward the chaos.

Davin dropped from his bed and swiped a man’s legs from under him. He fell into the next assassin who stumbled away.

One grabbed him by the shirt, shoving him against the desk. However, Davin brought his arms up, slammed his elbows down on the man’s, and chopped his throat with the sides of both his hands. The man choked and stumbled away.

Another rushed him, and Davin dodged to the side, catching the man’s arm beneath his. Quickly, he wrapped his arm around the attacker’s and broke the elbow, thrusting it upward.

Davin drew that man’s sword and blocked an attack. As they fought in his small room, he noticed they weren’t fighting to kill. Were they trying to apprehend him?

He slaughtered five and pinned the sixth to the floor, his sword slicing through the man’s shoulder and digging into the floor beneath him. Davin forced the blade further in, growling, “Why are you here?”

“To capture and deliver,” the man cried out in pain.

“Deliver to whom?”

“Trindal-VinCar,” he snarled.

“Who?”

“I don’t know the details,” he grasped desperately at the sword. “Plea-Please let me go, I’ll not tell anyone.”

Davin yanked the sword from his shoulder, but delivered a killing blow to his neck. Then, he quickly dressed and packed.

Serah sat, trembling in the bed, holding the blankets tightly to herself. He paused, sitting on the bed with her. Grabbing the sides of her face, he said, “Serah, no matter what is threatened, you tell them that the men took off with me."

She was in shock, tears in her eyes as she breathed heavily from fear. He grasped her wrist, turning her hand upright. He shoved a handful of coins in her palm. “Tell no one I killed these men.”

"You needn't pay me, my King," she finally got out, her voice quivering. "I'd tell them whatever you want."

He half-smiled, then ran a hand over her hair as he stood. "Wait for five minutes, Serah. When I am gone, go and tell them I have been captured."

She hesitated, but nodded. When he headed for the door, she said, "Be careful, Davin." He came to a stop and looked over his shoulder at her. What an odd thing to hear. His name so informally spoken by someone other than his own family.

Shaking away the shock, he finally left his room.

He knew there would be more of them, more assassins that he had to avoid. So rather than confronting Walter, he figured it’d be best if he believed the assassins were successful. He ordered a servant to clean up the room and had a few men bury the bodies, paying them well to keep their mouths shut. Then, he quickly left, racing his horse through the woods eastward.

Twenty minutes since the attack, he began to feel lethargic. His blood was hot, his hands hardly able to grasp the reins. His horse slowed to a weak trot and Davin fell off the saddle.

He fell to the wooded ground, leaves and sticks breaking his fall. He groaned, sweat covering his face. He was poisoned. Barely nicked by a blade, he had apparently been poisoned. Paralysis? They wanted him alive, didn’t they?

But it took so long to set in...

He lied there, feeling his muscles contract painfully. He groaned a bit, but was unable to do anything else. Even breathing was difficult.

A small mouse leapt up his arm, perching on his shoulder. It tilted its head as it eyed him curiously. “Misi?” a familiar voice questioned as an old woman approached. “My, did you find something interesting,” she leaned over, holding out a hand for the mouse to climb into.

“Hm, nice to see you again, Your Highness.” His eyes moved to her, using more strength than he should have to.

It was the old woman, the soothsayer She removed her hood and looked to the moon which made the sky glow unnaturally white. “Well, I will get you inside where you can eat, eh?” She touched his forehead and sparks flowed through his blood, giving him movement once more.

He gasped and rolled onto his chest, his muscles relaxing. Groaning, he forced himself to his knees. His arms shook heavily, his muscles nearly failing him. It was such a weakening and pitiful state he found himself in.

She helped him stand, patient with his very slow movement. He leaned against his horse, wrapping an arm across the saddle to hold the pommel.

She led the horse, speaking with her back to him. “You and I seem to run into each other rather often, no?” Misi, the mouse sat on her shoulder, watching Davin thoughtfully.

“It seems as such,” he said, his voice raspy. “Are you a soothsayer?”

“Something of the sort,” she chuckled. “I am Kimana,” she introduced herself. “Actually, I had lived some time with a tribe and they called me such. But I am more than a future-seer.”

“Did you speak with me in my dreams?”

She glanced back at him, narrowing her wrinkled eyes curiously. “No,” she said. “Now that, I am curious about.”

They reached a small home where she tied up his horse and helped him inside. They sat in the little home, the fire roaring with just the flick of her hand to ignite. He stared in shock and she laughed. “You told me you believed in magic, Warrior King. So that is just the beginning of what you believe.”

“What is going on—what do you know?” he asked. “You said Walter was a traitor.”

“I have said a lot of things. What has he done to betray you?” she replied. She readied a silver platter of tea, carrying it over. She sat, pouring three cups. She handed Davin one, then gently took Misi from her shoulder and sat it with the third cup where it hung off the lip, drinking the tea.

She took her own cup and saucer, sitting comfortably in the seat as she eyed the King. “There are only certain things I am allowed to tell you,” she finally said. “What do you wish to know?”

“Who did Walter visit with?” he asked quickly.

“It seems you’ve thought on these questions to already have one for me,” she smiled. “A woman of power. One that is an enemy,” she answered. She frowned, her eyes catching something within him. Leaning forward, still holding the delicate teacup, she said, “You’ll do well not to confront her, Davin Holloway. She is dangerous.”

“Why, what has she done?”

“...Why don’t you tell me what this dream-whisperer has told you?” she replied, knocking aside his question.

He sighed in annoyance, taking a drink of the sharp-tasting tea. “The throne was cursed and the land would forever have corrupt kings. She warned me that my desires will become obsessions...She told me that my mind will become like mush and I cannot sift through it to even decide the simplest of matters,” he answered.

Throughout the day, he had recalled most of what this voice had told him. Though he knew the words, he hardly knew what they meant.

“What did you see in your dream?”

“What?”

“Did you see anything, or only hear?”

“I saw...something that looked like...It was red, fleshy...Beating like a giant heart and I was within it. Strings of blue and red—veins? I was in a dragon’s heart,” he answered, surprised to know it. “I couldn’t tell it, but for some reason, I know that is what it was,” he said. “A dragon’s heart.”

“Was the voice a girl?” she asked, dropping some sugar into her tea.

“Yes.”

“Young?”

“Quite.”

She grew quiet as she stirred her tea with her fingertip, regardless of the hot temperature. Tapping her finger on the ledge of her cup, she thought long and deep. “You have an ally,” she finally said. “And a valuable one at that.”

“Who is she?”

“You will meet her in time. Listen to what she says,” she warned. “She is what will keep you alive, King Holloway.”

“What should I do?” he asked. “Should I go back to the City?”

“No,” she chuckled, shaking her head. “Rishana is gone, my King. And it will be forever. Now, you must focus on the war to come.”

“What war?”

“You will see.” That was the last of their conversation pertaining to the subject. She refused to answer anything more, but simply spoke about anything else, really. Finally, she found him a blanket so he could sleep the rest of the night away.

Then, she said, “If you go to Trindal, you will find information there. But it is dangerous. Do not believe you will survive on your own.”

"But the woman was from Trindal-VinCar," he replied.

She tilted her head slightly, narrowing her eyes playfully. "You believe you are ready for the mother of the two countries? Please, King. You may be strong, but you will surely die if you even think to cross her borders."

He leaned back, his body weak and lids heavy. "Trindal..." he breathed lowly.

"Aye," she nodded. "Get your rest, Warrior King. You'll need it."

Once she dimmed the fire with her magic, she left the room, her little mouse in her hand. Davin remained in the darkness of the strange home, staring at the dancing shadows of the ceiling.

His ears burned as he thought of Serah's song. Her beautiful voice which made his blood hot. Closing his eyes, he hoped that she would be safe. And he hoped that she would remain faithful in protecting his secret.