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Chapter Twenty-Six
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The Villain's Hero Chapter Twenty-Seven
Our entry to the tavern ended the revelry. They might not have known what we were, but they knew enough that our presence amongst them caused them to be cautious. Caraway pretended not to notice, weaving his way unfaltering through to the bar and leaning against the wood.“A room, please,” he declared confidently.“We… are… full,” the man behind the counter declared uncertainly.“Come now,” Caraway slid his eyes towards him, letting the human take in Caraway’s slitted pupils and irises that were, definitely, not human. “I am certain you can work something out. My sister and I require a room for a few nights until our company catches up to us.”There was a whispering through the crowd, the sort of ear cupping that was less discreet than it was intended to be, as the occupants exchanged opinions and information.“We are full,” the man repeated firmly.“Oh, I’m sorry to hear that,” Caraway said. “Are you sure there is nowhere that my sister and I might find to rest tonight?” He set a gol
The Villain's Hero Chapter Twenty-Eight
My stomach woke me, and I broke out into a cold sweat as I pressed a hand to my mouth fighting for control as I slipped from the bed. Caraway wasn’t there, his side of the covers rumpled, and his shoes gone from the floor.I located the chamber pot under the bed just in time to wretch miserably over it, my stomach too empty to produce more than bile. The effort collapsed me to my knees, however, and I sat sobbing and miserable, thinking over all that had occurred the night before and what it meant that Aien had not sent me the dress – that brief period of hopefulness painful in its dying. “Here,” Perditha had let herself into the chamber and held out an earthenware mug. “It is ginger and honey,” she told me. “It will help ease your stomach.”“Thank you,” my voice was hoarse, and my hand shook as I reached for the cup.“Some flatbread on your bedside, consumed before rising, should help,” she added. “You can purchase some at the market.”“I’ll do that,” I sipped the tea. It would be
The Villain's Hero Chapter Twenty-Nine
The house emptied of menfolk whilst Perditha and I frantically tended to the man’s injuries, managing to stop the bleeding from his arm only for him to undergo some reaction to a toxin absorbed through his wounds. I thought of Daerton’s precious anti-venoms and wished that I had possessed the foresight to bring them, and Rapunzel’s hair. I still wore the witch’s potion in a vial around my neck and my hand went to it several times as I contemplated its use. However, if the potion was not what I had been told, using it on the man could result in his death, and if it were… Then I would have used on a stranger something that might save Tarra or one of my brother’s lives. It was not lost on me that the man’s injuries were caused by the very same creatures that my siblings had come to hunt and kill, and that Tarra intended to do it in human form with a sword, and not as a dragon and by flame as Caraway was no doubt doing. It was frightening enough to think of him out there fighting against
The Villain's Hero Chapter Thirty
“The strength of a dragon lies in dragon form,” I continued. “In human form, we have… advantages. Well, they do, not me so much. Dragons in human form are faster, stronger, and more immune to illness. However, those advantages will not be enough if Tarragon seeks to fight a monster in human form…”“The knights fight in that form,” Perditha observed. “And our hunters.”“Yes,” I agreed grimly. “And look what becomes of them,” I gestured towards the house. “I do not want that for my siblings.”“No,” she murmured. “No one would.”“I’m sorry,” I was contrite. She had, after all, lost her parents in such a way.“So, you join them on this campaign, because you fear for them,” she dismissed my apology with a flick of her hand. “That is a very brave thing to do. Many would prefer to wait at home, sheltered from the reality of the danger.”“I cannot do that,” I said grimly. “I know that I am precious little help, but even that is better than no help at all, is it not? I could not stand to lose
The Villain's Hero Chapter Thirty-One
The days settled into a pattern. Caraway would leave in the morning to patrol the local area, following the roads and trails, to ensure the safety of the villagers and farms, and when he returned, he would spend his time drinking and eating with the menfolk in the center of the town. The fair lingered, anticipating the arrival of more dragons, and actually grew in size as word spread. Perditha’s patient survived, and Perditha released him into the care of Caraway and the hunters, who oversaw his transportation back to his home village and the family that would oversee his recovery. I earned her ongoing hospitality by assisting her around the house and business, preparing tonics and creams, and doing chores. As he had promised, Caraway always returned in time to prepare the evening meal and insisted on paying board, and food despite the rapidly lightening coin purse. We both watched the mountain anxiously and reasoned with each other that slowed by wagons and humans on foot, it was
The Villain's Hero Chapter Thirty-Two
I set to work in Perditha’s house, mopping the floors and dusting the shelves, keeping my hands busy whilst my mind fretted over Aien, that uncomfortable twisting pain within my ribs as I recalled that terrible night at his father’s house and the way that he had looked at me in that dress.It had been so long that I had not tasted Aien’s lips, so long that my lungs had not been filled with his scent, and that I had not felt his hands on my body, and yet all it took was closing my eyes and I could recall all so clearly that I had to open them again to remind myself that he wasn’t there.I heard Caraway and Valerian’s laughter and was not surprised when the door opened to admit my siblings, Rue, Perditha, and… Aien. He eased in through the doorway, his eyes scanning the interior and, upon finding me, his cheeks coloring. The little front shop and treatment space of Perditha’s house was very full of tall, broad-shouldered, golden-haired dragons, and he was edged towards the other side of
The Villain's Hero Chapter Thirty-Three
We rode out from the village two days later, towards the spot that my siblings, by means of over-flying it in dragon form, had determined to be the best position for the initial campsite. Our convoy had grown. A number of villagers had joined us – young boys recruited as pages with the goal of training as squires, young women who had fallen for the charms and romance of the knights, and tradesmen such as the blacksmith following with their eyes on the golden coins in my sibling’s purses.Perditha’s addition was not a surprise to me. Rue’s efforts to win her affections were not as unsuccessful as they had appeared destined to be with the stops and starts of that first day. Perditha had been hesitant and wary, and perhaps another man would have pushed too hard without regard for her boundaries, but Rue was not that sort of man.The next morning, he had begun the day by chopping the wood in her yard and stacking it to season ready for winter. The sound of the axe had announced his arriva
The Villain's Hero Chapter Thirty-Four
On the road, our brief overnight stops had only merited the use of the small A frame tents, however as it was possible that we would stay for weeks at the base camp, the larger Fae-made war tents were erected, great multi-chamber constructions that cheerfully waved the purple standard with its golden dragon of Uyan Taesil, as well as the Nerith’s royals’ white skull with a golden crown and Fae rose wreath on a black cloth – the design a nod both to Akyran’s Dark Court inheritance and to Ecaeris’ Necromancer skills.With the rings of smaller tents, and wagon’s converted into accommodation, we swiftly formed a village of flapping canvas at the side of the river that had been the reason for the site’s selection. The healer’s tent was by far the largest of the structures, something which was rather ominous if a person stopped to think about it overlong. It was busy with healers and volunteers who were setting up the cot beds, tables, and shelves for the potions, elixirs, and bandages we m
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