Page 17 of Dragon Unbound (Dragon Kings 3)
Chapter Seven
Tamlyn walked the silent corridors of the ruins. She imagined that they had once been filled with people and voices. Now, they were silent as a tomb. She found the quiet soothing, allowing her thoughts to run free.
She, Sian, and Jenefer had told the kids they could run and play and be as loud as they wanted, but none did. Their trauma was too severe, especially for the older ones. It had taken her nearly all day to gain the name of the lad she’d last rescued. Peder wasn’t sure of his new surroundings yet. The other children kept close to him for reassurance. They would give him more than any adult could.
Tamlyn ran her hand along the stones. Some looked as if they had been erected just a few days before, while others showed what the hands of time had done. She wished she had seen it when the sanctuary was at its best. Even now with some parts crumbled into ruins, she still saw the beauty that it had once been.
Something about the city allowed her to rest easy. She had once thought it was pure luck that had allowed her to stumble upon the hidden ruins. Yet the longer she was there, the more she began to wonder if she had been led here. Either way, she was glad she’d found it. And she would fight to remain.
Even if a Dragon King knew of it.
She inwardly grimaced when she thought about Cullen again. The damn dragon wouldn’t stay out of her thoughts. How could someone she hadn’t spent but a handful of minutes with, linger so vividly in her head? If she could get him out, she would.
Maybe.
No, she wouldn’t.
“Ugh,” she grumbled.
Why did Cullen have to be so fascinating? Handsome? Intriguing? Enticing?
When she was a little girl, after her escape from Stonemore, she used to look toward the divide between their lands and pray for a dragon to save her—even though she was supposed to fear them. She knew they had magic, and in her young mind, the perfect companion and savior was a dragon. None ever came, and she’d learned to survive on her own. Well, not entirely on her own. Jenefer and Sian had been by her side.
To discover that it wasn’t just a dragon but a Dragon King that had come to her aid had been exciting and confusing. She wondered if she had made a mistake in sending him away. His offer had been unexpected. She, Sian, and Jenefer had survived so long together that they were leery of anyone else—especially someone from the other side.
Her close call with the soldiers, as well as the brineling, had her wondering how many more times she could get in and out of Stonemore before they caught her. When they did finally get their hands on her, her death wouldn’t be quick. The priests would gleefully torture her. She had been in the hands of a priest before, and she never wanted to be back there.
A shudder went through her.
There was much she wanted to do with her life, but her trips to Stonemore would likely get her killed. She’d accepted her place because to deny it would only make things more difficult than they already were. Every life she saved brought a smile. She couldn’t save them all, but she could save some, and that’s exactly what she would do.
She meandered through the maze of passages until she came to one of the bigger rooms. It must have held a great many souls at one time. One of the faces from the entrance hall was directly across from her. It looked as if it emerged from the stones, the rock eyes open as if staring at her.
Tamlyn had spent many hours in this room, simply staring at the face. She sat in silence at times. Others, she talked. This room was a sanctuary for her. It was one of the first ones she had found, and she returned almost daily. The underground city was so large that every time she explored, she found something new.
Her confusion and worry had her longing for comfort. She lowered herself to the stone floor and crossed her legs, resting her hands upon her knees. She tried to clear her mind of all its thoughts to find some peace, but Cullen stubbornly remained.
“Damned dragon,” she mumbled.
She shook her head. Every place she turned, every thought she had, returned to him. She began to consider that she had made a mistake in not accepting his help. It wasn’t as if she could cross from her land into his and seek him out without retribution, and she wasn’t that brave to face off against dragons. Even though, technically, part of their city was under the dragons’ land. He had no reason to return after she had so callously sent him away.
Her pride had stopped her from accepting his help. That and the fear of having a Dragon King with her. They might both have magic, but she had learned from an early age to fear dragons. That kind of ingrained belief didn’t go away easily.
She sighed and got to her feet to pace. The peace she usually found in the room eluded her. She rotated her shoulders, trying to dislodge the mounting anxiety settling between her shoulder blades. With each second, it increased until she had to do something to work off the energy or scream. Tamlyn began walking fast, but that wasn’t enough. She started running through the halls and around corners.
She didn’t stop until she found herself in the entrance hall. Tamlyn halted before the pool of water and leaned over with her hands on her knees as she caught her breath. She watched the never-ending water droplets fall into the pool from the roots above. The sound was calming.
Slowly, she straightened and lifted her gaze. Only to find herself staring at none other than Cullen. Fear mixed with excitement, warring to see which would come out on top. That knot between her shoulder blades was gone. Had it been the run? Or was it seeing the Dragon King again?
She wasn’t sure she wanted to know the answer. No, she was definitely sure she didn’t want the answer.
“Hi,” he said from across the water.
One word, but that sexy voice sent shivers of awareness over her skin. It took Tamlyn a moment to find her own. “Hi.”
“I know you told me no’ to return, but I had to.”
She licked her lips with a suddenly dry tongue. He stood so casually. As if he had been there for some time. “Oh?”
“I need your help,” he said as he began slowly walking around the pool.
Tamlyn also moved toward him. The last thing she had expected to hear was that he needed her. “You want my help?”
“Doona sound so surprised, lass.”
