Page 27 of Dragon Unbound (Dragon Kings 3)
“Bloody hell,” he murmured and jumped to his feet to pace. He halted and faced her. “How do you get the kids out?”
She couldn’t meet his gaze when she said, “They climb onto my back.”
“For fuck’s sake. I’m beginning to think you are no’ brave. You have a death wish.”
“You think I’m brave?”
Something in her voice made him pause. He looked to find a delighted expression on her face. No one had ever looked at him with such pleasure before. For all the things he griped about, he’d had a good existence. Tamlyn and others like her ran for their lives, stopping along the way to help those they could. She sacrificed everything to help those who couldn’t help themselves. Brave? She was that and more. She was fucking incredible.
“Aye, lass. You are. I doona know many who would do the same in your shoes.”
She lowered her chin to her chest, but not before he saw her smile widen in delight. “I do what I have to do.”
“You go above and beyond. I’m hoping that with my help, we can make things easier and safer for all involved.”
Tamlyn lifted her head and nodded. “I’m glad you came back.”
“Me, too.”
She licked her lips and asked, “Is there anything else you want to know?”
“What is Jenefer’s magic? I take it she has some.”
“Not in the way you or I have it. Jenefer’s magic is in her sword. All Amazons have magical weapons.”
Cullen should’ve known that Jenefer was an Amazon. Her height, her warrior nature, the way she dressed and carried herself had declared who she was. “Are there many Amazons on Zora?”
“You must understand that things are different for us. We know only what the family who takes us in knows. Then, if you have magic, you’re cast aside. You’re made to feel as if you are unworthy of love or acceptance, that you’re…tainted, somehow. When the magic begins to manifest, you’re terrified because you have no idea what it means. I didn’t know what was happening to me, so I told the couple acting as my parents. They shared a look, immediately took me to the temple, and shoved me into the hands of the priests.”
Cullen couldn’t begin to imagine what sort of hell Tamlyn had withstood. No one, but most especially a child, should ever have to go through something so ghastly or malicious. “What did they do?”
“Studied me for days,” she said with a mocking twist of her lips. “They put me through various tests. They asked me over and over again what kind of magic I had. If they knew, they never told me. I wouldn’t know now if it wasn’t for the Banshee who rescued me.”
In the silence that followed, Cullen returned to his seat and looked at Tamlyn. “Was it the same for your friends?”
“Sian has a twin. They happened to live near a city that paid handsomely for anyone who had Alchemist children. The family they were with, sold them to a man who forced them to make potions to keep him and his wife young and beautiful. Sian and Mair tried to escape once. Guards chased and cornered them. Mair gave herself up so Sian could get free. We’ve been trying to find a way to rescue her ever since.”
Cullen looked at the stones on the ground beneath his feet. “How long ago did Sian escape?”
“Five years. The city isn’t the problem. It’s the house where her sister is kept.”
Cullen slowly released a breath. “And Jenefer?”
Tamlyn turned sideways and sat cross-legged, facing him. “The family that took her in knew she was different when she kept growing. Everyone treated her badly for it. One day, a group of older boys attacked her in her village. No one stepped in to help. She was able to defeat all five of them, but they ran her out of town because of it. She was only ten at the time. The way she explained it was that she felt this pull, and she followed it. It led her to a small group of women like her. They told her what she was.”
“And her weapon? How did she get that?”
“She won’t talk about it. Not to me, at least. She might have told Sian. What I do know is she found it while with the Amazons.”
Cullen ran his hand over his lower face. “Infants arriving from some unknown place. Humans with and without magic. Magical weapons. What did Erith do when she created this realm?”
“Erith?”
“Death’s real name.”
“Do you think she could answer your questions?”
He shrugged. “I’d love to find out.”
“You can contact her?”
Cullen smiled at her surprise. “Aye, but that doesna mean she’ll appear. I want to find out more before I call for her.”
“You really think we can do this?”
“If you mean rescue the bairns? Definitely.”
She raised her brows. “And the other? The foe you seek?”
“Whoever or whatever that is, it can kill dragons. That may be all it wants, but it could be after something else.”
“You’re helping us. We’ll help you.”
