Page 51 of Dragon Unbound (Dragon Kings 3)
She jerked her chin down the road. “There are more guards than usual.”
“They’re prepared. I would’ve done the same.”
She sighed. “How do we get past them?”
“Like everyone else.”
Her eyes widened. “Is there another way?”
He wound his arm around her shoulders and leaned on her before stumbling into the light. Her arms came up to steady him. Cullen mumbled incoherently, slurring. To Tamlyn’s credit, she didn’t hesitate to take on her role. She cooed softly to him, cajoling and bribing him to go to the tavern.
Cullen heard the soldiers they passed chuckle. One said, “Poor sod.”
When they finally made it to the tavern, Tamlyn led him beside it where the shadows could take them.
“Good job,” he told her with a wink.
She flattened her lips. “It scared the hell out of me. Though it was a little fun.”
They shared a smile. They had gotten through one part, but there was still more to go.
“Ready?”
“As I’ll ever be,” she murmured.
He waited until the guards looked away before the two of them moved away from the pub. The problem with getting to the temple was that few people, other than the soldiers, were nearby. And by few, he meant none.
“I’ve got an idea,” he said as he came to a halt.
Tamlyn looked up at him expectantly.
“This,” he said as he used magic to put them in soldier uniforms.
Her eyes rounded in surprise. “Will it work?”
“Let’s find out.”
This time when they walked, Cullen didn’t keep to the shadows. They made their way to the temple, nodding to the small group of soldiers they passed. It was almost too easy to get to the temple.
“The children should be kept in the same room,” Tamlyn told him as they walked to the temple’s outside wall.
He glanced over the edge of the fourth level to see the sheer drop to the boulders below. Cullen almost asked how many times she had slipped, but he realized it was better if he didn’t know.
“What if someone sees you?” she asked.
Cullen shrugged. “It’s the chance you always take.”
“True, but there were never this many soldiers about before.”
There was likely more up top with the bairns, too, but he didn’t tell her that. He couldn’t chance going through the temple itself. He knew nothing of the inner workings of the priests or soldiers, which left this as their only option.
Cullen returned his clothes from before since it would be awkward to climb in armor. The clouds kept the moon hidden, but all it would take was one soldier looking up. He took a deep breath and jumped. He landed near the window and grasped one of the handholds he’d seen. From there, he quickly climbed the last few feet. He didn’t like being so exposed where anyone could look up and see him.
When Cullen reached the window, he slowly lifted himself to peer inside. There was a group of children ranging in age from three to about six. Three soldiers surrounded them, with a priest kneeling in front of an altar at the back of the room. The children were red-eyed, their faces wet with tears as they sat huddled together. Fury consumed Cullen that anyone could do this to kids. He’d expected there to be soldiers, and he was glad of it because he wanted to take his anger out on those who deserved it.
He used his magic to silently open the window. Then he launched himself inside the room. Cullen punched the first soldier, knocking him out cold. He kicked the second into the wall and heard the crunch of bone. The third soldier came at him with a sword. Cullen easily took it from him and impaled the man. Cullen withdrew the blade and turned to the priest, who glared at him.
“You have no idea what you’ve done,” the priest declared as he climbed to his feet.
Cullen nearly choked on the hatred within him. He didn’t bother to hide his accent when he said, “I have an idea.”
The priest snorted in derision. “You will die for interfering.”
Cullen shook his head. “I’m not the one dying tonight. You should be protecting the children, not hurting them.”
“They are the spawn of evil,” the priest spat. “They need to be destroyed.”
“Perhaps you should look in the mirror if you want to know evil.”
The priest opened his mouth to scream. Cullen swung the blade with a speed only a Dragon King possessed. The priest grabbed at the wound as blood poured through his fingers. Cullen turned away before the priest hit the floor, sickened by the words he’d heard. How many children had been sacrificed because of those beliefs? How many had lost their lives because narrow-minded individuals couldn’t see how petty, evil, and immoral they were?
He took a deep breath and focused on the children. They stared at him with wide eyes, filled with fear and uncertainty. A glance down showed that he was covered in blood. He slowly crouched and set aside the sword. Cullen smiled at each one. “I’m here to free all of you. My friend, Tamlyn, is at the bottom waiting so we can take you all to freedom.”
At first, the children wouldn’t move. Their fear was too great.
Cullen removed the blood from himself then held out his hand and produced a rope so they could see that he had magic. He nodded to them as he tied the rope around a column and let the rest drop outside the window. “You willna fall. Because I willna let you.”
One of the girls jumped up first. She met his gaze and nodded. The innocence was gone from her blue eyes. Staring back at him was an adult in a child’s body. It made him want to kill the priest and soldiers all over again.
Once Cullen had the girl outside the window and descending the rope, the others quickly lined up for their turn.
