by Victoria Zak
Ten menacing men on horseback thundered past the gatehouse and halted in the bailey right inside the castle walls. Warhorses pranced and pawed at the earth in anticipation of battle, foaming at the mouth. Thomas called out to Fáfnir. “Come out, you bloody coward.”
On the battlements Logmar stood next to Fáfnir, watching the disturbance below.
“I thought de Wolfe to be a smart man,” Logmar said.
“Aye, It looks as if the wolf is going to break the oath.”
“Should I send Deadly Striker out to greet our guests?” Logmar asked with a sly grin.
“No, I’ll consent to the wolf’s request. I know what he wants.”
Fáfnir made his way to the bailey with Logmar by his side. Within seconds they were joined by three more dragons; Konr, Hákon, and Högar, the Deadly Striker.
“I have first right,” Högar seethed, rubbing his hands together, eager to shift. “I hate dogs regardless of their pedigree.”
Logmar glanced harshly at Deadly Striker as if he’d crossed the line, which in many cases he did.
“De Wolfe.” Fáfnir greeted Thomas with an arrogant confidence, as if the man was insignificant.
“Wend Draki.” Thomas replied. “I come to bring JewelAna home. She doesn’t belong here.”
Fáfnir studied the wolf for a while then turned to Logmar on his right. “Did you hear that? JewelAna doesn’t belong here,” he mocked. “Last I knew pure Welsh blood ran through her veins. De Wolfe, JewelAna is a princess and her home is here with us, not in England running with a pack of dogs.”
Deep-bellied growls rumbled from the dragon’s insult. Frankly, Thomas had had about enough. It was time to fight. He dismounted and the pack followed. Thomas held his hand up to halt his pack as he approached Fáfnir. “Heed my words serpent, I came here for one thing and one thing only and if I have to fight in order to pry her out of your scaled talons, I will.”
The dragon’s eyes swirled with intensity. “You would even risk war?”
Thomas advanced on Fáfnir. Chest to chest and nostrils flared, Thomas would not retreat. “Aye, I’ll risk my life for family. In fact, you bloody bastard, she has already chosen me over you. You can’t hold her here against her will.” The de Wolfe pack growled and snarled behind him, ready for the shift. Thomas smirked. “What say you, dragon? Are you going to let her go peacefully or shall we battle?”
A sly grin passed over Fáfnir’s lips. “Dragons don’t back down to dogs. You’re more of a fool than I thought.”
Thomas gave a subtle call to his pack and they shifted, advancing toward the attack.
~~~~~
JewelAna was surprised to see that the sun had already come up as she followed Ollie outside. She squinted and covered her face against the brightness, trying to keep up with the green dragon, which was hard since he was overwhelmed with excitement.
Ollie entered the maze first and disappeared before JewelAna could reach the entrance. “Ollie, wait!”
Once inside the maze confusion set in. She had been here only a few hours ago with Fáfnir, but her nerves had bested her and she failed to commit the maze to memory. If only Ollie would slow down. Turn after turn, she ran only to meet another corner. Odd, she didn’t remember the maze being this difficult to figure out, or this long. At the end of a long pathway she caught a glimpse of the dragon’s tail turning the corner up ahead. Hastily picking up the pace, she caught up. She gripped her side and bent over to catch her breath. “Ollie what is the meaning of all this?” she panted.
He rocked from one foot to the other and waited for her to reward him.
Rolling her eyes, she handed the dragon a fig.
“He sees but he doesn’t see,” Ollie pointed at the sculptures.
“Ollie, I’ve seen these. Lord Fáfnir showed them to me last night.” JewelAna planted her hands on her hips. “If this is a jest—”
“Look, Look,” he pointed again but this time he clearly meant the middle creation.
Feeling as if the mischievous creature was up to no good, JewelAna went ahead and stood in front of the sculpture. Still she saw the same image as she had the night before.
She was ready to dismiss the ill-behaved dragon when beams of sunlight shone through the tall tress, cascading down upon the stones. She stood in the middle of the wolf and the center sculpture as the stones sparkled in specks of black and gray. The wolf’s expression was now magnified by the sun and gleamed with fierceness. But it was its eyes that drew her in. She stared into their dark pits and wondered what the wolf was looking at so intently. JewelAna followed its eyes to the center stone and gasped.
Slowly she walked over to the sculpture and with a soft touch, ran her hands over smooth high cheekbones. Continuing, she noticed a pert nose and full lips. Carved out strands of long hair flowed over petite square shoulders. And her eyes were blue. “This can’t be.” She took a step back and almost bumped into Ollie.
Ollie pranced next to her. “Aye, aye princess…princess,” he pointed at her then back at the stone.
JewelAna glanced at Ollie, then back at the woman in the stone. It had blue eyes. Then she looked back at the wolf. It made sense, the wolf had to be Thomas and he was looking at her. But why would Fáfnir have visions of her and Thomas? Mayhap she was over-thinking things or going mad.
Then she remembered the other side of the carving—it most certainly had a face. Racing over to the other side, her memory held true. There was a face, the same exact face she had seen on the other side. Then she turned to the dragon sculpture. The same intense eyes stared straight at the woman behind her. “What does all this mean, Ollie?”
“He sees, but he doesn’t see.”
“I know, you keep telling me, but I don’t understand,” JewelAna huffed.
“Princess, is two not one.” Ollie pointed at the center stone creation.
Frustrated with the rhymes and riddles, if JewelAna wanted to know the answers lying in these stones she was going to have to approach this in a different way. She bent down to Ollie’s level and spoke softly. “Ollie which princess am I?”
The green dragon pointed to the wolf then shook his head in frustration. “Princess.” He pointed to the woman in front of the wolf then pranced.
“Are you sure?”
“Aye…aye.”
“Then who is this?” She motioned to the other side.
“Sister…princess…”
JewelAna stood frozen between the dragon and the stone it stared at, fixated. Again she followed the stone dragon’s gaze to the woman who looked exactly like her. However there was something different in her eyes; one was blue and the other green.
Interrupting JewelAna’s thoughts, Ollie tugged the hem of her dress. “The dragon’s princess.”
She shook her head, disregarding what lay before her. If all the rhymes and riddles held true and if she believed what the little green dragon alluded to, which was obscured in its own right, she had a twin sister who in fact was Fáfnir princess. I am not the one.
She glanced down at Ollie and met his sympathetic expression. Softly he said, “He sees but he doesn’t see,” and pointed to his left eye. “The truth is sketched in the stones.”
The realization hit her like a sack of rocks. As much as she wanted to dismiss this newfound information as rubbish, something here warned her differently. What if she had a sister, a twin. Where was she? And what could have possibly happened to her? Why didn’t papa take both babes back to England to protect? Something was terribly amiss. A chill slid down her spine, aye she could feel it. Is this why she’d felt all her life that something was missing, that there was more to her?
Anger bled through her rapidly developing questions. What if papa knew all along she had a twin? A sudden wave of dread consumed her. What if Thomas knew?
All the hairs on the back of her neck bristled, a spot right behind her ear toward her shoulder throbbed, and all her senses sharpened and centered on one person: Thomas. Her heart raced to the beat of a rabbi
t fleeing for its life and she felt her blood rushing to her ears. A low throaty growl echoed through the air. It spoke of an animalistic savage hunger, warning her there was danger near. She knew this growl and knew it well, but it was different now—she felt the menacing sensation soul deep. Thomas?
Thomas was here!
Chapter Twelve
JewelAna dashed through the maze as though she knew the trail like the back of her hand. It wasn’t memory that led her out, but the draw she felt from Thomas, like he was reaching out and pulling her to him. It was an odd sensation, but at the same time it felt natural.
Glancing back she called out to Ollie. “Come, Ollie.”
Ollie jumped into the hedge and buried himself behind the thick blades of grass. JewelAna shook her head at the quivering clump then pressed on to find Thomas.
Reaching the bailey, she came to an abrupt stop at the view in front of her. On one side four enormous dragons stood in battle stance, scales rippled in shades of iridescent green, nostrils flared, and eyes glaring in anticipation of battle.
On the other side ten wolves stood with their fur bristled, ears bent back, and rows of snarling sharp teeth snapping toward the dragons. They were at a stalemate, waiting for someone to make the next move, which indeed would be deadly. A part of her couldn’t resist feeling happy that Thomas was here fighting for her, but on the other hand, blood would flow because of her and that she couldn’t allow. She was the fine line that divided the houses and now it was her turn to put an end to what would be one bloody battle.
She intended to tread softly; coming between any massive animal and its prey wasn’t a good plan—a daunting task indeed.
Suddenly as if their tethers had been snapped, the wolves were released. Each massive dragon had two to three wolves attacking them from all angles, as the wolves fought together to bring the beasts down.
Ulmar and Louis, two of the de Wolfe pack’s deadliest attackers, circled the one they called Deadly Striker. They nipped at his heals when the timing was right and dodged a stomping foot in retaliation.
Thomas cornered Fáfnir, charging him. With razor-sharp teeth, Thomas leapt through the air, biting and attaching himself to the dragon’s neck. He clamped down, causing Fáfnir to groan in pain. Fáfnir, fought hard to rid himself of the nuisance on his neck. He swung his enormous head to the side, flinging Thomas to the ground.
Taking advantage of his momentary immobility to gain the upper hand, the green dragons advanced on de Wolfe. Before Fáfnir could make a lethal blow, Woolsey and Malin stood in front of their Alpha, growling and snapping their teeth, warning Fáfnir to stay away.
JewelAna screamed out Thomas’s name when she saw Fáfnir hovering over him. This battle had to stop. There would be no more bloodshed in her name.
Shouldering her way through a wall of Wend Drakis, she ran to her wolf, who was shaking off the aftereffects of the dragon’s blow. She placed herself between the wolf and the dragon. “Fáfnir stand down and call off your dragons. Now!”
Fáfnir bent his head down and JewelAna faced the dragon with one eye. His hot breath blew against her skin, shaking her to the core, yet he didn’t frighten her. Rubbing her hand over the scar on his left eye she said, “I know what you cannot see in the garden.”
Fáfnir huffed and eyed her with confusion, then shrieked an ear piercing command to his dragons. Reluctantly, they abandoned the assault on the equally reluctant de Wolfes.
“JewelAna, careful.” Thomas warned. Now in his human form, he stood behind her, holding his arm.
“Thomas, you’re hurt.”
“Nay, I can handle a bruise.” He glared at the dragon. “But be wary. You don’t know what the beast is capable of.”
“He won’t hurt me.”
For a moment she marveled at the mystifying beast, taking in his fearsome strength and massive wings. “Fáfnir, I think I know what your sculptures means.”
The dragon shifted back to a man, adjusting his eye-patch.
“What is this all about? What garden do you speak of? Has he put you under some spell?” Thomas cupped her face and stared into her eyes.
“No, Thomas, I fare well.” She smiled and threw her arms around his neck. “But I think I’ve found more answers from my past.”
“I don’t understand. I’ve told you everything I know.”
She slipped out of his embrace. “I don’t doubt it, but please come to the garden and you’ll see what I mean.” Secretly she hoped the two men wouldn’t think she’d gone mad for trusting a talking dragon, but she couldn’t shake the feeling that the stones held truth. And if her sister was out there somewhere, she had to find her.
~~~~~
Fáfnir and Thomas stood in front of the stones, waiting for JewelAna to explain herself.
“It looks the same to me as it did last night.” Fáfnir scrubbed his chin.
Thomas stood with his arms crossed over his chest. “Jewel, I’m done with this madness. We’re going home.”
“Not so fast, de Wolfe, the princess is promised to me. We have not settled our differences,” the dragon sneered.
“Come this way, Thomas.” Taking him by the arm, she led him to the wolf sculpture. “Look in his eyes and follow where he’s looking.”
Even though Thomas thought this whole situation absurd, he acceded to her request. JewelAna watched in anticipation as she waited for his response.
“Well,” she glanced at Thomas and then the stone wolf, “what do you see?”
Thomas approached the center carving and caressed the woman’s cheek. “’Tis you? Who created this?”
“Fáfnir, and aye, ‘tis me.” She smiled. “Look at the wolf, Thomas. It bears your signature wolf head on its chest.”
Thrown by what he’d observed, Thomas was rendered speechless.
“What does this all mean?” Fáfnir said as he stood in front of the other side of the center stone. “I do not see a woman.”
JewelAna walked up to Fáfnir. “You said visions come to you and then you carve them out in stone.”
“Aye.”
“I believe you have seen a vision of your true Welsh princess, and it’s not me.” JewelAna reached up to remove his eye-patch, but Fáfnir held her wrist and pinned her with a hard glare. “I do not know what kind of trickery you play, but I won’t have it. You are the princess of Wales and you were promised to me. My visions do not change that.”
“Please, let me show you.”
Reluctantly, he released her wrist and bent his head down to whisper in her ear. “If this is a trick, I’ll eat your wolf,” he threatened.
“I promise on my life ‘tis not. I would never trick you.” Gently, JewelAna lifted his eye- patch and instantly he squinted and rubbed the scar across his left eye. Suddenly, he bent over in pain, holding his face.
“Fáfnir.” She panicked and reached for him. “What happened? Are you well?”
He pushed her away and moaned in pain. In an instant, Thomas ran to her side, ready and willing to defend his lady.
A moment passed as JewelAna and Thomas watched the dragon slowly straighten and remove his hands from his eye. Fáfnir, blinked his good eye, adjusting to the sunlight that shone behind the sculpture he had been looking at. He stood silent as he absorbed the stone coming to life.
A woman he had created out of stone took form. He blinked again. One green eye and the other blue. “This cannot be true.” Reaching out, he touched the stone and caressed the woman’s cheek. “My princess?”
JewelAna took a step toward him, but Thomas grabbed her arm, stopping her. “Jewel, tread softly, love.”
She looked up into his dark gaze and smiled, reassuring him that she knew what she was doing.
JewelAna stood next to Fáfnir and held his hand. “Because of your impairment you said sometimes it’s hard for you to interpret the visions. I can clearly see that this sculpture is of two women. One of them is me, but not her.” She pointed at the stone with the mismatched eyes. “I’m sorry, my lord.�
�� JewelAna looked up at the massive man. “My blood may run Welsh, but my heart beats de Wolfe.”
Fáfnir stood silent, staring at the stone.
“This is madness, Jewel,” Thomas said. “I was there when your mother gave birth. There was only one child born that day and it was you.”
JewelAna faced Thomas. “Who was in the room with my mother when she gave birth?”
Thomas ran his hand through his hair and began to pace, thinking back to that dreadful day. “Before I arrived, Dwyn, your Uncle Bhrodi’s surgeon, had been with Tacey. In fact you had already been born when I was allowed into the room. I swear to you there was only one babe born. I would have known.”
