Honorbound

by Chelsea M. Campbell

  I raise my eyebrows at her. “Don’t try and change the subject. Is it serious? How long have you even known him?”

  “A few weeks. We’ve met a few times before, though. We’ve always been flirty, but I think he had a girlfriend then. He never said, but I got the impression that—” She stops herself. “We’re just fooling around.”

  “Uh-huh.” I don’t believe that even for a second.

  She glares at me. “And what are you doing here? I was sure you flaked.”

  I scowl at that, even though it’s kind of true. “Now that there’s no dragon, I figured you didn’t need me.”

  She scoffs. “No dragon? Don’t tell me you believe that garbage. Of course there’s still a dragon.”

  “Who told you that? Warwick?”

  “No one needs to tell us anything. A human didn’t commit those murders. If you’d seen the state the victims were in…” She squeezes her eyes shut and shudders a little. “I think I know a dragon attack when I see one.”

  I glance down the hall again, thinking about the time.

  Celeste suddenly frowns. “Wait. If you thought there wasn’t a dragon, why did you show up?”

  Oops. Crap, I didn’t think of that part. “I, um, I was looking for you. I thought maybe, if you weren’t busy, we could hang out. Maybe catch up a little?” I hope she can’t tell that I’m lying or how much I don’t want that right now. “But, I mean, obviously you and Char have plans, so—”

  “No, we weren’t… You should meet him! Properly, I mean. The three of us could go have a late lunch.”

  “Oh, um, I’ve eaten, so—”

  “Since when do you turn down food? If you’re not hungry, you don’t have to have anything. We can just run down to the kitchens and grab something real quick.”

  It must be serious, because she seems way too excited about me meeting this guy.

  “No dragon talk, though,” she says, her nose wrinkling. “Don’t even think about mentioning Amelrik.”

  I will myself not to grit my teeth. “I wasn’t going to. You know what, Celeste? Actually, I’m not feeling that well.”

  She rolls her eyes at me. “Don’t be like that, Vee.”

  “Why do you even want me to meet him? You obviously don’t care what I think.”

  She looks annoyed. “I just thought—”

  “What are we even supposed to talk about? I mean, where do you want me to say I’ve supposedly been living the past six months?”

  “I doubt that will come up.”

  “I think you’d better go without me.”

  “You’re being childish. But if that’s how you want it… Come on, I’ll show you out.”

  What? “I can find my own way. I don’t need your help.”

  She doesn’t listen to me, taking my arm to steer me toward the stairs.

  I’m panicking, wondering if enough time has passed for Amelrik to come in after me, and what will happen if Celeste sees him. And how can I let her escort me out of here without doing what I came to do?

  “Celeste, I said I don’t need your help!” I jerk my arm away from her both out of desperation and out of anger.

  Maybe she really does care what I think, because she looks sort of hurt by it.

  I want to apologize and take it back, but I also don’t, because she can’t just act like a bitch to me whenever Amelrik comes up and then think we can be friends the rest of the time. She wants me to meet her new boyfriend, but we can’t even mention mine? Not that I was going to be stupid enough to tell some random paladin that my betrothed is a dragon and that he’s here, in town. I mean, how dumb does she think I am?

  There are footsteps on the stairs, and then one of the maids appears. “Miss St. George?”

  We both look at her, though clearly she’s speaking to Celeste.

  “Yes?” Celeste says, sounding authoritative, all trace of hurt gone.

  “Miss Elmhurst says you’re needed in the parlor for a meeting. I’ve, um, already informed Mr. Strongshield. He’s waiting for you there.”

  I raise my eyebrows at Celeste, because obviously even the maids know about them.

  “Thanks, Emily,” Celeste says.

  The maid nods, then hurries off.

  Celeste turns to me, a sneer in her voice. “Looks like I don’t have time to help you anyway, so I guess you get what you want. I trust that you can find your own way out.”

  As soon as Celeste’s gone, I sneak into Warwick’s room. I don’t even knock first, because I decide it will be easier to say I have the wrong room if I just bust in. Plus, with some paladin meeting going on downstairs, it’s unlikely that he’s just hanging out here.

  Still, it’s a huge relief when he’s not there and the room is empty.

  It looks exactly the same as it did last time, except that the curtains are open, letting in more light from outside. So that when I open up this creepy trunk and find a dead body, I’ll be able to see every gruesome detail.

  Thinking that makes me glance up at the dragon head on the wall. Its expression is frozen in place, its mouth hanging open just enough to show off its teeth.

  And I know dragons kill humans, just like how paladins kill dragons, but at least I’ve never seen a human child’s head on their walls.

  I look away, not wanting to think about it. Especially now that I know who Warwick is and what he’s done. Did he bring this head with him? Is it one of his kills? Or did the Rosewoods put it here?

  The giant chest is still in the corner, still unlocked, still with a smear of dried blood on it. Except… I move closer, squinting at the stain, because I could have sworn it was smaller last time, maybe a slightly different shape. As if he’s gotten more blood on it since then. But it might just be my imagination, and I can’t remember for sure what it looked like.

  Plus, like Amelrik said, the bodies of the victims are all accounted for, so who would even be in the trunk?

  No one, obviously, but a shiver still runs down my spine when I think about looking inside it. I tell myself it’s just nerves, that I’ve built this up too much in my head. I need to hurry up and get this over with, both before I freak myself out any more than I already have and before someone comes in and catches me.

  Right. Deep breath. Just going to open this giant chest and then not scream bloody murder when it turns out there’s a corpse inside.

  I slide my fingers in place on the lid and then fling it open, my heart pounding.

  I don’t scream—not because I’m keeping it together like I told myself, but because there’s nothing there.

  Nothing. And I was so sure it was going to be something awful!

  Except… I lean forward, inspecting the inside of the chest. There are more smears of dried blood and some strange scratches in the wood. They look like claw marks.

  Was he keeping an animal in here?

  The thought leaves a sick feeling in my stomach, even though I’m not sure it makes any sense. Blood and claws suggest something alive, but at the same time, the scratches look sort of… uniform. More like a tool scraping against the walls than a desperate creature trying to dig its way out.

  So, probably just a weapons trunk after all. The smear of blood on the outside is probably a permanent stain, and it’s probably exactly the same size and shape as it was before and I just remembered it wrong. The box is empty because the weapons are all in use, doled out among the group of paladins serving under him.

  Which means it’s not Warwick. He’s not the one we’ve been chasing.

  I sigh, taking one last look at the inside of the trunk before I close the lid, putting it back exactly how I found it.

  Something outside the window grabs my attention. A dog barks and takes off across the grounds while a young boy chases after it. Not playfully, like it’s a game—though the dog certainly seems to think it is—but like he’s going to be in trouble if he doesn’t catch it. He makes a dive for the dog, which easily darts out of the way, and then he lands face first in the snow.

&nbs
p; And I know I shouldn’t laugh about that, but I can’t help it. Hopefully he doesn’t look up here and see me. Not just because I’m laughing at him, but because he might recognize that this is Warwick’s room and that I shouldn’t be in here.

  The dog comes bounding back to the boy, now that he’s on the ground, and licks his face. The boy manages to get a hold of the dog and drags it back toward the house.

  I should get out of here. The boy didn’t see me, but somebody else could, plus I need to get back outside to meet up with Amelrik before he gets too worried and comes to check on me. And I need to tell him that while Warwick St. George is definitely a monster, he’s not the one we’re looking for.

  I move to leave when something else outside catches my eye. The sun reflects off the frozen pond, except for one spot where there’s a hole in the ice. Kind of a really large hole that definitely wasn’t there last time. I might not remember for sure what size and shape that bloodstain was, but I know the pond was completely frozen over.

  Someone was probably ice fishing. Except the hole seems kind of big for that. Plus, who would be fishing in the manor pond? Even if there are fish in there, they’re probably small and decorative, and either way they belong to the Rosewoods. It seems like it would be easier to steal food from the kitchen than to risk getting caught poaching fish.

  I pull myself away from the window, but I can’t let go of the thought that something’s off. So even as I slip back into the hallway and creep down the stairs, hoping Celeste is still in her meeting and won’t suddenly show up again to lecture me about why I’m still here or why we’re allowed to talk about her boyfriend but not mine, I’m mentally plotting a route from the side door to the back of the house. Because it’ll only take a minute to go check it out. Not that I have any idea what I might gain from seeing it close up instead of from the window.

  And I should probably go find Amelrik first and then come around back, but…

  But then I might lose my nerve, and it’ll only take a minute.

  I grab my coat where I left it in the front hall, and I should definitely just head out the door, find Amelrik, and figure out our next move from there. But I don’t. I put my coat on and march quickly to the kitchen. It’s bustling and busy right now, and everyone turns to glance at me as I pass through. But nobody stops me, and then I’m outside, the cold hitting me in a bitter, stinging wave.

  I hurry over to the back of the house, which takes me longer than I thought it would, and now I’m thinking maybe I really should have found Amelrik first. But I’m already halfway there, so there’s no point in turning back.

  Like everything else about the estate, the pond is huge—more like a mini-lake. But I still press my boot against it, testing to make sure it’ll hold my weight before stepping onto it. I mean, we’re father north than Hawthorne clan, and if the lake there could hold dragons, I’m sure this giant pond can hold one measly human. And the hole looked like someone cut it, not like someone fell in. But still, I’m not taking any chances.

  The ice holds, and I move cautiously onto it, making my way slowly across the ice over to the edge of the hole. The wind whips around me, loud in my ears, so that I can hardly even hear myself think.

  I have no idea what I’m even looking for, but now that I’m here, I see that it’s just a large hole that someone cut here. There’s nothing to indicate what it’s for or why someone made it. Seeing it in person hasn’t told me anything more than looking through the window did, and looking through the window was a hell of a lot warmer.

  But still, I peer down into the water. It’s dark, and I don’t see any fish. Just as I’m about to walk away, though, I catch a glimpse of scales.

  Purple scales.

  My pulse speeds up as I stare into the water. I don’t see anything now, but I know there was something there a second ago.

  Then I catch sight of it again. The sunlight streams down in just the right way that I can actually see inside the pond.

  It’s a claw.

  A full-sized dragon’s claw.

  But that’s all it is—there’s no dragon attached to it. Like the head mounted on the wall, it’s frozen in place, the fingers stuck in position like it’s about to attack someone.

  I put a hand to my mouth, my mind racing, putting the pieces together.

  And then someone shoves me from behind, and I scream as I start to fall.

  19

  AT LEAST THERE ARE NO MURDERERS THERE

  The scream dies on my lips as I plunge into the freezing cold water. I try to fight my way out, to struggle against it, but my muscles won’t work. My clothes feel heavy, and screaming was definitely not the best thing to do before going underwater, since I already feel my lungs burning with the need to breathe.

  My thoughts slow. Everything becomes so slow—my body, my brain—and yet it’s all happening too quick. A moment ago, I was okay, and now I’m very not. I keep telling myself to move, but my limbs won’t respond. I’m sinking. The pond isn’t nearly as deep as a lake, but it’s plenty deep enough to drown in. Or freeze to death.

  I don’t know how much time passes. It feels like forever, and like no time at all, and then there’s a splash as someone else jumps into the water.

  Some idiot, because who in their right mind would ever want to be down here? I think for a second maybe it’s my attacker. Maybe they slipped and fell in, too, and now they’re going to die here, just like me, which is kind of what they deserve.

  But of course it’s not them—it’s Amelrik. Amelrik, who’s a dragon, and who can actually swim in this pond despite the cold that’s literally killing me. He hooks an arm around me and pulls us both to the surface.

  I gasp when the air hits me and suck in as much of it as I can. Amelrik pushes me out of the water, then hauls himself out. We’re both soaking wet. Water freezes in his hair, and for once, he actually looks cold.

  “Virginia!” He crouches over me. “Are you okay?”

  I try to answer him, but I still can’t move. I’m shivering too hard, uncontrollably, and my teeth are chattering so much that I feel like I’m going to bite off my tongue.

  He mutters something, though the wind carries it away and I can’t make out what it is, or if it’s even in English. “Come on.” He scoops me up in his arms, and I lean into him, desperate for his warmth. His clothes are wet and freezing, but he’s still warmer than me, though not by a lot. He moves toward the house.

  “No.” I manage to get that one word out.

  “Yes. You need to get warm, now. What’s Celeste going to do if she sees me? Tell me to take you back outside?!”

  I struggle as much as I can manage, trying to get my point across. “We can’t—”

  “I don’t care about the risk!”

  “Someone…” My teeth are chattering too hard. I concentrate, putting all my focus on stopping him. “Someone pushed.”

  “Pushed? Someone pushed you?”

  I nod. “Tried to… to kill… me.”

  “I’m not going to let anyone hurt you. We have to get inside—”

  “No!” Whoever did this might be in there, waiting to finish the job. They could be watching us right now. And some primal part of me is screaming that if we go back in that house, we’re never coming out again. Neither of us. I push against him, trying to make him drop me, which probably isn’t the sanest thing to do when he’s the only thing keeping me from freezing to death, but in my defense, my thoughts aren’t exactly clear right now.

  My movement takes him by surprise, though he holds onto me, not letting me fall. “Virginia! Stop!”

  “No. We can’t… He’ll kill you.”

  He swallows, knowing exactly who I mean. “I don’t—”

  “And me.” I’m not sure who I mean this time, if it’s Warwick or someone else, but I must manage to convey how serious I am, because something in Amelrik’s face changes.

  He hesitates. He looks from the manor house—the giant, foreboding, very warm manor house full of food and
fire and blankets—to the groundkeeper’s cottage not far from us. The one that’s cold and unused, no smoke coming out of the chimney. But at least there are no murderers there.

  “You’d better not die,” he says.

  The wind whips through my hair and into my wet clothes, making me even colder. And tired. I shut my eyes for a second.

  When I open them, we’re somewhere else. Somewhere still cold, but the wind’s stopped. Except I can hear it howling outside. And Amelrik’s shouting at me.

  “Mmm,” I mumble, and then try to go back to sleep.

  “No, no, no, no, no,” he says. “Virginia! Wake up!”

  My eyes fly open again. I want to tell him to leave me alone, but I can’t form the words.

  He sets me on the floor, which is hard and uncomfortable, but I don’t care. I can still sleep here.

  He swats my cheek with one hand, just hard enough to startle me back to consciousness. “You have to stay awake!”

  I don’t know why he’s so upset. I don’t know why he can’t just let me rest.

  He fumbles at my clothes, trying to take them off me. His hands are shaking. “Virginia!”

  “Can’t,” I mumble, thinking he wants me to help. But moving sounds way too hard right now.

  “You have to!” he says, practically screaming the words, as if something really terrible’s happening. “Don’t go to sleep!” He taps my face again, and I jerk awake.

  I’m not wearing anything. I don’t know when that happened, and fear pricks at the back of my mind. I should be worried about something. Not about being naked, but about…

  “Damn it!” Amelrik shouts, and this time it’s the terror in his voice that wakes me up. I don’t think I’ve ever heard him sound so freaked out.

  I glance around the room, trying to spot whatever’s scaring him so much, but it’s empty. Empty and cold. No one lives here, so no one will mind if I sleep here.

  Something warm presses against me. No, someone warm. It takes me a second to realize Amelrik has his body against mine, that it’s his bare skin touching me. His arms are around me, holding me to him. His face is next to mine when he says, “Come on, Virginia. Stay awake. You have to stay awake!”