“Bathe here,” Jahr’ad said, “and then meet me for the evening meal whenever you’re ready.”
He turned to leave, but I stopped him. “Where are my companions?”
A dark look crossed his face. “The big one wanted to give us trouble, and his sister was worse than him. We had no choice but to put them in a room upstairs.”
I turned to Maveryck. “Did you know about this?”
“Yes, but not to worry. They’ll be released before our evening meal. Isn’t that right, Jahr’ad?”
He shrugged. “As long as I have your word, then yes, they’ll be released.”
Jahr’ad left without another word, his booted feet echoing down the hall until they disappeared.
I rounded on Maveryck. “What’s going on?” I demanded. “Kull and Heidel are locked up?”
“They are not locked up. They’re being kept in a room upstairs, and they are both perfectly fine. Would you like to bathe first?” Maveryck asked, pointing to the water.
“Bathe? When my friends are being held captive? No, thank you.”
“Very well. I shall bathe first. Your friends are being held on the top level in a room at the end of the west hallway. You should have no trouble finding them.”
“Fine.” I turned and walked out of the room, leaving him alone. I trusted him less the more I got to know him, and I only hoped this journey ended soon with my stepfather safely returned so I wouldn’t be forced to confront him.
I found the end of the hallway and took the wooden ladder leading up, then climbed onto a platform. Several people milled about as I walked through the narrow corridors, but most didn’t pay me any attention. When I reached the western end of the complex, I found a room with a wooden door and let myself inside. Kull and Heidel both sat on the floor with their hands tied and gags in their mouths. Blood dripped down the side of Kull’s face.
Perfectly fine? Maveryck will so be getting a piece of my mind…
I cursed under my breath and untied Heidel, removed her gag, and then moved to Kull and did the same.
“Did Jahr’ad do this to you?” I asked Kull.
He worked his jaw back and forth before speaking. “No. One of his men. I happened to mention that I thought keeping dragons in captivity was illegal, and then he struck me.”
I inspected his wound, but with the blood drying on his forehead and cheek, it was hard to tell how deep it went.
“This needs to be cleaned,” I said, moving his hair away from his face, “and possibly stitched. What did he hit you with?”
“A club of some sort. Made of bone. Possibly dragon bone.”
Heat simmered inside my chest. “Dragon bone?”
“Yes. I think they’re breeding dragons here, most likely for the purposes of illegally fighting them against one another.”
“That’s horrible. And highly illegal. No wonder Maveryck didn’t want me telling them about my relation to my stepfather.”
Heidel paced the room behind us. “What do we do now? Do we continue with this charade and continue to follow Maveryck? Or do we try to escape?”
The room was silent for a moment.
“If we escaped,” Kull said, “we’d have no guide to get us back to the rails, and since they blindfolded us, I would have no idea how to get back. Even if I could, navigating through the desert with those sandstorms would be suicide.”
“And we still wouldn’t know how to free my stepfather,” I said.
“Then I believe we should stay here,” Kull said, “at least until we get what we came for.”
Heidel sighed. “So we just stay here and trust Jahr’ad’s men won’t kill us?”
“They won’t kill us,” Kull said flatly.
“How do you know that?”
“Trust me. I won’t let it happen.”
“Overconfident, as usual,” Heidel said.
“I’m not overconfident,” Kull said. “I’m honest.”
Heidel narrowed her eyes. “Brother, forgive me if I don’t trust you to miraculously get us out of here safely. You don’t understand men like Jahr’ad the way I do. He can’t be trusted.”
“I agree that Jahr’ad can’t be trusted,” Kull said, “but there is still a chance that he can be reasoned with. Not every man is as evil as Geth. You’d do well to remember that.”
“He’s right,” I said. “While Jahr’ad may not be trustworthy, it doesn’t make him like Geth.”
Heidel fisted her hands. “You only say that because you share my brother’s bed. You’d say anything to agree with him.”
“That’s uncalled for,” Kull said.
“And it’s technically untrue,” I added.
“Why is it untrue?” she asked. “You’ve not shared his bed?”
“Uh, well…” I wasn’t sure how to dig myself out of this one. “Technically, no.”
She rounded on Kull. “Brother, is this true?”
“Whether it is true or not is none of your business, is it?”
“It is my business,” Heidel said. “What is the matter with you? Are you damaged? How many women have you taken to bed before her? And now you will not take the woman you’ve pledged your heart to? How long do you think she will put up with you?”
“How I choose to spend my private life is my own business.”
Heidel glanced at me. “Aren’t you concerned at all?”
“Well, it wasn’t really his decision completely.” I could feel my cheeks heating up. I hated being put in this situation. “I wasn’t really… I mean… what I mean to say is…”
“It was you who made this decision?” Heidel asked me.
“It has nothing to do with her,” Kull interjected. “If you must know, after Father’s death I realized I wanted to change my ways, to go back to traditional values and all that. It has nothing to do with her.”
I glanced at Kull, silently thanking him for saving me from a catastrophically embarrassing situation.
“I don’t believe you,” she said to Kull.
“Believe what you want, but you’ve no reason to pry into my life, and you certainly have no right to pry into Olive’s personal life.”
“I have every right. It’s not fair for you to judge every man who shows the slightest interest in me
