Hunted (Book 2) (21 page)

Steady rocking woke Tressa. She rubbed her eyes, confused.
Her mind felt mushy. Blurry. Unfocused. A strange smell of salt and rot
assaulted her nose. Her eyes watered.

Tressa reached out with an unsteady arm, her fingertips
drifting across rough wood.

"Where am I?"

She sat up. Her stomach lurched as the surface under her
rocked back and forth. She grabbed onto ledges on either side of her, her eyes
growing wide with horror as she realized where she was.

Adrift in a small boat, just big enough to hold her prone
body. Tressa swallowed the bile rising in her throat. Water lapped against the
side of the boat, licking her fingertips with salty tongues.

The sea stretched out in every direction, an unending flow
of crests and wakes. Land was nowhere to be seen in the darkness.

Tressa sat frozen in fear. She'd never been around more
than a harmless bucket of water or small stream. She didn't know how to swim.

Water was death for her.

She silently cursed Jacinda. She’d known the woman couldn't
wait to be rid of her, but sticking her in a boat and pushing her into the sea
while she was recovering from a miscarriage was beyond cruel. Jarrett claimed
the dragon within Jacinda was strong. Where did her human will end and the
dragon's wrath take over?

Tressa searched the tiny vessel for an oar. She came up
empty. There was nothing in the wooden boat except herself.

Adara's leather clothes hugged Tressa's body, covering it as
if it were a second skin. A few areas over her chest and legs were hugged even
tighter by embedded armor. Tressa smiled. Those were the only clothes she had.
The ones she’d worn to the Sands had been disposed of. She slipped a hand down
her top, her fingertips touching steel. The small weapons were still there.
When they'd dressed her, they must not have noticed the hidden pockets Tressa
had asked Adara for.

She thanked every god she'd ever heard of. At least she
wasn't completely helpless. If she could figure out a way to get to land, she'd
have a fighting chance.

The waves continued to carry her, toward what she didn't
know. The stars shone, reminding her of the night she'd spent in the silken
tent with Jarrett in the middle of the desert. Before the yellow dragon had
abducted her off her camel. Before she chose Jarrett over Bastian. Before she'd
lost the child she didn't even know she was carrying.

She wished on the brightest star. "Take me to land.
Please. That is all I ask. Any land."

Breathing in. Breathing out. There was nothing else she
could do. Her eyes closed against the endless expanse of water and sky. She
reached inside herself searching for the strength she kept buried there. It had
served her in the foggy forest. It had served her when she fought for a place
in the Black Guard. It had served her when a dragon clutched her in its talons
and carried her across the searing desert. It had served her when she'd
wordlessly severed her connection to Bastian after the kilrothgi invasion.

But her strength had retreated, hiding amongst the white
caps of the water. Instead she felt a great absence. It wasn't hard to figure
out what was missing.

Her child. The baby she didn't even know she was pregnant
with. Though deep down she thought she had known. Somehow she knew she already
loved that baby.

Her thoughts drifted to her time in Hutton's Bridge and her
morning tea with Granna. It was the same tea she'd drunk just before her
miscarriage.

A dull ache spread across her chest. She'd never conceived.
All those times with Bastian and the other boys whose ribbons she'd pulled. Not
one pregnancy. And not one morning without the tea.

Anger built until she was on the edge of bursting. She'd
confided in her Granna. Cried with her over every monthly blood. She’d thought
there was something wrong with her, but now she suspected another explanation.

Her beloved Granna had kept her from pregnancy and so had
someone back at Risos. It wasn't her body that had betrayed her. Others had
done this.

Her limbs shook with fury at everyone who'd manipulated
her. At the same time, they quivered in anticipation. She could get pregnant
again. She wasn't barren. Hope burned brighter than her bitter anger.

She would never forgive them for what they'd done to her.
Never. There would be no more caring thoughts of Granna. All of her good memories
were obliterated with this revelation. As for Jacinda, that horrible queen
who'd done nothing but hate Tressa simply because Jarrett loved her, if Tressa
ever saw her again, she'd need ten men to hold Tressa back from killing her.

Her eyes snapped open. Tressa sighed and carefully inched
her bottom across the boat's floor until she was lying down. She rested her
hands on her lower abdomen.

"Even though I didn't know about you, I still love
you." Her whisper carried in the silent air. "I wanted you for so
long. I would have done anything to protect you. If only I would have known, I
might have made different choices."

Tressa's thoughts drifted back to Jarrett. His lips on her
stomach. His hands touching the most intimate parts of her body. Even in the
boat, trying not to move, she couldn't tamp down the chills that always
accompanied thoughts of him.

Part of her cursed her choice. She'd been carrying
Bastian's child while she made love to Jarrett. If she had known, would she
have gone with Bastian?

She was relieved it was a choice she didn’t have to make.
Her feelings for Jarrett were too strong. Yet if she’d gone with Bastian, her
baby might still be alive.

Tressa lay still, her breaths measured and even. She didn't
sleep. The moon bathed Tressa in light. She leaned over the edge of the boat,
submerging her hand in the freezing water. She grunted, paddling through the
waves to no avail. Her leather sleeve soaked, she pulled her arm back in the
boat.

"How do I get to land without an oar?"

The waves continued to lap against the side of the boat,
lifting her up and down, but not moving the boat very far.

"The waves go toward shore." She sighed. "I
think."

"You could have told me more about the world," she
shouted into the sky, angry with herself for not listening better when Granna
told her stories. She never thought she'd need them. She never thought she'd
survive the fog. "Why didn't you make me pay attention?"

Again she waited for a response that would never come. Besides,
she had no desire to hear from the woman who'd deprived her of pregnancy for so
many years.

"Better that I figure this out myself." She
looked at the waves. "They're going somewhere. And I think they generally
flow toward land. I remember something about a tide going in and out. So the
water is traveling toward land."

She glanced over the prow of the boat. "Now how do I
turn you so you're facing the other direction?" A gargoyle carved into the
prow stared at her with dead eyes, its leering smile and sharp teeth mocking
her.

"If I paddle at one end of the boat, maybe it'll
turn." Tressa scooted forward, sticking her hands in the water again next
to the pointed prow. She paddled hard. The boat tilted quickly to the side.
Tressa lost her balance, yanked her arms back into the boat, and grabbed the
sides, quickly steadying it.

Her breath came in rapid spurts, her heart screaming at her
to be more careful. "I can do this," she said. "If I don't, I'll
sit here for who knows how long waiting for another boat to find me. In the
meantime," she continued to mutter under breath, "I'll starve to
death. All they'll find is a pile of bones."

She reached carefully toward the prow, her cheek resting
against the gargoyle. Gently she paddled in the water, while carefully
balancing her weight in the boat. Slowly the boat started to turn. Tressa held
in the whoops of excitement.

"Not there yet," she said to the gargoyle.
"Soon, though. We'll be headed to shore."

She gritted her teeth as the boat teetered on top of a
wave. Muttering a few random prayers under her breath, Tressa wrapped her arms
around the body of the gargoyle. The boat righted and settled onto the waves.

It pulsed toward shore, rising and falling on higher
swells. Tressa's stomach protested, gurgling loudly. "No. I'm not going to
throw up. I can do this."

She pursed her lips together, but with the next swell
raising her higher, she couldn't keep it in. Closing her eyes, Tressa aimed for
the side of the boat, hoping the vomit spewing from her lips didn't land in the
boat. She was too afraid to grip the side for fear the boat would tip again.

Once her stomach emptied itself, Tressa relaxed. She opened
her eyes as she rose on the next swell.

"Yes!" she yelled, pumping her fist in the air.
Land appeared in the distance, green and lush with only the smallest bit of
sand ringing the edge. The boat dropped and rose, over and over again. Each
time land seemed to be coming closer.

"I'm not going to die out here." Tressa stuck out
her tongue between dry lips at the gargoyle. "If Jacinda paid you to keep
an eye on me, you can tell her that no matter what she throws at me, I will
overcome it."

The gargoyle's unblinking eyes stayed focused on hers.
Tressa gave him a little slap. "If you were real and a spy for Jacinda,
I'd run you through as soon as I had a sword in my hand." Months ago, even
thinking an inanimate object could hold magical power would have made her laugh
and roll her eyes. Now she wasn't so sure. Anything was possible.

The boat rode the waves as shore came closer. Tressa held
on to the sides, determine to stay as dry as she could. She rode the swells
until the boat became mired in the sand. Tressa leapt to standing, her boots
splashing water all around her legs.

She stumbled toward shore as the rays of morning washed
over the beach. She was out of the boat, safe from the water. But now all she
could see was an expanse of high green grasses. She needed food and water.

Mostly she needed a sword. A very sharp one.

Tressa's boots pulled off with a loud sucking noise. She
tipped them upside down, letting the water out. She yanked her stockings off
and wrung them. Sighing, she pushed her hair behind her ears.

She was alive and unharmed, but Tressa had no idea where to
head. Inland, obviously. Without any direction she could wander idly for days.
Starvation lurked over her shoulder. Dehydration had already taken hold. Her
lips were parched, cracking, and drier than the desert she'd left only the day
before.

Looking up at the sky, Tressa wondered if it would be too
much for nature to provide her with some fresh rainwater. The seawater was undrinkable,
and her throat screamed for even just a drop of water.

Tressa coughed as she yanked her boots back on her damp
feet. She stood and wiped her hands on her leather pants. "Time to get
moving."

"Who's there?"

Tressa crouched, steadying her breath. So she wasn't alone.

"I'm armed, and I will kill you if you attack
me."

Tressa's head whipped from side to side. She was completely
exposed on the beach. If the approaching person was in the grass, there was
nowhere for her to hide. Taking a deep breath, Tressa stood again, her hands in
the air. "I'm not here to hurt anyone."

The grass rustled. A young girl stood up, her head not much
higher than the tall green blades. "Oh good. Because I'd hate to kill
you."

Laughing, Tressa walked toward the girl. "Yes, I'm
sure you would."

The little brunette couldn't have been more than ten or
eleven. Tressa was relieved. And if the girl was here that meant food and drink
couldn't be far away. "Can you help me find the nearest town? I need
something to eat. I'm famished."

The girl glared at Tressa and tapped her foot. She pointed
out to the sea. "Your boat is floating away."

Tressa glanced over her shoulder. The little vessel that
had borne her here was drifting back with the tide. "I don't need it
anymore."

"You must be wealthy to let something of value
go." The girl smiled. "I will take you to the nearest town if you pay
me. How much gold do you have?"

"Gold? I lost it at sea," Tressa lied, biting her
cracked lip, tasting blood. "The boat tipped, and all of my money fell
out."

"Oh." The girl pushed a toe into the ground.
"Then I can't help you." She turned on her heel and started back into
the grass.

"Wait!" Tressa reached out for the girl, but
before she could grab her shoulder, the girl disappeared into the grass again.
In a trot, Tressa followed the moving grass. She grumbled. Why couldn't the
girl just take her where she wanted to go? Didn't she realize Tressa would
follow her?

The grass stopped moving. A flash of green light shot into
the air. Tressa cursed under her breath. What was the girl doing now? Before
she could call out and ask, a small green dragon burst from the grass. It
circled over Tressa's head.

After flying in two loops, a small burst of fire popped
from its mouth. A small pouch hung from its ankle.

"Great. More dragons," Tressa muttered. She
marveled at the control the little girl had over her dragon form. Henry had
been a few years older but couldn't control his changing well at all. In the
end, his inexperience had gotten him killed. She hadn't been afraid of him then,
and she wasn't going to let herself fear this child. "Come down
here."

The dragon's head shook.

"Please?" Tressa asked.

The green dragon hovered over her. Then it dove to the
ground at a frightening pace. Tressa reached out to catch the dragon before it
hit the ground, but it stopped just a breath above her palms, then hovered carefully
until its feet were on the ground. In a flash, the dragon was gone, and the
girl was in front of her, fully clothed.

"How?" Tressa asked, stunned. Henry had come out
of his dragon form naked. But this girl was wearing the same clothes she'd had
on when she met Tressa on the beach.

The girl stuck her tongue out at Tressa. "You're not
afraid of my dragon."

"I'm not," Tressa admitted. "I've seen
bigger, scarier dragons than you."

"You're not going to stop bothering me, are you?"

"No, I'm not. I need help, and you're the only person
I've seen. Please, just get me to the outskirts of a town. That's all I'm
asking. If you're afraid to let others see you as a dragon, I swear I won't
tell anyone."

"You've never been here before, have you?" she
asked, her hands on her hips. "Everyone here is a dragon. You're the one
who should be afraid, lady."

Tressa's hand instinctively went to her padded breastplate,
making sure the small knife was hidden within it still. "Everyone here is
a dragon? How is that possible?"

The girl rolled her brown eyes. "The other lands take
it upon themselves to control the dragon essence. Here we share it with
everyone. If a baby is born without the ability to change, we give it to them.
We're all equals."

Tressa's eyes widened. A land full of possibly psychotic
dragons? She wanted out, fast. "What's your name?" she asked the
girl.

"Margret." The girl twirled in the grass, her
fingertips skimming the tops of the blades.

"Margret, can you get me some food and water? Please?
I cannot pay you in gold now, but I can have it sent to you later." Once
she found Jarrett she'd ask him to pay the debt. He would in a heartbeat.

"Maybe." She curtsied.

Tressa tried not to stare while she waited for the little
girl to make up her mind. "Please?"

Margret held up a hand. "Stop. I'm thinking." She
grabbed Tressa's chin, pulling her down until they were eye-to-eye. Margret
gazed unflinchingly into Tressa's eyes. Abruptly she let go. "Okay. Wait
right here. I'll be back soon."

The green light flashed again, and before Tressa was
Margret's dragon form. She took wing and flew off to the north.

Tressa sighed and sank into the grass, hoping it wouldn't
take Margret too long. Every moment she was away from Jarrett was a moment when
her people were still lost. She had to help them. Despite everything, she could
still save the people of Hutton's Bridge.

The sun rose higher into the sky, nearly cresting before
Margret flew back, a bucket clasped in each set of front claws. Slowly she
descended, until Tressa could reach the buckets.

Water sloshed out of them as she carefully set them both on
the ground.

"I brought you a wineskin. For water," Margret
said, skipping up to Tressa. She'd changed so quickly Tressa hadn't even
noticed the flash of light. "And there's plenty of food. Enough to get you
through the next two days."

"Thank you so much," Tressa said as she sunk her
teeth into a green apple. Tart juices sloshed in her mouth. She closed her
eyes, lost in the heavenly taste of the food. Lifting the bucket to her lips, she
took a long drink.

"I brought you something else," Margret said, an
impish smile on her face.

"What's that?" Tressa asked.

"My brothers. They were dying to meet you."

A screech echoed in the sky as two dragons dived toward
her, their claws bared.