Chapter 26

Chapter Twenty-Six

Within a half hour, we found ourselves all cleaned and seated at the table with some more pleased than others. Enna sat between Allard and Ware who was seated at the foot of the table. The men munched on their food while we women watched and Raines served them.

“Did you discover anything while out there blowing up the earth?” Vargas inquired.

Ware was the first to swallow and his grim face was enough of a reply. “We found more rotten hay in the barns.”

I turned my face to Will. “The worms?”

He nodded. “Undoubtedly.”

“Did you find them in every barn?” Vargas asked them.

Ware shook his head. “No, but why does that matter?”

She frowned at him. “It matters a great deal. Attacking everyone under the protection of Lord Thorn is one thing. Attacking only a few is quite another. That hints that the attacks are targeting a particular people and if we find the reason we may well find the culprit.”

Allard leaned back and cupped his chin in his head. “Now that you mention it, the farms that had the rotten hay are owned by those most loyal to Lord Thorn. At least, they were most eager and welcoming to us when we arrived to help.”

A dark cloud settled on Will’s brow as he nodded. “That is true. Those families have been very loyal to me for generations.”

A thought struck me. “Was there any sign of that one guy around? That Wrecan fellow?”

“No, though the people spoke of him often,” Allard told me.

Ware scoffed. “And some in better words than others. He seems to leave when trouble stirs, or so some rumors proclaim.”

“Did you not try to find this scoundrel and drag him here for us to speak with him?” Vargas scolded them.

Ware frowned back at her. “We did make such an attempt but he was not to be found in his rooms nor was he on any of the roads nor at the farms.”

“Then the sneak was hiding on purpose,” Vargas sneered.

A faint smile slipped onto Will’s lips. “There’s no need for concern. We met some of the Tenky at the end of our journey and I instructed them to search the woods for the human. They should find him very-”

“I said let me go!”

The shout came from outside. We all scrambled to our feet and raced to the windows overlooking the front yard. A couple dozen Tenky drove down the driveway and thick vines were wrapped around their handlebars. The other end of the vines was wrapped around the flailing figure of a man whom they dragged behind them. The vines protected him from the worst of the ground rub but his hair was disheveled and his clothes were both torn and sullied.

“Let go of me, you monsters!” he yelled at his captors.

A crooked smile curled onto Will’s lips. “It appears we have a guest.” He grasped my hand and his eyes twinkled down at me. “Let us go greet him.”

We hurried outside and were in time to meet the Tenky at the threshold between the lawn and the gravel driveway. They drove up and passed us, stopping only when the man reached our position. The stranger took one look at us and his eyes widened. He flailed harder in their tight bonds.

“Release me at once, you fiends!” he insisted.

Sir Slechtic was the leader of the kidnapping party and he looked to Will. “Is this who you’re looking for?”

Will’s attention fell on me. “Is this the man you saw through the window of the pub?”

I squinted my eyes at the disheveled figure before I finally nodded. “He looks like the guy.”

“I am no one to you!” the man protested as he squirmed in the tight binds.

“Where did you discover him?” Will questioned our short visitors.

“He was slinking around in the woods behind the village,” Slechtic told us as he stared in disgust at the man. “The slimy worm tried to run when we shouted at him but he didn’t get far.” A twittering of laughter rose from the hunting party and was silenced only by their leader’s stern gaze. He looked up at Will. “So you want to keep him?”

Will nodded. “Release him but stay close. We wouldn’t wish for him to leave without a proper goodbye.”

Slechtic saluted and twisted around to catch the eyes of his people. “Let him go!”

The Tenky tapped the vines on their handlebars and the plants withered and shrank into the leaves behind their seats. The man didn’t wait but the moment he was free he tried to make a break for it. He scrambled to his feet and took off toward the woods, but Allard stuck out a long leg. The man tripped and fell face-first onto the grass. He tried to get up but we surrounded him.

The stranger flipped onto his back and shrank beneath our accusing glares. “W-why are you doing this to me? How have I wronged you?”

“Are you Donald Wrecan?” Will questioned him.

The man winced before he nodded. “That is my name, and you must be Lord Thorn. I thought from the words of the locals that you were kind and gentle, but now I see that they were terribly wrong.”

“If they are wrong then it’s because your snake tongue poisoned their minds against me,” Will countered.

The man feigned surprise. “Me? Whatever do you mean?”

“What brought you to this area if not to stir up trouble?” Ware spoke up.

Wrecan shook his head. “I didn’t come here for any nefarious purpose. I was told this place was a fount of natural beauty and the people were very friendly.”

Vargas crossed her arms over her chest and scoffed. “Friendly enough that they opened their homes to you and you tried to turn them against their lord.”

His eyebrows crashed down. “You have no proof of that! Show me your proof or let me leave!”

Will nodded at the Tenky who waited on the sidelines for any commands. “I could have my friends here fetch any farmer you spoke with and they will tell us what you told them.”

A little bit of color drained from the man’s face but he stuck his chin in the air. “I will deny any false accusation against me! I will demand a fair trail of-”

Will bent down and wrapped his hand around the man’s throat. Wrecan let out a startled squeak as Will lifted him off the ground and held the captured man so they were face-to-face. Their height difference meant Wrecan’s feet dangled a few inches above the ground.

The stranger grabbed Will’s hand with both of his and tried to pry himself free. “Release me! You have no right to-”

“You forget this is my domain,” Will reminded him as he bared his sharp fangs to the man. “My word is final. My judgment is final. If I decide that you have broken my laws then there is little that can stop me.”

“But the laws of the country!” Wrecan protested.

“They are nothing to the laws of the dragon lords,” Will growled as he thrust the man’s face close to his so their noses almost touched. My dragon husband’s sharp eyes glowed a brilliant red and his hand that held the man transformed into a claw. “Now speak before I pass final judgment on you.”

The man’s mouth flopped open and shut and his eyes were filled with terror. He looked about for reprieve but there was no pity to be found in our faces. This worm had tried to turn Will’s own people against him. He would receive no mercy from us.

“A-alright!” the man blubbered as he whipped his face back to Will. “I’ll talk!”

The moment he said that the man’s eyes bulged out of his head. Literally.