Page 7 of Henry & the Dragon
Henry shook his head. “It doesn’t matter. The fault was mine.”
Rage coursed through Kai. He wanted to grab Henry, to shake some sense into him, but he’d never do Henry harm. Instead he laced their fingers together. “Henry, no one has ever been responsible for their injuries done by another person. I ask again, who did this to you?”
“Master Neron.” Henry choked out a sob. “He found out that I had given some salves I made to a woman in the town, and it angered him.”
A possessiveness Kai had never known before swept through him. He held fast to Henry’s hand, as if letting him go would allow worse to befall him. “I don’t…. I won’t….” he choked out. “Shall I go to him? I could take you from him, force him to release you.”
“No!” Henry winced, clutching Kai’s arm. “You cannot. Neron provides medicines for my family, so that my sister can be healthy. Without them, Merry will surely die.”
Everything made more sense now. Henry was an intelligent man; far too smart to stay where he was being mistreated. Neron seemed to have Henry on a hook, and toyedwith him as a fish would a worm, before it finally devoured the creature.
“There must be something I can do. Please, anything.”
Henry nodded. “You could hold me.”
Kai moved quickly, taking Henry into his arms. He smothered Henry in his embrace, daring anyone or anything to try and touch him. All too soon, Henry drew away.
“I had to come and see you,” Henry said. “Neron insisted I return to the woods to gather more moss, since what I brought was, he said, useless, because of the water damage.”
“That is ridiculous!” Kai snapped. “Ghost moss is hardly delicate. All he need do is allow it to dry for a day, and it would have been fine. No, better than fine. In the forest, the moss gets only the water provided by the tree it resides on. Rain would make it far more potent.”
Henry laughed, then coughed. “It seems as though you know and understand so much. It’s clear you’re educated. I mean, you understood the Virbolg.”
“Not by language,” Kai said. “By intent. I’ve been in this forest many times, and have studied them.” He pulled Henry to him again, and nuzzled his hair. “Shall I tell you about them?”
“Share anything you’d like with me,” Henry replied. “I would hear your voice to remind me I’m safe. For now.”
That wasn’t good enough! Henry had to be safe always. “What if I paid Neron to release you, and to continue to care for your sister?”
He wanted desperately to keep Henry from harm. To shower him with praise, with love, and to show him his worth.
“No.” He leaned up and kissed Kai’s chin. “I would want nothing more than to belong to you—“
“No! Not to me. You would be free to choose your own path, but it would not be under Neron’s eye. You could be free, Henry.”
Henry sighed and slumped against Kai. “’Tis a wonderful dream you weave, but only a dream. A person of my station is lucky to be apprenticed to a master. Too many are poor, despite what our king says. They struggle to make a life for their families now. If I left, there would be no one to provide them medicines without Neron knowing.”
“You can’t continue to do that!” Kai spat. “Next time he could kill you.”
“Aye, he could. It’s his choice to do with me as he sees fit. I thought last night that I ought not tempt his wrath any further, but he doesn’t care about the people. He would see them unable to pay his fee, because then he could take whatever he wanted from them.”
“He sounds more monster than what they imagine the Virbolg to be,” Kai said into Henry’s silky hair.
“He is most unkind and odious,” came the soft reply. “But he makes the medicines, so none will speak against him.”
Kai would. He would stand in the town square, and vilify the man.
“You cannot,” Henry said.
“What?”
“It seems odd, but I feel as though I know you. You are imagining speaking out against Neron, trying to turn the people away from him.”
It startled Kai that Henry did indeed see into his heart. He was most intuitive, and worth far more than Neron ever could be. Kai had only a few months left for this excursion before he would need to return home. The thought he would leave Henry with someone like Neron plagued Kai with anger and doubts.
“Henry, I—“
“I know you can’t stay forever,” Henry said. “Whilst you are here though, I would continue meeting with you, if you would beopen to doing so.” He sighed. “I know you shouldn’t want to be involved—“
