The Dragon’s Throne 1

“You don’t have to do that.”

“Of course, I do.  You’re my best friend.  You’re the closest thing I have to a sister, and I can’t let you starve.”

“I won’t starve.  It’s just going to be a little tighter this year.”

“Or maybe you’ll sell everything at Festival and you’ll have plenty of money.”

“I never sell everything.”

“This year is your year, I can feel it.”

“Eleanor, you’re always so optimistic.”

“It’s the only way to be.”

“I know you’re right, I just don’t want to worry about where my next meal will come from.”

“If you have to ask that question, then the answer is obviously that your next meal will be at my house.”

Anna stopped, looking at Eleanor in the moonlight and smiling.

“You’re the best friend I’ve ever had,” she said, her voice trembling.  “Thank you for loving me when no one else did.”

She hugged her friend, then watched Eleanor as she went down the path that led to her house.  Taking a deep breath and trying to calm the panic that welled within her, Anna set off toward her house, glad that there was another hour left before she needed to sleep, and enough candlelight to read by.  Tomorrow, she would worry about the rest.  For right now, she was going to take advantage of this quiet moment, and enjoy the last moment of rest before Festival started in the morning.

“Are you going to be alright this winter?” a man’s voice said from behind her, startling her as she spun around to see who it was.

“Gabe, you scared me.  Why aren’t you going home?  Doesn’t your wife wonder where you are?”

“As long as she has what she wants, she doesn’t even notice when I’m gone,” Gabe said glumly, but she didn’t fall for it. 

Gabe had been trying to manipulate her for so long it was easy to forget that he wasn’t the sad, downtrodden man that he pretended to be to get her pity.

“Well, I’m not interested in a man who’s already spoken for.”

“You’ve said that before.  I didn’t come here to try to win you over.  I came here to make sure that the new tax isn’t going to put you out on the street.  I could see your face when he announced it and I know that you have more here than you can handle without a man.”

Anna’s hand itched to slap Gabe across the face, but she fought down the urge.  There were still people making their way toward their homes and she didn’t want to cause a scene.

“I handle my life fine without a man,” she said tersely.  “I don’t need help.”

“That’s a shame.  My wife was thinking about hiring a maid and seamstress, and I thought you would be perfect for the job.  It would be nice to have something beautiful to look at while my home got cleaned.”

“You need to leave,” she said, her voice cold and level.  “If you come to me again and make statements like these, I’ll be sure to tell your wife what kind of man she married.”

“She won’t believe you.  No one is going to believe anything you say except that wild niece of Mayor Freeman’s.  And no one cares what Eleanor thinks.”

“It doesn’t matter.  Someone will hear me and know that you’re a fraud.  You pretend to be this righteous man, but you’re a snake and nothing more.”

“And you would be better off if you sold your body instead of dresses.”

This time, Anna gave into the urge, swinging her hand wide, only to have Gabe catch her wrist before she connected with his face.  He twisted her arm behind her back, using it to propel her forward until she was inches from his face.

“I like my women feisty,” he said wryly.  “The more you tease me the more I know that I have to have-”

Her knee connected with the space between his legs and his eyes went blank.  He choked on air, cutting himself off in mid-sentence as he stood in shock and pain so agonizing that he couldn’t initially tell where it was coming from. 

Falling to his knees, he tried to yell out in pain but he still couldn’t breathe.  He curled into a ball on his side, his clothes getting dirty as he rocked from side to side, trying to find his way back from the blinding pain.

Anna knelt down beside him, getting within inches of his face and staring right into his eyes.

“Touch me again and you’ll see what else I can do with a needle and thread,” she promised. 

“Ahhhh,” he breathed out, unable to form a word.

“I’m assuming that you’re trying to say ’yes, ma’am’,” she said.  “I’ll take it.  Do not talk to me, and do not ever touch me again.  I may be an orphan and have no family, but I’m not anyone’s possession.  I don’t need your help and I won’t tolerate your disrespect.”

Knowing that he couldn’t answer, she stood and turned, walking fast but refusing to run in fear toward her house.  Gabe’s touch had rattled her, but she wasn’t about to let him know that he had frightened her.

She opened her door and shut it roughly, fishing the large board from behind a chair and putting it into the arms on either side of the door that formed the lock.  She did the same with all the windows, bolting them closed, unconcerned with the heat that would surely build up through the night.  The windows had been opened all day, as were the front and the back door, so she would survive despite the season.

After checking the locks a second and a third time, she decided that it would be better to go to bed.  She was going to have to look into conserving her resources, and one thing she could do to cut down on costs was to go to bed when the sun set and she could no longer see.  Living by the sun’s light would save her in candles and lamp oil, something that she might find herself in short supply of.