The Wounds That Bind

  A Dragon King Legacy

  Debbie McQueen

  Copyright © 2021 Debbie McQueen

  All Rights Reserved

  Cover Design by Cassandra Fear at C & A Designs

  Formatted by Luke Parkes

  A Note From the Author

  When I first started writing the Dragon King series, in my first draft of Of Heart and Wings, I had the medic originally as a male character. As soon as I got far enough to where Harla got injured, I knew I wanted to give her a love interest and it was clear to me that the medic that would treat her needed to be female. I immediately went back and corrected it, and Danna was brought to life.

  I just love these two women, they are each strong in their own way, and I’ve had so many comments from readers asking about them. I am really happy to be able to show more of them and their story.

  The Wounds That Bind parallels events in Of Heart and Wings and Bound in Fire, so if you have read the main series, you’ll see some familiar scenes but from a different perspective. It was a lot of fun revisiting these moments with a new focus.

  Thanks for reading The Wounds That Bind, I hope you love Harla and Danna as much as I do.

  With love and big hugs,

  Debbie

  Content Warning

  Please note that The Wounds That Bind depicts situations that include severe injury, medical procedures, war, and processing past trauma and assault.

  I hope readers will find that I handled this with sensitivity, but I wished to include a note for any that may find this content triggering.

  Chapter 1

  Harla

  I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. I was crouched down in the dirt, peeking over the side of the hill. It should have been an empty field. There shouldn’t have been anything, instead there were tents of various sizes covering the vast area. Red flags hung from the larger tent at the center.

  Tarjak. His name hissed through my mind. I hated that he had slipped from my grasp when he attacked King Rodick. It had been a frenzy, so much had happened so quickly. From hearing the explosion of the window, to seeing my king laying on the ground, blood darkening his chest. It was all I could do to get him and his son out of there safely. It had all been a setup. King Tarjak of the Fifth had coordinated an attack during our truce for the treaty King Rodick of the Sixth had drawn up. My own heart seized when I thought his might have stopped.

  King Rodick had plucked me out of obscurity and given me purpose, had set my feet on a path I was honored to walk. To see him wounded...I should have pushed past it, I should have gone after Tarjak while he was within reach. I’d had to focus on the young prince, he was to be saved at all cost. Thank the stars and heavens above that Rodick pulled through, but if he hadn’t, the realm would have fallen to Raiden’s hands. The kid would have kept fighting and risking his life if we hadn’t gotten him out of there. I admired the fight in him, but it was my duty to protect the crown of the Sixth, whoever’s head may bear it.

  I cast my gaze over the tent-filled field. Technically, they weren’t doing anything wrong, they had gathered on their own land. We were the ones trespassing currently. But they were close, too close. The border to the Sixth Realm was less than a day's walk. Why would they have gathered so many, so close to us, unless it was for a reason?

  “We need to get a closer look, figure out what they are planning.” I whispered to the guards that were pressed into the dirt beside me. There were ten of us in total. My second in command, Captain Arto, remained behind to take my place, ensuring the safety of the king and the realm in my absence.

  I pushed myself back, away from the crest, standing when I knew I was out of sight.

  “Lajos, I want you to take a group and scout around, try to get a feel for the numbers and any information you can on their supplies. We need to know what they mean to do. Is it simply a camp meant for refuge, a temporary shelter? Or is it really what it appears to be? We need confirmation before we jump to conclusions.”

  “Yes, ma’am.” Lajos dipped his head.

  “Theirren, you’re with me. I want to get to that command tent in the center. I need to see their plans.”

  Lajos met with five others, pulling them aside to relay instructions. Two others were tasked with staying behind. If we didn’t make it out of the camp someone needed to get word back to the king.

  Knowing the two lookouts were skilled archers giving us cover if need be, eight of us carefully crept through the treeline, inching our way closer to the camp. When we reached the bottom of the hill, we crouched behind a few bushes. Lajos split up their group to go opposite directions, while Theirren and I would be cutting through to the center. It was risky, the chance of being seen was high, but it was necessary.

  I pictured the camp from above as we had seen it from the top of the hill. I closed my eyes, trying to trace a path from our current location to the command tent in the center. With a visual in mind, I mentally charted a course through the tents, our best chance at staying concealed. If Tarjak were there, the number of guards would have been increased around the command tent. Unless they were feeling safe and untouchable, thinking they had moved without anyone knowing. It would have been true, if the king hadn’t sent us in to spy, we would have no way of knowing they were nestled in this hidden clearing, edging ever closer to the Sixth Realm.

  I stayed low as I ran across the open air space between the perimeter of the field and the first tent. A quick peek inside told me the tent was empty. Odd, but good for us. Theirren stayed at my back, moving in quick silent steps, slinking behind me. We kept our backs pressed against the canvas wall of the empty tent and moved closer. I took a quick peek around the corner of the tent, looking in all directions. When I saw it was clear, I crouched and scurried to the side of the next tent. Bed rolls, but no people.

  Something felt strange, shouldn’t they have people keeping watch even if they felt securely tucked away? Even if it were lunch time and they were all eating, they should have had shifts on watch. We crossed a few more tents, only one away from the command tent. Voices...I could hear a few men talking, drifting toward us from the command center up ahead. I turned back to Theirren and put my finger in front of my mouth. Of course he’d be quiet, but I couldn’t help giving the reminder.

  We sprinted forward on our toes, trying to move as softly and swiftly as we could. We were at the back of the command tent, opposite the opening. I lowered myself way down and leaned as closely to the tent as I could without touching the sides. I didn’t want to draw any attention. Theirren had his back toward me, making sure no one would sneak up on us without our knowledge.

  “We have received letters of intention from the lords of the Fifth. They are sending soldiers to join your cause, Your Majesty.”

  “What’s our timeline?” I shuddered at his snake-like voice hissing out the words.

  “Two weeks perhaps. We have also acquisitioned food and supplies from local villages which are being brought to the camps.”

  Camps? Plural? Two weeks until what, what was the king’s cause? Whatever it was, I doubted it was good. I needed more information, I needed to know exactly what they were planning.

  I tapped Theirren’s shoulder. When he snapped his head around to me, I motioned that I was going to get inside the tent. His eyes went wide and he shook his head slightly. I cut him a sharp look, an order in my eyes, even as I didn’t risk saying anything out loud. I was the commander. I was often open to hearing ideas and suggestions, but there were times when orders needed to be met without question. Now was that time. I couldn’t have him second-guessing me, and there was no way I was leaving without getting in there. He dipped his head.

  The voices within were muffled with the shuffling of papers before they moved further away from where I was outside the tent. I kept low to the ground as I carefully made my way along the edge of the tent in the opposite direction I heard the voices move. I quickly looked around the corner, it was clear on this side. I moved with Theirren following me. One more corner to edge and we would be at the front of the command tent. If they had more soldiers on their way, it explained why there were empty tents. They had prepared for greater numbers than they had ready.

  As I eyed past the last pole of the tent, I saw Tarjak and his Commander, Raith, walking together towards a different larger tent. I had to go now, it was my best shot. As soon as they were out of sight, I sprinted to the opening and ducked inside the tent. Theirren remained behind to keep watch.

  There was a table set up in the center with several large parchments strewn about. I picked up one and tilted it toward the opening, trying to catch the sunlight coming through. I nearly gasped when I saw I held a detailed map of the Sixth Realm. It not only included the boundaries, but the locations of farms and the homes in the outlying areas, with the town and castle shown clearly at the center of the map.

  I set it down and picked up another article from the table, this one had roads and natural landmarks identified, again, the Sixth. I shook my head back and forth in disbelief. There were markings and directions noted on them. The implications hit me like a punch to the gut. Two weeks? They had everything they needed to get them into the Sixth Realm, and they had camps’ worth of people ready to move in two weeks?

  I wanted to take the maps, I wanted to burn everything they had, to take these resou