CHAPTER FOURTEEN
“Wait!” Heath called, splashing into the shallows. But the girl was gone, with barely a ripple. He scanned the surface of the lagoon, but he could see no sign of her head, with its wild, dark hair, breaking the surface anywhere. She must be an excellent swimmer.
“Heath?” Reka emerged from the trees, his reptilian head snaking from side to side as he sniffed the air. “Did I hear you speaking to someone?”
Heath turned away from the water, swallowing his annoyance. He was fairly certain it was the dragon’s approach that had frightened the girl away, but his friend couldn’t really be blamed for that.
“There was a girl!” he said, pointing toward the water. “Swimming in the lagoon.”
“Really?” Reka tilted his head to the side, his eyes bright with interest. “Are you sure?”
“Of course I’m sure!” spluttered Heath. “She was right there, where the rocks are. She dove between the mangroves.”
“And you spoke with her?”
“Well, I spoke to her,” Heath amended. “She didn’t respond. She sort of just…stared at me. Then she dove under the surface, and disappeared.” He frowned toward the lagoon, his eyes once again scanning the smooth water. “She hasn’t come up for air. Do you think she’s all right?”
“I know nothing about her or her situation, so I have no idea,” said Reka simply.
Heath rolled his eyes, but he was in no mood to be distracted by his friend’s usual literal interpretation of human speech.
“I hope she is,” he murmured, mainly speaking to himself. He wanted to find her, to ask her for answers to all his burning questions about this lost kingdom. But it was more than that. He didn’t like the idea that he’d scared her off. Just like Reka said, he knew nothing about her, or her situation. But when their eyes had locked, for that moment, he’d seen something familiar in them. Some reflection of his own restlessness, perhaps.
He shook off the fanciful thought. “We should find her,” he said firmly.
Reka’s eyes were narrowed in focus as his gaze swept the area. “I don’t think you’ll find her,” he said placidly. “I can neither see nor hear any sign of anyone but us.”
“But…” Heath frowned at the water. “Where did she go? She must have gotten out of the water somewhere. Maybe we can find her tracks.”
“You can look,” said Reka, with maddening unconcern. “But I don’t think you’ll find anything.” He sniffed the air. “Anyway, it seems you were right, so that should be some consolation.”
“Right about what?” Heath asked absently, splashing over the rocks in the shallow water, disregarding his wet boots.
“About magic carriers living here.”
“What?” Heath’s head whipped back around, his attention fully caught. “Why do you say that?”
“Because that girl, whoever she was, had magic,” Reka said, rippling his scales comfortably. “You really can’t feel it? I can still sense it quite strongly, even though I’m confident she’s no longer here.”
“No, I didn’t feel a thing,” Heath said, his forehead creasing.
“Hmm,” mused Reka. He was silent for a long moment, deep in thought, while Heath splashed through the shallows, looking for any sign of the girl.
“I’m not altogether surprised, on reflection,” the dragon said at last. “It’s very strong, but it’s different from your family’s magic. Not flagrant like your brother’s—rather, subtle, pervasive.”
Heath turned back to the lagoon, shrugging one shoulder. He didn’t know what the dragon meant, but he still couldn’t sense lingering magic. He closed his eyes for a moment, trying to focus. Or could he? There was some taste to the air…it was familiar, niggling at his memory in a way he couldn’t put his finger on.
“What was she like?” Reka asked, interrupting his thoughts.
Heath opened his eyes. “She was…beautiful,” he said, almost involuntarily. He thought about her dark hair, and expressive eyes. Her features had been quite delicate, but she had certainly not projected an air of refinement. “And…wild, somehow.”
He frowned slightly. It was difficult to put his impressions into words. He had once seen a jaguar, one of the large cats that prowled the jungles of Balenol. It had been brought across the ocean to be shown as a curiosity in the North Lands, and it had created quite a sensation. But Heath had hated the spectacle. The creature was majestic, and seeing it locked in a cage, restless and aggressive from its confinement, and from the discomfort and fear of the sea voyage, had been distressingly wrong.
Something about the girl reminded him of that moment.
He shook his head slightly, trying to find a more concrete answer to the dragon’s question. “She had dark hair,” he said at last. “And skin a bit like a South Lander’s. And she was dressed…” he felt a slight flush rise up his neck, “…unusually.”
“What do you mean by unusually?” Reka pressed curiously.