Free Hunted (Book 2) by Megg Jensen Page B

until an
attendant offered his hand and hoisted her up into the saddle between the
camel's two humps.
    “The inexperienced travel through the desert and quickly
die. My horse did. You nearly did,” Jarrett said.
    “I didn’t almost die.” Tressa swayed side to side with the
camel’s awkward gait. It was worse than the horse. She expected to be sore the
next day.
    “Actually…” Jarrett’s voice trailed off. “I was concerned
you would. You’re not used to the dry heat of the desert. You were dehydrated
and exhausted. You’ve been pushed past your limits.”
    Tressa shrugged, a smile on her lips. “You’d be surprised
how much stamina I have.” She pushed away the memory of the tears she’d shed
not long ago.
    “Someday I hope to find out.” Jarrett winked and tossed her
a teasing smile.
    Tressa’s cheeks flushed. “I didn’t mean—”
    “I know,” Jarrett said with a laugh. “Don’t take everything
so seriously.”
    “We’re only hiding from two mysterious red dragons who were
tramping through my abandoned village, while trying to reach your lover, a
queen, no less, who might help us. No reason to be serious. You’re right.”
Tressa meant it as a joke, but the weight of her words tamped down all
conversation.
    A silence fell upon them. Tressa marveled at Jarrett’s
navigational skills. In the forest, she’d seen landmarks that could help guide her,
streams, unique trees, that sort of thing. But here it was all the same. Only
the sun’s position changed, but that happened so slowly Tressa could imagine
getting off course easily.
    In front of them, four camels swayed, weighed down by the
men riding them. With curved steel at their hips and fierce grimaces on their
faces, these guards, disguised as guides, protected them from the front. Six
more guards traveled behind them, dressed as common merchants and minor
nobility.
    Jarrett explained how their clothes identified them to
casual onlookers. The merchants wore robes, lined with golden fringe. Their
turbans sat short and squat on their heads. The noblemen wore fine silk robes
with turbans reaching toward the clouds. Tressa and Jarrett traveled under the
guise of a man and woman recently married. Her gown was a bright amethyst and
he wore a plume of peacock feathers on his back, signifying his virility and
dominance.
    Tressa thought he looked ridiculous, but Jarrett wore his
disguise with pride. Back straight, eyes focused ahead, his camel only an arm’s
length away from hers. He wasn’t afraid to let everyone know she was his promised.
And while Tressa would have preferred to be responsible for her own safety, she
was grateful to Jarrett. Without his help, she’d still be back at Ashoom, not
knowing what to do next.
    A shadow cast across them, blocking the sun.
    “Ah, so you do have clouds here,” Tressa said, shielding
her eyes as she looked.
    “That is no cloud!” Jarrett jumped from his camel, landing
in a squat, his scimitar drawn. “Tressa!”
    But it was too late. Something had already plucked her from
her camel, carrying her into the sky.

Chapter Fifteen
    Fear engulfed every part of Tressa's being. She'd ridden on
the blue dragon, but he hadn't snatched her from a camel's back and carried
through the air like a mouse dangling from an owl's talons.
    The golden dragon's claws wrapped around her arms and under
her armpits, piercing her flesh. Blood trickled down her arms.
    Tressa shrieked, her throat already torn into shreds from
the desert heat, but she couldn't hear anything over the wind's constant
screeching in her ears.
    Or maybe it was the dragon.
    She wasn't sure she'd live to find out.
    Tressa's legs dangled, her bare feet tickled by the warm
winds racing between her toes. Her sandals had fallen long ago.
    She forced her eyes open, hot wind piercing her eyeballs.
In the distance she saw it: a castle. Golden, rising up in a spiral from the
ground through the clouds. It loomed closer, and with sigh of relief Tressa
realized