Free SummerDanse by Terie Garrison Page A

unexpected haven.
    The woman came back, and I tried to start a conversation with her. “I’m Donavah,” I said. She smiled and nodded, then went to the wardrobe. “What is this place, can you say?” No answer. Well, the man hadn’t answered that question, either. I tried another. “How long have I been here?” Still nothing.
    She came over with a tray that had legs and set it over my lap. “So is it suppertime or breakfast?” She must know the answer to that. But all she did was nod and smile. Then she sat in the chair. At least it wasn’t facing me anymore, so I didn’t have to sit there feeling awkward with her smiling at me and saying nothing.
    After a few more minutes of uncomfortable silence, there was a tap on the door, followed by the man who’d been here before. He carried a tray of food and used a foot to close the door behind him. The woman leapt to her feet and relieved him of the tray, and, setting it on the table, began to move its contents to the tray on my lap.
    The man smiled, and I again caught the twinkle in his eyes. “I see you’ve made a friend of Nilla.”
    “Nilla? That’s her name? She didn’t say.”
    “Oh, dear. Of course you couldn’t have known.” He repositioned the chair so that he could face me and sat down in it. Now he wore a sleeveless purple embroidered tunic over his black shirt and trousers, looking even more elegant than he had before. “Nilla is deaf and mute, so she couldn’t answer your questions.”
    “Oh. I see.” My face reddened.
    “Well, eat your meal, and then we shall have a bit of a talk.”
    There was a thin broth with bits of carrots and potatoes floating in it, plus some thin, crisp wafers of bread that weren’t quite like anything I’d ever seen before. There were also two slices of proper bread along with butter and marmalade, and a bowl of early fruit, sliced and sprinkled with a dusting of sugar. Everything was delicious, but I didn’t feel much like eating, and the man had to coax most of it down me. He made a child’s game of it that had us both laughing by the time I swallowed the last bite.
    “There,” he said. “It will do you good.” He sat back, resting his elbows on the arms of the chair and pressing his fingertips together. “My name is Zhantar. Some put ‘Lord’ in front of it, but you need not worry about that.” I swallowed. Not that his being a lord surprised me, but having my suspicion confirmed was a little daunting. “And who might you be?”
    I swallowed again. “My name is ...” I hadn’t thought to prepare a lie. There had been a warrant put out for me, back when Breyard had been under arrest. After my part in helping him escape, it wasn’t likely that the warrant had been rescinded. Surely this lord must be in the favor of the king. What if he recognized me? After an awkward pause, I said, “My name is Dona.” That would have to do. I could only hope my pause hadn’t been too noticeable.
    “Well, Dona. You arrived at my house in a rather distressful condition. What can you tell me about that?”
    “I’d been captured, well, kidnapped I suppose is a better word. And kept—” My voice broke off as the indignity of it all swept over me. I couldn’t stop myself from crying, but I managed to say, “And kept in a cage, like an animal,” before I broke down completely. It was mortifying just to think of everything that had happened. I couldn’t tell Zhantar all of it; it would be too humiliating.
    Zhantar was patient and didn’t say anything. Nilla, her face dark with concern, took a handkerchief from another pocket and started to dab at my eyes. Zhantar touched her arm and made a flicking motion with his hand, and she took my lap tray and left the room. The pink light was gone, and now a fading grey light came through the windows.
    “And who are you, Dona, that someone would kidnap you? Are you the daughter of a great nobleman?”
    “No. I’m no one.” I dare not tell him about the red dragons,