Prisoner of Fate Read Free Page B

bags, grey bags, patched bags and cases, shuffled in lines waiting to board coaches to different destinations across the Andrak nation.
    ‘So what will you do?’ the woman asked.
    Meg smiled grimly. ‘I’ll go home.’
    The midday sun was drowning in white clouds as the coach rattled along the westward road. The old man was asleep, mouth open, his head wobbling in motion with the bumps and hollows of the road. Meg leaned against the wooden window frame, oblivious to the women’s conversation opposite her as she stared at thepassing countryside, lost in her thoughts. If she had more money she could have hired a dragon egg flight to take her at least as far as the Great Dylan Ranges. That would have saved a day’s travel, possibly more, but she did not have the money. Working in Missus Tunbridge’s shirt factory, she earned enough to pay her rent and keep Emma and herself comfortable, and she scrimped to save the fares to travel east twice each year on her pilgrimage to find Treasure. When Emma married Tom Westborn last year, it seemed as if their financial situation would improve, but Tom joined the army and the women were left to fend for themselves again. With Emma pregnant, their money was precious and limited.
    The thought of her pregnant daughter alone with the Ranu army bearing down on the town of Marella revived the icy emotion in her stomach and she fought back tears as she stared at the rolling landscape. She never expected the war to become a threat. No one ever did. The war between the Ranu and Andrak was almost an institution—a constant event in people’s everyday lives. The front-line was a recognised feature of the landscape. What had fostered the change? Why was the war suddenly spreading east? Emma will have escaped , she reasoned. The people will be heading east to safety and Emma will be among them. She has Whisper and Whisper knows how to survive adversity. The bush rat saved my life countless times. Emma will be safe.
    Her reverie was shattered by the coach slewing to a halt and the driver yelling, ‘Get out! Look at this! Get out!’
    The women scrambled out of the coach door while Meg woke the old man who coughed and spluttered and struggled to get his bearings.
    ‘What is it?’ Meg asked as she alighted.
    ‘Oh, in heaven’s name,’ gasped the woman who’d told her about the changing fortunes of the war. Meglooked up. Drifting east, directly overhead, was an armada of dragon eggs, all stark white, almost invisible against the clouds except for the dark frames of the baskets beneath the white fabric.
    ‘Have you ever seen anything like that?’ the other woman asked.
    ‘Ranu dragon eggs,’ the old man mumbled, shielding his eyes with his right hand. ‘That’s what they are. Ranu.’
    ‘They’re heading for Lightsword,’ said the driver.
    ‘This far east?’ the first woman asked in disbelief.
    ‘I don’t understand it,’ the driver replied. ‘Something’s happened—something big.’
    ‘I counted thirty-five,’ the second woman announced.
    ‘I’ve only seen that many dragon eggs in one place at festivals,’ said the driver. He shrugged. ‘They’re moving very quickly. The wind down here isn’t strong enough to carry them like that.’
    ‘Should we go back?’ the first woman asked.
    ‘No,’ Meg said abruptly. The others stared at her. ‘I’m sorry,’ she said, ‘but I have to get home.’
    ‘We’ll keep going,’ the driver reassured her and nodded at the others. ‘Get aboard. Maybe someone in Broadplains will know about all this.’
    The last to climb aboard the coach, Meg gazed at the fast-moving dragon eggs vanishing into the background of clouds and knew the Andrak world was changing.

CHAPTER TWO
    ‘I ’ll pay whatever it takes,’ Meg offered, masking her desperation, but still the dragoneer shook his head.
    ‘Lady, it’s not about money. The war’s gone mad. The Ranu are all over West Andrak. I couldn’t fly you there even if I wanted