Page 118 of His Greatest Treasure

“If you wish. And if the elder approves.”

I heartily consented. It sounded ideal.

We chatted as we finished our meal, and I caught the eye of Great Aunt Evangeline. Although I didn’t want to admit it, I felt good when I saw theapproval in her eyes. She gave me a nod and my dragon seemed almost to purr inside me. We were doing alright. Our clan was safe, we had Morgan and Seren back, and we would get stronger. Our clan would flourish, in whatever ways they wanted to.

Chapter 47

Blaze

Alfie was talking to his brother and ‘cleaning out his room’ which I suspected was a euphemism for throwing away all the things he’d always hated and trying to give Morgan some of the things he liked, to make up for the fact that everything belonging to Morgan had been incinerated.

Everything had been burned: all of Morgan’s clothes, since they were tailored to him and the Somervilles didn’t believe in wearing second-hand clothes, his schoolbooks, the pictures he’d hung on his walls, photographs, everything that had beenhis. Alfie had come to the little hut in tears when he’d found that out and hadn’t been able to save any of it.

I could already see that Alfie was different. It had been a slow change, over the months, but he’d grown more confident. He’d learned to trust himself.

He still babbled, which I found adorable, but he knew what he wanted and he went after it.

I touched the claiming bite on my neck and smiled to myself as I walked down to the kitchen. I was after a snack. Besides, with Alfie busy, I wanted to talk to Mrs. Wilson about something.

She was bustling around her kitchen and, when she saw me, she sat me down at the table with a cool glass of lemonade and a little cherry tart. I’d never had one before and Mrs. Wilson sniffed and said, “Neither have the Somervilles. Lord Somerville never liked them.”

It was delicious and I ate it all up, looking up at Mrs. Wilson admiringly. She patted my cheek and asked, “Would you like another?”

I hesitated. “I do want one but I want to leave room for lunch, too.”

She chuckled. “I’ll save you one for later.”

“Are you serving them for lunch? Will Alfie get one?”

I could see that it hadn’t occurred to her. She pursed her lips, thinking.

“I didn’t make enough today, chuck. These are for the sprites who are working on the borders. They need sustenance. But I can make some more for Alfie tomorrow.”

I gave her a cheeky smile and asked, “Should I come down tomorrow morning to test them?”

She laughed and chucked me under the chin. I was getting used to her doing that, and I liked it. I wanted her to do it again. I liked all my new family being in contact with me, sometimes. I’d never had casual touches before.

When she had gone back to her cooking, and I’d spent a few moments building up my courage, I asked her what I’d really gone down to the kitchen to ask.

“You know all the Somervilles, don’t you?”

Okay, so maybe that wasn’t exactly what I’d gone to ask but I was building up to it.

“Yes, sprites always know who we work for.”

“Do you have a connection with the whole clan or just the elder?”

“Sprites have different magic from dragons. We can sense where people are, if we want to. It’s whatmakes us so good at our jobs. Like me, for instance. I knew where Alfie went into the woods every day, which is how I was able to transport those trays of food straight there after I realised he was the one who’d needed extra food.”

She didn’t say whether she’d known he’d been taking the food for me, or whether she’d assumed Alfie had just been extra hungry.

“So you know where every member of the clan is right now?”

“Some I can pinpoint with more accuracy than others. And I don’t feel it all the time. I have to focus if I want to find them.”

“Can you find your clan even if they’re far away?”

“Within reason.”

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