Page 123 of His Greatest Treasure

“Well, um, I was wondering…”

Damn, I wished I’d thought this through properly. Then I could have brought Blaze with me. I didn’t stutter and hesitate so much when he wastucked against my side.

Instead, I focused on my bonds. There was the brightest bond of all, the one I shared with my mate, and it glowed with fire and happiness and the feeling of safety. My dragon swelled inside me with pride that we’d given Blaze a clan he felt so safe with.

And there was my bond with Aunt Silvia, too. It still shimmered with protective instinct, which gave it a particular sheen, but that instinct ran both ways now. It had also faded. It wasn’t that it was weaker, as such, it was just that it wasn’t so much in the foreground. Our bond had softened.

I realised then how tense and wary Aunt Silvia and my mother had always been. They’d been bracing themselves for years, expecting something awful to happen and desperately hoping they’d somehow be able to stop it, despite having been powerless to stop it happening to Alexander.

Aunt Silvia put down her brush and wiped her hands down her apron.

“Yes, Alfie?”

“I was wondering if you’d paint my portrait to hang in the grand hall.”

The words blurted out of me and Aunt Silvia looked stunned.

“You- you wantmeto paint it?”

“You’re an excellent painter,” I pointed out. “I’d be honoured to have you paint it.”

She swallowed, “That’s- that’s wonderful. I’d love to, Alfie.”

“I’m going to have my portrait done with Blaze, too. I want us both to be in it, together. I’m not having my portrait hanging up there without him.”

Silvia nodded as though she hadn’t considered anything different.

“He’s your mate. It’s his right to be there beside you.”

“Really? Mother wasn’t in the last one.”

Silvia’s mouth became a thin line of disapproval but the old instinct never to criticise my father still lingered.

“The last Lord Somerville did not wish it, and Regina did not want to exercise her right.”

“But it’s okay if Blaze is in mine?”

“Of course. You’ll look magnificent, the two of you together. Shall I draw some concept sketches to give you some ideas?”

“Yes please,” I said, and began to back out of the door. It hadn’t really occurred to me that I’dneed to make any decisions about that, other than choosing who I wanted to paint my portrait in the first place. Having chosen Aunt Silvia – the obvious choice – I’d pretty much thought she’d do what she wanted and I’d be delighted with the result.

Even if I didn’t really like it that much, the point was that she’d painted it formeand I’d love it because it showed me how much she cared.

If I was going to have to make decisions about composition, I’d need Blaze with me.

Chapter 49

Blaze

We’d been busy for two days, clearing out our new bedroom. We worked during the day and, somehow, overnight, someone else had finished cleaning it, scrubbing the walls and the floors after we’d swept and dusted and filled so many rubbish bags.

With a new coat of paint, a new bed and our chair brought in front the den, it was a perfectly cosy room.

There were still things to do, but it was good enough for us to move into.

I was nervous when we did. Even though we’d been spending the nights together in Alfie’s old room, there was something about us being inour own room together that made everything feel more… official.

Alfie stood beside me and he was lit by the flickering glow of the fire in the hearth. He looked stunning. The yellow-orange light of the flames tinted his blonde hair with gold, and made his skin rosy. Even standing there in his human form, I thought I could see that he was a golden dragon.

---