Page 69 of His Greatest Treasure

“To be with you?”

“Yes.”

“That makes a lot of sense. I want to be with you too. I mean, it’s not just my dragon who wants that. Youarestaying, aren’t you? Now everyone’s met you, they’re going to love you.”

When he glanced warily over at my father, I whispered, “I won’t let anyone hurt you. I promise.”

This time, when I made that promise, I felt like I could keep it. Inside me, that rumble happened again, and I realised I’d heard it before. It was familiar, but it had been faint, as though I’d heard it from a distance. Now it was loud and demanding.

I felt a presence beside me and looked up to see my mother standing there, looking at me as though she’d never really seen me before.

“Alfie? Did you allow this fire spirit into our territory?”

“Um, yes, I did. I know I should have told you but you would have sent him away and I, um, couldn’t let you do that.”

My intestines tried to tie themselves in a knot inside me, or maybe that was my dragon scratching at my insides like a caged beast, but either way, I knew that I wouldn’t let Blaze be taken away from me. Whereas before I’d felt the dread of it, now I knew for certain what that dread was.

It was my dragon deciding that it loved Blaze and we were going to be together. Forever. And the dragon that was simmering away inside me wasn’t going to be reasonable about it, either. I wasn’t sorry I’d let Blaze stay. And I wasn’t going to let him be sent away, either.

Because he was sweet and caring, Blaze tried to defend me so I wouldn’t get into trouble with my family.

“I got into the territory alone. The Guardian was building the protections up but it’s a large territory and he was working alone. I slipped in. He felt me do it, but nobody could find me.”

I whispered to Mother, “Glimmerdidtell Lord Somerville about it. And he built up the protections where Blaze got in.”

I didn’t want anyone thinking that Glimmer hadn’t been pulling his weight, either.

Mother glanced across at Father. I wasn’t sure, but she looked… unsure. As though she expected him to tell me off.

I remembered then: I wasn’t meant to say Glimmer’s name.

“I didn’t mean to talk about Glimmer, honest. I was only doing it because he was the Guardian at the time. Am I not allowed to even remember him? Because he’s still—”

My big mouth was going to get me into trouble and, worse, it was going to get Glimmer into trouble if my father found out that he was still living nearby, still working his magic for us on the borders.

Luckily, Blaze was my absolute saviour and he nudged me with his elbow and I cut off my sentence before I could reveal Glimmer’s secret.

I shot him a look of gratitude and reached for his hand. We were already standing so close together that I felt his body heat all along my arm.

Then my father’s voice cut through my contentment.

“Alphonse, come here. We need to talk.”

Chapter 29

Alfie

Ididn’t want to go and talk to my father. Something about the way he said ‘we need to talk’ made the dragon inside me grouchy, and it was such an unfamiliar feeling to have a massive beast inside me that I wasn’t sure I’d be able to cope if it did something. After all, it was bigger than I was.

My dragon snorted, and I got the impression it thought I was being silly.

Great, another person who thought I was ridiculous. I hoped my dragon wasn’t going to treat me like a child the way everyone else did.

“Alphonse,” said my father again. There was a warning in his tone.

I reluctantly let go of Blaze’s hand. I didn’t want to leave him but at least he was standing beside Mother. She’d protect him.

Blaze spoke softly, but his voice commanded me much more surely than my father’s did.

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