Page 18 of The Gold Dragon Prince
I turned to where I expected him to be, but the spot was empty. Instead, he strode around the corner, dressed in simple peasant’s clothing, as if he’d only just arrived from the estate itself.
I blinked and rubbed my eyes, wondering if I needed my glasses again already. I hadn’t noticed my beloved leaving or resuming his human form. Judging from the way the serfs looked at him, they hadn’t noticed him, or rather the dragon, leave. It occurred to me with a start that the alpha had called me “Lord Dragon” as if they thought I was the one who had transformed into a human when Gildur landed. They did seem to recognize Gildur as he arrived on the scene, though.
“Gildur,” the alpha said, stepping away from me to shake my beloved’s hand. “Thank Goddess you’ve come at last.”
“I came as soon as I heard, Freddy,” Gildur replied, shaking the alpha’s hand.
“Gildur is one of the head gardeners of Lady Saoirse’s estate,” the woman said as she moved to stand by my side. “He’s the only person within the walls who has ever looked out for us.”
My brow shot up for several reasons. Did the serfs not know Gildur was the dragon who had saved them? And was Gildur really Lady Saoirse’s gardener? There were definitely a mountain of things going on that I needed to find out about and quickly.
I found out about one of those things almost right away. One of the doors in the estate’s wall opened, and a tall, incredibly beautiful woman with long, wavy, black hair and a gown that was far too tight, even though her figure was perfect, rushed out, flanked by six guards. They reminded me so much of my father’s guards that I winced.
“Is it over?” Lady Saoirse asked, her look one of concern, but also reeking of insincerity. “Have those horrible ogres gone away? Gildur, tell me those ogres have gone away and left us alone.”
The woman herself was shocking enough, but when she rushed up to my dragon, my fated mate, grabbed his arm to hug it, and leaned into him, looking like she would kiss him, I nearly squeaked in indignation.
Chapter
Six
Gildur
It occurred to me with a wince that I wouldn’t be able to continue with the means I’d been using to sway Saoirse into confiding in me about her plans to challenge Mother. As the woman clung to my arm and batted her eyelashes at me, a deep, embarrassed heat spread through me. This would be awkward.
“Lady Saoirse, I presume,” Selle asked, his voice higher than usual and tight as he glanced between me and Saoirse. I could feel his indignation through our bond and I regretted it.
“My lady,” Freddy said, bowing low, but with the stiffness that came from showing grudging deference instead of genuine loyalty to the woman who controlled his life and the lives of his family and friends. “The ogres began their attack at dawn. We did everything we could to fight them off?—”
“And you did an admirable job of it,”I quickly interjected.
Freddy peeked at me in confusion before glancing to Selle, then exchanging looks with his wife and some of the other serfs.
“We fought as hard as we could,” Alyce said, wringing her hands and biting her lip. “The great oafs hardly noticed we were there. They were more bent on destruction than anything else. It wasn’t until a miraculous, gold dragon?—”
“Your serfs engaged in battle with skill and honor,” I interrupted again, staring hard at Alyce.
I didn’t want them to tip my hand to Saoirse. As her name hinted, Saoirse was a powerful sorceress, and if she believed magic was involved in the defeat of the ogres, if she knew that a dragon was involved, if she saw through my disguise as her gardener, it would only add to the suspicion that had been growing in her for a while, a suspicion that her plans were being monitored and my mother knew of her impending treachery.
I’d been arguing with Mother for a while that we had enough proof that Saoirse had nothing but malicious intent in the way she’d been building up her forces and forging alliances with some of the more brutish creatures of our world and others, but Mother continually insisted that the wicked would catch themselves in their own nets eventually.
She may have had a point, but as the ogre attack proved, other people could be hurt along with Saoirse if we were not careful.
Saoirse took a half step away from me, but continued to smile and make eyes at me. “Yes, my serfs are the best serfs. They serve so well. They are the sort of serfs that a powerful lady with as much property as I havewould be proud of.”
Selle arched an eyebrow and moved his hand to his face as if he would adjust his glasses, which he was not wearing.
His movement made me suddenly nervous for our egg. He still carried the precious thing in the sling, which had slipped down so that the egg was nestled against his belly, but it was fairly obvious that our golden egg wasn’t a part of his body.
I made a quick gesture toward him, using a tiny bit of concealing magic so that Saoirse would merely think Selle was a bit chubby instead of noticing a great, golden egg that she would immediately covet.
“Serfs should not have to battle ogres on their own,” Selle said, standing taller, one hand on our egg, unaware of the concealment I’d given it. “You are their lady, are you not? Should you not fight the ogres yourself?”
“Me?” Saoirse snapped straight, pressing a hand to her chest in offense. Or perhaps as a way to draw people’s eyes to her low-cut bodice. “You would havemefight off ogres?”
The way she spoke made it clear she was far more indignant about her place as lady above all instead of suggesting she could not fight because she was a woman.
“Well, if not you, then your guards,” Selle said, gesturing to the tall, burly men with Saoirse.
