Page 6 of Deven and the Dragon
“They’re all too old to have much of a brawl, if you ask me. But I’d give them a few minutes to cool down before you go in.” Sam nodded dubiously. “Anyway, when they give you the chance to get a word in edgewise, tell Mrs. Drucker I’ll do it. She’ll know what I mean. And I can let myself out.”
Deven slipped out the front and set off up the hill, rather than down. He couldn’t go home just yet; maybe George and Phina would fret, but he needed a few minutes to himself, to look over the town and walk far enough to let his mind work through everything that had happened in the past hour.
He was going to meet a dragon; he had been tasked with seducing a dragon in order to take one of his scales, a project that Deven found distasteful; a little boy’s life hung in the balance.
Deven had a great deal of thinking to do.
Chapter Three
The top ofFiora’s turret offered a perfect view of the small group trudging up the hill toward the castle. He peeked around one of the crenellations and watched them approach. Andrei occupied a similar position to his left, although he had to duck a little to stay out of sight.
“Where’s the girl?” Andrei asked, voicing Fiora’s thoughts perfectly.
Because there was no sacrificial maiden amongst the town’s delegation, unless the council meant to pass off the gray-haired crone at the front of the procession as a lady of innocent purity. Well. Fiora supposed it was possible; after all, virgins came in all shapes, sizes, and ages. But she wore the same absurd plush hat as all but one of the rest, and had a sash over her dress. She was one of the council, as far as Fiora could tell.
The only one lacking a hat and sash was a tall figure in perfectly normal trousers and coat at the rear of the group — good God, very tall indeed. He towered nearly a full head over the next tallest man present. His brown hair gleamed gold in the rising sun, and he walked with a loose, insouciant stride, hands in his pockets as if he hadn’t a care in the world.
“They seem to have left the girl at home and brought a giant, instead,” Fiora muttered. “Do you think they’ve changed their minds and decided to challenge me to single combat?”
Andrei craned his head for a better view. “No sword,” he said dismissively. “And that fellow’s well-developed enough, but he’s hardly a match for a dragon in hand-to-hand combat. My lord, I think he’s the sacrifice.”
Fiora leaned out a little further and squinted against the sun, wishing he’d had the foresight to bring a spyglass from his study. The man took his hands out of his pockets and shrugged out of his coat, draping it casually over one shoulder. Oh, God. Those shoulders looked even broader without the coat than with it. Fiora bit his lip. Did they already have a spy in the castle? He’d have sworn none of his servants would tell tales about him for love or money, but if the council wanted to place someone near Fiora who’d be able to addle him into giving up his secrets…well, this would be much more effective than a maiden. The maiden who could addle Fiora hadn’t been born yet and probably never would.
The group drew nearer, and now Fiora could make out their faces. The presumed sacrifice wasn’t the sort of aristocratic beauty Fiora had tended to dally with back home, but he had a certain homely appeal, with his straight dark brows and square jaw. And then one of the council said something to him, gesturing impatiently at the coat he’d removed, and the man smiled, a wide, wicked, disrespectful grin thatdid thingsto Fiora’s insides.
“Oh my,” Andrei said suddenly, making Fiora jump. Bloody bother, didAndreisuddenly have a fondness for improbably tall men with long, well-muscled legs? Or was he reading Fiora’s mind? Fiora turned to glare at him, but Andrei wasn’t rapt with lust. He was laughing silently, shaking his head and rubbing his temples as if overcome.
“Have you lost your wits?” Fiora hissed. “What?”
“My lord, I’ve seen him before. The sacrifice. I’m not sure what game they’re playing, but he’s not as described.”
“Well, of course he isn’t! He’s not a maiden, for one thing, unless looks areverydeceiving!”
The group below drew nearer — near enough that they might notice anyone at the top of the tower, should they happen to look up. Andrei lowered his hand and crouched down behind the wall, beckoning Fiora to join him.
“You know, my lord, I was thinking about it just now, and the letter they sent never used the wordmaidenat all. Or, in fact, any feminine noun or pronoun of any kind. Did you notice that?”
Fiora frowned, recalling the letter as best he could. “All right,” he said slowly. “I don’t think it did either, now that you mention it. I simply assumed.” Andrei grimaced, acknowledging the same error. “That hardly matters, though, does it?”
“No, but the letter most definitely used the wordsinnocentandpure. And like I said, my lord, I’ve seen him before.” He hesitated, and Fiora gestured at him impatiently. “Well. I’d stabled my horse at the Jolly Tankard while I was in town for the day. When I returned to retrieve her — suffice to say I got an eyeful when I looked into the wrong stall. Your sacrifice most assuredly doesn’t fit the council’s description. Unless it was his purity the stable hand was sucking, that is.”
“Oh,” Fiora gasped. “Oh. Really?”Tell me more. No, no, he wasnotgoing to ask for details, damn it all. If he needed fodder for his prurient imagination, he had plenty of books. Also, he had dignity. And it wasn’t as if he could do more than imagine it, given his circumstances. He lifted his chin and straightened his cravat. Dignity, by God. “Well, I hardly suppose it matters, does it? Since this is all a farce in the first place.”
Andrei nodded. “We knew they had an ulterior motive to begin with, so a lie like this is hardly shocking. On the other hand, if they’d really sent us a pure and innocent citizen of Ridley, we’d have some idea of their criteria for choosing that person. As it is, my lord, I’m forced to wonder — why him? He may be an accomplished thief, or perhaps have some other skill that would help him steal or spy. We need to be on our guard.”
“We were going to be on our guard anyway,” Fiora sighed. “This just means we can’t depend on putting things on high shelves to keep them out of our unwanted guest’s sight.”
Andrei narrowed his eyes. “This is hardly the time to be makingjokes, my lord,” he said quellingly, and then added, under his breath, “…as if you could reach the high shelves in the first place.”
Fiora ignored that by main force, though he felt the tips of his ears burn. That bastard Andrei. Not everyone could be tall, and it wasn’t as if Andrei could turn into an enormous lethal beast with great sharp teeth, now, could he? Fiora’s dragon form was a perfectly respectable size, at least, thank you very much.
He peeked over the battlement in time to see the group from Ridley drawing to a halt on the circular carriage drive before the castle. They stood in a milling knot, clearly wondering what to do next.
“This appears to be our cue,” Fiora said, and shrugged out of his coat.
“I’ll go down to greet them and await your appearance, then,” Andrei replied, and moved off toward the stairs.
Fiora stripped quickly and then tipped his head up, basking in the sunshine for a moment. He loved the feel of sun on his skin, whether soft and human or scaly and draconic. If only he could walk in the sun with someone he loved…the sacrifice’s wicked smile and long, lean limbs flashed through his mind, and his eyes popped open again.
