Page 89 of Fiendish Delights
Hester beamed. ‘Thank you, Your Highness!’
The dragon rumbled, ‘You may call me Aine.’
Hester hugged herself in delight. ‘Hi, Aine!’ She reached out to touch the dragon’s nostril then, apparently remembering what had happened last time, thought better of it and withdrew her hand.
Aine’s expression gave nothing away but she wasn’t breathing liquid fire on us and I took that as a positive. All the same, it made sense to get to the point of our visit before we outstayed our welcome.
I stepped forward, ignoring Hugo’s sharp intake of breath and hissed warning. ‘Thanks for not killing us,’ I said.
The dragon’s slitted eyes turned to me. ‘Yet.’
I acknowledged the warning with a nod. ‘I apologise for intruding upon your home.’
‘Then why are you here, elf?’
Hugo cleared his throat. ‘You have something that belongs to us.’
I winced; I wouldn’t have chosen those words.
Aine’s massive nostrils flared. ‘Something that belongs toyou?’ Her raspy Welsh voice dripped with disdain.
‘What he means,’ I said quickly, ‘is that we’d really like to take back the chess set we found in the graveyard.’
Her eyes narrowed. ‘It is not yours to take, no matter what you claim.’
‘I’m sure you know there’s great power contained within it.’
Aine huffed. ‘I know more about it than you, elf.’
I swallowed hard. ‘In that case, you know what will happen if a fiend gets their hands on it.’ I lifted my chin. ‘I’m assuming you know what fiends are.’ I certainly hoped she did; I already had enough explaining to do.
She didn’t blink. ‘I am aware of fiends.’
That was good. ‘They know about the chess set and they’re coming for it. If you give it to us, we can keep it safe and stop them getting hold of it.’
‘You think you can do better against a fiend than I can?’ Aine enquired in undisguised disbelief.
‘No. But the British Museum has?—’
I didn’t get the chance to finish my sentence. Aine lifted her head and let out a tremendous roar. The hairs on the back of my neck rose. Hester, who had continued to hover a metre or so in front of the dragon’s snout, was sent tumbling backwards through the air.
‘The British Museum?’ Aine’s body vibrated with fury. ‘Thieving bastards.’
Uh-oh. I could already see licks of flame around her jaw. Before she decided that the mere mention of the museum was enough to incinerate us, I jumped in front of her. ‘They’re better than they used to be, I promise. I know they have a reputation for taking things?—’
‘Stealing! Not taking!’ Aine roared.
I nodded quickly; to be fair, she had a good point. ‘You’reright – but they don’t do that sort of thing any more. They’ve learned.’ At least I hoped they had; I didn’t actually know how the British Museum was run these days. All I did know was that they were probably the only people in this country who could safeguard the magical chess set.
Aine wasn’t even remotely mollified. ‘Why would I trust you?’ She lowered her head until her massive fangs were less than a metre from my head. Her breath clouded my face and I could feel the heat of her banked fire, but I held my ground. I had to.
‘Daisy—’
I didn’t turn to look at Hugo. ‘Take it out,’ I instructed. I met Aine’s stare head-on. ‘We have something for you. We suggest a fair exchange of items.’
Hugo joined me and rummaged in his backpack. I remained tense, only relaxing slightly when he finally extricated the ancient egg and unwrapped it. ‘Here,’ he said, with a distinct lack of ceremony. ‘You give us the chess set. We give you this egg.’
It was impossible to read Aine’s expression because dragons didn’t give a lot away. She looked from the egg to me and back again before her jaws opened wide and I was confronted with her cavernous dark mouth. ‘Or,’ she said, ‘I set you all alight and take the egg anyway. That’s a far better idea.’
