Page 91 of Violet Thistlewaite Is Not a Villain Anymore
“Thank you,” said Nathaniel happily. As their dog, now fully grown and huge, wagged her tail and barked, he added, “And this is Daisy.”
It never failed to astound Violet how openly proud Nathaniel was to be with her, how he wore their relationship like a badge of honor. Family had always been important to him, she reasoned, but this was her first go at it, although he’d offered many times to try to help her find her mother’s ship.
Someday, Violet answered each time. When she was ready.
She worried often whether she was doing it right, this family thing, and whether she knew how to be normal, how to be good, as well as she wanted to be. But as Nathaniel reminded her often, she was making the right choices and he was there with her every step of the way.
“Shall I show you the spot?” Violet asked, turning the attention away from her impending nuptials.
“Please.” Karina strolled with them along the garden path toward the statue. “Reports in town are of a loud noise in the middle of the night, and then…?”
“Yeah, that’s about it.” Violet shrugged. “But I don’t think it’s a problem.”
“And why is that?”
They reached the central plinth, where Sedgwick stood frozen and stony in place as usual, but that was all that was recognizable about the now-famous landmark.
The precious stone the statue had grasped in his hands was gone, as was, more startlingly, the massive figure of the dragon that had stood guard over him for more than a year.
Best of all, the space at Sedgwick’s feet was empty too.
Karina frowned at the empty space where the dragon once stood. “The rock goblins are dangerous. You’ve no idea where they went?”
“None. One of our neighbors said she saw them fly away into the night.”
“If someone gets their hands on that jewel…”
“I know.”
Karina examined the area closely, pocketing a few crumbs of stone that had fallen.
“The Queen wants me to find the Eye of the Serpent and bring it into her treasury,” she admitted. “But if what you say is true, she’ll have to make room for a slide of rock goblins in the Lune Vault as well.”
“That would make quite the hoard for that dragon,” quipped Violet.
The Tempest nodded. “It’s a problem I don’t think she’s prepared for, and I’ll tell her that myself. In the meantime, if anything suspicious happens, you’ll contact me?”
“We’ll let you know at the first sign of danger,” Violet promised.
“Very well.” The Tempest nodded curtly. “You’ve done good here, Violet. I’m glad I made the decision I did that day.”
Violet’s breath caught in her chest, and Nathaniel held her closer as she responded, “I’m glad too.”
As the hero wrapped up her investigation, Violet and Nathaniel bid her farewell and watched her take off at a fast clip down the hill.
“She couldn’t get out of here fast enough,” Violet mused warmly.
“It’s just as well,” said Nathaniel, squeezing her fondly. “We’ve enough heroes in Dragon’s Rest these days.”
As soon as she was gone, a gravelly croak brought theirattention behind them. A familiar pair of onyx eyes peered out at them from one of the flower beds.
Violet’s mouth dropped open. “Peri?”
The rock goblin crept from the greenery, and only when Daisy lunged in excitement did he throw himself at them. It was hard to tell once he was wrapped in a heap of Daisy’s pale fur, but Peri looked good as new, the Eye of the Serpent safely back in his chest where it belonged.
“Where’s the rest of your slide, my friend?” Violet asked.
Peri let out a longcreeeeauuughand then went back to playing with Daisy.
