Page 30 of The Arrival of the Dragons

“Dig in,” she said, her mouth parting slightly with desire for the pie, as she simply pulled out a hunk of it with her right hand. No utensils required.

Gooey filling and a dusting of sugar ran down her fingers, but she just bit into the main piece, making groans of delight. Even though he normally couldn’t eat when he was upset, he couldn’t resist this pie, not when it had Rose making those grunts of satisfaction. Besides, if he waited, she might eat it all! So he dug in too.

He soon was joining her in the wordless sounds of appreciation. The filling was just the right amount of sweet and tart to cut the fat from the crust that must have been mostly butter and sugar. The coarse sugar crystals that were sprinkled on top of the pie added a wonderful crunch to the pie’s soft interior and moist crust.

They didn’t talk until half the pie was eaten. Then as they licked their fingers clean of sugar and butter and cherries, he told her everything. Rose was a good listener, he realized. Probably one of the best. She asked a question here or there, but only to draw him out more or clarify a point. But other than that, she didn’t speak until he was done. He let out an exhausted sigh when he brought her up to the point of meeting her in the street.

“So… I’m pretty much a shit person, right?” He tucked his head down.

“No, but you were pretty mean to your folks when you knew they were just scared for you, which for you, fluffy bunny,” she poked his stomach, which had him letting out a squeak and telling her to cut it out, “is pretty intense.”

He rested his head in his hands. “I don’t know. It just all came out. I know it’s not fair. But it’s…”

“Not altogether untrue? Yeah, that’s why you regret it so much. The truth hurts the most. To be fair, I don’t believe your father was consciously thinking that he was finally going to get what he feels he’s owed by his son being the next Dragon Shifter.”

He smiled at her dry tone. “That’s probably an understatement.”

“They were scared. You were frustrated. After everything that’s happened, the fact that you didn’t snap worse than this before is amazing in my view.” She looked down mournfully at the pie, but then shook herself and covered it with the foil again. “We’ll get totally sick if we eat more now. Besides, we’ll get to think about having it later, which is a pleasure in itself.”

He smiled. “I’m so glad I met you, Rose. I feel like we’ve known one another forever.”

She smiled and pinked, responding, “Yeah, it’s so weird. I remember having a few friends like this before the joining where I just…clicked.” She snapped her sticky fingers. “Eweh.” She wiped them on her dress. “But I have to admit that I’d given up on having a friend like that. Until you.”

They both smiled shyly and bumped shoulders.

“You’re the only one who understands,” Caden said as he leaned back against the cold stone of Reach’s outer wall.

She let out a laugh. “I understand what it means to be one of the most powerful people in the world? Uhm, no. Definitely not.”

“I’m not?—”

“Yes, Caden, youare. You’re one ofninebeings that has the ability to destroy all of us.” She sighed. “I know from how you told me about it that you felt arrogant for saying how important Iolaire was to everyone. But that’s not being arrogant. That wastrue.” She crossed her legs at the ankles as she, too, leaned back against the cold stone. “When I was down in the Below, getting the pie?—”

“We have to do something more for your neighbor to get more pie,” he begged.

She grinned. “She has plenty of weeding to do.”

“I’m there!”

“Then we shall be inundated with pie!”

“Sounds perfect to me.”

She shook her head. “As I was saying before I was so rudely interrupted about pie?—”

“There is nothing rude about pie,” he scoffed.

“Well, you may have a point there. Butanyways. When I was down in the Below, people were all buzzing about Iolaire,” she said with a faint smile. “There washope, and we don’t get a lot of that down there.”

Caden blinked. “Should—should Iolaire go there? Gobackthere? After what we did? The hurt we caused?”

He couldn’t quite believe that the people in the Below would look at him and Iolaire with anything other than rage after the deaths that their coming there had caused.

“People know that was an accident. And they blame Valerius, if they blame anyone,” she assured him. “So if you… you wanted to go to the Below… I don’t see why not. Especially with Marban making sure that things are all kept in order.”

“Marban.” Caden’s lips couldn’t help but flatten.

“He’s not all that bad. You should have seen him and Wally today in the shop. They were like a couple of old hens clucking at one another the entire time!” Rose laughed so hard that she was gulping for air. He thumped her back.

---