Page 7 of Her Dragon Defender

Or eternal servitude, carrying out the fates' wishes, like Laima's punishment. Ah, she'd long since made peace with her fate, such as it was. There were plenty of perks to leaven the disadvantages.

She spooned flowers into the teapot, then filled the kettle and set it to boil. She'd have preferred to hang an iron kettle over a roaring fire, full of water fresh from the spring, but fireplaces were a luxury these days, and fresh spring water even more so, so the small electric device heated tap water instead. How times had changed.

The door flew open, hitting the stone wall with an audible crack.

Laima hoped there wasn't a real crack in the door – that would cost a pretty penny to repair. Or worse, replace.

She glared at the disadvantage now standing in her open doorway, letting in the cold night air. "What are you doing here?"

Craig Tremotino sauntered into her house, as though he had every right to be there. "Why, just checking on my favourite tenant, of course!" He hooked his leg around one of her kitchen chairs and dragged it out from under the table, then sat down on it. "And to tell you I've changed my mind about hosting your Fairytale Masquerade Ball."

Laima saw red. "Now, see here, you delusional little man. Mirror Academy has a lifetime lease on these buildings, and one of the lease conditions is that all formal balls must be held at your castle. If you so much as think of weaselling your way out of it...oh!"

The sound that came out of her mouth had a lot more vowels than it was supposed to, but what else did one say when one's slipper caught on the edge of a broken tile, catapulting one forward into a chair, before crashing down, chair and all, on the tiles at Tremotino's feet, with another crack that Laima knew meant something had indeed broken. Her hip, this time, she was sure of it.

Tremotino rose slowly, his expression morphing from thunderous to delighted as he reached his full height, towering over her as she lay on the floor. Oh, he was definitely enjoying this. He gave rabid curs a bad name.

"Shut up and listen, you old bitch. I'll still hold your ball, to the letter of the lease agreement, but my price has changed. This time, I want one of your girls to be mine for the night. A beautiful blonde, who will obey my every whim."

"None of my girls would soil themselves by allowing you to touch them," Laima spat. She wished she could spit in his face, but gravity was against her, so she spat on his boot instead.

The boot he raised, before bringing it down hard on her broken hip.

Laima let out a howl of agony.

"You will give me what I want, you old bitch, or I'll take one of your girls for myself, and you won't get her back. What do you think the police will say when a second girl goes missing, when they haven't found the first? You'll have to close your school, and what a shame that would be."

"You...wouldn't!" Laima panted, wishing she sounded more authoritative, but all that came out was a sort of pained whisper.

"Oh, there's very little I wouldn't do, but if you give me the girl I want for the night, and she's properly obedient, I'll give her back to you in the morning. Not before I've broken her in, of course. And she won't remember a thing." He ambled over to the spice rack and pulled out a bottle. "This will do nicely," he said as he tucked it into his pocket. "Don't forget. Your most beautiful blonde, to do whatever I want with. Or I'll break her more thoroughly than I've broken you, and the police will never find her." He sauntered out of the house, without even a backward glance.

The kettle bubbled fiercely, giving voice to Laima's fury, before the timer clicked off and the water simmered down.

Just as the pain began to ebb, and Laima's hip knitted itself back together.

She pushed the fallen chair upright, then used it to help her stand. A roaring fire would be really nice right now, or maybe just a hot bath to ease the stiffness. For Tremotino was right about one thing.

She was an old bitch, older than he could imagine, and he had no idea who he was messing with. Not to mention stealing potions from her...he would regret all of this, but his theft most of all.

Laima poured hot water into the tea pot, and clinked the lid closed. She'd best start running her bath while it brewed, so she could drink it while she soaked her old bones.

She knew exactly which girl to send to him at the ball. Only a fool thought he could master fate, and Tremotino was the biggest fool she'd ever met.

Mirror Academy had been schooling girls for centuries, and no young upstart boy was going to close it, Laima swore. Not as long as she drew breath.

EIGHT

"Let me guess...you're looking for a costume for the Fairytale Masquerade Ball at Tremotino Castle?"

Blaze blinked.as the door to the costume shop banged shut behind him. "How could you possibly know that?"

The woman behind the counter raised her eyebrows. "Because you're a lost-looking man who has obviously left it to the last minute, and you're the fifth one already today. On the plus side, you have broader shoulders than the previous four, so I might have more options to show you. So, let's start with the basics. Do you have any preferences? A favourite fairytale, perhaps?"

Blaze hadn't watched those since he was a kid, and even then, they hadn't been his favourites. He'd wanted to watch stuff where dragons were the heroes, not the villains, and those were few and far between. "Do you have any dragons?"

The woman frowned. "I do have a deluxe Toothless, but it's currently at the cleaners after a kids' birthday party this week. The guy who rented it swore some kid vomited on him, but if you ask me, that mess was self inflicted, with more beer than any kid should drink. Deluxe costumes come with an extra cleaning fee deposit, by the way, just in case you decide to take it to the pub. If you bring the suit back clean, you get your deposit back. Hmm...oh, I think we still have a Mushu out the back, but it might be a bit small for you. That's it for dragons for now. If you'd given me some warning, I might have been able to get something else in, but this close to the event, there's no chance. It's what I have here, or nothing. I'm afraid." She peered down at her tablet. "If you like monsters with wings, though, I do have a Goliath the Gargoyle in stock. He's a bit old school, but it would fit you well."

She slipped out from behind the counter and scanned the racks of clothing. "Ah ha!" She dived into a corner that appeared to be stuffed full with a giant sheep and a monstrous mountain of yellow tulle, emerging with a bundle of grey material. "Here he is – perfect!"

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