Page 40 of Rapunzel's Gambit (All That Glitters)

“I didn’t mean to frighten you today,” Pollox murmured, then I heard his jaw crack from yawning so widely.

“Well then, you failed miserably.” I rubbed my cheek against the dragon’s hide, still marveling at how soft it was despite repelling several arrows that day. Pollox’s snout nuzzled at my arm, and I wrapped it around one of the horns above his ear hole.

Several minutes passed in silence. I had nearly drifted off to sleep when Pollox spoke. “Can you at least express your appreciation at your fake rescues to those men without kissing any of them?”

“Why?” I murmured, barely processing his words. “It works.”

A tremor ran through his wing. “It just seemed superfluous. I don’t want you to be taken advantage of.”

I chuckled. “I’m the one taking advantage of them.”

“I still don’t like it. Those men…they don’t appreciate you. But rest assured that I won’t ever hurt you,” the dragon promised. “And I won’t allow you to ever get hurt either.”

As I drifted off to sleep, I felt at peace. Funny how, even after Griffin’s warnings, I didn’t doubt Pollox’s sincerity. Who could have ever guessed that I would feel safest around my kingdom’s greatest threat? He would never allow me to get hurt, and I would never stand for letting anyone kill Pollox and sell his parts to the highest bidder.

Griffin was wrong. I would never need the dragonsbane he’d given me.

CHAPTER18

Pollox and I laid low in the cave for a few days, sure that there would be a lapse in attempted rescues after Griffin’s failure, and sure enough, Pollox’s enchantments didn’t alert him to anything at the tower. We invented a new game in which I would fill a goblet of water from the pool at the back of the cavern and fling it into the air. It then became Pollox’s duty to vaporize all the water before any hit the ground.

Each time he succeeded, he would lift his head proudly and look in my direction, waiting for admiration, almost like a faithful, house-sized dog.

“I haven’t singed you once, either,” he noted. “You’re always safe with me.”

“I’ve noticed. You’re right; you do take excellent care of your hoard.”

His taloned feet scraped against the cave floor. “And I always will. Can that squire say the same?”

“Considering that squires rarely have any sort of hoard to speak of, I think that question is moot. It isn’t like they are paid well unless they become knights, and slim few come from wealthy families.”

Pollox used one of the spikes on his tail to flip over a live coal in the fire, then moodily lumbered down the hall to one of the treasure rooms.

I followed. “Are you feeling jealous? Do you wish to be held, Pollox?” I teased, using his same words from a few nights before as I entered the room filled with gold coins.

“I don’t think you’re capable of holding me.”

I flung my arms around his snout, placing my eyes on level with his. He raised his head so that my feet left the ground. I clung tighter to him, a bubble of laughter escaping as he gently swayed his neck back and forth.

“Don’t you dare let me fall. You may ruin all of this neat organization if I go crashing to the ground.”

Pollox gently set me back down again, but I kept my hand on his snout to absorb the warmth that always radiated from him.

“I need to visit the orphanage again soon,” he noted.

I lay back against his side and stared up at the many shelves filled with chests and sacks of gold. “Are they low on money already?”

“No. I simply want to check on how things are going. I enchanted their table to be like ours—it will fill with food anytime they want it. They have a wardrobe like yours too, except that it won’t transport them here. It just provides clothing. I also have a toy chest that fills with different toys each day. Most will be dragon-themed.”

I snuggled against his tucked-up wing. “You’re the most altruistic dragon I know.”

“And you’re the most diabolical princess I know.”

“A perfect team, then.”

We sat in companionable silence for a time, staring around at our hoard.

“We don’t need ransoms for those men anymore,” Pollox announced suddenly.

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