Page 15 of Consort's Dragon
You will live here,it announced.And don’t think you can avoid me by hiding inside.If I call and you don’t answer I will tear this place apart and once I pluck you out, I will put you somewhere you can’t ignore me.
“I already have a home somewhere else.”
Are you going to be stubborn about this?Perhaps I should have left you on the ledge for longer.
Annoyed Griff growled, “Did you treat my father like this?
Of course not.He was reasonable and embraced being my companion.It is considered an honor, you know.
“You can’t force people to be your friend.”
If I don’t, you’ll leave.
True.Griff didn’t think it a good idea to lie and say otherwise.“It’s not that I don’t want to help you, but I’m worried about my friends.You said Avera went away on a ship.What of those who were travelling with her?Were they with her?”
You speak of your vassals.They also boarded a ship, but a different one from the blooded female.
“Wait, you’re saying there were two ships?”Griff cursed their foul luck.Koonis must have returned.
So slow.Yes, there were two.The one with your vassals is anchored just past the fog.
“My ship is still there?”He’d assumed they would have left once they thought him dead.Perhaps the repairs after the kraken battle were still taking time.
You’ll be glad to know I did not sink it because one shouldn’t destroy a blooded’s hoard.
“What of the ship with Avera?”
It left.
Griff’s blood turned cold.“I don’t suppose you saw the boat’s name,” he asked, though he already assumed the answer.
Why yes, I did.TheEmperor’s Folly.
“Bloody fucking bastard,” Griff ranted.
Is there a problem?
“Avera was taken by Captain Koonis.That fucker.”
Are you saying I should have eaten him?
“Yesss,” Griff huffed.“Eaten, roasted, dismembered.He’s scum.”
If he returns, so long as the blood female isn’t aboard, then I shall destroy him and the vermin he commands.
“You and me both.”As for Griff, he was stuck with a needy dragon.“If you wanted a companion so badly, why didn’t you hatch some of the other eggs?”
Why would I do that?This island isn’t big enough for two dragons.It has barely enough food to sustain me.
“Maybe if you’d not killed everyone and everything, that wouldn’t be a problem,” Griff reminded.
I was hungry.
“And you got rid of those who would have ensured you had a steady diet.If you’d let them live, they could have tended flocks for you to enjoy.”
What an intriguing idea.Perhaps I’ll keep the next thieves so they might serve as chefs.
Was it worth correcting the dragon that he meant farmers and not cooks?Would the dragon understand the difference?“If you want them to shepherd then you’ll need livestock imported and then you’ll have to temper your appetite so they can reproduce or else you’ll run out again.”
