Page 38 of Dragon Lord
She looked up at the broken rafters and the holes in the roof.She knew how to repair thatching.She had no idea what to do with shingles.She was no stonemason either.“You mean be lady of thisruin?”
“I am dragon.Do I not have a hoard?Ruins can be rebuilt.”
She stared into the dragon’s midnight eyes.“You have treasure?Where?”
“Under the hill, back home.Why do you think I live in that cave if not to guard what’s mine?”
“And you would use your hoard to rebuild this castle?”She watched him with suspicion.Dragons did not part from their gold for any reason, said the old tales.Did he think to claim the castle for himself and make her leave?
“I would rebuild this castle if it be your wish, Lady Einin,” he said.
She gave a startled laugh.“I’m no lady.”
“I’m no lord.”He held her gaze.“Do you think you could live with a cursed beast such as I?”
“Why?”Trust did not come to her easy.And she had little practice in good things coming her way.“What do you need me for, powerful as you are, whether man or dragon?Once word spreads that the castle has a new lord, maidens will flock to the gate.And all of them will be more biddable than I.”
“I don’t want a biddable maiden.I want the one who knows where the heart is in a dragon.”
“Exactly!I tried to kill you in your cave.”
“You could try again,” he said in a wistful tone.“I enjoy the sparring.I know you want to be wild and free, but we could be wild and free together.I would take you flying in the night sky.I would love you until my dying day.”
Her throat went dry.Her heart hammered a wild, irregular beat.“You never said you loved me.”
“I hunted for you.I let you sit on my back while I took you flying.”
“You didn’t eat me,” she added, recognizing the signs of dragon courtship now, in hindsight.
He beamed.“I wish to pledge my life to keeping you safe.”
The images flitting through her mind stole her breath.Suddenly, she wanted all Draknart was offering: a home that truly belonged to her, a mate who didn’t want to change her, and true freedom.Yes, she wanted it all.But as she watched Draknart, she felt disinclined to capitulate overly fast.The dragon was arrogant beyond words already.
“Keep me safe?”She fixed him with a haughty look.“I am the best swordswoman in the Black Hills.”
“You are the only swordswoman in the Black Hills.”He drew her closer.“My hoard and my sword are yours, my lady.Dragon by night, and man by day.”
She shoved him, but only just a little.“I don’t need your hoard and your sword.I have a sword of my own.I’m staying because I love you, you daft beast.”
He laughed, shaking the rafters, then rolled onto his back and smiled up to the night sky through the gaps in the ceiling with stunning, undiluted relief.“Thank the god and goddess.”
“Let us hope they’ll stay away.”
He laughed harder.
“Stop that!”She shoved him in earnest.“Don’t you collapse our only standing tower.This will be our bedroom when the castle is rebuilt.”
He softened his amusement to a chuckle.And then he sighed such a heartfelt sigh of contentment that Einin’s own heart, filled to the brim with love already, nearly overspilled.
Epilogue
Draknart never grew tired of looking at his castle from the air.The finely rebuilt, majestic structure was a sight to see at the crack of dawn, the four sturdy towers surrounded by mist.He flew in a smaller circle as he aimed for the highest tower, whooshing over the healthy village that had grown around the castle walls over the past century.
The first tradesmen who’d arrived to work on the castle’s restoration never left.They’d sent for their families, then invited their relatives.
As Draknart landed on top of the tower, he caught snatches of a conversation in a hut below.
“You should tell your cousin to come,” a woman said, probably to her husband, the two of them getting ready for the day.“The lord and the lady are kind.”
