Page 34 of Earth Dragon
She barely looked at Ewan but reached for the bread and quickly buttered it as the conversation in the room rose to its previous cadence. She chewed the bread slowly, taking small bites. He watched her, searching for the right thing to say. Perhaps, if he chose his words carefully enough, that piece of bread would make her realize he was the only one for her.
“Sweet wine?” he asked.
“I prefer the spiced kind,” she replied. “Pepper, if you have it.”
“We do,” he said, giving a sign to a servant who approached with a flagon.
“Thank you.” The words were perfunctory. She still would not look at him.
He observed her hands as she reached for more bread, buttered it. “You’re welcome,” he said. “Would you like some food to go with that bread?”
She was as hungry as he was. And he knew all the reasons. Her movements slowed, her gaze finally connecting with his. He held it, daring the shadow of a smile. She let out a slow sigh, as though regaining her composure as she had come close to losing it. She looked like she wanted to speak her impatience at her situation, at being locked in this hall against her will, at being stuck here with no other prospect than to tie herself to him.
It seemed wrong then, to get her to stay with him under that premise.
He should free her.
But the thought sent chills through him. Along with the memory of her outside his cell in Malcolm’s castle, whispering with Sir Patrick.
The jealousy bloomed, even though he knew there had been nothing romantic between them. Sir Patrick had been closer with her than even Malcolm, or so Ewan had been told by Malcolm himself. Had it been Sir Patrick who ensnared her? If the knight had been here, Ewan would have put a noose around his neck himself.
“Stop looking so grim,” she said out of the corner of her mouth. “I told you the agreement is still intact.”
“I’m aware of that. It’s not the agreement that has me looking grim,” he said. “If you would only name one person. The person who initiated you in the first place. Then perhaps…”
“Perhaps what?” she asked, her irises flashing with a soft ring of blue as her anger got the better of her. Or was it her frustration? Repressing one’s true desires did take a toll.
“What are you two discussing over there?” Lord Taggart asked, that ever-present smile widening a tad as he winked at them. “Why don’t you let these two aging dragons in on the fun, hmm?”
“Nothing, my lord,” Ewan said. “We were discussing the failed hunt this morning.”
“Ah, and what were you aiming to catch?”
“Some sort of foul, I was thinking,” Ewan said. “Do you hunt, my lord?”
“Only as my dragon self,” the lord replied. “We see too little of it done these days, if you ask me.”
“I agree that there’s been an increase in human form hunting over the past century,” King Ellard nodded. “We should bring the old traditions back. Form hunting parties. Go after the bigger game that dwell in the mountains.”
“Here, here,” Lord Taggart cheered, raising his cup to Ellard, who smashed his own into it. The two men laughed good-naturedly.
“We moved away from the old traditions because they were barbaric,” Ewan remarked.
“Oh, what’s barbaric?” Lord Taggart asked. “Aren’t we all animals, no matter what shape we take?”
“I meant the way it tears up the landscape,” Ewan said. “There were wounds created in our forests that took decades to heal. Don’t you remember, father?”
“Oh, yes, you’re quite right,” the king nodded, looking as chastised as Ewan had hoped that he would.
Ewan’s gaze drifted to the lord, and he wondered at the power the man seemed to hold over his father, to make him forget such a dark part of their history. The people had not liked being asked not to hunt in dragon shape. They had objected, but in the end, they had seen that his father was right. As the countryside healed from claw marks and squabbles that could level half a woodland, the people had seen that, if they were to live in human form at all, they would have to do it for most of the time and build their society around it.
“But the earthmagic helped you heal the land,” the lord remarked.
“Yes, but we can’t use the earthmagic indiscriminately. It takes a toll on the Keeper. To heal the land required an exchange of energy and the way the land was broken it might have killed my father if he were to engage with it on a daily basis.”
“Ah,” the lord said. “I did not know that. I thought it was an all-encompassing gift. Free to be used as you see fit.”
“It is all-encompassing, but it comes with a price,” Ewan said. “But it isn’t to be used as the Keeper sees fit. It’s to be used sparingly and with consideration for the balance of things. That’s what the title Keeper signifies, as I’m sure you know. Keeper of the balance.”
