Page 63 of Earth Dragon
“Yes,” Ewan replied, eyes going back to Shannon, who offered him another small smile in acknowledgment. He was quickly growing addicted. “I have a practiced hand,” Ewan added to the room. “But it will take me a while. And I need tools and a place to work,” he added to Lady Marigold, who nodded.
“Use the shed, you know where it is,” she said. “You will need to get the pine yourself.”
All three kings rose, saying in one voice, “I shall go.” They looked between one another, none of them willing to sit idle. None of them willing to back down.
“We’ll all go,” Hugh said, and the others agreed.
“No,” Ewan said. “Petrus or Eric should go. The rest of you should stay here and stay out of sight so that you don’t rouse suspicion. You shall all need to arrive by horse through the city gates as my most honored guests. A surprise, perhaps, for my father as I declare I have completed his trial and found the person he set me on the path of finding. With Shannon I have found love at last.”
He said the final statement with his eyes on her, and he thought he saw a slight flush in her cheeks. He felt a tightness in his chest release at the sight of it. He had not even realized it was there until that moment, but as she flushed under his declaration, he knew that he would fight for her. He would make her believe that he did want her to stay, to wear a crown, sit beside him. Bear him daughters and sons, if she wished to. But, most of all, let him love her.
No more lying to himself about what he did not or could not want.
Understanding moved through the room as everyone gathered understood why there had been talk of a mating bond to begin with. It being part of his trial made sense of it all and the kings each looked empathetic, having gone through their own trials. Ewan smiled at the comradery that settled on their faces.
“Is there anything else that I can help with?” Greer asked as Petrus headed out the door to find a suitably thick pine branch for the wreath.
“I have yet to fully connect with the earthmagic,” Ewan confessed to them all. “Perhaps we can see if there’s any way your elemental magics can help me achieve the connection.”
“The only way is by accepting it with your whole hearts,” Malcolm said. “If something is blocking you, you need to get rid of it. None of us can do that for you.”
Ewan nodded slowly.
“I think better with a chisel in my hand,” he said with a smile, excusing himself.
He chuckled when he heard Lady Marigold begin to give instructions for what needed chopping and what needed grating. Clearly the young dragons would not remain idle for very long.
He had crossed the short hall and had reached the back door when Shannon caught up with him.
“The shed?” she asked.
He didn’t explain further, merely brought her into the small backyard, where the shed stood in one corner. It was sturdy, built by strong hands, and not nearly as weatherworn as it should be considering how long it had been there.
“Everything in this garden is either edible, medicinal, or both,” he bragged.
Shannon raised her eyebrows, but not due to how impressed she was with that information as she was appraising the shed as they neared it.
“It is, indeed, a shed,” she said.
“Astute,” he remarked, making her give him a look.
He smiled, opening the door which creaked loudly. In fact, it sounded more like a shriek. Shannon frowned. His smile widened and he headed into the darkness, letting the door swing shut behind him.
Right inside it was the top step of a spiral staircase leading down into darkness. He headed down it, hearing as she reluctantly opened the door to follow him. As he expected that she would, she paused inside the door when what met her was not the cramped room she must have had in her mind’s eye, but instead the spiral stairs leading down.
“Come on,” he called up to her.
The cellar space he had reached was dry and stayed warm in the winter, cool in the summer. It was the perfect place to work in. It was also the perfect place to hide any unsolicited spellwork or enchantments, which was what Lady Marigold invested some of her time in. His father did not know, but as a young dragon, Ewan had learned what to steer clear of in the cellar space.
He walked around, putting flame to the torches resting in iron rings on the walls. Soon the space was well-lit and inviting.
If he was meant to connect with himself then this was the best place to do it. This was where he had spent most of his adolescence.
“I grew up down here,” he said when Shannon stepped down from the bottom step of the spiral staircase and entered the room. “I used to spend every free moment in this room, learning carpentry from Lady Marisol.”
“Marisol?”
“Marigold’s sister,” he said. “She’s left because she longed to travel a few centuries or so back. I try to visit a few times a week to keep Marigold company.”
