Page 15 of The Lost Princess

As if sensing the sudden shift, he paused, hovering over me indecisively. I scrambled out from underneath him, curling up in a ball. I hugged my knees to my chest, resting my head on top. I wasnaked!

We stared at each other for a long moment, and I realized I was holding my breath. I let it out slowly, and he mimicked me. He let a long huff out through his nose, and his wings relaxed, tucking back into his shoulders.

Hopefully that meant the rest of him had calmed down, too.

Seeing the wide gap now between the iron manacle and my newly healed ankle, he raised his fist high over his head.

“Wait—” I protested, but I was too late. His fist crashed down on the iron, shattering it. The manacle fell over my ankle, and my fingers immediately caressed it.

“Oh gods. Thank you,” I whispered, hardly believing it. I grabbed Jarrett’s cloak and tossed it over my shoulders, covering most of me.

When he returned to my side, he seemed more cognizant than ever before. I thumped my fist against my chest, and told him my name. “Kaida.”

I glanced at him expectedly. He crouched in front of me, his head tilted to the side. His massive member swung between his legs, still large and engorged. Well, so much foreverythingrelaxing.

“Kaida,” I tried again, speaking deliberately and thumping my chest.

He snorted through his nose again and opened his mouth. A twisted garble of sounds came out. Nothing recognizable.

I tried again. “Kaida.”

His lips twisted comically, but no sound burst forth. I opened my mouth gesturing for him to watch. The intensity with which he obliged left my mouth dry. I shook my head and made a few hard ‘kuh’ sounds in the back of my throat.

“Kh,” he grunted at me.

I lit up. “Yes! That’s it! Kaida!”

His lips tightened, then he tried again. “Kh. Kuh Kuhd.”

“Kaida. Kiiiiiii-duuh,” I encouraged him.

He leaned in close, studying my lips. “Kiiiiiii. Uh. Kaid. Kai.”

I patted his hand, sensing his frustration. “Kai is fine for now.” I picked up his hand, and together with mine placed it on his chest. “What’syourname?”

He stared at me.

I pointed at myself. “Kaida.” I pointed at him, and waited expectantly.

He blinked a few times, then his face grew stormy. Dragon Man stood and paced the small cave, growing more and more agitated.

Alarmed, I tried to soothe him. “Everything is well. You don’t have to get angry about it.”

He turned around and roared in my face.

I fell on my bum, taken aback. When I sat up, he was nowhere to be found. Had he just …leftme here? I swallowed heavily. Hopefully he’d just flown away to blow off steam somewhere. I flopped back on the floor. At least it was sandy, with bits of moss here and there to soften the stones. Now that dragon man was gone, I could focus on my surroundings.

The stone of the cave was red like the rest of the mountains and rocks around it. Light filtered in from a few holes overhead, and I hoped they kept out the rain when the weather turned. Judging by how dry it was in here, it seemed likely.

Dragon Man didn’t seem to really have much besides the furs, which he’d already shared with me. Did he truly live like an animal here? I didn’t see any chairs, tables, or eating implements of any kind. No bowls, knives, or anything other than a few rocks that made the fire pit. He clearly wasn’t civilized, but neither was he the monster King Werris claimed. I turned back toward the open cave mouth, frowning.

I couldn’t exactly leave under my own power considering how high the drop was. I desperately wanted to go home, but that would be harder than I originally planned.

No one has come for you. You’re on your own,the traitorous voice in my head whispered. My lip trembled slightly.

Your father didn’t fight for you.

That wasn’t true. He was extremely upset when I was taken. Maybe it was part of the deal that he couldn’t retrieve me. My heart sank at the truth of it. I likely needed to stay here to ‘appease’ this monster or the deal with King Werris was off. I had to stay because leaving meant my people would starve or die by the sword.

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