Page 7 of Hidden Dragons

“We are early risers in the Lair, for the most part. Working with Tilly, we are often assigned day shifts because of her color.”

Had he said too much? Robert couldn’t bring himself to suspect Isabelle of knowing about the treason in the village…and yet…he had to keep an open mind. More than just his mission depended on it.

“It is easy to see why she is best suited to daytime work. But what of your dragon partner? Doesn’t he stand out against the blue, daytime sky as much as his lady blends?” she asked, nothing but curiosity in her tone that he couldn’t fault, even if her questions were almost too astute.

“I do,”Growloranth answered for himself, coming out of the darkness at the rear of the barn, where he’d been doing his best to blend into the shadows. Isabelle jumped a little and one small hand went to her chest.“Apologies if I frightened you, mistress. Actions sometimes speak louder than words, so I thought it prudent to show you one of my talents. I blend in very well with forests and dark spots.”

“So you do, Sir Growloranth,” she agreed, smiling a bit at the dragon’s theatrics. “You do that very well indeed.” She chuckled, the sound musical and light, then turned back to Robert. “I came out to see if I could offer you breakfast, but I see I am too late for Sir Bernard. Did he and Lady Tildeth go somewhere, or will they be back in time to eat with us?”

“As I think we mentioned yesterday, we were sent here to do a survey of the land in these parts. That is Bear’s specialty. He and I agreed he would start work while I did a few repairs to repay you for your kindness in letting us sleep here last night,” Robert stated. Now he had to find a way to get her to let them stay longer. Chatting over breakfast might just be useful in that regard. “I haven’t eaten yet, if the offer of breakfast is still open,” he volunteered.

“It is,” she agreed, smiling. “It is only oat mash, but it is hot and filling.”

“It sounds perfect. With the chill in the air, it’s good to have hot cereal of a morning,” he said heartily, wiping his hands as he followed her toward the house.

When he stepped inside Isabelle’s house, Robert was impressed by the hominess of the place. There was a table with two chairs off to one side of the hearth and Robert noted the iron pot keeping warm on the flagstones.

Two wooden bowls had been laid on the table, along with two wooden spoons of intricate carved design. There seemed to be two of everything, which made sense if Isabelle had lived here with her mother. It was a good thing Bear was already gone or Robert suspected Isabelle would have gone without, while she insisted they ate from her only place settings.

“Please have a seat,” she said calmly, as if she was trying to remember how to entertain guests. Robert cringed inwardly, realizing this poor waif had probably not had much friendship from those in the village.

Robert took the seat farthest from the hearth. It was a chilly morning and she was wearing long sleeves and a shawl. Even so, the fabric was thin and she was probably cold. She would benefit more from the heat of the fire, and it was his impulse to want to see to her comfort.

He watched her graceful movements as she served him the lion’s share of the oats. When she sat across from him with her own small portion, Robert reached into his pouch and removed a small wrapped bundle of dried berries.

“I think these would go nicely with the oats, don’t you?” he asked, producing the treat. He saw the way her eyes lit.

“They are out of season,” she observed quietly. “And they aren’t abundant in the forest around here, though I like them tremendously. I tried to cultivate a bush in my garden, but it never took. I don’t have the same way with plants that my mother had.”

“Then you shall have them all,” Robert decided, pouring the small scoop of purple berries he’d had left, directly into her bowl, over her protests. Left with no choice, she accepted the gift with good grace.

The dried berries plumped up nicely when they came into contact with the hot, wet oats. Robert saw the enjoyment on her face as she took a bite and the burst of flavor from the berries hit her tongue.

Of course, his mind strayed to other things he would like to do with her tongue, but it was too soon. They had a long way to go before he would broach any sort of intimacy with Isabelle. For one thing, he had to be sure she understood the full implications of mating with a dragon knight.

When it came down to it, she was too important. He didn’t want to screw this up. He wanted forever with her—but only if she could handle all that was expected of a woman sharing her life with two knights and their dragon partners.

It was nice to have company again, Isabelle thought. After sharing breakfast with her, Robert had stayed near the house, working on the barn and insisting on going with her when she went down to the river to fetch water. Growloranth went with them too, and much to her surprise, he took a swim downstream in the river while she and Robert filled the water vessels they had brought with them.

Robert had insisted on bringing more jugs and buckets than she usually used to carry water, noting that his group had used up most of her reserves—even the buckets and barrels she had set out to catch rainwater last night. Apparently dragons were thirsty creatures.

But Growloranth more than made up for it by hauling all the filled water jugs back to her house. She enjoyed watching the dragon. He was so perfectly suited to this environment, his coloration making him hard to see against the dark forest. In fact, until he’d moved, she’d had a hard time spotting him as he lay on the bank of the river, drying off after his swim.

Between Growloranth’s ability to hide in plain sight in the forest, and his mate’s undeniable resemblance to the sky, she began to suspect this pair of dragons was a little out of the ordinary. The few times she had seen other dragons fly over the village and forest on their routine patrols of the border, they had stood out against the sky in vibrant colors, their scales sparkling in the sun. By contrast, she noted that Growloranth didn’t seem especially interested in polishing his scales, though he had that same metallic sheen to his hide that all dragons seemed to share. He just kept the surface of his scales somewhat duller than she expected—possibly to blend in even better with his surroundings.

And Robert moved very quietly for such a big man. She barely even heard him walk when he was right beside her. It made her think he was a bit more than just a regular knight—if there was such a thing as aregularknight. She had never met a knight before Robert and Bernard, but they both seemed rather special to her.

Robert worked near the house all day. While she tended to the normal chores of washing up and sweeping out the house, he seemed to be perpetually busy working on the barn. She had known the place was in bad shape, but beyond basic repairs, she couldn’t do much about the sagging walls of the old structure. Luckily for her, Robert and even his dragon, seemed to think fixing up her barn was a good use of their time.

Not that she really needed the barn anymore. While her mother had been alive, they had kept a few animals, but the stock was all gone after last year’s especially tough winter. She missed caring for her own animals, but occasionally her skills as a healer were called for by those in the village. She was known for bandaging sore legs, mending broken wings and the like.

The folk in the village might not like her, but they used her skills when they needed them. Which was a good thing for her as well. The villagers often paid for her work with food items she couldn’t forage or grow for herself, supplementing her meager supplies.

Robert and she shared the midday meal in her newly swept home. He insisted on providing the food from his own rations, and she dined on a hard cheese the likes of which she had never tasted before. He also had sweetened nuts and smoked jerky, which made a strange but filling meal.

Afterward, Growloranth announced he was going hunting.“After all…”the dragon said into her mind,“…we like to pay our way, and my knight has a proposition to put to you, mistress.”Growloranth gave Robert a very significant look with those giant, jeweled eyes of his before walking into the forest and just disappearing.

“For such a big creature, he walks like a shadow in the forest. You can’t even see a leaf move when he passes,” Isabelle observed, watching after the dragon. “Amazing.”

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