Hidden Dragons (7 page)

“
This place is all she
knows,”
Bear put in.
“She does not think she has any alternative, and she fears
leaving the known behind for the unknown.”

Robert was impressed with Bear’s grasp of the
situation. He nodded at his fighting partner as they settled down
for the night in the barn. Growloranth would be on watch outside in
the shadows that were his element.

“
Maybe we can show her a little bit
of what we can offer her at the Lair,”
Robert mused.
“After we complete our
mission, we could invite her for a visit, if we haven’t convinced
her by then.”

The others agreed and conversation drew to a
close for the night as Tildeth and the knights fell asleep.
Growloranth would wake them if anything happened.

A few hours later, in the deepest part of the
night, Growloranth’s voice sounded in Robert’s mind, waking him
instantly.

“
A man is coming up the path in
haste.”

“
I’ll be there in a minute.”
Robert promised, already slipping his sword and
dagger from their scabbards as he made his way through the dark
barn.

“
He just rushed right past
me,”
Growloranth reported.
“Didn’t even look in my direction. He’s knocking
on Isabelle’s door.”

Robert could hear the loud raps on the wooden
door, followed by the fellow speaking loudly enough to be heard in
the barn and beyond.

“
Isabelle, you’ve got to come.
Mantell’s prize bull is sick something awful. Mantell’s stockman
tol’ me to come get you.”

Robert reached the shadows by the door to the
barn in time to see Isabelle answer her door. She was wearing her
cloak and had a large bag slung across her body.

“
I’ll come, Darel, but this is an
awful time of night to be asking favors. If the animal is so sick,
why didn’t he send for me before now?” Robert watched from the
shadows as she closed her door behind her, then glanced at the barn
while the townsman was already starting back down the path ahead of
her, grumbling. He hadn’t even glanced at the dragon.

Robert saw Growloranth wink at Isabelle. Her
startled smile before she turned to follow the man was just the
tiniest bit mischievous.

Robert waited for her to go down
the path a bit before he came out of the barn.
“I’ll take it from here, friend,”
he
told Growloranth as he passed him, already on the trail of Isabelle
and the stranger who had come for her in the night.

Robert tailed the odd duo all the way to the
grand house he and Bear had discovered earlier. All the activity
seemed to be centered around the barn, which was too well lit for
him to infiltrate. However, there were windows, and the far side of
the building was bathed in darkness. And if that didn’t work out,
there was always the roof.

Robert made his approach from the outside, on
the dark side of the building, after watching Isabelle and the
man—who was some kind of servant—enter the big barn. It took him a
few moments to find a good vantage point, by which time Isabelle
could be heard talking in soothing tones to both the people in the
barn and the animal she had been fetched to treat.

When he finally got a good look at the
situation, Robert didn’t like what he saw. The animal in question
was indeed a big bull. He was stomping and snorting, pawing the
ground with a wild look in his eye. Several people stood around the
beast’s heavily-fenced stall, but nobody seemed brave enough to go
in there with him.

Isabelle would have to, if she was going to
treat the animal, and that worried Robert immensely. The beast
could crush her or gore her, in no time at all.

But then she began to whisper something to the
aggressive animal. The bull’s ears perked up and he gradually
quieted as she entered his stall. Robert watched in awe as she
gentled the massive creature and even convinced him to allow her to
examine him. She ran her hands over his belly and down his legs.
The creature seemed to revel in her touch and even tried to lick
her a few times, following her movements with its gaze.

The bull followed her like a pet dog when she
moved toward the rail to speak with one of the men who watched from
afar. She spoke calmly, in a firm voice that didn’t seem to upset
the bull, but Robert saw her put her hand on the bull’s forehead
when the man spoke, seeming to calm the creature with her
touch.

After a few words were exchanged, Isabelle
moved away from the rail and dug in her bag for a bundle of dried
herbs. Robert saw the older man send a younger one out of the barn
on an errand, and a few moments later, a bucket of water had been
brought in and handed over the rail to Isabelle. She crumbled her
herbs into the bucket of water and stirred, the bull watching her
actions with seeming adoration.

When she stepped back, she led the bull to the
bucket and Robert watched in amazement as it lapped up the herb and
water mix with what looked like bovine pleasure—if there was such a
thing. Not long after, the bull’s eyelids started to droop and
Isabelle coaxed the creature to lie down on his side.

She sat with him, petting him and speaking in
low, gentle tones, until the bull seemed to fall asleep. At that
point, she delved into her bag again and pulled out a stoppered
bottle with some kind of oil inside. She poured the entire bottle
of dark oil onto the bull’s belly and rubbed it in.

Now that the creature was lying down, even
Robert could see the reddened patches on its hide, particularly on
its belly, where Isabelle was applying her medicine. She followed
the oil with a salve and then bathed the surrounding area with a
green gooey substance she had taken from her bag.

By the time she was done, the bull’s underside
was a blotchy concoction of many colors—mostly green, brown and
yellow—but the animal looked at peace, and as if he would stay that
way for quite a while. Isabelle patted the creature’s head once
more before she left his stall, pausing to speak with the older
male, who was probably the stable master. She gave this man a few
more things out of her bag, and pointed to each one as she issued
what had to be instructions.

After that, she seemed to deflate, yawning
hugely as she walked—alone—to the barn door. Robert ghosted around
the outside of the building so he could watch her progress. He
couldn’t believe nobody was going to walk her home. It was still
pitch dark out. Anything could be prowling out in the
darkness.

And in fact, Robert soon realized the dark
shape on the roof of the barn was Growloranth. Apparently the
dragon didn’t want to leave Isabelle’s safety in the hands of a
mere human. Robert had to suppress a chuckle. Growloranth, it
seemed, was becoming as attached to the lady as his
knight.

Isabelle began walking slowly toward her home,
but the back door to the great house opened and a dark-clad woman
rushed out. She held a wrapped bundle out to Isabelle and Robert
could see Isabelle’s expression brighten for a moment when she
accepted the small parcel. The other woman rushed back into the
house and Isabelle went on her way, alone.

Except, she wasn’t really alone. Robert and
Growloranth shadowed her steps all the way back to her place on the
edge of the woods.

Chapter Four

After the nocturnal excursion, Bear and Tilly
decided they had to run an errand before their morning patrol
began. Robert slept while Growloranth kept watch, though nothing
else exciting happened for the little that remained of the
night.

Bear and Tilly returned shortly after dawn with
a huge sack of provisions and a surprise for Isabelle. Robert
smiled when he saw what his fighting partner had done. Sometimes
Bear had really excellent ideas, and this was definitely one of
them.

Bear and Tilly stuck around for breakfast,
which Robert totally understood. Bear, no doubt, wanted to see
Isabelle’s face when she realized what he’d brought for
her.

He got his chance about a half hour later when
Isabelle came outside to the barn. She seemed hesitant to enter,
but once she saw the men were up and about, she came inside…and
then stopped quite still.

“
Do you like them?” Bear asked,
moving close to Isabelle as she saw what he’d done.

“
Are they for me?” she whispered,
apparently very moved by the gesture.

Bear walked with her over to the wooden cages
he and Tilly had brought in earlier. Inside were a small flock of
chickens. Two hens and one rooster. From there, she would be able
to breed more and have plenty of eggs for herself, as well as some
to trade or sell.

“
I tried to get a few more hens,
but the farmer wouldn’t part with more than two,” Bear said
somewhat sheepishly.

“
Sir Bernard…” Isabelle began,
clearly choked up at the gesture. “I am overwhelmed. Are you
certain they are for me? It is too much.”

Bear seemed relieved as a grin broke over his
face. “They are most definitely for you, milady. I only wish I
could have talked the farmer out of more of his flock. And after I
do my patrol, I will build a coop for you on the warm side of your
home, so they will be safe through the winter. I come from a
farming family and we kept our coop on the other side of the
kitchen wall where the chimney was. As long as you leave a small
fire burning in the kitchen hearth, the chickens on the other side
of the chimney will benefit from the warmth all winter.”

A tear rolled down her face, followed by
another and another and then she did something unexpected. She
literally launched herself into Bear’s arms. Taken by surprise, he
nonetheless was smart enough to wrap his arms around her, accepting
her hug and the kisses she bestowed on his rough cheek.

Bear turned his head and one of her kisses
landed on his lips. She stilled, moving back slightly to look into
his eyes while Robert and the dragons held their breath. What she
did next would determine a lot about the future.

When she stayed motionless in Bear’s arms, Bear
did what came naturally, moving closer, slowly, giving her the
opportunity to flee…but she didn’t. She waited, seemingly unsure
but willing to trust him as he lowered his mouth to hers, giving
her a proper kiss. A proper kiss that turned improper within only a
few moments.

And she…she just seemed to…surrender. That was
as good a word as any when all the tension fled her small body and
she returned Bear’s kiss with a passion that looked as fiery as it
was unexpected. Robert watched with both joy and a bit of envy as
his fighting partner was the first to claim a kiss from the woman
they intended to make their own.

There would be time for Robert to kiss her
though—if everything proceeded according to the plan they had
mapped out deep in the night. They had strategized how to woo her.
The first step was to continue to fix up her home and shower her
with small gifts that would make her life better, even if she chose
finally not to take them up on their offer of marriage and a home
in the Lair.

Truth to tell, even if she rejected them, the
offer of a home in any dragon Lair would stand. If Robert and Bear
couldn’t convince her she was the one for them, perhaps another
pair of knights would be luckier. Or she could work with the
dragons for the rest of her life. Her pure heart and the ability to
speak to dragonkind, paired with her lack of fear of them
guaranteed her acceptance among them, even if she didn’t want to
mate a pair of knights.

It might just break Robert’s heart to see her
go to someone else, though. He already had deep feelings for the
girl, and he suspected she was the one meant to complete their
family—no one else’s.

When Bear finally let go of Isabelle, by slow
degrees, gentling the kiss that had raged for long minutes, her
eyes were deliciously dazed. There was no doubt she had enjoyed
Bear’s kiss. It was only when reality returned that she panicked,
and a flush of becoming pink graced her cheeks.

“
Oh, dear,” she breathed, stepping
back from Bear. He let her go, dropping his arms, but watching her
carefully. As did they all.

“
I am sorry if I moved too fast,”
Bear said quietly. “But I do want you to know I admire you a great
deal. I would like to court you when our mission is done, with an
eye toward seeing if you could perhaps live with Tilly,
Growloranth, Robert and me. We have all talked about it, and we
suspect you may be the one who might complete our
family.”

“
Too fast, Bear,”
Robert warned silently.
“You’re overwhelming the lass.”

“
No, look at her face.”
Tildeth cut in on the mental conversation that
included only the two dragons and two knights.
“She is thinking about it. Under the panic, she is
tempted.”

Robert noted the way Isabelle looked at each
one of them, first the dragons, one by one, then meeting Robert’s
gaze with only a hint of wide-eyed disbelief. Tilly was right.
Under the fear was…interest.

“
Hot damn,”
Robert observed to his friends.
“I
think you’re right. Good work, Bear. Although I’m still jealous as
hell that you got to kiss her first. Tell me, is she as sweet as I
imagine?”