“Are you sure? All dragons have jewels.”
“While that’s true, we need to earn them ourselves or marry a rich dragon.”Her dragon made her laugh.“I’m certain Bruceous will shower us with jewels.”
“Not enough to put up with his shenanigans,”her dragon stated.
Max strode back into the room, picked up her left hand, and threaded the ring onto her finger. It was pretty with red and white stones.
“Aw, it’s not a Marquess,”her dragon said.
“They might not have them here,”Sasha said absently.
“If you’re wondering why I have a ring, it belonged to my mother. Mum gave it to me to give to my fiancée.” He inhaled and closed his eyes briefly as if the memory gave him pain. “I was engaged to a girl called Bronwen at the time of my parents’ accident. I loved her and thought she loved me in return. At first, she was very supportive, then she discovered I intended to look after Noel. She told me Noel had problems and would never be normal. She hated appearing in public with him. Not that Noel helped her opinion. He disliked her too, and on the couple of times we went out together with my brother, he misbehaved. When I wouldn’t change my mind about Noel, she broke off our engagement.”
“She sounds horrid,”Sasha’s dragon said.“We must help Max.”
“We will help him,”Sasha said.
“I like Noel,” Sasha said to Max. “Don’t worry. We will get along fine. I’ll look after your ring.”
Max shrugged. “I’m not worried about the ring. Are you sure about this scheme? My grandmother can be a bitch. She’s hell-bent on winning custody of Noel. At the moment, we’re waiting for the judge’s decision.”
“Does Noel like her?”
“Sometimes,” Max said. “He senses the tension between Grandmother and me, even though we try to be on our best behavior when we’re together with him.”
Sasha patted his hand. “Don’t worry. I can keep a secret and will do my best to look after your brother.”
“Unfortunately, I need to travel to Edinburgh tomorrow. I was planning to stay overnight there.”
“The trust goes both ways,” Sasha said. “You must wonder if you’re right to place your trust in me. I promise, I will guard Noel with my life.”
3 – Sasha Meets a Human Dragon
As was her regular habit, Sasha woke early. Dressed and presentable, she left her bedroom.
“Hurry,”her dragon said.“We have to explore.”
“That is not our primary mission,” Sasha said. “First, we check on Noel. If he’s still sleeping, we get to reconnoiter before we make his breakfast. Max promised to leave us a list of Noel’s activities and what he likes to eat for each meal. It should be downstairs in the kitchen. If Noel is awake, we’ll get him ready to face the day.”
“Can we go swimming? Can we eat the new food? Can we fix Max’s garden?”
“Yes, to all of that.” Sasha grinned because the same excitement bubbled through her. This unknown world was full of exhilarating things. Even having an actual job and looking after Noel was thrilling.
She’d have her wages to spend, money she’d earned instead of depending on her parents.
“Can we kiss Max again?”her dragon asked.“Can we flush the water in the privy? That was fun.”
“I believe we’re allowed to kiss if we’re helping the pretense of our fake betrothal,” Sasha said. “Do you want Noel to be awake or asleep?”
“Hmm,”her dragon said.“Either. I like his funny face. Do you think our salve will have fixed his sunburn?”
“There is nothing wrong with his face,” Sasha snapped. “Max explained how some humans have this Down syndrome thing. It makes them different, but they’re also the same. They like to play and eat food and learn interesting things.”
“We do too.”
“Yes, so we can do all those things with Noel.” Sasha pushed open the door, her gaze going to the bed.
Two eyes stared back at her. Noel sat up to reveal a striped shirt. “Shasha. You’re here.”
