Ginger ran in circles around the room clutching her antlers, chanting, “Old Gods help us. Old Gods help us,” over and over again while her hooves clanked noisily against the floor.
Redd froze where he stood, looking like he couldn’t decide if he wanted to bolt or scoop Fiella up and carry her away.
Hex leapt from the cauldron and raced toward Fiella, who promptly shrieked even louder and ran in the opposite direction.
And Tandor, bless him, joined in the shouting and ran over to me, tucking his body around mind and shielding me as though the building would cave in. I would have been flattered if I wasn’t so overwhelmed.
It was madness all around.
Tiny cracks continued, somehow impossibly loud even in the chaos of the room. The crackling, popping sound was deafening.
And then the front door flew open.
Everyone froze where they stood. Except for Hex, who took the opportunity to slink over Fiella’s shoe, crawl up her leg, and settle into the crook of her elbow. She looked like she might vomit.
In the open doorway stood Mayor Tommins. The exact folk we were trying to hide the existence of the dragon eggs from.
Fuck.
The gryphon looked taller than ever, imposing and regal in his thick cloak and gloves. His mane of golden hair was smoothed back in a bun, and his heavy brows were pulled together in an expression somewhere between confusion and concern.
And he stared at the scene before him.
Nobody moved. Nobody spoke.
The abrupt silence was almost painful, but I refused to break it, not ready to deal with the consequences of my own actions.
Finally, either seconds or hours later, it was hard to tell, Mayor Tommins spoke. “Kizziah? What’s going on here?”
I choked on my words. “Just hanging out with some friends, that's all.” I smiled painfully. Tandor loosened his grip on me, straightening into a more natural position.
Crack. Pop. Pop.
The gryphon’s eyes snapped to Fiella, where she still stood frozen, clutching the egg between trembling fingers with Hexcurled around her arm. His eyes nearly bulged from his skull. “And what’s that?” he asked.
Fiella gulped. She glanced at me, panicked, but I had no help to provide for her. I merely shrugged. We were doomed. Mentally, I prepared myself for an eternity in the dungeons.
“It’s… it’s an egg, sir,” the vampire mumbled.
Tommins stepped inside, pulling the door shut behind him. A cluster of sprites escaped as he did so. “I can see that. What kind of egg is it? And why is everyone screaming?”
Fiella clamped her mouth shut. When Tommins looked as though he would ask again, Tandor spoke up from where he stood behind me. “It’s a dragon egg, sir. I bought it.”
I elbowed him in the gut and whirled around to face the tall orc, shocked. Sure, he had helped me pay for the eggs, but the entire situation was my doing. Well, and Fiella’s, too. But Tandor wasn’t at fault here. And I refused to let him take the fall from me. “No! I was the one?—”
It seemed Fiella wouldn’t let that happen, either. She spoke over me. “It’s my fault, Tommins. I forced Kizzi to buy it for me. This was all my doing.”
Tommins’ gaze flitted between the three of us, and then to Redd and Ginger, who had yet to speak up, but looked like they were both prepared to take the blame, as well. If we were going down, we were going down together, it seemed.
My eyes watered up and my throat tightened. I had to swallow before I could speak again. “I bought the eggs, sir. From a witch in Rockward. It’s a long story.”
Tommins stared for a moment before he spoke again. “You brought a dragon egg to Moonvale. A real dragon egg.”
I pointedly avoided looking at the broken cauldron in the corner, where the two other eggs rested. “Yes. I did.”
“And you didn’t run this by me?”
I nervously smoothed my skirts. “No, I didn’t.”
