She startled. “I was just joking, babycakes. You’re the best dragon in the entire realm. Theverybest.”
“She can understand you?” I asked, baffled.
She shrugged helplessly. “I don’t even know anymore. Suddenly everything is walking and talking andthinking. We might as well assume everything is sentient at this point, just to be safe.”
I wasn’t sure if that thought was horrifying or comforting. The dragons were already impressive and regal enough as they were, and if they were intelligent, too? They would be unstoppable.
My chest swelled with a strange sense of pride. I wouldn’t mind if Bram decided to take over the realm. He deserved it.
“I hope you aren’t offended by my asking, but what did you come by for, then? Just came for a playdate? I’m happy to see you, of course. Don’t think otherwise.” Kizzi’s eyes were wide and earnest. She didn’t mean any harm—she was simply asking a question she wanted the answer to.
That feeling of intrusion stabbed at me again. I shouldn’thave come here. I should’ve returned to my cottage as I normally did and spent my evening on a run through the woods or in my kitchen.
I hoped she didn’t notice how my mood dropped.
“I just came to say hello. To check in. Make sure there isn’t anything I should be doing with little Brambleby over there.” I gestured to the dragon. “It feels like I’m missing something. Like this is all too… easy.”
“Have you tried playing with a string? Fiella says Ember loves that. Like a cat,” Kizzi suggested.
I nodded. “He doesn’t seem super interested in playing. Except for with other living things.” I glanced at him. His green wings flailed as he swatted at a sprite bouncing in the air in front of him. My cheek lifted in a smile.
“He’s eating, behaving, sleeping. It sounds like you’re doing a great job so far. Way better than Fiella—she keeps getting holes burnt in all her cloaks.”
I snorted. “If you say so. I just thought… well they’re dragons. Maybe there’s some sort of handbook on taking care of them.”
“There isn’t, not that we’ve found. But you should write one!”
“Oh, I couldn’t possibly?—”
“You’d be great at it,” Tandor interrupted. “You’re meticulous and detail oriented. And patient. We would all help, too, of course! This stuff would be good to know, if anyone else happens to stumble upon a dragon egg.”
“But do we actually know anything? Like how they hatched?”
“Well, no, but the town is still standing so we haven’t been a complete failure!” Kizzi insisted.
I considered this. I had never thought of myself as a writer, or a creative at all, really. Sure, I liked pretty things, and I read a book from time to time. But I didn’t create.
Aside from my journal, which I meticulously maintained.
The idea clicked into place. “Like a dragon journal?”
Kizzi snapped her fingers. “Exactly! See, I knew you’d be perfect!”
A dragon journal. I could manage that. It couldn’t be much harder than simply taking notes on the dragons’ daily activities and then compiling them into something that made sense.
How hard could it be?
“Maybe,” I offered. I wasn’t willing to commit yet, in case the project failed miserably, but I would be saving that thought to mull over later.
I had many, many quiet hours to kill, after all. The pub occupied a lot of my time, and I spent as many hours there as I could, but I always ended up in my quiet cottage alone at the end of the day.
My mind could use a project to latch onto.
Strangely, I felt better. Even if I was a bit of an intruder, this project would be something for me to claim. To focus on. Something I could use to make people happy, along with my ales and stews.
I loved my friends. From the depths of my heart, I did. And I cherished the times we spent together, whether they were in passing at the pub or dedicated, like our feast at Merry Day. But Kizzi and Fiella had their partners, now. And Velline and Lunette weren’t always up for guests. And Tandor, my closest friend, spent as much time as possible with Kizzi.
I didn’t blame them. Truly, I didn’t. But sometimes Iwished that I was a little more involved. That I was in the center, for once. That I was someone’s entire focus.
