“But you can't tell her,” Guinevere guessed when he didn't say anything.
Alexander shook his head.
“And you can't tell me anything,” she added. After a moment, he shook his head again.
“Stupid magic,” Guinevere muttered under her breath as she began scribbling things on the paper that he'd given her. “You don't have any books on magic in the library, do you? My grandfather taught me what little he knew, but it’s been years since he passed, and I don’t know anything about curses.”
Alexander thought about it for a moment. “Probably not,” he said. “But you never know. After it was outlawed, I think most of the books were destroyed.”
Guinevere pursed her lips. “I'll have to see if I can find anything,” she said. “But again, I can't…”
“Promise anything. I know,” he supplied for her before she could finish her sentence. “But like I said, anything is better than nothing.”
Guinevere nodded. “I imagine so. Do you wish me to say anything to her?” she asked. “I think she should know.”
He shook his head. “Give yourself a day or two first,” he said. “If you are able to find something that will help, then there's no need to worry her.”
“Is she in danger?” Guinevere asked quietly.
The words stuck in Alexander's throat. How could he admit that he had chosen selfishly and put another human being in danger without her knowledge or consent? What had seemed like such a good plan a few days ago suddenly seemed like the worst plan ever.
His silence seemed to be answer enough, because Guinevere simply sighed.
“I will give you a day,” she said quietly, “but she deserves to know.” Guinevere made her way to the door, then paused and turned back to him. “I am going to trust that you had a reason, but I hope the deception will be worth it.”
She slipped out the door, and Alexander stared down at the tiny dragon basking in the sunlight in the corner of the room. “You revealed yourself,” he said, his tone almost accusing. “Like her, huh?”
The dragon purred, and the sound of satisfaction coming from an animal other than a cat was so comical that Alexander couldn't help a small smile. But it quickly vanished as he thought back to the dilemma at hand. “What am I going to do?” he asked Rose. “She needs to know, but I can't tell her, and Guinevere doesn't know anything else yet.”
The dragon simply continued to purr, her tiny green snout twitching.
Alexander sighed. “You're no help,” he said.
Rose opened one eye long enough to stare at him as if to say,what did you expect?before closing it again.
If the fact that he was cursed wasn't enough to drive a man crazy, the fact that he was reduced to talking to a dragon might just be enough to send him over the edge.
But then the door opened again, and his wife slipped through the doorway.
She looked up at him and smiled, but her gaze was drawn to the corner of the room where Rose sat still in her dragon form. “What's that?” Beatrice asked, her eyes wide.
“I…um…it’s a dragon,” Alexander said, with what he hoped was a winning smile. “Meet Rose.”
Rose opened her eyes and instead of simply ignoring Beatrice, decided to stand up and scurry over to her. Beatrice knelt down and reached her hand out to pet the dragon with wonder on her face. “You have a dragon?” she said quietly. “Who knows about this?”
“Almost no one,” Alexander said.
“Does Jenkins know?” Beatrice asked. “He didn't tell me.”
“Jenkins doesn’t know about her,” he admitted. “He thinks she's just a kitten.”
“Wait, she’s the kitten?” Beatrice asked, laughing as she looked down at the little green dragon. “You’ve got everyone fooled, don’t you, little one?”
Beatrice sank down into a seat, and the dragon immediately climbed into her lap, settling in with a decidedly catlike purr.
“She purrs?” Beatrice said in a high-pitched squeal.
“Yes, she purrs,” Alexander said, with a sigh.
