“Oh, hey, Prenton.” Normally, I’d chide him. Tease him. Now I just waited for him to get out of the way—which he didn’t.
“Why are you here?” he snapped.
“To shovel shit.”
“I mean, why are youhere? Why don’t you leave? It would be safer for all of us if you did.”
With that, he stomped his boots around the cart, gouging my shoulder with his bony one as he passed.
I glared after him but lifted the handles of my cart and continued down the aisle to Glim’s stall. Prenton must be having an off day. He’d apologize tomorrow.
In no time, I was singing a ditty about a girl named Betty and a guy named Carl and how they kept meeting up in the sandpile for fun. Glim seemed to enjoy the tale, nudging my butt with his snout and showering me with sparks.
After finishing with his pen, I continued down the row. I lost count of the number of carts I wheeled out of the aerie and dumped onto the growing pile to the side of the long building. Someone else would load it into larger carts and spread it in fields where they grew the crops they’d serve in the dining room, something I didn’t like to dwell on too much.
Finally, I reached Madrood’s stall. Would he let me work with him today or would he be in the same foul mood as Prenton? For a snarly dragon, he’d been fairly cooperative before. I’d treated him the way I did all the dragons, and they universally liked me. I missed Seevar so much, but working with dragons helped soothe the ache in my heart.
Madrood let me clean his stall. Since few of the stable hands were willing to work with him, I grabbed a basket and filled it with supplies, then strode down the hall to give him another solid grooming. I was opening his gate when movement down the aisle caught my eye.
Prenton stood there, leaning against the wall.
Should I call out?
If he was still in a bad mood, I had no interest in drawing his attention; he wasn’t even looking my way.
I stepped inside Madrood’s pen and was soon lost in grooming and singing to the dragon.
Finally, his scales were polished, his claws gleamed, and I’d cleaned out his eyes. I’d even scraped his fangs, though he’d snarled when I did that.
“You’ll be happy later when you’re eating,” I told him, giving his snout a long rub. I added a kiss, though I stepped back fast, closing my eyes when he showered me with sparks. He might be the king’s hench-dragon on the outside, but he was a sweetie where it counted. “I have to go, but I’ll try to come see you tomorrow.”
Soon, I’d have to tell him goodbye.
Actually . . .
“Goodbye,” I whispered. I never knew which day would be my last. From now on, I would tell him this each time I worked with him.
I gave him one last kiss and stepped toward the gate, opening it.
Someone rushed toward me, uttering a guttural groan. I caught the glimpse of a raised blade roaring down toward my chest. Instinctively, I lifted my arm to deflect it.
Everything happened so fast.
With his inner lids sliding closed, Madrood snarled and shoved me to the side with his snout. He followed the bump by snatching me up in his claws and tossing me toward the wall. While I righted myself against the metal, he shot fire into the hall, blasting whoever had tried to stab me.
Madrood’s flames winked out.
Smoke swirled in the hall.
With a grunt, Madrood tossed me a look I couldn’t define. Backing up, he shifted toward his feed bin and delicately plucked some food and started chewing.
My heart aflame and my legs wobbly with spent adrenalin, I hobbled toward the gate. I kept my eye on Madrood, and honestly, I quivered like a blade of grass in a stiff wind. The air had been knocked out of me when I hit the wall, but it was him burning someone that had done me in completely.
“You . . .” I swallowed; my throat as scorched as whatever might remain of the person who’d just tried to kill me.
“Tempest?” I recognized Airia’s shrill voice in the hall. “Are you alright?”
“I, um, yeah,” I croaked, pressing my back against the wall beside the gate, watching Madrood placidly chew his food and gather up another bite. He didn’t look my way. As far as he was concerned, it was over.
