Seeking The Dragon

by Sarah J. Stone

  “But the inn…” he began to say.

  “Lauren is all set to care for it until we return. Some of the guests have cleared out, so she will be fine. I’ve already prepared food for the evening meal.”

  “Okay, my love. That sounds like exactly what I need today. A bit of quiet time with my wife.”

  “That’s what I want to hear. Are the horses all put away?”

  “Yes. I did it before coming to the inn so I wouldn’t have to come back out to tend them.”

  “Good to know. Let’s get going then,” she told him.

  “Thank you for being so understanding,” he told her as they sat at the edge of the moors, snacking on thick crusts of bread slathered in home-churned butter, and sweet apples from the trees that grew outside the inn.

  “Understanding about what?” she asked, still looking off into the receding daylight.

  “Everything. My changing moods. The time I’ve spent away from the inn, leaving you to tend it while I helped make repairs to the cottage.”

  “I’ve no worries about any of that, my darling.”

  “You are too good to me. I’m not sure how I’ve gotten so lucky to have such an incredible woman by my side.”

  “I feel the same of you, Tio.”

  They drifted off into silence, her head leaning on his shoulder as they watched the sun set below the cliffs and into the ocean. Maggie gathered up their things and packed them into the basket, handing it to Tio to carry home. Things were quiet there, it seemed. Tomorrow would be busy again, the warm weather bringing in more travelers, but tonight was calm, and that was always a welcome change.

  The wear of being with child was already beginning to show in Maggie’s behavior. She worked hard at the inn with him and, though she never complained, he could tell that she was tired and drained. He watched as she slowly climbed the stairs to check for any items guests might have put outside their door for pick up or replacement before making his way to the front desk to see if Lauren was doing okay.

  “I’m great. It’s been nice to see it so quiet for a bit,” she told him.

  “I’m sure it is. Thank you for staying while we got a bit of time away. You can go home now if you’d like,” he told her.

  “I think I will,” she told him, gathering up the knitting she had been doing in preparation to leave.

  “Hey, Lauren. Do you know anyone who needs work?” he asked.

  “What sort of work?”

  “Someone willing to live here at the inn and take care of it full-time for a while.”

  Lauren squinted up at him and pursed her lips for a moment, looking down as she thought about it.

  “I might. Can I get back to you on it tomorrow?”

  “Sure. That will be fine,” he replied.

  Lauren gathered her things and began to make her way toward the front door. A thought occurred to him as she opened the door to leave.

  “Lauren?” he called out to her.

  “Yes?” she replied, pausing before turning the knob.

  “Don’t mention my question to Maggie just yet, okay? I don’t want to tell her anything until I know for sure.”

  Lauren looked at him as if to ask what he was up to, but she didn’t ask. It wasn’t in her nature to be overly curious about people’s personal business. Instead, she nodded and told him goodbye one last time before ducking out the front door and into the darkness toward home.

  A few minutes later, Maggie began to descend the stairs, a healthy load of tea cups and trays in her hand. Tio headed up to help her bring them down to the kitchen before they settled into their favorite spot near the fire for a reading from the book of poems. She drifted off to sleep in his arms, obviously tired, and he smiled down at her as he held her for a while before picking her up and carrying her to their room to put her to bed.

  Chapter 16

  “I found someone to help you out at the inn,” Lauren told him a few days later, when she returned to help out, while he went into the town for supplies.

  “Yeah? Who is that?”

  “There is a young man named McCord. He is young, but very responsible. He and his wife suffered recently from a house fire. They got out okay, but lost everything. If you are looking for someone to stay here and help out on a full-time basis, I’m sure they would be more than happy to do it. It would help them get back on their feet.”

  “How did the house catch fire?” he asked uncertainly.

  “Oh, they didn’t do it, if that’s what ya mean. Some vandals came through, took everything, and burned them out.”

  “They weren’t able to defend themselves?” he asked, wondering how a dragon shifter could let humans get the best of him.

  “The vandals were dragon shifters, too. Had some weird sort of brand on their scales. They said some of them were ice dragons,” she said, wide-eyed.

  “Ice dragons? I didn’t know there was such a thing,” he replied incredulously.

  “I don’t know. It’s just what I heard.”

  “Okay. You said their name is McCord?”

  “Yes. William and Elizabeth McCord.”

  “Where can I find them?”

  “Right now, they are at Cassi’s house, sleeping on her floor, I’d imagine,” she said.

  “Of course. Cassi takes care of every lost soul in the land, doesn’t she?” he smiled.

  Lauren laughed, “She seems to do her best to try.”

  “Let me get on my way then,” he told her. “Tell Maggie I’ll be back in a while. I told her I was going after supplies. That’s all she needs to know.”

  Lauren nodded, understanding what he was telling her. She made her way to the kitchen to help Maggie as he headed for the door. He felt content as he made his way to Cassi’s house. Everything was going well, with the inn thriving and a new child on the way. He whistled lightly as he went along, arriving at the small cottage to find Cassi wasn’t there. Instead, there was only the couple she had left her home in the care of.

  “Are you William and Elizabeth McCord?” Tio asked.

  “Who’s asking?” the man said a bit suspiciously.

  “A friend. My name is Tio Sheaver. I own the inn on the edge of the next village.”

  “Oh, yeah. I know the one. If you are looking for Cassi, she is over at Mr. Baker’s restaurant.”

  “No. I was looking for you, actually. Lauren Kelley suggested that I talk with you about your situation.”

  “Lauren? Yeah. She’s a good woman,” the man replied as his wife joined him to look up at Tio, who still sat on his wagon in front of the cottage.

  “If you came here for charity, we appreciate it, but we’ll be fine. Cassi was kind enough to give us lodging while we work out what to do,” his wife said a bit defensively.

  “No ma’am. I don’t believe in giving charity. I do believe in giving people a hand when they need one. When I came here, I was given a chance to work in a man’s field, and now I have my own inn and a wife with a child on the way. Anything is possible when you work hard. Do you believe in a day’s labor being worth its weight in gold?”

  “We sure do, Mr. Sheaver. You can’t get ahead if you don’t work for it.”

  “Glad to hear you feel that way. Let me get down off this wagon, and I’ll tell you what I need. Maybe you can see if helping me out might benefit you.”

  The couple exchanged an uncertain look as they waited for him to climb down. Standing in front of them, he smiled broadly as he explained the situation to them. Soon, they were accompanying him to town to help him retrieve his supplies, and have a bite to eat with him at Mr. Bakers’ place, explaining things to Cassi in the process. She smiled and wished them well as they climbed into Tio’s wagon and returned to the inn with him.

  “We’re back,” Tio told Lauren when they arrived back at the inn. The McCords busied themselves bringing in the supplies, while he went to find Maggie, who was down at the stream, washing linens for the inn. He couldn’t help but note how tired she looked.

  “Maggie,
my love. Put those aside for a moment and come talk to me,” he told her.

  “Is something wrong?” she asked.

  “Yes. A lot is wrong. I’ve not done right by you at all,” he said.

  “What? What are you talking about?” she asked, a glint of fear showing in her eyes.

  “Don’t worry. I’ve done nothing you won’t be able to forgive, I don’t think, but I’ve allowed you to work yourself to the bone around here. You could be back in the house by your father living a much easier life, but instead, you are here cooking, cleaning, and washing. You don’t complain, but I know you are tired.”

  “You’re being silly. This inn is our home, much more so than the house my father gave us.”

  “They are both equally our homes. We have put a lot of work into both places, and you don’t have the time or luxury to truly enjoy either.”

  “It’s life, Tio. You do what you have to. So do I.”

  “Well, today that changes. We are doing well enough here that we no longer have to be here so much.”

  “What? What are you talking about?”

  “Come inside. Leave the linens for a few moments, and come inside to meet someone with me.”

  “Who? Who am I meeting?”

  “William and Elizabeth McCord. Come on, and I’ll explain on the way.”

  “I think you might ought to,” she laughed, as she put down the wet linens and followed him to the inn.

  “I’ve hired the McCords to tend the inn for us so that we can go stay at the other house while we wait on the baby to come.”

  “Tio, how? I know we do okay, but we can’t afford a full time caretaker!”

  “Sure we can. The McCords have lost their home and everything they own. They are willing to take care of the inn for an indefinite amount of time for room, board, and a few coins to purchase essentials.”

  “Do you really want to put our hard work in someone else’s hands?”

  “We aren’t going to abandon it. They will tend it on a day-to-day basis, but I will be coming over to help William with some additions I want to make to it. Mostly, though, you will be able to stay at the house and get ready for the baby.”

  “Are you sure you want to do this?”

  “I am. In fact, it is already done. William will help us pack our things to go to the other house first thing in the morning. Tonight, they will stay in one of the empty rooms, and tomorrow, they will move into our accommodations.”

  “I don’t know what to say.”

  “Just tell me you are happy.”

  “I would be happy if you and I were slinging coal in a dark mine, my love. As long as we are together, I would do anything I needed to do to keep you nearby.”

  “I’ll always be nearby. There is nowhere else I’d rather be than with you, and I can’t have you worn down to the bone when you need not be.”

  “Well, I guess I’ll go meet the new lady of the house, then.”

  “It’s not forever. At least I don’t think. We’ll see how things go and if we need to come back at some point after the baby is born, or if we can leave it in their care.”

  “Whatever you feel is best, Tio. You know we are in everything we do together.”

  “That, I do.”

  Chapter 17

  As the weeks and months passed, Maggie and Tio enjoyed the freedom afforded to them by having someone else tend to the inn. Though Tio went there several times a week in order to oversee the workers he had hired to add on a large section of rooms, both he and Maggie experienced a much less stressful and tiring way of life.

  He watched as her belly grew rounder, and her face reflected it in puffy cheeks that glowed with happiness and life. Before they knew it, the day had come for the baby to be born. Cassi visited often, bringing them sweet breads and pies she had made at Mr. Baker’s shop.

  “You are quite the cook, Cassi. I don’t think you’ve made one thing that I don’t find delicious,” Maggie told her.

  “I think that, when you are pregnant, everything is delicious,” Cassi replied, giving Maggie a moment of pause, though she tried to hide it. “I mean, that’s what they tell me,” she added.

  “I don’t know. I think I find some things I used to love almost inedible now. Other things I used to hate, and now I can’t get enough of them. It’s quite a strange feeling.”

  “I’m sure it is.”

  Maggie smiled, but the smile quickly turned to a grimace as she doubled over, clutching her abdomen. Cassi was by her side in a matter of seconds, even before Tio could cross the room to where the two women had sat talking.

  “What’s wrong?” he asked, kneeling on one side as Cassi grasped her hand on the other.

  He could see her clutching at the woman’s hand tightly. It was obvious that she was in a lot of pain. He was suddenly more frightened than he had been in quite some time.

  “Is the baby coming?” Cassi asked.

  “I don’t know,” Maggie struggled to say, her breath now getting shallower as she tried to fend off whatever pain seemed to be causing her such distress.

  “I’ll get the midwife,” Tio said, not even caring if he had to expose himself as a tiger to get there and back quickly.

  “No, Tio. You stay here with her. Get her into bed. Heat up some water and get some clothes ready. I’ll go get help.”

  Tio nodded, grateful that she had offered. Though he knew he could get there quickly, he didn’t want to leave Maggie, lest the worst happened or she got scared without him there to calm her. Instead, he helped her to her feet, his heart beating fiercely against his breast as she heaved and gasped with every step.

  “Something is wrong, Tio. This doesn’t feel right,” she moaned.

  “It’s going to be fine, Maggie. You’ve just never been through this before. You aren’t prepared for the pain is all.”

  “I just feel like something is bad. Something bad is going to happen, Tio.”

  Tio looked at her face, red and sweaty as it seemed to take all of her strength to make it to their bed. Rather than letting her take another painful step, he scooped her into his arms and carried her up the steps to their room, laying her down onto the cool sheets.

  “Nothing is going to happen. I’m going back downstairs to put a kettle of water on the fire, and I’ll be right back.”

  “I’m scared, Tio,” she said, her fear displayed clearly in her eyes.

  “I know you are, my darling, but it is going to be okay. Just try to focus on the good thing that is about to happen. I’ll be right back.”

  Tio raced downstairs, hastily getting a large kettle hung over the fireplace where it could boil, and pulling the clothes they had set aside just for this day back upstairs to lay them beside the bed. Maggie seemed to be gasping for breath, with no relief between pains that racked her mid-section and caused her to cry out. She was pale and clammy as he did his best to console her and hide his increasing fear from her so he did not frighten her more.

  “Tio?” he heard Cassi call from downstairs after what had felt like an eternity.

  “Up here, Cassi. We’re in the bedroom,” he called back

  He heard multiple footsteps coming up the stairs as Cassi arrived with the midwife. Tio moved out of the way, repositioning himself on the other side of the bed to hold Cassi’s hand, while the midwife began to look over her. After a few minutes, she looked up at him with a worried look.

  “The baby is upside down,” she said. “That is why she is in such pain.”

  “Upside down?” Tio repeated, not understanding what it meant as far as a baby being born.

  “Babies come out head first. Yours is feet first. I’m going to have to try to turn it,” she told Maggie, rather than responding to him.

  Maggie looked at him, a horrified expression on her face. As the mid-wife began to work on her, she screamed out in pain. He did his best to soothe her, while noting the tremendous amount of blood that seemed to be seeping out from beneath her.

  “It’s okay, Tio. I’ve seen
it before. I know someone who had a baby born the same way, and he was a healthy baby boy, with no problems at all. It’s not the usual way, but it happens sometimes,” Cassi told him as the midwife focused on calming Maggie.

  Tio looked at her, momentarily lost in a reflection of his own. He remembered his father calling him his little Tiogar and saying to him how he had been a special boy from the moment he came into the world running, instead of trying to butt his way in head first. In his childhood innocence, he had not understood what he meant, but now he realized that he, too, had been born feet first, and he wondered if all tiger shifters were born this way.

  The realization that perhaps this was just normal for his kind comforted him, but also made him feel guilty for being responsible for unnecessary pain to Maggie. Had he known, he would have died the first and last of his kind and never put her through this. Now, it was too late, and he could only hope this was the natural order of things. What felt like eons later, the midwife finally managed to pull the child free without any apparent injury.

  “Oh, praise our sweet Lord,” she breathed as she pulled their new son free. “Sometimes, you have to break a bone to get them out or worse. Your son has made it into the world unscathed. Legend says that a child born this way without harm will be a match for kings and demons alike.”

  “My son?” Tio repeated, as the boy’s lungs filled with air, and he began to cry loudly. Tears of joy fell down Tio’s face as he looked at his tiny face for the first time, but they quickly stopped as he turned back toward Maggie. “Oh, God!”

  Maggie’s face was ghostly and drawn. She was quiet, and her eyes were closed. Tio felt panic rise within him as he reached for her. She didn’t stir. The midwife cut away the cord that tied their son to his mother and handed him off to Cassi, who washed him with a cloth and wrapped him in a warm blanket to hold him. Nuzzled against her, he quieted.

  “Is she gone?” Tio wailed, the tears now flowing freely. “I’ve killed her! I’ve killed my love, haven’t I?”

  “No, Tio. She’s weak. She’s exhausted, and she’s lost a lot of blood. She’s not well, but she’s still here. Go get me some of the hot water and let Cassi tend the baby,” the midwife told him.