Dance with a Dragon
Book IV of The Dragon Archives
Linda K. Hopkins
Published by Linda K. Hopkins at Amazon
Copyright 2015 Linda K. Hopkins
Kindle Edition, License Notes
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Table of Contents
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Chapter 35
Chapter 36
Chapter 37
Chapter 38
Chapter 39
Chapter 40
Chapter 41
Chapter 42
Chapter 43
Chapter 44
Chapter 45
Chapter 46
Chapter 47
Chapter 48
Chapter 49
Chapter 50
Chapter 51
Chapter 52
Chapter 53
Chapter 54
Chapter 55
Chapter 56
About the Author
Chapter 1
“Mistress Anna!”
Anna turned to watch Peggy as she rushed along the stone passage.
“I’ve lost the twins again,” Peggy said. She clutched her skirts as she tittered nervously. “They are always escaping me.”
Anna sighed. It was true that Zachary and Lydia were quick on their feet, but this was the third time today. “Have you searched the gardens?”
“Yes. They aren’t anywhere!” The last word ended on a wail, and Peggy quickly covered her mouth with her hand, her gaze searching the walls and ceiling as if expecting to find a monster lurking between the stones. Or maybe she was just looking for a pair of four-year-olds. Her voice dropped to a whisper. “Do you think they are …?” She nodded at the ceiling, indicating the floor above, where the master’s chambers were situated.
Anna shrugged. “Probably. Why don’t you go and check?”
Peggy’s face paled slightly. “I couldn’t possibly,” she whispered. “What if it is there?” It was the dragon of Storbrook Castle, a huge, winged beast that came and went as it pleased. It was well-known amongst the servants of Storbrook that Master Aaron Drake had no fear of the dragon, and allowed it free access into all the upper chambers, including those of his wife, the lady Keira. He even allowed his children to play with the monster, quite unconcerned about the danger it posed.
Anna knew it was pointless to try and convince Peggy that the dragon was harmless. “I’ll go find them,” she said. “Wait for us in the nursery.”
“Oh, thank you,” Peggy said. “It’s just that their supper is growing cold and …” She trailed into silence as Anna turned away and headed towards the staircase.
Anna’s shoes rang against the hard stone as she mounted the wide staircase that led to the upper floors. A low growl reached her as she walked along the dingy passage, followed by childish shrieks. The sounds came from the direction of the master’s chambers, and the growl was definitely not human. Pushing open the heavy wooden door, Anna stepped across the threshold, taking in the scene before her.
The room she’d stepped into was huge, stretching thirty feet from one side to the other. The ceilings soared high above her, while overlooking the range of mountains was a series of large, arched windows that reached almost as high as the ceiling. The center of the room was bare of all furnishings, and lying in the middle of the stone floor was an enormous, golden dragon. Anna paused, staring at the magnificent creature. She never failed to feel a sense of awe at the beast who was now a member of her family. He had a long neck, which, when raised, stretched taller than her, while golden horns curved from the top of his skull. Sharp rows of teeth lined his long snout, from which blazing flames sometimes spewed. His cat-like eyes gleamed yellow, but when aroused by emotion, they were windows into the flaming furnace that burned within him, revealing leaping flames. Huge wings lay folded over his scaly back, and a long tail armed with sharp spikes curved around his body. Keira, Anna’s sister, was leaning against his side, her feet drawn up beneath her, a book resting against her knees. She looked up as Anna entered the room.
“We’ve been reading a story,” she said.
“I can see you have a rapt audience,” Anna replied in amusement. The children Anna had come to retrieve were clambering over the huge back of the dragon, clutching the folded wings in tight fists.
“They’re still listening!” Keira said, frowning when Anna laughed.
“I’m sure they are,” Anna said.
The dragon, who was watching the children on his back, looked up at Anna with a grin. “They’ve heard the story so many times, they know it by heart,” he said.
Anna laughed, then nodded at the children. “Peggy is looking for them,” she said. “Again!”
“Oh dear,” Keira said with a sigh. “They do seem to frequently escape her attention.”
“And she is far too scared to come here to look for them,” Anna added.
“So she should be,” said the dragon. He turned to look at Keira. “Perhaps it is time to hire a tutor for them.”
“They are only four,” Keira protested.
“Ah, yes, but they are dragons, so they will learn very quickly.”
Keira laughed. “Of course! How dull of me to forget that the children of the Dragon Master will be superior in every possible way to any other children.” She rose to her feet and turned to face the creature. “But maybe they inherited their intelligence from their mother.”
Aaron brought his face close to hers. “Then they are doubly blessed, my sweet,” he said. She smiled and ran her hand down his snout, before turning to look at her offspring.
“Zachary! Lydia! Nurse Peggy has been looking for you.”
Neither of the children paid their mother the slightest attention, but were instead intent on the task of walking bravely along the length of their father’s back towards his tail. Opening his wings, he gave a gentle shake and they fell onto the outstretched appendages, sliding onto the stone with a thump when he lowered them. Anna winced, but the children rose to their feet unhurt. Lydia looked at her mother, then dropped her gaze to the ground, but Zachary placed his hands on his waist and gave his father a defiant stare.
“I don’t want to play with Nurse Peggy. I want to play with you.”
“I want to play with you, too, son,” said the dragon, “but you should never have run away from Nurse.” Zachary glared for another moment, but at his father’s upraised eyebrows, his expression crumpled.
“But I want to be with you,” he said. “Make Nursey go away.”
“No. You need to learn to listen to her and be more obedient. But if you go with Aunty Anna now, then I will come see you in the nursery after supper.” Zach smiled.
“Like this?” he said.
“No, silly,” Lydia said with a giggle. “Nursey’s scared of Papa when he’s a dragon.” Zach’s expression went from incredulity to outright disbelief.
“Papa’s not scary,” he said, with a stomp of a foot.
“Off you go with your Aunty,” Keira said. “You have kept Nurse waiting long enough, and your father has said he will come find you later.”
“Will you take us for a ride?” Zach asked the dragon as Anna took him by the hand.
“We’ll see, son. Perhaps if you behave yourselves.” The dragon pushed himself to his full height, and looked down at them with his bony eyebrows raised.
“Yes, Father,” said the boy with a sigh, allowing Anna to finally take him by the hand and lead him and his sister from the room.
Anna marched the children down the stairs and delivered them to their relieved nurse, waiting in the nursery. She watched for a while as they dutifully sat down at the table and waited for Peggy to serve them their food. Peggy had been hired at Storbrook when the children were toddlers. Only a few years older than Keira, she had spent the years of her youth caring for an elderly parent. Shy and slightly awkward, she was never completely comfortable around other adults, but she loved being with the children. Her biggest fear, however, was for the dragon who was a regular feature of the Storbrook landscape. Although the creature never came near her, she trembled when it circled the skies, or when its roar rang through the stone mountain-top castle, certain that the beast was about to eat them all. Zach watched Peggy as she bustled around the room, giving her a penetrating stare.
“What is it, Zach?” she finally asked.
“Are you scared of Papa?” he asked.
Peggy looked at him in surprise. “Scared of your Papa? Why would you think that?”
“Well, because he’s –”
At his words, Lydia, with an insight that went beyond her years, smacked her brother on the arm.
“Shh,” she said loudly, her finger over her lips as she glared at Zach. She turned to Peggy. “Papa can be scary looking sometimes.”
Peggy stared at Lydia for a moment as the color rose in her cheeks, before turning and brushing nonexistent crumbs from the table.
“I’m not scared of your father,” Peggy whispered, “although he can be quite, er, stern at times. I do wish he wouldn’t let the dragon near the castle, though.”
“But the dragon is …” Zach began, and Anna quickly intervened.
“Zach,” she said, “I have a surprise for you.” The boy looked at his aunt eagerly.
“What su’p’ise?” he said.
“If you are very good, I will ask Cook to bake you a honeyed apple.”
“Me too?” Lydia asked.
“Yes, you too,” Anna said with a smile. She knelt down between the two chairs, watching for a moment until Peggy’s back was turned before speaking again, her voice low.
“Do you remember what your Papa said about keeping secrets?” she said. Zach and Lydia both nodded. “Nurse must never know that your Papa is a dragon. All right?” Lydia stared at her in silence as Zach nodded. “You can only have a baked apple if you keep the secret.” Again both children nodded. “Good,” Anna said with a smile. She rose to her feet, and watched as Peggy poured warm milk into wooden cups and placed them on the table, before turning and leaving the room, confident that the importance of keeping the family secret had been impressed on Zach, at least for now.
Descending the stairs, Anna crossed the low hall, where the servants slept, and exited the castle into the warmth of a late spring day. She skirted the courtyard and headed into the gardens, pausing at a large spreading oak. They had celebrated the twins’ fourth birthday beneath the shade of the tree just a few days before. A quilt had been spread over the new grass, and Cook had made honeyed cakes and sticky buns, served with warm milk, straight from the cowshed. The twins had polished off the treats, complaining later that their stomachs ached.
Anna smiled at the memory. It was hard to believe four years had passed since the twins were born – and more than five since she and Keira had been abducted by Jack, a rogue dragon seeking vengeance against Aaron, the Dragon Master. Jack had been killed in the resulting fray, and Keira had been grievously injured, saved only because Aaron had insisted she drink his blood a few days before. And then there had been Max. Anna closed her eyes, and pushed the memory away. She had not seen Max since the day he left the dragon domain, and although he often crept into her thoughts, bringing with him a tangle of yearning, regret and shame, she was determined to put him from her mind and get on with her life.
Anna leaned back against the tree and lifted her face to the sunlight, the new leaves painting a pattern of shadows against her skin. The sounds of the castle rose in a hum behind her, while closer at hand, birds twittered in the trees. It was calm and serene, but her soul was anything but serene. She took a deep breath, then pushed herself away from the knobbly trunk, annoyed at the disquiet she felt. She loved living at Storbrook, being with her sister, and helping with her young niece and nephew, but there were times when she felt like Storbrook was a cord wrapped around her neck, slowly choking her. It wasn’t Aaron and Keira’s fault, of course, but there were times when all she wanted was a life of her own. She sighed and turned back towards the castle, waving at Garrick, the castle groundsman, as he led a horse across the courtyard. He waved back with a smile, his eyes lifting to watch her as she walked. The smile turned to a grimace when he stepped into a pile of muck that had not been cleaned away, and Anna snorted back a laugh as she continued towards the doorway. She had friends and family – surely that should be enough?
Chapter 2
Anna adjusted herself in her saddle, leaning back as the horse picked its way down the steep path that led through the mountains to the village where she had grown up. Garrick rode a few feet ahead of her, and she watched his back as he rolled easily with the movement of his mount. A year younger than her, he had filled out from the gangly youth she first met almost six years ago when she moved to Storbrook. His sandy-colored hair had darkened to brown, and his blue eyes creased at the corners when he smiled.
He was a man of few words, and did not seem to notice the glances that were frequently thrown his way by the young maids at Storbrook or in the village. When Anna had returned with Keira and Aaron after the troubles with Jack, it was Garrick who teased her out of her doldrums, dragging her through the forest while he trapped rabbits and hunted deer. He was an excellent marksman, and often it was his skill that placed meat on the tables at Storbrook. He had taught her about birds, pointing out the secret places where the hidden nests of robins and sparrows could be found, then dragging her away so the birds would not be anxious. He made her lie still for hours on end as they watched a spider spin her web, until finally Anna’s fidgeting grew too much for even him to ignore. They swam in the river, and lay on the rocks in the sun afterwards, and once, he had kissed her on the forehead, then turned away in embarrassment. There had been a few moments of awkward silence, before he jumped into the deep pool formed by the river, drenching her from head to toe, and she had yelled at him while he laughed. Later, when she thought about it, she decided that it had been a brotherly kiss, and meant nothing more. She was relieved at this conclusion, although she did not think to wonder why. As the years went by, she sought him out while he mucked in the stables or chopped wood behind the shed. He would stop and smile at her, and occasionally tease her into helping him. She smiled now at the memories. Garrick was a good friend – probably better than she deserved.
It was over thirty miles to the village from Storbrook, but they made it in good time, reaching the outskirts of the village before noon. Garrick turned to face Anna. “I’ll fetch you from your parents, shall I?” he asked.
She sh
ook her head. “No, I’ll meet you at the churchyard. I don’t plan to visit for long, since I have a list of purchases I want to make in the village.” Garrick nodded, then turned away, taking the path to the village smith, while Anna took the path that led to her old home. She made this trip every few weeks, sometimes with Garrick, other times with Thomas, Aaron’s steward. Keira would often accompany her as well, bringing the children along, and then Aaron would carry them all on his back. But Aaron had urgent matters to attend to this day, and it was too far for the children to travel the distance on horseback in one day, so they had remained behind. Anna did not mind. She knew she was quite safe with Garrick, and his silence gave her time alone with her thoughts as they rode down the mountain.
Richard and Jenny Carver lived in a small house at the edge of the village. Richard was a Master Craftsman, and his wooden wares were sold in many of the surrounding towns and villages, gracing the tables of poor and wealthy alike. He was also the village reeve, employed in the service of Lord Warren to represent the people of the village as well as serve the lord’s interests. The previous reeve, Matthew Hobbes, had been intent on killing the Storbrook dragon, a foolish mistake which had almost cost him his life, and left him with a serious injury. Richard had also been injured – not by the dragon, but by another villager who had accidentally impaled him with a pitchfork. It was the dragon’s blood, spilt over his wounds, that saved Richard’s life, an action that had won Richard’s undying gratitude. He looked up through the doorway of his workshop as Anna approached, and with a wide smile hurried out to greet her.
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