Jayden fished around in his pocket and produced a packet of sweets. He offered them to her. "We'll do a trade. For as long as I have the notebook, you take the sweets. Then we'll switch back halfway through."
With most people, Emily would look away and nod. The less she said, the better.
But something about Jayden's smiling face made her say, "What if th-there aren't any left?"
"Well, then you'll owe me some sweets next time you come to Stonefire. Deal?"
Since Emily had removed her hand from his arm, he put that hand out, offering to shake on it. She didn't hesitate to take his hand and shake, noticing how much bigger his hand was than hers. Like most dragon-shifters she'd met, he'd probably be tall when he was all grown up. Really tall.
As he released her hand, a question popped into her mind and she blurted it without thinking. "Do you have a t-t-tattoo?"
Emily tried not to cringe. Ts were hard sometimes, and she usually tried to think of other words.
But Jayden rolled up his sleeve, showing her his skin—brown with no tattoo anywhere. "Not yet. I have to wait until I'm sixteen. I keep trying to convince Mum to let me have it now. I'm almost thirteen and nearly an adult! But she said no." He put his sleeve down and added, "But I can show you a picture of it at the party, if you want."
"That sounds lo-lo…nice."
"Good. And if you want, you can help me irritate my brother. He'll never see it coming, and by a human, too. That would be brilliant."
He winked and she laughed. "Okay."
There was an announcement asking everyone to take a seat.
Emily finally handed over her notebook and took the bag of sweets. Maybe she should've watched the play, but she watched Jayden the entire first half. He was so nice and happy, and didn't make fun of her.
Maybe she'd just made a dragon-shifter friend all on her own.
Chapter Three
Daisy was Alviva in the play, the UK dragon-shifter queen from many, many years ago. The final scene was the best, as she held up a golden necklace and proclaimed the dragons and Romans to both be leaders of the island. A bright light flashed as smoke filled the stage.
Freddie was the Roman emperor in the play—even though the emperor never met Alviva, Emily had thought it'd be fun to make them talk—and once he put his hand on the necklace, too, more lights flashed. The other kids started singing about peace, and friendship, and freedom. Daisy didn't sing well but joined in with everyone else. Once they finished their song, the curtain closed and there was a bunch of clapping.
Daisy quickly put the fake necklace on a side table and rushed back to Freddie. "We did it, Freddie! And I only forgot my lines once."
Emily came onto the stage with the boy named Jayden right behind her. Emily shook her head. "Two times."
"Okay, two times. But that's still pretty brilliant."
Mr. MacLeod walked over and gave a low whistle. All the children looked at him as he said, "Remember, you lot still need to bow to the audience."
Once the teacher went back to the side of the stage, along with Emily and Jayden, the curtains opened again. She didn't hesitate to take Freddie's hand and bow, although it was a bit tricky since she had dragon wings on her back. Once they did it again, they moved aside and let Emily, Jayden, and the other students who'd helped with the props and things bow, too.
Mr. MacLeod was going to close the curtain, but Daisy went over to him, took his hand and tugged. Freddie did the same for Mr. Whitby, and a few other students brought the other nearby adults onto the stage, too.
Mr. MacLeod frowned at her, but then smiled as he gestured for the other adults to bow. Once they did, everyone left the stage and the curtains closed.
She didn't hesitate to say to Mr. MacLeod, "See? We did great. And everyone loved it. We should definitely do this again. Maybe ten times a year. Then we could visit all the time."
Mr. MacLeod smiled. Just as Daisy could make him blink a lot, she was one of the few who could make him smile, too. "Let's try twice a year first and see how that goes. Putting on a play takes loads of work, Daisy. And whilst you have massive amounts of energy, some of us have a little less so."
"But—"
Just then Mr. MacLeod's wife—no, mate—Miss Melanie came over, holding the hands of two toddlers as they walked slowly. Miss Melanie beamed at each and every one of them. "You all did a great job."
At first, Daisy had spent too much time in awe of Miss Melanie's accent—American like in so many of the shows on the telly. But Daisy barely noticed it anymore, and instead spoke before anyone else could. "We all worked together. It was fun, so much fun. Maybe you can convince Mr. MacLeod to let us do it more than twice a year."
Miss Melanie glanced at her mate. "I could, but we'll try for twice a year for now." Daisy opened her mouth, but the human spoke before she could. "Not because it's not awesome. I loved it, Daisy. But there are lots of other activities we want to do, like the camp. Aren’t a lot of different things more exciting than just one?"
"I guess so," Daisy muttered.
Miss Melanie's daughter broke free of her mum's hand and started running. With a sigh, Mr. MacLeod whispered, "I've got her," and ran after her.
Picking up her son, Miss Melanie said to them at the same time, "But the reason I'm here is to help escort you to the party. After all that work, you must be hungry." She lowered her voice. "And my friend Samira is a genius with cookies and cakes, and she made a bunch for you guys. Should we go?"
Daisy itched to scream yes like all the other kids, but she held back. She had to do something first.
Moving close to Miss Melanie, she said, "I need to take my wings off first. Freddie can help me."
After a second, Miss Melanie nodded. "Okay. But a few of the adults and older kids are staying to help clean up, so make sure one of them takes you to the party, okay?"
Daisy couldn't believe her luck. Maybe Mr. MacLeod hadn't told his mate how Daisy liked to explore.
Not wanting the human to change her mind, she said, "Okay!" before grabbing Freddie's hand and dragging him toward the back room.
Yes, she needed to take off her wings. But after that, they were going to spy on her mother.
Only once the door was shut did Freddie sigh and say, "You didn't have to run."
"Of course I did. Because if Mr. MacLeod came back, he'd probably wait for us and we'd never get to see if my mum is getting along with Mr. Whitby." She turned around. "Now, help me with my wings. We can't be stealthy with them."
Stealthy was one of Daisy's new favorite words, one Emily had taught her. It was so much better than sneaking.
Freddie muttered something she couldn't hear as he undid the straps and buttons of her wings. Once he tossed them onto a table, she turned to face him. "They'll be plenty of biscuits and cakes left, so stop whining. Remember, if we succeed, I can live here. Isn't that better than a mound of cakes?"
Tapping his chin, Freddie pretended to be unsure. She gently shoved him. "Don't be silly, of course it is. Now, come on. Unless you want to tease me some more and let everyone else eat all the biscuits?"
"Fine, fine," he grumbled. "But remember, follow me this time. I know this area better than you."
It was true, Freddie had lived his whole life on Stonefire. Of course he knew better.
But maybe, just maybe, she would get the chance to memorize all the best places to hide or be stealthy. It made her want their plan to succeed so much more.
He stared at her until she replied, "I promise to follow you."
"Right, then let's go."
Freddie peeked his head out the door before taking her hand and guiding her toward the back of the area.
~~~
Careful to use the darkest, most hidden parts of the backstage area, Freddie made his way to where Mr. Whitby and Daisy's mum should be—in a room used to control the lights and things for the stage.
And even though everyone thought Daisy could never follow directions very well, she almost always did for
him. She wasn't trying to lead, or ask questions, or stop to look at something new. She kept her hand in his and moved as quickly as him.
His dragon spoke up. We're patient and only ask her to listen when it's important. That's the difference.
I think so, too. But it's too difficult to tell adults that.
They reached the last hidden area before a small, open space that led to the special control room. He said to his dragon, Help me listen. We can't let Daisy down.
His beast was a little better at picking up small noises. Someone was moving a cart far away so they shouldn't see them. There were also some people picking up things and moving the backdrop. They also shouldn't be able to spot them.
Daisy squeezed his hand in question, and he squeezed back before meeting her eyes and nodding.
It was time to go.
They rushed over to the door. Freddie held his breath as he grabbed the doorknob and released his breath when it opened. No one had locked it.
He quickly moved them inside and shut the door. Locked it, too, for good measure.
And while everyone called it the sound and lighting room, it was actually two rooms, each with a door. One was for storage, and the other was where Mr. Whitby made the magic happen.
Since the special control room was soundproofed, he couldn't hear anything. Releasing Daisy's hand, he crouched down and moved toward the door. There was a window in the upper half, and he peered inside—there was Mr. Whitby and Daisy's mum.
He whispered, "Peek from the other side, but be careful they don't see you."
Daisy went to the other side, and as soon as she saw the two adults, she gave a silent clap. "Look! They're standing close and smiling. Although Mr. Whitby's eyes keep flashing."
It was true—Mr. Whitby faced them while Daisy's mum faced away. And Mr. Whitby's pupils kept flashing.
His dragon must have a lot to say.
Then Mr. Whitby reached to grab something to the side of Daisy's mum and stopped really close to her face. In the next second, Daisy opened the door, rushed to her mom, and gently pushed her toward Mr. Whitby.
Freddie was in the room a few beats later, just in time to see Mr. Whitby move away from Daisy's mum superfast.
Then his pupils flashed even more. Mr. Whitby turned away and clutched his head.
Something was wrong. And Freddie thought he might know what it was. Mr. Whitby's dragon might be trying to take control.
Daisy's mum reached for Mr. Whitby. "Blake, are you okay?"
He pushed her hand away. "No, get away from me, Dawn. Run. Now."
At the growly sound of Mr. Whitby's voice, Freddie knew why Mr. Whitby's dragon was trying to take control—he'd learned about it only last year. And so he whispered, "It's the mate-claim frenzy, right?"
Mr. Whitby's eyes shot to his. "Yes, now get them out of here and find Bram, Kai, someone." Mr. Whitby crouched down into a ball on the floor. "Hurry."
The two humans merely stared at Mr. Whitby, and Daisy's mum moved to crouch down. Freddie rushed to stand between them. "Don't touch him. It'll make it worse."
"What's going on—"
He cut Daisy's mum off. "We need to leave. Bram will explain it to you."
Even though he was shorter and weaker than Daisy's mum, he took her hand and she let him lead her out. Daisy followed silently, too.
Once they were outside of the special set of rooms, he released the hand of Daisy's mom. "Don't go in there. We need to find some help."
"Why?" Daisy asked.
"Because Mr. Whitby's dragon wants your mum, and soon will do anything to have her, even if it means fighting off other males to get her."
He didn't mean to scare the humans, but Daisy's mum's face turned paler.
His dragon growled. Get them out of here. The adults can explain it better to her than we can.
He saw the tall form of Mr. MacLeod. As soon as the teacher met his gaze, he stated, "Here you two are. Now, come on."
Freddie rushed to the teacher. "No, wait, listen. Mr. Whitby and Daisy's mum kissed, and now he's trying to fight his dragon against the mate-claim frenzy. He's in there." He pointed. "Help him."
Mr. MacLeod muttered some words that always got Freddie in trouble at home before he rushed to the door. "Do as the boy says, Dawn. Follow him. You need to see Bram straightaway."
Daisy's mum glanced one last time at the door before looking back at Freddie. Standing tall, he motioned for them to follow him.
As they left the backstage area and headed toward the exit of the great hall, he did his best not to look worried. Mate-claim frenzies could be wonderful, or bad. Sometimes they didn't work well.
And if Daisy's mum was frightened, then who knew if he'd ever see Daisy again.
Not wanting to think of that future, he picked up his pace. Stonefire's clan leader always knew how to make things better. Surely he could do it this time, too.
Chapter Four
Daisy hated being kept in the dark. And normally, she'd ask questions until she got answers.
But with both Freddie and Mr. MacLeod seeming a little worried about what had happened between Mr. Whitby and her mum, she kept her questions to herself. Freddie kept saying the clan leader, Bram, would explain it better. They just needed to hurry.
So Daisy had taken her mum's hand and tried to behave as best she could.
Whatever was going on, it was her fault. But all she'd wanted to do was see if kissing would make her mum like Mr. Whitby more. Kissing always worked in the movies she watched.
But this time, it wasn't all happy and perfect. Mr. Whitby had crouched to the floor, holding his head. He looked like he'd been hurting.
Freddie had said something about a mate-claim frenzy. Although Daisy had no idea what that was.
She expected them to go to Bram's cottage—Daisy had been before, the first time she'd been on Stonefire—but the dark-haired clan leader greeted them near the exit to the great hall. His pregnant mate, Evie, was right behind him.
Bram had greeted everyone when they'd first arrived, but Daisy's mum still looked a little scared of the tall dragonman. Then his mate stepped between them and smiled. "We met briefly earlier, but I'm Evie, Bram's mate. And human just like you."
Her mum looked between Evie, Bram, and back again. "What's going on? Everyone keeps saying you will explain it, and that just makes me even more worried."
"We'll explain it all in just a moment." Evie glanced down at Freddie. "Why don't you take Daisy to the party and stay close to your family? Can you do that?"
Daisy frowned. "I want to hear what's going on, too."
Bram spoke up. "Not right now, little one. Freddie can tell you what's happening. But we need to have an adults-only conversation with your mother."
She hated "adults-only" conversations. They usually meant she was missing out on something important, exciting, or both.
Freddie took her hand. "I can take her to my family. And we'll watch over her, Mrs. Chadwick. I promise."
Oh boy. Freddie sounded serious. That must mean something bad was happening.
Torn between wanting to know what was truly going on and staying with her mum, or relying on Freddie's explanation, she debated what to do.
Her mum finally looked down at her and tucked a stray strand of hair behind her ear. "Go with Freddie and stay with his family. I'll find you when I'm done."
"But, Mum."
"No buts, Daisy. Just promise me you won't go looking for any more trouble, okay?"
At the worry in her mum's eyes, Daisy didn't argue. "Okay. I promise."
Her mum leaned down and kissed her cheek. "I'll find you soon."
She glanced from her mum to Bram, to Bram's mate, and back again. "Okay. I hope it doesn't take too long."
Daisy swore she heard the clan leader murmur, "That depends." However, Freddie was pulling her away before she could see if she'd heard right.
She remained quiet as Freddie took her through a few doors, until they reached the big, open area of the gre
at hall where the party was. There was some music, lots of tables of food, and lots of people. She barely noticed how most of the dragons stayed to one side and the humans to the other before Freddie pulled her to a corner. He kept his voice low as he said, "I'm going to tell you some of it before we reach my family."
Leaning forward, she nodded. "Tell me."
After glancing to make sure no one was close, Freddie said, "When you pushed your mum against Mr. Whitby, they kissed. And now, he's fighting his dragon against a mate-claim frenzy."
She frowned. "What's a mate-claim frenzy?"
"The adults are always vague about the specifics, saying I need to be older. But all I know is that when it happens, the male dragon-shifter really, really wants the female he kissed, and they have sex at least once. Although the two people involved aren't seen for weeks, so I’m not sure what they’re doing the whole time. Whenever I ask what they do, the adults just smile and say they're busy."
"Busy doesn't say much."
Freddie grunted. "I know. I keep trying to make Alfie tell me more—he says they explain it in full detail in class when they're fifteen or sixteen—but he just teases me about being too young and that I wouldn’t appreciate it."
She hated it when people said she was too young. They only said that when the answer was a good one.
But from experience, she knew that meant they wouldn't tell her anything, not even a hint. She leaned a little closer to Freddie. "Is that all you know then?"
He paused and replied, "Well, once they come back, they always celebrate a new baby coming. That’s why I know they have sex once during the frenzy."
She frowned. "So if my mum disappears with Mr. Whitby, she'd come back pregnant?"
He shrugged. "She should. It always happens after a mate-claim frenzy."
Daisy had always wanted a little brother or sister. "If that's true, it may be a good thing, then, that I pushed her against Mr. Whitby. After all, my mum always said she wanted more children. She'd be a lot older than other mums at the school, but I don't think she'd care."
The Dragon Play (Stonefire Dragons Shorts Book 3) Page 2
