Kiss of the Dragon

by Christina James

  In addition to Sir Renaldo, Bianca had no patience this morning to put up with the nonsense of her father’s chatelain and his disapproving sighs and suggestions. He was forever interfering with her freedom, suggesting to her where she could go and where she should not. The man considered it his duty to her father to enforce the rules of decorum befitting the daughter of a duke. Rules that the young lady was expected to live by. But this morning, Bianca was in too much of a hurry, and had no intention of allowing anything to deter her from her purpose. Her future happiness was at stake, after all.

  With that conviction firmly in mind, Bianca had taken special care with her toilette this morning, wanting to look her best when she presented herself to her future husband. She had selected a gown of soft lavender wool with long, flowing sleeves and a skirt that rippled gracefully about her ankles as she walked. Over the kirtle of deep violet velvet, she wore a gold link belt that hugged her hips, emphasizing her slim figure.

  Bianca entered the stable but found only several of the stable boys, who were busy cleaning the stalls and feeding the livestock for which they were responsible. As she moved down the middle of the dusty aisle, the idle banter that had been going on between the lads ceased as they turned to gawk at the young woman walking through their domain. She nodded at each of them in turn as she walked through the stable. But to her disappointment, Lord Draco was nowhere in sight.

  When she reached the last stall Bianca noticed the huge black-as-sin stallion housed there and stopped in front of the stall gate to admire him. He was a truly magnificent animal and by the way he stomped and snorted, he had a vicious temperament. As she stepped closer to his stall, the steed tried to rear up and kick the gate. Bianca jumped back and gasped in shock. This was one stallion that would take a heavy hand to handle. His master must be a magnificent horseman to sit such a beast.

  As she looked him over, she somehow knew that the black belonged to the Black Dragon. Who else could ride such an animal? She decided to try to make friends with him. If she could tame this ill-tempered beast, she would certainly tame his master. She picked up an apple from one of the baskets near the opposite wall of the aisle and held out her hand as she approached the black stallion. He glared at her with wide, wild eyes and neighed loudly, stamping the floor with his mighty hooves warning her off.

  “Whoa, boy, whoa! Look want I have for you. Come, come here to me. Yes, that’s right. Come on. Oh, you are a great beauty, are you not? Come, I have a treat for you.” She eased her hand through the slats in the gate, praying that the beast would not bite her hand off with his big teeth.

  The giant black devil proved to be as stubborn as his huge, dark master. He danced about the stall, throwing his head back and forth as he snorted nastily at her gift. But her low, beguiling voice soothed him somewhat and he finally reached out and took the apple from her outstretched palm. In two chomps, the fruit was gone and the stallion nuzzled her hand, demanding more.

  “Why you greedy boy! Here.” She retrieved a second apple and offered it to him. He demolished it with as much gusto as he had the first. This time when he drew near, she offered only her open hand so that he could sniff it and become acquainted with her scent. Behind her Bianca heard the shuffling of feet and whispered argument of the stable boys and then one of them appeared at her side.

  “My lady, please come away from there.” She turned to find that several of the older stable boys stood behind the younger one who looked close to tears as he stood before her, wringing his hands in agitation. “That great black beast will take your hand off in one bite. Please, my lady, come away!” It touched her that the lad was concerned about her well-being even if he worried unnecessarily. The great black beast did no more than snuffle her hand looking for more fruit. But to appease the boy she withdrew her hand and moved away from the stall.

  “I am looking for Lord Draco. Have you seen him of late?”

  “Yea, my lady. His lordship came by to check on Inferno earlier. He went to the armory a while ago. He warned us to be careful when we get near that stall. Inferno has been known to stomp small boys into the dirt if he takes a mind to do so. That is why his lordship insists on caring for his own mount. Be warned, my lady, his lordship would be very unhappy if you came to harm when we could have prevented it. Please, come away from that stall.”

  “I concede to your knowledge in this instance, but I find it hard to believe the stallion is all that malicious. Oh, he stomps and snorts most violently, but he took the apples I offered as pleasant as you please. No, I refuse to believe that this beauty would hurt a fly. But I have no wish to upset anyone, therefore, I shall do as you suggest.” With those parting words, she left the stables, her hunt once again resuming.

  But Bianca missed him once again. This time when she reached the armory where he was supposed to have been, it was to learn that he had finished his business with the smith and moved on.

  “His lordship was here earlier, my lady, but he is gone now.” Albern, the smithy, scratched his head with one of his large, blackened hands as he paused in his task of flattening a white-hot piece of metal with his enormous hammer. “Yea, he stopped by for a moment to order a new dagger made. He left his design and orders that he wanted it by the end of the week. It will be a beautiful piece by the design he drew up for me. Yea, a real beauty.”

  “Do you know where he intended to go from here?” Bianca tried to keep her voice calm as her heart skipped a beat at the smithy’s revelation. She just managed to stand there without wringing her hands in agitation. So, the Black Dragon still had it in his mind to leave Castle Neige in a few days. Bianca would have to work with greater dispatch if she wanted to hold the man.

  “Yea, my lady. He went off to the practice field with several of his men. His lads issued a challenge. He plans to take on the lot of them at one time. I would have liked to watch, but I have too much work to do here.” With that, he bowed her out the door and returned to his labors.

  The practice field! Why hadn’t she thought to look there first? Plastering a smile on her stiff lips, Bianca moved across the courtyard toward the postern gate that led to the outer bailey and the practice field. She would finally be successful in her hunt for the great Black Dragon after spending the better part of the morning searching for him.

  But it was not to be. Just as she made the gate, a panicked Leia came hurtling across the yard toward her. Bianca just managed to catch the small woman in her arms as she tripped over her own feet.

  “Be careful, Leia. Do not rush about so. Now stop and catch your breath and then tell me why you are in such a hurry.” She set the maid back on her feet and waited until she recovered her breath so that she was able to give a reasonable explanation for why she had wildly sprinted across the bailey yard. After a moment or two, Bianca questioned her. “Now tell me what is so important to send you running to find me? What has happened?”

  “It is a tragedy, my lady! The small boy who assists the chimney sweep has gotten himself stuck in the kitchen flue! He will surely suffocate up in that black hole if we do not get him out soon. Please, my lady, Cook sent me to find you. They need your assistance.” Fear etched her maid’s flush face as she desperately grabbed her hand and began to drag her along.

  Picking up the front of her skirts in her hand, immodestly showing her legs from ankles to knees, Bianca hurried after Leia across the yards and around the castle to the back of the keep to the kitchen. By the time they got there, an assemblage of servants who had heard of the mishap had gathered, standing around the kitchen door trying to get a better view of the unexpected activities.

  “Please return to your duties. If you are not here to help then you do not need to be here at all,” Bianca commanded sharply and within moments only a handful of servants who actually worked in the kitchen were left.

  “I’m gonna wallop that little bastard black and blue when he gits down. The little turd knows better than to git himself stuck in a chimney.” The furious words came from a short, wir
y, man whose face and clothing were blackened with soot. The chimney sweep stalked back and forth before the enormous kitchen hearth like a caged animal. Except for the foul words that poured forth from his mouth, he exerted no energy to finding a remedy for the tragedy that took place. His small assistant was trapped in the flue and he did no more than curse his bad fortune.

  Bianca’s temper flared at the sight and sounds that met her when she entered the kitchen proper. Never had she felt like taking a sword to a man but at that moment she could have skewered the chimney sweep with relish and then stuffed him up the blackened flue for good measure.

  “What steps have you taken to solve this situation, sir?”

  At the filthy man’s sullen glare and then his insouciant shrug, she moved to stand before him, her face barely inches from his and she blasted him.

  “You are responsible for that boy’s safety. If he is in any danger, you put him there and it is your responsibility to rescue him with all haste.” Her words came out in ragged bursts. When he did no more than stand there, stubbornly glaring back at her, she shouted, “Now, blast you!”

  The chimney sweep’s eyes narrowed to mere slits and his lips twisted as he snarled at her, “Lady, I’m not about to climb up there and pull that ungrateful brat down. If he wants down bad enough, he can haul his own arse down.” His shocking lack of respect for the young duchess brought a collective gasp of shock from the cook and her assistants who had been standing behind their mistress listening to the altercation. Cook reached for a large pot thinking to defend the young lady when she was taken by surprise by a large dark hand on her arm stopping her.

  Bianca let loose a string of expletives that would have seen her locked in her tower room if her father had known that she had learned such language from his own men-at-arms. She went so far as to inform the grimy little man where he could go, what he could do when he got there and with whom he could do it.

  Her scorching tirade was enough to shut his mouth and with no place to vent his rage, he was left with no recourse but to retreat.

  “He is your problem now.” With those parting words, the chimney sweep picked up his equipment and made a beeline for the back door.

  As soon as he disappeared, Bianca turned to find the other occupants of the room staring at her with their mouths open and speechless with the exception of one. Her giant servant stood behind the cook and her maid, Leia, his shoulders shaking in suppressed laughter.

  “Jabulani, please see to it that filthy little man is escorted through the front gates. He has no place being in charge of another person’s life, especially that of a child.”

  Rubbing his hands together and with a malicious smile, Jabulani went to do her bidding. “Do not worry, Beauty. That man will be gone within the hour. I shall see to it that he takes with him only what he deserves.”

  Nodding absently at her servant, Bianca returned to the crisis at hand. She reproached herself for wasting so much precious time with the chimney sweep when she could hear the pitiful mewling coming from the kitchen flue.

  “Hurry, Cook, get me some pig lard.” She moved even as she made her demand, ducking low as she entered the large fireplace. Straightening up, Bianca raised her head and peered up into the black hole over her head. She could just make out the shape of two small feet and a pair of thin ankles as the little boy who was assuredly wedged high above her head.

  “Theron?” Bianca called. She waited a moment for an answer but when none came from the darkness above her, she began to panic.

  “Theron, sweetheart, are you hurt?” A long silence followed her question and she was about to turn and call for help when she heard a muffled sound so low that she was not sure that she heard it at all. But then she recognized the low sound of sobbing.

  “Do not be afraid, Theron. We will have you out very soon. Just hold on.” She tried to make her voice as soothing and reassuring as possible, imagining just how frightened the child must be alone in a dark, cramped place.

  “I’m…scared.” Theron’s fearful voice sounded from above, only slightly muffled this time. It was strong, despite the note of apprehension that colored it.

  “Do not worry, Theron. You shall be down and safe very soon.”

  A pitiable whimper was her only answer.

  Ducking down, so that she could view the kitchen, Bianca ordered a stool, which was quickly furnished along with the pig lard she had requested.

  “I have lard, Theron. I’m going to grease you up like a little pig and then you shall slide right out. Understand?”

  There was no answer for chatting so she went right to work on getting him loose. Standing on the stool with thick globs of the rancid-smelling lard in her hand, she stretched up on her tiptoes to reach the child. Carefully she smeared the lard on every part of his body that she could reach, scraping her hands and arms on the rough, blackened stones of the chimney.

  “There, that should be enough.” She reached up and touched his ankles and raised her voice so that he could hear her. “Theron?”

  “Yea?”

  “I am now going to try and pull you down. Ready, now? One…two…three.” Bianca grasped his thin ankles and gave a gentle tug. Nothing happened so she moved her hands to get a better hold. She yanked on his legs and ankles, but she only managed to free him of one shoe. The boy was good and truly stuck. It was in that moment that Bianca felt real fear. She began to pray for the strength to keep her fear to herself. If she was unable to free him with the slippery lard, she had no notion of what else to try.

  Blinking back tears of frustration that threatened to spill, Bianca stood in the dark fireplace and strove to stay calm for Theron’s sake. This was not the time to become hysterical.

  “Theron, sweetheart, I have to leave you for a moment to get something else. I will be back shortly.” At the cry of despair above her, Bianca nearly broke down. “Please do not cry, baby. I promise I shall return. I promise.” This time she did not wait to listen to his pitiful moans.

  Crawling from the chimney covered in soot and smelling like the foul lard, Bianca stopped short at the sight of Lord Draco, who had just entered the kitchen. Never in her life had she been so relieved to see anybody.

  “My Lord Draco, thank God you came. I need your help!” Her voice held a note of panic and it brought him to her side in three long strides. He knelt to help her from the blackness of the cold hearth, steadying her as she stumbled slightly.

  “It is the chimney sweep’s lad. He is stuck in the kitchen flue, my lord. I have tried greasing him with pig’s fat, but I could not get him loose. I cannot think of anything else to do. I fear the poor child might perish if he is not freed soon. He is so small and frightened up there.”

  It took her a moment to realize that while she ranted on about the problem at hand, she was drawn into the strong, comforting embrace of the great Black Dragon. His large hand moved over her back in a soothing motion as he pulled her close.

  When Bianca noticed the intimacy of their position in such a public place, even the soot that covered her face could not hide the deep blush that crept up her neck and across her cheeks. Truth be known, Bianca found herself right where she wanted to be. She looked down at her hands as they rested on his shoulders and noticed for the first time that she was covered in filth. She nearly groaned with her embarrassment that the man she wooed for her future husband should see her at her worst. What must he think of her?

  “I think that you are very brave, Bianca,” Draco whispered against her ear before setting her away from him. “Do not fret, my lady. I shall have a look to determine what must be done.” He gave her a wink and then ducked into the hearth where all but his legs disappeared up into the bowels of chimney.

  “Are you awake, boy?” Draco called calmly as he reached up and tweaked the sole of the lad’s foot a mere hairsbreadth above his head.

  “Yea, sir.” The boy’s reply came back, muffled but strong.

  “Do you want to tell me why you are stuck in the chimney?” T
he silence that met his question was very telling. To everyone else it had appeared that the lad was well and truly stuck, but to Draco, who had the experience of dealing with his younger brother over the last few years, he knew better. It would have been impossible for a child of his size to become stuck in a chimney large enough to allow a grown man room to maneuver his broad shoulders without difficulty.

  “I just cannot come down, is all, sir.”

  “Yea, I see. And why is that do you think?”

  “My master is most angry with me for going to the castle healer yesterday. Galen told me not to work for a few days until my cuts and burns were better. My master would not believe me, and he forced me to work anyway. He promised that he would beat me after I finished cleaning this one last chimney, so I kind of got stuck up here. I do not want to be beaten again.” A sob followed the last piteous statement. It was clear that the boy had reached the end of his endurance and was begging for help.

  Draco clenched his fists in anger. He knew what kind of life the boy had likely had. He had seen it many times, and except for the grace of God, would have had to endure such a life himself. If his uncle had not taken him in when he was a babe, this could have been where he ended up. But his mother’s older brother had been supportive of his unwed sister who showed up on his doorstep heavy with child and he had given her shelter and her son a chance at a better life. The world in general was harsh on a bastard or an orphan. Both were usually treated no better than a dog. And it was obvious that this child had not been as fortunate.