by Avril Sabine
“He did it,” Edana squealed as she jumped up and down. She threw her arms around Fen and hugged him tight. She then turned to Hanun and threw her arms around him.
Fen smiled. He was too exhausted to do anything else. “You did it,” he thought to River.
“I told you I would,” River answered.
“So you did,” Fen told him. “Are you well? No problems from that hit?”
“Some tenderness. I will be fine.”
“We have to see River. He deserves pampering for a year.” Edana still grinned.
“For life,” Hanun said. “I can’t wait to see Adalric’s face.” Hanun’s hands rubbed together.
But Adalric was gone. No one knew where he was.
“Coward,” Hanun exclaimed when they reached home to find Adalric had sent over a two-month-old grey female dragon with a servant. “Should have known he couldn’t bring himself to deliver it. A true gentleman always pays his wagers in person.”
Not long after they arrived a servant informed them Bastian waited to see them. Hanun had him shown in. With him was a servant carrying a grey dragon.
After greetings were out of the way, Bastian said, “I hope you were serious when you said you were partial to grey.”
Fen laughed. “Definitely.”
“Rather unconventional whelp, isn’t he?” Hanun said fondly.
“Hey, grey’s been good to me,” Fen protested.
“I’ll warn you this one is nearly three-months-old.” Bastian smiled. “It was too good an opportunity to pass up.”
Fen laughed. “Pay a debt and rid yourself of a nuisance all at once.”
Bastian chuckled. “You’ve obviously worked out how to protect your dragon from being stolen. Most of us have a hard time keeping our losses to less than three a year. A permanent grey is too much of a draw card.”
Fen shrugged. “We keep what’s ours.”
“You’ll have to give me pointers some time. And if you’re interested, I have a few female dragons ready to mate at the moment. You might like to pair them with your River,” Bastian suggested.
Once again Fen shrugged. “Mating would have to occur here. The eggs would be raised here and I’d expect first choice. It would all be done by written agreement.”
“That’s unusual. Normally the eggs are raised in the stable of the female dragon,” Bastian said.
“That’s our terms. Take them or leave them. You’ve already pointed out your security isn’t as good as ours.”
Bastian stared at Fen thoughtfully. “I suppose I did.” He nodded. “I’ll send my lawyers around with the paperwork Firstday.”
“I look forward to doing business with you,” Fen said.
They continued with small talk until Bastian left.
As soon as he’d gone, Edana turned to Fen. “We’ve made it. We’ve actually made it.” She clutched his hands.
Hanun laughed. “You were the best thing to ever happen in this household, boy. You and that dragon of yours.”
Fen smiled. He squeezed Edana’s hands in acknowledgement of her comment. “River was the best thing that happened to all of us.”
Chapter Thirty-Two
Fen looked at the metal cage on the back of the wagon. He felt a wave of reassurance wash over him and glanced towards River who waited at the rear of the wagon. Edana slipped her hand in his and he looked down at her.
“I know you don’t want to let her go-” Edana began.
“She’s still too young. What if she gets hurt? Who’ll look after her?” Fen’s eyes were drawn to Carmine where she crouched in the cage. She hissed.
“It’s for the best. She doesn’t like people, she hates horses and barely tolerates her parents. She’s more ferocious than a wild dragon. Even River said it’s best to let her go.”
“I know, but she’s still so little.” Fen frowned as he watched Carmine swipe at the side of the cage.
“She’s six-months-old. Not that little. And I don’t think she’s going to let anything come close enough to hurt her.” Edana squeezed Fen’s hand in reassurance.
Fen glanced around. They were at the edge of a heavily treed area. Ahead of them were jagged mountains, where very few ventured. It was the perfect place to release a dragon that didn’t want company of any description. He sighed heavily and ran his free hand through his hair. Fen released Edana’s hand and moved towards the horse. As soon as she was unhitched, he led her towards the trees. Edana walked beside him. Once they were under the shelter of the trees, River opened the cage and stepped back.
Carmine hissed at her father as she moved past him. He didn’t react to her anger. Instead his eyes followed her as she took to the sky and flew towards the mountains.
“She’ll be happier now,” Edana said softly.
Fen nodded. “I know. I just wish we could’ve figured out why she’s like that.”
“People don’t usually breed from tame greys. Maybe this has something to do with it.”
“The others are perfect. And look to have their father’s speed.” Fen grinned. “Be nice to take a few more first places.”
“That’ll really impress my father.”
“And his new wife.” Fen laughed as Edana rolled her eyes.
“I can’t believe he married Bastian’s daughter. She’s not much older than me. And he’s so old.”
“It makes sense. The two most important families. The child they have will nearly own this town.”
“Only if they have a boy,” Edana reminded him.
“I’ve got a feeling your father won’t stick with having one child this time.”
“Probably not. But I can’t believe how young his wife is.”
Fen led the horse back to the wagon. “At least you won’t be expected to call her Ma.”
Edana shook her head. “I wouldn’t have even if he still saw me as his daughter.”
“They’re not worth worrying about.” Fen held out his hand to help Edana onto the seat of the wagon.
“I know. It’s just strange being treated like I’m invisible when we’re at the same function as my father.”
“You’re better off without him.”
“He isn’t a bad person. It’s the way he was raised.”
“Just ’cause you’re raised some way, doesn’t mean you have to live that way the rest of your life.”
“No.” Edana smiled. “I’m glad you came into my father’s stable that night.”
Fen looked into her eyes, before he slowly nodded. “Me too.” He turned to the horse and shook the reins. “We better get back before Mouse eats all that feast Hanun’s organising to celebrate River’s fiftieth win.”
Edana burst into laughter. “I’m sure Hanun has enough to feed an army. He’s so proud of River.” Edana glanced upwards to where River flew above them. “Not that I blame him.”
“I wonder what Hanun will do to celebrate a hundred wins.”
“Don’t pressure River,” Edana said.
“Pressure him! He loves to win. Don’t you?” Fen glanced upwards.
“Of course I do. Hanun can look forward to his party to celebrate one hundred wins. I will keep flying in several races each Halfday,” River thought to them.
“See, he loves to win,” Fen said.
Edana shook her head. “I don’t want him to wear himself out.”
“He won’t. No point entering a race if he’s too exhausted to win. That’d defeat the purpose.”
“Defeat the-” Edana stopped abruptly. “My father’s prize dragons. That’s the races you enter.”
“You’re a bit slow on it, Ed. We thought you’d have figured it out before now.” Fen grinned at her.
“Why?”
“A few reasons. But the main one is he hurt you and locked you up. Taking you from him didn’t bother him enough. He’s planning on replacing you. So we found something that would hurt. He hates to lose. And he’s lost a lot in the past six months.”
Edana touched Fen lightly on the forearm. She blinked rap
idly and cleared her throat. “You didn’t need to do that for me.”
“It wasn’t just for you. It was for River and me too. He tried to kill River because he never changed colour. And then when everyone thought River was a wild dragon, he tried to steal him from me. We owed him for that too.”
“He’s going to hate you for life.”
Fen grinned. “Good. That’d mean we really bothered him.”
They fell into contented silence as the town came into view. River flew above, watching over them and the wagon bounced along the rarely used track as they drove home.
Acknowledgements
Thank you to all those who helped, particularly Jo-ann, Talitha and especially my kids who don’t mind in the least pointing out any story problems.
About The Author
Avril is an Australian fiction writer who lives with her family on acreage in South East Queensland. She writes mostly young adult speculative fiction, but has been known to dabble in other genres. You can find more information about her at her website www.avrilsabine.com where you can also sign up for her newsletter to be kept informed about new releases, current projects, blog posts and exclusive news.
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Also By Avril Sabine
Series
Dragon Blood- Young Adult Urban Fantasy (with elements of romance)
Book 1: Pliethin
Book 2: Wyvern
Book 3: Surety
Book 4: Knight
Book 5: Mage
Stand Alone Series
Demon Hunters- Young Adult Urban Fantasy/Horror (with elements of romance)
Book 1: Blood Sacrifice
Book 2: Retribution
Book 3: Tainted
Plea Of The Damned- Young Adult Urban Fantasy/Paranormal
Book 1: Forgive Me Lucy
Fairytales Retold (Short Stories)
Snow-White And Rose-Red
The Twelve Brothers
The Light Princess
Beauty And The Beast
Sleeping Beauty
Aschenputtel
Young Adult Novels
Young Adult Fantasy (with elements of romance)
Elf Sight
Earth Bound
Young Adult Urban Fantasy
Stone Warrior (with elements of romance)
The Jungle Inside
Young Adult Contemporary (with elements of romance)
Through Your Eyes
The Ugly Stepsister
Young Adult Contemporary/Paranormal
Whispers In The Dark (with elements of romance and same sex relationships)
Children’s Books
Dragon Lord (Preteen/early teens) (Fantasy)
The Irish Wizard (Upper middle grade) (Urban Fantasy)
Short Stories
Urban Fantasy
Eternally Late
Dealings With Joe
Disclaimer
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.
