Dragon Kiss (20 page)

Audun turned his head as the floor shuddered under the pounding of heavy feet. Suddenly, an enormous dragon head filled the doorway, its mouth open in a roar that shook the walls of the cell and made dust sift through the stone ceiling. Olebald looked up from the dragoness, his eyes as big as platters and his face turning pale. Snarling, the dragon thrashed its head from side to side as it fought to work its way into the room. With a sickening grating sound, the mortar that held the stones of the doorway crumbled and the dragon staggered into the cell.

The dragon was more than twice Audun’s normal size, with burly muscles and a ridge as sharp as blades. When he roared again stones fell from the ceiling and screams of terror echoed from the neighboring cells. Audun had never been so happy to see anyone as he was to see Frosty-breath at that moment.

Olebald cowered against the floor with his arms crossed in front of his face as if they could protect him. The little dragoness looked just as frightened as she crawled toward the wall, away from both the wizard and the dragon.

“So you thought you’d get away,” Frostybreath growled, thrashing his tail behind him as he strode toward the wizard. His tail hit an ancient skeleton, knocking it across the cell where it shattered against the far wall. “Did you really think I wouldn’t find you again?”

The old man stammered, powerless against the dragon without his magic. He scuttled backward until he reached the wall and couldn’t go any farther.

Frostybreath turned to Audun and shook his head, saying, “You certainly know how to get yourself into a mess.”

The little dragoness’s ridge was raised in anger when she flew at him shouting, “Don’t you hurt my friend!”

“Who is this?” Frostybreath asked, as he caught the little dragon with his talons. She fought, scratching and biting.

Audun shrugged. “I don’t know, although she seems to know me. Would you mind,” he asked, pulling his arms as far from the wall as he could get them.

Frostybreath grunted. Stretching out his neck, he breathed on the chains, making them so cold that they became brittle. He was reaching out to break them when Olebald got to his feet. While the big dragon turned back to the wizard, Audun lunged against the chains, snapping them. He didn’t hesitate, but dashed to where the green stone still lay and snatched it up from the floor. Running to the door, he pitched it down the corridor where it skidded through the dust and debris and finally disappeared through a hole in a grate to the water below.

Still in the doorway, Audun closed his eyes and turned back into a dragon. Hearing a gasp behind him, he turned around and saw the little dragoness looking from him to the blue cloud that had formed between the wizard and Frostybreath. The big dragon looked stunned. Audun didn’t know why until he saw tendrils reaching from the blue cloud to wrap themselves around the dragon’s throat.

The wizard had his back to Audun, who knew that he had only seconds before Olebald used the blue cloud against him as well. Without making a sound, Audun launched himself at the old man, knocking him to the floor. The impact stunned Olebald for a moment, which was just long enough for the cloud to falter and fall back in on itself. Released from the cloud, Frostybreath snarled and stalked toward Olebald. The old man was shaking his head when the big ice dragon breathed on him. A look of horror stiffened on his face as Frostybreath froze him as solid as an ice cube. The blue cloud imploded with a small
pop!
leaving the room too dark for a human to see. Fortunately, it wasn’t too dark for dragons.

“I should have done that the last time,” the big dragon said, sitting back on his haunches.

“You’re a dragon!” breathed the little dragoness, staring at Audun.

He noticed that one of her front fangs was chipped. She reminded him of someone, but he just couldn’t remember who. “Yes, I am,” he said, still studying her face. “Thank you for coming to my rescue, but do I know you?”

The dragoness nodded and a moment later Jim stood in front of him, looking up at him with the same worshipful look that the dragoness had been giving him. Audun gasped and said, “Jim?”

“It’s Gem, actually,” she said, after turning back into a dragoness. “My parents raised me among humans. They were going to take me to the dragon stronghold in a few months. My big sister is already there, waiting for me. When I was just a hatchling they taught me how to pass myself off as a human. They said I’d be safer if people thought I was a boy, so I started dressing like one when they brought me to Aridia.”

“Why did they bring you here?” asked Audun.

“My parents were King Stormclaw’s representatives to the king of Aridia. Ice dragons have mined the gems under the desert for centuries. We give some to the Aridian king and take the rest to the dragon stronghold. It’s a big secret among the humans. My parents said that the king tells his son on his deathbed, but no one else is supposed to know. We were good at keeping secrets. King Cadmus and my father were friends, but even the king didn’t know that my father was a dragon.”

Frostybreath ruffled the crest on Gem’s head with his talons. “What happened to your parents, little one?”

“Everyone knew my father was a gem merchant. Soldiers broke into our house, looking for the gems, but my father had hidden them all. The soldiers killed my parents when they couldn’t find what they wanted. I hid until they left, then King Dolon’s men found me and brought me to the castle with all the other orphans. When the king asked us for the names of our relatives, I told him that I didn’t have any in Aridia, which was true, so he made me work as a servant. I didn’t mind too much. It was better than being locked in the tower like the other orphans.”

Audun nodded. If any girl didn’t belong at the castle, it was Gem. “Let me guess—you rolled in muck to mask your dragon scent, didn’t you?”

“It was the only thing I could think of,” she said. “My parents used a lotion to cover their scent. I didn’t need it when I was young and now that I do I don’t know where to get it.”

“You’re a very clever dragoness,” said Frostybreath. “Your parents would be proud of you.”

“And what about you?” Audun asked the bigger dragon. “You were the new guard, weren’t you?”

“Figured that out, did you? I followed Olebald here after he escaped from the stronghold. I’m supposed to take him back with me so King Stormclaw and his council can pass judgment on him. He did some nasty things to a few dragons before he left and he’s going to have to answer for that.”

“Did you know that he was coming to Aridia?” asked Audun.

“Not until I got here, and then I was afraid he was coming after you.”

“I met Jim my first day here, but I didn’t know she was a girl,” Audun said, before turning back to Gem. “May I accompany you to the dragon stronghold? You said that your sister was there, waiting for you. I bet she’ll be happy to see you. What is her name? If I don’t know her, I’m sure Frostybreath will.”

“Her name is Loolee. She was my best friend before she left.”

“I know Loolee!” Audun said. “She taught me how to slide down the ice chute. You’ll like the ice chute. Frosty-breath made it so little dragonesses like you could have fun.”

“Would you show me how to slide down it, Audun?”

“Of course,” he replied, smiling. “And then I have something very important that I have to do.”

Twenty-one

A
wide grin stretched Audun’s scaly lips when he finally spotted the royal castle of Greater Greensward from high in the sky. Although the castle wasn’t as big as some of those he’d visited, it was by far the most beautiful. Green pennants streamed from the tops of the slender towers, and the white stone of the walls reminded him of home. Flowers grew in profusion along both sides of the road leading up to the drawbridge where guards kept watch over the people coming and going.

It had been more than three months since Audun had seen Millie. Although he’d planned to return to Greater Greensward sooner, Prince Owen had begged him to stay to help him and his father, Cadmus, regain the Aridian throne. Because of Aridia’s ties to the ice dragons, Audun had felt obliged to help them in whatever way he could. Unfortunately, the short campaign they’d planned had lasted far longer than anyone anticipated and it had been many weeks before Audun was able to leave.

Through it all, Audun had spent hours thinking about Millie. Curled up under the stars trying to rest after yet another battle, Audun often lay awake, remembering how Millie had looked when he saw her last. She’d been so happy to see him when he first arrived, and later had looked as if her heart was being ripped apart when her mother whisked her away. Sometimes Audun tried to picture what she would look like when he finally saw her again; he was sure she’d be just as excited to see him as he’d be to see her. Yet now that the time was approaching, Audun was no longer quite so certain. They’d been apart for too many months. Could time have dimmed her memory of him? Or even worse, could she have met someone else?

No,
he thought, bringing his wings down with extra force so that he shot toward the castle. After all he’d gone through, he wasn’t going to let doubt mar their reunion. Millie was his one true love, his soul mate and the one with whom he wanted to spend the rest of his life. He knew deep down inside that she had to feel the same way. Now that he was back, he was going to do whatever it took to make sure nothing got in their way.

Audun circled over the courtyard looking for Millie, but the only humans in sight were the guards on the towers and some servants hustling from one building to the next. Folding his wings to his sides, Audun dove toward the pavement, pulling up short beside one of the outbuildings. He was more concerned with landing where he wouldn’t frighten the horses than he was in the humans who might be there, so he didn’t notice a young man dressed in a cloth-of-gold-lined cape run down the steps, grab a spear from a nearby guard, and prepare to throw it.

Audun had barely set his feet on the ground when a voice shouted, “Don’t worry, Princess! I’ll save you!”

Audun’s head snapped around just as the young man hurled the spear. After having spent so many days in battle in Aridia, the dragon sidestepped it easily.

“Beware, foul lizard,” shouted the man, as he pulled his sword from its scabbard. “I, Prince Rudolfo, am about to slay you and rip your evil heart from your chest and—”

“Oh, for the love of fish!” Audun cursed. Although instinct told him to stand and fight, the last thing he wanted to do was hurt someone who might be a friend of Millie’s. He wanted to make the best impression he could when he met her family again, and was sure they wouldn’t take kindly to the sight of human blood on his talons.

A shadow moved in the open doorway, but before Audun could see who was there, the prince’s sword came whistling through the air, and the dragon had to jump out of the way. Wondering if things had changed so drastically that dragons were no longer welcome in Greater Greensward, Audun turned and hid behind the outbuilding.

“Rudolfo!” shouted a familiar voice, but Audun was already changing and wasn’t sure he’d heard correctly.

“Did you see that, Princess?” called the prince. “I sent the beast scurrying away with its tail between its legs! Wait here while I go finish it off.”

“You’ll do no such thing!” Millie shouted, as Audun came around the corner, now in his human form and dressed in the blue and white tunic that he’d chosen specially for their reunion. He looked up as Millie dashed down the stairs, saying, “If you’ve hurt him . . .” with a worried look on her face.

“Millie!” Audun said, reaching out his hand, but she ran right past him, stopping suddenly when she saw that there was nothing behind him between the back of the outbuilding and the castle wall.

“What happened to the dragon?” demanded the prince, who had also come running. He shot a glance at Audun and frowned. “Who are you?”

Audun nodded in Millie’s direction. “I’m a friend of the princess’s.”

Millie gave him an odd look. “The dragon is gone. He must have flown off when we couldn’t see him. But that’s beside the point,” she said, turning to glare at Rudolfo. “How dare you attack a dragon at my very door!”

“I was protecting you!” said the prince, falling to one knee before her. “I was going to slay him and lay his head at your feet and serve you his heart on a—”

Millie looked a little queasy as she shook her head. “That’s enough, Rudolfo. I don’t want to hear any more. I don’t need your help. I can take care of myself. As I said before, I appreciate your request for my hand, but we really aren’t suited to each other. Please go before you embarrass us both.”

“Embarrass!” said the prince, his brow creasing and his mouth turning down into a frown. He stood and gave her a stiff bow. “I have done nothing to embarrass myself. However, I do think it is time that I take my leave. Goodbye for now, Princess.”

Both Millie and Audun watched Prince Rudolfo stalk to the horse that a stable hand had just brought out. They waited until he was riding under the portcullis and onto the drawbridge before turning to each other again. “All right,” said Millie, “tell me what happened.”

“I don’t know what you—” Audun began.

“Don’t act all innocent with me! Rudolfo may not have seen you change, but I could see it all from the top of the stairs. How is it that you’re a human? Why didn’t you tell me you could do this before? I can’t believe you deceived me!”

“I didn’t deceive you. I spent months learning how to—”

“There you are, Millie,” said the older woman with the fading blond hair who had been so rude to Audun the last time they’d met.

Audun bowed to her, having remembered that this was Queen Chartreuse, one of Millie’s grandmothers.

“So Prince Rudolfo has gone,” she said. “I was hoping you had changed your mind, Millie. But I see another suitor has arrived. How delightful!” Leaning closer to her granddaughter, she added in a loud whisper, “You’ve already rejected most of the eligible princes in the known kingdoms. Try hard not to chase this one away as well!” Smiling a little too brightly at Millie, the queen nodded to Audun. “Welcome to Greater Greensward. May your stay be a pleasant one.”

Millie frowned at Audun as her grandmother climbed the stairs. “I suppose I’ll have to let you in now, although don’t think I’m happy to see you. I hate being lied to, especially by someone I trusted.”

“But that’s just it,” said Audun. “I’ve never lied to you and I never would! If you’d only let me explain—”

“Explain what?” asked Emma, Millie’s mother, coming down the stairs. “I just saw my mother and she said Millie had a new suitor. Who are you, anyway?” she asked, eyeing Audun with suspicion. “I feel as if we’ve met before.”

“This is Audun,” said Millie.

“But I thought Audun was a dragon.”

“Exactly!” said Millie, her eyes flashing. “Apparently he had hidden talents that he didn’t bother to tell me about. I can’t believe I was so gullible!”

Confused, Audun watched as Millie turned on her heels and stalked up the stairs, leaving him alone with her mother.

“Would you mind telling me what is going on?” Emma asked.

“I’m not sure I know, but I’ll tell you what I can, Your Highness,” said Audun, bowing. “The last time we met, I was a dragon. After I left here, I went to see King Storm-claw, as you know. Thank you for going to see him, by the way. I think your visit helped him decide to let me court Millie. Anyway, I asked the king and his council to teach me how to turn myself into a human. They did, after I performed several difficult tasks for them. I came back to see Millie as soon as I could.”

“You mean you couldn’t change into a human before?” asked Emma.

Audun sighed. “Don’t you think I would have if I could have?”

“Then why didn’t you tell Millie?”

“I was trying to! I wanted to come back sooner, but I had to help the king, and then they needed me in Aridia.”

“I see,” said Emma. “Millie was upset when you didn’t come sooner. She was afraid you’d forgotten all about her. Explain to her what you’ve been doing and I’m sure she’ll understand . . . eventually. It may take a while for her to calm down, though. She can be awfully stubborn at times.”

“I know,” said Audun, “but then, so can I.”