“On horses?” Daniel asked as he met Patrick coming back. The best answer would be to shift to dragon and follow it.
“Yes, on horses,” Patrick answered. “With the people seeing dragons in every shadow, we can’t afford to set after it on wings.” He turned his head to catch Daniel’s eyes. “Did you see it?”
Daniel swallowed as he nodded. “Yes.” He had noticed the tension in the dragon. What could cause such distress?
“I have to take this to the prince tonight. Something isn’t right.”
Daniel nodded his agreement.
“We have to find that dragon’s lair,” Patrick stressed.
“We will do our best, My Lord.” Daniel placed his fist over his heart and bowed before breaking off to order the men around.
The weight of Daniel’s words hit Patrick, and his shoulders dropped as he turned to walk back to the castle. Great, now his friend was seeing him as the lord he was trying to be. Guess that meant he was doing a fair job. The fact that he was claiming the place as lord hadn’t sunken in until Daniel had used the title.
Patrick could feel the eyes of the villagers as he passed. Each one added weight to his shoulders. He had claimed them, he had defended them, and he was now responsible for them. They expected him to kill this dragon, but in his heart, he knew there was something wrong. The dragon needed help, but what could it need maidens for?
Drawing in a deep breath, Patrick straightened his spine. He had come into this situation knowing he would be the lord here. He just hadn’t realized how heavy that burden would be.
“You’re back.”
Daniel’s voice echoing down the hall made Kathryn pause. What was he doing up this late at night? It was well into the wee hours of the morning.
“Yes,” Patrick’s voice answered. “The light in the tower was very helpful. Thank you.”
Kathryn sucked in a shocked breath. She had tried to take the lord dinner this evening, but Daniel had sent her away, claiming Patrick was tired and had gone to bed. What was he doing up now, and where had he gone? Kathryn eased herself down the hall, listening to the men.
“The robe was a nice touch,” Patrick’s voice went on.
Kathryn peeked around the corner at the two men. Patrick wore a long dressing gown.
Daniel shrugged. “I figured that would be better than running around a castle filled with maidens naked. How did your trip go?”
“Well,” Patrick answered. “It’s a beautiful night for flying.”
What did he mean flying? Kathryn’s brow furrowed in thought.
“And what did the prince say?” Daniel asked.
Prince? There was no prince here. Patrick’s answer was cut off as the two men disappeared into Patrick’s room. Kathryn paused as her mind repeated the conversation she had just heard. What was going on?
Shaking her thoughts away, Kathryn hastened to her room. Her door was right across the hall from where the two men had disappeared, and she needed to get into it before they came back out and discovered her eavesdropping. Her hand dropped to the handle of her door. Safe.
“Kathryn?”
Daniel’s voice froze her. She twisted to look at him, trying to hide the fear in her eyes.
“Master Daniel!” she gasped in surprise. She hadn’t heard the other door open.
“What are you doing up so late?” He closed the distance between them.
Oh God, she was in for it now. “Dinner wasn’t sitting well,” she explained as she tried to keep the panicked expression from her face. “I was just coming back from the garderobes.”
Daniel considered her for a moment. “I have some mint tea that would help settle your stomach,” he offered. “Would you like me to fetch it?”
Kathryn bit the inside of her cheek. Could she be lucky enough to get out of this unscathed? “Thank you, but no,” she refused. “My stomach is much better now. I’m hoping I can get back to sleep for a while longer.”
Daniel held her gaze as if he were searching her face for the truth. “Rest easy then, fair maiden.” He reached around her and opened her door.
She stepped past him and into her room. “Thank you, Master Daniel.”
Daniel nodded his farewell and pulled the door shut behind her.
Leaning against the closed door, she listened to his footfalls take him away. Thank you, God. She let out a sigh of relief as she shucked her dressing gown and slipped back into her bed. Her mind replayed the last few minutes as she tried to get comfortable.
Patrick had obviously not gone to bed this evening, so why had Daniel lied to her? And where had Patrick gone? The comment about flying nagged at her. How could one fly? She could only think of one creature large enough to carry a man. Kathryn’s heart skipped a beat. Could their new lord be in cohorts with the dragon? Tales of him yelling at the dragon had come back with the men. No, he wouldn’t align himself with such a creature. She shook that thought away.
Rolling over, Kathryn thought about the rest of the conversation. Why would Patrick be wandering around the castle naked? She was sure she’d heard Daniel say that, and he’d been wearing a dressing gown. Maybe he had just gotten up to use the garderobes, too? She shook her head. No, he had come from the direction of the tower. What were they doing up in the tower this late at night?
Memories tickled at the back of her brain. Something her grandmother had said. Kathryn’s mouth fell open as old stories flooded her mind, stories of an age long past, when dragons had learned to walk as men. They lived and prospered together until the men had become jealous and frightened of the dragons. Her grandmother had spoken of a great purge, when all the dragons had been hunted down and killed.
Obviously, one had escaped. Could there have been more? The image of a red dragon bursting from the lake filled her mind. Could Patrick be a dragon? It would definitely explain a few things. Like how he’d been able to face down the black dragon twice without being eaten or cooked. He had also claimed to know a few things about dragons, and he said he’d used dragon’s fire to forge his shield. Daniel had also made a comment about the dragon’s fire being nearly as hot as Patrick’s.
Kathryn rolled to her other side as she worked on this. Patrick had to be a dragon in human guise. It was the only answer that made sense. The question now was, what should she do about it? Patrick had said not all dragons were bad. Did that mean he was good? He had stopped the black dragon from terrorizing the town, and he had accepted the maidens into his protection. Was he only biding his time and earning their trust before striking? Did he eat maidens, too? Kathryn paused on that thought. Why did the dragon eat maidens? Did they taste better than those who were not? She shuddered at the thought and went back to wondering what to do about Patrick.
If he were a dragon, how could she find out? Was there a spell he used to change forms? Would he tell her if she asked? Would she dare to ask him? No, she would never dare to ask him. She could easily guess the reasons he would hide his true self. In their fright, the townspeople might act in haste. Her grandmother had told of mobs taking dragons to be drawn and quartered. She couldn’t bear the thought of Patrick being torn limb from limb.