Page 9 (1/2)

She rubbed her side Her wound still a bit tender, but nearly healed The dragon and witch had done a brilliant job of keeping her alive

Yet she agonized over the agreeon Was she that desperate to defeat her brother? That desperate to see her brother’s blood on her sword that she’d risk the life of the dragon who saved her? Clearly the ansas yes

But she must be mad She should flee Back to her on She should But sheherself, though, hy Why wouldn’t she leave this place? Why wouldn’t she leave him?

And why did he hi?

Annwyl sht about how her little space within his lair kept beco more and more furnishedFirst only a bed to sleep in and table for her to eat at After that, several stuffed chairs appeared Then a rug Then a tapestry So candles

He wanted to ly, the beast’s lair felt more like a home than any place she’d lived in since she was a child and sent to live with her father

No She could never repay the dragon for his kindness As it hat life she possessed already belonged to him And yet she felt no fear She should He could ask her for anything in order to pay her blood debt to hiether different from fear Anticipation

Annwyl stopped, her silent revelry broken She’d sensed the battle before she heard the clash of swords and the cries of dying th back yet, but she had to see Had to know if her brother’s len And if they had, she’d kill theon at anymore risk

She ran quickly and silently, reassured by the weight of the blade strapped to her back and the dagger sheathed at her hip She slipped behind a boulder and watched the brutal conflict Her brother’sone man

The ooseflesh broke out over her skin She watched him ide eyes His face was the face she saw in her dreath That black hair the sa her hands into Who the hell was this? Other than renize hier ore the crest of an arht red surcoat worn over his chainmail

Annwyl shook her head She refused to believe that her dreaht her brother’s ht he did He moved fast Faster than she’d ever seen a man move before His skills with a blade unparalleled He dispatched two of thesix

But the blade in her back distracted her frolenthere had been nine