BDArc-HiddenDragons

by CSM

  They walked the rest of the way to two very large doors in silence. The doors were plain, but heavy, and made of wood. She could already see the patterns she would love to carve on that blank surface if given a chance. Portraits of Growloranth and Tildeth, their necks entwined. And Robert and Bear, standing on either side. But it was a fanciful thought. She would probably never be given the chance to entertain her little hobby of wood carving on such a grand scale.

  Sir Jovan threw open the massive doors that were large enough to let Growloranth and Tildeth pass through. There was a massive sand pit in the center of the open space, with small chambers arranged around it in a circle.

  “This is the suite assigned to Growloranth, Tildeth, Robert and Bear,” he said, walking a short way into the huge cavern. Both dragons would fit in the large pit of sand, and Isabelle could feel the warmth coming from it.

  “What makes it so warm?” she asked, walking inside and looking around in wonder.

  “Carefully channeled geothermal energy and a touch of magic,” answered a new voice from the open doorway.

  Isabelle looked up to find a woman at the door. She was dressed in fine clothing and spoke like an educated person. She seemed a bit older than Isabelle, by more than a few years. The lady smiled and entered, reaching out her hand to Isabelle in greeting.

  “Sorry to just pop in. I am Silla, the Lair’s healer. I heard of your arrival and thought maybe you could use a new friend to talk to while the men go about their business.”

  Isabelle took the other woman’s hand and was pulled into a loose, welcoming hug. This Silla seemed all that was kind in the world. Then again, she claimed to be a healer, so compassion was probably at the core of her being.

  “I am Isabelle,” she replied quietly, a bit shy of the fine lady.

  “Tilly asked me to come. She says you have some knowledge of healing and thought we might get along,” Silla advised.

  Her manner was so open and joyful it was hard not to like her. And it was clear she could also talk to dragons if Lady Tildeth had spoken to her. It was also clear that Tilly had taken the time to ask this nice woman to seek out Isabelle so she would not be all alone in this strange new place. Isabelle’s heart opened for the female dragon who was so thoughtful. Isabelle would have to find some way to repay Tilly’s kindness.

  “I know the healing ways my mother taught me of herbs and potions but I would never say I am a real healer. I see to the livestock in the village. The midwife takes care of the women and the barber sees to the men. I only heal animals,” Isabelle admitted in a rush, shy of the newcomer.

  “If you will excuse me,” Sir Jovan cut in, already edging toward the door. “Now that you have the best guide possible, I will be on my way. It was an honor to meet you Lady Isabelle. Truly, Bear and Robert will be the envy of the Lair when word about you gets around.” Jovan winked at her and fled, heading back up the passageway at a fast clip. No doubt he had preparations to make if the knights and dragons of this Lair were going into battle.

  “Fly safe and good hunting, Sir Jovan,” she called after him, sending a prayer heavenward to the Mother of All for his safety. Silla was at her side, her smile fading as she no doubt realized Isabelle knew something of what was happening to mobilize the Lair.

  “Tilly didn’t give me any details because she was off to the dragon council, but there’s trouble coming, isn’t there?” Lady Silla asked, concern in her voice.

  “I am sorry to say, there is,” Isabelle replied, her thoughts turning to Robert, still in harm’s way this night.

  “Tell me what you know,” Silla said urgently, leading Isabelle to the small grouping of chairs and a couch, off to one side. Isabelle noticed that Sir Jovan had deposited her two bags of belongings on the low table in the center of the well-padded chairs.

  The women sat as Isabelle began to tell Silla the little that she knew of the situation. By the time she was done, Silla was frowning, but her facial expression made Isabelle think the woman was planning.

  “I know you’re newly arrived here…” Silla said, standing, “…but if you’re not too tired, I could use help preparing the salves and other supplies we might need on the morrow, if you’re willing.”

  Isabelle was glad to be asked. She wanted to be useful. And truth be told, she did not want to spend any portion of her night all alone, pacing around the circle of this suite, wringing her hands and worrying.

  “I’m not tired at all, Lady Silla,” Isabelle replied quickly. “I’d be happy to help in any way I can.”

  Silla smiled again, though not as brightly as before. “Thank you, Isabelle. This Lair is still very new and there are not too many with basic healing skills here yet. I could use an extra pair of hands both in preparation and in treatment, if and when it comes to that. Tilly said you can bespeak dragons?” Silla asked the question as they left the suite together, the massive doors closing easily behind them.

  “I can,” Isabelle confirmed. “I didn’t know it was such a rare thing until Robert and Growloranth told me. I used to speak to my mother the same way, but she was the only one. I never knew how dragons communicated with their knights until a few days ago.”

  They walked down a long hall, in a different direction than Jovan had brought her, stopping finally in front of a small, person-sized door. Silla pushed it open and the lovely scent of herbs wafted out to Isabelle even before the door was fully open.

  “This is my workroom,” Silla told her. “We are close to the cliff face here and there is a hothouse my mates built for my plants just through there.” She nodded toward a small, shadowy passage that must lead to the outer wall. “We will concentrate on preparing burnjelly since the first wave will be skiths. Have you used it before?”

  Isabelle had to shake her head. “I have heard of it, but nobody in our village has had a plant in more than twenty years, or so the story goes. But if you show me what to do, I’m a quick study. My mother and I spent many hours making salves and ointments from the herbs we gathered in the woods.”

  They spent the next two hours and more harvesting burnjelly from the stock of plants Silla had in her well-organized hothouse. Silla lectured as she worked, teaching Isabelle a great deal she had not known about healing and the use of plants that she had never seen before. Silla also told Isabelle of her origins and how she had been married at a very young age to an old man in a faraway land. When the old man tired of her, she was beaten to within an inch of her life and thrown out in the gutter to die. Someone took pity on her and brought her to a temple of healing, where she was slowly nursed back to health.

  With nowhere to go and a demonstrated aptitude for gardening and preparing herbal remedies, Silla was allowed to stay on at the temple as a student. Eventually she was sent out on her journeyman trial—a trip that usually lasted about ten years, where Temple healers were expected to make their own way in the world, using the skills they had learned and healing all who asked it of them, be it man or beast.

  It was at that point that Isabelle realized Silla was a Temple healer. Even in Halley’s Well, the skills of those trained in the Temple were well known, even revered. Isabelle had only ever seen one Temple healer come through the village, when she was just a small girl. The healer had taken tea with her mother and they had spoken of different treatments and herbs for several hours.

  When the Temple healer left Halley’s Well, he had a stock of her mother’s seedlings in his cart and Mama had a drawer full of prepared salves and a few new recipes. The villagers hadn’t known the Temple healer had spent his last hours in the area having tea with her mother while Isabelle played on with her doll under the table. Even at that young age, Isabelle had learned that the less the villagers knew of their doings, the better.

  Silla went on to tell of how she had healed a dragon and fallen in love with his knight, and the knight who was partnered with the dragon’s mate. In short order she had wed the two knights and been installed as the new Lair’s first healer.

  There was
so much Isabelle wanted to ask but the night was growing very late and Sir Bernard arrived at the door unexpectedly, to collect Isabelle from Silla’s care. They had gotten a huge supply of burnjelly ready. It would steep for the next day or so, becoming even more potent, and ready for when it might be needed.

  Bear thanked Silla for looking after Isabelle, and seemed gratified to find that Isabelle had helped out so greatly in the preparations. He seemed…proud…of her, much to Isabelle’s surprise and delight. It had been so long since anyone thought anything about her actions. It was a nice feeling that he cared how she got on with the Lair folk.

  Sir Bernard escorted her back to the suite where Lady Tildeth was already ensconced in the huge oval sand pit. Her wings were folded, her neck curved back on her body and little tendrils of cinnamon-scented smoke rose softly from her nostrils as she slept.

  They slipped quietly around the sand pit and Bear motioned for her to join him in a side chamber that served as a kitchen. He poured two cups of steaming liquid into waiting mugs and offered her one as they sat at a plain wooden table. Isabelle was pleased to find he had brewed an herbal tea that was both soothing and delicious.

  “I figured we could use a few minutes to unwind. It has been rather tense since we took to the sky,” Sir Bernard said, touching her with his thoughtfulness. “Did you get on well with Lady Silla?”

  “She is wonderful,” Isabelle told him with candor. “She taught me a great deal and I was able to help her preparations. She invited me back tomorrow, in fact.”

  “I’m glad. Silla is a highly skilled healer and one of the favorites among every dragon in the Lair.”

  “Is Lady Tildeth all right?” Isabelle looked out the doorway into the center of the suite and the sandpit where the dragon lay sleeping.

  “She’s fine. Just very tired. She flew double time to get us here so quickly,” he explained. “We could sit outside in the more comfortable chairs. Some nights I sit out there for hours and just watch her, thanking my lucky stars that she chose me as her knight.”

  Isabelle was fascinated by the dragons. “If you’re sure she doesn’t mind,” she said, rising to follow him out of the kitchen.

  “She doesn’t,” he assured her in a quiet voice. “I asked her. She knows I’m dopey in love with her. I have been for years. She’s like mother, sister and best friend, all rolled into one—though there’s so much more that I can’t describe to our relationship. She is part of me, I guess.” He shrugged, seeming at a loss for words. “All I can say is, the day she chose me was the happiest day of my life.” He led Isabelle over to the seating area. “As long as we keep our voices down, she’ll sleep like a baby.”

  Chapter Six

  They relocated to the much more comfortable, overstuffed chairs and couch arrangement out by the dragon’s sand pit, which Isabelle had learned was called a wallow. Isabelle felt the tensions of the day leaving her as she held her steaming mug of tea and sipped at the fragrant brew. She discovered Bear was a peaceful sort of person to be around. She was surprisingly comfortable with him. And she liked the way he spoke of his dragon partner.

  “The bond runs deep between a knight and his dragon, doesn’t it?” she asked quietly, still very curious about the relationship.

  “It is a joining of souls. When Tilly spoke the words of Claim to me and I accepted, something deep inside my being joined with her in a way that is hard to describe. We became part of each other—just a little bit. And I suppose that bond will last until I die, though the very nature of the bond has extended my life beyond the normal number of years. Of course, a dragon knight’s life is one of duty, service and occasional violence, so only the Mother of All knows how long I may live.”

  Isabelle kept silent for a while as they both contemplated his words. The mood was lazy, peaceful, almost intimate. She hadn’t shared such moments with anyone before and she found she was enjoying herself very much, even if the rigors of her long day were catching up with her. She smothered another yawn as they sat there, watching the dragon sleep. She truly was a magnificent creature, even in repose.

  “You’re a lucky man to have Tildeth in your life,” Isabelle whispered.

  “You’ll get no argument from me,” he answered after a slight pause.

  It was clear they were both tired, but she was too comfortable to move. Isabelle rested her head against the soft leather of the chair and the next thing she knew, she was being lifted in Bear’s strong arms. She had fallen asleep.

  “I can walk,” she said softly, still mostly asleep. Truth to tell, she was exhausted.

  “I like taking care of you,” Bear admitted, his soft words touching her heart. “Let me.”

  She rested her head on his shoulder as he walked with her in his arms toward one of the rooms arrayed around the sand pit. Her eyes closed and only opened again when he lowered her to a soft bed. But she didn’t want to let him go.

  Isabelle kept her hands around his neck as he dipped lower, releasing her body but closing the gap between her lips and his. And then he kissed her.

  And she was lost.

  She wasn’t sure exactly how it happened, but he followed her down onto the bed and lay over her, like a warm, living blanket. He kept most of his weight off her, propping himself up on his forearms. That caused his biceps to flex in the most intriguing way. She couldn’t resist running her hands down his shoulders and over his arms. He was so strong. So masculine. So caring on every level.

  “I want to make love with you, Isabelle,” his voice rasped near her ear, sending delighted shivers down her spine.

  She had never been with a man before, but she knew how things worked. One didn’t spend much time tending to the health of farm animals without learning the mechanics of sex. She hadn’t expected a man’s touch to bring such incredible sensations though. She wanted to learn more. Truth be told, she wanted to know it all. She was through with waiting for her life as a woman to begin. There was no princely farmer to sweep her off her feet and make her life one of ease. She had given up those dreams a long time ago.

  But here was a new dream. A knight—two of them, if she truly believed what they had been saying, though she still found it hard to imagine that they would both want her for keeps. Still, she would never have a better chance to learn what it was to make love, nor a better man to teach her. Although Robert would have been equally as desirable—which was a thought that gave her serious pause. Could she really be considering the triad relationship they wanted? It still seemed preposterous that they could actually want that…with her, of all people…but the more Bear touched her, the less she could think.

  All she knew was, she wanted to finally know what it was to have a man take her body and make her feel more of these incredible sensations. She lifted her hands back up to his face, cupping his cheeks and looking deep into his lovely blue eyes.

  “I want you too, Bernard. Show me what it’s like. Make me yours,” she whispered, unsure where all the courage was coming from, but willing to let it lead her. She liked the direction it was taking her.

  Her words seemed to spark something within his gaze. She swore she could almost see flames licking at the blue irises of his eyes. Magical, mystical heat, generated by the two of them…together.

  “I will take care with you, my heart. I promise you.” He lowered his lips to her mouth, but soon followed a path of his own making down over her chin, to the sensitive spots on her neck and lower…

  Somehow her clothing came loose and then disappeared. She was too overwhelmed by sensation to really know how he did it. Perhaps some magic—or just skilled fingers with well-worn laces. Either way, she was drunk on the feeling of skin on skin. That’s when she realized his clothing was disappearing too, until he lay over her, his body touching hers from head to toe—and a lot of really interesting places in between.

  His lips rubbed over her breasts, exciting them into peaks which he laved with his tongue. She hadn’t known men did that to women and she wanted more. The feeling
was delicious and caused a serious flutter in her midsection.

  She heard a little moan and self-consciously realized it came from her. Bear looked up at her and the grin on his face made her even more self-conscious. She felt heat rise to her cheeks, and his expression changed.

  He rose above her, placing one hand on her cheek as he balanced over her. “Do not worry. Nothing we do together is wrong. If I do something you don’t like, all you need to do is tell me and I’ll stop. If you make a sexy little sound like the one that just escaped, I’ll take it as encouragement to do more of the same. Do not censor your responses to my touch, little one. I like to hear your approval of my efforts.” His grin returned. “And in a little while, if I continue to be blessed by your approval, you’ll hear my sounds of pleasure as well.”

  He caressed her cheek, then bent over her to kiss her lips, lingering for a long time while she forgot exactly what it was she’d been embarrassed about earlier. Bear had a way of making her forget her own name when he kissed her. Or touched her. Or played with her body in ways that should make her blush, but only elicited more of those little sounds she had no idea she would make at such a time.

  Her breathing grew labored as his hands found her most secret places. He rubbed a spot between her legs that made her squirm and when his finger slipped inside her body, she couldn’t help the squeak of surprise that came out of her mouth.

  It didn’t feel anything like she expected. It was strange, and exciting. She realized he was watching her reaction, gauging something only he knew to look for. Her breath hitched as he touched some secret spot inside her, rubbing as he moved his finger back and forth, in and out.

  She gripped his arms as her body quaked and the most incredible pleasure washed over her for the first time ever. It was amazing.

  “There is more to come,” Bear said, his face dipping close to hers to steal another kiss. “I promise you. I will be gentle, but it may hurt at first, since you are new to this.”

  Isabelle nodded. She knew about the barrier that proved a woman’s innocence. She also knew there was no gentler or better man to rid her of it. Bear had already shown her more care and compassion than any other man she had ever known…except for Robert, of course. They were both so kind and so handsome.