Chapter 9
S carcely had I drifted away, into the warm and forgetful recesses of sleep, when something pulled me back. My eyes flew open, and I blinked furiously.
What was that?
An unsettling awareness draped over my body, freezing it on the mattress. I was still staring at the wall, yet I sensed something had changed. There was another presence in the room. A presence that was at once both familiar and unfamiliar.
Am I dreaming?
The awareness deepened.
Someone. Is. Here.
My throat became tight. So tight I could barely swallow.
Who is it? Who is here?
And then…beside me, the mattress shifted as somebody moved.
My fingers clenched the sheets.
Whoever was here, was not only in my room. They were in my bed .
I opened my mouth to demand the intruder’s identity. To ask about their purpose. To scream. But who would hear me? The dragon? The dragon had gone away and left me alone. I had no idea where he’d taken himself. Would the dragon even care if somebody had invaded my room? Perhaps the dragon was serving this stranger and had brought me here for him—whoever he may be. A powerful sorcerer? A magician?
Breathe, Lorna. Breathe.
I put all of my willpower into calming my racing heart and steadying my breaths, hoping the intruder would think I still slept.
The person beside me released a heavy sigh, almost a groan. The timbre of the voice was masculine. And…oddly familiar.
If I turn over, if I talk to him, if I ask him who he is, will he answer? Is that a good or a bad idea? What to do, Lorna? What to do?
Truthfully, it did not matter if I lay here ignoring the intruder or if I rolled over and confronted him. Should he wish to harm me, he could harm me either way. Nothing I could say or do would stop the matter, short of fighting him off. With me lacking any weapons, or even any training in physical combat, that seemed unlikely.
You have survived thus far, I comforted myself, despite the cold terror washing over my body from my scalp to my toes. Even now, he makes no move towards you. What makes you think he wishes you harm?
Being quiet and still, waiting patiently, went against my nature. Firming my resolution, I decided to force the issue. With a request for help from the Powers of Good, I pushed myself up and rolled over to face the man in my bed.
“Who are you?” I demanded. “What do you want?”
The man did not move. I couldn’t see his reaction .
“Who are you?” I tried again, infusing steel into my voice to hide the trembling. “What do you want?”
Again, he made no response.
“Lights on,” I whispered. This time, the magic did not comply. The lights would not come on.
“Hello? Sir? What are you doing here? Answer me!” I whispered fiercely.
No response except…a gentle snore.
A snore? He slept?
A strange man came into my room, crawled into my bed, and refused to answer my demands. How could this be?
Irritated rather than frightened, I sat up, clutching the blankets to my chest like a shield, even though I was fully dressed. I swiped the hair from my face in a gesture of frustration.
How dare you? I thought. At the very least, he might have identified himself or informed me why he boldly came into my chamber and lay down without a word.
He is not harming you, my good sense rationalized. Be grateful for that.
I was grateful. I was grateful that the dragon had not eaten me, had not dropped me into the sea when we flew over the ocean, had not locked me in a dungeon, and hadn’t made me his slave. I was grateful to be alive and unharmed. That did not mean I had to be grateful an unknown man had climbed into my bed and now lay here asleep, snoring!
Frustrated, I climbed out of bed and stood over him in the dark, fuming. If only I had a light! Why did the magic of this place, which had so far provided for my every need, fail me when I needed it most?
I was uncertain what to do. I paced beside the bed, listening to the strange man snore, while rubbing my upper arms for warmth. As the night wore on—and I assumed it was night, for there was no daylight wherewith to judge—the cave grew colder and colder. Standing there, caught up in these strange circumstances, I weighed my options.
I could go to the wardrobe, pull out more clothes, and create a nest on the floor to sleep. I could sit here beside the bed until this fellow wakens, discover who he is, and forbid him from returning to my room.
That seemed the least likely. After all, with him being bold enough to enter my room and climb into my bed, it stood to reason he would care little for my orders.
Sighing, I dropped my forehead into my palm.
The most practical option was the one I disliked the most. Climb back into bed and go to sleep. With the fellow snoring his life away, it seemed doubtful that he planned harm.
Do I dare?
Lowering my hand, I gazed at the bed, attempting to pierce the veil of gloom. My shivering increased. I wanted the warmth of the blankets, the softness of the mattress and pillows. The comfort of a real bed when my life had been torn to pieces.
Sleeping on the floor will not help should he choose to harm you, I reasoned. You could leave the room and seek a place to hide, but where would you go in the darkness? You could easily drop off a precipice or wander so far down a tunnel that you never find your way back. No, better to stay here.
Resolved, I crept forward until my knees struck the edge of the mattress. The gentle bump caused the stranger’s snoring to cease momentarily. I froze. Had I awakened him?
No, thank the Light, the snoring resumed. Reassured, I crept back into bed, lying on the very edge, distancing myself from him to the greatest extent. This time, rather than face the wall and pretend to sleep, I lay on my side, facing him, attempting to pick out any features I could.
Who are you? I wondered. What do you here in this strange place? What am I doing here in this strange place? How are we tied together? Why are you in my bed?
The longer I lay there, puzzling over the matter, straining to pierce the darkness and see this newcomer, the more I became alert to certain things. There was the slightest smell in the room—not unpleasant, by any means. Simply that of another living creature. Another human. And yet it was…oddly familiar. How could this be? How could this stranger’s scent be familiar? He smelled of wind and sea, of dark places, rich earth, and thick forests. As I continued to study the newcomer, my senses, deprived of vision, strengthened. My ears picked up the sound of a beating heart, its rhythm also oddly familiar. And then there were the breaths—in and out. In and out. In a pattern that I was certain I’d heard before.
Wait…
I pressed myself up on my elbow. My lips parted in shock.
This is—no. No, it cannot be. Can it?
The distinct scent. The rhythm of the heartbeat, which I’d heard during my flight to Aerisia’s mainland. The sound of his breathing.
This is the dragon!
Shocked, terrified, awestruck, I scrambled up in bed, scooting to the foot, away from the sleeping creature.
It is him! I thought, cupping a palm over my racing heart as I strove to quiet its thunder. This man is the dragon? How? How does a man shapeshift into a dragon? How does a dragon shapeshift into a man? Why would this man bring me here, to this underground cave of magic? Why creep into my bed with no explanation, simply to sleep? What does he intend? Am I to be a dragon’s bride?