Chapter 10
Despite a few days passing, and the plan to move Lady Eyre to the tower well and truly in motion, Fen and I still haven't talked about the other night. Maybe he doesn't think we need to, but for me, I've spent the past few days thinking about how it felt to fall asleep in his arms.
And to wake up in them.
I swallow hard. It hasn't done anything to quell the attraction I've been having towards him, which is serving as somewhat of a distraction from my mission.
The cart bounces underneath me and I grimace, longing for the horse that brought me to Drakaron in the first place. I might have been sore after the day of riding, but this was infinitely worse. Hopefully, we get to our destination soon, because I don't think my back can take much more of this.
A large tower looms ahead, filling me with relief that our journey is nearly over, but also with nerves.
The tower is huge and foreboding, with lots of arrow slits, and a tall central column surrounded by several guard walls and a moat.
In short, it's everything that a tower should be, and it's perfect for accommodating a dragon.
A shadow drifts across the sun. For a brief moment, fear grips me, only for me to remember that it's just Fen, doing his part in making it clear that there really is a dragon.
He lets out a loud roar, the sound vibrating through the air and making several of the other servants in the cart with me jump.
I remember at the last second that I'm supposed to react too, or else someone might start questioning why I'm not reacting to a dragon's roar when it's easily one of the most terrifying things anyone could hear.
From what I heard during the brief, most of those coming to the tower with us are spies for the Damsels, and when the plan is done, they'll either return home with us or they'll go off on their next mission.
I don't know enough about how Lady Cassandra's network works to know for sure, but I am glad that the servants aren't going to be collateral damage to Lady Eyre's escape attempt.
The carriage carrying Lord Alfon and Lady Eyre turns and heads over the drawbridge, heading into the courtyard of the tower, and our cart follows, the wood even worse to drive over than the stones. But at least this means that our journey is almost over.
Fen stands in the middle of the courtyard in a red and gold jacket. A light breeze lifts his hair, giving him an even more striking profile than usual.
His gaze briefly flickers to me as I get down from the cart, and I can almost believe there's a flash of gold in his eyes, but I'm probably imagining it. I'm still disappointed when he looks away.
"Who is that?" one of the servants asks.
"I think he's the dragon keeper," another of them answers, their hushed tone full of gossip.
I smother a smile. Little do they realise that he's not just the keeper, he's the dragon. A very handsome one at that.
Lord Alfson gets down from the ornate carriage he's been travelling in, and I dip into a curtsy along with the other servants.
Lady Eyre follows, a foul expression on her face.
Despite the fact she knows that this is part of the plan to get her safely out of her father's clutches, she's still not happy about it.
At least that will convince him that nothing is going on.
Fen dips his head, but doesn't bow properly. That's probably part of Lady Cassandra's thoughts about no one coming after someone who owned a dragon, there's no calling them out on being rude either.
"Dragon Master Han," Lord Aflson says.
"Lord Alfson," Fen responds.
"I take it that everything about the tower is to your satisfaction?"
"There are some issues with the roof that could result in a fire," he says, giving himself a Huolongese accent. He must have learned it from his father, because he grew up in the same place as I did and doesn't normally have one.
"Is that likely?" Lord Alfson asks.
"Fire is always possible when a dragon is around."
My lips quirk up into a smile. And just like that, he's set the scene for what will happen when we leave.
Lord Alfson has been warned. When his tower burns down, he has no one to blame but himself.
Not that there's really anyone else to blame anyway.
If he hadn't treated his daughter like a piece of property, then he wouldn't be at risk of losing a tower in the first place.
"So long as that means that no one tries to interfere with my daughter," he says to Fen.
"No one will get in without my say-so."
I try not to laugh at how well Fen is playing Lord Alfson. Nothing he's saying is a lie, and yet the man isn't reading between the lines.
"Then I shall leave you to it," he says.
"You're leaving me here?" The outrage in Lady Eyre's voice is impossible to ignore, and impressive considering she knew that this was the plan.
Her father turns to her, an angry expression on his face. "You dare to speak back to me?"
"You dare to leave me in a place like this. And with a dragon?"
"You have brought this on yourself," he responds. "If you hadn't continued to speak about your betrothal in such disrespectful terms, then I wouldn't have the need to take such drastic action."
I scrunch my hand into a ball, trying to resist the urge to slip it into my pocket and touch the handle of my knife.
Fen catches my eye and shakes his head ever so slightly, no doubt reminding me that I can't do anything without ruining the plan that will solve this problem for Lady Eyre once and for all.
"You will stay here until the arrangements for your wedding have been made," Lord Alfson tells his daughter. "Then it will be up to your husband to deal with you."
Lady Eyre holds up her chin defiantly. "I won't marry him."
Admiration flows through me despite my dislike of her personally. Even under these circumstances, she's standing up to her father, not that it will do any good.
His hand flexes, making me worry that I'm going to have to watch him hurt her again. Instead, he turns around and gets back into the carriage, not saying a word to anyone else.
Lady Eyre's lady's maid hurries to her side and gestures towards the tower, which I assume means that she's suggesting that they go inside.
And just like that, she's in the tower, doing exactly what her father wants her to. I know that in this case, it's also what we want her to do, but I can't help feeling like things would have been the same even if that wasn't true.
The servants who arrived with me start unloading the cart, and I grab a basket to take inside as well, but make sure I pass Fen as I do.
"Are you all right?" he murmurs, not really properly looking at me, so it isn't obvious we're talking.
"I've been better."
"Ingrid..." His attention snaps to me completely, and I can see the concern in his eyes.
"Not here," I whisper. "Meet me later?"
He nods. "South wall, four arrow slits across."
I don't need to ask to know that he's giving me instructions for where the two of us should meet, and I have to admit that I feel better for having them.