Chapter 6 #3
He reached into their number and picked up a bright red river dragon.
The scales along her back shimmered golden as he turned her left and right, all the time holding out some fruit to her.
She ate eagerly enough. A healthy dragon usually did.
He set her down again and moved to the next, a purple sylvan with silver points.
‘To be honest,’ Portia went on, ‘we loved it here. Especially after boarding school. It was a whole new world and we were safe. Far safer than we could have been anywhere else. When the king starts calling your father a traitor, it’s not exactly a good time to be his child.’
He almost dropped the dragon in shock. ‘A traitor?’
She looked away, a strange sort of sadness ghosting over her expressive features.
‘The old king was prone to… outbursts. And strange ideas of what was acceptable behaviour. He had some plan he wanted my father to oversee. Iris never told us what it was. Probably didn’t know herself, or maybe didn’t want to scare us.
It’s all so long ago. He wasn’t, my father.
A traitor, I mean,’ she added quickly. ‘But he didn’t blithely talk about state secrets either.
He was a royal mage, on the council of the Academy as well as a viscount.
He also refused to indulge a spoilt old man and told him he wouldn’t do whatever the king had asked of him to his face. I imagine that didn’t go down well.’
‘And he died soon after?’
Lee would say that tended to happen when you told a king you wouldn’t obey him, but Noah didn’t want to add that. He was fairly sure Portia understood.
Portia nodded and looked away. ‘So did my mother. And the king, as it turned out. His son is a lot more considered in his rule, thanks be to Wenn. That gold and onyx one doesn’t look well.’
The change in subject indicated the line of conversation was over. Besides, the dragons were what mattered here.
She had an expert’s eye, that was for sure.
The golden yellow meadow dragon with black speckling had a dullness around the eyes and flaking skin on the belly which could be any number of things.
Hopefully just a problem shedding skin, dry scale, or the like.
Noah grabbed a pair of gloves and a carrier, carefully scooping the teacup dragon inside.
The meadow dragon purred half-heartedly in his grip, nonplussed.
‘I’ll take him to the infirmary. Best to check the rest of the flight as well, his family group and their neighbours.
Just in case. Dry scale isn’t infectious, but other options are. ’
They worked on in silence, and he had to admit, at least to himself, how wrong he’d been to accuse her of knowing nothing about teacup dragons.
She was well used to handling them, careful and gentle with them, knew various soothing sounds to use on them to which they responded easily.
Iris had taught her well. It had been her life before she left for the Academy, he supposed.
Well, after her life had fallen apart when she was only ten and Iris had swooped in to the rescue.
Just as a dragon would do for any member of its flight.
They were fiercely protective. You only had to look at how Jade treated her to see that.
They found two more dragons who needed closer examination.
He was certain it was dry scale now, which could be complicated.
The ragged papery remains of the previous shed clung to the fresh scales, but even the new ones coming through were duller than they should be, and too small.
They didn’t interlock correctly because they weren’t forming in the right way.
That was always a problem with rescues, even after time spent with Iris caring for them.
The mistreatment of the past lingered on.
Now he had to take responsibility for them. Well, along with Portia Starling. They needed to put what had happened on their first meeting behind them.
He cleared his throat uncomfortably. ‘I am sorry about the night in the inn, Lady Portia. I was presumptive and—’
‘Very well, let’s get this out of the way.’ Portia gave him a tired smile. A genuine one and something inside him seemed to punch the air from his lungs. ‘It was a misunderstanding. And please, I’m just Portia here.’
‘Portia,’ he said. Her name was like music in his ears.
He stared at her for a moment too long and drew in a shaky breath.
Her expression turned a little quizzical, as if she wasn’t sure what he was doing now and…
Good lord, what was he thinking? What was wrong with him?
‘I – I’d better take these three to my treatment room.
Get them started on a course of corrective balm. Will you…?’
He wasn’t entirely sure what he wanted to ask. He didn’t actually want to leave her. How was that possible? Portia drew her own, practical, conclusions.
‘I’ll finish up here and get the rest settled. You go ahead. Iris swears by butter for dry scale by the way, but something medicinal is probably needed at this stage. The sooner they get treatment the better.’
And of course, she was right about that as well.
As he left, Noah was aware that Jade was watching his every movement with her jewel-bright eyes. It was the same quizzical expression Portia had worn for just a moment.