Simon

Dragon wings are just as serious as dragon tails. Do not get hit by one. And if for some reason you are going to be hit by one, do not be hit in the same place you had been hit by a dragon tail.

My chest had just been starting to feel better from where Enola had hit me with her tail. So of course she would hit me there again. I put the feather quill down for a moment and rubbed at my sore chest – then scratched it, blasted shoddy charm – then went back to writing.

I have learned the name of the dragon here – Enola. I can also confirm she is a female dragon. She continues to remain completely – no, violently disinterested in me. I take this as a sign that either the dragons are not interested in trapping us, as Katerina's letter suggested, or that our shields keep a dragon from noticing us. The other possibility is that this dragon is just a jerk, and at this point, I consider that to actually be the most likely. I am beginning to suspect I know why she lives out here on her own.

Other than a possible interest in ketchup, I have not learned of anything that Enola is interested in, so am still unable to confirm Katerina's claim of a dragon's need to repay favors. I have mentioned the king's interest in removing her, but she did not even give me a chance to suggest the plan I had in mind. She seems to be stubbornly against accepting help of any kind, and I still have no idea why – it may be related to wanting to avoid any need to repay favors, or a personal quirk of this dragon. Or possibly both. Either way, I still need more time to learn anything conclusive.

Since I still seem to be in no serious danger or risk of discovery, I plan to continue with my current approach. I have learned that Enola's lair is located inside a crystal deposit, and that the mages have discovered this – and, as mages do, have begun pressuring the king to seize the crystals. It is my hope that Enola will be more willing to accept my help once the king makes an attempt to remove her, at which point I will be able to see if she tries to repay the favor I do on her behalf. If so, we will be able to confirm Katerina was telling the truth in that part of her letter.

I sat the quill down and skimmed back over the coded letter to make sure I hadn't messed anything up, then leaned back in my chair. Lakeshire's tavern was quiet this afternoon, aside from the occasional sound of the cook banging around in the kitchen. Which was probably a good thing, given how I was still trying to avoid too much attention. As soon as my letter dried I would send it off and head to the small camp I had made an hour's walk from Enola's lair, and hopefully be back out of town without anybody knowing I had visited again.

"You there!" The door hadn't even swung closed before the loud call filled the room. "My horse needs food and water."

I glanced behind me to see who was responsible for the loud orders, and saw a young man dressed in fine clothes in the doorway. Everything about him screamed 'noble' – the style of his hair, the lack of calluses on his hands, the expensive rings on his fingers, the arrogant look in his eyes – and he had already looked past me to frown in disapproval at the tavern. He sniffed a little, then wrinkled his nose as if offended by the smell.

Definitely a noble.

Rather than draw attention by telling the noble I didn't work here – correcting someone with such bad manners almost always meant they held a grudge, and a noble holding a grudge against me was not a good way to stay unnoticed – I stood up from the table and nodded. "Right away, sir." I knew where the tavern kept its supplies, and maybe the cook would throw in a discount if he didn't have to deal with the noble. "What is your horse's name? So it won't be nervous around me."

"His name is Smokey. Stop." The noble held up a hand suddenly, but didn't look at me as he continued. "I have been sent from the king with a message for the dragon that is living near here. Have it summoned, so I can be on my way. I do not wish to remain here any longer than is absolutely necessary."

I managed to hide a smirk at the idea of anyone trying to order a dragon around in general, much less one who was as unfriendly as Enola had turned out to be. I ducked my head and looked towards the ground before shaking it slightly. "My apologies, sir, but the dragon does not answer to us, and is unlikely to come into town."

A slight sneer came over the noble's face. "I am a herald on a mission from the king." He stopped, as if that was all he should have to say on the matter. I was quickly getting the impression that this was the first time this noble had left the city, much less dealt with anyone other than castle servants.

"Of course, sir, but a dragon does not usually answer to the king." I tried to keep my tone as meek and quiet as possible, and hoped he wouldn't take it out on me when he learned that reality refused to bend to his desires.

Fortunately, the noble didn't seem too upset – or at least, he didn't seem to be directing it at me. His sneer grew, but he only shook his head. "I suppose that is to be expected. Savage beasts, the lot of them." He looked back out the door, then sighed. "Well, I will just have to go to it, then. Where is the hole that creature calls home? I will deliver my message and be done with it."

I couldn't help myself from grinning slightly, easily imagining how a conversation between Enola and this herald would go. "It is just a short walk to the southwest – if you follow the road out of town to the bend by the clump of three trees, you can head towards the hills you see from there. It's about three hours on foot; the dragon lives in a cave at the base of the hill just before the forest starts."

"Hmph. Very well; I will simply have to eat on the way. And to think I waited on lunch in the hopes I could eat here." The herald took another look around, then wrinkled his nose again. "Though I doubt you have anything better than my travel rations in any case." And with that he turned, giving a practiced flourish of his bright orange cloak, and started to walk back towards the door.

"Erm... don't you want me to tend to your horse?" Sympathy overrode my usual caution for a moment – it was bad enough the horse had to put up with this fellow, but it had probably been walking most of the morning. I doubted a stuck-up noble like this would have known much about taking care of a horse, so it probably hadn't gotten a proper meal since it had left whatever town they had spent the night in. "It must be tired after walking all day."

"It will just have to be tired a little longer. I am suffering on the edge of civilization, and I see no reason for a horse to be comfortable while I am not." The noble didn't even look back, instead just pushing open the door and stomping through it.

"Well," I spoke to the empty room as I sat back down in my seat. "This should be worth sticking around for."

~

Three other villagers had settled in at the tavern by the time the noble returned. It was late in the evening, and I had just about given up on waiting for him when the door swung open to the sound of a furious yell. "YOU!"

I looked up at the door to see the noble pointing angrily at one of the other villagers. The reason for his anger was immediately obvious – every inch of the noble was covered in mud. The once-immaculate clothing he wore was now hidden under a brown covering, and his expensively-maintained hair clung against his head even as a piece of mud fell from it to drop to the floor.

It took all of my willpower to hide a grin, but I managed it.

The noble zeroed in on the unfortunate villager. "You didn't tell me that dragon was such a... such a... such a barbarian! What kind of unreasonable monster do you have living out here?!"

"T...the dragon?" The villager sputtered, looking to the other villagers helplessly. "What do you mean?"

A scowl appeared through the mass of mud on the noble's face, and he reached down to scrape mud off one of the rings he wore. "Yes, the dragon! The one you gave me directions to earlier today, in this very tavern! I went to it to deliver the king's message, and the beast simply laughed in my face! The audacity!"

The eyes of the gathered villagers suddenly went wide as the noble cleaned off his ring, and they all realized the muddy stranger yelling at them was actually a messenger sent by the king. The other two villagers began to slide their chairs slowly away from the noble's target even as he continued his tirade. "I was polite! I offered it the silver chalice I had brought with me, that the court mage said was an appropriate introduction gift. I introduced myself and recited my lineage, as is proper. I informed the beast that I was on a mission from the king, and that we required her to move. And she laughed. Didn't even do me the courtesy of telling me her name – if such an uncivilized beast even has a name! Told me she didn't care for my cup, or who my parents were, or who had told me to say what. Told me to stop bothering her, as if I was the nuisance here, and to get off her land. As if this whole country is not the land of the king!"

More mud sloughed off the noble to land on the tavern floor as he stepped closer to the poor villager, stabbing his finger out accusingly. "I told her the king would arrange a new territory for her. Somewhere nicer – a place in the city, where proper society can be found. And she growled at the suggestion, as if it was an insult! Though it is likely all for the best that she turned the offer down. I cannot imagine such a boorish creature living anywhere near the nobility!"

I joined the other villagers in staring intently at my drink, though inwardly I was grinning like a fool. I could easily picture Enola's reaction at being told she was being moved into a city. Aside from the lack of easy hunting in such an area, it was blatantly obvious the pink dragon valued her privacy. I had barely exchanged ten sentences with her, and I knew that much. Having to live in a city, surrounded by humans, was the closest thing to a nightmare I could imagine for her.

"And when I took the time to inform the beast that the king's wishes must be obeyed, and that it would be forced to leave either way, and that the only reasonable course was to accept the king's generosity of a replacement home, it attacked me! Slammed its fists down on the ground and roared, causing my poor horse to flee in fright! I have no idea where he is now – probably hunted down and turned into a meal for the foul monster. I of course remained where I was – I am a herald of the king, and am not to be cowed by some scary noises! – and simply repeated my message that the beast would be leaving. And that monster..." The noble reached up and scraped some of the mud off his face, letting it drop to the floor, and revealing hints of cheeks beet-red with anger in between the globs of mud.

"That monster picked me up in one of those slimy, scaly hands, flew up to the lake shore, and dropped me into the mud! I could have died – the beast flew off without even waiting to see if I made it out of the mud! I had to claw my way out of a hole, then walk all the way back here like this! Me!" More of the mud began to fall off the noble as he started to shake in rage, and he focused back on the villager again. "Get me a room! And get ready to spend all night cleaning my clothes – it is the least you can do to make up for not warning me of this beast's foul temperament! I will leave for home in the morning, and deliver this monster's 'response' to the king's generosity. With any luck, he will dispatch the army immediately to rid us all of the menace." The noble shivered again, then began stomping off to the back of the tavern where the rooms were.

I smiled to myself as he shed a path of mud to the back. Way to go, Enola; that was just what that noble deserved. I took another sip from my drink, then frowned. Although now the king would be feeling even more pressure to take action against her. I was going to have to work harder to get on her good side, if I had any hope of defusing the situation...