The Twilight Dragon Ch. 09

I was still trying to process this information long after Isabel had bid me good night. I dried my hair automatically and left the bathroom. I clutched my towel tightly to my body as I entered Duke's and my room. He was sleeping soundly, curled up into a ball. Donya...in love with me? I thought as I dressed in clean clothes from my backpack. I found it hard to believe that an attractive woman like that would like someone like me. But what did Isabel have to gain from lying to me? They had worked together and it looked like Isabel was very fond of Donya from the way she acted around her. I sat on the edge of the bed and watched the candle flicker, lost. It was all too much to think about, and I was exhausted from everything that had happened. I felt annoyed at Isabel for bringing this up right before bed, as now I had burning questions that would keep me up at night. I vowed to come to the bottom of this issue tomorrow, after some sleep. I laid down and was asleep when my head hit the pillow.

To my surprise, I actually had a very good sleep. During the moments in the night when I would start to wake, a habit that I had quickly developed when sleeping outdoors, I was quickly comforted by the snoring of Duke beside me, and would fall back asleep. When I opened my eyes I immediately looked to my left. Duke's sleeping form was comforting to see, I snuggled up to the form, he was nice and warm. I buried my head in the soft sheets.

"Mrmph?" I heard him woke but I continued to hide underneath the blankets. I could feel him digging around until his snout touched the top of my head.

"Lianne?"

I could help it, I let out a girlish giggle as he nuzzled my head. "Duke." He successfully untangled me from the sheets with his hands, and let out a small grunt of achievement. I put my arms around his neck and kissed him deeply on the lips. "You found me."

"And you found me." He echoed, and I was sure he wasn't just talking about right now. "Thank you, Lianne, I'm not sure what would have happened had you not come and saved me."

The thought was too horrible to even think about, so I decided to lighten the mood. "Eh, I'm sure you would've figured it out."

He smiled that dragon-grin, all fangs. "I've missed that wit." He pulled me across the bed, holding me to his chest as he sighed heavily. I hugged him back, rubbing my face against his smooth scales. My stomach growled loudly for a long time at that moment.

"You must be hungry." Duke said after my stomach had stopped making its protest. "Why don't you go upstairs?"

"Good idea." I said, rubbing my suddenly aching belly as I sat up. I wonder how long it had waited for me to awake. How long had we been asleep for?

"Should I bring you anything?" I asked him when I remembered he was still trying to remain hidden.

"No, I'll be ok." He nodded at the heavy plates on the large table that were now completely bare.

"You ate...all of that?" I said, shocked. "And while I was asleep?"

"You didn't stir at all." He said matter-of-factly, looking pleased. Huh. Perhaps I slept more soundly than I had thought.

"But now, I must rest." He said. "I need time to recover from my wounds." He laid back down onto the pillow.

"How are those, anyway?" I lifted the sheet to peer at his wounds. To my surprise the dark scorch marks had all but faded away, they looked more like bruises now.

"I think a few more hours should take care of them." He said nonchalantly as I looked on, amazed.

"Wish I had healing powers like that." I mumbled.

He grinned. "You are not a dragon."

"Don't make me regret saving you." I said dryly to his cocky chuckle. I kissed him on the cheek. "I'm going to find some breakfast."

Once I had gotten changed, I went down the hall and knocked a few times on the door of Donya's room but there was no response. I decided to walk up the carpeted stairs and perhaps ask someone if she had gone somewhere. I recognized the door that led outside so I decided to walk up the other flight of stairs, past an archway with open red. It led to a large room with high windows with, an archway with closed curtains, one with a closed door, and one door that sounded like it led outside.

Thankfully a fully-clothed redheaded woman I had never seen before opened the door on my right, which from the sounds coming from it, was definitely a kitchen. She was fully dressed in a white shirt and tan dress and an apron. She was also holding a tray of very delicious smelling biscuits of some sort. I was about to apologize for disturbing her before she smiled at me. "Ah Lianne! Perfect timing, I just finished baking these. Come, come."

"Oh, ok." I said, confused as to how she knew my name. Damn, was I supposed to know hers? I was raking my mind as to what her name may be as I followed her outside to a large balcony. When I stepped out, I was momentarily shocked by how bright out it was already, even though the ceiling provided shade.

The balcony was large enough to several tables, but at the moment it only had a single table with two occupants. Donya and Isabel were sitting there, an assortment of food already laid out on the round steel table that they were sitting at. Beyond them I could see rich forest, and large pond in the distance surrounded with rock. I could faintly hear the peaceful sounds of flowing water.

The redhead placed the biscuits on the table and gestured at the wooden chair beside Donya. "Please, sit."

"Oh, thank you." I said, momentarily disorientated by the scene. I sank down into the cushioned chair. Wow.

I looked over at the two women now. Donya was wearing a dark blue tunic that I had not seen before, and Isabel was wearing a lacey white shirt. Both women looked so casually well-dressed that I felt very underdressed in my every day brown tunic.

"How'd you sleep?" Donya asked.

"Pretty well, actually." I said. From the looks of their half-empty tea cups it seemed like they had been here for quite a while already.

Although I was pretty sure I knew the answer, I asked, "Did I sleep a long time?"

"A reasonable time considering what we went through yesterday." Donya said with a nod just as Isabel said dryly, "So long that we feared you would never awaken."

"Isabel!" Donya scolded as Isabel laughed loudly. Isabel was a woman that was not afraid to speak her mind, as I could recall from yesterday's conversation.

"Is Marija going to join us?" I asked, remembering how the other woman had helped us rescue Duke.

"No, she took an assignment from me and left town already." Isabel said. "One of our guests decided to leave town without paying off his debts. She promised to returned what was owed to me."

I was a little disappointed that I would not have an opportunity to thank the woman properly, I hoped that perhaps I could catch her again one day if she came to do an errand for Duke. But for now...food.

I took one of the biscuits, buttering it and taking a bite. The combination of the flakey pastry and the richness of the butter was heavenly. Donya pushed a plate of hard boiled eggs to me and I accepted them with a word of thanks. There was also some sort of thick vegetable and meat soup that I ladled into my bowl, and I plucked a few grapes from a fruit platter. Everything tasted so good, and I had never had so many different dishes available to me, I had to admit that I pigged out a bit.

It was only until I had eaten a fair amount that I tuned back in to the conversation Donya and Isabel were having. It took me a while to figure out that they were actually talking about work. It was surprising how acts often thought so intimate could still be so dull to listen to. I watched as the warm morning wind blew a strand of hair across Donya's face and how she reached up to brush it behind her ear gracefully. She caught me staring and gave me a wink. I almost dropped my spoon into the bowl of soup.

"How's the food?"

"Oh...amazing!" I stammered nervously.

"Isabel was kind enough to offer us some coffee, we don't have that in our town, would you like to try some?" Now both women had turned their attention to me.

"Oh, sure." I tried not to think of Isabel's words from yesterday but my mind insisted on focusing on it right this moment. Love. She's in love with me. I watched as Donya poured me a cup of the steaming brown liquid.

"How's Duke doing?" Donya asked as she put the cup and saucer in front of me.

"Oh! My boyfriend! He's doing great, and he's my boyfriend." God I needed to shut up so badly. Donya looked at me, a look of slight concern crossing her features.

"Perhaps a mistake to offer the girl the beverage, she seems to have mounds of energy already." Isabel said with a laugh. There was a knowing look in her eyes as she smiled at me.

"No no, I'm good." I said, taking a sip. "Mmm...earthy." It reminded me a little of the tea I made at home, but with a more refined flavor.

"Well, I'll leave you two to chat, I have some affairs I need to tend to. Please let me know when you're about to leave." Isabel said, getting up from her chair and heading back inside.

"Are you all right? You seem a little jittery." Donya said.

Well, there was no point trying to avoid this conversation.

"Isabel...said something to me after you left." I said hesitantly.

"Oh?" From the look on her face I could tell she had no idea what was coming.

"She said...that you were...in love with me, but that can't be true, right?" I said with a laugh, just in case.

I had expected Donya to laugh in that hearty way when I say something unexpectedly clever or funny, but instead I could see faintly veiled shock in her features. "Well..." She said back in her chair and looked away from me, down at the table. "Isabel never could keep her mouth shut." She muttered. I looked at the table too, feeling awful for bringing this awkward moment into reality.

Donya took a deep breath and looked over at me again. "I wouldn't call it love...more like a...strong affection." She said, weighing her words carefully. She looked over at me, biting her lip worriedly. "But what I should ask is, how do you feel about it?"

"Oh god, I have no idea." I said, letting out a puff of air that ruffled my bangs. "I hadn't really thought about that." It wasn't a complete lie, I still wasn't sure how I felt about it, and I only just found out now that it was true. "I guess that explains why you came on this trip with me." For some reason the realization made me a little sad.

Donya's eyes widened. "Oh no Lianne, that's not why at all." Her hand jerked, I think she wanted to put her hand on mine to reassure me but thought better of it given the circumstances. "Duke's my friend too, and given the hazards of the journey, I thought that if you were brave enough to make this trip, then it was best you had company."

"Well I couldn't have done it without you." I said, looking down at my bowl of soup. "I should check on Duke now." I said, standing up. Donya looked startled but nodded.

"Good idea, if he is well then I think it's best we get going. Home is a long way away."

****

I got back to the room to find that Duke had already gone ahead and packed my backpack for me. Badly. The bag looked twice as big as it was normally and a bra was still hanging halfway out.

"Looks like you're done sleeping."

"Yes, I'm feeling much better now. How was breakfast?" He asked cheerfully. Oh how lucky he was completely worry-free from all the drama! I thought, then immediately felt horrible because Duke was the one that had been kidnapped.

"Not...good?" He said once he saw my expression.

"No, it was delicious." I said, walking over to hug him. "Just...a lot on my mind."

"Oh." He didn't pry. "We can talk about it on the road if you'd like, but we really should get going, home is still a day or two away, and I'm afraid in my current condition I cannot fly and carry two women." He gave me a gentle kiss and I smiled.

"I missed you." The gentle admission from this large and imposing dragon almost brought tears to my eyes. "I missed you too, Duke."

A knocked on the door interrupted our tender moment. "Lianne? Isabel is waiting to see us off."

"Coming!" Duke called, grabbing the backpack and barely giving me enough time to stuff the bra inside.

****

"Well it was a pleasure to meet the two of you." Isabel said with a smile once we were all gathered outside the brothel. "Any friend of Donya's is a friend of mine, so if you ever feel like coming back to visit, my doors are always open."

"Thank you, my friend." Donya said with a warm smile. "I won't forget your hospitality." The two women embraced, and I heard the distinct noise of heavy coins being clinked together. Isabel held her arms out to me and I hugged her too. "Take care of my friend, you hear?" Isabel said in a playful tone, but I was sure she was serious. "Oh, of course!" I said.

"Good." Smack! I felt her hand against my backside again as I turned to leave.

"Bye bye now!" Isabel waved to us from the brothel as we headed towards the woods.

"Farewell!" Duke said, waving a clawed hand, my backpack looking quite small in his other hand.

"How much do we owe you?" I asked Donya once we reached the cover of the woods.

"Hm? Oh don't worry about it Lianne." Donya said with a wave of her hand. Considering the accommodations and the delicious food, I was sure it had been a costly night. I'm not sure how many nights of kitchen duty last night was, but I was determined to pay her back.

"Nonsense, once I return to my cave I'll get you some coin, and that's that." Duke said firmly to Donya.

"Oh... Alright." Donya said.

Oh sure, when Duke says it, it's all 'oh alright' but when Lianne says it, it's 'don't worry about it Lianne' I thought, irrationally grumpy. It sucked to be poor sometimes, but it definitely could be worse.

****

We walked through the woods silently for some time. It was comfortable though, I finally felt at ease, with Duke by my side. It was no longer an arduous trek and now we were just a group heading home.

Duke asked about our journey as we walked, and we told him about the hours of walking, the valley, meeting Marija and the fight we had with the cultists. He studied my walking cane with interest, fingering the dragon design. "You have a real talent, Lianne."

"Oh that? That's just something I did when I was bored and keeping watch."

"I'm sure people would be happy to purchase those from you at the market." Donya said. "Have you considered selling them?"

"Well...no." I said, feeling foolish once I said it. "I didn't think our town really cared much for that sort of thing."

Duke and Donya laughed. "Probably not, but perhaps when I visit the other towns you could join me sometime."

"Maybe, I just want to get home first." I admitted.

"Well then we should hurry up." Duke said with a gruff laugh. "You ladies walk so slowly."

I rolled my eyes. "Well, take the lead then."