Chapter Eleven

"Did the former Guardian teach you nothing of dragonkind and our sworn duty to protect the Citadel?" Grennulf sounded both surprised and alarmed.

"The former Guardian, as you put it, was my mother. She was lost in defense of the Citadel when I was just a girl. She didn't really have time to teach me much, and most of her library was lost to me when she set off the failsafe that froze her in the ice."

The dragon was silent a moment while Loralie continued to work on the fire. She would need to get some of the fresh fallen snow, but Grennulf was still blocking the doorway, so to speak. She'd have to get him to assist somehow.

"I'm sorry. I didn't know about your mother," Gren said finally in a subdued voice. "It must have been a dire situation for her to set off one of the failsafes."

"It was," Loralie confirmed. "I didn't know much about it at the time, but early one morning she sent me away to one of the farthest Gates, telling me to stay outside and not return until nightfall. When I finally got back home, she was gone."

"She is dead?" Gren asked softly.

"She is trapped in the ice, like the wizards we are sworn to keep imprisoned for the good of all. She left me a note that I found later. Some of the ice was failing, and one of the wizards was close to waking. She felt she had no choice but to trigger a failsafe that would reinforce the ice. She thought it would probably trap her too, which it did, but she put her duty ahead of everything else, which I understand." Loralie was faced with the same sort of decision, and she thought she finally grasped the enormity of her mother's choice as she hadn't been able to before.

"So, you are basically self-taught as a Guardian, then?" Gren asked, still speaking gently to her.

"Essentially." She wanted to shrug but went on with her private conversation with the dragon while Det started helping with the chores.

Det gathered snow from Gren's back by climbing up on the dragon's knee and brought it over to the fire for her to melt. Then, he went off to the area she was using as a privy, and she gave him his privacy. That part of the cave was semi-private and couldn't be seen from this angle anyway. While Det was otherwise occupied, she continued talking with the dragon.

"My mother started my magical training when I was still quite young. She taught me how to manage my power as soon as it started developing, when I was little. She took me on her rounds as she checked the integrity of the ice in the Citadel every full moon. She showed me all the Gates and how to operate them. She taught me as much as I could handle as a child, and she had a small collection of ancient books and texts that she said I would study when I grew older, as she had. Only, it's all encased in ice now. The failure point was very close to where we made our home, and most of it ended up under the ice after she triggered the failsafe spell."

"How old were you when this happened?" Gren asked quietly.

"Fifteen winters. I could take care of myself, but she hadn't taught me everything. My education was supposed to progress farther over several more decades. Or so she said." Loralie tried not to let the sorrow and loneliness in.

Those two emotions had been her constant companions most of her life, but they weren't helpful. She had to get beyond that in order to accomplish what she must. She had work to do and lives depending on her. Just as her mother had.

"Well, I'm no expert, but all dragons know that we are sworn to protect the Citadel. It is one of our sacred duties. I, and all of my kind, will help you do that."

"I didn't know," Loralie admitted, her mind whirling. Things started to make sense now that she only dimly remembered from her long-ago childhood. "I know Mother had great respect for dragons, and I know she had friends among the ice dragons, but they had moved away from the world of man by the time I was born, and I never met any of them."

"I will bring word of your situation to my brethren, Loralie. I think we all had the wrong idea about you, and for that, I am sorry."

Loralie was a bit dumbfounded by the dragon's words. She'd never expected any dragon to want to do anything but fry her on sight after the things she'd been forced to do, and here was Grennulf—Detlif's heartmate, of all dragons—being kind to her. Loralie didn't know if she could handle this.

"I am the one who is sorry. For so much. I had no choice in many of the things I was forced to do to keep Penny alive. I won't say safe, because she was never truly safe while under the control of Gebel and his master."

Loralie felt deep sorrow for all the years her daughter was made to suffer, and her son had to grow up without a mother. And Penny without a father. Or either child without their twin. So much pain and separation. Her little family would never recover from that.

"I can't speak for the ice dragons, of course, but I think if they knew what I have learned and seen, they might think differently about your actions," Gren said with a bit of hesitation in his words that Loralie could not mistake. She doubted the ice dragons would be so forgiving.

"Separating that egg from its parents almost broke me," she admitted. "It was an unforgivable act, and I don't expect any leniency from the ice dragons. I wronged them, and I will never forgive myself for what I did."

"And yet, by all accounts, the child from that egg is strong and healthy and living as an adopted son of the monarch of Draconia. Recently, he was reunited with his parents and grandparents, I understand, and the ice dragons have welcomed him among them, though he still lives in Draconia with the King and Queen, with whom he bonded when he first hatched."

"He did? Truly?" Loralie had heard some of this story, but she hadn't been certain all of it was true. Though, if Gren said it was true, then she had little doubt remaining. Who would know the reality of it other than another dragon?

"Truly," Gren confirmed. "We will talk more on this later, I think. For now, if you just shield your thoughts a bit more, I will not be such a callow eavesdropper. Talk to Det. He has much he wants to ask you but doesn't know where to start."

"And you think I do?" she replied to Gren's humor with some of her own. She almost didn't believe Det's heartmate was talking to her, much less showing enough ease to make that rather wry remark about her earlier accusation of eavesdropping.

"I cannot do everything for you," Gren replied, a dragonish chuckle echoing in her mind.

At that point, Detlif returned to the fire, and she handed him his mug of tea. She had brewed the drink for both of them, filling the travel mugs they had each packed along with them. It felt alarmingly domestic, but she knew this was just another moment out of time. A dream of what could be, that would never come true.

"I didn't thank you for collecting the snow," she said, looking for a safe topic of conversation.

"Happy to help. Thank you for making the tea. Is there anything else I can do to assist?" Det replied politely.

"Could you slice some of that cheese over there? That and the fruit you brought will do nicely for breakfast," she replied, pointing to the bag that held her food supply.

He tilted his head as if he wanted to say something, but refrained and went over to do as she'd asked. He took one of the bread rounds that were baked specially for travel and made a sandwich out of the cheese and bread, then brought it over to her. She looked up as he approached and blushed. Fruit and a little cheese would do well for her breakfast, but Det was a giant of a man. She hadn't considered that he'd need more to fuel his massive muscles.

He didn't say anything as they ate their respective breakfasts in silence. Things were a bit awkward between them, but at least he wasn't fighting with her or even frowning at her. That had to be a good sign.

"Gren says the storm is starting to wind down," Det told her as their quick meal came to a close. "Maybe we could make some plans."

"Well, I suppose you'll fly away with Sir Grennulf, and I will continue my surveillance of the manor below." She kept her tone brisk. Last night, she would have been glad to see him leave, but now… Things had changed, and she still didn't really understand how or why.

"Gren and I will fly out," he agreed. "But we're going to scout for a better base of operations for you before we leave the area. If we find something more suitable, we'll let you know. After that, we'll head back to the enclave to make our report and pick up more supplies. Then, we'll return and help you get set up more securely, and Gren can assist with the surveillance. He sees much better at a distance than either of us."

"I'm not sure…" She wanted to object to it all, but a part of her wanted to accept his help. A traitorous part of her wanted to spend as much time with him as he would allow before she met her fate.

"Do not argue," Gren said into her mind. She wasn't used to hearing the dragon's input, and she wondered why Gren seemed to have not let Det in on the secret that she could communicate directly with dragons. "Even I can see this is not a good enough location. There are many caves around here. I'm certain we can find something both more secure and snugger so you can be warm at night."

Faced with the dragon's reasonable tone, Loralie couldn't really object. She bowed her head and gave in.

"I would be grateful if you could find a more suitable location for myself and the pacas," she said with as much quiet dignity as she could scrounge up.

That was how, a couple of hours later, Loralie found herself trudging down the mountainside leading one of the pacas while Det led the other one toward a cave he and Gren had found lower down the slope. When he'd described it to her, she'd agreed it sounded better than where she'd camped and decided to go have a look. He'd even scouted a way down that couldn't be seen from below as long as they were cautious, which was why he'd joined her on the trek.

Before too much longer, she was moving in, so to speak, to her new temporary home. Det stayed long enough to help her with the heaviest items, but then, he and Gren left soon after to fly home to their enclave. She really wasn't sure she'd ever see him again, though he'd said he would come back tomorrow with more supplies. She suspected that once his people learned of his mission to help her, of all people, they would talk some sense back into him.

Or he'd come to his senses all by himself once he was away from her. That was more likely, in fact. The novelty of being together had been startling. She'd almost forgotten how incredibly sexy he was and how he could make her want him just by breathing.

The attraction between them had been instant and was proving to be lasting. At least on her side. She'd found it very hard not to reach for him when he was close enough to touch. And when she'd awakened in his arms, she'd wanted so much to turn and press her lips to his. Her body had cried out for him, and she knew he'd responded to her nearness. He couldn't have hidden that bulge in his trousers the way they were situated. Nor had he moved all that quickly to separate them. No, he'd stayed for long moments, each of them enjoying the other's nearness just that little bit.

She sighed as she finished setting up the new camping area. This cave had little room-like areas down the passage that led deeper into the mountain. The pacas would be in the outermost chamber. The passage narrowed then opened out again into the space where she would make camp for herself. She would have her campfire there and her bedroll. With a lower ceiling, it would be warmer, and the pacas could be moved in, one at a time, to sleep with her, if necessary.

The farthest chamber she had set aside for a latrine for herself. The pacas had a new area in that outermost room, off to one side where a crevice had formed in the rock. Once again, she only had to show them once to establish what the area was for. Fastidious creatures, pacas were very intelligent as well and easily trained. She'd spent time on the journey here getting them used to her commands and what they meant.

Once the campsite was set up, she got back to the reason she was here in the first place. Det had pointed out a good observation post not far from the hidden entrance to her new cave. She went outside cautiously and settled in to see what she could of the manor house below. The new spot was much lower down the mountain so she could see more of the movement going on, though her eyesight wasn't anything like a dragon's. If Det and Gren did come back tomorrow, she'd take advantage of Gren's willingness to help her as long as it lasted. She had no doubt the dragon would see much finer detail than she could make out.

As it was, she discovered that the blizzard had disrupted whatever normal routines the folks in the manor had set up. Everybody seemed to be engaged in removing snow from the pathways leading to the stables, barns, barracks, and other outbuildings, as well as the roadway that led toward the enclave. Loralie didn't like that at all. Why would they need to go toward the fair folk? And how did they even know Det's people were there? The magical Veil that protected their enclave was impenetrable by outsiders.

Loralie watched them clear snow for hours and hours until the light faded. Then, she went back to her cave to find the pacas had taken seats by the fire in her part of the cave system. She didn't mind. She liked sleeping with them when it was this chilly. Even in the snugger cave, it was still going to be a long, cold night. She rebuilt the fire and had dinner, enjoying the food Det had left behind.

She missed him, which was dangerous. She hadn't realized it would be so hard to see him again. Or so tempting.