Total pages in book: 132
Estimated words: 126358 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 632(@200wpm)___ 505(@250wpm)___ 421(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 126358 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 632(@200wpm)___ 505(@250wpm)___ 421(@300wpm)
“Hurry—get over there before she wakes every last dragon in the Caverns,” he ordered. “I’ve never seen a juvenile dragon with such a loud mental voice—she’s going to get every last one of them riled up if you don’t dose her quickly.”
I hurried as fast as the terrible aches would let me, following L’eesha’s pitiful mental moans through the honeycombed maze until I found her.
My Golden Queen was a pitiful sight—she was lying on her side, crying weakly and though she was much bigger than me by this time, all I wanted to do was take her in my arms and cuddle her.
I did the best I could, sitting on the hard stone floor beside her so I could take her big head in my lap.
She opened her rainbow eyes and looked up at me.
“my Auri—i knew that you would come. it hurts so much.”
“I know, sweetheart.” I stroked her golden muzzle soothingly. “I know but I have some special medicine that’s going to make you feel better.”
I had laid the armful of sweet grass on the floor beside me and now I picked up one of the dried flowers—which had a shriveled, dark purple blossom at the end of its long stalk—and offered it to her.
L’eesha turned up her nose at it.
“no! smells nasty!” she declared.
“But it will make you feel better,” I pointed out.
“doesn’t smell good,” was her stubborn reply.
I looked up at Ryse, who had followed me and was standing there, frowning.
“She doesn’t want to eat it!” I said, waving the stalk she’d rejected.
“I’ll have M’alex talk to her,” he said. He got a look of concentration, and I knew he was bespeaking his dragon.
A moment later L’eesha’s rainbow eyes went wide, and she looked up at me.
“M’alex says that nasty smelling stuff will make me feel good. he says he had some before and it’s nice.”
“Then maybe you’d better try some,” I said. Coaxingly, I waved the dried flower in front of her nose again.
This time, she reached out with her long tongue and wrapped it around the stalk. She drew it into her mouth and crunched it between her teeth, making faces as she did so that would have been hilarious if her pain wasn’t still pouring through me.
“doesn’t taste very good,” she informed me.
“Yes, but it’s going to help you feel better—just like M’alex told you,” I said. “Here, have another one.”
She crunched another between her teeth with less drama—maybe she was getting used to the taste. I gave her another and then another but when I reached for a fifth blossom, Ryse stopped me.
“That’s probably enough,” he said, frowning. “You don’t want to over do it. Sweet grass is potent.”
I wanted to ask about the side effects the Master of the Caverns had mentioned, but I didn’t want to do it in front of L’eesha. So I just cradled her huge head in my lap and stroked her from her eye ridges all the way down her long nose, which she loved.
Gradually, I felt the pain easing and then—to my utter relief—my dragon relaxed completely.
“feels…so much…better, my Auri,” she informed me in a dreamy-sounding mental voice. “no more pain.”
“No more pain,” I echoed, stroking her some more. I was beginning to feel a bit dreamy myself. I looked up at Ryse with a wide smile. “She’s feeling better now…and so am I.”
“Yes, I can see that,” he said dryly. “We’d probably better get you back to the room before you start feeling even better.”
“Better than this? Better than a drugged dragon?” I asked and giggled because that suddenly seemed really funny to me.
“Yes, better than a drugged dragon. Come on.” Leaning over me, he took me by the arms and pulled me to my feet.
“But will my baby be all right?” I asked, suddenly worried for her.
“She’s fine—look, she’s already asleep.” Ryse nodded at L’eesha, who was letting out adorable squeaky snores that made me want to giggle for some reason. She really was the cutest thing, even though she was getting so big!
I tried to walk, but was feeling sort of dizzy by then. Not in a bad way though—actually the sensation was quite pleasant. It was like I was floating along with my feet barely even touching the ground.
“Ryse,” I said to him. “Do I look like I’m floating to you?”
He laughed.
“Oh, you’re floating all right, little one. Come on.”
He gathered the remaining sweet grass and looped an arm around my waist. He half walked/half carried me back down the stairs, though the whole journey was kind of a blur.
By the time we got back to our room, I was ready to collapse on the bed.
Ryse took off my slippers and robe and put me into my side of the bed. Then he took of his own slippers and robe and settled in beside me.