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Chapter 8

I leaned back against the chaise lounge and sighed tiredly, closing my eyes and shuffling my rear deeper into the pillows and cushions piled on the chill floor beneath me. I tried, unsuccessfully, to stretch a few kinks out of my neck that were being particularly obstinate, the fingers of my free hand kneading the taut muscles looking for release, but it did little to untie the additional knots within my chest that were increasingly distressing.

My other hand caressed the fine scales of Argy's neck, his head cradled in my lap as he drew breath raggedly, his long face twisted in sleep as his unconscious form quivered and twitched beside me. He was having a hard time of it, I thought, tracing the soft curve of his jaw to run soft fingertips against the jowls, calming the distress visible in his face to soften at the touch, relaxing into a more comfortable sleep.

I'd headed back to the room he'd been placed in earlier after my rounding out by His Majesty, relieving an exhausted physician who obviously hadn't heard the stories of my earlier escapades, as he shook my hand warmly and promised to return in a few hours. Others weren't as ill-informed, and I snorted in wry amusement at the speed in which gossip could spread throughout the court, even in the darkest hours.

At first, I was too distracted to notice, more intent on weaving my tired carcass through the hallways to the small chamber Argy had been carried to. Still, it wasn't long before the horrified looks being sent my way by servitors, not to mention the scurrying manner they fled from my path, drew my attention.

Seems there are some benefits to being a cold blooded murderer, I thought dryly, smiling widely at one young page who near passed out in fear. Avoidance of idle, unwanted conversation being higher on the list of being the new castle killer.

Least it might get me out of some of the more onerous invitations I received on a regular basis. While I would have preferred turning down most of the more inane, familial responsibilities forced my hand, and I attended more of the boring, tedious things than I would have liked. Then again, having me attend might be more spice to add to the otherwise dull occasion, and I cringed thinking how many times I might be asked to retell the evening's events in lurid detail.

Details even I wasn't prepared to ponder overly eagerly, at least at this point.

Dropping down beside Argy's heavy frame, I straightened his crumpled wings against his side, shoving him into a more comfortable position, and dumped a heap of the palace's finest furnishings onto the stone floor beside him. I still grunted myself when my stiff muscles complained as I dropped onto them, lifting his head onto my lap as his breath caught at my touch. He's a surprisingly heavy bastard, my wandering mind pondered, and I smiled briefly, lips twitching as I stroked his head gently.

The deeper part of me didn't want to consider the other feelings raging within; the pain, the fury and the desperate hopelessness that he might not survive through the evening being at the forefront. But the other feelings that had made themselves known; feelings everything within me screamed should be taboo; those were even more disquieting, and I did my best to push them out of my mind; at least on the surface anyway.

Still, they stubbornly manifested themselves repeatedly, and as I stared down at his face, I mean really stared and explored the thoughts he generated, I had to start accepting that the feelings were genuine. He wasn't human. But he was the most human person I'd met; caring, genuine and, as I had to admit, completely trustworthy.

Such trust for me was unheard of. It was an alien concept in my profession, and all the pretence at nobility did nothing to alter the facts. Not that nobles weren't thieves, and occasional murderers; they were, but on a totally different level. They did it for foolish pride, or greed, or many of the more pointlessly stupid reasons the self-gratified bastards concocted to justify their worthless existence. But for most it was a game, albeit a foolish one. For me, it was life or death, with death being ever present on every occasion.

To trust someone, with your life and your heart, was idiotic. Foolishness to the extreme.

Gods, I trusted this dragon, as I'd never trusted a living soul before.

Damn, I was a fool. A complete, colossal fool.

Sighs. A fool amongst thieves indeed.

A quiet tap at the door broke me from my melancholy, and as one of Dad's staff entered bearing a tray with cold pastries and a pair of chilled wine glasses, I nodded for him to place them on the floor beside me. I was too tired to screw around getting up yet again, but the temptation of something filling accompanied by something alcoholic was too much, so without questioning further, he did as I asked silently before leaving.

Still, there was more to the gesture than simple provision of refreshments. Two glasses meant only one thing, and it wasn't going to be pleasant.

It wasn't, either. Dad didn't knock before entering, pushing into the room and closing the door quietly behind him, but not before I saw one of his guards take station outside, whether to protect us from unwanted eavesdroppers or to prevent my untimely exit was unclear, and I snorted inwardly. Even in my presently exhausted state one guard had no chance in stopping me if I really wanted out, not in the mood that presently enveloped me, but I guess the thought was there for someone's comfort.

Stooping to pick up one of the glasses, Dad dropped heavily into a solid armchair a few feet away, not deigning to meet my defiant eyes but gazing absently into the fireplace, the flames reflected as pinpoint glimmers as my mood dropped again at his silence, until I raised my head defiantly.

“Well?" I asked harshly, voice hoarse in the intervening stillness.

Turning to regard me, he said softly “Why did you do it, Cam? I could have obtained the same information for the King without all the drama and spectacle. You risked everything we have worked towards for years, for what? A foolish revenge on some idiot who slighted you years earlier?"

I didn't reply immediately, and he waited, expecting an answer. Instead, I let my heart lead my response.

“Do you really think I did it for revenge alone, Dad?" I demanded, resting a palm on Argy's neck to prevent the fingers tightening into a fist in fury. “Do you have so little faith in me that that's what you think?"

He gave me a frank appraisal then, and I continued to meet his eyes. “I don't know what to think, Cam. What you did…"

“Was necessary, for a whole lot of reasons, and you damned well know why!" I interrupted, almost shouting out my answer. “In front of the entire court, not only did that bastard try and take out the King, but he tried doing it in a way that'd pile disrepute on all of us, as standing by impotent while it occurred. What were we supposed to do? Sit back and take it up the arse, like a good little courtier bitch?"

Pursing his lip, he sat back and sipped his wine before replying. “You could have trusted me to handle it, Cam. Instead of acting like a damned slaughterhouse worker, and gutting the prick."

I laughed harshly at that. “You mean, like you taught me to do, Dad? Don't be a bloody hypocrite! I am what I am, and that's what you made me; a doppelganger of you! I'm an assassin, a spy and a fucking murderer, and I have become this at your behest."

His eyes turned cold then; cold as I've ever seen them.

“But never in public, Cam. Never in such a way that would place the family at risk, and only ever for the benefit of the family. And for what? For him?" he snarled suddenly, gesturing at the comatose dragon in disgust, which sent the blood from my face as I paled in fury.

“Yes, Dad." I whispered, turning my face from him back to the dragon. “For him. And for me, and the family. For us all. I would have done no less if it was you lying here, and you cannot tell me you'd expect anything less of me."

He tossed his glass into the fire, the shattering of the crystal loud in the echoing room. “Fine!" he said icily, standing abruptly. “We're going to have a long talk about this later, Cam, once I work out how much damage you've done to us and how to deal with it."

He strode towards the door, but froze with a hand on the handle as I whispered “No we won't, Dad. I did what I did because it needed doing. Those trying to stop us will think twice before they do so again so brazenly. Not if they don't wish for equal consequences. And to be honest, I have nothing further to explain on the matter."

He sighed, shoulders dropping in defeat as he swung the door wide to leave. “No, Cam. Next time they attack our family, they won't make the mistake of confronting us directly. They'll do so in secret, where we may not catch them in time to prevent their actions."

Stepping through to the hallway, I had no doubts he caught my softly worded reply as the door snicked shut behind him.

“Not if they don't want their guts spilled like butchered animals, they won't. I have put up with the slurs and the innuendo for as long as I plan to do so. The next time these bastards threaten someone so important to me, I'll make a real example of them, and I won't hold back next time, Dad. No one will stop me; not you, not the king, nobody."

The silence at his departure was deafening.

I lay back, exhaustion engulfing me as the encounter replayed in my mind. It was rare I ever dared contradict my father so thoroughly, and even I had to admit, this was probably as far as I'd ever taken it, or would want to. If I wasn't his daughter, I hate to think what might have resulted but still, I was over copping shit for things beyond my control. I'd been thrown into the deep end one too many times, and this entire fiasco was no different. If he expected me to handle such matters again, I'd do so, but I would do it my way, and not his.

I let my eyes closed, putting the matter from my mind, until a soft, hoarse voice said “That was a little intense."

My eyes shot open, scanning the room for threats, but it wasn't until the dragon's head stirred, a groan slipping from his muzzle as he attempted lifting his gaze to mind, that I realised he had woken.

“Argy…" I managed, smile splitting my face as he dropped his head back into my lap, too tired to move further.

“Oooh, I feel terrible" he managed, rolling onto his back to get more comfortable, only to grunt as I grabbed him around the neck, face pressed into his scales as tears dropped to wet his skin.

“You look terrible" I managed as I began heaving sobs, a tentative paw reached up to caress my hair, as he breathed in my scent affectionately, only to snort at the rank undertones beneath.

Long minutes passed until I controlled myself, releasing him in embarrassment to wipe the back of my hand across my face, my running nose smearing mucous on the sleeve of my borrowed shirt. When I did finally look into his face, anxious eyes returned my stare, as he sniffed deeply again.

“I smell blood; blood and worse, Cam. Are you….?"

Pausing as I shook my head, dropping his gaze until, tentatively, he reached up and cupped my hand in his own, his claws closing gently around my clenched fist as he rubbed my skin between his paws.

“You were poisoned. You… You nearly died." I said hesitatingly, and he cringed, shoulder clearly aching as he tested its movement with a wince.

'We have a natural tolerance for most toxins." He said, his exploration of the wound's motility over, and sighed as he dropped his head back in my lap, the heavy wrinkles surrounding his large eyes testament to his fatigue. “I am guessing a human would not share this immunity, or the dose would have been much higher, and we would not be having this conversation right now."

I withdrew my hand from his and cupped his cheek gently, his surprised eyes widening hugely as I dropped my face and pressed lips to his, my long hair spread across my lap masking my actions from view.

After a few seconds I withdrew, opening my eyes to the speechless dragon, muzzle parting in a silent exclamation of shock and I flushed, embarrassed to my core and ready to apologise, when his paw crept to my neck, drawing me back into a longer, much more intimate exchange, tongues entwining as he accepted my embrace fully.

When we finally parted, I didn't know what to say; a condition I have to admit I rarely encounter in myself. It wasn't until a smirk quirked the side of his muzzle, and he cocked his head to regard me dryly, that the humour of the situation finally broke and I laughed, dropping to embrace him warmly; a gesture eagerly returned by the silver creature.

As he nuzzled my neck affectionately, he sniggered suddenly, releasing me to a wry smile. At my confusion, he grinned, long white canines flashing as he stroked my neck again tenderly, claw tips pin pricks on my flesh sending goose bumps down my spine, to say “Well, this is very pleasant, but I really, really need to go to the bathroom, before I end up smelling even worse than you do."

I can't say I've ever been happier to hear someone needing a shit in my entire life.

Don't ask me how I got him home, as I don't want to even think about it. It was a comedy of errors involving several carriages, a half dozen footmen, one seedy whore, and a whole lot of cursing, but thankfully the early hours of the morning kept the spectacle to a minimum audience.

It happened, however, and I profusely thanked those involved as I staggered up the stairs, praying they'd keep their mouths shut, even as I filled their purses in gratitude.

Still, the pain of the journey had clearly gotten to Argy, and even with his wings strapped tightly to his back with shredded linen bed sheeting, the wound seeped heavily through the heavy bandaging at the shoulder joint for his wing, causing him to grunt and snarl with every jolt of step or carriage.

We were both totally exhausted by the time we made it inside the keep, the heavy doors held open by one of Dad's guards obviously alerted to our return, who nodded at our entrance, and advised me sombrely that Dad wasn't home yet. I didn't hold any delusions that our unexpected return would soon be brought to his attention, even as I noted a runner leaving the guardhouse headed towards the city centre as the doors were secured behind us.

I was too tired to care what they, or he, did at that moment. It was enough to struggle upstairs to the living quarters, where Argy collapsed in a heap on the rug before the fireplace, breathing heavily and swearing almost continually; something I'm sure he'd picked up in the prior months from my bad, albeit creative, example.

Exhausted as I was, I ran the bath for him, the original human-sized tub long since replaced with one much larger when the realisation of his more permanent residence became understood. It took a long time to fill, its volume more like a small pool than a traditional bath. I thanked the stars it was still so early, and the copious amount of hot water dad insisted be provided from heated tanks on the keep's roof was abundant, having not been pre-empted for other purposes in the kitchen, laundry or elsewhere.

I really, really wasn't in the mood for a cold wash, I can tell you.

Once filled, through a combination of cajoling and threats, I got Argy to shift into the tank, where he dropped with a loud splash and grateful sigh, his body almost fully submerged in the steaming water. When he didn't move further, head laid back on the padded leather rest set against the tub for the purpose, I briefly worried as to his condition. He must have read my thoughts, as a sudden clawed thumbs up had me chuckle, and he finally moved to unwind the restrictive bandages binding his wings, as well as the one over his wound, which began a sluggish ruby oozing down his silver shoulder to muddy the water below.

I stepped to his side, giving the deep gash a professional once over, and was surprised to see how well it was healing. The edges had already began to knit, and the blood had a fresh, clean appearance, quite at odds to the original rank dead smell it had happened when first the poison took effect.

I poked the skin around it a few times to test for infection, ignoring the non-verbal complaint from the dragon, until a snort of amusement had me turn to meet his gaze a few inches away.

“Having fun, are we?" he quipped dryly, and I patted his cheek with a smile.

“You'll live, it seems. It's just going to feel pretty damned awful for a while. Hopefully it won't restrict the shoulder movement there on a more permanent basis. It was fortunate it struck muscle parallel to the run of your movement, rather than cut across and severing anything important."

“Fortunate nothing more was injured, apart from my pride, you mean?" he snorted again, leaning his head back again to stare moodily towards the beamed ceiling.

I couldn't help but grin, squeezing his arm in comfort, and asked “Do you need anything for the pain?"

Shrugging carefully, he said “No. Now I'm conscious, I'll just use my mental ability to will the pain away. Should be right as rain by tomorrow."

Impressed despite my exhaustion, I didn't really process his reply too thoroughly and said without real thought “Really? You can do that?" I was rewarded with a deep, throaty laugh, not to mention a jaded eye as the dragon responded with mirth.

“Umm, no. I was being sarcastic. It hurts like hell, thanks Camilla. I would like something to dull the pain very much, preferably presented in a large alcoholic form, and chilled well below room temperature."

Shaking my head wryly, I said “I'll see if the keep physician can whip something like that up for you later this morning. In fact, I'll ask if it can be made in a large suppository form, just to be extra effective!" Even ready for his response, I just managed to dodge the sheet of water splashed towards me in retort.

I'd only lit the single candle in there, but Argy shrugged off my offer to light more. “It'll be morning soon enough, and I'd rather the darkness. My head feels like an anvil is being pounded within it. But leave the candle on the shelf by the door if you like. I'm going to lie here for a long, long time until my scales will need ironing to remove the wrinkles."

Relieved at his apparent recuperation, I stepped to the door to leave. But something extraordinary happened then. I can't explain it, really. I just… Hell, I don't know what happened then. Even now, I don't know why I did it.

But I didn't leave. In fact, I closed the door before me softly, resting my head against the timber frame as I drew in a deep breath and turned to confront the curious dragon, who eyed me with a cocked head as I remained within the bathing room.

Slowly, almost unimaginably slowly, I undid the waist of the loaned pants and let them drop to my ankles as I lifted my arms, taking the large shirt up in my wrists over my head to drop beside me.

Argy's eyes widened as I stood there, naked, then stepped back to his side to meet his eyes defiantly.

Still, he didn't reply as I motioned for him to shuffle over, mounting the steps beside the bath to lower myself against his side, his arm wrapped around my back drawing me close as I rested my head on his chest.

Neither of us spoke for several minutes, just sharing comfort until the day's events finally enveloped my consciousness and I pressed my face into his scaly chest as my inhibited emotions broke down, sobbing deeply and bitterly.

He didn't say anything to that. He just held me close, stroking my back with his paws as he nuzzled my neck and hair again, warm comfort to the chill enveloping my heart.

Hours passed, or at least it felt like such time, until my heaving stopped and my panic slowly descended, leaving me drained and feeling foolish. Argy didn't comment on my sudden vulnerability, holding me close and keeping me safe from the torment within.

Eventually, he caressed my cheek with his long, soft tongue and said “It was bad then."

Sighing, I nodded. “Yeah, it was bad. I thought you were going to die, you know."

Hugging me hard against him, he muttered “I am sorry to have scared you like that. I never intended causing you such pain."

Nodding again, I breathed deeply and raised my gaze to his. “I know. It's just... I don't know what I would have done; whether I could keep going on like this… If… If you..."

His wide eyes softened as he smiled, the affection clear in his gaze.

“I don't think I'd like being dead if you weren't there" he said softly, breaking the mood as I sniffed and returned the smile dryly.

“Stupid dragon!" I grumbled, and he snorted again, returning to nuzzling my neck as his caressing paws stroked my back warmly.