Pib's Dragon by Beany Sparks

orders, taking
turns to clean up before their meals arrived. Once they were all
sitting with their food in front of them, Dray asked a question
that had been bugging him.
    “ So how long have you known
that the lords destroyed the previous houses?” he asked, glancing
from one man to the other.
    Wil sighed and ran a hand through his hair. “I suspected
from day one, but without any proof, there wasn’t anything I could
do. Hell, even with proof, there probably wouldn’t have
been anything I could do about it.”
    Dray nodded, then turned to Pib,
raising a brow. He got an eye roll and a huff, but Pib did respond.
“I suspected as soon as Wil told me what happened to the other
houses and the materials they’d been construct from. Those
jackasses are lucky to still be walking,” Pib growled
out.
    “ Why did the soldiers run
when they saw your face?” Dray asked, looking at the captivating
man in front of him. He didn’t know if Pib realized his hood was
still down, but Dray suspected that he did. Very little seemed to
get past the man. Staring into his eyes, Dray saw wariness creep
into them before he appeared to steel himself about whatever he was
about to say.
    “ There are no soldiers here, which means they would have
come from one or more of the kingdoms. I’m lucky enough to
be known throughout almost all of the kingdoms.”
    The way Pib practically spat the word lucky was
enough of an indication that Pib didn’t consider it a good thing at
all. Dray wanted to cuddle the man close, but he suspected he’d end
up with a hissing, biting, scratching serval in seconds so he
restrained himself…barely.
    “ Why were you known?” Dray
asked, instinctively knowing that the answer was
important.
    The resignation in Pib’s eyes was almost his undoing, but
his words chilled him to the bone. “Because I was the right hand of
the man now known as Prince Geraint.”

Chapter Nine
    Pib watched as terror followed the
shock on Dray’s face, and his heart plummeted. It took everything
he had to keep his face expressionless while inside he was slowly
shattering. He hadn’t realized until this moment how much he’d come
to enjoy the exchanges between him and the dragon, but there was
nothing he could do about his past.
    “ We need to go,” Dray
said.
    “ Okay,” Pib responded and
turned to eat his meal. He’d just taken a bite of meat when
suddenly he was looking down at his meal, his cutlery still in his
hands, but he was no longer seated at the table. He blinked as Wil
took the cutlery and placed it on the table before Pib was carried
out of the tavern, Dray holding him with an arm around his
chest.
    “ We’ll meet you at your
cottage, Wil. You go one way and I’ll carry Pib another,” Dray
said, never slowing down. He changed his grip so that one arm
supported Pib across his back and the other was under his
knees.
    “ I’ll see you there,” Wil
said, then shifted and took off.
    “ What’s going on?” Pib
asked, feeling confused and somewhat strange.
    “ I’ll explain when we get
to somewhere safe,” Dray replied.
    Looking up at the man, Pib noticed the
worry on his face. Seconds later, great big wings sprouted from his
back, and before Pib could utter a word of protest, Dray pushed off
the ground and they were flying.
    Dray leaned close until his mouth was
by Pib’s ear and then whispered, “Pib, you need to tell me where
your cottage is.”
    Shivering, Pib focused on his
surroundings, and when he recognized where he was, he pointed.
“Over there.”
    Pib enjoyed the warmth and smell of the
man holding him, knowing that it would soon disappear for good.
When they landed, Pib tried to get his feet back on the ground, but
Dray just tightened his grip.
    Looking up into Dray’s face, Pib was
surprised by the expression. “What—”
    “ Why should I let you go
when I finally have you in my grasp?” Dray asked, smiling down at
him.
    Pib frowned. “I’m…confused.”
    Dray chuckled and started