Arion was surprised.

It had taken him a bit to get up and get dressed. It gave a man time to think about things. Like what the hell was wrong with this woman. She had no fear of the beast, but she would knee him savagely and run away from the man. That was unusual. All of the other girls had been opposite - they would accept the man, but not even acknowledge the dragon.

He needed information. And there was only one way to get it. He needed to go down there as a human and ask around. Doing that would take him a few days. It may be good for her for him to be away - give her a chance to calm down.

Arion told the fire ladies to take care of her but not let her go outside. He packed his travel bag and flew away. He came down often to fetch supplies, especially in the second half of the summer when his household was expanded by… a guest. The inn-keeper at the roadside inn greeted him with a welcome appropriate for a well paying regular customer when he arrived.

He usually got what he needed from the farms surrounding the inn sitting right at the crossing of three major roads in the area, or from the traders passing through the inn. This time he had a different objective however, so he wanted to visit the castle. There was a post coach going that way soon and coming back this way late in the evening and that suited his aims just perfectly. He paid his fare and hopped on the roof. The post boy had trouble controlling his horses today and they arrived half an hour early. Dragon smiled. Horses knew what was behind them, even if people did not.

The coach stopped at the castle tavern. He got off the coach and went in. If one wanted gossip, this was one place to be. He ordered a beer, paid and sat in a dark corner with it, listening and watching. It wasn’t long until a man in a castle guard uniform mentioned the “crazy bitch” that they were finally rid of and with any luck the dragon would choke on her. He also noticed how the woman wiping glasses behind the bar winced and looked at the man with no kind eyes. She was probably the tavern keeper’s wife. He made a note of it and asked her politely what the soldier was talking about when he went to buy another beer, for it sounded like an interesting story.

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The tavern keeper’s wife was a talkative woman and had told him the whole story of her past. Why not, she was gone… The woman had been one of the few people who liked her. Not in spite of what she had done to the watch captain, but because of it. On top of that her actions on the day had made her a legend. The way she had shoved down her last meal and then taken a nap in the middle of the castle courtyard were discussed thoroughly. People seemed to agree - she had been indeed crazy but in a good way.

The dragon inquired what had become of her brothers. The lord had had them whipped, but then let them go. The two younger ones had left town immediately after midsummer, but Ben was still at the smithy and Jack was getting married soon, ready to take over running the farm from his father.

Arion boarded the coach back to his Inn with much to think about. The story filled quite a few gaps. Like why she would knee him like that. But he felt that he was still missing something. Something that maybe only she would be able to tell her.

Damn, the woman was feisty.

And then there was the matter of the amulet. Her family were ordinary farmers. How come they had a dragon amulet? That made no sense at all. But there were no more answers to be found here right now.

He headed back to his cave in the mountains the next morning. He had bought some supplies as well.

When he arrived one of the fire ladies greeted her at the door and told him that their guest was… unwell. She had not eaten anything for two days and was sleeping all the time.

He went to her room. She was sleeping again. Untouched lunch was on the dressing table.

He sighed… Maybe leaving her alone was not the best idea. Time to shake this sleeping beauty up as kissing her would most probably lead straight to pain again. He was thinking about it though and found it to be a surprisingly attractive idea - pain and all. Still, better not…

“Wake up!” he yelled, shaking her shoulder and watching her slowly wake up. When she seemed almost awake, he announced, “ Dinner is in half an hour. Be there. We need to discuss your chores for tomorrow.”