Chapter Twenty-Two

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The sight of her village, nestled among the green hills, made the last shred of tension leave her body. It had taken another three days to get back here, days she'd spent trudging through the forest and ignoring her thread. Even now, with her village less than a mile away, she knew where it would point.

The sun cast a warm glow over the cluster of houses, and she braced herself for William's enthusiastic greeting. Then remembered: William was gone. There was no one to welcome her home. She readjusted her sword belt and descended into the valley.

A farmer walked past her on their way down from the fields. The woman gave her a look, and then a second one, her jaw dropping open. Alannah ignored her. But then the young blacksmith's apprentice did the same, stopping in his tracks to stare as she strode past. And then the old cobbler did it, too. She altered her trajectory and headed to the tavern.

Eamon stood behind the counter, as he always did, and seated in front of him was the mayor. Just like the night they drugged her, tied her to a pole and served her up as lunch. She clasped the hilt of her sword and marched up to them. "Nice to see such a warm welcome."

They started like she'd shouted Fire. "What - what are you doing here?" the mayor asked, dragging his tankard closer.

"This is my home." She leaned against the bar, levelled a stare at them. "Isn't it?"

Eamon straightened. "Where's the dragon?"

"Gods," the mayor muttered, "what if it comes back? If all we did was for nothing - oh gods, Clara-" He jumped to his feet and Alannah yanked him back down.

"He's not going after Clara." Anger still bubbled in her stomach, but she took her hand off her sword. The man might be a nasty little worm, but he loved his daughter. She could understand that, even if she couldn't forgive it. "I took care of the dragon. And I wanted you to know that, Mayor," she told him, baring her teeth a little too much, "because I am going to send you the bill - which you will be paying for the next ten years." The man went white and almost swallowed his tongue with his protests. Alannah ignored them all and turned away.

Her anger fuelled the first few steps back to her shop, but it didn't last long. She thought she'd come back to her village and string the mayor up by his standard of office. But instead, she only felt tired. The idea of revenge had gotten lost along her journey, somewhere between the Fae and Fellmere.

But at least now she was home. She could get back to her normal life.

The bell of her shop tinkled as she went in and three dozen pixies took to the air, chattering loudly. Swathes of golden dust coated the floor, the walls, the counters. There wasn't an inch of shop visible. She'd forgotten about the damn infestation.

Realising she wasn't about to start skewering them, the pixies scattered into small groups and danced another cloud of dust into her shop. She slumped against the back of her door. She'd have to clear out the place and exterminate the pixies before she could even think about setting up shop again. Then she'd be back to selling run of the mill protection charms and three day love potions. And without William, she could count on being left alone.

Dameon's words flowed through her mind. This was supposed to be what she wanted.

So why did she feel so empty?

Alannah thudded her head against the wood behind her, ignoring the soft rain of dust over her face. She knew why. There was a stupid, dragon-shaped hole in her chest that hadn't gone away when it should have done.

And she didn't want it to go away.

Goddess, she was such an idiot. Alannah pushed herself away from the door and took one last look at her shop. Her Grandmother's shop. Dameon was right. It was time she faced up to her own dreams.

~*~

The little knoll above the village was empty of sheep, this time, but the pole lay where she left it. Taking the scale out of her pocket, she folded into a sitting position, her back to the village. This was a gamble, Dameon would be days away by now if he got her message at Fellmere. This was only going to result in a long, cold night.

Still, she cupped the scale in her palm. I'm a fool, she thought, partly at it and partly at herself. I never should have said what I did. I didn't mean it. I'm sorry.

She couldn't seem to put the rest into coherent thought, so she sat there, rubbing the smooth edge of the scale. "He's miles away," she whispered, to herself. "He won't hear me."

"You're pretty hard to ignore."

She whipped around. There he was, tall and lean and sporting those horns like a crown. Alannah took a minute to gather herself as she stood. "I didn't think you'd be here," she said, "after what I said."

"After you said go away and don't come back?" A soft, breathy chuckle. "I almost did. But then I realised why you said it."

"The King didn't care about losing his wife," she told him. "He was more interested in finding you."

Dameon's gaze was steady and it birthed a thousand butterflies in the pit of her stomach. "What did you do?"

"I told him I killed you," she admitted.

"Ha. I imagine he loved that."

She grinned. "That's one word for it." He smiled in return, but there was an edge of open vulnerability to it that broke her. This wasn't a game for him. "William and Rose – they eloped," she added. "Ran off in the middle of the night."

He snorted, a gleam of amusement shooting through his eyes. "I didn't think he had it in him. I'm impressed."

"I was not," she muttered.

The dragon shifted. "So the princess is released from her word," he said, "and the knight gets to marry her. And you're home. Everyone's happy."

"I thought I would be," said Alannah and took a step closer. "I thought all I wanted was to come back home."

He waited. "But?"

"This isn't home any more. I don't know if it ever was." Her magic had known what she wanted long before she did. She'd just taken her time in catching up. She kept walking forward, giving him plenty of time to retreat, until they were only a few feet apart.

"That seems unlike you," he said softly. Then, harder, "No human knight waiting for you in your village?"

"I'm sorry," said Alannah. Her hand twitched as though it wanted to reach for him and she pinned it to her side. "I didn't mean what I said."

Dameon shifted. "You were right," he said, darkly. "I'm a dragon. And you're human. This is...." He bent his head a fraction and exhaled. "This is impossible."

"Nothing is impossible," said Alannah. "And any other human wouldn't put up with your terrible jokes," she added. A corner of his mouth twitched up. Victory. Alannah took a daring step closer and raised both hands, gripped the front of his shirt. His head jerked up and he raised an eyebrow at her.

"Can't keep your hands off me, can you?" he said smugly.

She rolled her eyes. "Like I said; terrible jokes."

"What are you doing?"

"Look, dragon," she said, mock-seriously. "You kidnapped me, didn't you? Which makes me your princess."

"If you want me to call you princess...." he said, wrinkling his nose.

"Shut up." She pulled him towards her, very gently. "This kidnapping thing works both ways, you know."

He let himself be reeled in, although he still looked uncertain. She wanted to smooth that look off his face. "So, you're kidnapping me, now?"

"Damn straight," Alannah replied. "You have a problem with that?"

His chest was pressed to hers, now, and she could feel the warmth of him through her whole body. "How long are you going to hold me captive?"

"For a never-ending supply of dragon scales?" Alannah pretended to think about it. "How's the rest of my life?"

Dameon touched his forehead to hers. "Deal."

~*~

AN: That's it! Thank you so much for reading my novella :) Let me know what you thought <3

EDIT 12/23:


First of all, a huge thank you to everyone who has voted and commented on this story. You are all amazing and wonderful and your feedback is invaluable. I really appreciate you :) Have a wonderful day. I am no longer on Wattpad, so I am so sorry if I haven't read your comment or message! To get in touch, visit www. lemedlock .com (without the spaces) and drop me an email or drop me a line on Twitter/Instagram.

My debut novel is now published! The Agent's Demon is the first book in the Locke & Steel series, a paranormal mystery set in 1888, featuring murders, demons and a SUPER slow burn romance. And I really mean slow, think not-quite-enemies to reluctant-allies to actual-friends to wait-is-this-love to yearning-is-sweet-agony etc, etc. You can find it on B&N/Kobo etc. and on Amazon here: https://rb.gy/6mcbz or via www.amazon.com.

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