Total pages in book: 47
Estimated words: 44984 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 225(@200wpm)___ 180(@250wpm)___ 150(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 44984 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 225(@200wpm)___ 180(@250wpm)___ 150(@300wpm)
Khadar followed the path they created through the villagers. To his surprise, many Wyvern dwellers called their congratulations and good wishes. The stories of life outside their ring of mountains were difficult to hear. Lawlessness and selfishness ruled. The dragons prevented the threat of vandals and murderers attacking to take everything. The townspeople worked together to help each other survive and establish a life free of worry for food, clean water, and medical care. There were bad apples everywhere, but those were dealt with harshly. The banished could never return.
Khadar reached a cleared area apart from the others. He brushed his fingers through her short, thick hair. “Lalani. Princess. You must wake up.”
“I don’t want to, Daddy.”
His heart skipped a beat when she called him that name, but he tamped down his excitement. She must think she was talking to her father.
“Lalani. You must wake up for the flight back to my home. If you want to sleep, I’ll carry you in my claw.”
“That doesn’t sound like a good idea,” she said, rubbing her eyes to try and wake up. “I can walk to my house from here. It’s a few blocks. Ten minutes max.”
Khadar set her feet on the ground but kept his arms around her for support. “You do not live in your mother’s home anymore, Princess. Your place is with me.”
“You don’t understand. Barbie and her family have done everything to drive me from my mom’s home. I want to stay there to learn more about her—my mother, not Barbie. If I leave, I may never get back inside.”
“That will not happen. Show me where the house is,” Khadar requested, scooping her up in his arms.
“I can walk.”
“You are tired. We will deal with this neighbor problem first only because you will not sleep well if it is not handled.”
As they approached, Khadar heard whispers on the night breeze. Something was definitely afoot.
“Take the last of the food. She’ll have to leave.”
He recognized that voice.
“They’re in there. I can see the lights bouncing around inside,” Lalani said as she struggled to free herself from his arms.
“I will set you down, but you will need to stay behind me, Lalani. Promise?”
“There’s something really important in there. I have to save him.”
“Who, Lalani?”
She hesitated. “Can you just believe that something I need to protect is in there?”
“For the moment, yes. Will you have faith in me? I will deal with these neighbors.”
A long second passed, and she nodded. Khadar didn’t trust that assurance at all. On guard, he stood her next to him. The moment her feet touched the grass, she was off. Having anticipated her flight, Khadar wrapped his hands around her upper arms and stopped her.
“You will be punished for lying, mate,” he said softly. “Do I tie your body to mine with my belt or will you stay behind me?”
“Behind,” she chose. “Can we get in there, please?”
Khadar walked forward and entered through the open door and roared, “Patterson clan. Come immediately to the front door.”
Whispers abounded as they debated whether to comply or refuse.
“Now. You have five seconds before I turn into a dragon and set your house on fire.”
“You can’t do that!” Barbie appeared in the doorway, flanked by two men—one younger and one older.
“Her brother and father,” Lalani whispered, peeking around his wide frame.
“This is not your house. Nor are you the warden of it. Leave and never return,” Khadar demanded.
They started forward to the door, dragging almost empty trash bags behind them.
“Leave everything here,” Khadar informed them.
“Oh, we brought this stuff,” the brother insisted.
“Then it became Lalani’s the moment you entered her house without permission,” Khadar told him.
After a moment’s hesitation, they dropped the sacks.
Khadar stepped to the side, keeping Lalani shielded, to allow them to exit. When they were clear, he told her, “Let me enter first in case of booby traps.”
When they were safely inside, he told her, “Go get whatever was so important.”
She ran toward the couch and threw the pillows the robbers had knocked around in all directions. “Lettuce,” she whispered, grabbing a worn, plush item and hugging it to her heart. “I’m so glad you’re okay.”
“Would you introduce me, Lalani?” he requested.
“This is Lettuce. He’s my oldest friend. I’ve had him since I was a baby.”
As he watched, Lalani sheepishly held out a battered green dragon. “I didn’t know it when I was little, but Lettuce was a gift from my birth mom when I was adopted. She told me she’d visited a toy store here in Wyvern to get me a teddy bear, but Lettuce caught her eye.”
“I am very glad to meet you, Lettuce. I can see how important you are to Lalani.” Khadar tried to control his elation at seeing the stuffie. It was so well loved. And green, of course.
“I think he’s glad to meet you, too,” she said with a small smile before commenting on the stuffie’s name. “Lettuce is a silly name, but it suits him.”