Page 55 of Guardian's Dilemma
“You are, aren’t you? You want to hurry.”
“Yes. I need to get back or my elder will notice I’m missing. And I need to repair the damage to the boundary.”
He sighed again.
“Alright. Shift back and I’ll ride you.”
My dragon soared high inside me, puffing up with pride. My matewantedto ride me. I shifted and Kingsley went over to scoop up my clothes again. The thoughtful little gesture told me more about him than almost anything else he’d said or done. He might not be willing to accept it, but he wanted to take care of me. He was a protector. He was a guardian, too.
Chapter 20: Kingsley
Stupid dragons and their stupid treasure. Why did he have to be so obsessed with it, anyway?
It was strange that, of all the things that made my insides twist with distaste, it was that. The constant desire for gold. I hadn’t minded anything else. In fact, though I’d never have admitted it out loud, I hadn’t minded him growling at Douglas when he was protecting me, and I hadn’t minded him insisting that we stay together and fight together when I tried to send him away from my coven, and I hadn’t even minded him shifting into his dragon form.
I had seen dragons before. I’d thrown spells at thatcuraidhthat had escaped from the café in the village.
I still needed to ask Glimmer about that, I reminded myself.
The thing was, I’d never seen a dragon quite as beautiful as Glimmer.
His scales shone silver and sparkled in the light as he moved and his scales shimmered. Every time he breathed, his chest expanded and his scales shifted over his lean form and it was like watching molten silver being poured. He was stunning.
I’d never thought I’d appreciate adragon’s beauty.
Every time I forgot what he really was, though, he reminded me. Like a bucket of cold water.
Treasure. Gold. That’s all he wanted.
It left a bad taste in my mouth.
I didn’t know what I was going to do. My whole world had just sort of… shattered, and all I had left was what I was standing in and the dragon before me. It wasn’t much. And I couldn’t even trust the dragon.
I felt very alone and very small as I clambered onto his shoulders and settled there.
The flight passed by in a rush of wind and exhilarating speed, in stunning views and the feel of Glimmer’s warm scales below my palms as I leaned down on him.
He landed at the cottage and I slid off his back. He shifted and I handed him his clothes. He held them, rather than getting into them.
“I have to get back to my duty.”
“Sure.”
“Will you stay here?”
I shrugged. I didn’t know what I was going to do.
“Please stay,” he said.
“I’ll stay for a while.”
“Until I come back,” he insisted.
“How long will you be away?”
“I… don’t know. It depends whether my elder wishes to speak to me.”
“Who is your elder, anyway?”
