"Lilly thinks you're trustworthy. I hope she's right about that."
Kilian nodded towards the pouch hanging at her side. "If it's about what you're carrying around all too obviously in your bag..." He made as if to reach for it, but paused halfway and looked at her. He had to lower his gaze, as he was more than a head taller than her. "Will you show it to me?"
She eyed him skeptically. Could they really trust him? His every movement was accentuated by his predatory demeanor—it was just his nature. Yet he also exuded a calmness that conveyed security. Moreover, the dragon child wasn't raising any alarm, and so far no soldiers had appeared, which spoke in his favor.
She practically had to tear her eyes away from him. Carefully, she took the egg out of her bag, its purple glow casting light on the cave walls. Kilian's face took on a reddish shimmer as his eyes widened almost imperceptibly. This time, he really did reach out his hand.
He was the first person besides Ava to touch the dragon egg.
Reverently, he stroked the surface, tracing the scales with his fingers and caressing the curves without applying much pressure. "So the prophecy is true."
Ava watched, fascinated by how lovingly he handled the egg, until the meaning of his words snapped her out of her observations. "What are you talking about?"
"That a woman from another world would come to us with a dragon egg and change the course of history." His gaze rested on her.
Was he referring to her? She shook her head decisively.
"That can't possibly mean me." She did have to admit, though, that the main points applied to her. "Besides, how do you know I'm not from here? Did you talk to the soldiers?"
Kilian ran his fingers over the surface again. "If you were from here, I would have noticed you long ago."
She raised her head and met his gaze, which rested on her with interest. "What do you mean by that?"
"How do you feel with the egg?"
Was he serious with that question? His mouth didn't twitch, so she thoughtfully focused her attention on the dragon egg. "Since I found it, I've been hearing a voice." She looked up, but since he didn't laugh, she continued. "It belongs to the egg, doesn't it?"
This distracted Lilly from admiring Kilian and her eyes widened. "You can hear the baby dragon?" She sounded downright awestruck.
Ava shrugged. It wasn't such a big deal. "Sure, can't you?"
Kilian looked at her intently. "No, we can't. That means it has chosen you as its guardian."
She raised her hand defensively. "Hold on a minute! I'm not some dragon egg guardian. I'm just Ava. Besides,it hasn't been talking to me for a while now. It's sleeping, that's why you can't hear it."
A barely noticeable smile flitted across Kilian's lips as he crossed his arms in front of his body. "If that's the case, just Ava, you can simply put the egg on the ground and walk away."
Put the egg on the ground and leave? There was a pain in her heart that went beyond saying goodbye to a casual acquaintance. Involuntarily, she pulled the egg closer to her chest. She observed the shimmer, the scales, the curves. Now that she knew it really was a dragon egg and she had really heard its voice, she understood that the gentle warmth inside her was like a pulse. Was that the heartbeat of the young dragon?
"I can't do that."
Kilian nodded. "Of course you can't. You're its guardian."
His words stirred something in her. She looked up at him, but an incredulous shake of her head was all she could manage.
Unexpectedly gentle, he grasped her upper arms. "There's no need to be frightened. It's an honor, a distinction, something special. The hatchling has chosen you, called you to itself, do you understand?"
Overwhelmed, she continued shaking her head. Of course, she felt the close bond, but that didn't make her some person from a prophecy. "I just want to make sure it's okay."
"You will."
Lilly cleared her throat audibly, causing Ava to take a step back and Kilian to turn to her with a smile. "Yes?"
Self-assured, she crossed her arms over her chest and shifted her weight to one leg, wearing her usual composed expression. "Here in the grotto, the egg ismuch too close to King Eldric! What if a wanderer discovers us with the dragon egg and rats us out? The king must not know about the egg!"
Apparently, she had overcome her shy phase.
Kilian nodded. "You're absolutely right. That's why we're taking you away from here." As if the sentence was an agreed-upon code word, the earth trembled. At the front of the cave appeared a giant head atop a long, thick neck. The bright yellow eyes peering in at them were at least as big as watermelons. And they were staring at the egg in Ava's hands.
