Caught By the Dragon: Maiden to the Dragon, Book 1, - [ebook reader with internet browser txt] 📗

I knew nothing else until I awoke some time later beneath the covers of my bed in my new chambers. Sunlight shone through the shut windows and swept over the glistening floor so that it shone back on my eyes. I blinked against the harsh light and sat up. All was quiet and calm except for my buzzing brain.

The woman from the night before. She had been real. There was no way a bunch of medieval maniacs could conjure up something that enchanting. Unless madness was catching.

I had to get out of here.

I flung aside the covers and swung my legs over the side of the bed. That’s when I realized I was not in my clothes, but in a flowing white dress. It was of a simple design with a medium-length v-neck collar and no trimmings on the cuffs or hem. The sleeves were long and hung like bells beneath my wrists, and the hem of the dress reached to my ankles. I patted myself, not believing what I was wearing and wondering who had changed me.

Those questions would have to wait. I needed to make my escape before someone noticed I was awake. I hurried across the cold cobble floors to the nearest window and gave a tug on the pane. Nothing. It wouldn’t move. The window was shut tight and locked. I frowned and pounded a fist against the wood pane. My reward was a throbbing fist. The wood was as thick as it looked, and twice as strong.

That left the two doors. The side one obviously led to another room which wasn’t what I wanted, so I went for the front door. My bare feet pattered on the stones and I wished dearly for my good, solid, warm shoes. I stopped at the entrance and pressed my ear against the wood. Far off were the sounds of chatter and echoing footsteps. Nothing sounded close, so I dared open the door. It, too, wouldn’t budge. I was locked in.

The only option left to me was to scream, but first I grabbed a sheet from the bed. Then, positioned by the door, I shrieked like a banshee.

“Is somebody there? Somebody please help me!” I shouted as loud as I could manage. I pounded my fist against the door for added effect. “Help! Somebody help! There’s a-um, a badger in here!” Great one, heroine.

Somebody heard my shouts of dangerous badgers because there came the sound of heavy footsteps in the hallway. In a thrice the key was placed in the lock and the door swung open. I jumped forward with the sheet and covered the lead person, who turned out to be the old woman. Behind her was a male servant of the same age along with one of the guards. I was outnumbered, but not outmatched.

“What is this? Stop this at once!” the woman yelped.

She flailed her arms to try to free herself and the men jumped forward to save her and grab me. I pushed the frantic woman into them and they all three fell back in a tangled mass of sheet and limbs. I stepped over them, or rather, on top of them, on my hasty escape from the room.

I skidded to a stop in the hall. Shouts came from my bedroom and down the passage. More heavy feet approached, and what sounded like armor clattering against more metal.

I whipped my head left and right. To my left was the last door along the passage, and the corner that followed the front of the castle. I chose the door and rushed to it. It was unlocked. I dove head-first into the room and shut the door behind me. The footsteps hadn’t arrived before I entered the room, nor had the servants and guard managed to free themselves from the blanket. I was safe until they searched the rooms, but perhaps that would give me time to escape from the current room.

In all my frantic rushing and plotting I’d forgotten that the side door to my room opened to this one. I was abruptly reminded when I turned around and found myself staring at the sleeping dragon lord. He lay on a bed much like mine between two large, tall windows. They had shutters to block out the sunlight, but there was enough light streaming between the boards to allow me recognition of his face. I clapped my hands over my mouth to keep from screaming in fright and frustration. Double-whammies that would lead to failure.

Outside the door the castle servants came alive with their own frustrations. The old woman sternly yelled her orders to others, and footsteps rang through the halls. The sounds of their footsteps came up to my part of the hall and I stumbled away from the entrance. There came the familiar jiggling of a handle as they tried the locked door opposite the one in which I stood.

“Should we check the lord’s room?” a man’s voice wondered.

“It must be done, but quietly,” the old woman replied.

My eyes widened, and I whipped my head to and fro for some place to hide. There was a gap beneath the bed that was large enough to fit an ox. I dove beneath the dangling covers and just slid in my last foot when I heard the door open. Through the sheets I saw a beam of light slip into the room. Light footsteps stepped inside and the door was partially closed. The bed groaned overhead as its occupant did the same.

“What’s the meaning of this?” came the Lord’s voice.

“I’m sorry to disturb you, My Lord, but the girl has once again escaped,” the old woman explained.

“How and when?” came the obvious questions.

“Only a moment ago, and she-well, she threw a blanket over my husband and me,” she admitted.

The bed groaned with movement. There was merriment in his tone. “I see. There is no further cause for concern. She is found and that is all that needs be done on your part.”

“I’m sorry your assistance was needed, my lord,” the woman apologized.

“There is no need. You may leave us.” My heart stopped. Us. The dreaded plural.

“Very well.”

The footsteps of the other visitors left the room and receded into the distance. Darkness returned to the chamber. I lay perfectly still, not evening daring to breathe. The bed groaned again as a great weight slid from its mattress and stood. I saw the shadow of the lord stride around the bed to the foot.