Dragon Sword (The Dragon Lord’s Bride #2)

Chapter 5

CHAPTER FIVE

Unfortunately, we couldn’t stay there forever and my fingers were already shriveling like prunes. Will climbed out and snatched a pair of towels from a small shelf nearby. He wrapped one around himself and held the other one up for me. I climbed out and shivered a little at the twilight air with its touch of chill. Will wrapped the towel and his arms around me and pressed my chest against his front.

I looked up and found him softly smiling down at me and I squirmed beneath his gaze. “You’re doing that again.”

He lifted an eyebrow and his smile took on a more teasing quality. “Doing what?”

I swatted my hand against his chest. “You know what you’re doing. You’re making me embarrassed again.”

Will set his chin atop my head and chuckled. “Perhaps I am, but let’s get you inside before you catch a cold.”

“That can still happen?” I wondered as he led me inside.

“Illness can still affect you,” he confirmed as he wrapped my towel tighter about me. “And injuries. You’re ageless, not invincible.”

I snorted. “That’s what I get for not reading the fine print.”

“About time,” Alisa scolded us as we walked into the house. She put her hands on her hips and looked us over. “You have left your clothes out there, too, have you?”

“I’ll fetch them as soon as I put my bride to bed,” Will assured her as he led me into the first bedroom closest to the hall.

The room was as comfortable as the rest of the house, what with its simple rugs and a handmade quilt over the bed, though the walls were without decoration. The contents of our bags hung on a wrack in front of the small chimney that occupied the wall between the bedrooms. A comfortable fire crackled and dried our attire, and I was glad to slip into my nightshirt.

Will made up the bed and fluffed the already fluffy pillows. Even though the door was closed, I could hear our hostess mutter to herself outside. A soft chuckle escaped my husband as he finished his task and clothed himself while I took up the bed location.

“Do all the elves act like Alisa?” I asked him as I slipped under the covers. I couldn’t help but watch him attire himself in a simple blouse and loose pants.

“Alisa is rather different,” he admitted. He tossed another log on the fire and turned to me with a smile. “I raised her.”

My mouth dropped open. “You. . .you raised her?”

A playful smile danced across his lips as he lifted an eyebrow. “Is that so impossible?”

I leaned back against the wooden headboard and shrugged. “I-I just didn’t expect you to say that. I mean, I just kind of thought you were. . .that you’ve always been alone except for the odd servant like Raines.”

“I haven’t always resided in the hall,” he told me as he strolled over and took a seat on the edge of the bed. “I came here several thousand years ago and discovered a young elf child in the woods. Her parents and she had been attacked by the forest beasts while on their way back from trading with the mortals. They hid her in a trunk while they lured the beasts away.” His smile faltered as he recalled the memories. “I discovered the beasts over them and killed the animals, but I was too late to save them.”

My heart fell. “That’s horrible. So you found Alisa in the tree?”

He nodded. “I heard her crying. The child was so terrified she clung to me and wouldn’t let go. I carried her back to the city and inquired about her family, but she had no one else. That was why her parents had been forced to take her with them on their business.”

“Didn’t anyone want to take her in?” I wondered.

Will let out a deep sigh. “Even then the elves had become wary of those among them who ventured out to do business with the mortals. They believed they would bring the misfortune of plague or other ills into their home so they refused to take her in.”

I gripped the covers tightly in my balled hands and frowned. “That’s so mean of them!”

“There is more than a little truth in their fears, though,” he countered as he stared ahead. “The mortals had accidentally brought a sickness several decades before and so were no longer allowed inside the city unless escorted by an elf. That was why Alisa’s family had to venture out to perform their trade.”

I cocked my head to one side. “So the only reason we were let in today was because we were with Alisa? Or was it because of what she mentioned to them about you saving them?”

He closed his eyes and smiled. “She’s used that as a crux to get her way ever since the incident occurred.”

“But what did happen?” I persisted.

He opened his mouth to reply but a hard knock came on the door. Alisa’s sharp voice came through the wood. “Your clothes are still outside!”

Will opened his eyes and smiled. “Coming.” He stood and turned to me. “That’s a story for another night. For now, rest. We’ve had a long walk and there’s much to show you tomorrow.”

I pressed my lips into a pout and drew my legs up against my chest. “You don’t want to tell me because it makes you look cool.”

Will set a hand on the top of my head and ruffled my hair. “You’re growing ever astute, my lovely bride.”

I swatted his hand away. “I won’t be lovely for long if you keep messing up my hair and making me get wrinkles thinking about your past.”

He grinned. “I’ll love you regardless, now I’ll be back in a moment.”

He slipped out of the room, making sure to close the door behind himself. I sighed and stretched myself out on the bed. My eyes roamed the ceiling above me as I thought about the sad story of the elven maiden who now hosted us. I imagined how Will must have been like raising a mischievous elven maiden into the sharp-tongued woman she was now. A laugh escaped me as my imagination conjured up images of a tiny Alisa riding on his back.

“Amusing yourself without me?” Will wondered as he stepped into the room with a bundle of our clothes in his arms. The clothes were now wet though not dripping.

I grinned as he set the clothes on the rack to air. “I was just trying to imagine you as a dad.”

He turned to me with a smile and a raised eyebrow. “Is it so hard?”

I shrugged. “It’s just not something I imagined before.”

He resumed his seat beside me and brushed a finger down my cheek. “Not even once?”

I blushed and glared at him as his eyes danced with glee. “You always find a way to make me embarrassed.”

“I try,” he teased as he slipped into bed. He wrapped his arms around me and drew me against his warm chest.

I nuzzled my nose into his shirt and closed my eyes. A drowsiness began to overtake me. “Well, stop trying so much. . .”

I gladly drifted off to sleep with his scent drifting all around me.