Into The Dragon's World - Brittany White Page 0,28

for harvest.

“It’s beautiful here,” she said, and turned back to Brady. “Why did you leave?”

“Why does anyone leave home?” Brady winced as he sat up higher in bed. “I wanted something different. And my family needed a guardian for the Arch. Everything worked out for everybody.”

“Don’t you miss it here?” Casey thought for a moment of the farm she had left when she went to college. Her parents were good people, solid and kind. It had broken her heart to leave them, but she swore she’d be back eventually. Until that second, she hadn’t realized how much she missed them.

“I do and I don’t.” Brady half-smiled. “I love my family and I love this place, but I don’t want to rule it after Father dies.”

“I thought it was good to be the king,” Casey said, returning his smile.

“It is...but most of the time, it’s definitely not.”

Before Casey could respond, a shrill screech tore through her mind, forceful enough to make her stagger. A dragon, smaller than Elana’s dragon form but still at least ten feet tall, swooped in through one of the huge windows, landing by Brady’s bedside. It was slender with delicate lacy wings, a whip-like tail, and ice-blue scales.

Brady! Where have you been? Mommy and Daddy have been driving me crazy! Daddy has arranged for me to be married to Mikail from the Ralian territories, but I refused to be traded off like…

The high-pitched female voice stopped, and the silence was almost as jarring as her screaming thoughts. The dragon whipped around, tail flicking in warning. Its eyes narrowed as it leaned in close to Casey, sniffing her hair.

What are you? The voice nearly dripped with distaste.

Stop it, Alix. Brady’s voice now. She’s with me.

Alix turned back to Brady and shifted into human form. Casey could see the family resemblance. Alix had their father’s ginger-blonde hair and pale eyes. She was shorter than Casey, small-framed with a gymnast's athletic build. She looked like a heavy wind could knock her off her feet, but Casey had a feeling that anyone who thought she was a lightweight would regret it.

“What’s going on, Brady?” The suspicion in her voice was unmistakable. She looked back at Casey, a hard stare that Casey matched blink for blink. “Who is she?”

“She’s my friend. Casey Donahue.” Brady held his hand out to Casey and she half-ran to rejoin him at his bedside. She had a feeling Alix would fire-blast first and ask questions later. “She’s human.”

“I can smell that much.” Alix’s nose wrinkled in distaste. “You realize she doesn’t belong here.”

“I realize no such thing.” Brady smiled up at Casey, who managed to give him a faint smile in return. “She needs help and we’re helping her.”

“You’re helping her, you mean.” Alix folded her arms over her chest. “I want no part of this.”

“Alix can be a little difficult,” Brady said to Casey. “And spoiled. And obnoxious—”

“Stop it, Braydon!” Alix strode over to the window again, almost stomping her feet. She climbed onto the windowsill and turned to face him again. “I’m happy you’re home and that you’re alright, but don’t expect me to do anything for a...a human.”

With that, she leapt out of the window. A moment later, her dragon form reappeared, gliding gracefully away from the castle.

“I don’t know about you,” Casey said as she looked down at Brady again, “but I think she likes me.”

18

Brady

By the next morning, Brady’s wounds had healed enough for him to leave his bed and dress. Traditional clothing—pants, tunic, shoes—had been laid out for him. He groaned at the sight of the shoes. Those he hadn’t missed. Shoes for males were like socks with a wooden sole attached. Over time, if the shoes were worn often enough, they would mold themselves into the shape of the wearer’s foot, making them slightly more comfortable. Slightly.

A few attendants brought up a tub and filled it with hot water for his bath. He watched them work, feeling horribly useless and spoiled. He’d been away for a long time; he’d forgotten how his family had others to do menial or physical tasks. He thanked the servants profusely and they looked at him as if he had lost his mind.

Once he was soaking in the tub, he allowed his mind to turn to Casey. She seemed to be handling the weirdness of crossing into another dimension surprisingly well. The first time he had gone into her world, he had been almost overwhelmed by the sights and sounds and non-stop frenzy of New