“XXXXXXX.”

  Helian stirred at last from her slumber and uttered a foreign name.

  But the sound of the name was familiar. I had heard her say it before, though I couldn’t recall when. I had heard it many times, in fact. Why had I heard it before? I felt an idea taking shape in my mind.

  But that wasn’t important right now. I pulled her tightly to my chest. “Helian.”

  She blinked and opened her eyes wide in shock. “Frost? Am I awake?”

  I nodded. “Yes. Welcome back. I missed you a lot… please don’t go away again, okay?”

  She smiled. “I won’t, I promise. It’s good to see you again… is that a dragon?”

  “Well met, wandering XXXXXX. Your wife told me much, so I asked her bring you here.”

  This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

  “Without her help, I’m not sure I could have woken you up.” I tore my gaze away from Helian to face the dragon. “I’m in your debt again, great one. Also, my mother wanted to thank you for watching over the kingdom all this time… and she suggested you take a vacation?”

  Gold chuckled. “Think nothing of it. The promises you made are payment enough.”

  Plural. So, I had made another promise… but that could wait until later. “Helian, are you feeling okay? You were asleep for a while. Please tell me if you’re in pain anywhere. If you’re hungry we’ll get you some broth as soon as we return to the garrison. I’m afraid you won’t be able to have steak for a while since your digestive system needs to recover…”

  Helian nodded. “I’m alright. I feel sore and groggy, but that’s normal if you spend weeks in bed. I’ve certainly felt worse before.”

  Why would she know what that felt like? “Have you slept this long before?”

  “Yes, before I came here… I used to spend most of my time in bed.”

  Helian turned to speak to Gold. “You said Frost made some promises… can you tell me what they were? It’s not that I don’t trust you, but she tends to make mistakes, so I’d like to know.”

  Gold’s eyes narrowed. “Yes. Before I do, I will ask the observer/interloper to leave.”

  If you’d be so kind as to cease eavesdropping?