Deny Me, Dragon King novel · Chapter 5 of 24

Chapter 5: Honey Cakes

Posy woke at dawn in a bed bigger than my whole cottage floor.

The room had a window of colored glass and a ceiling painted with small gold dragons.

Her skin was cool.

I touched her forehead three times to be sure.

Torren sat in a chair beside the bed with his coat off and his sleeves rolled.

He had been there all night.

He hadn't slept, and he hadn't said anything, and he hadn't let go of her hand.

"She's cool," I whispered.

"It happens when I'm close," he said, as if it hurt to say. "The healer says it wears off when I go."

Posy opened one gold eye.

"Is that a real dragon on the ceiling?"

"No," Torren said. "They're painted."

"Why?"

"My grandmother liked them."

"Are you a real dragon?"

I almost laughed at the speed of it.

Torren looked at me, and I looked back, and I did not help him.

"Yes," he said carefully. "When I want to be."

"Can you do a little one?"

He turned his free hand over.

A spark rose from his palm and stretched into a small flame the size of a moth.

It had wings.

It fluttered up to Posy's nose, and she giggled so hard she started to cough.

The cough came out as a puff of gold smoke.

The flame moth landed on her blanket and sat there, glowing.

"I'm going to name him Biscuit," she said.

"You can't name my fire Biscuit," Torren said.

"I just did."

The king of Cindermark, who had broken my heart in front of two hundred people, opened his mouth to argue with a five-year-old.

Then he shut it.

"Biscuit," he said.

It was the first time I had seen him smile.

Keep reading free with an account. Start Deny Me, Dragon King from Chapter 1, then sign up free to read the rest of this chapter.