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hugs from a softly padded woman.
"Looks like a great place for a snack, precious," he
muttered, scratching behind the ears of his scaly
companion. Jory headed for the bakery, careful not to let
his behavior betray he knew about the tail.
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The dragon gave a chirp.
The small bell over the door chimed merrily as he
entered.
"Can I help you?" asked the dark-haired woman
behind the counter. She had wide chubby cheeks and a
generous smile, reminding him a little of his beloved cook.
Her dimpled chin had a spot of white dust on it, maybe
flour but possibly sugar.
Jory liked her immediately.
His greedy eyes examined the glass case. Chunky
cookies, crusty fruit pies and colorfully iced cakes covered
shelf after shelf.
Yummy.
"Good evening," Jory responded as he hungrily took
in his choices. "I saw your sign and decided we'd like a
little snack. Do you happen to know if baby dragons can
have sweets?"
He didn't want to poison his new friend.
The woman's eyes went to Jory's shoulder, her eyes
widening. "I don't think anything will poison a dragon& "
As if knowing it was the object of discussion, the
little creature leaped off Jory's shoulder and landed on the
counter with an ungainly thud of scales and a scrabble of
claws.
The baker squeaked in surprise.
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"It's all right. It doesn't mean any harm."
At least he hoped it didn't.
The creature's long tongue darted out, snagging a
small, white-powdered cookie off a crystal plate on the
counter.
"I guess we're taking some cookies," Jory said in a
dry voice.
The lady laughed. "He seems harmless enough."
Jory picked up the creature's back legs for a
moment. "She."
"What's her name?"
He shrugged. "She's not mine. I just rescued her
from some kids. Right now, I'm calling her precious. I don't
know if I'm staying on this planet so I don't want to become
too attached to her. Is there a homeless dragon shelter?"
What else did people do with found pets?
While he was talking, the baker opened a pink box
and slid a half dozen powdered cookies inside before
scooting the platter away from the small beast. "You might
try talking with the dragon trainer, Maurek. He's my
nephew. He keeps track of all the dragons in the kingdom.
He'll want to register her if nothing else. Bloodlines are
important. Though I can't say I've ever seen a black dragon
before."
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"Really?" Jory gave the creature a little pat. Gold
eyes blinked at him, and it gave a rumbling purr. "I'll look
Maurek up tomorrow."
"Good luck with your dragon. It was brave of you to
intercede with those thugs. That dragon owes its life to
you." The woman's smile said she meant the words.
"Consider your treats on the house, as a gift."
Jory returned the smile. "Thank you."
He watched in amazement as the dragon headed to
the next display and swallowed a small tart in one gulp
before climbing back up Jory's arm and settling around his
shoulders again. Her stomach was swelled like a snake after
eating its catch, except her prey was the wild sugar
monster.
"Want me to pack some more of those cookies up?"
Jory shook his head. "I'm not sure if she should be
eating that much sugar at one time. Though I'd love it if
you could wrap up some of those little mini cakes, and is
that lemon?" He pointed at a flaky pastry with something
yellow oozing out.
"Lemon cream."
"Great, I'll take that too."
Minutes later, he was back on the street with a fat
pink box and a sugar-coated dragon. Every few steps,
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powder fell from the tiny paws like little drifts of sugary
snow and dusted Jory's jacket.
"Messy beast," Jory scolded in gentle tones while
brushing his dark jacket with the back of his hand. "Let's
sneak back to our room and hope nobody sees us." He
wasn't sure of the castle policy with keeping pets in your
room, but he was too tired to deal with it. After his
adventuresome day, all he wanted to do was lie down and
get some rest and not get killed by his brother's assassin.
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Chapter Seven
When Jory made it back to his room, he was
surprised to see Val waiting for him in his bed. Despite the [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]