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I blinked at him. “None at all?”
“Unfortunately, no.”
I stared ahead and knitted my eyebrows together. “Wow. An entire species of men.”
“We don’t consider ourselves as such,” he countered with that gentle look on his face. “Our brides are a part of us. We are whole only after we have found them.”
“And after they’ve drunk your blood?” I guessed.
“There is an intimate connection after the bride has tasted her dragon’s blood, but the wooing process is also important.” He leaned close to his window and looked out the glass. “But it appears we’ve nearly reached Ainsley.”
“The what?”
“The small village I mentioned. You can see it just on the horizon of the road.”
I scooted close to him and leaned toward the door to catch a glimpse. The heavily wooded forests thinned some quarter mile ahead of us on the straight road and I glimpsed the tops of high-peaked roofs with wooden shingles. Smoke streamed out of stone chimneys and the din of life rang in my ears.
The carriage hit a bump in the road and I lost my balance. I let out a yelp and dropped into Thorn’s lap. A soft chuckle rumbled through me and I twisted my head around to find myself staring up into Thorn’s bemused face.
I sheepishly smiled up at him as he helped right me. “Sorry about that.”
He shook his head. “On the contrary, the pleasure was all mine.”
We crested the short hill atop which sat the picturesque village of Ainsley. About four dozen houses occupied the quaint town, all situated at different angles from one another and with the road being the singular straight point. Each was slightly different in size and shape from the others, but they all had stone walls and thatched roofs. Simple glass windows offered a peek into small but comfortable family rooms with bedrooms juttingout at different points in the walls. Many had small gardens out back and a dozen even had paddocks where sheep, pigs, and horses munched on their feed.
The carriage stopped in front of the largest building in the village which I assumed was their community center. Thorn helped himself out when he turned and offered me a hand.
I stepped down from the carriage and wrinkled my nose. “Does it always, um, smell this fragrant?”
I expected to smell the usual odor of animals and dirt. What I didn’t expect was a stench as stale as two-month-old bread and with all the charm of an ultra-stinky cheese. The smell didn’t come from any particular point, either, but seemed to linger to the entire village.
A dark cloud settled on Thorn’s brow as he studied the small village. “Quite the contrary. I’ve always known the residents to keep their paddocks and houses clean, but I see no sign of laundry and the paddocks are in desperate need of-”
“My Lord!” The shout came from down the street. A man on the wrong side of middle age hurried over to us. He was dressed in a soiled fur coat and his face was unwashed. Even his shoes were stained with a week’s worth of mud. He reached us slightly out of breath, but still made the effort to bow at the waist. “Your visit is most unexpected!”
“It’s a pleasure to see you again, Mayor Helmsley,” Thorn returned as the man straightened. “But what has become of the village?”
The old man sighed and all the spirit seemed to leave him. “My sincerest apologies, My Lord. You see, there is a, well, a problem at the Falls.”
I noticed Thorn tense a little. “What sort of problem?”
“Harpies have taken them over.”
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
Thorn swepthis eyes over the village. “For how long have they inhabited the Falls?”
The mayor hung his head. “The better part of three weeks, My Lord.”
Thorn’s expression was darkened by anger. “And I was not informed of this?”
Helmsley shrank beneath the gentle but sharp rebuke. “My sincerest apologies, My Lord. We thought to solve the problem ourselves, but we have had no luck prying them from the Falls. Our bravest men drive the animals down the road to the stream and fetch our water, but the walk is too far for many of our older women and the danger of the harpies is too great to risk any of their lives.”
The dragon lord pursed his lips. “They are formidable foes. You couldn’t be expected to drive them away without some magical assistance.”
Helmsley clasped his hands behind his back and nodded. “Yes, My Lord. What do you suggest we do?”
Thorn sighed but set a hand on Helmsley’s shoulder and smiled at him. “I will handle this affair, old friend. In themeantime, have all your people prepare their clothes for the heaviest laundry day this village has ever seen.”
