The Dragon's Appraiser: Part One by Viola Rivard Read Free Book Online

pallet. She propped herself up on her elbows, watching as he settled down beside her. He coiled his long tail around her bedding and laid his head down on the floor.
    She would not cry tonight, he decided. Because tonight, she would not be alone.
    The human did not say anything, but he heard her move. Seconds later, he felt her rest her head against his tail.
    That night, he did not feel alone either.

CHAPTER SEVEN
     
    The next morning, Madja woke to find herself alone, with only a charred chicken left in Sevrrn’s place. After eating, she went down to the lake for a dip.
    Ever since she’d found out about Sevrrn’s light-bending ability, Madja had made it a point to bathe in a cotton shift. That was why she was not alarmed when she came up from washing her hair to find Sevrrn watching her.
    She was, however, alarmed to find that he was completely naked.
    Madja stole one greedy glimpse at his resplendent body before jerking her head away and feigning indignation.
    “What are you doing? Where are your scales?”
    “I removed them so that your view of my human form would be unobstructed.”
    She climbed out of the water and grabbed a linen cloth to dry off with. “How magnanimous of you.”
    “Today, you will appraise this body.”
    Madja laughed. “Tell me you’re referring to a corpse you brought back and not yourself.”
    She thought she heard him snort. “Are you refusing my request?”
    “What if I am?”
    He was silent for a while, and finally, Madja worked up the nerve to turn. She kept her eyes focus squarely on his head, though they desperately wanted to travel lower.
    Sevrrn scratched his head in a very human gesture of uncertainty. It was the first time she’d ever seen him do that, and Madja wondered if he’d learned it from her.
    “I am not sure,” he finally said. “I generally kill humans who do not obey me.”
    For some reason, the admission didn’t frighten her. In fact, morbid though it was, Madja was amused by his predicament.
    “I see. Well, then I suppose this is goodbye.”
    His gaze darkened. “Do not be ridiculous. You are not just any human. You are mine.”
    He said it casually, as though he was stating a universal fact—‘the sky is blue, the stars are far, and you are mine’—and perhaps it was because of how easily he said it that warmth blossomed in Madja’s chest. Even as Sevrrn began to pace and mutter to himself, she was still playing the phrase on repeat in her mind.
    Not ‘you belong to me’, but ‘ you are mine .’ Why was it so different?
    She knew that she was blowing it way out of proportion, but she just couldn’t help it.
    Sevrrn stopped pacing. “What if I said that I would stop feeding you?”
    Suddenly, Madja found him considerably less charming.
    “If you stop feeding me, I’ll die,” she pointed out.
    He nodded and resumed pacing. Apparently, it hadn’t occurred to him that she’d do just about anything if he stopped feeding her for even a day. She wasn’t about to inform him of that.
    He stopped again, but Madja held up a hand and spoke first.
    “Look, I know there are probably a bunch of weird ideas in your head right now, but I assure you, there’s a very easy solution to your problem.”
    He tilted his head.
    “You could say, ‘please.’”
    “Deal. Please.”
    That was easy. “Please, what?”
    “Please, what?” he repeated.
    “Usually, when you ask please, it’s followed by a request. For example—”
    He flicked his wrist. “That was not part of our deal. Now, commence with your appraisal.”
    Madja wondered what Sevrrn would do if she smacked him.
    She pressed a finger to her temple. “Fine, but I don’t know what you’re expecting. I can’t exactly appraise the value of a person.”
    “You are not appraising my value as a person, you are appraising my physical body.”
    He took a step forward, so that there was only a small space between them. Madja could smell him, and for all her knowledge of art and history, words