Free Asher: Dragon's Savior by Kathi S. Barton

tea. But like a lot of things, she seldom could get them. Turning her back to him, she tried to think of a way to show him she didn’t care.
    “Mr. Kiaran, if Asher sent you here to make these amends, then you can shove those up your ass. I don’t want anything from you. And in the event you didn’t notice, I’m not near your precious Asher.” His laughter had her turning to him again. He was sitting down now and he’d taken off the jacket he always wore. It startled her to see a dragon crest on his forearm. “You’re marked.”
    He looked surprised that she could see it, and he pulled his sleeve up so that she could see it all. It looked like a crest of someone’s and a dragon holding it in his claws. She stood to get a closer look. As she studied it, he turned his forearm to and fro for her to get the entire picture. Yes, that’s what it was, a lovely silver dragon that looked like it had just been made, and the silver was still very well preserved. And on the crest was a swirl of some sort that she’d bet was flames.
    “I didn’t have it put on here, if that’s what you’re thinking. I’m not sure, but I think it’s from my father. I never met him, of course, but back then a crest was worn on everything. I wish I could have seen it. It would have been great to see, but since the castle was burned to the ground, there would have been nothing left of those either.” He pulled the sleeve down. “My brothers don’t have a mark. None of them. I think perhaps it’s because I’m the oldest.”
    She didn’t think so and asked him if she could touch it. He hesitated, and she started to go back to her fire when he put out his arm. The sleeve was pulled back up, and she thought maybe she shouldn’t be doing this.
    “It might hurt. It…the only other time I’ve done this, the person was bad, I guess you could say, and it hurt him.” He asked her if she would be hurt. “Yes. But not like you might be.”
    “Then I would rather you didn’t do it. I think I’ve hurt you enough.”
    He started to pull the shirt back over it, but she put her hand on the marking. The pain was there, but it wasn’t nearly as bad as she’d expected.
    “It’s not from your father, but your mom. She wanted you to have something of his and she gave you this. It’s power. You need only to ask for it and it will be yours.” Kiaran asked her what that meant. “I don’t know. But she seemed to think that you’d know when the time was right. Also….”
    Essie pulled her hand away and looked at the opening of her cave. Asher stood there, looking like he knew a great secret. Instead of telling Kiaran what else she’d found, she got up and went to the back of her cave.
    “I have something to show you both. I have to show you, not that I want to.” Kiaran asked her what the difference was. “I love the place deep within the cave, and when I visit there, I feel like I’m a part of something huge. It’s a tomb I think. Where your mother is.”
    “You’re going to take us there?” She nodded at Asher’s question and turned to look at them both when he said her name. “I wasn’t going to ask you, but I think it’s important.”
    “You’ve been there a lot, to the tomb?” Essie nodded at Kiaran’s question. “Thank you for this then. I wanted to go and see it, but I had no idea where it was.”
    Kiaran stood up and looked at them both. Essie wasn’t sure if this was a good idea or not, but it was beyond her control now. The sigil on Kiaran’s arm had told her what she was to do.
    She was going down the long path that she’d cleared as she spoke. She told herself she was going to get this over with. It was why she didn’t look at them, but the truth was, she didn’t want to see the disbelief or even fear on their faces when she told them.
    “Your mother knew I would come into your lives. She even knew my name. Of course, she called me Esmerelda, but I guess nicknames weren’t all that common back then. Anyway,