Free Silver Dragon by Jason Halstead Page B

breath that she'd been holding. "I keep seeing my house burning around me."
    Patrina winced. "That's horrible," she said. "I'm so sorry that happened. If I'd stayed just a little bit longer I could have helped."
    Caitlyn offered her a weak smile. "Thank you, but it's best you left. They'd have killed you or worse, done to you what they did to me."
    Patrina opened her mouth to insist otherwise but she remembered how Beck had fought in the mines. How he'd turned all their attacks away and made them feel like children learning to swing a stick for their first time. "You might be right," she admitted. "We fought him under the mountain before we were separated. He was a very skilled warrior."
    "Alto killed him," Caitlyn said.
    Patrina's mouth felt dry all of a sudden. She cleared her throat and glanced around. "Did something happen to your brother?" she asked. "When there were three of us fighting against the man who hurt you , we couldn't touch him, but Alto by himself was able to kill him? What changed?"
    "I don't know," Caitlyn admitted. "When they fought , I was bound inside the house. I couldn't see anything. I saw Alto but thought it was a dream, or that I was already dead. The house was on fire and the smoke was so thick."
    "I'm sorry, it must be hard," Patrina said. "You don't have to talk about it. I want you to know that you're welcome here. Stay as long as you like. Live here, if you want. I talked to my father before I came to you. He said that he'd promised Alto he'd treat you as one of his own. My father's a hard man but he's fair and generous to those who he admires. Your brother has earned his admiration and more."
    Caitlyn nodded. "Alto has a way of doing that. Everybody likes him, even the people he used to get in fights with."
    "He used to fight?"
    Caitlyn nodded. "Not much, but there were a few times." She smiled as her eyes lost focus. "I remember the last time I'd run across a couple of boys while fetching some water. They were neighbors of ours but they were giving me a hard time. Teasing me and doing the things that boys do. Alto saw me crying when I came back because I'd spilled my water and I didn't want to go back and be teased by them again."
    "So he went after them?"
    Caitlyn nodded. "He did. I saw them a few days later and they were very nice to me. Both had blacked eyes and swollen lips."
    Patrina laughed and earned a smile from Caitlyn. "So he's always been saving damsels in distress? He didn't start with me? I'd be jealous but since you're his sister, I guess it's okay."
    Caitlyn laughed and nodded. " We all looked up to him. To Darren, Alto was a hero. Darren used to work so hard to earn a smile or praise from Alto. Our father, too, but mostly Father and Alto worked together."
    "What about you?"
    Caitlyn stared into the fire and blushed again. "I used to dream of Alto and me running our own farm and all of our brothers and sisters were our kids." She shrugged and admitted, "It was a silly fantasy. As soon as I was old enough I realized it, but then I just kept wondering if I'd ever find a man who could be like my brother."
    Patrina nodded and adopted a faraway look in her eyes. "He's trouble that way, isn't he? Hard to find someone to compete."
    "He was," Caitlyn agreed. "But I'm worried about him. About what he's become."
    "What do you mean?"
    "When he was just a farmer, things were simple for him. Chores and family were what mattered. He loved to go hunting with our father, but they always came back and things were the same. Now I'm scared."
    "Scared for him? Why?"
    "For him and of him," Caitlyn said. She reached down and pulled the dagger he'd given her out of the sack she carried with all of her worldly possessions. "He gave me this and told me to be careful. He said it would cut through anything, even rock and steel."
    "May I?" Patrina held out her hand and asked.
    Caitlyn handed her the sheathed dagger. The lady turned it over in her hand and studied it, and then frowned when she found