Free B00CGOH3US EBOK by Lori Dillon Page A

the ground and set their fields ablaze before they have even risen from their beds?" He spread his wings, the dragon blood in his veins demanding he take to the sky.
    Lady Jill came up behind him and stopped him with little more than a hand on his arm.
    "Easy there, dragon dude. Calm down and let's talk about this. Don't go and do something you might regret later."
    He looked at her pale face and saw her fear, of him and of the beast he kept barely contained. And yet here she stood, prepared to defend the very people who'd shown her no mercy and thought nothing of offering her as a sacrifice to the dragon.
    His anger subsided at her gentle persuasion, if only a little. "To break the curse requires a maiden from the village of my birth. If you are not from Gosforth, then it will not work."
    "Maybe. Then again, maybe not. While—technically—I'm not from the village, I was, well, there for a little while. Plus who knows, maybe some great, great, great, grandmother of mine was born in the village. It's entirely possible, if you trace my family tree back far enough. So if we go by the Kevin Bacon six degrees of separation theory, I might qualify."
    Baelin tried to follow her odd reasoning. If he understood her rambling words, then there might still be hope. After all, the tapestry had changed after she came and that had never happened with any of the others. It had to be a sign.
    He willed the tension in his body to ease and stepped back into the cave. Behind him, he heard Lady Jill's heavy sigh of relief. He cursed himself, knowing he needed to maintain better control over his dragon impulses or he would fail them both.
    She walked past him and resumed her seat by the fire, eating in silence until he joined her. She considered him as she took a sip of wine from her cup.
    "Okay, so let's figure this thing out. You said a girl from the village is required to break this curse of yours."
    "Aye."
    "So, since I happen to be the maiden by default, what exactly do I have to do to break the curse and return you to Normal-ville?"
    "You must pass three challenges before the rise of the next full moon to free me."
    "I see. And these challenges are?"
    "That I do not know."
    She raised her brow at him. "You don't know what they are? That makes it a little difficult, doesn't it?"
    "I only know they involve the knightly virtues."
    "What are the knightly virtues?"
    "Honor, courage, bravery, just—"
    "Whoa." Lady Jill held up her hand. "You mean the maid—I—have to do something knight-worthy to break the curse?"
    "Aye."
    She shook her head and chuckled. "Well, I certainly hope I'm not expected to go out and win a joust or rescue a damsel in distress because then we're going to be in big trouble. I don't think I have the job skills for something like that."
    "I pray it will not require anything so trying on your part."
    Jill took a bite of bread and chewed thoughtfully as she gazed into the dying fire. She was silent for so long, it startled him when she spoke again.
    "So I take it since you're still the lizard king, none of the others have succeeded in breaking this curse of yours."
    "Nay."
    She frowned. "Did any of them ever try?"
    "Only one or two. Most hid in fear in the back of the cave, not venturing out until their time with me was over."
    "And the ones who did?"
    "Obviously they failed."
    He watched her visibly swallow. "Did they ever come close?"
    For a brief instant, Baelin considered not telling her the truth. What if, in doing so, she changed her mind? But his honor would not allow him to deceive her.
    "Nay. None have ever been able to pass even one of the tests."
    "Well, that doesn't bode well for my chances, now does it?" she sighed. "So what happens if the challenges are not met?"
    "If the curse is not broken, I return to my dragon form with the rise of the next full moon."
    "I see. And what happens to the girls?"
    "I release them."
    She picked up a bowl of pottage and sniffed it. She made an odd face and set it back on the