Free The Dragon and the Dreamwalker (Elemental Series) by Elizabeth Rose Page B

form. He aggravated her while in the physical.
    “Lady Brynn?”
    Brynn looked up to see her old friend and chambermaid standing in the doorway.
    “Birdie!” She called out to the girl and ran to greet her. Birdie stepped inside the room, quickly closing the door behind her. They embraced each other in a hug of friendship.
    “I thought you’d died with the rest when the castle was attacked. Let me look at you, are you all right?”
    Birdie stood before her with a huge smile on her face for such a small woman. She was petite and chipper, not more than six and ten years of age. Her eyes twinkled and there was song in her voice. She had always reminded Brynn of a bird. While her true name was Bertha, Brynn had given her the name of Birdie.
    “I managed to hide in the well to stay out of danger when the castle was under siege,” she told her. “But I was discovered the next day when the lord’s squire lowered the bucket for a cool drink.”
    “How about the rest?” asked Brynn. “How many were killed? Who is left?”
    Birdie lowered her head and Brynn couldn’t help but see the tears in her eyes. “There weren’t many who survived. Most the kitchen help is still here, but between those who were killed and the ones who escaped, the castle has mostly new occupants. The soldiers who survived pledged their allegiance to Lord Dunsbard rather than to be imprisoned. Even Rowley, the falconer. But he hates Lord Dunsbard for killing his son.”
    “Oh!” Brynn clasped her hand to her mouth. Rowley’s son wasn’t much more than a child. What kind of beast would kill a boy?
    “And your parents, Lady Brynn. Your parents …” Birdie clasped a hand to her own mouth, tears flowing from her eyes. Brynn pulled the girl into her arms to comfort her.
    “I know, I know,” she said in a soft voice. Tears welled in her own eyes at the thought.
    “I’m so afraid of him, my lady.” Birdie pulled back and wiped the tears with the back of her hand. “I do what he commands in order not to be punished or killed, but if I could, I’d run far from here.”
    “Birdie, you mustn’t. ’Tis not safe for a young girl to be out there on her own.”
    “Not any more dangerous then staying here. I am so afraid for you, my lady. Having to marry such a beast!”
    Brynn straightened her stance and brushed off the tunic she was wearing. Drake’s tunic. His scent clung to it, only reminding her of the kiss he gave her on the dreamwalking plane last night. She felt like a traitor marrying the man responsible for all this trouble. But deep down, she knew what Juturna said was true. He didn’t kill her parents. And she sincerely doubted he killed women or children. She just felt in her heart he wasn’t this way.
    “I’m not afraid of him, Birdie. And though he has a horrid reputation, I don’t believe he’s responsible for the lives he has been accused of taking.”
    “How do you know this? Did he tell you?”
    “Nay,” she answered, pondering the fact that Drake hadn’t told her much about that night at all. “It’s just something I feel.”
    “Either way, you’ve got to leave here, my lady. I will help pack your things at once.”
    “No, Birdie. I will stay. I will marry the man as he has commanded me to do.”
    Birdie’s eyes popped open, the look of fear evident, her body stiff. “You can’t mean you’re going to go through with the wedding?”
    “I have no choice. I must marry Lord Dunsbard. If I don’t, he is sure to hunt me down, and I do not take a fancy to facing his anger.”
    “But I thought you wanted to escape, my lady. Isn’t that why Lord Dunsbard has been placing guards at your door?”
    “I did want to escape, but I’ve changed my mind. I believe to be married to Drake will be to my advantage after all.”
    “You cannot mean that.”
    “I do. This is my father’s fief and if I am to hold the title of Lady of Thorndale, there is no other way.”
    “But there must be another.”
    “Nay, Birdie. I