Read The Dragon’s Appraiser: Part Three for Free Online

them!”
    What else would they do with them?
    Still, Sevrrn did not object. It was the first time she had seemed happy since their fight the afternoon before.
    Fight .
    Sevrrn had always associated that word with claws, teeth, and blood, not with words and feelings. He much preferred his former definition.
    They left Bern, guided by early morning sunlight. Madja rode, while Sevrrn dragged his belligerent beast along. Unlike the humans, it could see through his human façade and refused to allow him to mount, not that he cared. It was bad enough that Madja would now smell like a horse. He’d probably be picking fleas from her by the time they arrived back at his lair.
    They traveled in silence, which left Sevrrn to his own thoughts—dangerous territory as of late. But for once, he wasn’t thinking of Madja, but rather of the innkeeper. He was so feeble and his condition worsened by the day. What would he do now that Sevrrn was gone? How would he carry fish back from the auction? How would he negotiate good prices at the market? Who would he talk to over lunches?
    That is not my concern , he decided. He was a dragon. He had much more important things to do than spend time with an old human.
    When they arrived back at the lair, Madja took a bath while Sevrrn tried to figure out what to do with the horses. She was clean and wearing fresh clothes by the time he returned, and he was pleased that she did not smell like a horse. He had wanted to mate with her, but she still appeared tired, a fatigue that seemed to go deeper than her flesh. He did not have to attempt anything to know that she wouldn’t be ‘in the mood.’
    So instead, he decided it was time for him to go. Madja’s new mood was disturbing him, and perhaps once he returned with the means to make her immortal, she would have come to her senses.
    Madja listened quietly as he explained how long he would be gone—a few weeks, perhaps a month. There was plenty of food for her, stored in a cool, easily accessible chamber.
    He had expected her to protest, to ask him not to leave, but she just nodded to everything, her expression neutral. She was letting him leave, letting him pursue the means to make her immortal; but once again, this did not feel like a victory.
    Why was it that she could give him everything he wanted, but make him feel as though he had gotten nothing at all?
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    M adja had thought things would get better once Sevrrn was gone, that some time apart from him would make her see things more clearly; but as usual, she was wrong.
    The first hour he was gone, she had cried. A lot.
    She had cried because she felt stifled. Even though Sevrrn was making great strides in becoming more considerate, he was an inherently selfish being. No matter how much progress he made, he would always be a dragon, would always be powerful, and would always expect to have his way.
    She had cried because she felt trapped in their relationship. Even though he had given her an out, had told her she could stay in Bern, it had only been the illusion of choice. Aside from the fact that she was carrying his child, she was in love with him. How could she spend her life living in the shadow of his mountain, knowing that she’d chosen a mortal life over a life with him? How could any human man ever compare to the dragon that had once been hers?
    She had cried because she was afraid. She was afraid of spending even a mortal lifetime with a man who did not love her, let alone an eternity. There would come a time when they would run out of items to appraise and things to talk about. There would come a time when he would lose interest in her body, perhaps even wonder what it would be like to be with another woman—if he didn’t already. After all, what were the odds that she, a simple human woman and the first woman he really ever got to know, would be the one for him?
    Madja thought about all of these things during the next week, as she puttered around the lair, lonely and bored. To