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out to him. “Here,” I
offered holding it lightly.
    He moved quickly, stretching from his mist
and snapping it from my fingers in one bite that left me
wide-eyed.
    “I am not a tame pet,” he said.
    “Obviously,” I said with a laugh. “A pet
would have licked my fingers in thanks.”
    He made a choked noise, but I didn’t look up
from my food or offer him another bite.
    After finishing every crumb on my plate, I
stood with a content sigh.
    “Is there a bag here that I could use? Like
the one I used to own?” Before you shredded it, I thought
sadly.
    “I would like to walk the wall today and
want something to carry the things I find.”
    “Look inside the servant’s room.”
    I fetched the bag that I knew waited and
held the door for him as we left. We spent the remainder of the day
walking the wall, and he spent the majority of it without his
mist.

Chapter 3
    I woke to a noise in my room and sat up
abruptly. Weak moonlight and a dying fire cast shadows in the room,
and I couldn’t see more than vague shapes.
    “Sir?” I called with my heart
thundering.
    Everything remained quiet, though I knew
something had woken me. I held still for several long minutes until
I heard the noise again. A rip and growl from the other side of the
closed door.
    I slipped from my bed and tiptoed toward the
beast’s door as noises continued from the other side. Carefully, I
pulled the handle, and the door eased open. The fire in the room
blazed; and within the light, I saw his massive form lying on the
bed. He tossed about, his claws tearing the mattress as he
struggled against a dream inspired foe.
    “Sir?” I whispered again.
    He shifted onto his back, and his struggles
calmed slightly, but I saw his hands still twitched. Approaching
the bed, I tentatively reached toward him to smooth the hair on his
arm. It stood up stiffly, an indicator of his mood.
    When I looked up at his face, I saw the
glint of his eyes as he watched me.
    “A dream troubled you,” I barely whispered,
wondering if he would roar at me for the intrusion. Instead, he
closed his eyes; so I continued to stroke his fur. When the fur on
his arm gradually settled, I shifted to his head where it still
stood up wildly.
    He sighed loudly, looped an arm around me,
and tugged me onto his bed. When I landed, a cloud of feathers
erupted around us. I squeaked in surprise and dread. I didn’t want
to be in his bed, I’d only thought to ease his troubled mind.
    “Stay until I sleep,” he said, closing his
eyes.
    I relaxed slightly and shifted in the loose
feathers to again stroke my fingers through the fur on his head.
Not long after, I felt his body relax and his breathing deepen.
    The beast confused me. During the day, I
attributed his ire to his isolation since he only had me for
company. Once I retired each night, I had given little thought to
what he did. Yet, I should have. The state of his room on my first
day should have told me just how troubled his nights might be.
    A feather tickled my nose, and I softly blew
it away. What thoughts tormented him so much that he sought to
destroy the comfort and extravagance around him?
    Carefully, so I wouldn’t wake him, I eased
myself to the side of the bed and lightly touched my feet to the
floor.
    “She will never free me,” he mumbled and
rolled to his side.
    “Who?” I whispered.
    He didn’t answer.
    Looking at him, I decided he still slept. I
withdrew from his room, leaving a trail of feathers. It was a long
while before I slept.
    * * * *
    Squaring my shoulders, I dropped the beast’s
shirt to the floor and undid my braid.
    After his comment the night before, I
decided today would be the first day to try our new bargain. He’d
let me wear proper clothes for two days and had let me see him
without his mist. But it was last night, seeing him so disturbed by
whatever he dreamt, that made up my mind. He had so many secrets,
and no one to trust with them. I wasn’t sure I wanted to be his
confidant, but I