Read The Dragon’s Appraiser: Part Two for Free Online Page B

him.
    “I’ll be back,” Yoren called out. “And I’ll be bringing the guards with me.”
    One of the men cackled at the threat. “Then we’ll have to be quick, won’t we?”
    When Yoren and the girls were out of sight, the men began to close in around her. The situation should have been terrifying, but Madja had talked her way out of a dragon’s claws—this would be child’s play.
    Holding up a hand to stop them, she said, “All right, you’ve had your fun, but I know three handsome men such as yourselves don’t go around raping women on the streets. If you want the pleasure of my company, it’s going to cost you what it costs any other man. Thirty silvers. Each.”
    “Thirty silvers?” they exclaimed in unison.
    “Horse shit,” the surly man said, spittle flying out to hit her face. “Ain’t no whore in Bern worth half that.”
    Madja put her hands on her hips. “Fine. For all three of you together, I’ll accept twenty-five silvers each, but I won’t go a copper lower.”
    They exchanged glances, grunting and grumbling at one another. Madja tapped her foot impatiently.
    “Well, gentlemen? Either whip out your silvers or stop wasting my time.”
    The three drunks spent the next several minutes counting out the meager contents of their purses. They were still trying to argue down her price when Yoren returned with two armed guards.
    “Ma’am, are these men causing you trouble?”
    Coins fell and scattered on the ground as the men scrambled to get away. The guards easily apprehended them. Madja knew that having them jailed could only cause trouble for Yoren down the line, so she decided to cover for them.
    “No, no. They celebrated a little too hard and seemed to have gotten lost. All they’re in need of is a good night’s rest.”
    Yoren went to Madja’s side as the guards ushered the drunkards away.
    “I’m so sorry to leave you like that, Madja.”
    “Don’t worry about it, I’m fine. Where are the girls?”
    “I left them at the guard post,” he told her. “Are you all right?”
    “I told you, I’m fine,” she said, smiling. Admittedly, it was a little nice to have someone worry over her. “My father was an appraiser. I spent half my life down by docks. I know how to handle a few drunks.”
    Yoren refused to be pacified. “They could have hurt you. I shouldn’t have left.”
    She put a hand on his bearded cheek. “My father used to tell me that the most noble thing a person can do is everything that they can. You protected your daughters and you came back for me. Don’t put yourself down.”
    Not when there are beings with far greater power that choose not to use it .
----
    A s much as she had wanted to get away, stepping back into her room at the inn felt like coming home. The room smelled like Sevrrn—a scent as indefinable as bottled sunlight, yet sometimes reminded her of rare incense from antique lands. It was a scent that simultaneously enveloped her and permeated her, settling somewhere in the marrow of her being.
    One season—that was how long she had known him, but she already felt bound to him on a level that felt almost spiritual. It was as though he had created a whole new chamber of her heart, but it could only beat for him. Somehow, he had become the most essential and necessary thing in her world.
    It was terrifying.
    Undressing to her bedclothes, Madja tied her hair into a long braid. She drew the cotton blankets back on her side of the bed, but paused. Then, she padded around to Sevrrn’s side, sitting down on the small space that remained on the side of the bed.
    The bed was by no means small, but Sevrrn’s large body still took up most of the space. While in his dragon form, he tended to curl into himself; in human form Sevrrn sprawled out, arms and limbs in every which direction.
    Scant beams of moonlight filtered through the curtains, casting a blue-grey glow on his face. It softened his features, making him look placid and almost gentle—a cruel trick