Dragon's Mother

Chapter 8

I've edited this chapter quite a bit so I hope it's a better read for those who already read it. To my FTR's (First Time Readers), let me know what you think in the comments

"What the hell are we supposed to do?" someone hissed, Ansel groaning as he was stirred from him sleep. He blinked softly, still groggy with sleep, when he looked down and saw his large bare stomach out for the world to see.

"Still not a dream," Ansel almost sobbed, pulling the cloak back up where it had fallen onto his lap over his stomach to cover himself, when he heard voices outside and stiffened. "Did the demon knights track me here?" Ansel wondered, happy the carriage had thick curtains to cover the windows, but he realized as he listened to them that he recognized these voices.

"How are we supposed to sneak back into the kingdom when they're on high alert? There's no way we can get anywhere near the Demon King's treasury," Sir Stephen was saying hotly, Ansel perking up in the carriage.

"They're here! I must have beat them back to the village somehow," Ansel thought, feeling a welling of relief that threatened to lull him back to sleep as all the tension left his body, before Ansel reached for the carriage door.

"What about Ansel?" Sir Chester asked.

Silence fell over the group, Ansel struggling not to laugh imagining how happy they would be when they saw him alive and well. Then how surprised they would be seeing him so fat. That would take some explaining. "Will they be mad?" Ansel suddenly wondered, retracting his hand from the door placing it on his protruding stomach.

"The boy can handle himself just fine. Maybe he was able to grab the egg and make a run for it during the commotion," Sir Henrick said optimistically, Ansel smiling feeling a little proud. He had grabbed the egg and made a run for it alright. Maybe not in the way they were expecting but, technically, Ansel had gotten away with the egg.

"He's dead," Sir Rodwell deadpanned, Sir Chester gasping dramatically and Ansel rolling his eyes feeling rather irritated. How would he know? He doesn't know everything. Ansel reached for the carriage door once again, planning to throw the door open revealing he hadn't died and had accomplished a lot more than the lot of them had; He'd not only gotten into the demon castle without raising suspicion but gotten into King Decal's treasure room, twice, all on his own and stole the egg right out from under their nose. Ansel had just wrapped his hand around the handle on the door, imaging the look on Sir Rodwell's smug face, when Ansel's blood went cold as he heard Sir Rodwell go on saying, "We would have killed him anyway on our way back so this works out."

"We never agreed to killing him," Sir Henrick said instantly, Ansel relaxing a little but it unnerved him that there clearly had been a discussion behind his back about... what? How to deal with him after their adventure? Did they not want to share the glory of finding the egg with a mere stable boy? Did they not trust him, thinking he would try to steal the egg from them? What was going on? "We need to come up with a plan to get the dragon egg. The King asked us to get it at all costs and we can't go back without it," Sir Henrick said seriously, Ansel shocked as he was glossed over. Were they really not going to try and look for him at all?

"What if we got some smoke bombs as a distraction outside while we sneak inside? We can camp out somewhere inside and wait until they let their guard down so we can search around," Sir Stephen suggested as Ansel repressed the urge to vomit feeling sick to his stomach as they seemed to have forgotten all about him, or didn't care...

"Isn't that how we got captured the first time?" Sir Rodwell hissed, Ansel jumping as a fist slammed into the side of the carriage. "I say we just kill everyone in our path. King Decal can't take us all on at once."