Dragons Trust Book 1 - The Start

Dinner

The sound of cooking and humming filled the air. Emily, Clinton's wife, moved skillfully through their kitchen. It already smelled amazing. My cooking could never compare to hers.

Outside more snow fell. I hadn't realized the amount the Underside would get. It was also colder here in the winter. Thankfully my magic didn't let it bother me. I hated being cold.

"What do you do with the boys in your free time?" She asked suddenly. I looked to the woman. She was absolutely beautiful. Her round face held a smile with perfectly straight teeth. I had to get braces to get mine straight.

We didn't do very much anymore. Not after Noah had left. Marcus and Micah were always filing in for him. I spent most of my time with Tuarana. We would work together, figuring out ways to do different things together. Fight, play, magic, even dance. The two of us had an entire routine that we had perfected at this point.

"Nothing really. Marcus and Micah don't get a lot of free time. And Tommy and Sunny have their own things." I purposely left out the bit about Noah. Talking about him would not end well for me.

"Oh, that's no good. How about you and me go out sometime and have a girls day? Being surrounded by men has to be dull," she offered. To say I was surprised at the offer would have been an understatement.

I would argue that Emily and Clinton had just as much money as the Dagens. The love between the two was something I had never seen before.

"I don't have any money," I said hesitantly. Everything I had was because the boys never listened when I told them no. She waved her hands dismissively before chopping an apple into small cubes. Watching her cook was fascinating.

Apparently the commons people and the dragon riders had very different ways of cooking. I wondered if she would allow me to make her something.

"I don't care. How about next week? I'll have Clinton fetch you and me and you can go around on our own," She said.

How was she so nonchalant about it. How could she just buy something for someone she didn't even know? How did she know I wasn't going to use her?

"I know what you're thinking kid. Stop it. She's heard enough about you to know that you're trustworthy," Clinton fell into the seat next to me. This guy always knew. It was something I couldn't understand. He always knew when I were panicking. And he knew when others were lying. Every single time without fail.

"Mhm, Ambrose has told me so much. Noah, Micah, and Marcus as well. You were all they talked about for a very long time. They adore you!" She gushed. It was strange hearing someone call him by his first name. Emily poured the apples into some kind of whipped cream and some kind of candy.

The candy had a nut in the middle that was covered in caramel then covered in chocolate. I hadn't ever seen anything like it back in any of the commons cities. She mixed all them together. After she had it mixed, a little bit of lemon juice was sprinkled in as mixed.

"The lemon juice is too keep the apples from browning too quick," she explained at my perplexed expression. But my mind was actually stuck on what she said before.

The boys told her about me?

"Those boys," Clinton shook his head. A cup of some kind of alcohol in his hand. He took a drink before continuing. "They're certainly something. The loyalty they hold is stronger than anyone's I've ever seen."

"That's one way to put it. Noah told me the most. And I have to say, he left nothing out of his description of you." I was shocked. "He was always saying how much he missed you. You were actually one of the few reasons he would ever go back."

Noah would have gone back for me. Surprisingly, I didn't question why. Just knowing he would have gone back for me made me kind of happy. I had spent all those years questioning if they had forgotten me. If he had forgotten me.

Emily set the food on the table. All of it looked mouth watering. Unlike Emily, there was only a few things I could make well from memory. But baking, baking was one thing I was good at. I could make cakes and cookies and pies.

She put a plate down in front of me and dished out the food.

Oh fucking kill me.

It started again. Just looking at the food made want to hurl. Not because it looked gross, it looked amazing. Just like before, my hearing was taken over by the sharp ringing, white and then black clawed at my vision, and my throat closed. It was hard to breath. Almost every time I tried to eat, without fail, this happened.

Just eat! It's not that hard just do it. Please! I'm so hungry just eat for once.

Nothing. I couldn't even bring my hand to pick up the fork.

Clinton put his hand on my shoulder. Everything hit me like a brick as I was calmed down. "You have nothing to worry about here."

I looked over to him. Emily had left the room for a reason I had apparently missed. Clinton looked me in the eyes and held it. "You are allowed to eat. Even if you throw it up afterwards."

How did he know? How the hell did Clinton know I would throw up after eating? I hadn't told anybody. Nobody knew. Nobody. Right?

"How-" I couldn't even finish the question. My mind whirled trying to figure out how he knew. Every meal replayed in my mind. He hadn't been around to see me go into my silent panic. Nobody ever noticed. So how did he know?

"I have my ways. Now eat. Emma has been preparing all day for you," he winked at me.

All day?!

Now the need to eat forced it's way up. She had spent so long cooking this that I had to eat it. The woman would probably find me to be a rude snob that didn't appreciate anything if I didn't eat her food.

My hand shook as it picked up the fork and a piece of a vegetable. I stared at it for a moment. Something was keeping me from moving it any closer. My mind screamed for me to eat it. If not for myself, then for the woman who had graciously made it.

"It's okay."

I wanted to cry.

I finally took a bite.