The Hidden Crystal

Chapter 23

After breakfast, Jonah gave Iris a tour of the tower, with Char trailing behind them. The building was just that: a tower. The spiral staircase wound through the center, from the entrance at the bottom to Jonah's study at the top, with the occasional door on the outside of the stairs to mark a room. It was nowhere near as luxurious as Elera's home, or even Char's hideout behind the waterfall. The old stone walls were undecorated, furnishings were minimal, and one rather important room seemed to be missing.

"Um...what about the bathroom?" Iris asked hesitantly.

Jonah laughed and patted her on the head. "That is where you thank the fairies." He snapped his fingers, and the golden lights whizzed around a corner as if they had nothing better to do than answer to his summoning. "Fix Char's room up for the lady. She'll be staying for a while."

The fairies zipped away, and Iris looked from Jonah to Char. "Do you two just go in the forest or something?"

"I don't know what Char does," Jonah replied, shrugging. "He doesn't usually stay for long. I have my own facilities in my room, courtesy of the fairies."

"Why do they do everything for you?" Iris asked curiously.

"I think they just get bored. And I don't stick them in bottles for experiments. They appreciate that bit."

"I'm sure they do," Iris replied thoughtfully. "Do you just stay in this tower all the time, then?"

"For the most part. Not much to interest me outside of here."

"But you used to enjoy being outside so much. Oh, which reminds me." She gave him a big hug. "Thanks for saving my life."

"Uh...when did I do that?" Jonah asked, his pale blue eyes wide with surprise.

"When you taught me how to build a fire, and which plants were safe to eat and which were poisonous. After the dragons attacked Little Rest, I was stuck in the wilderness for a couple of days before Char found me."

"I wondered how you managed," Char commented.

"Although I forgot most of the stuff about the plants, so I ended up just eating mushrooms for two days," Iris added.

"You remembered that from when you were five?" Jonah asked incredulously.

"It really meant a lot to me when you took me out on those camping trips," Iris replied, smiling shyly.

Jonah stroked her hair affectionately. "Same little Iris. I really hated leaving you, and I meant to come back and visit, but then I found out about the amulet..."

"It's okay," Iris reassured him. "I know why."

"Hey, Char, you still haven't told me why you brought her here. Aren't there mages among the dragons who can shield her?"

"You know human mages are a touchy subject among dragons," Char replied.

Jonah winced. "Yeah, and the war probably doesn't help that perception much, either."

"No. I wasn't planning on bringing her anywhere near the other dragons, but things got out of hand when the battle started, and I lost track of her for a couple of days. When I found her, Rath was with me, so I had to bring her back home. She ended up a prisoner of war, and they transferred her to the magic school's dungeons because of that amulet."

"Why didn't you keep it hidden?" Jonah asked her.

"It wasn't her fault," Char intervened. "She had to use it to keep from freezing solid during the flight, so everybody saw it when we landed. The barriers weren't strong enough, anyway. She broke through a couple of times on her own."