Dragon Matchmaker

Chapter 7

"Wake up, lazybones!"

All she heard was the loud shout, followed by the sudden splash of water on her face. She lurched upright, yelling as cold water ran down her face and torso. After she'd coughed and cleared the water from her nose and eyes, she looked up to see Aldwin holding a bucket as he stood over her. She glared up at him and wiped water from her face. "You bastard! What was that for?"

He laughed and tossed the bucket to the side, leaping away as she stood up. "It was to get you up. Early birds get the worms. Maybe it applies to soldiers and dragons too."

She sighed and went over to her satchel which was still placed by the log, reaching in and pulling out her spare outfit. "I'll be back. I'm gonna go a little into the forest and changed into some dry clothes."

He chuckled and turned towards the fire where the chicken remains were heating up. "Come back soon and I'll have breakfast ready."

She nodded and walked off into the trees. As she walked, she couldn't help but think about Aldwin. He used to be such a weak and pitiful soldier, but now that they were alone, he was being so mean and rude. Maybe the only person he had a problem with was her. No, that wasn't it. Every time he mentioned Audrey, it seemed like he always spat out his name and spoke bad about him.

What went on in his head? He always spoke of gypsies as being wonderful people, but whenever he talked about having to go back, he seemed to hate them. Whenever he spoke of Audrey, he made him seem like a promiscuous liar, but when they spoke of her relationship with him, he seemed to try and make her feel like she wanted Audrey no matter what.

She sighed and found a nice wide oak tree to change behind. She had to be a good four hundred feet from where Aldwin was making breakfast, but she didn't want him getting a peek, even from a distance. She pulled her shirt over her head and then pushed her leggings to her ankles, along with her underwear. She had already pulled off her boots to sleep and so she simply stepped out of her leggings and stretched, shaking her moist hair loose. She didn't usually enjoy acting like a nymph, but she did enjoy the freedom of not having to worry for a moment. She never got to do this during dragon hunts since she was surrounded by all men, but now she got the chance since the only man for miles around was busy doing something else. She stretched once more and then reached down to grab her shirt, but suddenly, a voice rang out from the trees. "Wow. You sure do love to show off your stuff. Are you stretching like that on purpose, or is it natural?"

She gasped and knelt down quickly, yanking her shirt over her torso as cover. "Who's there?"

As she pulled her new leggings up, Aldwin suddenly leapt down onto a branch up in the tree to her left, in the direction she'd been stretching in. She blushed as he jumped down beside her. He chuckled and started walking back to the camp. "There are plenty of gypsy skills you don't know of. One of them is secrecy. You told me you were gonna change clothes. I just needed a peek."

She growled and charged him from behind. He glanced around and yelped, but she was on him before he could defend himself. She grabbed his shirt collar and shook him as hard as she could, but just as she started getting fired up, she started laughing. She let him go and doubled over on his chest, laughing until tears ran down her cheeks. Aldwin tapped his fingers awkwardly on the ground while she got control of herself. "Umm...what's so funny?"

She chuckled once more and wiped tears from herbeyes. "You are. You make no sense and yet you've made me laugh like this."

He paused and scratched his neck. "Uhh...I still don't understand."

She rolled off him and they started heading back as she explained. "You make absolutely no sense. Everything you say makes no sense judging from what I know about you. Which isn't much. You say one thing and then you make it a joke before getting serious again. Now that we've had a laugh, I want some answers. Such as, what do you have against me and Audrey?"

He frowned and kicked a log as they trudged up the hill. "Audrey's just a jerk and you never let me have a chance. I try to be a decent soldier, but you never give me a chance to actually do it."

Kinsey sighed and rubbed her elbow awkwardly with her left hand, feeling a load of guilt settle on her shoulders. "I'm sorry. I didn't want to be the leader of the weaker soldiers. Not that you are. Gosh, you've pinned me to a tree and to the ground in the matter of two days. Not many guys get the guts to do that."

Aldwin grunted and put his hands in his pockets, letting his shoulders slouch. "It's because you try to geld every man who touches you. That and the fact that your daddy's the kings right hand man. No guard or soldier will ever touch you because of that. The only reason I roughed you up is because I just know you won't go back to the castle and say you got beaten by one of the weakest soldiers in the squadrons. You wouldn't risk your level of authority for that."

A quick glance had her confirming her suspicions. "You're kidding."

"No. I'm telling the truth. No man will ever touch you because your dad proved he didn't trust any soldiers to have you. He executed Udolf the other day because he asked for your dad's blessing to marry you. He went through the quickest trial I'd ever seen and they had him in the guillotine faster than you could've said the word guilty."

She didn't know whether to be relieved or revolted. Her father had gotten rid of the man she hated the most, but inadvertently, he'd also stopped her from gaining any future men at all. No one would ever go to her father for a blessing now. Not after that. She dropped to her knees and sobbed, but as the sound of Aldwin's footsteps got closer, a roar from up above stopped both of them.

She whirled around and looked up, seeing the shape of a blue dragon go flying over. As its tail disappeared, she saw that it lacked the golden tail horn of most dragons. She smiled.

This was their target. This was the dragon they needed to kill.