Total pages in book: 121
Estimated words: 112416 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 562(@200wpm)___ 450(@250wpm)___ 375(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 112416 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 562(@200wpm)___ 450(@250wpm)___ 375(@300wpm)
Still smiling to himself, Haru rolled to his feet and stepped out of the tent as well, joining Adrian in the thick blackness of the forest. The royal guard was immediately drawn to the fire that was banked low. The summer air was still warm enough to be comfortable without the fire, but it helped to create a halo of light to break up the unrelenting darkness.
“Is this something humans like to do in their free time? Camping in the woods with nothing but a tent and a pot for cooking?” Haru inquired.
Adrian huffed a quiet laugh as he folded his arms loosely across his chest and watched the flickering flames as if mesmerized. “Some people do. I did it quite a bit when I was young, but it wasn’t about the joys of sleeping under the stars with all the bugs and wild animals.” He lifted his face to Haru and grinned. “Camping is cheap. Hotels—even rundown ones—are expensive.”
“You give me brief hints of a troubled youth, but no details. Sometimes I cannot tell if you are trying to scare me away. Were you really so wicked?”
“Maybe I am trying to scare you away.”
“Being wicked will not frighten me.”
Adrian’s mouth twisted in interesting ways, and he finally rolled his eyes, but Haru got the feeling he was rolling his eyes at himself. “No, it wouldn’t. Nori said that he blames half of his white hairs on you.”
Yes, that was probably accurate, and Haru was proud of it. Dragons were stuffy and boring. Haru believed in keeping things light and interesting.
“Tell me a story,” he begged.
Adrian’s eyebrows lifted, disappearing under Adrian’s sleep-rumpled hair. “A story? About me?”
“Yes, something before you became a royal guard. Something about the time you were a sneaky thief and a con man.”
Adrian made a noise and looked up. “We don’t have time for this.”
Haru grabbed Adrian’s arm and pushed him over to a fallen log that was just the perfect distance from the fire to allow them to enjoy the light without sweating from the heat. “We have time. There are hours left in the night. We can spare a few minutes for a story. Tell me something of your life, and I promise to answer any question you have about dragons.”
“Any question?” Adrian pressed. “You’ll tell the truth?”
“Of course.” Why not? What did he have to hide from Adrian? They were mates. One day, they would know everything about each other.
“Fine.” Adrian dropped onto the log and rested his elbows on his knees. He stared at his worn and calloused hands for a moment, and Haru watched him, happy to just be in his presence. “You say that you want to know about my bad-boy years, but they’re not something I’m proud of. At least not anymore. I guess I started running around and getting into trouble when I was about twelve or thirteen. I was small and incredibly skinny for my age. It was easy for me to sneak into places and get past people without anyone noticing. The only reason I did any of it was out of boredom. My dad left shortly after I was born, and my mom was always working. Lots of long hours for little pay. With no siblings and no one to watch out for me, I got into trouble just to pass the hours.”
Haru cocked his head to the side, catching Adrian’s eye as he smiled. “It wasn’t the thrill of doing something bad and getting away with it?”
An answering grin spread across Adrian’s lips. “That was probably some of it, too. I stole, but it was usually cheap shit or bits of food. And I never stole from anyone who couldn’t afford to lose it. Lied constantly without an ounce of shame. None of it mattered. To me, it was all a game. When I was about fifteen or sixteen, I finally bulked up a bit and looked closer to my age. I started running with this guy named Diogo Borba. He was a few years older and was constantly working some angle or another. He used to run these scams of buying up cheap products from Ilon and bringing them up to Stormbreak and some of the surrounding towns where he’d resell them as high-end merchandise. Used to brag that he made a mint.”
“And you agreed to help him,” Haru interjected. He wiggled closer on the log, soaking in every word Adrian said.
“Of course. I was skeptical of his bullshit, but I’d never been to Brightspire in Ilon. I hadn’t even been out of Stormbreak yet. At that age, running wild with no one caring what I was doing, I thought I knew everything about everything. There was nothing I couldn’t handle. We got to Brightspire, and I loved it. The city differed completely from Stormbreak, and that made it perfect. We explored for a bit, then got to work. We were loading up his van with cheap shit when the local police swarmed us.”