The Dragon Nimbus Novels: Volume III: Volume III

as if he could make himself comfortable anywhere, any time.
    She wished she knew enough about herself to find comfort within her own mind and heart. In this state of not knowing, only Jaranda anchored her.
    With a half smile she suddenly realized that her lack of memory offered her a kind of freedom. She and her baby could make a home for themselves anywhere they chose. They could set the rules and style of their home to suit themselves. They need please no one else—except possibly Zebbiah if he stayed with them.
    The heat quickly penetrated her bones, and her mind lightened. “I didn’t realize I was cold until I touched heat again,” she mused.
    “Cold can be like that. When it gets really bad, it almost feels like warmth and then you fall asleep and never wake up.”
    “Will you protect me and my baby from the cold?”
    “If I can.”
    “And from the bandits and bully gangs?” She shuddered.
    He paused a moment before answering. “My word as a Rover. I’ll do my best to protect you from harm of any kind.”
    “Even from yourself?”
    He grinned, flashing a huge number of teeth, just like his pack beast “My word of honor, Lady. You are as safe from me as you want to be.”
    A long silent moment passed between them. The woman looked away first.
    “You hungry?” Zebbiah asked.
    The woman shook her head. “We scavenged in the pantry. But we will need to eat again by nightfall.”
    “I’ve food for the three of us. We’ll leave at dawn.” He fished a pot and some packets wrapped in oiled cloth from one of the panniers. “Is there water?”
    “The well behind the kitchen still tastes sweet.”
    He nodded abruptly and rose from his squat in one graceful motion, without using his hands to brace himself.
    “You need anything while I’m out?”
    The pack beast shifted his head and began nibbling her tangled hair.
    “If you could find a hairbrush or comb?”
    He nodded again and left without complaint.
    “We’ll deal well together, Zebbiah,” she whispered. “I’m not sure why I trust you, but I do.”
    Oversized teeth nipped her ear. She batted the pack beast away. It then began grazing on a piece of lace dangling from a corner pillow. “But you’ll have to teach this beast of yours some manners, Zebbiah.” She settled Jaranda on the floor and followed the beast to rescue the priceless ornament.
    “I don’t suppose you know my name?” she asked the beast as she pulled half a yard of lace free of its jaws
    “Heeeeeee haaaaaaaw,” the beast brayed in answer, or protest.
    “Somehow I thought you’d say that.”

    Jack waited outside King Darville’s private study, impatiently shifting from one foot to the other. He pretended to stand guard while listening with every sense available to him. He needed to speak to the king and queen alone. How much longer before Darville and Rossemikka freed themselves from the increasingly loud political conversation?
    Lord Laislac had spent the last hour haranguing his king. Lord Andrall, the king’s uncle by marriage, had spoken a couple of times. Laislac’s daughter Ariiell had whimpered occasionally. Jack had seen Andrall’s and Laislac’s wives enter the room, but so far they had remained silent.
    Darville had said little, asking only an occasional question. Queen Mikka probably sat in the window embrasure, basking in the afternoon sunshine, stroking the sensuous texture of her gown with long fingers. She said little during these sessions, but she observed everything and counseled Darville afterward.
    Jack did not have to open his magical listening senses to hear the scandal in the making. Long ago, when he’d been a kitchen drudge, considered too stupid to even have a name, he’d learned to listen carefully with all of his senses before entering a room. He’d also eventually learned how to make himself seem invisible in order to avoid the local bullies.
    Today invisibility came from his plain guard’s uniform and his presence outside the king’s study. No one noticed him because he belonged there.
    But Jack had to stand still, at attention, hoping his impatience for a moment of privacy with the king and queen did not alert anyone that something unusual was about to happen.
    He needed absolute secrecy to summon the Commune for tonight’s spell. One whisper of the king and queen involved with magic would bring the wrath of the Gnuls and the lords they controlled down on their heads. None of them would be safe for a moment if the Gnuls