"Come again?" Thatcher looked utterly confused at the scene before him, looking from the golden dragon to the baron. "What do you mean sir?"
"Oh, did you really not know?" The baron looked at him with pity. "Crossbreeds are incapable of breathing fire. They're shunned from dragon clans because of this. Some of them are even killed by their kin."
"They're dragons that are undesirable because they cannot breathe fire, and for a dragon, that is a fate worse than death." The baron mistook the look within Thatcher's silver eyes. He drew back his hands as if he didn't want to anger the young Count anymore.
"I was only offering to take her off of your hands. Don't worry, you can keep her. She's considered useless to some people but if you've found a way to make use of her then I congratulate you."
The air around them brewed with magic. She looked to the side and saw the wizard. His face held no emotion but she could sense he was readying to attack if Thatcher gave him the word. Even Roxane could tell they were no match for the baron and his army. And the other dragon. If she sensed Kian's magic then there was no doubt the golden dragon did as well. Her eyes slid over to the golden-haired man.
"Magic." The golden dragon looked up at Kian, pointing his finger at him. "He's a wizard."
"You even have a wizard under your employ!" The baron seemed impressed again with Thatcher. "I can't imagine what your castle is like if you have a dragon and even a wizard." He laughed in disbelief.
"I might just take back my words. You are in my debt for saving you all." He joked with them, oblivious to how his joke was in bad taste.
Thatcher swallowed hard. He nodded his head and plastered a smile on his face.
"Thank you for saving us. We were on our way back to Melios and we made the mistake to stop at this village for a little rest."
"Melios is still quite a ways away from here. I invite you and your servants to my castle where you can rest for a couple of days before you set off again."
"I," Thatcher looked as if he was going to refuse the baron's offer, but then decided against it, "I would like to take you up on that offer. I'm so very tired and my wizard needs to restore his magic."
Thatcher ignored the irate stare thrown by the wizard and instead focused on the baron who nodded.
"All of you can ride on the back of the wagon. It will be a bit uncomfortable for a little while but that is the best I can do given these circumstances." There were no other horses as the undead had torn apart their horses and lay to waste all of their supplies. It was either ride at the back of the wagon where the supplies were kept, or walk to the baron's castle. The choice was rather obvious.
"Very well then, onwards, towards Richersburg!" With the words of their lord, the group of armed men began to depart.
"Roxane," Diana whispered into her ear, "are you alright?" They had cramped together at the back of the baron's wagon, in between the little spaces that the boxes of supplies weren't occupying. They had been traveling in silence ever since they set out. Neither Kian nor Thatcher had looked her way and she supposed she preferred it that way. She didn't know what she could say now that her secret was out.
"I am." She responded and then straightened out her back and spoke clearer so that the other two could hear her. "But now we must tread carefully, that means that you must treat me differently once we get to the castle."
"What? No, Roxane. I can't do that."
"Well, you'll have to," she saw the hurt reflected in her eyes, "the baron is not a man that treats non-humans well. If you're nice to me that will cause suspicion and we can't afford for him to begin questioning us."
"She's right," Thatcher sighed before agreeing with her. "You should watch your words whenever the baron or any of his people are around. Being overly friendly with Roxane while we are in the baron's castle could be dangerous." Diana opened her mouth to protest.
"Of course, that doesn't signify that we are going to mistreat Roxane as the baron does to his," he hesitated, "dragon."
"Men of his stature will most likely place Roxane in a different part of the castle during our stay." If the baron had other non-humans, she would be placed with them.
Roxane thought of the whip the baron had used on the golden dragon. It was highly probable she might feel the sting of the whip as well. But that thought she kept to herself.
"Be careful," Thatcher lifted his gray eyes suddenly to look at her.
Roxane immediately shifted her eyes from him. She understood he was expressing his concern, but she was still not fully capable of meeting his gaze and wondered why he hadn't asked her anything about what the baron had divulged to them.
How disappointed the two men must have felt, to have a defective dragon on their side.
Even before entering the village surrounding the castle, she could see the high outer walls made entirely out of stone. Two towers stood erect between the gate into the baron's castle. At each tower stood some of the baron's men. As the carriage approached the gate, Roxane could see the gate had already been opened for the army to cross.
The baron sat atop his horse, watching as the wagon rolled to a stop before the guardhouse. He waited for Thatcher to get off the wagon.
"First head into the keep where my maids are waiting to take care of you. After that, you can join us at the great hall for a feast."
"You are most generous Baron Havel, but we are satisfied with just being supplied with a bit of food and a place to rest our weary heads. This is much more than we can repay you at the moment."
"Nonsense, I am your host Count. This much is rudimentary to provide for one's guests."
As the rest of them were helped out of the wagon, the baron glanced at Diana.
"The mistress of the keep will help the lady."
"Thank you baron."
With that, the baron dismounted his horse, giving away the reins to a stablehand that charted off the horse. Then he made his way into the guardhouse while the guests were ushered into the keep by the baron's people.
"Welcome count." A woman much younger than the baron appeared at the foot of the grand stone staircase as they entered one of the rooms that fed out of the entrance of the keep. Besides their astounding difference in age, the woman stood regally in her finest clothing adorned with jewelry around her neck and on her fingers. On top of her soft blond hair that was pulled into a neat hairstyle was a small tiara with a tear-shaped sapphire inlaid in the center.
"The baron sent word that I would be expecting you. I am Sharon, the baron's wife." The baron's beautiful young wife gave a curtsy before Thatcher. Once she was done, she lifted her head and smiled at Thatcher when he placed a hand on his heart and bowed his head forward slightly in response to her welcome.
"Greetings Sharon. I am beyond overjoyed that the baron's wife has come to personally welcome us as guests. We hope our stay will not burden our hosts in any way."
"Please, I will not have any of it count. These are currently troubling times with a necromancer spreading disease and creating chaos, but we at Richersburg do not shy away from extending a hand out to those in their time of need."
Her twinkling gaze turned from Thatcher to the next thing that caught her attention. It might have been her imagination at the time, but it appeared as though the lady's gaze turned sour as soon as her eyes landed on Roxane.
It was only for a brief second, hardly any time for Roxane to completely register the emotion behind her stare, but Sharon greeted Diana and Kian with warmth inside her glazed blue eyes.
"Our maids will provide assistance in changing out of your current clothes and into some new ones. If you could follow them, as the lord is expecting his guests at the great hall for the feast."
She turned to Diana, "Lady, please permit your dragon a brief dismissal from your side as the lord does not allow any non-humans near the great hall without first undergoing a bath of purification."
Diana looked perplexed by the notion. "A purifying bath, your grace?"
"It's an extensive bath, given by our elves at the bathhouse located behind the keep. I sense your hesitation but I guarantee our elves are the most skilled when scrubbing away impurities. No scratch will emerge on your dragon."
Diana's eyes danced away from the baron's wife to look at Roxane.
"I," she hesitated some more before finally giving a slight nod to the baron's wife. "Alright, I place my trust in the hands of your elves. My dragon means a great deal to me you see."
Sharon nodded as if understanding.
"Elias and Selphie." She called for the two pale-faced elves that stood nearby facing the wall. They turned around and quickly went to their mistress' side. They towered over Sharon, silently standing there with expressionless faces.
"Take the dragon away and bathe her. Clothe her as well. Then bring her back post haste."
The two elves stood still until the woman clapped her hands, then they sprang into action and took Roxane by the arms.
Roxane could have easily thrown them off of her but she played her part. She let herself be spirited away from the hallway arm in arm with the two elves.
"She is quite the beauty." She heard Sharon say as they walked away. "Though she seems a rather bit haughty. I'm sure the baron has already offered to buy her from you, but I already have my hands full with training our own dragon so we simply do not have the room for another."