"Burn the bodies," Tiamat ordered.
Fiona couldn't say she felt even an ounce of sympathy for these men that would have probably done worse than torture and kill her.
"Where did you come from?" he asked out of curiosity.
No one besides Tiamat seemed to be paying her any attention and after her brush with the mole rat, Fiona couldn't help but wonder what the soldiers thought of her now.
"Nowhere near here," she replied blithely.
"Were you alone with no protector?" he questioned gently.
He wasn't trying to provoke her, but he needed answers, and he didn't want to torture her for them.
Fiona answered tersely, "I have been living on my own for years, I need no protector."
What kind of world was she from with no kin to look after her? He couldn't help but be puzzled by her responses, what kind of strange land was she from where a woman could go about unchaperoned.
It was unheard of round these parts, a prize like her would have been scooped already had he not spotted her from the sky, and she was a true beauty. He was not immune to admiring her when he thought she wasn't looking.
"Did you not expect me to ask?" he queried softly. "Even your way of dressing is different from what the women wear in these lands."
Fiona didn't want to lie, "I was on vacation, and I rented a boat to see more of the ocean. Everything is a blur from I fell into the sea, I don't know how I came to your land."
That was the honest truth.
"I don't detect any lies in your words," he said thoughtfully.
Perhaps she had some form of amnesia and didn't remember but she seemed pretty coherent to him.
Seeing that she wasn't going to elaborate any further Tiamat turned his attention back to the soldiers.
There was no way in hell she could begin to explain that she was from England. He was already so distrustful by nature.
Fiona saw the way he handled his enemies. What would he do to her if he thought her a spy, her body couldn't help but tremble with fear.
While he was busy ordering his men around, she decided to look for her dagger, it had fallen from her hand when the mole rat caught her unaware and dragged her down with him through the underground tunnels.
Tiamat saw her leaving out of the corner of his eye and thought she was trying to escape which angered him.
"Just where do you think you're going?" he spoke softly.
He rushed over to her side and pinned her against the wall of the cave.
Fiona let out a startled gasp and looked up to stare into his face.
If it wasn't for the slight narrowing of his eyes Fiona would have thought, he was bored with her and toying with her like a cat would a mouse.
Seeing that she wasn't struggling with his grasp he relaxed his hold a bit. Everything she said or did wasn't lost on him, Tiamat saw the way she tried to hide her emotions from him.
Still, Fiona was livid she tried to keep the annoyance out of her voice, "I dropped my dagger, I was just looking around in hopes that I could retrieve it before we left."
If he hadn't been watching her closely, he would have missed the sparks in her eyes as she shot daggers at him before burying the mutinous feelings.
"Oh, is that so?" responded Tiamat. "Or perhaps, you had gone back to thinking you were better off on your own."
It felt almost as if she was copying him, her face so earlier filled with emotion was a blank slate now. She was a fast learner; he could admit that much.
Fiona shrugged, "Just so you know, I could care less what you think. For I speak the truth." She looked him in the eyes unflinchingly, "you said you weren't going to kill me, so I thought I had enough freedom to at least search for my dagger."
When Tiamat did not respond to her statement this aggravated her even further, she snapped at him, "if my presence is such a bother to you, you can leave me here by the caves, not a problem."
Tiamat sighed, "not going to happen, not on my watch."
He reached into his pants pocket and pulled out the missing dagger and said, "next time, you want something just ask."
Tiamat smiled at her as he handed her the dagger and it transformed his face. His hands brushed hers and then he turned and walked over to where the men had a blazing funeral pyre going.
Fiona reached for the dagger and murmured her thanks before pocketing it. It was a simple dagger but just like her ring already she felt attached to the weapon.
She never considered herself a coward, but she didn't want to be alone in a strange world either which was such a conundrum because she was used to living by herself these past few years, it was hard for her to trust and depend on others.
Fiona had thought she had gotten over the worst of today, but now she felt jittery. It was maybe the aftermath of nearly losing her life countless times in one day had finally started to soak in.
She didn't even realize she had been crying until Tiamat used a thumb to wipe one of her tears away. It was such a caring gesture from such a gruff dragon that it caught her off guard.
It could have been her body on top of that funeral pyre, she watched as the aggressive fire licked at the bodies, cleansing them with holy fire and she said a silent prayer for the victims that they find peace at last.
Fiona wasn't aware of how much time passed as they watched the bodies burn but when she realized that she had been leaning on Tiamat for support the entire time, she felt embarrassed and tried to slowly put some space between them.
More soldiers joined the ones that fought by the caves, this new squad was mounted and brought with them extra horses.
They had a menacing aura about them, and she could see that the foot soldiers that fought earlier respected them and she figured the newcomers were probably the elites.
One of these soldiers brought over a black stallion that was bucking wildly and straining at the leash but once it recognized its master was nearby it snorted and then calmed down.
Tiamat mounted his horse and then he leaned over and picked up Fiona with his arms like she weighed nothing and placed her in front of him.
Now that he found Fiona, she added new complications to his life but that won't deter him, Tiamat gave the signal to leave.