‘Stop it, Fen.’ Draco tried to break free, but couldn’t shake off the powerful paws, though it didn’t look as if he was trying very hard either. ‘He’s my master. Behave yourself, please.’ It was an amusing sight, watching the boy try to explain something to the beast leaning against him. ‘Welcome home, master,’ the dragon greeted him as soon as he’d managed to persuade the beast to let him go.
‘I see there have been quite a few changes whilst I was away.’ Darius said with a smile. He felt like stepping closer to his pupil and greeting him properly, but Fen shot him fierce glances whenever the earl took even half a step towards the dragon. Bleist didn’t need to ask to know that the beast had chosen Draco as its rider. Otherwise, it wouldn’t have reacted in such a defensive manner.
It was, however, rare for a beast to form a bond with someone of the dragon’s age, though it did happen from time to time. Darius himself had witnessed this on several occasions, and each time he reacted with equal surprise. He could not forget how, back in his father’s day, one of the besses from Enpine had set its sights on one of the stable boys, a parthir who was barely seven at the time, as its rider. What’s more, it had done so in a rather dangerous manner, suddenly leaping at the youngster and knocking him off his feet. Fortunately, the poor lad’s head was protected by natural armour; otherwise, the violent collision with the cobblestones might have ended rather badly. The beast was so fierce and possessive that it would not let him stray more than two paces away from it. Tarden Joest was rather short, even for his age, so he was essentially unable to get any further away from his mount than an arm’s length. Bleist remembered looking at the boy, barely a year his junior, with envy, at least until he saw in his eyes, glowing with a blue sheen, the terrible exhaustion, the sense of being overwhelmed, and the
