Damsel Knight Read Online Free PDF Page B

her hair. She did. A girl can't travel with only the protection of a boy and expect to get anywhere in this world alive or unhurt. A boy can. But if anyone were to realise she's a girl under the clothes and shorn hair then it'll be a quick trip to the nearest council and the first available bonfire.
    A grey fog of panic settles over her as Jack only stares at her, any expression lost under his bushy eyebrows and uneven beard. Maybe she should've gone by the road, or even the goat trails, but she'd thought Jack was her safest bet. Which he was, unless he decided to turn her in.
    She swallows, her palms sweating.
    "We stop at Dragon's bay, then go onto the City," Jack says slowly, not looking happy about it. "There you keep your head down until your hair grows back. And you best think up a more convincing name than Bonnie. People look for skirts with a name like that."
    Bonnie gives a relieved smile and holds out a hand. Her legs feel like they're made of water. "Call me Boone."
    Jack wraps his massive hand around her dainty one and shakes. He hitches a shoulder in a half shrug. "It'll do," he says. "But best mind yourself Boone. Dragon's bay is nothing more than a place to go to die. You stick close to me. No going near that castle."
    Bonnie gives a placating smile, but beneath it all her muscles are coiled with tension. Jack's job makes it best for him to travel the coast in ways that attract least notice, but there's another reason for her picking him. It has to do with one of the many stories he's entertained the kids of Porthdon with, and the kids of many a town with.
    It's a story of a dragon with scales as red as blood, and eyes so dark you felt they'd swallow you whole. The beautiful princess he guards, and the prize awaiting anyone with enough bravery to slay him. The red beast with black eyes who killed so many that its footsteps crack on a carpet of bones.

Chapter 4
     
    After all this time, is all Bonnie can think when they finally arrive in Dragon's Bay. Finally, after all this time. Her heart thrums with excitement. She steps onto wet sand cautiously, half expecting this all to be a dream.
    It's a small cove. A short stretch of sand that quickly gives way to grass. To her right the Dark Forest goes on and on as far as she can see. The trees are densely packed together like they're whispering about the secrets they hide. Straight ahead the hill gets steeper and greener with every step.
    Somewhere over that hill is the castle. It's the only building on the bay. From the stories the fishermen told her it's supposed to be on the outer tip of the island overlooking the sea. Of course, it's not really an island. Everyone just says that because it might as well be with the only ways out being the sea and through the forest.
    All the champions that come here to slay the dragon arrive by sea. No one comes through the forest, not even knights.
    Neven steps out of the boat and falls to the ground on his hands and knees. He grips the wet sand with fervour. "Land!" He shouts, tears in his eyes. "I'm sorry I left you. Please never leave me."
    "Get out of my way lad!" Jack stares at Neven with an expression part way between frustration and astonishment. "I have to pull the boat in."
    The past two days have not been a happy time for Neven or Jack. Turns out Neven does get sea sick, and it turns out Jack is allergic to whining. Bonnie's just glad that what happened in the village hasn't taken all of Neven's spirit, though sometimes when he thinks she's sleeping, she'll catch him staring over the edge at the water with a haunted look on his face.
    Neven scurries out of the way, moving up the hill to admire the grass. Jack pulls the boat up the small beach, muttering. Bonnie does her best to help.
    "Are you going to bring that to the castle?" Bonnie asks as Jack heaves one of the boxes up the hill. She has her sword and her pack. She's a little hopeful. It would be a good excuse to get close to the castle, and the dragon.
    "No one