Dragon Maid Read Online Free PDF Page B

neon.
    She shielded her eyes with a hand. “What manner of magic creates light this strong?”
    “Hush. We call it electricity. Come on.” He guided her to a display rack and selected a serviceable pair of lace up boots. “What do you think of these?”
    She wrinkled her nose. “They’re ugly and shoddily made.” She flicked a loose thread with a fingertip.
    “Then you pick something.”
    She glanced about and trailed her hands over tennis shoes and sandals as she walked through the store. After oohing and aahing over several pairs of high heels, she let him guide her back to the place they’d begun. “Britta. It’s summer, but the nights are always on the chilly side. Your feet will get cold unless you get sturdy boots and socks. How about if we try these.” He pointed. “And those.” He pointed again.
    “I suppose ye’re right. Do ye think either could be dyed black?”
    A clerk had been hovering. “We have that style in black, ma’am. What size should I get for you?” He glanced down and inhaled audibly. “B-but you’re barefoot. Your feet must be freezing.”
    Color stained Britta’s cheeks. “’Tisn’t so bad as all that, laddie.”
    Jonathan thought quickly. He closed his hand around Britta’s arm and gave it a warning squeeze, hoping she’d understand not to contradict him. “My sister just gave birth. Err, twins. Her feet got bigger. Much bigger. Nothing fits but her house slippers, and she was too embarrassed to wear them. How about if you measure her?”
    “Certainly. If you’d just sit over there?” The clerk gestured to a bank of chairs.
    After shooting Jonathan an annoyed look, Britta followed the clerk.
    An hour later, they had two pairs of shoes, one black, one brown, socks, underwear, three pairs of warm corduroy pants, sweaters, T-shirts, and two jackets. Jonathan was a thousand pounds poorer but considered the funds well spent. She’d stopped trying to seduce him from the moment they’d left Kheladin’s cave, which meant he’d simply enjoyed her company.
    She led the way out of the clothing store he’d selected after they finished with the shoe store and turned to him. “Can we get something to eat now?” Both of them were laden with bags.
    “Sure. What do you feel like?”
    She leaned close. “I doona know. Everything here is so strange, I feel I am playacting, yet without knowing my lines. Pick something. Simple food and stiff spirits.”
    “Have you heard anything from Kheladin?”
    She shook her head. “Nay, but Tarika isna pleased. She believes we waste valuable time. ’Tis possible she will settle once we find food. She is hungry.”
    Jonathan considered their options. He didn’t want to bring her to a noisy pub where they’d have to strain to hear one another. Nor did he want a nightclub. He looked up and down one of Inverness’ main streets. His gaze settled on a smallish place where a sign promised EXCELLENT FOOD IN AN INTIMATE ATMOSPHERE. Sounded perfect.
    “Let’s try over there. Maybe we’ll have enough privacy to answer some of those questions I’ve seen dancing behind your eyes.”
    She smiled at him. Really smiled without coquettish edges. “Ye’ve been truly kind to me. I apologize for…well, for how I was earlier. I shouldna have been such a tease.”
    “Apology accepted. I do understand, though.”
    She cocked her head to one side. “Do ye?”
    He grinned. “Sure. Sex is power. Or it can be. But being friends is better.”
    She grinned back. “To friendship, then. Find us a bottle, and we can drink to it.”
     
     
     
     

Chapter Three
    Britta followed the black-suited servant who’d greeted them at the door of the eating establishment, toward the back of the room. It was quite dark, and she raised a hand to summon her mage light. Jonathan, apparently intuiting what she was about, dropped a warning hand onto her shoulder. How can all these people live in a world without magic?
    “Good question,” Tarika hissed. The dragon rolled