The Dragonswarm Read Online Free

clucked to her horse. She started across the courtyard at an easy walk, and I managed to fall in beside her.
    "We'll take it slow," she said. She glanced around, then reached across to squeeze my hand where it gripped the reins too tightly. "We'll make a pleasant ride of it. You'll do fine."
    I smiled back, lips pressed tight, then held my tongue while we picked our way out of the little town. It was a laborious journey, my horse dancing erratically to the tension that thrummed through my arms and legs. Isabelle divided her attention between answering cheerful greetings from the townsfolk and whispering advice to me.
    When we finally slipped past the last line of houses and out into the wide, empty land outside the town, I took an easier breath. Three paces later I was riding more easily in the saddle, and my horse was keeping a more natural gait. I felt Isabelle's eyes on me and turned to her.
    "I never noticed before," she said. "Do city streets really trouble you so much?"
    I glanced back over my shoulder toward the town, then shook my head. "Not at all. I grew up in the City. But the little riding I've done has all been in open land."
    I turned forward again and looked down the long road at the wide, flat plains stretching all the way to the horizon. "It's easier out here," I said. "There's nobody to hurt with a moment of carelessness."
    "Nobody but yourself," she said. "Or me."
    Her voice turned soft toward the end, and when I looked I saw her biting her lip and watching me. I couldn't hold her gaze. We rode in silence for a while after that, putting the town far behind us.
    I remembered what she had said in the halls of her father's house. I remembered what she'd asked me in the garden, too. Three times I opened my mouth to break the silence. Three times I shut it again without saying a word.
    At last she moved her horse half a pace closer to mine. "I didn't know you'd lived in the City."
    I looked her way. I shrugged. "I mentioned it the first time we met. At the palace."
    She thought for a moment, then gave a slow nod. "You said you were a beggar."
    "I was a beggar," I said. "And a carriage driver. And then I left the City to become a shepherd."
    She sighed. Her eyes were unfocused, and I saw the hint of tears in them. I reached across to squeeze her hand, as she had done earlier.
    "I know so little about you," she said. Her voice shook. "Six weeks we've been together, and I barely know anything." She caught her breath, and a blush touched her cheek. "I asked you to marry me. You must have thought me so stupid."
    I shook my head. "I think you're courageous. And impulsive. And I admire you for both. I think you've found a lot of success by deciding what you want or need and pursuing it aggressively. "
    She didn't answer that. This time I broke the silence. "I'm sorry I've kept secrets. I didn't want—"
    "I know," she said. Her voice was a little raw. "You already said you didn't want me to see you for what you were. I'm just realizing now...."
    She trailed off. I gave her time, but she didn't complete the thought. At last I asked her, "What?"
    "I'm just now realizing how much you kept hidden."
    "I didn't," I tried, then had to swallow hard and start again. "I wasn't trying to hide anything. I just saw no opportunity to bring it up."
    "I thought you were joking," she said. "About being a beggar in the City. About being a shepherd, too, no matter how you insisted."
    "But—"
    "No." She shook her head. "That's not all my fault. You act nothing like a beggar. You act nothing like a shepherd or a fugitive. You may dress the part of a stable hand, but you walk like a soldier and speak like a wizard."
    I looked down at the shirt I wore. It was not the finery Isabelle had given me as a gift, but it was far nicer than anything I'd worn for most of my life. The rest...I shook my head. "I never meant to deceive you."
    "The worst part," she said, not hearing me, "is how much I loved you."
    "Loved?" I asked, hearing too clearly the