The Last Dragon Rider (Book 1 of Rider Series)

Chapter 39

I walked into the Pub later that evening and looked at the lantern to see that it was lit. I pressed my lips into a thin line and bit back an annoyed sigh.

"Come and see me," the person at the bar said, and I looked over to see that it was Charles. He smiled, but there was a small bit of worry in his eyes while he looked at me. "He's busy."

I bit back a groan and nodded before I walked over to him, annoyed that I couldn't go see Jonah as quickly as I liked.

Charles dipped his head in greeting and gestured for me to go into the back, where I had a feeling there was food waiting for me. "Do you have any news for me?" he asked and raised an eyebrow while he looked at me expectantly.

"What did you do?" I asked my dragon while I passed Charles with a shake of my head and walked into the kitchen. I pressed my lips into a thin line and became annoyed with my dragon because I had no idea what he had done.

"Nothing," Shilan defended himself. "I didn't even take any food like I had wanted to." He huffed, and I had a feeling that he flicked his tail, annoyed. "So I don't know what his problem is."

I scowled and didn't respond. I narrowed my eyes and stayed silent while I entered the back room where Maron was working on some bread. "What'd he do this time?" I asked and looked at Charles, folding my arms across my basket.

Shilan scowled, and I could feel his annoyance from where I was at because I didn't believe him. "Gee, thanks," he grumbled sarcastically. "Thank you for believing in me when I said that I didn't do anything."

Charles blinked and blinked a little, confused. "Uhhhhhh," he said and looked at Maron before he looked at me when he realized what I meant. Fear and worry filled his eyes, and I could tell that he didn't know if Maron knew about my "little" secret.

"I have known what she is longer than you, Charles," Maron says, not looking at us while she finished kneading the dough. "There is no need for that."

Charles gave her a weird look before he looked at me. "Anyway, no, he didn't do anything this time. It is the... Witch-Master that I am talking about and not him."

"Ha! Told you," Shilan said gleefully, and I mentally rolled my eyes and scowled. "You should have trusted me when I said that he wasn't talking about me."

"This time," I reminded him, and my dragon grumbled in annoyance but didn't say another word because he knew what I said was true. "What about him?" I asked and walked over to a bowl of food that Maron had set for me. I set my basket down and picked up the bowl before I made my way towards the open flame.

Charles stayed silent and watched me do my prayer, praying for guidance and for Silan's protection. He folded his arms across his chest while he waited and tapped a finger on his arm nervously.

After I was done with my prayer, I turned my head to look at him and raised an eyebrow. "Well?" I asked while I made it to the table again.

Charles sighed and shook his head. "There are rumors spreading around that there are now two of them," he said. "One of them is an old white man who had a feather in his hand while the other one doesn't have a feather but is asking things that he should already know."

I took a bite of my food and stayed silent while I replayed what he said in my head. "First off, if there are two or more Silans, I can't say, not yet at least," I said after I finished my bite. I raised my hand when he opened his mouth to protest, and he closed his mouth and pursed his lips. "I need to talk to Jonah about this first. You know how he is." I gave him a pointed look.

Charles grumbled and wrinkled his nose in disgust because he knew that Jonah hated learning stuff from me second handedly. "I do," he confirmed and sulked a little. "Will you tell me?" He raised an eyebrow in question.

"Will you make sure that the Witch-Master is fed?" I asked and raised mine. I wrinkled my nose in disgust when I called Silan Witch-Master because that wasn't normal. "And you know that you can call him, Silan, right? There is no need to call him "Witch-Master."'

Charles grumbled and sulked a little in dissatisfaction because he had tried to trick me, but I didn't fall into his trap. "I'll make sure he's fed," Charles said finally. "I am not sending Josh the back way if there are two Witch-Masters," he said. "I don't c-" He stopped talking when I flicked a finger and scowled.

"I wasn't going to have him go back there anyway," I said, deciding not to fight him about calling Silan Silan instead of Witch-Master because I had a feeling that he wouldn't. "It's not safe, and I had already informed my mother as to where I would be before I got here."

Charles nodded and looked relieved. "Good," he said.

"What does your mother have to say about all of this?" Maron asked. She finished kneading the dough and wrapped it so that it could rise.

"She is nervous," I replied and took another bite of my food. "She doesn't like doing this, being the one, but she knows that she can't control it, nor can she control me and tell me not to be the one."

"Hmph," Maron replied and started to make another loaf. She didn't say another word, so Charles and I looked at her before we looked at each other and shrugged.

"Has Silan stopped by?" I asked, and Charles nodded. I paused in taking another bite of food, and my heart skipped a beat. Worry filled my body while I looked at him, and I prayed nothing bad had happened to the people that "lived" here. "What happened?"

Charles shrugged and grimaced. "Nothing really," he said. "I didn't talk to him, but Horon did. Horon said that the Witch-Master was indeed acting strange and sent him out, and he left without another word."

I slowly nodded and took another bite of my food. "Is Horon still here?" I asked, and Charles nodded. I nodded and set my fork in the bowl, deciding that I wanted to talk to him instead of finishing eating before I had to talk to Jonah and then train.

"No, Ma'am," Maron said, and I stopped in my quest and looked at her with wide eyes. She scowled and narrowed her eyes, and mine grew wider because she never acted like this with me. "You will do no such thing as questioning him," she said. "You will finish your meal before you train with Jonah. You can question him later."

"But he could forget before then," I defended myself, not getting back into the chair like I should. "I can finish eating later."

"No," Maron said. She pointed at my food. "Now, eat."

"Bu-"

"I. Said. No."

I looked at Charles for help, but all he did was shrug and didn't say a word. I looked at Maron to see that she was still pointing at the bowl and groaned because I knew that I wasn't going to get out of this one.

"Fine," I grumbled and slouched back into my seat. "But just know that I don't like it."

And with that, I picked up my fork and started to eat again while I sulked because I had to get the information out of Horon as soon as possible before he didn't remember everything that had happened in the conversation with the fake Silan.

Gods, please let him remember everything when I can question him about Silan, I silently prayed. Please.