Lunch done, Acron moved into an open space, looked at the horses, then concentrated hard. Moments later, a sweet-faced, barrel-bodied pony stood where the dragon had been. Joy squealed in delight and rushed to pat him, praising him for his talent and good looks. Connor smiled at Sophia ruefully, "We have a mount for her, …
Anaria's astonished response was drowned by the yells of the village children as they finally tracked down their new favourite adult. The pair were swarmed as the children, fresh from the bath house, clamoured for stories. Anaria checked what preparations Sarah had intended for dinner, then promptly traded two stories for the group's help in …
It was a strange experience. As she passed the people looking at her, they seemed to unfreeze and her progress was marked by a rise in whispers behind her. She didn’t bother looking around, they’d just freeze again. Anyone would think they’d never seen a girl before. She stopped alongside her bouncing guide, directly in …
Chris pulled into the driveway of Ally's cottage and shook his head apologetically at her offer of dinner. "I'd love to spend the evening with you but I have to go. Mrs Rightmore texted earlier. She saw my parents in the village this afternoon and I'm sure they're going to be camped out in my …
Nora's jaw dropped, "You were the Duke of Northaven all this time? You sneaky so-and-so." She turned to Mellisande, "What was your reaction when he told you? When did he tell you?" Mellisande was forestalled by Kid, looking up at Alec with huge, shocked eyes. "You're the mean husband? Why?", his lower lip quivered and …
The following morning followed their plan perfectly. Sophia and Connor ambled down the stairs well after sunrise, yawning and complaining of the interrupted night. The landlord was profuse in his apologies and even moreso as he was called on to serve their breakfast himself. The kitchen hand had needed to leave early in order to …
Sarah was the only one there, and she looked over in sympathy, "If it helps at all, I think you've made the right decision. Best to keep going and make improvements now you've started, get a bit of momentum as it were. Maybe let him take you out for a day in a week or …
Ally signed off from her call with a wave at the people on-screen and looked through her list of things to do as a result of the discussion. She fired off a couple of quick emails to get some tasks moving and flagged the rest for follow-up from home later, where she had the advantage …
After breakfast Millie headed to the pergola outside, disappointed to see Quoth seemed to have given up on waiting for her. She looked around and decided to see if she could find the blacksmith. She wandered towards the side of the square when a flash of blue caught her eye. It was her friendly bluebird, …
The girl, once she’d scrambled around the shutter and into the room, proved to be a big-eyed, scrawny waif not too many years younger than Sophia. She huddled into the corner near the window, sending anxious glances toward it until Sophia closed and re-latched the shutter, wondering at her visitor’s wish for the only exit …
The DNA of Stories 