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“When you do not do as you are told, I will make you.”

He stomped his way up the tunnel and then stopped, flinging her inside of an alcove. She immediately turned around, heading straight for him to bash her fists against one of his arms. She uselessly beat against him.

“I am not some pet you can pick up and do with as you will!”

With a sigh, he picked her up with his other paw and pushed her into the alcove. She was just about to turn back around and yell at him again, but then something caught her eye.

The bed has been moved.

Instead of being practically on top of a pile of riches, it now lay in a different room with the backrest placed against a rocky wall. Her eyes fell onto the large paintings of nature that hung high on the walls above furniture.

There was a wardrobe with multiple chests in front of it, and a vanity table with a glass mirror. There were chests of drawers and an empty bookcase next to a plush chesterfield sofa. There was also a long, full body mirror that was cloudy along the edges, withered by time, standing near the wardrobe. She couldn’t see the cave floor because carpets had been laid down. In the very centre of the room lay the metal tub.

Amalia could remember what this room had been, and it had been much smaller before, not as tall, not as wide. It had also been filled with very little.

She turned to him to find he was seated, watching her take everything in.

“I do not understand.”

“You have been walking around my lair without a place to comfortably return to.” His eyes scanned over the furniture and everything he had done. “You miss a home that no longer exists to you so... I have created a new one.”

He did this forher?That’s when she realised that he’d been rude to her because he wanted to keep this as a surprise.

“That is very considerate of you. Thank you,” she said, unable to keep the tender feeling of warmth from spreading through her chest.

She also couldn’t keep that feeling from her face, a caring smile showing for him. She watched the scales around his face become a brighter shade of purple.

“Is that a blush, Dragon?” she asked with a giggle.

His eyes widened in horror.

“No.”

He fled, and she chased after him.

“Yes, it is!”

She managed to grab the tip of his tail and pulled it. Instead of halting him, she ended up being dragged forward against the ground.

He stopped, his head turning slowly with unmasked shock.

“Did... Did you pull my tail?”

She knew at any moment he would explode with rage, and she fell back onto her bottom with a laugh. “Oh, do not be mad. I only wanted to stop you from running away in embarrassment.”

“You dare pull me?!” he roared. “After I do a nice thing for you? I worked all day for an ungrateful cow!”

He didn’t appreciate that his anger was met with more giggles. She covered her mouth when he growled to hide the noise.

His lips curled back over his fangs, and he lowered his head to snarl right in front of her with his snout so close that his breath fanned over her. His eyes were narrowed, and he looked as though he was a moment away from biting her in half.

Amalia didn’t feel fear.

Instead, she leapt forward and wrapped her arms around his scaly neck as best as she could with the differences in their size. She felt him freeze.

“I wanted to spend time with you to thank you,” she said with sincerity. “I did not expect you to show me such kindness.”

She felt the angry tension in his body lessen before one of his paws wrapped around her torso – almost like he was returning her hug.