Page 32 of Dragon Keeper

Oh, she was so much more conversational like that—mind to mind.

“That’s only fair, right?” Brayden said. “The soil is different here, and the weather is, too. I can feel it. It’s more humid and a little bit warmer.”

“Hoo-mid?” she said.

“That means how much water is in the air,” Sloan told her.

“Like whens it rains?”

“Sort of like that, dear one,” her mother said. “But more like how much water is in the air every day when it’s not raining. You’ll learn about that in school.”

“We call it humidity,” Sloan told her.

“Hu ma diddity.”

“Exactly.” Riley held out his hand to fist bump, and she just sort of stared at him oddly.

“This is what he wants,” Brayden said, and he fist bumped Riley, exaggerating the motion.

Oh!Her eyes lit up, and she whacked Riley right on his knuckles with her little hand.

“You are one strong little girl,” Riley told her, and she nodded, so sure of herself.

“My daddy says so all the time.”

Tyr’s sister just chuckled and shook her head. “Please let me get you something to drink, and we’ll visit.”

“Let me help, sister.” Tyr nuzzled her cheek and then the two of them bustled around and chattered away, probably in theirheads because they could see their expressions changing, but they couldn’t hear what they were saying.

That was just fine because little Fredda kept them busy the entire time with her sweet chatter.

The ebb and flow of activity in the house seemed really natural and sort of wonderful.

It had been so long since he and his brothers had had some sort of stability, any kind of home of their own.

It shocked him how easily he was becoming accustomed to this life, how he felt as if he were integrating incredibly fast. He would defend it as hard as he could against any comers.

“Did I tell you?” Tyr murmured to his sister, loud enough for them all to hear. “We were blessed with a house spirit.”

Her eyes went wide, the blue sparkling. “So soon? That’s wonderful, braedor.”

Tyr nodded happily, bringing over a tray with a pale yellow drink that seemed to shine like the sun. “Isn’t it? He’s a tragae, and he came when Sloan was sitting in the cold storage in the underground and imagining what he wanted out of the house. I have no doubt that Sloan will get what he wants, including a pool.”

She raised one scaled eye ridge. “You do know anytime that you want to swim, you may come here.”

Sloan took a glass and nodded. “Of course, but I’m sure that this isn’t tropical. In the winter, it must be super cold. I’m not a fire dragon, and I can make my own warm water, but it’s really nice to soak your bones in a heated pool in the winter.” He beamed at her. “You could all come up there and visit us.”

“Oh, I like hot watters. We can go when the pool is there, Mama?”

She nodded. “Of course. Once the house is finished, we’ll go see Tyr and his home.”

“And the bees, Mama?”

“And the bees, my little minnow.”

“Yay!”

Suddenly, something in the water caught Sloan’s eye, something that was a brighter purple than the water, something which glinted off the sunlight. He tensed, staring. Everything in his body warned him someone was coming.