Page 17 of Purple Protector (Eiloren Clan #3)

BIRCH AND MARLIN COULDN’T find Aaron’s attacker.

He’d given them a pretty good description now that he’d seen the dragon again, yet it was like the dragon didn’t even exist. No matter how many times Birch and the others searched the palace, the dragon was nowhere to be found, to the point in which Birch was convinced they’d left.

Aaron hoped so. He was still worried and wanted to know why they’d attacked him and what he’d done to deserve it, but he was more focused on being safe, and with the dragon gone, he was.

As long as no one had decided to attack him again.

He didn’t think that would happen. Whatever the dragon had been trying to do when they’d attacked, no one else seemed to want to do the same.

In fact, a few dragons had stopped Aaron in the hallways to apologize to him for what happened.

Some clan members might not be happy with his presence, but they wouldn’t attack him for that.

Besides, he was a clan member, too, and he was close to the king.

No one wanted to attack a friend of Killian’s—even though Aaron wouldn’t exactly consider himself a friend of the king.

So Aaron might never get an answer, but that was fine with him. Eventually, he’d forget all about the attack. He’d be able to focus on starting a new life with the clan, and he couldn’t wait.

Everything else in his life was going great.

His second article had been received with as much interest as the first one.

Aaron had moved all his stuff and was now living with Birch.

He’d made new friends, especially Taylor and Palmer, but not only.

He had a future here, and he wouldn’t let anyone ruin it, especially not a dragon he didn’t know and probably would never see again.

He was still cautious as he walked through the hallways on his way to the dining hall.

He spent a lot of time there. He enjoyed people-watching, and most people were more relaxed when food was involved.

He’d had a few interviews in the dining hall over a meal recently, and it was where he usually saw Palmer and Taylor.

They almost always had time for lunch, while the rest of their days were busy, sometimes too busy to do anything but focus on work.

They did important stuff, unlike Aaron, and he didn’t want to bother them when they should focus on that.

As was their routine, he went straight for the food when he walked into the dining hall. He waved at Taylor and Palmer, then took his place in the line. He was right behind two dragons who were talking in soft voices.

“I’m telling you that you don’t look so good,” one of the dragons said. They were a brilliant blue.

“I’m fine,” the second dragon—they were a pale yellow—said in a voice that told Aaron it wasn’t the first time they reassured their friend.

“You’re pale, even for you,” the blue dragon insisted. “And you haven’t been eating a lot.”

Their words reminded Aaron of Birch. He’d been incredibly busy looking for Aaron’s attacker and doing his job as Killian’s bodyguard, but he hadn’t looked so good lately, either.

Aaron didn’t know much about illnesses that affect dragons, so maybe there was some kind of flu going around or something.

He was a bit worried for Birch because he didn’t want anything to happen to him on the job, but it wasn’t like he could tell Birch to take time off.

Even if Birch wanted to, he was one of the few people Killian trusted with his life and the lives of his children. Birch took that very seriously.

“It’s just that time,” the yellow dragon said. “You don’t have to worry. It’ll pass.”

The blue dragon quickly nodded. “Oh, I get it. Yeah, I’m never feeling great when it’s my time.”