"How can I help?" Vica scarcely realized what she was saying, her trained politeness and nervous manners substituting nicely for her scrambled brain function. For the moment, at least. After all, when the dragon realized that there was absolutely nothing she could do to repay her debt, etiquette would matter little. And unlike arrows that could miss their mark, a dragon's fire could swathe the entire area and roast her only too accurately. She wondered with more than a little despair whether she should have just taken her chances with the pursuers, but then she remembered she had had no choice. This dragon had come to them, not the other way around.
You will come with me, the dragon ordered. Who is the one with you?
She glanced anxiously at Constantine, who was still watching her and the
