"The Wanderer works for the Grand Lord?"
Captain Reyne frowned deeply, looking much as Annan had when he first heard the news.
"Are you certain?"
Annan replied from the other side of the Portal, "The source is reliable."
Black Mole had no reason to lie about it. Not that the Ratfolk had no reason to deceive him, but he and the Grand Lord were already at odds. Knowing this would change nothing.
"Skeeter is still with the Wanderer..."
"Mm. Give me something that belongs to Skeeter."
Captain Reyne stepped away. Joan came over. "Annan, can I ask you something?"
"Go ahead."
"What does a Dragon Rider do?"
"What are you thinking of doing?"
Was there a second Dragon here? No. Joan clearly wanted to ride Illymoyas.
Joan told Annan about the battle earlier. "Illymoyas can find enemies and dodge on her own. It feels like she doesn't need a rider on her back getting in the way..."
Annan thought it over. "A Dragon Rider is basically a caretaker."
"Like Elder?"
"More or less, except Elder doesn't have to go into battle."
What did Elder do? Joan searched her memories: Elder roasting meat for the White Dragon, taking her out to relax, teaching her to read and to fetch things, bathing her... Heh heh... Bathing her...
"Miss Joan, please behave yourself."
Joan's emotions had already spilled over to Annan.
Honestly, Annan didn't think it was a bad thing for Illymoyas and Joan to grow close.
For one thing, Joan was good at heart. At worst, she had picked up a few minor habits while working as a traveling merchant. She was ambitious, too; Captain Reyne had already told him how she had performed today.
Most importantly, Illymoyas didn't dislike her.
The arrogance of Dragons was an old story. Apart from Elves,