Charles jolted awake because of someone shaking him. Seeing only darkness, he flailed against the assailant. He doubted he could fend anyone off at his age, but instinct had taken hold, and he wasn’t going down quietly. His first thoughts went to the Strauss family he so faithfully served. If they were all right, what this fiend—or fiends—planned for them, and how his final act couldn’t be to die without helping anyone.

“He—”

Whoever had woken him pinned his arms to the bed and hissed into his ear,  “Charles, stop! It’s me!”

Charles stopped struggling immediately. That voice belonged to his employer, Arthur Strauss. “My Lord! I’m so—”

“Shh! Keep your voice down.”

“Forgive me.”

The pressure on his arms vanished and a small lantern came on next to his bedside. Despite the dim flame, he had to shield his eyes from the sudden shift from the darkness.

The round face of Arthur Strauss was easily noticeable. Despite being a Lord, Arthur Strauss was the sort of man whose appearance could be forgotten the moment he was out of sight, but he still carried himself with grace and poise. At present, neither trait was visible. Now, the man who always carried himself with pride looked almost like a street beggar with his disheveled blood-spattered clothing. The sight of it made Charles reel for a moment.

Once he got control of his senses again, he bolted up in bed. “My Lord, you’re bleeding! What happened? Is Lady Della all right? And your son?”

“Everyone is all right,” Lord Strauss replied calmly. “They’re in bed, sleeping.”

“Then…the blood…”

Lord Strauss picked up the lantern and motioned for Charles to follow. Years of traveling through the Strauss mansion as a boy had taught him everything about its halls and its rooms. Where to step to avoid creaking floorboards, which rooms were the coolest during the summer and warmest during the winter. Even with only the dim light of the lantern to guide them, getting around without getting in his Lord’s way or waking the others was child’s play.

They went through the kitchens and out the backdoor. The full moon, high in the cloudless night sky, reflected its pale light on the grass still wet from the rain. A cool breeze blew carrying an earthy scent and shaking the trees just enough for its soft rustling to disturb the calm night silence.

Charles shivered from the chill and wished he had brought a jacket. It was one of those nights. One of the calm and cool nights he enjoyed with a walk during his youth. Now at 54 years old, his nights walking around the grounds were done. His once lustrous brown hair had begun to thin at the top and strands of gray peeked through at his temple. Wrinkles had formed at the corners of his green eyes. The skin of his hands and knuckles had begun to take on an appearance not too dissimilar to stretched leather. But even if he couldn’t speed across the estate grounds at a moment’s notice, his back and legs were still strong enough for him to travel and stand for hours on end as his occupation as the Strauss family’s head butler allowed.

Lord Strauss wasted no time crossing the yard towards the gardening shed. Before opening the door, he looked around. Charles looked around as well, but if someone was watching from the windows they had no way of knowing.

Laying on the floor was a large man. Judging from his filthy, travel-worn clothes, he was no noble. Most of his face was covered by a massive beard. A dagger, buried up to its hilt, protruded from the mysterious man’s blood-covered chest.

Standing over the man was a robed figure, but it was clear even in the dim glow of the lantern that it was a dragon. The massive cloak made it too difficult to make out the species but a pale blue muzzle poked out from beneath the hood and white scales covered its exposed chest.

Charles stopped and held his breath as the scaled beast turned to them. The dragon stood as tall as he did but even at half the size, it would be more than capable of tearing them both apart.

“Who is this?” the dragon said, jabbing the tip of its long tail at Charles.

“He is the most trustworthy man I have the pleasure to know,” Lord Strauss replied as he stepped over the body. “Charles, help me with this. Don’t mind her. She’s…a friend. I’ll explain everything but for now, we must get rid of this man.”

The man was much heavier than Charles expected. Together, they barely lifted the man off the ground. This sort of heavy lifting seemed more of a job for Neville, the groundskeeper, nor did he understand why a dragon was standing in their gardening shed. But Lord Strauss must have a reason for not waking the man. He kept his reservations to himself.

With some maneuvering, they managed to stuff the dead man into a wheelbarrow. Lord Strauss grabbed the lantern and a pair of shovels and walked towards the woods surrounding the estate. The dragon grabbed a large bag in her jaws and followed.

Charles said nothing, his arms straining to push the corpse through the dead of night in the middle of the forest. The trees blocked most of the moonlight so it was darker than ever. The unforgiving roots grabbed at the wheel and blocked the way.

The dragon broke the silence. “Lord Strauss, do we still have an agreement?” She spoke surprisingly clear despite the large bundle in her jaws.

“Yes, we do. I know that man was not speaking for you. As if you would need a thug to threaten me.”

“Thank you.”

Nothing more was said. Charles wanted to ask questions but he was out of breath just pushing the wheelbarrow.

It came as a relief when Lord Strauss finally said, “This is far enough.” He hung the lantern on a nearby branch and handed Charles a shovel.

The ground, still soft from the rain, easily gave way to the shovel’s blade. “My Lord, who is this man?”

Lord Strauss paused long enough to look at the dragon then resumed digging. “A…business associate who made the mistake of threatening my family. Our dragon friend has a proposition for me but her companion wanted to renegotiate the fee.”

Charles said nothing. He knew when to stop asking questions. Only the sound of the shifting earth broke the silence. It didn’t take long for him to start sweating again from the exertion. He couldn’t take his eyes off the body just a few feet away. For the first time serving Lord Strauss, he questioned his employer.

Arthur Strauss was not a violent man. Threats were nothing new to him. If he stabbed someone, it had to be serious. But there was also why it was being kept a secret. That didn’t even begin to cover the dragon standing watch while they dug a grave in the middle of the woods.

It wasn’t a surprise. Lord Strauss had always been vocal about dragon rights and made every effort to be friendly with the wyrms. Charles never understood the obsession but it wasn’t his place to question.

Once they had dug a shallow grave, they dumped the body in it. Lord Strauss removed the dagger from the cadaver’s chest and used an unstained part of his shirt to clean it. He then removed the shirt and threw it on the body.

“My Lord!” Charles began taking off his shirt to place over his lord’s exposed upper half. “You’ll catch a cold in this weather.”

“I appreciate your concern, but I shall be fine. Please, keep your shirt on.” After Charles did as he was told, Lord Strauss added, “Let’s bury this man and get back to the house.”

Covering the body went more smoothly and they finished the task in half the time. Pushing the wheelbarrow through the forest was not. Even with the lack of weight, the path was just as unforgiving as before. Charles suspected he would have blisters by the night’s end.

When they reached the gardening shed, Lord Strauss turned to the dragon. “It’s time, my lady.”

A great sadness was reflected in the dragoness’s eyes. Charles could swear she would be crying if dragons could. Slowly, she approached and placed the bag in Lord Strauss’s arms.

She nuzzled the bag and whispered, “I’m so sorry. Goodbye and please don’t come looking for me. Live the life you were meant to.” She lifted her head and looked at Lord Strauss. “They can never know. I don’t want that life for them. I want them to live free from my mother’s shadow.”

“I swear to you, from one parent to another, we will treat your child with the utmost care,” Lord Strauss said. “They will want for nothing and be treated as one of our own.”

Charles’ eyes widened as he turned to his Lord.

The dragon nodded and looked at Charles. “And what of him? You say he’s trustworthy—”

“And he is,” Lord Strauss interjected firmly. “I trust this man with my life and I never would have brought him into this if I suspected for even a moment he would betray me.”

“Then I leave it to you. Please, break the cycle and give hope to the world.” She turned and ran off towards the woods.

Lord Strauss waited until the dragon disappeared before turning to Charles and giving him the bag. “I need you to take this egg and hide it in amongst your belongings,” said Lord Strauss carefully as if addressing a small child. “I doubt you’ll come across anyone this late at night, but exercise the utmost caution. No one is to know about this until the proper time.” He covered the egg again and handed it to Charles. “Once you’ve concluded your task, please bring me a fresh change of clothes. Something from your wardrobe will do.”

Charles bowed then turned and hurried back toward the mansion. The bag was heavier than he expected but still lighter than a holding tray with a full course meal. He held it close as he half-sprinted back to his room. His mind raced with thoughts.

A dragon egg. His lord had acquired a dragon egg. But why?

Buying or selling dragons or their eggs was illegal. Some noble families kept dragons as pets, but the process of acquiring one legally was long and torturous. That was the official word. In practice, no one bothered to do it the legal way and adopt an abandoned egg or hatchling. It involved lots of bribes, threats, and sometimes murder to acquire the necessary registration papers and cover up the truth. Everyone knew better than to ask questions.

Letting it hatch would cause all kinds of problems. Just getting it registered without raising any flags would cost a few favors and a fair amount of coin. He stopped walking. All he had to do was relax, and Lord Strauss’s problems would end. “It was an accident.” He could say. “I was hurrying and tripped in the dark.” His duty was to the Strauss family after all. If the worst should happen, it would be on his head.

Those who were sloppy or foolish were punished with the greatest prejudice. There were a great number of dragons living independently who would not tolerate their brethren being bought and sold like property. But so long as it was “legal”, there was little they could do. So to placate them, anyone foolish enough to make waves was made an example of.

Charles quickly pushed the morbid thoughts of those he loved being ripped apart by angry dragons away and continued to his room in the servant’s quarters in the west wing. He had been entrusted with an important task, that was all that mattered. No one was likely to be awake at this hour, but he still moved quietly, using his intricate knowledge of the mansion to avoid any places where the floorboards would creak or bump into anything.

He hurried into his room and locked the door behind him before placing the bag on his bed. Curiosity overtook him and he opened it, exposing the egg to the moonlight. The dark grey egg wiggled a little, and Charles fought the urge to hurl it to the floor with all his strength.

Turning away from the unhatched dragon, he leaned against the wall and took several slow deep breaths. This thing would cause nothing but trouble for the Strauss family, but he couldn’t bring himself to do it. Not only because Lord Strauss was counting on him, but because—beast or not—it was an infant, defenseless and harmless. He had been trained to do whatever was necessary for the Strauss family, but such a morbid act was unthinkable.

He turned away and began gathering a change of clothes for Lord Strauss. Wearing a servant’s clothes was beneath someone of his Lord’s status, but the risk of sneaking into the master bedroom and awakening Lady Della was too great.

After gathering the clothes, he hid the bag in the back of the wardrobe then hurried back to Lord Strauss. The man was on his hands and knees scrubbing the blood off the wooden floor of the shed.

“I brought your change of clothes, sir,” Charles said, biting his lip at seeing his Lord in such a position.

Without looking up from his task, Lord Strauss replied, “Good. Set them down over there. Then help me clean up this mess.”

He grabbed a nearby scrub brush and knelt next to Lord Strauss. “Will anyone be coming for that man?”

“No. He won’t be missed.”

They finished scrubbing the blood off the floor in silence. Charles tried not to think about it, but his mind kept drifting back to the egg and the man. As reprehensible as the thug’s actions likely were, he couldn’t deny the guilt of washing away someone’s identity. No one would come looking for this man. It was likely no one would even notice he vanished. Just like that egg. Did someone notice its disappearance? Was there anyone left who cared?

“Is there something bothering you?” Lord Strauss asked.

“I…Well, I don’t understand. You’ve always said how you found the idea of owning a dragon deplorable. You have always spoken out about dragon rights and how we shouldn’t treat them like pets. But now you have a dragon egg, and not only that, a dragon gave it to you. I know it is not my place to ask, but what changed? I can think of no reason why a dragon would willingly give up its child to become a domesticate.”

Lord Strauss was silent for a moment. “A parent will do anything for their child if it means a better life for them. I can’t tell you all of the details, but know she did not make the decision lightly nor would she if there existed an alternative.”

“Forgive me, my Lord. I didn’t mean to speak out of turn. I have no children so I cannot even begin to understand—"

“But you do understand love and that it sometimes demands sacrifice. Grab a bucket and clean the wheelbarrow, please. I can finish up here.”

Charles nodded and set about doing his task. He knew better than ask questions, but Lord Strauss did ask if something were on his mind.

Once the blood had been washed out of the wheelbarrow, he returned it to the shed and found Lord Strauss still inside. He maintained his noble presence despite the common clothing he wore. All signs of what had transpired in the shed were gone.

Still, Charles wanted to be as thorough as possible. “Is there anything else?”

“No, I think we’ve managed to erase what happened here tonight.”

Charles clasped his hands behind his back and said nothing.

“Before we go, I owe you an explanation.” Something about his voice and his posture made Charles straighten up and listen intently. “As you know, I find owing another living thing disgusting. But that is exactly why that dragon came to me with her proposal and why she took such a huge risk. I don’t need to explain to you what will happen if the dragons learn of what happened here tonight.”

He did know and he didn’t want to think about it. So he kept quiet and allowed Lord Strauss to continue.

“I cannot explain the full story for your protection, but know that this is not any dragon. Our actions could very well lead to the peace between humans and dragonkind that I have sought for so long.”

“I understand, my lord.”

Lord Strauss’s gaze turned icy. “No, you don’t. No one truly understands. The dragons are not as helpless and naïve as we like to think. That’s why I would like to have at least one that looks out for this family’s interests before things spiral out of control.”

“I will stand by you no matter what.” He truly understood. The nobles were cutthroat and ruthless. Always looking for a weakness to exploit. It was imperative that Lord Strauss stayed one step ahead of them or risk everything.

“Thank you, Charles. Now let’s get inside. I will be sleeping in my study tonight. Should anyone ask, I came in drunk and soiled myself. You had to clean me up and left me to sleep it off.”

Such a story would have the other servants gossiping for weeks, but Charles bowed and repeated, “Yes, my Lord.” He had regained his senses and knew better than to question his employer especially when he didn’t have a better solution.

After escorting Lord Strauss to the study, Charles returned to his room. The egg was still tucked away in the wardrobe where he had left it. He kneeled and rubbed its rough surface. The egg wiggled slightly as if in response to his touch.

“I promise you shall serve this family well. Lord Strauss’s dream shall become a reality.”