Page 2 of Dragon’s Ending

I could have done without someone so intent on commenting on my every move and yet not even offering his name. “There’s another case in the car.”

And of course—because I’d already got his measure—he didn’t offer to get it for me. “Doubt you’ll be staying long enough to need all that,” he said.

Turning on his heel, he strode down the drive.

Deciding not to give my not-so-charming welcome another thought, I climbed the steps to the front door and pulled the chain that looked like it was there for that purpose. A metal bell clanged loudly somewhere in the depths of the house, confirming my choice. God forbid they had something like a modern doorbell.

At least the woman who opened the door looked perfectly normal, dressed in jeans and t-shirt, her greying blonde hair scraped back into a ponytail. The challenge in her face as she registered I was a dragon instantly reminded me I was on strange dragons’ territory.

“Ben Berstow, guest of Rhodri Bedwyr,” I supplied quickly.

Who’d invited me purely because of politics. It wasn’t as if I were wanted here. Certainly not by that off-putting dragon I’d just encountered. While I didn’t want to jump to conclusions, I suspected that had been the Bedwyr heir. He certainly had the arrogance to be.

“Come in,” the woman said, her hostility melting away as though it had never been. “Have you had a long drive? I’ll get the kettle on—Mr Bedwyr’s not expecting you until five.”

“I made good time,” I said. If you didn’t count the half-dozen dead ends and the time a tractor nearly put me into the ditch as it rattled along, cheerfully occupying the full width of the hedge-lined lane.

Stepping inside, I found the interior lived up to the larger-than-life outside. The hallway was enormous, more cathedral than house, with a stone-ribbed ceiling soaring overhead. Tall stone arches framed the three doorways leading off from the hall, and an imposing staircase rose at the far end, its bannister decorated with intricate Gothic carvings.

A couple of faded rugs covered some of the stone flags, but they looked very much like an afterthought. The entire impression was one of austerity rather than comfort.

“I’m Glenys. No problems finding us then?” she said, as I followed her into a narrow, dark passageway.

“Thankfully I had an old map book in my car, so I didn’t have to rely completely on GPS,” I told her. “Otherwise who knows where I’d be right now?”

It wasn’t particularly amusing but she laughed. “We are a bit out of the way here, see. We don’t get many visitors.” She threw a quick look back at me. “Or at least, not until recently.”

She left that hanging, and I wasn’t sure whether there was a question behind it. The dragon world was in upheaval, changing how families had dealt with one another for the past few hundred years, but if her head of family hadn’t told her, it wasn’t my place to. Not if I wanted to leave here safely rather than end up flamed into ash.

“So, Dragon’s Ending?” I diverted her. “That doesn’t feel at all ominous to you, living here?”

She laughed again. “Oh, the old place has always been called that, so far as I know. Doesn’t mean anything.”

It didn’t? That’s the thing about my family. Yes, we’re historians. But the very nature of historical documents means that we have to be lexicographers as well, to some extent—looking for meaning in word choice. Tracking the origins of words. And sure, I could crack open my etymology app and find out where ‘ending’ came from, but often these strange place names were due to a dimly remembered story or representation of another word. The only way to find that out was to listen for echoes of folk memory in the tales people told.

Sadly for my purposes, Glenys was far more interested in telling me about her daughter’s upcoming wedding and the problems they’d had with the groom’s family not liking the idea of a ruined castle as the venue for the reception. “Honestly, I don’t know what their problem is. Wanted something more modern, they did. ‘You’ve got a castle. Why would you want a hotel?’ I said. I can’t think of anywhere more romantic myself.”

I couldn’t get a word in edgeways to ask her anything more. So I sat and drank my tea in a large but gloomy kitchen that smelled of warm bread, waiting for five o’clock and my first meeting with Rhodri Bedwyr.

In the middle of Glenys’s description of the ribbon on the bridesmaids’ dresses, a bell rang. I looked up to follow the sound and saw a series of small, brass bells with strings leading to them. The kind that used to summon servants back when people had servants. I hadn’t expected to see them in the twenty-first century. Certainly not being used.

Glenys immediately put her tea to one side and rose to her feet. “Right then, I’ll take you to him. You can leave your bag there,” she said. “Toby’ll take it up. Saves you carrying it all over the house.”

She led me back down the dark, narrow passageway, which I guessed had once been a servant rat-run. I wished I was better informed about architecture. This place would undoubtedly be fascinating to someone who understood what they were looking at. All I really knew about it was that it was enormous, dark, and caused me to feel slightly uneasy.

Or maybe it wasn’t the building that made me feel that way. Glenys knocked on one of the closed doors leading from the hall, and waited to be bidden before showing me in. The dragon sitting behind the imposing desk in the corner of the room didn’t look exactly welcoming.

His hair was dark, and his face reminded me of the dragon I’d met outside. But it was his eyes that made me stand very carefully still. They burned with something. Power, perhaps. Or temper? Either way, this was not a dragon I’d ever want to upset.

I ducked my head respectfully, then met his gaze again. “Ben Berstow, sir. Thank you for having me here.”

He stood, and as I studied him, I realised he was younger than I’d assumed. Probably in his early fifties.

“Why exactly do you think you’re here?”

“To read your family records and find out if they contain information that we’re missing in our history of dragons,” I said. “The one my family is collating for all dragons.”

He eyed me for a long time, but I had no ulterior motive here, no reason to hide anything. I stood there and wondered why he’d allowed me access if he was this suspicious.