That is, if she even wanted him to share her life that way…
“I was only twentyish, I think, when I met Driana. Then I lost her, then…Ach, you’re the scholar, Ainsworth! Maybe you can figure it out for me. Although I suppose you didn’t figure out that it was my history you sorted out up here, my life you neatly stacked together.”
“Ah,” he said, clearing his throat, grateful for the slight change of topic. “The diaries. All yours, I presume? You are Beatrice, the inn’s founder, then?”
“That was the first name I chose for myself as an adventurer,” she said, softly. “I wished to return to that person, so I took the name back when I decided to leave my hoard. But…It had become difficult, physically, for me to leave the proximity of the mountain. Logically I cared little for my territory. But instinctually I was constantly anxious, restless at the thought of it being unguarded.”
Something that had been irking him for a while finally clicked into place. “Ah, your hoard…that’s why the finances didn’t add up. You don’t need money to run this place. You have it already. You’re…redistributing your wealth?”
She sighed. “Attempting to, I suppose. I feel awful about how I accumulated most of it. At the inn, I…use it to support the people who need a new life. A life that lets them simply slow down and not destroy themselves.”
“And that’s why you set up the inn in the first place? To offer…employment?” Ainsworth asked, somewhat baffled. There wereother ways Honey could have utilized her wealth to make things easier for people, surely?
She looked downward at her clasped hands. “Well, that’s part of it. I actually wanted a chance to stop people from taking on the mountain, and to talk with people who were consumed by ambition. Why else would they come here? Even though I had left, people still sought the mountain, my treasure, the glory of slaughtering me. Most would be killed or harmed in the attempt to do so. It mattered little that I was not there; the beasts of the mountain had thrived under my reign, and the mountain itself is a dangerous, unpredictable territory. So I decided to establish an inn at the foot of the mountain and try to deter guests from seeing the task through—to help them realize their self-worth, the value of their life. That they did not need grand adventures and accomplishments to find fulfillment.
“I didn’t want people to know how old I was, due to the Dragon Pèidse rumors potentially coming back to bite me. I’ve taken a fair few names, and I adopted the name Honey just before Ashe and Ruraidh arrived. Within the last few decades especially, there was a period of fairly quick staff turnover and so few guests that it was relatively easy to do. I had spent almost a century trying to convince people to leave the mountain and abandon their quest, and over time I suppose my endeavors worked too well. The mountain’s reputation and people’s knowledge of the inn faded into memory as fewer and fewer adventurers sought the challenge. When guests arrived each night intent on conquering the mountain, I would simply use my magic. I spoke to them in their dreams, let them know they were worthy of contentment, of happiness, just as they were. That they had nothing to prove. And for a while, that was enough. But then people would come whose ambition outweighed my reassurance—their insecurities too strong, their ambition too fierce—and they would head to the mountain anyway.
“Eventually I found I could simply…push a little harder. I had expected to weaken during my time at the inn, as I spent my hoard and decreased its value, but instead, I felt my magic growingstronger. The inn, its guests, my staff…they became my treasure, what I value most in the world and what I’d do anything to protect. I found that if my words in the adventurers’ dreams were not enough, then I couldcompelthem to back off. It took a while to perfect, but I hadn’t failed with anyone in years…until you! Also, it is not a spell, not something that can be formulated and written down for sorcerers or scholars to learn and master. It is my inherent power, which is why you could not detect any magical tampering—although I suppose technically you were right. And when you arrived, I had to add a little more to my nightly task. I forbade the guests to speak of their dreams in case you should pester them about their decision. And pester them you did.”
She continued, her voice sounding somewhat like a plea. “Say something, Ainsworth. Do you think me monstrous? Arrogant? I’m sorry for not telling you the truth. I’m sorry for making you feel bad for accusing me of interfering with the guests when I absolutely was. Only Bren and Spin know who I truly am, thanks to the time they’ve spent here.”
Ainsworth recalled the effort he had to expend to wrench his mind away from Honey’s power, and the influence she had held over him before he managed to do so. Yet there was no doubt she’d also told him something he’d needed to hear—something he’d known deep down but buried under his attempts to become someone he thought he ought tobe.
Tentatively, he placed his hands on either side of her face, cupping her cheeks. “I do not find you monstrous, Honey. And I think what you’ve created here, using the inn to provide a restful life for the people who most need it, is…magnificent. Although I suppose I have now ruined that with my marketing efforts.”
She let loose a laugh in relief, and he smiled as he wiped away one of her tears. “Oh, you caused more work for me in more ways than one, but I enjoyed it, Ainsworth. I’ve been here for almost two hundred years, and the last few decades have been particularly quiet as knowledge of the mountain and inn continues to fade into dust.How can I help those that do not come to the inn? And yet I was able to offer quiet respite for my staff and the few who made it this far. It was something, at least. But I admit, I welcome the change you brought, and the chance to do a little more good again. Dragons are supposed to love a challenge, after all.”
“I’m glad of that, Honey. But…I do not think you should force people’s hand with your magic anymore. I mean…the ethical implications are…” Ainsworth shook his head, knowing what the Skarrow Institution would make of such a tale should any magic-wielders in their employ use their power in such a way.
“But I am saving their lives—in more ways than one!” Honey protested. “Ainsworth, I no longer reside there, but there are plenty of dangers who still call that mountain home.”
“Enach used to make decisions he thought were best for me, too,” Ainsworth said softly. “Undoubtedly, some of those decisions did improve my life. The clothes I wore, the food I ate…but I had very little agency.”
She looked at him, aghast, and pulled away. “I am not like him! I am—I am doing agood thing,Ainsworth!”
“I know—and I know you are not remotely like him. Making people realize their self-worth, that they are good enough without chasing heady ambitions…that is actually quite marvelous, Honey. But…it is the way you go about it. You possess an extremely powerful geas! You could have made me do anything if you had truly put your mind to it. And…” He hesitated, knowing that what he was about to say was something she should hear but probably did not want to. “Stopping people from going to the mountain now will not— Well, it will not undo the hurt you caused when you were guarding your hoard.”
“I…I know you are right, but…” She stumbled back into the bookshelves, her voice trembling. When next she spoke, he heard the dragon within her. “It’s my mountain.Mymountain, Ainsworth. I don’t want any more blood spilled on it.”
She jumped as a few of the books behind her fell to the floor,displaced by her fall. Ainsworth carefully bent to pick them up, and as he stood upright to replace them he pulled her away from the shelf and put his arms around her. “I know you don’t.”
She suddenly began to sob. Ainsworth marveled for a moment that it was a dragon who buried her head into his chest, trembling with each renewed tear. But she was also just Honey. He held her tight and told her that he was sorry for everything she had faced alone all those years. That he was sorry for the people she’d lost, for the hurt she had kept locked up until now. As he held her, he thought of where they both stood—in a room surrounded by the history of her life. The life she had spent trying to make things right, in her own way.
“You know…” he said when Honey had finally stopped crying. “Despite your best efforts, I think I will go to Mount Vengeance tomorrow.”
She sniffed. “I suppose the ‘curse’ is broken, then. Congratulations. Although I already got to Ashe and Ruraidh, so they won’t go. I saved you for last.”
He laughed. “I was actually wondering if you might come with me?”
She paused for a moment before she spoke into his chest. “If you insist. I’m not undoing the work I did to the others, though.”
“That’s fine,” Ainsworth said, holding her tight. “I’d rather it just be us, anyway.”
Chapter 32
They only managedto get a few hours’ sleep, but waking up with Honey nestled against him made Ainsworth feel as though he could run up Mount Vengeance with ease and be back before lunch. They exchanged sheepish smiles as they rose to get ready for the day, despite nothing…untoward occurring the previous night. It was merely that it did not seem like the kind of night one spent alone, after all that had occurred between them. So they had not.
The day began as predicted. Freckle boomed down the stairs at breakfast and clapped Ainsworth on the back as he sat sipping tea, sending it spilling across the table. “Sorry, pal. Won’t be leaving today after all!”
