easure filled bowl into the cave before using it to wash the

hey were worth as much dented and tarnished as they were from the dragon’s treatment, or whether the dra

the golden-haired man observed from his throne. “

many in my kingdom, and certainly more so than most princesses. He was lonely, however, I thought

reading abou

e Yric of Cynraed, most particularly the Pa

s absorbed in reading poetry, or all the unusual things for him to possibly be reading in a dragon’

would be reading?” h

w. Spell boo

re not sure whether to grimac

ms about?” I retu

battles and events during its last weeks. Its themes include fate, the

the o

irtues of their wives. One becomes envious of the other, and upon meeting the wife, is enamoured of her. He arranges it so that he has access to

he heavy bucket. “

will not submit, Ferandis will kill her and one of her servants, and place them together in the bed, ma

as not a ve

He is most likely fict

s next? Does

draws a dagger from her pillow and kills Ferandis. She has her servants par

is it titled the Dec

entirely truthful about the event, and scholars have argued that the implication is that her declaration of his attempt to ra

t lie, but they can omit, avoid and mislead. The poetry is written in such a way that it im

s

leaned forward on his chair, his golden hair sweeping forward over his shoulder. “For example…” he spoke a phrase and then repeated

at is designed to tell you that th

’re not telling the truth, is it really a lie? The language of deceit was initially developed as a literary device. It was their way of saying

” I puzzled it out. “So, it could be implying that Elovyn is ly

et deceives the reader by recounting a true event, but implying it is

he treasure into

He regarded me with a frown pulling his golden brow

but that’s a bit of a mouthful, and I don’t t

ed, raising his eyebrows.

hink I am named for his great grandmother,

houghtfully. “Or th

e and wondered what that meant. Was Aurien a shortened version of his name, as Li

over its edge several times as I continued to sort through the treasure. Did h

ly disappeared during one of my trips into the side caves to empty my bucket of gold. The throne w

some mythical nature and had simply turned to smoke, fading like a ghost. He had seemed a

es were growing, but I seemed to have made very little difference to the main hoard. My whole body

d proceeded to deftly butcher the meat, hanging the cuts he did not intend to use off hooks hung from the roof of th

structed as he opened a bottle of wine

re, surprisingly, filthy. “Why is the gold so d

nds,” he replied. “Before t

rder in the library, but the precious gems are crushed underfoot.” I had discretely removed the shards of the two stones I had destroyed underfoot and had been relieved to find th

kind that places value on these things. They are just stones, w

dragons ama

and easily lost. We collect what mankind values and respects

ers,” I pointed out. “Th

“Others come for the glo

rying to edge the conversation towards the errant drag

s curled in a lopsid

finished his meal and took his wine with him, r