Her Dragon To Slay(58)

Kyndel shook her head and giggled, “He really is a goof.” She hadn’t realized she had spoken out loud until Siobhan laughed along with her.

“I’ve never seen the Commander like that. You’re good for him. Before you he was always serious, always reviewing the last battle or preparing for the next. I can count on one hand the number of times I’ve seen him smile since he was accepted into the guard.”

Kyndel’s felt her cheeks warm at the older lady’s revelations. “Can I ask you a question…” she paused as she realized she did not even know this woman’s name.

“Siobhan, my name is Siobhan. I am the Chief Healer and very pleased to meet you.” She extended her hand. Kyndel felt warmth spread up her arm as she held the Healer’s hand. It was the same feeling she got every time she had held Granny’s hand.

“I’m very pleased to meet you, Siobhan. Are you who I have to thank for patching me up?” She reached behind her head to feel the stitches she had just realized were there when they pulled as she moved her head.

“Yes, I stitched your wound and gave you herbs comparable to your human antibiotics.”

“You know herbs?” she asked as Siobhan nodded. “My granny used herbs and plants to heal everything. She was somewhat of a healer herself for the people in her small town. She taught me everything she could.” She looked up at the very tall stately woman with kind eyes beside her bed and felt an immediate kinship, “Thank you very much.”

“You are very welcome. I was very happy to be able to help. Human physiology is a little different than ours. I usually only treat those who’ve already mated with their dragon partners, so I had to guess on a few things.” She talked while she checked Kyndel’s pulse, felt her arms and legs for any residual pain and finally examined the stitches in her head. “Your granny taught you about healing?”

“She did. Taught me what herbs and plants cured each ailment. I’m nowhere as good at it as she was but I can take care of myself without having to pay a doctor,” she chuckled.

“You are very gifted, as well, Kyndel. I can feel it and the Commander mentioned it, also. When you’re well and settled in I would like to talk to you about helping us from time to time.”

“I think I’d like that,” she said with a smile on her face. And the longer she thought about it, the better she liked it. “I’d like that a lot since it seems I’m here to stay.” And once again she found herself giggling. It had to be a side effect of Rayne. She’d never giggled so much in her entire life.

“You sound like you’ve known Rayne for a long time.” She left her thought hang in the air, hoping Siobhan would pick it up and talk about her mate without much encouragement.

Siobhan chuckled, “You could say that. I was there the day he was born. I’ve administered every test he’s ever had and tended to almost every wound he’s received since that day. What is it you would like to know?” Siobhan leveled a knowing glance at her.

Busted! Nothing got past this woman. Kyndel should’ve been embarrassed but she wanted answers to some of her questions more than she cared about a little embarrassment. “Is he really one hundred and nineteen years old?”

“Yes, that sounds about right.” She stopped her examination. “But is that really what you want to ask, Kyndel?”

What the hell was the matter with her, she was never shy about anything. “No, you are absolutely right, that’s not what I want to ask. I want to know what happens when we mate. Rayne mentioned something about a formal mating ceremony. He mentioned that we would then be bound together, that I would get some of his abilities. Is that really what happens?”

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Having finished her exam of Kyndel, Siobhan sat in the chair beside her bed and looked out the window over her bed. “Before I answer you, child, let me ask you a question. Do you love Rayne MacLendon?” she folded her hands across her lap and watched Kyndel, patiently waiting for her answer.

“Yes, yes, I do but I haven’t told him yet. I didn’t realize I was actually in love with him until that idiot psycho had me at knife point and I thought I was going to die. I thought about how terrible it would be to be killed and not have the chance to tell him how I felt.” She twisted the blanket covering her lap in her hands. “I can’t imagine my life without him and I have no idea how it happened so quickly. I don’t trust easily but somehow he wormed his way right into my heart. Now I can’t imagine my life without him,” she shrugged and tried to look nonchalant but Siobhan felt her conflicting emotions. “You must think the bump to my head knocked something loose.”