DRAGON BAIT

Chapter Six

Duo wasn\'t sure why but Heero had made them wait until night fall before they set out. A lovely white stallion was outside the barn , \"It wouldn\'t be appropriate for a couple of wealth to be walking so I nagged us this horse as well.\"said Heero as he mounted the horse, making sure to keep the scent of his dragon genes down as not to scare the steed. Reaching a hand out Heero lifted Duo up to sit in front of him, ridding side saddle as all ‘ladies\' should.
\"I\'ve never ridden a horse before. Aren\'t they usually afraid of dragons?\"
\"Yes. But as long as I keep my scent down everything should be fine.\"
It didn\'t take them long to reach Griswold the moon had nearly reached the middle of the sky causing Duo to sigh. How he loved to stare at the moon and the stars, somehow it felt better because he was wrapped in strong arms. Now here they were with only the moon to light them, trying to convince the night watch that they were, in fact, harmless and should be allowed to enter.

The guard who had the lantern leaned down from his vantage on top of the wall, holding the light out to get a better look at them. But since he was up about eight feet height than they were, they got a better look at him than he got at them. Duo thought he looked cranky and suspicious. The other guard seemed to be the first man\'s superior; the one with the lantern had fetched him when Duo and Heero had knocked on the wooden gate, demanding entrance and refusing to go away and come back in the morning. Duo couldn\'t see him, but he sounded cranky and suspicious. He said, \"How do we know you ain\'t that wizard?\" Duo stiffened but relaxed when he remembered he was a girl at the moment.
Heero, who\'d been looking down to avoid the glare of the light in his eyes, jerked his head up, but appeared more amused than startled. Word of Duo couldn\'t have traveled this far this fast, could it?
\"What wizard?\" Duo asked.
\"That old wizard lives behind one of them waterfalls up to the glen.\" The guard jerked his head in the general direction of the mountain. Duo realized he\'d been holding his breath. He shook his head to indicate he didn\'t know what he was talking about, his long hair flowing with the motion.
\"Sold his soul to the shadow king for the wizard-power,\" the guard explained. \"And never did use it for nothing but mischief and looking to buy someone else\'s soul. Been bothering decent, law-abiding folk.\"
Duo continued to shake his head.
Heero finally spoke up. \"No witches here,\" he said in a tone which gave away the fact that he was suspiciously close to laughing. Duo added: \"Does either of us look like an old wizard?\"
The guards were unimpressed with irony or logic. \"Gate opens at dawn. Come back then.\"
Seeing how he was disguised as a girl in a lovely gown Duo figured it best to play the damsel in distress and started sobbing quite loudly The first guard straightened, pulling the lantern up with him. Seeing the light move away, Duo yelled up, \"It was the dragon\'s fault!\" He was aware of Heero watching him, but he was watching the light. It stopped moving, returning to the wall.
\"Dragon?\" the guard said.

Duo decided to put a little quiver into his voice after all. \"My husband and I were on our way to our honey moon after just getting married. On the way to Shing-high Fall\'s the dragon attacked our carriage and guards.\" Duo gave a loud sniff \"And now we have no where to stay and we are afraid it might come back if we go anywhere else.\" Duo pointed vaguely in the direction from which they\'d come, then snuffled loudly, berrying his face in Heero\'s chest.
The guard\'s voice became more gentle. \"How old are you young lady?\"
\"Fourteen,\" he said, because there was no way he could pass as fifteen when he was dressed as a girl and because he figured the younger the guards thought them, the more sympathetic they would be. They, indicating Heero, Duo said, \"And seventeen,\" which was what he looked like. \"Seventeen going on three hundred.\"
The guards muttered together
\"All right,\" the senior one finally said.
There was another delay, then the creak of rope and wood as the latch was raised, and the gate swung open. The guard stood in the middle of the open space, glowering at them over his crossbow sights. Duo forced a seductive smile as he batted his lashes at the man making him blush and swallow hard \"Move, move.\" he told them from between clenched teeth.

Heero gave the steed a light kick on the side making it move inside the gate. The guard continued to aim at the spot where they had sood, all the white anxiously peering into the shadows beyond the walls. The heavy gate thudded back into place, maneuvered by the guard who\'d been holding the lantern. Once the latch was secured, the other lowered his crossbow, apparently satisfied that no one was coming in with them. A lot of good fate or wall would do to keep Heero or his real kin out.
\"You got people in Griswold?\" the guard asked.
\"No,\" Duo said, \"But we have plenty of gold and silver for lodging.\"He wanted them to know they weren\'t going to make a nuisance of themselves begging, of course they should have been able to tell from the attire they were wearing that they would not being doing that. But now that he and Heero were in, the guards lost interest. The first was already scrambling up to resume his position on the wall. \"The Green Barrel\'s probably your best bet, then,\" the other said, waving airily in an arc which indicated three-fourths of the town. \"There\'s probably cleaner and definitely cheaper, but at least you won\'t wake up in the morning to find your pretty little throat slit.\"
While Duo paused to sort that out, Heero guided the horse in the direction in which the guard had indicated. The inhabitants of St. Toby\'s would be mostly home and in bed by this hour, but Griswold was a lot bigger, if no grander, and there were still lights on in many of the buildings and people out on the streets. For Duo it was the strange sensation, being in a town big enough to get lost in, being surrounded by people he hadn\'t known all his life. By the time he and Heero finally found themselves in front of the Green Barrel Inn, his heart was beating too hard and fast for him to ask Heero to wait while he caught his breath.

Parking the horse Heero leapt gracefully off before helping Duo down and tying the horse up. He then realized Duo\'s state. \"Are you feeling ok darling?\" Trying to catch his breath Duo nodded \"I..I will be fine. Just a little nervous is all.\" Grinning Heero brought Duo\'s jeweled hand up to his lips to kiss it, \"Don\'t be nervous. I promised I wouldn\'t do anything until I thought you were. Remember?\" Duo gasped as Heero swept him past the painted rain barrel which gave the place its name and in through the open front door. He hadn\'t even been thinking of that. Heero would probably be expecting to do IT now that they would have a prober bed. \"This is where we get set upon by thieves and cutthroats. Where I loose my innocence.\" Duo thought to himself, holding the elegant gown up a little as he walked. Unless, of course, anybody took more than the hastiest glance at Heero, in which case they were sure to see beyond his human disguise to the monster beneath, and that would start a commotion of a different sort.
But nobody at the dozen or so tables in the place looked at them with anything that even the wary Duo could call more than indifferent curiosity. From across the room came a skinny little man who was no taller than Duo, wiping his hands off his apron and smiling. His gaze flickered from Heero to Duo and he looked neither murderous nor about to panic. \"May I help you?\" he asked instead. Asked Heero, who appeared the older. \"How can he look at him and not see?\" thought Duo. \"My wife and I are looking for a room.\" The innkeeper smiled, \"Ah. A young couple I see.

Reaching into the leather pouch Heero pulled out a couple of silver coins, \"Will this do?\" \"This will get you lodgings and a bit of supper if you haven\'t eaten yet, \"the man said. \"Breakfast comes with the room. Odelia,\" he called to a girl who was cleaning one of the tables. She looked just like him except for the fact that she had more hair and was obviously a couple of years younger than Duo. \"You and your sister get a room set up.\"
\"This way please,\" the little girl said. She led them through the kitchen, where she introduced them as paying customers to another girl. This older one put down the spoon she was using to stir a kettle of soup and gave Heero a long, studied stare.
\"Here it comes.\" Duo thought.
With admirable calm, the older sister said, \"We need fresh blankets for the bed.\" She flung her arm around her sister\'s shoulders, but Duo saw her fingers dig into Odelia\'s upper arm, and the younger girl\'s confused expression as her sister hustled her outdoors. Run, run, run, every instinct warned Duo. *They\'re going to raise an alarm.* Heero was looking around the kitchen, oblivious to it all, peeking into the corners, looking under the counters. \"We\'ve got to get out of here,\" Duo warned him in a frantic whisper. \"We just got here,\" Heero pointed out, picking up a clay pot lid as though he\'d never seen one before. The two girls returned, carrying armloads of bedding. Duo caught the hurried glance Odelia gave Heero before she lowered her gaze. \"This way,\" she murmured. But that wasn\'t fear which was causing her cheeks to redden. Duo glanced at the older sister, who was staring at Heero again.
*Oh heaven help me...they\'re flirting with him!* he realized. Jealousy flared inside Duo and he had the urge to order Heero to rip their heads from their bodies. The two sisters led them to an upstairs room and began putting the bedding on the mattresses. Duo tugged on Heero\'s arm. \"Why are there two beds?\" he hissed at him. Heero had been looking out the window at the people in the street below, and turned to him with a blank expression which could have been either lack of understanding or his usually give-nothing expression.
\"What\'s that?\" the older girl asked, straightening.
\"There are two beds. Why?\" Duo replyed.
\"Well it wouldn\'t be appropriate for a brother and sister to share now would it?\"
\"Ah.\" Duo said grinning and he moved to wrap his arms around Heero and press himself against him, \"But we are not siblings. He is my husband.\" As if to prove this Duo held out his left hand in which a large diamond glittered upon his ring finger. And the long haired beauty held back a evil grin as he watched the disappointment fill the two females *IN your face!* Heero smiled and wrapped a arm possessively around Duo\'s thin waist and whispered loud enough for the two to hear,\"Don\'t worry my darling you are more then welcome to share my bed.\" Duo got the fleeting feeling that Heero had meant that and he wouldn\'t be surprised. When the sisters left Duo sat on the mattress on the left and rested his head in his hands and waited from the thudding of his heart to slow down. \"I t hin I\'ll stay here until I\'ve calmed back down,\" he muttered between his fingers. \"Barricade the door for a year or two, will you Hee-chan?\"

Heero stooped down beside him, his legs brushing against Duo\'s arm as he placed a soft kiss on his lips. \"Staying in the room makes no sense,\" he said. \"We\'ve got to go out and mingle with the townspeople.\" Duo sighed. \"Can\'t we do it tomorrow?\" Heero gave a light chuckle, \"No Duo. We have other things to do tomorrow.\" Again Duo sighed. He knew Heero was right but he didn\'t want to go back down there and have those foolish little girls hitting on his dragon-youth. He was afraid he might loose his temper and then their cover would be blown.

-end chapter six. Oh THANK GOD! I\'m so happy to finally update this thing! I am so very sorry to keep everyone waiting and would just like to thank u for all of those who kept up with it. I really do appriciate it.