Dragon Joined by Rebecca Royce

much, but a little bit would clear his brain.
    Dean needed to plot. The dragons were at war? There had to
be a way to use that information to his own benefit.
    The night air felt cooler without Amanda beside him. She
made everything better just by being with him. Maybe all he needed to do was
make the dragons weaker, then the other beasts would step in and do the job for
him.
    He grinned. Thank you, Amanda . Tomorrow might
actually be lots of fun.

Chapter Seven
     
    Amanda opened her eyes and blinked at the midday sun. Princess,
wearing Amanda’s body, strode around the feed room making a checklist.
    “Well. You’re awake. Someone was a lazybones today. It’s a
good thing I don’t need you alert to use you.”
    That’s disgusting . Amanda could think whatever she
liked. Princess didn’t listen unless she needed something from her.
    She supposed she could come up with some kind of reason why
she’d slept late but Princess didn’t really care. Living with the dragon for so
long had at least taught her what the creature wanted an answer to and what she
didn’t.
    “Are you getting sick? I won’t be in a sick human body. I
just won’t.”
    Amanda sighed. “Not sick.”
    Dragons didn’t die well. If they weren’t shot down or killed
in battle, they ended up in such a state of pain that it made human aging seem
kind. Usually the leader, Princess in their case, killed them to get their
uselessness out of the group. Anything that might be seen to increase the aging
process, like illness, made Princess crazed.
    “Well, then. That’s fine.”
    Besides, wouldn’t Princess know if she were sick? Amanda
rolled her eyes. She dominated her body—surely she’d be alerted first if Amanda
took ill. She stopped her thoughts.
    Maybe not . If Princess had to ask, then maybe she
didn’t have all the answers the way she pretended to. Amanda had already
managed to do something Princess thought impossible when she’d temporarily
freed herself. What else could she get away with?
    Princess was writing numbers down. In her life before coming
here, Amanda had never learned to write. Well, she’d tried, but school hadn’t
worked out well for her. The only reason she’d figured out how to speak a
little bit better had been because of Princess’ constant prodding. Apparently
the dragon didn’t want to listen to her prattle on if she couldn’t do it correctly.
    What could she do to interfere with her writing? Amanda
pushed her own vision into her eyes with Princess’. As long as she didn’t try
to take control, Princess probably wouldn’t mind her sharing. It turned out that
the dragon didn’t even notice.
    We share a body, yet I’m too below her attention to
acknowledge . In this case, Princess’ inattention would benefit the
experiment.
    The dragon was writing down the weights of the vegetables
they’d brought it. The scale read 15.8 pounds. Some poor human joined had been
out in the heat picking them. Princess bit down on her lip and Amanda tasted
blood. The metallic taste made her gag.
    “I specifically told him sixteen pounds. What is wrong with
all of them? Incompetence.”
    The poor guy had probably broken his back getting it up the
side of the building. His dragon wouldn’t have bothered to go and get him, or
at least none of the dragons Amanda knew would have taken the time.
    “When he sees this report, he’s going to be punished. And
his dragon too. Who let him get away with 15.8 pounds of corn? What good does
that do me?”
    Princess wanted to write down the number 15.8. Amanda
narrowed her eyes and took a deep breath. Using every bit of strength, she’d
mustered up, she made Princess write the number 16 instead. Her dragon captor
didn’t even notice as she moved on to the next box.
    Amanda did a little dance. Well, no one would see it, but
she managed to experience the joy just the same. She’d really be boogying
around if she could.
    “So now that you’ve deigned to wake up for the day, I must
tell you