Anastasia widened zir eyes, and fury burned through zir. “Why did you want to speak to me in private if you weren’t going to tell me anything?”

Ze was befuddled, too. “Did you think I would be satisfied with a vague warning that has no evidence to support it?” If Lance thought Ana was so dumb as to accept so little information, he was grossly underestimating zir.

Lance’s shoulders seemed to sag, even as he hovered with his blue wings in the night sky. “You’re right. It does seem fruitless to talk if I withhold what I planned to tell you. Will you promise not to speak of this with anyone?”

The red dragon was about to say yes, but then ze scowled. “You’re not pulling me into that trap. How do I know that your secret won’t be something that endangers people?”

Lance averted his gaze. “Well, then, you’ll have to be content with my incomplete answer.” He started descending towards the palace, at a slow speed.

Anastasia grouched. When they were close to hitting the ground, ze bit out, “Fine. What is it?”

The blue dragon halted his descent, and slowly flew up again, presumably to resume their conversation.

Ana groaned but followed him as ze awaited his answer; ze hated being manipulated like this.

The dastardly blue dragon glanced around as if fearful he would be overheard. “So the Valve Dragons negotiated terms with Ero’s parents. But Lucille could not provide the milk.”

“I know that,” Anastasia grunted with impatience. “And she called Mildred to help her. Thankfully, Mildred had given birth to a new calf a short while ago, so she could give milk.” Which was later scorned, Ana thought.

The blue dragon stared off into the distance. “That’s right. But guess which dragon was chosen to fetch the milk from Mildred?”

Silence stretched between them. Ana just stared at Lance, already dreading what he was about to say.

Though Ana hadn’t spoken, the blue dragon continued, “It was me. Originally it was supposed to be Demiel, but he wasn’t feeling well that day, or maybe he just didn’t want to run another errand. So I volunteered to take his place.”

He paused. “Mildred and I arranged to meet in a glade near her barn. Of course I could have asked her to come closer to The Valley. But there was no guarantee that the ghosts in The Valley wouldn’t spring out to get her, wherever she happened to go. Plus, I didn’t want to fuss over something as trivial as the venue. And I didn’t mind flying farther away, since I could stretch my muscles a bit and explore.”

Ana narrowed zir eyes. Lance normally wasn’t such a talkative dragon. Clearly he was going into all these unnecessary details for no reason other than to stall for time. But ze would wait a little longer before interrupting.

The older dragon sighed. “When I arrived in the glade, Mildred was already there, in human form. She glowered at me as I alighted, and didn’t stop frowning when I shifted into my human form. It wasn’t as if I would expect a cow-shifter to be thrilled to see a dragon, but I couldn’t help but be annoyed.

“Nevertheless, I requested the milk that she had promised. She glared daggers at me like I was about to steal something precious from her.”

Anastasia cut in, “It’s her milk. Of course it’s precious to her.”

“I suppose.” Lance smirked. “But it seemed like she was about to give me her milk regardless, and I waited with a lot of patience. She reached her hand into her coat, where I assumed she had stored her bottle.

“Yet, she hesitated, and suddenly looked confused. She took her hand out of her coat, and fixed me with another glare. And then, to my astonishment, she said, ‘Follow me.’

“It was a bewildering moment, but she didn’t bother to see if I agreed, and already stalked off through the tall grass of the area. I protested and asked where she was taking us. She just told me to shush. At long last, we reached an odd little clearing. There was a small green lump in the middle, like a miniature hill, though it was covered by moss rather than grass.

“She started panting as though she had traveled a long distance, which she hadn’t. And from her physique, she could surely walk many miles more without a problem. But then she darted to my side.

“I was startled and got ready to defend myself, in case she tried to hurt me. Instead, she grasped my shoulder and made me crouch down on the ground with her. She whispered, rather ominously, ‘Don’t speak until I tell you to, okay? Leave all the talking to me and play along.’ This was perplexing and aggravating, but I was also curious what she had in mind, so I agreed for the moment.”

Anastasia huffed and cast a glance at the other dragon. “What on earth is this strange tale?”

“If you’re tired of this tale, say the word, and I’ll cease it,” Lance said.

The red dragon clenched zir claws. “Keep telling the story but leave out the irrelevant details,” Ana demanded.

Lance let out a wry laugh. “None of these details are irrelevant.” He went on, “Before I knew it, I heard a rustle. Then a woman who appeared to be in her sixties, pushed into the clearing. She stared suspiciously at Mildred and then at me. Mildred, to my amazement, was smiling. She smiled so much that it lit up her face.

“The old woman asked her what she was doing. They talked for a while and I gathered that this woman was a distant relative, and Mildred seemed quite eager to please her, for some reason. Mildred called her an aunt, but she was likely a great aunt, since she must be about twice the age of Lucille. This great aunt’s name was Ivy.

“At some point, Ivy finally glanced over at me, and Mildred — ”

The blue dragon stopped talking. He seemed to have frozen. Ana railed at him, “And Mildred what? What did she say?”

Lance looked down, and his eyes were glazed. “Well, she…she told her great aunt that she didn’t love her husband anymore, and was seeing me.”

Ana cursed, but Lance went on, his voice a bit hurried now, “I was stunned but Ivy must have poor eyesight that she couldn’t see my facial expression. In fact, she was pleased and said it was about time that Mildred left her no-good husband.

“Ivy has detested Clive ever since Mildred had been with him. But Ivy wasn’t pleased when Mildred clarified that she didn’t plan on leaving her husband, since they wanted to stay together for their children. But as she found no more satisfaction in her marriage, she hardly spent any time with him outside of taking care of their calves.

“So, Mildred strayed away and began seeing me, and she suspected that Clive was seeing someone else, too. Mildred sounded so cheery and fake in her tone, that I wondered why her great-aunt couldn’t catch her lie. But Ivy despised Clive so much that she bought this tall tale.”

Anastasia sucked in a cold breath. “And you said nothing during all of this?”

Lance snarled at Ana. “I was dumbfounded that Mildred would concoct such a story, but I didn’t want to do anything rash before I found out what was going on. Ivy said that this affair was better than nothing, and she didn’t want Mildred’s happiness to be poisoned by an uncouth bore like Clive.

“As a matter of fact, Ivy believed that Mildred had only married him for the sake of rebellion, some stubborn wish to prove herself different from everyone else. So she tied herself to a man who is so clearly her inferior.”

“There’s no need to be so nasty, Lance,” Ana cut in again.

“I wasn’t being nasty. It was Ivy who said this. I had never even met Clive before,” Lance retorted. “Ivy laughed with merriment and declared that Mildred will continue to receive her blessings. She placed this red amulet around her great-niece’s neck. Mildred was visibly relieved, and Ivy finally took off and left us alone.”

Anastasia studied the blue dragon carefully. Lance darted his eyes away, and looked as if he were ashamed.