Jess was watching him closely. His raspy voice became persuasive, the threat gone from it. “Animal’s going to die anyway. Look at it. It wasn’t a prime specimen to start with, and now it’s going to drown. So you might as well be kind and make the end a quick one and have something to show for your trouble.” Jess hung the knife from his belt and gripped the fish spear firmly. He slung the coil of line from his free hand. “Tell her not to struggle, that I’m going to help her,” he instructed Sedric in a low voice. “All I need you to do right now is keep her calm. Say I’m putting the rope on her to help her stay afloat. It’s not as long as it could be; I’ll need to get her to move closer to the trees so I can tie it off. Afterward, we’ll have to work fast, before the carcass sinks. We’ll go for the stuff that will keep and bring the most money. Teeth, claws, scales. It’s going to be messy, rough work and you won’t like it. But a little of this now will mean a lot of money later.”

The copper was watching them anxiously. Suspiciously? How much could she really understand? Sedric chided his conscience. The hunter had said she was going to die anyway. Would it be better if she died slowly and her body sank to the bottom of the river for fish to eat? What good would that do anyone? After all he had gone through, didn’t he deserve something for himself, some small bit of happiness? Didn’t he deserve to finally stop living in deceit?

He kept his eyes on the dragon as Jess edged toward her. She looked back at him. Her eyes swirled as always, but darkness seemed mixed with their blue and gold now. He could feel her questioning him but not sense the fullness of her question. Did that mean she was dying? Was Jess telling the truth when he said it would be a mercy?