Dragons of Asgard 3 Logan Jacobs (book recommendations for teens .TXT) 📖

to be more holding her back than just her position at the castle. She was here with us tonight, after all, and I knew she wouldn’t be if she felt there was a chance Odin would find out about our mission.

I supposed it could be her position with the council that held her back from being with me. We had to work together, and it would probably be incredibly awkward between her and the other council members if she and I were sleeping together. I wasn’t sure they would approve of such a relationship, and I most definitely didn’t want to cause Preyna any issues.

Still, I had plenty to worry about without concerning myself as to whether or not Preyna and I would eventually get together. I’d leave that up to her for the moment. I was happy with the women in my life, and I was just grateful Preyna was on my side and an ally when it came to dismantling the dragon trade.

I had to admit, though, it did feel good to see her a little bit jealous.

The next morning, I woke up just as the sun made its first appearance over the hill, and I realized I’d slept in longer than I’d intended to. It was still early, and as much as I wanted to get a move on for the day, I was ravenous, and we had all day to get to Alfheim, so I figured we could spend a few minutes eating breakfast.

The day before, we hadn’t eaten as much as we should have, and it had been a long, drawn out day with plenty of action to steal away our energy. Not to mention, the ale we drank before bed.

The girls were still sleeping, so I got up and made my way over to the garden. I picked us out some fresh peaches and apples, along with some vegetables, and then I put some rice on the stove to cook, grabbed my fishing net, and headed down to the stream to catch us some breakfast.

Once I got to the clearing where the stream was, I spotted Asta by a tree near the water. I thought she’d been sleeping with the other girls, but I guess I hadn’t paid as close of attention as to who was still in bed with me as I thought I had. I must have just seen Kas and Eira and assumed Asta was there as well.

“Asta,” I said as I walked up to the white-haired elf girl.

“Oh, Rath,” she gasped as she spun around and put her hand up to her chest. “I didn’t hear you coming.”

“It’s okay,” I told her, but I pursed my lips all the same. “It’s just me this time. But you should always be prepared. Why didn’t you wake me up to come with you?”

“You were sleeping so peacefully,” she explained. “I didn’t want to disturb you.”

“It’s okay.” I smiled and kissed the top of her head. “I’d rather you wake me next time, please. I don’t like you being out here alone.”

“You’re right.” She nodded. “I’ll wake you next time.”

“What are you doing out here so early, anyway?” I chuckled.

“I’m gathering herbs for tea,” she said, and she held up a small bunch of foliage that, even in its unbrewed state, smelled delicious.

“Oh, I see,” I said. “I seem to recall talking about that last night.”

“Preyna requested tea,” Asta said with a smile. “And I figured we could all use a nice cup after the day we had yesterday.”

“Right,” I agreed. “Some tea sounds lovely. I was just going to catch us some fish for breakfast.”

“Oh, well, I’m done getting herbs,” Asta said. “I can help you if you’d like.”

“I don’t think I’ll need too much help,” I told her. “But you can stay here with me if you want to.”

“That sounds nice,” Asta sighed, and she sat down next to the stream while I got the fishing net ready.

Suddenly, I heard a rustle in the bushes behind us, and I spun around to see Blar coming through the trees. The little dragon stopped and yawned before he looked at me and cocked his head to the side.

“Yes,” I laughed. “I’m catching us some fish for breakfast.”

Blar licked his lips, and then he walked over to where Asta was seated, crawled into her lap, and promptly fell back asleep.

“I’m not sure why he even bothered to get up in the first place,” Asta giggled. “If all he was going to do was go back to bed.”

“I’m pretty sure he just wanted to make sure we were getting breakfast ready,” I joked.

“Yeah, that does sound like him,” Asta chuckled.

I took off my tunic and rolled up my pant legs before I stepped into the water with my net at the ready. The stream was cool on my legs, and I breathed in the fresh morning air as I relished in the feel of the crisp mountain water on my skin.

I could see the small fish swimming around my feet, they were headed downstream toward the ocean, but there were plenty of them. Most of them were too small, though, so I waited until I spotted some larger ones, and then I carefully placed my net in the water and guided it toward them at just the right moment.

I swooped the net forward and pulled it out of the water, along with three large fish inside of it.

“Whoa,” Asta gasped. “That was fast!”

“It’s just a matter of timing,” I told her with a wink.

“Can I try?” she asked with a wide grin.

“Of course,” I told her.

Asta carefully picked up Blar from her lap and set him in the grass next to her. The small reptile huffed a little bit and opened one eye to glare at her, but then he