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The second plan to smooth over my conquering of Devonshire bore fruit. Tobias was the obvious candidate for a new human regent and I felt comfortable in his obedience enough to allow the farce to exist in the minds of strangers. If anyone questioned about the presence of a dragon in Devonshire, it would be because Sir Drakling had cleverly negotiated with the beast and secured its services in return for a steady supply of livestock. I asked Tobias after the first groundbreaking meeting in the newly excavated amphitheatre - this time, there was no crowd gathered in the freezing aftermath of the blizzard - if anyone would truly believe that a dragon could be complacent and docile with just a supply of foodstuffs. He replied that while perhaps the shrewder man with some past experience with dragons might think that something was suspicious, most people actually thought of dragons as roving monsters, akin to wolves or bears in terms of intelligence.

Thinking of the grand palaces that I'd been to and the struggle of power between wealthy and powerful dragons, which, while more straightforward was not altogether alien from how it existed in human society, I'd asked how that can possibly be. Tobias had just shrugged. "I suppose that it just comes down to appearances, I guess. We know for a fact that they keep humans as slaves beyond the valley, and yet it never crosses most people's minds that if dragons were animals, they wouldn't keep slaves. Perhaps it's because you go about on four legs and we on two. I think most people tend to think we're special because of that."

I grinned and pushed the young man with the flat side of my talon until he was forced to take a step back. "I just think it makes you unsteady, actually." We both laughed

The temperature never really came back up after the blizzard, so the valley was thrust a few weeks early into winter. Fortunately, the harvest had been long before and no food was lost because of the snow. The basements were full with preserved goods and most of the village settled into the dreary, boring winter life. Since the passes were closed a couple weeks ahead of schedule, the furriers and trappers either had to find another place to hunt or break ground over the mountain by themselves. The ones who chose the latter trickled into town little by little and most spent a lot of time gawking at the sight of a huge dragon occupying the area where the Knight's manor had once been. I disliked the way their eyes lingered on my bronze scales. It was the first time that I'd seen a practical use for the dogs that humans seemed so fond of. They pulled the men's sleds as they hiked deep into the forest to lay their traps. It disgusted me to learn that the men who were going forth to reduce the population of game in the woods were not going to pay me some sort of tax for the use of my land. When I'd told Tobias as much, he said that he'd never thought of it that way before. With the village being so cloistered during the winter an hunting largely being a pastime for the nobility, the trappers were simply thought to be harvesting a raw resource. "They come, they bring money to buy supplies, which helps the town and leave into the woods. They catch and skin what they can, come back in spring with tanned hides, trade some for more supplies and leave again. That's how it's always worked and it seems to make everyone happy." As my young ward put it.

Seeing as I depended on the local population of large game to sustain myself, I quickly decided to forbid the hunting of deer, caribou and goats; I didn't care about the foxes or rabbits. Seeing as a deer could stumble unwittingly into a previously laid trap, I added that deer slain by accident could be skinned, but a fine would be levied per skin when they attempted to leave in the spring. It was the first decision I'd made that was not popular with the general public, or at least the trappers and their friends, which thankfully did not make a huge percentage of the population. I remained firm, however, in spite of the protests Tobias received - no one ever complained directly to my face - It was easy when one's belly was hollow and empty. I remained concerned, however about the trappers who had managed to escape into the wilderness before I'd had the sense to "protect" the local wildlife. I continued to see evidence of illegal deer trapping here and there in the forest all winter long.

As for the Baron and his associates, it turned out that making someone into a knight was not an easy proposition, even when those with authority bend their wills to the matter. Tobias was a commoner, and worse, because he was not the oldest male child, he did not even stand to inherit his father's land. The only way his technical status could be lower was if he had been an indentured servant; I was quite intrigued by the sanctioned form of slavery which was permitted in the land at large and spent many a night wondering how the policy could be bent to my service in the future. Thus there were documents to be crafted and information about Tobias' past bent and fabricated altogether. For instance, he became a lieutenant of the village militia on paper complete with letters of recommendation, thankfully provided by Richard - when he was sober - and several awards for marksmanship and horsemanship. There was also an alleged donation of generous quantity by Tobias' father when he was eight to get him assigned as a page to Sir Ronald. I was concerned about where that money was to be procured, but Baron Crestwell eased my concerns with the fact that the sum could be later lost when Sir Ronald's estate was "ransacked" immediately following his death. It was all a lot of trickery and forged documentation. Baron Crestwell seemed to have a mind for it, however, and Tobias was not so completely lost that he couldn't give me the gist of what this man was doing on paper. I didn't think that the overweight baron could be trusted, but he seemed inclined to remedy the situation for the benefit of his superior as efficiently as possible, so I let him shuffle and sign his papers as well as age them artificially in tea without too much oversight.

By January, the new documents had been sealed with the village's collection of records where they were stored in the basement of the post office along with the remnants of Sir Ronald's library in the wake of the dismantlement of his manor. With Baron Crestwell planning on returning to Anorton with the relevant copies of the documents in Tobias' name, my human servant was now a Knight in the eyes of the country of Lyrond as well as in Devonshire alone. There was no additional ceremony, but there was much heavy drinking that night in celebration. I myself imbibed a barrel of a strong, dark brew, which while not as tasty and aromatic as the wine, warmed me as if a fire had been lit in my belly and put me at great ease with the tiny humans around me as they sang and danced. I even recited an ancient draconic poem I'd stored in memory for its sheer beauty regarding the joy of flight. However, I was interrupted halfway through. Apparently my native tongue of growls, hisses and clicks as well as periodic roars and some flapping of the wings was frightening people away. I stopped and expressed my pity that such simple creatures could not appreciate art when they heard it. There was much laughter and more drinking as I grinned toothily and sniffed about for another barrel of drink.

The following morning, I woke among the trees with a grinding headache. I closed my water lids, but the murky light filtering through was blindingly intense nevertheless. The trees swayed in the breeze and I thought the ground was moving under me. When I finally managed to rise, I was dreadfully sore as for some unexplainable reason, I'd spent the night sleeping on my back, sleeping on my wings. The muscles were as stiff as logs as I stretched and looked about, trying to remember exactly how I had gotten here after the party last night. Tobias found me as I wandered to the amphitheatre, head low and dragging my tail on the ground. He ran to me, showing no lingering sign of his previous night's drinking. His words flowed over me, passing between my ears like a mist and leaving not a trace. I wanted to lie down for a while and have some fresh water brought out to me. Tobias jumped up and tugged on a decorative, spiky protrusion on the underside of my jaw, using his weight to jerk my whole head. I growled, my eyes immediately focusing on the tiny human in front of me. Waving his arms frantically, Tobias informed me that...