“Well now, would you look at that. Secrets of Shapeshifting, Volume III. After all these years it is finally my turn. They have passed this thing around so long it is a wonder the cover has not learned to run from me.

“You have done well. Most folk give up before they ever get near this book.”

“A promise is a promise. I will see that the Warden of Works gets his meal and you have earned yourself one too.”

“Take this tray. Roasted chicken, honey bread, and whatever the dragon calls edible these days. Try not to spill it. He is grumpy enough without a cold lunch.”

“And if anyone asks, you never got Secrets of Shapeshifting, Volume III for me."