The room was silent after Uncle Win\'s announcement. They\'d killed one of the males?

Without their male, the females might not stay there. They wouldn\'t be able to protect their nests. Without their male to run them off, other females could swoop in and eat their eggs and their young. That would cause females to fight each other, usually until one was dead. If the dead one had a nest the young would die without her.​​

The death of one of the big males in the colony meant many others would die after him naturally without the men having to try to kill them all themselves. At least some of the dragons would kill each other. This would cut down their numbers.

Delaney stared open-mouthed at Uncle Win, processing what he had just said. They\'d done it. She turned to look at her friends. "His plan worked," she said softly, "Vincent\'s plan worked! They killed a male!"

All around her the room burst into a flurry of talking and questions. Bernard slowly raised himself out of his chair to speak more directly to Win. His eyes were wide and Delaney wondered what he thought of this.

Win didn\'t have many details. Somehow they\'d gotten the male away from the colony and gotten chains around him to hold him down. Luckily they were able to get his head held in place so the fire from his mouth couldn\'t reach them. They were able to kill him from there.

"Were many men killed?" Cora had asked, biting her knuckle as she worried.

"Ah yes girl," Win said sadly, "Many men did lose their lives and I\'m afraid many more will be coming to your Briarwood within a day or so. But remember now, they did it! They were able to kill a male and they learned from this so the next one will be easier."

"The next one?" Selina gasped, "They\'re going to try it again?"

"They have to. The other males are still reproducing faster than the men can kill."

They were all quiet then as they took in the bad with the good. Delaney wondered just how many had died. Would one of their men die the next time?

"Thank you Win," she smiled gently, squeezing the old man\'s hand, "This was a great present. Knowing they\'re closer to coming home is wonderful news."

"That\'s true," Bernard spoke up then, his voice hoarse, "When I left there were three great males. Now, they\'ll be down to two. The other two should be easier to kill with the chaos that will come from the one being dead."

Olive took his hand in hers and he smiled down at her.

"If they\'ve killed one of those vile beasts I\'m sure they\'ll kill the others," Constance said from her place by Olive, "Hopefully they\'ll get it over with already. If this is the best plan they can come up with then let\'s just pray they do it well."

Delaney nodded, ignoring the somewhat harsh way Constance had put it. That was really all they could do.

"Let\'s eat," Selina said brightly trying to change the mood. They all did as she suggested and took their seats around the table. At first, things were fairly quiet as they were all lost in their thoughts. Delaney swallowed and again thought about what her day could\'ve been like without the Dragon War.

"Bernard I believe we have a good opportunity here we\'re passing up," Win said after a time. Bernard looked up confused. "This may be the only time we have without Duke Adair and the others here. I think you should take this chance to tell us all the good stories about them when they were younger. Preferably ones they probably wouldn\'t want to be told if they were here."

Everyone looked up, intrigued, and Bernard turned red, smiling bashfully, "I have some good ones."

Win sat back chuckling and folding his hands over his round belly, "I figured you did. Come on then and tell us one or two."

It was not long before they were all clutching there sides, doubled over in laughter. Bernard told the story and Win threw in enough commentary to elevate it and make them laugh all the harder. Delaney smiled around the table so happy Selina had told Win about her birthday.

"Let\'s go into the library and play cards," Delaney suggested once they could all breathe again, "Come on Win you\'ve never played against all of us at once!"

"Well I suppose there\'s still a few things I could teach you, girls," he chuckled, "Let\'s go."

Hours later they had played rounds and everyone was starting to nod off in their seat. Delaney looked around at her friends with sleepy eyes and realized she was happy. This may not have been the birthday she had thought it was going to be but it turned out to be pretty wonderful after all.

After Delaney\'s birthday, word of the killing of the dragon spread like a fire. So excited was everyone that there were little parties here and there to celebrate.

People went on and on to Delaney about how smart Vincent must have been to come up with such a plan and how brave he must be to act on it. She never knew quite how to respond to these compliments so she would nod, thank them, and try to change the subject.

Delaney didn\'t feel like it was her place to receive these compliments. Vincent wasn\'t her husband yet and they hadn\'t spent long together at all. Although she was proud the man she was going to marry was figuring out how to keep them all safe she didn\'t feel like he was hers to be proud of just yet.

Meanwhile Olive was very proud of Bernard and his recovery. She was now quite in love with him. He loved her as well though so when she turned eighteen a month after Delaney they announced they would be married in just two weeks.

As Delaney looked around Olive\'s wedding on the lawn in front of her friend\'s home, she was pleased to see it had turned out beautifully for her. She also couldn\'t stop from feeling the whisps of jealousy wrapping around her heart.

She was the oldest. It should have been her getting married first. Vincent should be here to marry her and not off fighting in the war.

When Delaney looked at the bandaged end of Bernard\'s arm where his hand had once been she felt relief float in. Vincent may not be there yet but at least he was still in one piece. She wondered what she would have done if something similar had happened to Vincent.

The thought made her uneasy.

Seeing Olive cry tears of joy as she said yes to marrying this man she loved, the jealousy shrunk away and Delaney just felt happy for her again. Her friend deserved this happiness and so did Bernard after everything he\'d been through.

Constance came to stay with Delaney at her Aunt and Uncle\'s for a while to give the newlyweds some privacy. To her surprise, Delaney found she enjoyed the other woman\'s company more than she would have thought.

They stayed up late into the nights playing cards and talking. In the day they would go for rides in the carriages or walking around the lawns. Delaney learned her friend missed her mother and her sisters but knew they were lucky their cousin was letting them stay at their home for now.

Apparently the man had been working to try to secure marriage contracts for them all to get them out of his hair more than anything else. Constance knew as long as she stayed out of sight he wouldn\'t interfere in her life.

The friends decided to teach their ladies maids to play cards. Constance had announced, "If you\'re ever in trouble and need money quick at least you\'ll have cards to fall back on for it and not have to do anything worse. This would be a much more pleasant way to earn money."

The maids had turned red in embarrassment at her words but Delaney had laughed and agreed, used to her friend\'s blunt way of speaking.

In a matter of weeks, the two young girls had learned and were getting good. They invited a kitchen maid to join their late-night game. Delaney thought it was something nice coming from the uncertain times they were all in. Normally she wouldn\'t have dreamed of spending so much time with the servants. She was a lady of class after all. But she found she really enjoyed their company.

Constance seemed quite happy as well to be simply enjoying being free with friends. For a time they could all forget worrying what their futures held.

It was during one of these late-night games that a quick rap on the front door made them all jump in their seats. With the butler in bed, the footman answered the door. Constance and Delaney came around the corner to see if there was trouble.

Standing in the doorway was a bright-eyed young man with a grin on his face.

"Who are you?" Constance asked sharply, suspicious at his strange arrival.

"A messenger from the king ma\'am," he panted, leaning against the door, "I\'m supposed to go as fast as I can and tell everyone..."

"Tell everyone what?" Delaney demanded urgently.

"They killed another one! Another male is dead!"

Delaney and Constance snapped to look at one another in shock.

"That\'s two," Constance whispered.

"There were only three," Delaney said, staring at her.

"So they only have one more and then..."

"They\'ll be able to come home."